Polyaniline-supported acid as an efficient and reusable catalyst for a one-pot synthesis of β-acetamido ketones via a four-component condensation reaction

Polyaniline-supported acid salts such as polyaniline-hydrochloride, polyaniline-sulfate and polyaniline-nitrate were prepared by oxidation of aniline using ammonium persulfate as oxidizing agents. Polyaniline salts were used as catalyst for the preparation of β-acetamido ketones. Polyaniline-sulfate salt was found to be the best catalyst for the preparation of β-acetamido ketones. Present methodology offers several advantages, such as cheaper process, easy synthesis of stable catalyst, simple work-up procedure, and excellent activity with less amount of catalyst and in addition, the catalyst can be easily recovered after completion of the reaction and reusable without affecting its activity.     

Evaluating system behavior through Dynamic Master Logic Diagram (DMLD) modeling

In this paper, the Dynamic Master Logic Diagram (DMLD) is introduced for representing full-scale time-dependent behavior and uncertain behavior of complex physical systems. Conceptually, the DMLD allows one to decompose a complex system hierarchically to model and to represent: (1) partial success/failure of the system, (2) full-scale logical, physical and fuzzy connectivity relations, (3) probabilistic, resolutional or linguistic uncertainty, (4) multiple-state system dynamics, and (5) floating threshold and transition effects. To demonstrate the technique, examples of using DMLD to model, to diagnose and to control dynamic behavior of a system are presented. A DMLD-based expert system building tool, called Dynamic Reliability Expert System (DREXs), is introduced to automate the DMLD modeling process.     

Inhibitory effect of magnetic iron‐oxide nanoparticles on the pattern of expression of lanosterol 14α ‐demethylase (ERG11) in fluconazole‐resistant colonising isolate of Candida albicans

Fluconazole‐resistant Candida albicans is a big scary reality. The authors assessed the antifungal effects of magnetic iron‐oxide nanoparticles on fluconazole‐resistant colonising isolate of C. albicans and determined the expression of ERG11 gene, protein sequence similarity and ergosterol content. C. albicans isolates were characterised and fluconazole resistance is recognised using World Health Organization''s WHONET software. Susceptibility testing of magnetic iron‐oxide nanoparticles against fluconazole‐resistant colonising isolate of C. albicans was performed according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. The expression patterns of ERG11 and protein sequence similarity were investigated. Ergosterol quantification has been used to gauge the antifungal activity of magnetic iron‐oxide nanoparticles. The findings indicated that 93% of C. albicans isolates were resistant to fluconazole. Magnetic iron‐oxide nanoparticles were presented activity against fluconazole‐resistant colonising isolate of C. albicans with minimum inhibitory concentration at 250–500 µg/ml. The expression level of ERG11 gene was downregulated in fluconazole‐resistant colonising isolate of C. albicans. The results revealed no differences in fluconazole‐resistant colonising isolate of C. albicans by comparison with ERG11 reference sequences. Moreover, significant reduction was noted in ergosterol content. The findings shed a novel light on the application of magnetic iron‐oxide nanoparticles in fighting against resistant C. albicans.Inspec keywords: microorganisms, biochemistry, molecular biophysics, antibacterial activity, iron compounds, proteins, cellular biophysics, nanoparticles, drugs, geneticsOther keywords: albicans isolates, magnetic iron‐oxide nanoparticles, fluconazole‐resistant colonising isolate, fluconazole resistance, ERG11, candida albicans, protein sequence similarity, ergosterol content, WHONET, ergosterol quantification, susceptibility testing, antifungal activity, gene expression     

An improved time-adaptive self-organizing map for high-speed shape modeling

In this paper, an improved active contour model based on the time-adaptive self-organizing map with a high convergence speed and low computational complexity is proposed. For this purpose, the active contour model based on the original time-adaptive self-organizing map is modified in two ways: adaptation of the speed parameter and reduction of the number of neurons. By adapting the speed parameter, the neuron motion speed is determined based on the distance of each neuron from the shape boundary which results in an increase in the speed of convergence of the contour. Using a smaller number of neurons, the computational complexity is reduced. To achieve this, the number of neurons used in the contour is determined based on the boundary curvature. The proposed model is studied and compared with the original time-adaptive self-organizing map. Both models are used in several experiments including a tracking application. Results reveal the higher speed and very good performance of the proposed model for real-time applications.     

CHANGES IN ASPHALT CHEMISTRY AND DURABILITY DURING OXIDATION AND POLYMER MODIFICATION

The Gulf Countries' environmental conditions are very severe. The temperature zoning study indicate that more than half of Gulf areas experience a maximum seven consecutive days pavement temperature of 76°C (Al-Abdul Wahhab et al., 1997). This has resulted in damage to the road networks in the form of cracking, rutting and deformation. Polymer modification of asphalt is required to increase the resistance to permanent deformation at relatively high temperatures without adversely affecting the properties of the asphalts at low temperature. In this work chemical and performance-related properties of fresh, oxidized, and polymer modified asphalts were evaluated. The physical properties and performance characteristics of asphalts were found to depend on the chemical composition of asphalt. The interactions of polar functionalities actually present or formed during oxidative aging or due to polymer modification, influence the viscosity and related flow properties. The changes in composition of fresh, oxidized and polymer-modified asphalts can be clearly identified from Infrared spectroscopy. NMR spectroscopy enables detailed information about the Carbon-and-hydrogen-types and average molecular/structural parameters of asphalt without separating it into different components.     

Purification and characterization of a novel glucoamylase from Fusarium solani

Thermostable enzymes are currently being investigated to improve industrial processes of starch saccharification. A novel glucoamylase was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from the culture supernatant of Fusarium solani on a fast protein liquid chromatographic system (FPLC). The recovery of glucoamylase after gel filtration on FPLC was 31.8% with 26.2-fold increase in specific activity. The enzyme had a molecular mass of 40 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 41 kDa by gel filtration. The glucoamylase exhibited optimum activity at pH 4.5. The K_cat and K_m were 441/min and 1.9 mg/ml, respectively, for soluble starch, specificity constant (K_cat/K_m) was 232. The enzyme was thermally stable at 50 °C and retained 79% activity after 60 min at this temperature. The half-life of the enzyme was 26 min at 60°C. The enzyme was slightly stimulated by Cu²⁺ and Mg²⁺ and strongly inhibited by Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Fe³⁺.     

Formation and Characterization of Titanium Modif Aluminide Coatings on IN738LC

HISTORICALLY superalloys have been used in gasturbine applications with a protective coating to combatoxidation problems in aero engines and hot corrosionproblems in industrial and marine engines.Theprotective coatings used are predominantly of thediffusion type produced by variety of techniques suchas pack cementation,chemical vapor deposition,slurryfusion and hot dipping[1,2].The purpose of this typeof coatings is to increase the amount of Al at thesurface of a component,so that a protec…     

Autoscan shift: A new core-rock data integration technique to overcome the shortcomings of conventional regression

For integrating rock mechanical data from cores and well logs, a new, two-stage technique is presented. The first stage consists of a less known criterion for filtering spurious data (outliers). It was developed and applied in astrophysics by Chauvenet [Chauvenet, W., 1863. Theory and Use of Astronomical Instruments: Method of Least Squares, pp. 558–566] but not applied in the E&P industry. The second stage is a new calibration method devised by us. The new calibration method has a unique characteristic: it preserves the shape of the depth vs. parameter profile of well logs.The conventional calibration technique uses the well-known Least Squares-based regression technique. This usually results in some distortion of the shape of the log-based data profile. The distortion is more serious whenever the coefficient of correlation is low, and can entirely mask the true variability of the measured parameter as obtained from the well log. In addition, the presence of any spurious data in the core data itself can render the calibration process meaningless.Calibrating the continuous log-based parameters (e.g., rock-mechanical elastic moduli) with the help of a limited number of core-based data is a routine job in designing mud-weight window for a stable borehole, ensuring sand-free hydrocarbon production, and productivity enhancement by hydraulic fracturing. The proposed technique will help make more accurate designs of these important exploration and production operations.The proposed technique can be commercialized as an independent package or by embedding it in an existing petroleum engineering software package. A preliminary version has already been delivered to Saudi Aramco to help design hydraulic fracturing that is currently being performed in the Hawiya/Haradh Gas Initiative.