Protein expression profiles in human breast ductal carcinoma and histologically normal tissue

Reference two-dimensional (2-D) gels are presented for human breast ductal carcinoma and histologically normal tissue. Whole biopsy fragments were analyzed, including epithelial and nonepithelial components. Thirty-five spots have been assigned by gel matching to the human liver SWISS-2DPAGE reference map and/or to the human primary keratinocyte IPG map from the Danish Center for Human Genome. N-terminal microsequencing was applied to confirm randomly chosen matching assignments and to identify six new spots. Protein expression profiles in ductal carcinoma and in normal breast tissue appeared to be similar, except for a pattern consisting of 32 spots, which were highly expressed in all carcinoma specimens, and less intense and occasionally undetectable in normal tissue. This difference was statistically significant. Assignment has been obtained for several spots, namely GRP94, GRP78, GRP75, mitochondrial HSP60, calreticulin, protein disulfide isomerase, peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase, collagen-binding protein 2, fructose bisphosphate aldolase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, thioredoxin, cytochrome c oxidase VA subunit, tubulin beta isoform and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). The cancer- and tissue-specificity of the described pattern was assessed by matching to the Swiss-2DPAGE human liver, hepatoma, lymphoma, erythroleukemia reference maps. The pattern of 32 spots was found to be indicative of epithelial neoplasia.     

A low-noise-figure 1.5 μm multiple-quantum-well opticalamplifier

The authors report on the noise characteristics of InGaAs/InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well optical amplifiers operating near 1.5 μm. A noise figure of 4.4 dB is reported, verifying the predicted low-noise properties of quantum-well amplifiers     

Deposition of hydroxyapatite coatings by axial plasma spraying: Influence of feedstock characteristics on coating microstructure,phase content and mechanical properties

Axial plasma spray is one of the thermal spray techniques to deposit multifunctional advanced coatings. The present work explores the use of this process to deposit thin, continuous, and adherent Ca₅ (PO₄)₃OH (hydroxyapatite, HAp) coatings and characterize its microstructure, phases, hardness and adhesion strength. Three different suspension-deposited HAp coatings were investigated and compared with powder-deposited HAp coating on a Ti6Al4V substrate. The effect of mean solute particle size and solid-loading in the suspension has been explored on the evolution of microstructure, phase content and mechanical properties of axial suspension plasma sprayed (ASPS) coatings. Phase-characterization has shown retention of hydroxyapatite phase and coating crystallinity in the deposited coatings, whereas the adhesion strength of the HAp coating decreased from ～40 MPa to ～13 MPa when bioglass was added to the feedstock material. The lower solid load content and lower mean solute particle size in the suspension were found to be beneficial in achieving porous, rougher, and well-adhering coatings. This work concludes that ASPS can potentially deposit thin HAp coatings (< 50 μm) with high adhesion strength.     

Development of microbiologically safe mung bean sprouts using combination treatment of sodium hypochlorite and gamma radiation

Specific group of people, with impaired immune system, are recommended to consume pathogen‐free foods. In this study, microbiologically safe ready‐to‐eat (RTE) mung bean sprouts were developed using combination treatment (CT) with 200 ppm sodium hypochlorite and 12 kGy dose of gamma radiation. Microbiological analysis of combination‐treated sprout samples showed complete elimination (<10 CFU g^?1 of sprouts) of microbial load in these samples, even during storage at 4 °C up to 12 days. Combination treatment and storage period did not have any significant effect on the sensory qualities of RTE mung bean sprouts. However, reduction in the firmness and vitamin C content of combination‐treated sprout samples, similar to other food processing methods, was observed. These results suggest that CT is effective in sterilisation of mung bean sprouts. These sprouts can be included in the diets of special target groups and thereby improve in their quality of life.     

A Computational Investigation of the Interaction of Pulses in Two-Pulse Jets

Large-eddy simulations (LES) and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations of the interaction of the second pulse with the first pulse in a double-injection event are presented in this study. The opposing effects of the turbulence generated by the first pulse to accelerate mixing of the second pulse, and the residual bulk velocity from the first pulse to accelerate penetration of the second pulse are analyzed. The LES results show greater influence of the turbulence whereas the RANS results show greater influence of the bulk velocity.     

Enhancing the Performance of a Parallel Solver for Turbulent Reacting Flow Simulations

This article describes results of an effort to improve the parallel efficiency of a solver for turbulent reacting flows on two computer architectures. The compact finite-difference scheme employed for the solution of the differential equations involves the inversion of multiple tridiagonal matrices at each time step. Detailed performance evaluation of the standard LU, parallel partition LU, and parallel diagonal dominant algorithms are presented. The speed-up and efficiencies of these parallel strategies are critically compared and evaluated based on both computation and communication complexities, on the CRAY XT4 and IBM Blue Gene/P architectures.     

Properties of Noncentral Dirichlet Distributions

Let X₁,…, X_r+1 be independent random variables, X_iGa (a_i, θ, δ_i), i = 1,…, r + 1. Define and V_i = X_i/X_r+1, i = 1,…, r. Then, (U₁,…, U_r) and (V₁,…, V_r) follow noncentral Dirichlet Type 1 and Type 2 distributions, respectively. In this article several properties of these distributions and their connections with the uniform, the noncentral multivariate-F and the noncentral multivariate-t distributions are discussed.     

Simple and stereoselective synthesis of sex pheromone of processionary mothThaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis and Schiff.)

A simple and stereoselective synthesis of (Z)-13-hexadecen-11-yn-1-yl acetate, the major component of the sex pheromone ofThaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis and Schiff.) is described. The procedure essentially involves formylation of a terminal acetylene to the corresponding aldehyde followed by a stereochemically controlled Wittig reaction, which has been studied under a variety of conditions.     

Frequency tuning and pulse generation in a fiber laser with anintracavity semiconductor active filter

The authors demonstrate optical frequency tuning by direct electrical means as well as FM and AM mode-locking in an erbium-doped fiber laser with an intracavity distributed Bragg reflector active filter/modulator. They obtained a 6 nm discrete tuning range and pulses of 38 and 78 ps duration in AM and FM mode-locking, respectively