Preparation of core–shell structure Fe3O4@SiO2 superparamagnetic microspheres immoblized with iminodiacetic acid as immobilized metal ion affinity adsorbents for His‐tag protein purification

The core–shell structure Fe₃O₄/SiO₂ magnetic microspheres were prepared by a sol–gel method, and immobiled with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) as metal ion affinity ligands for protein adsorption. The size, morphology, magnetic properties and surface modification of magnetic silica nanospheres were characterized by various modern analytical instruments. It was shown that the magnetic silica nanospheres exhibited superparamagnetism with saturation magnetization values of up to 58.1 emu/g. Three divalent metal ions, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺, were chelated on the Fe₃O₄@SiO₂–IDA magnetic microspheres to adsorb lysozyme. The results indicated that Ni²⁺‐chelating magnetic microspheres had the maximum adsorption capacity for lysozyme of 51.0 mg/g, adsorption equilibrium could be achieved within 60 min and the adsorbed protein could be easily eluted. Furthermore, the synthesized Fe₃O₄@SiO₂–IDA–Ni²⁺ magnetic microspheres were successfully applied for selective enrichment lysozyme from egg white and His‐tag recombinant Homer 1a from the inclusion extraction expressed in Escherichia coli. The result indicated that the magnetic microspheres showed unique characteristics of high selective separation behavior of protein mixture, low nonspecific adsorption, and easy handling. This demonstrates that the magnetic silica microspheres can be used efficiently in protein separation or purification and show great potential in the pretreatment of the biological sample. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detectability conditions for output-only subspace identification

ABSTRACT

The scope of output-only/blind identification is restricted to stochastic/statistical processes, but for the first time in this study, the detectability conditions for general output-only subspace identification are investigated. This aids the range of input sources to be extended in a much realistic manner, beyond the only stochastic inputs. For this purpose, the subspace framework is assigned to make a connection between the output signal contents and the LTI system order. A few substantial hypotheses and algebraic statements are propounded affirming the sufficiency of the genuine output sequences for the identification purpose. This can be perceived as the cornerstone of state-space model reconstruction. In order to consolidate the notions according to reality, several examples are studied and examined for different input classes with stochastic disturbance.     

Contingent derivatives and regularization for noncoercive inverse problems

Abstract

We study the inverse problem of parameter identification in noncoercive variational problems that commonly appear in applied models. We examine the differentiability of the set-valued parameter-to-solution map using the first-order and the second-order contingent derivatives. We explore the inverse problem using the output least-squares and the modified output least-squares objectives. By regularizing the noncoercive variational problem, we obtain a single-valued regularized parameter-to-solution map and investigate its smoothness and boundedness. We also consider optimization problems using the output least-squares and the modified output least-squares objectives for the regularized variational problem. We give a complete convergence analysis showing that for the output least-squares and the modified output least-squares, the regularized minimization problems approximate the original optimization problems suitably. We also provide the first-order and the second-order adjoint method for the computation of the first-order and the second-order derivatives of the output least-squares objective. We provide discrete formulas for the gradient and the Hessian calculation and present numerical results.     

A support for the identification of non-tryptic peptides based on low resolution tandem and sequential mass spectrometry data: The INSPIRE software

A simple software, to be used as an aid in the identification of non-tryptic peptides based on low resolution (3D-ion trap) tandem (MS/MS) and sequential (MS³) mass spectrometry data, is presented.     

Multinational vehicle license plate detection in complex backgrounds

Many methods for multinational License Plate Detection (LPD) have been proposed in recent times but most of them are not sophisticated enough to handle complex backgrounds. Moreover, their ability to handle various environmental and illumination conditions has been limited and still needs improvement. In this paper, we propose a novel technique to detect license plates of vehicles regardless of their color, size, and content. As the rear vehicle lights are an essential part of any vehicle, we reduce the image processing area to eliminate the complex background by detecting the rear-lights as the license plates are in a certain range of these lights. Heuristic Energy Map (HEM) of the vertical edge information in the Region of Interest (ROI) is calculated and area with the dense edges is selected using a unique histogram approach which is considered to be the license plate. The proposed algorithm is tested on 855 images from various countries including China, Pakistan, Serbia, Italy and various states of America. Experimental results show that the proposed method is able to detect license plates 90.4% of times despite of complex backgrounds in 0.25 s on average that can achieve real time performance.     

Application of THz Vibrational Spectroscopy to Molecular Characterization and the Theoretical Fundamentals: An Illustration Using Saccharide Molecules

This work illustrates several theoretical fundamentals for the application of THz vibrational spectroscopy to molecular characterization in the solid state using two different types of saccharide systems as examples. Four subjects have been specifically addressed: (1) the qualitative differences in the molecular vibrational signatures monitored by THz and mid‐IR vibrational spectroscopy; (2) the selection rules for THz vibrational spectroscopy as applied to crystalline and amorphous systems; (3) a normal mode simulation, using α‐l ‐xylose as an example; and (4) a rigorous mode analysis to quantify the percentage contributions of the intermolecular and intramolecular vibrations to the normal mode of interest.     

Energy harvesting from a magnetic levitation system

Numerical and experimental studies of a magnetic levitation harvester are presented in the paper. The idea is based on the motion of permanent cylinder magnet in a coil exploited for energy harvesting. The novel model is based on a new definition of the coupling coefficient (inductive coefficient) which relates mechanical and an electrical components. The performed static and dynamics experimental tests show that this coefficient is a nonlinear function of the magnet position, and highly depends on the magnet coordinate in the coil, in such a way that the maximum energy is obtained in a coil ends. The comparison between classical – fixed value model – and novel nonlinear model of the inductive coefficient is presented for selected cases. The most essential differences are presented.     

Concise Synthesis of Photocleavable Molecular Tag for Laser Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry via Fries Reaction

Abstract

A new synthetic route for the photocleavable molecular tag for laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) was achieved using the Fries reaction of 2,6-dimethylphenyl ester as its key reaction. Zirconium chloride was used as uniquely efficient adjuvant to promote the reaction. The molecular tag was obtained in five steps without chromatographic purification.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications® to view the free supplemental file.     

Carbon K‐edge spectra of carbonate minerals

Carbon K‐edge X‐ray spectroscopy has been applied to the study of a wide range of organic samples, from polymers and coals to interstellar dust particles. Identification of carbonaceous materials within these samples is accomplished by the pattern of resonances in the 280–320 eV energy region. Carbonate minerals are often encountered in the study of natural samples, and have been identified by a distinctive resonance at 290.3 eV. Here C K‐edge and Ca L‐edge spectra from a range of carbonate minerals are presented. Although all carbonates exhibit a sharp 290 eV resonance, both the precise position of this resonance and the positions of other resonances vary among minerals. The relative strengths of the different carbonate resonances also vary with crystal orientation to the linearly polarized X‐ray beam. Intriguingly, several carbonate minerals also exhibit a strong 288.6 eV resonance, consistent with the position of a carbonyl resonance rather than carbonate. Calcite and aragonite, although indistinguishable spectrally at the C K‐edge, exhibited significantly different spectra at the Ca L‐edge. The distinctive spectral fingerprints of carbonates provide an identification tool, allowing for the examination of such processes as carbon sequestration in minerals, Mn substitution in marine calcium carbonates (dolomitization) and serpentinization of basalts.