Effect of complexation of oxidised corn starch with mineral elements on physicochemical properties

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of complexation of oxidised starch with mineral elements on its physicochemical properties. Corn starch was oxidised with sodium hypochlorite and, afterwards, modified with ions of potassium, magnesium and iron. Thus, native and modified starches were analysed for: contents of mineral elements, colour parameters (L*a*b*), water binding capacity and solubility in water at temperature of 60 and 80 °C. Thermodynamic characteristics of gelatinisation by DSC, molecular weight distribution by GPC, intrinsic viscosity and pasting properties by RVA were studied. The efficiency of incorporation of metal ions into oxidised corn starch was about 30%, 20% and 20% for potassium, magnesium and iron ions, respectively. The complexation with potassium ions caused the greatest changes in the molecular weight distribution and the intrinsic viscosity of starches and viscosity of starch pastes. Only modification of starch with iron ions affected the colour parameters of the starch. Incorporation of metal ions into starch resulted also in changes in its water binding capacity and solubility in water.     

Purification of the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane protein phospholamban from recombinant Escherichia coli

Phospholamban (PLN) was expressed in Escherichia coli as a protein fusion with glutathione S-transferase (GST). GST-PLN was mostly present in the insoluble protein fraction and accounted for approximately 50% of total insoluble protein. Attempts to suppress inclusion body formation or to use GST as an affinity-purification tag failed. A successful purification method is based on preparative SDS/PAGE and electrodialysis. From 1 g cells we typically purified 13.5 mg fusion protein with a PLN content of 2.8 mg. We genetically inserted an enterokinase (EK) protease site just in front of the PLN sequence and demonstrated the proteolytical liberation of PLN from the carrier protein. The approach described represents a substantial advancement in PLN expression and purification.     

Partitioned encoding schemes for algorithm-based fault tolerance inmassively parallel systems

Considers the applicability of algorithm based fault tolerance (ABET) to massively parallel scientific computation. Existing ABET schemes can provide effective fault tolerance at a low cost For computation on matrices of moderate size; however, the methods do not scale well to floating-point operations on large systems. This short note proposes the use of a partitioned linear encoding scheme to provide scalability. Matrix algorithms employing this scheme are presented and compared to current ABET schemes. It is shown that the partitioned scheme provides scalable linear codes with improved numerical properties with only a small increase in hardware and time overhead     

Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus infections among haemodialysis patients in Pune (western India)

Vascular injuries may occur as complications of elbow dislocation and usually involve the brachial artery. A case report is presented in which only the radial artery was compromised as a result of the dislocation.     

An artificial neural network approach on parametric optimization of laser micro-machining of die-steel

In the present research, laser micro machining (LMM) of tungsten-molybdenum general purpose high speed steel (Rex M2) has been studied. Selection of optimum machining parameter combinations for obtaining higher depth of groove and smaller height of recast layer is a challenging task in LMM due to the presence of a large number of process variables. There is no perfect combination of parameters which can simultaneously result in both the highest depth of groove and lowest height of recast layer. This paper presents an attempt to develop a strategy for predicting the optimum machining parameter setting for the generation of the maximum depth of groove with minimum height of recast layer. A feed forward back-propagation neural network has been developed to model the machining process. The model, after proper training, is capable of predicting the response parameters as a function of four different control parameters. Experimental results demonstrate that the machining model is suitable and the optimization strategy satisfies practical requirements. The developed model has been found to be quite unique, powerful and flexible.     

Densification and Properties of α-Silicon Carbide

Densification of a-Sic powders with no premixed sintering aids (type 1) and with premixed B and C (type 2) was investigated by sintering them at 2150° to 2200°C for 30 min. Flexure strengths, Weibull moduli, and fracture flaws were characterized for type 2 α-SiC only. The results were compared with those for a state-of-the-art sintered a-Sic material.     

Potency comparison of peptidomimetic inhibitors against HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteinases: design of equipotent lead compounds

The results of investigation of haptoglobin (Hp) types in 596 donor blood samples in some towns of Ukraine (Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Odessa, Kiev, Uzhgorod, Zhitomir) are presented. Three normal Hp types (Hp1-1, Hp2-1 and Hp2-2) have been found. The reliable interpopulation differences in the Hp types frequency were not found. On the whole the Hp types frequency in the type Hp1-1 comprised 12.7%. In the type Hp2-1-48.1% and in the type Hp2-2-36.5%. The frequency of the gene Hp1 is 0.38. The frequency of the Hp types and of the gene Hpl in Ukraine is similar to that in population of Eastern Europe and European Part of Russia.