Improvement of the SOS/UMU Test for Preliminary Screning of Mutagens

Abstract

A short-term system to detect environmental mutagens is presented by using a plasmid (pSK1002) carrying a fused gene umuC′-′lacZ introduced into Salmonella typhimurium TA1535. Higher sensitivity, repeatability, and simplicity were achieved when (1) the culture volume taken from 2hrs after treatment with test compound was increased to 1.5ml diluted with distilled water to 2.5ml, (2) the 15μ 1 of 3% SDS solution saturated with chloroform was used as the disruptor of the cell membrane. and (3) an incubation -temperature of 37°C was used. At the above experimental conditions, the time required for the mutagen test was shortened to 3hrs. Based on the results of the present study, it seems that the improved SOS/umu test is useful for screening of mutagenic complex environmental mixtures.     

Development of a test strip based on DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles for rapid detection of mercury(II) ions

A rapid,sensitive,selective and reliable strip assay based on DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles for Hg²⁺ detection has been developed,with a detection limit 5 nmol/L.The measurement principle was based on thymine-Hg²⁺-thymine(T-Hg²⁺-T) coordination chemistry and streptavidin-biotin interaction.The major advantages of this assay are that results can be read visually without any instrument in less than 10 min and that it does not require any sample pretreatment.     

Research Problems from the BCC21

A collection of open problems, mostly presented at the problem session of the 21st British Combinatorial Conference.     

PLANE ELASTIC PROBLEMS OF DIFFERENT MEDIA WITH CRACKS ON THE INTERFACE

The equllibrium problem for the infinite elastic plane consisting of two different media with many cracks on the interface is discussed.It is transferred to a boundary value problem for analytic functions and then further reduced to a singular integral equation,the unique solvability and an effective method of solution for which are eatablished.A practical example in applications is illustrated,the solution of which is obtained in closed form.     

Computational experience with the Chow—Yorke algorithm

The Chow—Yorke algorithm is a nonsimplicial homotopy type method for computing Brouwer fixed points that is globally convergent. It is efficient and accurate for fixed point problems. L.T. Watson, T.Y. Li, and C.Y. Wang have adapted the method for zero finding problems, the nonlinear complementarity problem, and nonlinear two-point boundary value problems. Here theoretical justification is given for applying the method to some mathematical programming problems, and computational results are presented.This work was partially supported by NSF Grant MCS 7821337.     

Test Problem Generator by Neural Network for Algorithms that Try Solving Nonlinear Programming Problems Globally

A test problem generator, by means of neural networks nonlinear function approximation capability, is given in this paper which provides test problems, with many predetermined local minima and a global minimum, to evaluate nonlinear programming algorithms that are designed to solve the problem globally.     

Bipower-type estimation in a noisy diffusion setting

We consider a new class of estimators for volatility functionals in the setting of frequently observed Itō diffusions which are disturbed by i.i.d. noise. These statistics extend the approach of pre-averaging as a general method for the estimation of the integrated volatility in the presence of microstructure noise and are closely related to the original concept of bipower variation in the no-noise case. We show that this approach provides efficient estimators for a large class of integrated powers of volatility and prove the associated (stable) central limit theorems. In a more general Itō semimartingale framework this method can be used to define both estimators for the entire quadratic variation of the underlying process and jump-robust estimators which are consistent for various functionals of volatility. As a by-product we obtain a simple test for the presence of jumps in the underlying semimartingale.     

An upper bound for the speedup of parallel best-bound branch-and-bound algorithms

This paper derives an upper bound for the speedup obtainable by any parallel branch-and-bound algorithm using the best-bound search strategy. We confirm that parallel branch-and-bound can achieve nearly linear, or even super-linear, speedup under the appropriate conditions.This work was supported by U.S. Army Research Office grant DAAG29-82-K-0107.     

Binary group and Chinese postman polyhedra

A new proof of the characterization of the Chinese postman polyhedra is given. In developing this proof, a theorem of Gomory about homomorphic lifting of facets for group polyhedra is generalized to subproblems. Some results for the Chinese postman problem are generalized to binary group problems. In addition, a connection is made between Fulkerson's blocking polyhedra and a blocking pair of binary group problems. A connection is also developed between minors and lifting of facets for group problems.     

Petrov-Galerkin methods for natural convection in directional solidification of binary alloys

A Petrov-Galerkin finite element method is presented for calculation of the steady, axisymmetric thermosolutal convection and interface morphology in a model for vertical Bridgman crystal growth of nondilute binary alloys. The Petrov-Galerkin method is based on the formulation for biquadratic elements developed by Heinrich and Zienkiewicz and is introduced into the calculation of the velocity, temperature and concentration fields. The algebraic system is solved simultaneously for the field variables and interface shape by Newton's method. The results of the Petrov-Galerkin method are compared critically with those of Galerkin's method using the same finite element grids. Significant improvements in accuracy are found with the Petrov-Galerkin method only when the mesh is refined and when the formulation of the residual equations is modified to account for the mixed boundary conditions that arise at the solidification interface. Calculations for alloys with stable and unstable solute gradients show the occurrence of classical flow transitions and morphological instabilities in the solidification system.