Estimation of soil clay and calcium carbonate using laboratory, field and airborne hyperspectral measurements

This paper examines how reflectance spectrometry used in the laboratory to estimate clay and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) soil contents can be applied to field and airborne measurements for soil property mapping. A continuum removal (CR) technique quantifying specific absorption features of clay (2206 nm) and CaCO₃ (2341 nm) was applied to laboratory, field and airborne HYMAP reflectance measurements collected in 2003 (33 sites) and 2005 (19 sites) over bare soil sites of a few meters within the La Peyne Valley area, southern France. Nine intermediate stages from the laboratory up to HYMAP sensor measurements were considered for separately evaluating the possible degradation of estimation performances when going across scales and sensors, e.g. radiometric calibration, spectral resolution, spatial variability, illumination conditions, and surface status including roughness, soil moisture and presence and nature of pebbles.Significant relationships were observed between clay and CaCO₃ contents and CR values computed respectively at 2206 nm and 2341 nm from reflectance measurements at the laboratory level with an ASD spectrophotometer up to the HYMAP spectro-imaging sensor. Performances of clay and CaCO₃ estimations decreased from the laboratory to airborne scales. The main factors inducing uncertainties in the estimates were radiometric and wavelength calibration uncertainties of the HYMAP sensor as well as possible residual atmospheric effects.     

Automated image analysis of Euglena gracilis Klebs (Euglenophyta) for measuring sublethal effects of three model contaminants

The short-term impacts of atrazine (herbicide), tributyltin (organometal) and copper on the behaviour of Euglena gracilis Klebs (Euglenophyta) were assessed. First, the ECOTOX automated image analysis system was used, which measured swimming velocity, cell shape, percentage of cells swimming upwards, and randomness of swimming. Next, visual observation by microscopy was used to measure percentage of cell motility and cell shape. Behavioural changes can be used as an indicator of stress in less than 24 h, potentially making them suitable for inclusion in early-warning systems for water quality. Findings indicate that E. gracilis is a very sensitive organism to copper, showing inhibition of motility with visual observation at 0.8 μmol/L within 1 h. The image analysis system was in general less sensitive than visual observation for detecting behavioural changes after incubation in copper. In contrast, after exposure to organic contaminants atrazine and tributyltin, the ECOTOX system detected small changes in the number of cells swimming upwards (antigravitactic behaviour) at higher concentrations.     

Adaptive control of a class of non-linearly parametrized systems using convexification

In this paper we deal with the problem of adaptive control of a class of non-linearly parametrized plants. The main contribution is to show that, through a well-chosen reparametrization, it is possible to transform the non-convex nonlinear parametrization into a convex one, a property that is used to design a globally stable adaptive controller.     

In Vitro Activity of Copper(II) Complexes,Loaded or Unloaded into a Nanostructured Lipid System,against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused mainly by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), presenting 9.5 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths in 2014. The aim of this study was to evaluate a nanostructured lipid system (NLS) composed of 10% phase oil (cholesterol), 10% surfactant (soy phosphatidylcholine, sodium oleate), and Eumulgin^® HRE 40 ([castor oil polyoxyl-40-hydrogenated] in a proportion of 3:6:8), and an 80% aqueous phase (phosphate buffer pH = 7.4) as a tactic to enhance the in vitro anti-Mtb activity of the copper(II) complexes [CuCl₂(INH)₂]·H₂O (1), [Cu(NCS)₂(INH)₂]·5H₂O (2) and [Cu(NCO)₂(INH)₂]·4H₂O (3). The Cu(II) complex-loaded NLS displayed sizes ranging from 169.5 ± 0.7095 to 211.1 ± 0.8963 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) varying from 0.135 ± 0.0130 to 0.236 ± 0.00100, and zeta potential ranging from −0.00690 ± 0.0896 to −8.43 ± 1.63 mV. Rheological analysis showed that the formulations behave as non-Newtonian fluids of the pseudoplastic and viscoelastic type. Antimycobacterial activities of the free complexes and NLS-loaded complexes against Mtb H₃₇Rv ATCC 27294 were evaluated by the REMA methodology, and the selectivity index (SI) was calculated using the cytotoxicity index (IC₅₀) against Vero (ATCC^® CCL-81), J774A.1 (ATCC^® TIB-67), and MRC-5 (ATCC^® CCL-171) cell lines. The data suggest that the incorporation of the complexes into NLS improved the inhibitory action against Mtb by 52-, 27-, and 4.7-fold and the SI values by 173-, 43-, and 7-fold for the compounds 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The incorporation of the complexes 1, 2 and 3 into the NLS also resulted in a significant decrease of toxicity towards an alternative model (Artemia salina L.). These findings suggest that the NLS may be considered as a platform for incorporation of metallic complexes aimed at the treatment of TB.     

Effect of water content on the glass transition,caking and stickiness of protein hydrolysates

Abstract

Protein hydrolysates play an important function in many special dietary foods, e.g. for infants, those with genetic disorders, athletes and geriatrics. Because of hydrolysis these materials are more hygroscopic than the initial intact protein. In this reset the moisture sorption isotherms and the glass transition profile as a function of moisture content for fish protein hydrolysates (FPH), whey protein hydrolysates (WPH) and casein hydrolysates (CH) were determined. The properties of each hydrolysates were related to molecular weight with a lower glass transition curve at lower molecular weight, the Tg was proportional to degree of hydrolysis. These hydrolysates may be as important as sugars in lowering Tg. Fish moisture sorption was related to hydrolysis. CH was less susceptible to caking than FPH and WPH.     

Elastic properties of natural rubber tubes produced by dip‐coating

The mechanical properties of rubber tubes produced by dip‐coating technique and the influence of the fabrication process on their structural properties were evaluated. Cyclic tension versus deformation tests were performed to investigate the elastic properties of the samples and to understand the changes in rubber tubes behavior under repetitive stress. The effect of the wall thickness on the elastic response of the tubes was also studied. The mechanical properties of opened tubes were also investigated for transversal and longitudinal directions to evaluate the influence of the fabrication process on the alignment of the polymer chains. This investigation indicated that the fabricated tubes are resistant and extremely elastic. They can be elongated up to 800% of its initial length before rupture, and thicker tubes are a bit more resistant to elongation than the thinner ones. In addition, the fabricated tubes have an anisotropic structure due to the fabrication process. Finally, natural rubber tubes may have a great potential to be used as vascular prosthesis, or in other applications that require a large range of resistance and elasticity. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 702–707, 2006     

A long follow-up on prostate specific antigen density and prostate biopsy

OBJECTIVE: To determine prostate specific antigen density (PSAD) in a risk population without evidence of prostatic cancer, and to assess the long-term usefulness of PSAD as a parameter for determining the need for a prostatic biopsy in patients with a normal digital rectal examination (DRE) and transrectal ultrasound (TRUS). METHODS: The records of 582 patients referred to the clinic between February, 1992 and February, 1994 were studied retrospectively. All these patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) were evaluated based on the following parameters: digital rectal examination, serum PSA levels, prostate volume measured using transrectal ultrasound and PSAD. Prostatic biopsy was performed on 431 patients who had a serum PSA level greater than 4.0 ng/mL. A total of 299 patients (69.3%) had PSA levels between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/mL and represented the target population. The study had two parts, in the first one cancer was diagnosed just by one biopsy and in part II, the patients with negative biopsy in part I were followed for a two-year period and required 2 or 3 biopsies for diagnosis. Of the total of patients who had a negative prostate biopsy in part I of the study, 269 were followed for a period of two years with repeated prostate biopsies. RESULTS: Overall prostate cancer was detected in 22/299 (13.9%) patients, 6/105 (5.7%) with PSAD up to 0.15 and 16/194 (8.2%) with PSAD over 0.15 (p = 0.569). CONCLUSION: PSAD is a useful indicator in decreasing the number of negative biopsies in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, in a long-term follow-up the PSAD (cutoff level 0.15) was unable to predict which patients had a positive biopsy. According to our results, 5.6% of patients with prostate cancer will be missed using the PSAD criteria.     

Optimized Prototype Filter Based on the FRM Approach for Cosine-Modulated Filter Banks

A design procedure for frequency-response masking (FRM) prototype filters of cosine-modulated filter banks (CMFBs) is proposed. In the given method, we perform minimization of the maximum attenuation level in the filters stopband, subject to intersymbol interference (ISI) and intercarrier interference (ICI) constraints. For optimization, a quasi-Newton algorithm with line search is used, and we provide simplified analytical expressions to impose the interference constraints, which greatly reduce the computational complexity of the optimization procedure. The result is lower levels of ISI and ICI for a predetermined filter order, or a reduced filter complexity for given levels of interferences. It is then illustrated how the FRM-CMFB structure is suitable for implementing filter banks with a large number of bands, yielding sharp transition bands and small roll-off factors, which is an attractive feature for a wide range of practical applications.     

Integral buckle arrestors for offshore pipelines: Enhanced design criteria

Integral buckle arrestors are relatively thick wall rings periodically welded in an offshore pipeline at intervals of several hundred meters in order to safeguard the line in case a propagating buckle initiates. They provide additional circumferential rigidity and thus impede downstream propagation of collapse, limiting the damage to the length of pipe separating the two arrestors. The effectiveness of such devices was studied parametrically through experiments and numerical simulations in Park and Kyriakides [On the design of integral buckle arrestors for offshore pipelines. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 1997;39(6):643–69]. The experiments involved quasi-static propagation of collapse towards an arrestor, engagement of the arrestor, temporary arrest, and the eventual crossing of collapse to the downstream pipe at a higher pressure. The same processes were simulated with finite element models that included finite deformation plasticity and contact. The experimental crossover pressures enriched with numerically generated values were used to develop an empirical design formula for the arresting efficiency of such devices. A recent experimental extension of this work revealed that for some combinations of arrestor and pipe yield stresses, the design formula was overly conservative. Motivated by this finding, a new broader parametric study of the problem was undertaken, which demonstrated that the difference between the pipe and the arrestor yield stress affects significantly the arrestor performance. The original arrestor design formula was then modified to include the new experimental and numerical results producing an expression with a much wider applicability.