Quantitative determination of macroelement and microelement content of fresh and processed bamboo shoots by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

Bamboo shoots are considered as healthy and nutritional food as they supply proteins, dietary fiber, phenols, phytosterols, vitamins, and minerals in considerable quantities and capture a novel place in the spectrum of plant foods. Besides nutrients and bioactive compounds, shoots also contain antinutrient (cyanogen) that needs to be removed by adequate processing prior to consumption. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of fermentation, brine preservation, and boiling on levels of mineral elements in shoots of Dendrocalamus hamiltonii using wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) spectrometry. WD-XRF spectrometry is a method that causes the least destruction to the raw plant material as no harsh chemicals are used and gives the most accurate results. Fermentation process resulted in significant increase in the levels of Rb (9%), S (11%), Mg (12%), Zn (46%), Ca (56%), and Fe (87%); however, Na (18.79 g/100 g, dry weight), Cl (24.73 g/100 g, dry weight), and Br (20.0 mg/100 g, dry weight) content increased drastically after brine preservation. Boiling increased the levels of Fe by 139% but did not affect the Rb (20.0 mg/100 g, dry weight) and Zn content (10.2 mg/100 g, dry weight) of the shoots. In general, fermentation, which led to the lowest loss of mineral elements, appears the best method in enhancement and retention of the mineral content in bamboo shoots and holds the prospect at industrial and society levels.     

A novel technique for active vibration control,based on optimal tracking control

Determination of concentration of major elements such as Ca, Si, Al, and Fe in cement is very important for quality control during its production, correct classification according to the existing standards, and thus for appropriate use in the construction industry. For this purpose, neutron activation analysis is very suitable. In this preliminary theoretical work, the irradiation and consecutive measurement of the percentage of the constituent elements in different cement samples were done using MCNPX with γ-ray spectra as the output. Specific peaks of Ca, Si, Al, and Fe obtained from these spectra were used as input for artificial neural network (18 of them for training and 8 for testing) resulting in the determination of each element in the given sample. The mean absolute errors of the results are less than 0.4%, which is very promising for the future experimental work where the uncertainties are usually one order higher.     

Tissue-specific and neural activity-regulated expression of human BDNF gene in BAC transgenic mice

Background  

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a small secreted protein that has important roles in the developing and adult nervous system. Altered expression or changes in the regulation of the BDNF gene have been implicated in a variety of human nervous system disorders. Although regulation of the rodent BDNF gene has been extensively investigated, in vivo studies regarding the human BDNF gene are largely limited to postmortem analysis. Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic mice harboring the human BDNF gene and its regulatory flanking sequences constitute a useful tool for studying human BDNF gene regulation and for identification of therapeutic compounds modulating BDNF expression.     

Stopping power contribution due to target and projectile excitation/ionization: a comparative study

A comparative study of stopping power codes for different ions in compounds has been made by comparing the computed stopping power values using different codes with the corresponding experimental data. Two computer codes, semiempirical SRIM2006.02 and theoretical CasP3.2 have been used to evaluate and compare the stopping powers of different compounds for protons (125 KeV), helium (500 KeV) and lithium ion (175 KeV) projectiles. The energy behaviour of stopping power of various compounds for helium ion in the energy range (0.3–2.0 MeV) has been studied. The merits and demerits of the adopted formulations are highlighted. It has been observed that the calculation based on SRIM2006.02 provides the best agreement with the experimental data as compared to CasP3.2 code. The stopping power contribution due to target and projectile excitation/ionization at low energies has been evaluated and discussed with reference to CasP3.2 code. From these comparative studies it has been concluded that the target and projectile excitation-ionization increases the stopping power (>20%) at lower energies.     

Algorithms for automatic interpretation of high resolution mass spectra

Automated interpretation of high-resolution mass spectra in a reliable and efficient manner represents a highly challenging computational problem. This work aims at developing methods for reducing a high-resolution mass spectrum into its monoisotopic peak list, and automatically assigning observed masses to known fragment ion masses if the protein sequence is available. The methods are compiled into a suite of data reduction algorithms which is called MasSPIKE (Mass Spectrum Interpretation and Kernel Extraction). MasSPIKE includes modules for modeling noise across the spectrum, isotopic cluster identification, charge state determination, separation of overlapping isotopic distributions, picking isotopic peaks, aligning experimental and theoretical isotopic distributions for estimating a monoisotopic peak's location, generating the monoisotopic mass list, and assigning the observed monoisotopic masses to possible protein fragments. The method is tested against a complex top-down spectrum of bovine carbonic anhydrase. Results of each of the individual modules are compared with previously published work.     

A review on solid phase microextraction-high performance liquid chromatography as a novel tool for the analysis of toxic metal ions

This paper reviews the practical applications of solid phase microextraction-High performance liquid chromatography in the analysis of toxic metal species as these are important contaminants and are carcinogenic. Their determination in formulations, in feed and food, and in complex environmental matrices (e.g., waste water and industrial effluents) often requires analytical methods capable of high efficiency, unique selectivity, and high sensitivity. Solid phase microextraction (SPME) requires low solvent consumption and is quick in use. SPME is used for extraction and online desorption of analytes with the mobile phase of HPLC and subsequent detection by UV, ICP-MS or ESI-MS as detectors. Different SPME-HPLC methods are summarized in this article to demonstrate the usefulness of this technique for metallic species of As, Cr, Pb, Hg and Se.     

Synthesis of novel bis‐condensed heterocyclic ring assembly systems

The novel bis‐condensed heterocyclic systems with ring assemblies based on peripheral barbituric acid rings and central pyran, pyridine and thiine rings have been generated by the reaction of terephthalaldehyde and isophthalaldehyde with barbituric acid for comparison with the analogous systems generated with said dialdehydes and 1,3‐cyclohexanedione.     

QUARTIC CONVEX TYPE PIECEWISE POLYNOMIAL

In the present paper we consider quartic piecewise polynomial for approximation to the function f ∈ C 2 [0, 1]. A convex type condition has been imposed in the partition so that the matrix involved for the computation of pp functions is of lower band. This reduces the computation for constructions of the pp functions for the approximation.     

Cascade Mi (i = 1–5) subshell X‐ray emission at incident photon energies across the Lj (j = 1–3) subshell absorption edges of 66Dy

The total M shell and the M_k (k = ξ, αβ, γ, m) X‐ray production cross sections for ₆₆Dy have been measured at incident photon energies across its L_j (j = 1–3) subshell absorption edge energies, ranging 7.8–9.2 keV. This study aims to investigate the evolution of the probability for cascade decay of L_j subshell vacancies as the tunable incident energy ionizes progressively different ₆₆Dy L_j subshells. The experimental X‐ray production cross sections have been compared with theoretical ones calculated using the nonrelativistic Hartree–Fock–Slater (HFS) model‐based photoionization cross sections; three sets of the X‐ray emission rates, fluorescence and Coster–Kronig yield based on the nonrelativistic Hartree–Slater (NRHS) model, Dirac–Hartree–Slater (DHS) model and Dirac–Fock (DF) model; the L_j (j = 1–3) subshell to the M_i (i = 1–5) subshell vacancy transfer probabilities evaluated in the present work. Presently measured total M shell and the M_αβ X‐ray production cross sections are found to be significantly lower than the theoretical ones evaluated using physical parameters based on the relativistic Dirac–Fock/Dirac–Hartree–Slater model calculations, whereas a much better agreement is observed with respect to the NRHS model‐based calculations; however, the measured X‐ray production cross sections are still systematically lower than the NRHS values.