Evaluation of humic acid photocatalytic degradation by UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy

Photodegradation of humic substances causes drastic changes in the UV–vis absorption and fluorescence properties of humic acids. In this study it is intended to fulfill the lack of knowledge about the spectral changes of humic acids during photocatalytic oxidation processes and elucidate the effects observed on the molecular size distribution of humic acid focusing on their analysis by UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy.

As confirmed by the spectroscopic evaluation of the molecular size distribution data, photocatalytic degradation of humic acid leads to the formation of lower molecular size (small fractions) and higher UV absorbing compounds. For fractions less than 10 kDa, UV₂₅₄ absorbing moieties in treated humic acid samples become higher than that of raw humic acid designating the generation of new species during photocatalysis. UV–vis spectroscopic changes were also evaluated by the parameters relating to the concomitant removal of the total organic carbon as well as by the ratios using absorption values at discrete wavelengths. Moreover, the fluorescence spectra of treated humic acid samples show decreasing intensity profiles with increasing photocatalytic irradiation time.     

Thermodynamic analysis of the interaction between 3-aminophenylboronic acid and monosaccharides for development of biosensor

The special interaction between 3-aminophenylboronic acid and monosaccharides, particularly glucose, fructose and galactose, has been investigated and used for the development of electrochemical and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based saccharide sensors. The binding constants and thermodynamic parameters of interaction such as free energy of binding (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) were determined for the first time using isothermal titration calorimetry revealed the enthalpic and entropic contributions to the free energies of binding. Effects of pH and buffer on the binding constants (k) between 3-aminophenylboronic acid and monosaccharides were also examined. The binding constant of fructose was found to be six times higher than glucose and four times higher than galactose at pH 11, leading the specific detection of fructose. SPR and potentiometric calibration for fructose were linear in the concentration range of 10–120 mM and 8–84 mM, respectively. Limit of detection of the SPR and potentiometric method were found to be as 8.9 mM and 1.4 mM, respectively.     

Statistical Modeling of β-galactosidase Inhibition During Lactose Hydrolysis

A statistical model approach called response surface methodology was used to describe the product and substrate inhibition effect on β-galactosidase enzyme during lactose hydrolysis. The effect of independent variables, namely the initial concentrations of lactose (73 - 146 mM), galactose (44 - 122 mM) and glucose (83 - 167 mM) on the reaction rate of β-galactosidase was evaluated. The enzymatic reaction rate was influenced by both combined and individual effects of all the substrate and products. Although, glucose acted as an activator at low lactose and low galactose concentrations, glucose caused the inhibition of β-galactosidase at higher concentrations of lactose and galactose. The effect of galactose concentration on β-galactosidase enzyme was in the direction of inhibition. At low lactose concentrations and high glucose concentrations, galactose concentration became more effective on the reaction rate.     

An investigation of free vibrations of a strain gradient Timoshenko beams with the method of initial values

Investigated herein is the free vibrations of beams based on the strain gradient Timoshenko beam theory with the method of initial values. For the vibration of strain-gradient Timoshenko beam (SGTB), the sixth-order ordinary differential equation and three boundary conditions at each end have been obtained by using the Hamilton principle. The effect of the characteristic length on the frequencies of free vibrations is shown. The frequencies of the SGTB are compared to the frequencies of the strain gradient Euler beam (SGEB), classical Timoshenko beam (CTB) and classical Euler beam (CEB). It has been observed that the high-frequency values of conventional and strain-gradient beams are very different. This result can be used to determine the value of the material characteristic length for a nanobeam for which lengthscale effects are believed to be dominant.

     

Scheduling image processing tasks in a multilayer system

Multilayer multiprocessor systems are generally employed in real-time applications such as robotics and computer vision. This paper introduces three heuristic algorithms for multiprocessor task scheduling in such systems. In our model, tasks with arbitrary processing times and arbitrary processor requirements are considered. The scheduling aims at minimising completion time of processes in a two-layer system. We employed an effective lower bound (LB) for the problem. Then, we analysed the average performance of the heuristic algorithms by computing the average percentage deviation of each heuristic solution from the LB on a set of randomly generated problems. We have also applied these algorithms for scheduling computer vision tasks running on prototype multilayer architecture. Our computational and empirical results showed that the proposed heuristic algorithms perform well.     

Hybrid Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search for the Optimal Statistic Median Problem

In this paper, the problem of maximizing the median of a convex combination of vectors having important applications in finance is considered. The objective function is a highly nonlinear, nondifferentiable function with many local minima and the problem was shown to be APX hard. We present two hybrid Large Neighborhood Search algorithms that are based on mixed-integer programs and include a time limit for their running times. We have tested the algorithms on three testbeds and showed their superiority compared to other state-of-the-art heuristics for the considered problem. Furthermore, we achieved a significant reduction in running time for large instances compared to solving it exactly while retaining high quality of the solutions returned.     

Parallel machine scheduling with flexible resources

Parallel machine flexible resource scheduling (PMFRS) problems consider an additional flexible resource (e.g. operators), which can be freely allocated to any jobs and/or any machines and may speed-up the process in proportion to its amount. If job–machine assignment is unspecified, the problem is referred to as unspecified PMFRS (UPMFRS). This paper reviews the mathematical models of both PMFRS and UPMFRS problems in the literature and not only gives some extensions to the model of dynamic PMFRS problem but also presents integer programming (IP) models for static and dynamic UPMFRS problems with the objective of minimizing makespan. To solve large-sized dynamic PMFRS and UPMFRS problems, a relaxed IP based constraint programming (CP) approach is also proposed. All IP models and the proposed IP/CP approach are tested with an extensive computational study. The results of the computational experiments are discussed with respect to the major parameters of the problem and conclusions are drawn.     

Understanding the Potential In Vitro Modes of Action of Bis(β-diketonato) Oxovanadium(IV) Complexes

To understand the potential in vitro modes of action of bis(β-diketonato) oxovanadium(IV) complexes, nine compounds of varying functionality have been screened using a range of biological techniques. The antiproliferative activity against a range of cancerous and normal cell lines has been determined, and show these complexes are particularly sensitive against the lung carcinoma cell line, A549. Annexin V (apoptosis) and Caspase-3/7 assays were studied to confirm these complexes induce programmed cell death. While gel electrophoresis was used to determine DNA cleavage activity and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the Comet assay was used to determine induced genomic DNA damage. Additionally, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based DNA melting and fluorescent intercalation displacement assays have been used to determine the interaction of the complexes with double strand (DS) DNA and to establish preferential DNA base-pair binding (AT versus GC).