Proteomics of plaques and novel sources of potential biomarkers for atherosclerosis

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and loss of productive life years in the world. The underlying syndrome of CVD, atherosclerosis, is a complex disease process, which involves lipid metabolism, inflammation, innate and adaptive immunity, and many other pathophysiological aspects. Furthermore, CVD is influenced by genetic as well as environmental factors. Early detection of CVD and identification of patients at risk are crucial to reduce the burden of disease and to allow personalized treatment. As established risk factors fail to accurately predict which part of the population is likely to suffer from the disease, novel biomarkers are urgently needed. Proteomics can play a significant role in identifying these biomarkers. In this review, we describe the progress made in proteome profiling of the atherosclerotic plaque and several novel sources of potential biomarkers, including circulating cells and plasma extracellular vesicles. The importance of longitudinal biobanking in biomarker discovery is highlighted and exemplified by several plaque proteins identified in the biobank study Athero-Express. Finally, we discuss the PTMs of proteins that are involved in atherosclerosis, which may become one of the foci in the ongoing quest for biomarkers through proteomics of plaque and other matrices relevant to the progression of atherosclerosis.     

A path planning model based on nested regular hexagons using weighted centroid localization

In many wireless sensor network (WSN) applications, the location of a sensor node is crucial for determining where the event or situation of interest occurred. Therefore, localization is one of the critical challenges in WSNs. Mobile anchor node assisted localization (MANAL) is one of the promising solutions for the localization of statically deployed sensors. The main problem in MANAL localization is that the path planning of the mobile anchor (MA) node should be done so that the localization error in the network will be minimal and that all unknown nodes in the network are covered. This paper proposes a new path planning approach called nested hexagons curves (NHexCurves) for MANAL. NHexCurves guarantees that it will receive messages from at least three non-collinear anchors to locate all unknown nodes in the network. The proposed model has compared six different path planning schemes in the literature using weighted centroid localization (WCL). In these comparisons, first of all, localization errors of the models are compared using some statistical concepts. Second, the variation of the localization error according to parameters such as resolution (R) and the standard deviation of noise (σ) is observed. Then, with similar approaches, the standard deviation of errors, localization ratio, scalability performances, and finally, path lengths of the models are examined. The simulation results show that the NHexCurves static path planning model proposed in this study stands out compared to other models with high localization error and localization ratio performance, especially at low resolutions, due to its path design. At the same time, the lowest error values according to σ are obtained with the proposed model among all models considered.     

Instance-Based Regression by Partitioning Feature Projections

A new instance-based learning method is presented for regression problems with high-dimensional data. As an instance-based approach, the conventional method, KNN, is very popular for classification. Although KNN performs well on classification tasks, it does not perform as well on regression problems. We have developed a new instance-based method, called Regression by Partitioning Feature Projections (RPFP) which is designed to meet the requirement for a lazy method that achieves high levels of accuracy on regression problems. RPFP gives better performance than well-known eager approaches found in machine learning and statistics such as MARS, rule-based regression, and regression tree induction systems. The most important property of RPFP is that it is a projection-based approach that can handle interactions. We show that it outperforms existing eager or lazy approaches on many domains when there are many missing values in the training data.     

Synthesis, characterization, electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemistry of novel soluble porphyrazines bearing unsaturated functional groups

Metalloporphyrazines with a 2-methyl-2-pentenyl group fused to each pyrrole unit were synthesized starting with the corresponding unsaturated dicarbonitrile derivative. The new compounds were characterized by elemental analysis together with FTIR, ¹H-NMR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy and via voltammetric and spectrochemical methods. Electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical measurements demonstrate that while metal-free and magnesium porphyrazines gave common porphyrazine (Pz) ring-based electron-transfer reactions, incorporating redox active metal center, Co^II, into the porphyrazine core extended the redox activity of the ring system with reversible metal-based reduction and oxidation couples of the metal center in addition to the common Pz ring-based electron transfer processes. The unsaturated functional groups of the porphyrazines did not alter the common electrochemical behavior of the complexes. An in situ electrocolorimetric method, based on the 1931 CIE (Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage) system of colorimetry, was applied to investigate the color of the electro-generated anionic and cationic forms of the complexes for possible electrochromatic applications.     

The effect of atmospheric plasma treatment of recycled carbon fiber at different plasma powers on recycled carbon fiber and its polypropylene composites

To increase the mechanical properties of recycled carbon fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites, recycled carbon fibers (RCF) were subjected to atmospheric plasma treatment at different plasma powers (100, 200, and 300 W). The changes on surface topography and roughness of RCF were examined by atomic force microscopy. Plasma treatment of RCF increased the roughness value of RCF. The variation of surface elemental compositions and tensile strength of RCF were determined by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and tensile test, respectively. Plasma-treated RCF-reinforced PP composites were fabricated using high speed thermo-kinetic mixer. Plasma treatment of RCF at 100 W increased the tensile and flexural strength values of RCF-reinforced PP composites considerably by 17 and 11%, respectively. However, plasma treatment of RCF at higher plasma powers (200 W and 300 W) decreased tensile and flexural strength values of composites because of the etching of RCF. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47131.     

Formulating Pantone colors by unused base inks,formulation software,and a spectrophotometer

Unused base inks that are not going to be used for printing production are considered to be hazardous materials. Their disposal is expensive, and strict environmental regulations should be followed for their disposal. As an alternative, this article describes how spectral data of unused base inks can be gathered and mixed to generate new colors to incorporate them back to print production for small‐volume jobs. In this study, 30 different Pantone colors were selected as target colors. The CIE L*a*b* spectral data of Pantone colors and unused base inks were gathered via a spectrophotometer. A commercial formulation software, based on multiflux theory and CIE L*a*b* color space, was used to formulate ink recipes that contained the base inks. To quantify the performance of ink recipes, they were mixed and printed using an offset printability tester. The CIELAB ΔE*_ab metric, developed by CIE, was used to detect the visual differences between the target Pantone Color and printed colors.     

Comparison of lactic acid bacteria diversity during the fermentation of Tarhana produced at home and on a commercial scale

Food Science and Biotechnology - In this study, lactic acid bacteria diversity during the fermentation of homemade and commercially prepared Tarhana, a traditional fermented cereal food from...     

Specific heavy metal ion recovery with ion‐imprinted cryogels

In this study, the functional monomers, N‐methacryloyl‐l ‐aspartic acid and N‐methacryloyl‐l ‐cysteine were synthesized through a reaction between appropriate amino acids and methacryloyl chloride. Then, Pb(II) or Cd(II) ion‐imprinted 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate based cryogels were prepared by free radical polymerization method under partially frozen conditions. Following the characterization of matrices, adsorption of heavy metal ions was examined in batch mode from aqueous solution considering several parameters affecting the adsorption performance. The actual adsorption capacities were 44.5, 65.3, and 86.7 mg/g for Cd‐1, Cd‐2, and Cd‐3 cryogels meanwhile those were 41.9, 86.3, and 122.7 mg/g for Pb‐1, Pb‐2, and Pb‐3 cryogels, respectively at optimum pH: 5.5. By increasing temperature, adsorption capabilities of both cryogels were inhibited because of the electrostatic nature of coordinated covalent bonds and collapsing of coordination spheres. The adsorption process was very fast, the equilibrium adsorption was achieved in about 60 min, which was directly related to macroporous structure and interconnected flow‐channels of cryogels. Kinetics and adsorption isotherms were also studied. Langmuir isotherms and pseudo‐second order kinetic model were well suited to adsorption data, which also indicated that the process occurred without any diffusion restrictions or steric hindrances. Finally, the competitive adsorption studies were performed using multi‐ion containing synthetic wastewater to show whether the cryogels developed are suitable for specific heavy metal recycling or not. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43095.