Localization of platelet-derived growth factor beta receptor expression in the periepithelial stroma of human breast carcinoma

The ability of water-insoluble molecules such as triacylglycerols to partition from oil phases into phospholipid interfaces may be crucial to their hydrolysis by lipases in the aqueous environment of plasma and cells. This study uses high resolution and magic angle spinning 13C NMR spectros-copy to measure the solubility of the 8-carbon medium chain triacylglycerol, trioctanoin, in the lamellar structure of phospholipids (vesicles and multilayers) in the presence of other neutral lipids that may compete for an interfacial location (long chain triacylglycerol, cholesteryl ester, and cholesterol). In the presence of a saturating concentration of triolein (approximately 3 mole%), the solubility of trioctanoin in egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles decreased from 10 mole% to 7 mole%. The presence of a saturating concentration of trioctanoin (approximately 10 mole%) decreased the interfacial solubility of long chain triolein to approximately 1 mole%. Cholesteryl oleate in phospholipid vesicles slightly diminished the incorporation of trioctanoin into the surface. The presence of cholesterol reduced the interfacial solubility of trioctanoin, but at a high level of cholesterol (30 mole%), trioctanoin had a solubility of 3 mole%. Thus, even in the presence of other competing neutral lipids, medium chain triacylglycerol retains a favorable location and surface concentration for efficient hydrolysis. 13C NMR analysis thus provides an explanation for preferential hydrolysis of medium, compared to long chain triacylglycerol, in a physical blend of medium and long chain triacylglycerol in a single emulsion particle, and in general, a valuable approach to determine substrate availability at phospholipid surfaces.     

Classification of electroencephalogram signal for the detection of epilepsy using Innovative Genetic Programming

Epilepsy, sometimes called seizure disorder, is a neurological condition that justifies itself as a susceptibility to seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of rhythmic discharges of electrical activity in the brain that causes an alteration in behaviour, sensation, or consciousness. It is essential to have a method for automatic detection of seizures, as these seizures are arbitrary and unpredictable. A profound study of the electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings is required for the accurate detection of these epileptic seizures. In this study, an Innovative Genetic Programming framework is proposed for classification of EEG signals into seizure and nonseizure. An empirical mode decomposition technique is used for the feature extraction followed by genetic programming for the classification. Moreover, a method for intron deletion, hybrid crossover, and mutation operation is proposed, which are responsible for the increase in classification accuracy and a decrease in time complexity. This suggests that the Innovative Genetic Programming classifier has a potential for accurately predicting the seizures in an EEG signal and hints on the possibility of building a real‐time seizure detection system.     

Robust PCA-based solution to image composition using augmented Lagrange multiplier (ALM)

Computational photography relies on specialized image-processing techniques to combine multiple images captured by a camera to generate a desired image of the scene. We first consider the high dynamic range (HDR) imaging problem. We can change either the exposure time or the aperture while capturing multiple images of the scene to generate an HDR image. This paper addresses the HDR imaging problem for static and dynamic scenes captured using a stationary camera under various aperture and exposure settings, when we do not have any knowledge of the camera settings. We have proposed a novel framework based on sparse representation which enables us to process images while getting rid of artifacts due to moving objects and defocus blur. We show that the proposed approach is able to produce significantly good results through dynamic object rejection and deblurring capabilities. We compare the results with other competitive approaches and discuss the relative advantages of the proposed approach.     

Query-based association rule mining supporting user perspective

Two parameters, namely support and confidence, in association rule mining, are used to arrange association rules in either increasing or decreasing order. These two parameters are assigned values by counting the number of transactions satisfying the rule without considering user perspective. Hence, an association rule, with low values of support and confidence, but meaningful to the user, does not receive the same importance as is perceived by the user. Reflecting user perspective is of paramount importance in light of improving user satisfaction for a given recommendation system. In this paper, we propose a model and an algorithm to extract association rules, meaningful to a user, with an ad-hoc support and confidence by allowing the user to specify the importance of each transaction. In addition, we apply the characteristics of a concept lattice, a core data structure of Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) to reflect subsumption relation of association rules when assigning the priority to each rule. Finally, we describe experiment results to verify the potential and efficiency of the proposed method.     

Chemical composition,functional properties and microstructural characteristics of three kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) as affected by different cooking methods

Chickpea is an important food legume and is a major ingredient in many human diets. Chemical composition, physical parameters, functional properties and microstructural characteristics of three kabuli chickpea cultivars and the effects of three cooking methods were investigated. Carbohydrate and protein were two major components in all seeds. Cooking increased fibre, total carbohydrate and total and resistant starch contents, but decreased ash content. Protein and oil levels of the cooked samples either decreased or did not change significantly. Seed weight and density decreased with cooking. Hydration and swelling capacities as well as water absorption and holding capacities of cooked chickpeas were higher than raw samples, with the largest increases in the pressure‐cooked seeds. Seed weights were highly correlated with hydration (r = 0.89) and swelling (r = 0.76) rates. Emulsifying activity, emulsifying stability and foaming capacity of cooked chickpea flours decreased, while foaming stability increased. Chickpea flours had pronounced morphological changes after cooking.     

Poly(vinyl chloride)–Acacia bark flour composite: Effect of particle size and filler content on mechanical,thermal, and morphological characteristics

This article describes the effect of filler [obtained from bark of Acacia (Babool)] content and its particle size (ranging from 100 to 150 μm and <50 μm) on the properties of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) composites. Bark of the fast‐growing species Acacia was used as powder for making PVC composites, which may find applications as a substitute to high‐cost wood and to avoid deforestation. A two‐roll mill was used for mixing varying amounts of bark flour with PVC formulation. Samples for testing were prepared by compression molding. Tensile strength and percentage of elongation at break decreased, whereas modulus increased with an increasing amount of bark flour. A significant increase in storage modulus (E′) was observed upon incorporation of filler. Improvement in properties was significant in the presence of filler, having a particle size <50 μm as compared to filler, having a particle size ranging from 100 to 150 μm. Morphological characterization was conducted by using scanning electron microscopy. A uniform dispersion of filler was observed in PVC matrix. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Influence of electron beam radiation on mechanical and thermal properties of styrene‐butadiene‐styrene block copolymer

Electron beam crosslinking of elastomers is a special type of crosslinking technique that has gained importance over conventional chemical crosslinking method, because the former process is fast, pollution free, and simple. The technique involves the impingement of high‐energy electrons generated from electron accelerators and the subsequent production of free radicals on target elastomers. These radicals result in crosslinking of elastomers via radical–radical coupling. In the process, some chain scission may also take place. In this work, a high‐vinyl (～ 50%) styrene‐butadiene‐styrene (S‐B‐S) block copolymer was used as the base polymer. An attempt was made to see the effect of electron beam radiation on the mechanical and thermal properties of the block copolymer. Radiation doses were varied from 25 to 300 kGy. Mechanical properties like tensile strength, elongation at break, modulus at different elongations, hardness, tear strength, crosslink density, and crosslink to chain scission of the irradiated samples were studied and compared with those of unirradiated ones. In this S‐B‐S block copolymer, a relatively low‐radiation dose was found effective in improving the level of mechanical properties. Differential scanning calorimeter and dynamic mechanical analyzer were used to study the thermal characteristics of the irradiated polymer. Influence of a stabilizer at different concentrations on the properties of S‐B‐S at varied radiation doses were also focused on. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Influence of pigment blends of different shapes and size distributions on coated paper properties

Paper coating pigment plays an essential role in the achievement of the desired end paper qualities. Different pigment varieties are available for paper coating. Ground calcium carbonate (GCC) is the major one used frequently in coating formulations. Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) is gradually gaining importance in paper coating, as it can be prepared in different shapes and sizes. The present study was carried out to determine the influence of PCC pigments with different shapes and sizes on paper properties, and their limitations and advantages when blended with finer grade GCC. PCC pigments of calcite and aragonite crystalline polymorphs having rhombohedral, orthorhombic, and scalenohedral habits were selected for the study. It was observed that the viscosity and water-holding capacity of the coating color was reduced with the introduction of PCC in the coating formulation. The PCC pigments showed greater light scattering, opacity, and smoothness of the coated paper as compared to the GCC pigment. The clustered (rosette) shape of scalenohedral habit calcite PCC results in the greatest light scattering, opacity, and surface strength amongst all PCCs. The aragonite PCC of orthorhombic habit and calcite PCC of rhombohedral habit show an almost similar trend in coated paper properties with the greatest smoothness and paper gloss.     

Investigation of SrS under high pressure including the role of temperature

In this paper we focus on the structural and elastic properties of the B1 phase of SrS by using the modified TBP model, including the role of temperature. We have successfully obtained the phase transition pressures and volume changes at different temperatures. In addition elastic constants and anisotropy factor (A) of B1 phase of SrS at different temperatures are discussed. Our results are comparable with the previous ones at high temperatures and pressures. The elastic properties of the B1 phase of SrS have been discussed with various temperature and pressure. More over the thermal properties like Debye temperature, Thermal expansion coefficient (α) and Gruneisen parameter (γ) and anisotropy factor at high temperatures have also been discussed successfully.