Molecularly Imprinted Supermacroporous Cryogels for Myoglobin Recognition

Myoglobin is a primary iron, and oxygen-binding protein of muscle tissues and levels can be an important diagnostic biomarker for acute myocardial infarction, myocardial necrosis, or other cardiac diseases. The establishment of myoglobin recognition systems is important because of its protein’s structural and functional values in physiology, biochemistry, and diagnostic value in some damaged muscle tissue and cardiac diseases. For this purpose, we used molecular imprinting technique for myoglobin recognition from aqueous solutions and human plasma. In the first step, myoglobin-imprinted poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) cryogels (MGb-MIP) were prepared, and optimum myoglobin adsorption conditions were determined. Selectivity experiments have been done with the competitive proteins, and myoglobin adsorption from IgG and albumin-free human plasma was studied. The purity of the desorbed samples was determined with SDS-PAGE. The desorption efficiency and reusability of the MGb-MIP cryogels were tested, and it was shown that without any significant loss in the adsorption capacity, MGb-MIP cryogels can be used a number of times for myoglobin recognition and separation.     

An efficient synthesis of medicinally important indole based triarylmethanes by using propylphosphonic anhydride (T3P®)

Abstract

We have developed an economical and efficient method for the synthesis of medicinally and synthetically important indole-based triarylmethanes by using indoles and benzhydrols in the presence of propylphosphonic anhydride (T3P^®). This methodology is an alternate approach for the C–C bond formation with good to excellent yields. In this T3P-mediated dehydration approach, the by-product is highly soluble in water, so that it can be done at larger scale also. In addition to that this efficient protocol has several advantages such as mild reaction conditions, short reaction time and operational simplicity. We have successfully synthesized pyrrole, imidazothiadiazole and imidazolo pyridine based triarylmethanes also.     

Alteration in Cross Diffusivities Governs the Nature and Dynamics of Spatiotemporal Pattern Formation

Realizing spatiotemporal patterns out of a chemical reaction diffusion system remains an experimental challenge owing to the difficulty in overcoming the stringent condition of diffusion driven instability. Herein, by considering the spatially extended Gray-Scott model system, we have investigated how the cross diffusivities of the reactants involved influence the nature and dynamics of spatiotemporal patterns. Our study unravels that in absence of diffusion driven instability, spatially inhomogeneous patterns can be obtained for the Gray-Scott model system, and unstable time dependent patterns can be stabilized just by adjusting cross diffusivities of the reactants. Interestingly, the effect of cross diffusion in presence of the diffusion driven instability can differentially alter the speed of pattern formation, and potentially modify the nature of the spatiotemporal patterns obtained under different parametric conditions. Experimental verification of our findings may allow us to observe spatiotemporal patterns beyond the regime of classical Turing instability.     

A Projection Method for the Integer Quadratic Knapsack Problem

In this paper we present a new branch and bound algorithm for solving a class of integer quadratic knapsack problems. A previously published algorithm solves the continuous variable subproblems in the branch and bound tree by performing a binary search over the breakpoints of a piecewise linear equation resulting from the Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Here, we first present modifications to a projection method for solving the continuous subproblems. Then we implement the modified projection method in a branch and bound framework and report computational results indicating that the new branch and bound algorithm is superior to the earlier method.     

On the Wigner-Witmer correlation rules for a homonuclear diatomic molecule with the like atoms in identical atomic states

The problem of building the manifold of electronic states of a homonuclear diatomic molecule formed from two like atoms in identical atomic states is readdressed. A conceptually simple approach is presented by invoking a model and all the standard results originally obtained by Wigner and Witmer are reproduced.     

On the convergence of a class of algorithms using linearly independent search directions

Powell has shown that the cyclic coordinate method with exact searches may not converge to a stationary point. In this note we consider a more general class of algorithms for unconstrained minimization, and establish their convergence under the assumption that the objective function has a unique minimum along any line.     

High-resolution frequency estimation technique for recovering phase distribution in interferometers

An integral approach to phase measurement is presented. First, the use of a high-resolution technique for the pixelwise detection of phase steps is proposed. Next, the robustness of the algorithm that is developed is improved by incorporation of a denoising procedure during spectral estimation. The pixelwise knowledge of phase steps is then applied to the Vandermonde system of equations for retrieval of phase values at each pixel point. Conceptually, our proposal involves the design of an annihilating filter that has zeros at the frequencies associated with the polynomial that describes the fringe intensity. The parametric estimation of this annihilating filter yields the desired spectral information embedded in the signal, which in our case represents the phase steps. The proposed method offers the advantage of extracting the interference phase of nonsinusoidal waveforms in the presence of miscalibration error of the piezoelectric transducer. In addition, in contrast to previously reported methods, this method does not require the application of selective phase steps between data frames for nonsinusoidal waveforms.     

Maximum-likelihood estimator for dual phase extraction in holographic moire

A maximum-likelihood (ML) method based on spectral estimation theory for the extraction of dual phase distributions in holographic moire in the presence of nonsinusoidal waveforms, noise, and the miscalibration of piezoelectric (PZT) devices is proposed. The extraction of these phases requires incorporating two PZTs into the moire setup. ML estimators are asymptotically efficient for sufficient data samples. The approach presented uses a direct stochastic algorithm called probabilistic global search Lausanne for minimizing the ML function.