The Rapid and Sensitive Quantitative Determination of Galactose by Combined Enzymatic and Colorimetric Method: Application in Neonatal Screening

The quantitative measurement of galactose in blood is essential for the early diagnosis, treatment, and dietary monitoring of galactosemia patients. In this communication, we aimed to develop a rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective combined method for galactose determination in dry blood spots. This procedure was based on the combination of enzymatic reactions of galactose dehydrogenase (GalDH), dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (DLD), and alkaline phosphates with a colorimetric system. The incubation time and the concentration of enzymes used in new method were also optimized. The analytical performance was studied by the precision, recovery, linearity, and sensitivity parameters. Statistical analysis was applied to method comparison experiment. The regression equation and correlation coefficient (R2) were Y = 0.0085x + 0.032 and R2 = 0.998, respectively. This assay exhibited a recovery in the range of 91.7–114.3 % and had the limit detection of 0.5 mg/dl for galactose. The between-run coefficient of variation (CV) was between 2.6 and 11.1 . The within-run CV was between 4.9 and 9.2 . Our results indicated that the new and reference methods were in agreement because no significant biases exist between them. Briefly, a quick and reliable combined enzymatic and colorimetric assay was presented for application in newborn mass screening and monitoring of galactosemia patients. © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New Yor

Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Darbepoetin Alfa from Leishmania tarentolae

Darbepoetin alfa is a biopharmaceutical glycoprotein that stimulates erythropoiesis and is used to treat anemia, which associated with renal failure and cancer chemotherapy. We herein describe the structural characterization of recombinant darbepoetin alfa produced by Leishmania tarentolae T7-TR host. The DNA expression cassette was integrated into the L. tarentolae genome through homologous recombination. Transformed clones were selected by antibiotic resistance, diagnostic PCRs, and protein expression analysis. The structure of recombinant darbepoetin alfa was analyzed by isoelectric focusing, ultraviolet–visible spectrum, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Expression analysis showed the presence of a protein band at 40 kDa, and its expression level was 51.2 mg/ml of culture medium. Darbepoetin alfa have 5 isoforms with varying degree of sialylation. The UV absorption and CD spectra were analogous to original drug (Aranesp), which confirmed that the produced protein was darbepoetin alfa. Potency test results revealed that the purified protein was biologically active. In brief, the structural and biological characteristics of expressed darbepoetin alfa were very similar to Aranesp which has been normally expressed in CHO. Our data also suggest that produced protein has potential to be developed for clinical use. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York

The attitudes of team members towards family presence during hospital-based CPR: A study based in the Muslim setting of four Iranian teaching hospitals

Background: Contrary to international guidelines recommending family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), allowing family members to be present remains a matter of debate in many countries. The purpose of this study was to determine the opinions of healthcare providers from a Muslim setting concerning family-witnessed resuscitation (FWR). Methods: The sample population consisted of CPR responders in four teaching hospitals in Tehran. These centres have no policy regarding the presence of family members during resuscitation. We developed and circulated a questionnaire gathering opinions, and collated their comments. Results: From 200 respondents, 77 opposed FWR. We found that gender, age, experience, previous exposure to FWR or specialty (except for emergency physicians) did not predict opinion towards family presence during CPR. The most common reasons given for opposition to family presence were fear of psychological trauma to family members, possible interference with patient care/ decision-making, and a perceived increase in staff stress. Conclusion: In a largely Muslim community, and contrary to general guidelines, our survey suggested that the majority of CPR responders do not favour the presence of relatives during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Any counter to this opinion would need to be based on educating team members about the possible benefits of relatives being present during resuscitation. Public education surrounding CPR would also be a fundamental element for implementing any formal programme encouraging family-witnessed CPR in hospitals such as ours. © 2010 Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

Algorithms for crime prediction in smart cities through data mining

The concentration of police resources in conflict zones contributes to the reduction of crime in the region and the optimization of those resources. This paper presents the use of regression techniques to predict the number of criminal acts in Colombian municipalities. To this end, a set of data was generated merging the data from the Guardia Civil with public data on the demographic structure and voting trends in the municipalities. The best regressor obtained (Random Forests) achieves a RRSE (Root Relative Squared Error) of 40.12% and opens the way to keep incorporating public data of another type with greater predictive power. In addition, M5Rules were used to interpret the results

The effect of filling of the drum on physical properties of granulated multicomponent fertilizer

One of the operations in particulate processing which has an ancient history and a widespread use is granulation. Granulated compost fertilizer was granulated using the drum granulation method under different level of drum filling. Filling of the drum ranged from 5 to 10% (v/v). The effect of filling of the drum on some physical properties granulated compost fertilizer including: useful granules, granules size, crush strength, mass of the granules, bulk density, angle of friction and angle of repose are investigated in the present study. Result indicated that with the increasing of drum filling the percentage of useful granules, crush strength, bulk density, angle of friction and angle of repose increase from 64.97% to 78.82%, 34.32 N to 36.69 N, 745.585 kg/m3 to 762.729 kg/m3, 25.56º to 27.93º and 11.38º to 12.52º, respectively. Also the average size of granules decreases from 10.28 mm to 9.45 mm

Using of dimensional analysis to determine the parameters of gravity separator table device to minimize impurities in bulk lentils

Introduction Lentil (Lens culinaris medic) is an important and highly nutritious crop belonging to the family of legumes. Lentil is cultivated worldwide but competition with weeds is a problem affecting production and can reduce yield by more than 80%. The study on the separation of impurities in bulk lentils (Euphorbia helioscopia weed, Wild oat weed and etc.) by a gravity separator has an extreme importance. Since no study has been done to date, in this study, the effects of different parameters of a gravity separator (longitudinal and latitudinal slopes, oscillation frequency and amplitude) on the separation of foreign matters in lentil seeds were evaluated. A dimensionless number (v/aω) which shows ration of air current velocity blown to lentil to the maximum velocity of table oscillation, was considered in ratio of separation. Materials and Methods In this research, lentil samples were taken from farms in Ardebil Province (Bileh-Savar cultivar). A gravity separator apparatus was also used for separating impurities from lentil seeds. A Laboratory Gravity Separator Type LA-K (Westrup A/S Denmark) was used to separate impurities from bulk lentils. In this machine, table settings were as follows; longitudinal slope parameters (1°,1.5°, 1.75°, 2° and 2.5°), latitudinal slope (0.5°, 1°, and 1.5°), frequency of oscillation (380, 400, 420 and 450 cycles min-1), and amplitude of oscillation (5 and 7 mm), these settings were all adjustable. Similarly, the instrument had 5 boxes whereby, through proper adjustment, the heavier material was transferred toward the right side of the table and lighter material moved toward the left side. Through proper adjustment of the main parameters of the instrument, the impurities were separated from bulk lentils. Then using an electronic seed counter, five groups of seed which each group containing 100 seeds were counted and selected. Results and Discussion The results of variance analysis of the factorial design with three factors of table settings; (longitudinal slope at 5 levels, latitudinal slope at 3 levels, and frequency of oscillation of the table at 4 levels) are demonstrated in Table 1. It showed the main effect of table settings. Oscillation of frequency, latitudinal slope, and longitudinal slope, the mutual binary effect of latitudinal and longitudinal slope, the mutual binary effect of the latitudinal slope and the frequency of oscillation, the mutual binary effect of the longitudinal slope and the frequency of oscillation and the mutual triple effect of oscillation frequency, longitudinal slope, and latitudinal slope, were significant at the probability level of 1% and the mutual binary effect of the latitudinal slope and frequency of oscillation significant at the probability level of 5%. The results showed that increase of latitudinal slope of table and increase of longitudinal slope from 1 to 2 degrees will increase the separation percentage of impurities from lentil seeds. Moreover, the separation percentage of impurities from lentil seeds to longitudinal slope, under the various latitudinal slope and dimensionless number of (v/aω) and amplitude of oscillation of 5 mm and 7 mm, were investigated. Results showed that in all conditions with increasing of the longitudinal slope from 2^°-〖2.5〗^°, separation percentage of impurities from bulk lentils will decrease. This was due to the fact that under the stated conditions, distribution of seeds on the surface of the table was more homogenous. Note that at the amplitude of oscillation of 7 mm, transference of materials towards the right side of the table output edge was halted and the surface of the table was not fully covered by the fed materials, and separation decreased. The results of the experiment showed that the maximum separation of impurities from bulk lentils was 90.2 percent (v/aω=171). Conclusions 1- Increased latitudinal slope of the table from 0.5° to 1° and longitudinal slope of table from 1° to 2° were resulted in increased separation percentage of impurities from bulk lentils. 2- The results demonstrated that at settings of longitudinal slope of 2°, latitudinal slope of 1°, and frequency of oscillation of 400 cycles min-1, air velocity of 5.7 m s-1 and amplitude of oscillation of 5 mm (v/aω=171), the maximum separation will be 90.2%. In this case, the output lentil seeds contained the least amount of impurities here

Review of some of Coating Seed Factors in Rotary Pan Coater

Introduction Today, hybrid seeds are expensive because the company that produces them spends a lot of money on research and development that often takes years to accomplish. So precise planting of seeds in order to create the best growing condition for all seeds is important. Modified size and shape of seeds for precision planting, providing macro and micro nutrients since the start of seed germination and control pests and diseases are goals that are possible by coating seeds. The overall process of seed coating or seed pelleting comprises a number of important stages: 1- Droplet formation 2- Droplet travel 3- Impingement 4- Wetting 5- Spreading 6- Coalescence. Seed coating was largely borrowed from the confectionery industry which had developed this technique over the ages and is still widely used today. The seed industry concentrated on using the rotary drum or pan. This type of pan or drum was used for batches of up to 150–200 kg. Some rotary drum coater were developed subsequently which improved handling, particularly in the way the drying air was introduced and extracted. The pan of drum rotary coater is placed at the end of a tilted rotating shaft that is turned at a constant speed about 15- 20 rpm. Then a nozzle is spraying proper amount of coating solution on the seeds. The aim of this study was to evaluate technology and determine the factors affecting its quality coverage. Materials and Methods This experiment lay out in factorial experiment based on random complete block design with three replications. The first factor was vertically distance nozzle from seed bed in two levels 150 and 300 mm, second factor was the nozzle installed location in two levels installed in 1/4 diameter upper center and in center of cylinder, and third factor was concentration of binder polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in three levels 50, 75 and 100 g kg-1 kaolin. In order to measure the pellet error percent, first 100 pellets were selected and broken. No seed or multi-seed pellets were counted. For measuring physical strength of pellets, instron machine were implemented in physical properties laboratory in Aborihan department of Tehran University. Its load cell capacity was 490 N. Forward speed of the instron was 5 mm per minute. Germination test were performed in the laboratory in dryland agricultural substitute Sararood, Kermanshah. Results and Discussion The results showed that the nozzle distance from the seed bed had a significant effect on all measured traits (1% level). With increasing distance from the seed bed, the physical strength of pellet and the percentage of pellet error decreased but germination increased. In fact, with increasing nozzle distance from 150 mm to 300 mm, the physical strength of pellet decreased from 22.8 N to 21.4 N, the pellet error decreased from 4.1% to 2.1% but germination increased from 71.3 to 73.4 percent. The used binder quantity had a significant effect on all measured traits (1% level). By increasing of using binder, the physical strength of pellet and the percentage of pellet error increased but germination strongly decreased. In the other word, with increasing used binder from 50g to 100g per one kilogram kaolin, the physical strength of pellet increased from 13.9N to 29.1N, the pellet error increased from.2.01 to 4.18 percent but germination decreased from 90.42 to 53.17 percent. The nozzle installed location had a significant effect only on the pellet error (1% level). In the other word, the nozzle installed on the cylindrical center is better than nozzle installed in 1/4 diameter upper center. There was negative significant correlation (r=-0.96) between physical strength shell characteristics and germination. So increasing the physical strength of the shell is reduced germination. There was a significant correlation (r= 0.621) between physical strength and pellet error percentage. So with increasing physical shell strength, pellet error was increased

Investigation of one-dimensional heat flow in a solarflat plate collector with sun tracing system

Introduction Drying is one of the most common methods for storing food and agricultural products. During drying process, free water that causes the growth of microorganisms and spoilage of products is removed from the product. There are several methods for drying of agricultural products. one of the most important methods of investment is drying by using sunlight. Iran is situated at 25- 43oE longitude and mean solar radiation is about 4.9 kwh.m-2.d-1. Because of the proper solar radiations in 95% of the agricultural areas in Iran, solar drying is widely used for drying of fruits and vegetables. The use of solar dryer causes saving in energy consumption and processing costs for drying of products in farms and gardens. Several researchers investigated heat transfer and heat flow in dryers. Selection of appropriate method was carried out for drying of agricultural products using heat pump. Experiments were done and mathematical relationships were estimated to obtain correlation parameters between Reynolds number and Nusselt number for the three cases of solar dryer (cabinet, indirect and combination).The best working conditions were determined for three types of solar collectors (flat, finned and corrugated). In this study, the process of heat transfer and heat transfer coefficient of a solar dryer with and without rotation of absorber plate was compared. Materials and Methods The experiments were conducted in Azarshahr, East Azarbayjan province, Iran in September 2014. Newton's law of thermodynamic was used to analyze the working condition of solar absorber. For this purpose the absorber plate was divided into four equal parts. According to the thermal equations and related boundary conditions as well as the relationship between heat transfer coefficient and the temperature gradient, equation 1 for the Nusselet number obtained: 1 Beside the relationship between Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient is defined as equation 2: 2 Finally variation of total heat flow over the time at different surfaces of the collector is determined by using equation 3: 3 Two cases (solar panel with rotation and without rotation) were considered for testing. Data measuring was carried out for 9 hours from 8 to 17. The fluid flow rate was 0.0185m3.s-1. The dryer was installed in an environment with air temperature of 31.6 oC and 31.8 oC, with the air velocity of 0.58 m.s-1 and 0.54 m.s-1 and with the relative air humidity of about 21%and 21.5% at the first and second days, respectively. The dryer had an automatic temperature controller to fix the air temperature with an accuracy of ±0.1 oC. An anemometer Yk-2005AM model was used to regulate the required air velocity. The output data of the thermocouples was recorded by a digital thermometer (DL-9601A, Lutron) that was connected to a computer using RS232 cable and recorded the temperature at required point every an hour. The relative humidity of the ambient was measured every hour with a digital hygrometer (HT.3600, Taiwan), accuracy of 3%. By assembling controlling system with a DC motor, a precious photocell and a proper mechanism, the frame would rotate by the sun and followed solar radiation, therefore more solar energy produced in solar panel. Results and Discussion The results of the experiments showed that the heat transfer process increased in both cases from the early morning and reached to its maximum value around 12 to 14 o’clock. The trend was more homogeneous in the dryer by absorber plate without rotation due to the decline of the heat accumulation. The mean temperature rise in the solar dryer without rotation was 37oC and in the solar dryer with rotation was 54oC. Because of the rotation of solar plate, variations of solar radiation were low. Therefore, by rotation of the solar dryer panel the temperature rise was 27oC. The values of heat transfer coefficient in the solar dryer with rotation were decreased by the time. This reduction in the hours before noon is more than after noon. This is due to the reduction of the temperature gradient in the solar absorber plate. Also the results showed that heat transfer coefficient in the lower levels (S1 and S2) is more than higher levels (S3 and S4). Variations of the heat flow for the solar dryer with rotation is more than the other. Because in the first one, the absorber plate was followed the solar radiation and generated heat in the plate increases and the fan does not have the ability to discharge the generated heat. The total amount of heat transfer in absorber plate with rotation was 36.1% higher than the absorber plate without rotation. To increase the heat transfer from the dryer, design of the system to change air flow rate by increasing temperature, can increase the efficiency of the dryer. Conclusions In this study the performance of the absorber plate in a solar dryer in two cases with rotation and without rotation were compared. The results showed that by rotation of the solar absorber plate the output temperature of the collector rises about 27oC. Thermal fluctuation in the rotation solar plate is lower than the solar plate without rotation