Electroencephalography‐based feature extraction using complex network for automated epileptic seizure detection

Electroencephalography signals are typically used for analyzing epileptic seizures. These signals are highly nonlinear and nonstationary, and some specific patterns exist for certain disease types that are hard to develop an automatic epileptic seizure detection system. This paper discussed statistical mechanics of complex networks, which inherit the characteristic properties of electroencephalography signals, for feature extraction via a horizontal visibility algorithm in order to reduce processing time and complexity. The algorithm transforms a time series signal into a complex network, which some features are abbreviated. The statistical mechanics are calculated to capture distinctions pertaining to certain diseases to form a feature vector. The feature vector is classified by multiclass classification via a k‐nearest neighbor classifier, a multilayer perceptron neural network, and a support vector machine with a 10‐fold cross‐validation criterion. In performance evaluation of proposed method with healthy, seizure‐free interval, and seizure signals, firstly, input data length is regarded among some practical signal samples by optimizing between accuracy‐processing time, and the proposed method yields outstanding performance on the average classification accuracy for 3‐class problems mainly for detection of seizure‐free interval and seizure signals and acceptable results for 2‐class and 5‐class problems comparing with conventional methods. The proposed method is another tool that can be used for classifying signal patterns, as an alternative to time/frequency analyses.     

A multi-expert approach for developing testing and diagnostic systems based on the concept-effect model

With the popularization of computer and communication technologies, researchers have attempted to develop computer-assisted testing and diagnostic systems to help students improve their learning performance on the Internet. In developing a diagnostic system for detecting students’ learning problems, it is difficult for individual teachers to address the exact relationships between the test items and the concepts. To cope with this problem, this study proposes an innovative approach to eliciting and integrating the weightings of test item-concept relationships from multiple experts. Based on the proposed approach, a testing and diagnostic system has been implemented; moreover, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of our approach. By analyzing the results from four groups of students using learning suggestions provided by different models, it was found that the learning performance of the students who received learning suggestions by applying the innovative approach was significantly better than for those who received guidance based on the original model.     

Partial purification and characterization of trypsin-like proteinases in Indian anchovy (Stolephorus spp.)

Four fractions (P111, P21, P31, and P4) of proteinases were obtained from various purification steps including heat treatment (60 °C, 10 min), 30–60% ammonium sulfate precipitation, anion exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and gel filtration chromatography. Optimal temperature and pH of all fractions were 50–60 °C and 8.5, respectively. All partially purified proteinases preferably hydrolyzed substrates containing Arg at the P₁ position. All proteinases were inhibited by soybean trypsin inhibitor, leupeptin, and N-tosyl-l-lysine chloromethyl ketone. Partially purified proteinases were stable at 35 °C up to 12 h. However, their activity decreased about 40% when incubated at the optimal temperature (50–55 °C) for 2 h. Only P111 was stable at its optimal temperature (60 °C) up to 12 h. Molecular weight (MW) of P111, P21, and P31 was estimated to be 27, 33, 37, 43, 48, 55, 60, and 65 kDa, while MW of P4 was 39 kDa based on activity staining. All partially purified proteinases hydrolyzed washed anchovy mince at 4.0 M NaCl, pH 8.5, at 35 °C and at their optimal temperatures (50–60 °C).     

Addition of gelatin enhanced gelation of corn–milk yogurt

Corn–milk yogurt set by a combination of sodium caseinate plus gelatin at concentrations of 0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6% (w/v) were studied. The quality of the gels was determined by measurement of acidity, syneresis, texture profile analysis, viscoelasticity, structure scanning electron microscope and microbiology. Texture profile analysis (TPA) showed that increasing levels of gelatin increased hardness, adhesiveness and springiness as well as the acidity of the products. Viscoelastic behaviour displayed similar trends to the TPA characteristics, the storage modulus was less frequency dependent than the loss modulus giving a loss tangent of 0.2 in the high gelatin systems, which might indicate a true gel system. The microstructure was dense and spongy-like with small air cells, in particular, those having a high concentration of gelatin (0.6%, w/v) gave a very firm structure which might impair palatability. The addition of a commercial gelatin at 0.4% (w/v) gave good acceptability for the product (little syneresis of the gels produced). While the gelatin used for this study had a bloom value of 246 g the authors acknowledge that a different commercial gelatin may well result in a different concentration being required.     

The performance improvement of a cascade thermoacoustic engine by adjusting the acoustic impedance in the regenerator

A novel cascade configuration consisting of one standing wave unit and one travelling wave unit arranged in series is studied in this paper. Theoretically, a straight‐line cascade engine provides an efficient energy conversion, reduces the difficulties of fabrication and allows no Gedeon streaming. In order to achieve such a powerful cascade thermoacoustic engine, the regenerator of the travelling wave unit must be operated in high impedance and travelling wave phasing region. Various techniques of phase adjustment by modifying the configurations and geometrical dimensions of the system are investigated both numerically and experimentally in order to adjust the position of the sweet spot as well as to promote the acoustic impedance in the regenerator. It is found that the effective tuning methods with less modification here are accomplished by changing the volume of down‐cavity and reducing the flow area of down‐resonator by inserting the pencil. The exploration also shows that the acoustic field in the system is quite sensitive to the effect of down‐resonator length. The performance of the proposed system is clearly improved after the phase‐adjustment schemes are completely implemented, in which the regenerator works within the sweep spot zone with high acoustic impedance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A majority-density approach to developing testing and diagnostic systems with the cooperation of multiple experts based on an enhanced concept–effect relationship model

In the recent years, diagnosing students’ learning problems after testing and providing learning suggestions for them are an important research issue. Many studies have been conducted to develop a method for analyzing learning barriers of students such that helpful learning suggestions or guidance can be provided based on the analysis results. In this paper, we present a new procedure for integrating test item–concept relationship opinions based on majority density of multiple experts in order to enhance a concept–effect relationship model used for generating personalized feedback. It provides a useful and practical way to decrease inconsistencies in the weighting criteria of multiple experts and to enhance the entire learning-diagnosis procedure for developing testing and diagnostic systems.     

Source and changes of proteinase activities of Indian anchovy (Stolephorus spp.) during fish sauce fermentation

Trypsin‐like proteinases exhibited the highest activity in viscera and muscle of Indian anchovy (Stolephorus spp.). The molecular weights (MWs) of proteinases in viscera were estimated to be 31, 35, 44, 49 and 57 kDa by activity staining in the presence of 4 mol L^?1 NaCl. The MW of proteinase extracted from muscle was 56 kDa. This reflects that only one proteinase was extracted from muscle whereas five proteinases were extracted from viscera. Trypsin‐like, chymotrypsin‐like and cathepsin L‐like proteinases were found in commercial fish sauce samples throughout 12 months of fermentation, suggesting that these proteinases were stable at high salt concentrations (250–300 g kg^?1 NaCl) and under acidic conditions (pH 5.2–5.8). In contrast, leucine aminopeptidase activity was detected only in the first month. The MWs of proteinases found in fish sauce after various fermentation periods were estimated to be 37, 47 and 53 kDa, which coincided with the MWs of proteinases found in Indian anchovy. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Autolytic activity and biochemical characteristics of endogenous proteinases in Indian anchovy (Stolephorus indicus)

Maximum autolytic activity of Indian anchovy (Stolephorus indicus) was found at 60 °C. Autolytic activity decreased with increased NaCl concentration. Remaining autolytic activity at 25% NaCl (w/w) was 52%. Crude proteinase extracts exhibited the highest activity at 60 °C, using either casein or acid-denatured hemoglobin (dHb) as a substrate. Optimal pH of crude extracts was found at 8.5 for casein and 9.5 for dHb. Activity of crude extract decreased >50% when NaCl concentration was greater than 0.1 M. Crude extract was stable for up to 8 h at 4, 30, and 60 °C. Crude proteinase hydrolyzed several synthetic substrates of trypsin, including Boc-Asp(oBzl)-Pro-Arg-MCA, Boc-Val-Leu-Lys-MCA, and Boc-Gln-Ala-Arg-MCA. Soybean trypsin inhibitor (SBTI), leupeptin, phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), and N-tosyl-l-lysine chloromethyl ketone (TLCK) inhibited activities of proteinase, indicating trypsin-like characteristics. Molecular weight of proteinases exhibiting caseinolytic activity at 4.0 M NaCl were estimated to be 63, 53, 46, 40, 35, and 31 kDa, using electrophoresis activity staining.     

Photostriction of Sol–Gel Processed PLZT Ceramics

Lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate (PLZT) ceramic materials have gained considerable attention due to their photostriction, which is the superposition of photovoltaic and piezoelectric effects. However, the photovoltaic effect and the induced strain response are also influenced by the fabrication and processing conditions. The PLZT ceramics produced by conventional oxide mixing process exhibit moderate photostrictive properties due to the inhomogeneous distribution of impurities. In this study, ceramics of PLZT (3/52/48) doped with WO₃ and Nb₂O₅ were prepared by sol–gel technique using lead(II) acetate trihydrate, lanthanum(III) acetylacetonate hydrate, Zr, Ti, Nb, and W alkoxides. It was found that WO₃ and Nb₂O₅ were effective in suppressing the grain growth of PLZT, which lead to the enhancement of photovoltaic and photostrictive properties. Photovoltaic and photostrictive responses show ed a maximum for samples with 0.5 at% WO₃ doped sol–gel PLZT. It has been shown that the sol–gel derived PLZT ceramics with proper density possess the possibility of enhancing the photostriction over ceramics produced by conventional oxide mixing process.     

Replacement of hydroxyapatite from chicken eggshell waste for ceramic properties improvement

The chicken eggshell waste from food processing was synthesized as the hydroxyapatite for fluxing agent replacement in ceramic manufacturing. The main fluxing agents in Thailand ceramic manufacturing are natural potash feldspar (k-feldspar) and animal bone ash. To overcome the problems of inconstant properties and the lack of k-feldspar, the hydroxyapatite from chicken eggshell waste was selected as fluxing agent for the enhancement of the ceramic product. In this work, the hydroxyapatite with 0, 5, 10, and 15 wt% was replaced with the k-feldspar in the ceramic samples. The results revealed the physical and mechanical properties of the ceramic samples with various hydroxyapatite contents were investigated after heat treatment in the temperature range of 1000–1200 °C. The ceramic samples added with hydroxyapatite have higher linear shrinkage and bulk density as compared with the ceramic sample without hydroxyapatite. The apparent porosity and water absorption decreased to near zero after the heat treatment at a temperature of 1200 °C. Moreover, the results showed that the physical properties affected the mechanical properties improvement after the hydroxyapatite addition and heat treatment process.