Development of a capillary electrophoretic method for determination of plasma clearance of iohexol in dogs and cats

Renal function can be monitored by estimation of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), for example, through measurement of the plasma clearance of a marker that is freely filtrated through the kidney without reabsorption. It has been proposed that iohexol is the most accurate marker for GFR determination in cats and dogs. However, there is a need for a validated capillary electrophoretic method that covers the concentration range for a full curve clearance estimate of iohexol. In the final method, the plasma samples were protein precipitated and the supernatant was analyzed in a background electrolyte containing borate buffer (0.06 m , pH 10.0). The method developed was proved to be linear (concentration range 18– 2900 mg/L) and had a good precision (e.g. 2.3–2.9% at 88 mg/L) and accuracy (e.g. 101–105% at 88 mg/L). Finally, the method was compared with a previously published and validated HPLC‐UV method by parallel analysis of clinical plasma samples from dogs and cats administered Omnipaque®. This comparison showed excellent agreement between the two methods and no proportional or systematic error was observed. The proposed method is simple and has a low cost per sample, which makes it applicable for routine analysis. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microfunnel‐filter‐based emulsification microextraction followed by gas chromatography for simple determination of organophosphorus pesticides in environmental water samples

A simple and fast method named microfunnel‐filter‐based emulsification microextraction is introduced for an efficient determination of some organophosphorus pesticides including diazinon, malathion, and chlorpyrifos in the environmental samples including the river, sea, and well water. This method is based upon the dispersion of a low‐toxicity organic solvent (dihexyl ether), as the extractant, in a high volume of an aqueous sample solution (45 mL). It is implemented without a centrifugation step, and using a syringe filter and a micro‐funnel, the phase separation and transfer of the enriched analytes to the gas chromatograph are simply achieved. By filtration of the extractant phase, a suitable sample clean‐up is obtained, and the total extraction time is just a few minutes. The factors influencing the extraction efficiency are optimized, and under the optimal conditions, the proposed method provides a good linearity (in the range of 15–1500 ng/mL (R² > 0.996). A high enrichment factor is obtained (in the range of 306–342), and the method provides low limits of detection and quantification (in the ranges of 4–8 and 15–25 ng/mL, respectively).     

Unit-linked life insurance policies: Optimal hedging in partially observable market models

In this paper we investigate the hedging problem of a unit-linked life insurance contract via the local risk-minimization approach, when the insurer has a restricted information on the market. In particular, we consider an endowment insurance contract, that is a combination of a term insurance policy and a pure endowment, whose final value depends on the trend of a stock market where the premia the policyholder pays are invested. To allow for mutual dependence between the financial and the insurance markets, we use the progressive enlargement of filtration approach. We assume that the stock price process dynamics depends on an exogenous unobservable stochastic factor that also influences the mortality rate of the policyholder. We characterize the optimal hedging strategy in terms of the integrand in the Galtchouk–Kunita–Watanabe decomposition of the insurance claim with respect to the minimal martingale measure and the available information flow. We provide an explicit formula by means of predictable projection of the corresponding hedging strategy under full information with respect to the natural filtration of the risky asset price and the minimal martingale measure. Finally, we discuss applications in a Markovian setting via filtering.     

Koszul filtrations and finite lattices

In this note, we characterize when a finite lattice is distributive in terms of the existences of some particular classes of Koszul filtrations.     

Study on the Correlation between the Protein Profile of Lupin Milk and Its Cheese Production Compared with Cow’s Milk

Australian sweet lupin, the largest legume crop grown in Western Australia, is receiving global attention from the producers of new foods. To understand the effect of protein on cheese yield, lupin milk proteins were separated from the first, second, and third filtrations by cheesecloths. However, proteins from the first and second were analyzed using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; then, the isolated proteins associated with cheese production were identified. The research also focused on identifying the optimal method of cheese production based on the coagulation process, temperature, yield, and sensory evaluation. Lupin curds from the two cultivars, Mandelup and PBA Jurien, were produced using vinegar, lemon juice, starter culture, vegetable rennet enzyme as coagulant, as well as curd generated using starter culture and vegetable rennet enzyme. Cow’s milk was used as a control. The results indicated that first-time filtration produced better extraction and higher yield of lupin proteins and cheese than the second filtration. A sensory analysis indicated that lupin cheese produced from PBA Jurien lupin milk using vinegar, 7.80% expressed as acetic acid, and ground in 45 °C water, was the most acceptable. The cheeses were examined for their protein, carbohydrates, fat, ash, and moisture contents. The concentration of protein was approximately 27.3% and 20.6%, respectively, in the cheese from PBA Jurien and Mandelup. These results suggest that lupin milk can adequately supply the proteins needed in human diets and, thus, could be used in the production of many existing products that require animal milk as an input.     

Effect of Filtrated Osmotic Solution Based on Concentrated Chokeberry Juice and Mint Extract on the Drying Kinetics,Energy Consumption and Physicochemical Properties of Dried Apples

Background: Filtration of osmotic solution affects selective penetration during osmotic dehydration (OD), and after drying is finished, this can influence the chemical composition of the material, which is also modified by OD. Methods: Osmotic dehydration was carried out in filtrated and non-filtrated concentrated chokeberry juice with the addition of mint infusion. Then, this underwent convective drying, vacuum-microwave drying and combined convective pre-drying, followed by vacuum-microwave finishing drying. Drying kinetics were presented and mathematical models were selected. The specific energy consumption for each drying method was calculated and the energy efficiency was determined. Results and Discussion: The study revealed that filtration of osmotic solution did not have significant effect on drying kinetics; however, it affected selective penetration during OD. The highest specific energy consumption was obtained for the samples treated by convective drying (CD) (around 170 kJ·g⁻¹ fresh weight (fw)) and the lowest for the samples treated by vacuum-microwave drying (VMD) (around 30 kJ·g⁻¹ fw), which is due to the differences in the time of drying and when these methods are applied. Conclusions: Filtration of the osmotic solution can be used to obtain the desired material after drying and the VMD method is the most appropriate considering both phenolic acid content and the energy aspect of drying.     

Multidimensional persistence in biomolecular data

Persistent homology has emerged as a popular technique for the topological simplification of big data, including biomolecular data. Multidimensional persistence bears considerable promise to bridge the gap between geometry and topology. However, its practical and robust construction has been a challenge. We introduce two families of multidimensional persistence, namely pseudomultidimensional persistence and multiscale multidimensional persistence. The former is generated via the repeated applications of persistent homology filtration to high‐dimensional data, such as results from molecular dynamics or partial differential equations. The latter is constructed via isotropic and anisotropic scales that create new simiplicial complexes and associated topological spaces. The utility, robustness, and efficiency of the proposed topological methods are demonstrated via protein folding, protein flexibility analysis, the topological denoising of cryoelectron microscopy data, and the scale dependence of nanoparticles. Topological transition between partial folded and unfolded proteins has been observed in multidimensional persistence. The separation between noise topological signatures and molecular topological fingerprints is achieved by the Laplace–Beltrami flow. The multiscale multidimensional persistent homology reveals relative local features in Betti‐0 invariants and the relatively global characteristics of Betti‐1 and Betti‐2 invariants. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Secondary flows and particle centrifugation in slightly tilted rotating pipes

A theoretical analysis is presented of viscous incompressible laminar flow in a pipe which rotates around an axis held at small angle with respect to its symmetry-axis. Analogous to the results of Barua and Benton [1, 2], solutions in closed-form are given for circulatory flows in the cross-sectional plane of the pipe due to Coriolis forces in combination with Hagen-Poiseuille flow through the pipe. The solutions are used to derive analytical expressions for trajectories of solid or liquid particles entrained in the gas and being subject to centrifugation and the said secondary flows. It is shown that despite centrifugation, particles can be locked into circulatory trajectories thus remaining suspended in the gas flowing through the pipe.     

Delay Model for a Cycling Transport Through Porous Medium

A solute transport through a porous medium is examined provided that the fluid leaving the porous sample returns back in a continuous way. The porous medium is thus included into a closed hydrodynamic circuit. This cycling process is suggested as an experimental tool to determine porous medium parameters describing transport. In the present paper the mathematical theory of this method is developed. For the advective type of transport with solute retention and degradation in porous medium, the system of transport equations in a closed circuit is transformed to a delay differential equation. The exact analytical solution to this equation is obtained. The solute concentration manifests both the oscillatory and monotonous behaviors depending on system parameters. The number of oscillation splashes is shown to be always finite. The maximum/minimum points are determined as solutions of a polynomial equation whose degree depends on the unknown solution itself. The cyclic methods to determine porous medium parameters as porosity and retention rate are developed.