21 research outputs found
BioSunMS: a plug-in-based software for the management of patients information and the analysis of peptide profiles from mass spectrometry
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With wide applications of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS), statistical comparison of serum peptide profiles and management of patients information play an important role in clinical studies, such as early diagnosis, personalized medicine and biomarker discovery. However, current available software tools mainly focused on data analysis rather than providing a flexible platform for both the management of patients information and mass spectrometry (MS) data analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we presented a plug-in-based software, BioSunMS, for both the management of patients information and serum peptide profiles-based statistical analysis. By integrating all functions into a user-friendly desktop application, BioSunMS provided a comprehensive solution for clinical researchers without any knowledge in programming, as well as a plug-in architecture platform with the possibility for developers to add or modify functions without need to recompile the entire application.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>BioSunMS provides a plug-in-based solution for managing, analyzing, and sharing high volumes of MALDI-TOF or SELDI-TOF MS data. The software is freely distributed under GNU General Public License (GPL) and can be downloaded from <url>http://sourceforge.net/projects/biosunms/</url>.</p
Novel Membrane Emulsification Method of Producing Highly Uniform Silica Particles Using Inexpensive Silica Sources
A membrane emulsification method for production of monodispersed silica-based ion exchange particles through water-in-oil emulsion route is developed. A hydrophobic microsieve membrane with 15 mu m pore size and 200 pm pore spacing was used to produce droplets, with a mean size between 65 and 240 pm containing acidified sodium silicate solution (with 4 and 6 wt% SiO2) in kerosene. After drying, the final silica particles had a mean size in the range between 30 and 70 mu m. Coefficient of variation for both the droplets and particles did not exceed 35%. The most uniform particles had a mean diameter of 40 mu m and coefficient of variation of 17%. The particles were functionalised with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane and used for chemisorption of Cu(II) from an aqueous solution of CuSO4 in a continuous flow stirred cell with slotted pore microfiltration membrane. Functionalised silica particles showed a higher binding affinity toward Cu(II) than nontreated silica particles.UK Colloids 2011 - International Colloid and Surface Science Symposium, Jul 04-06, 2011, London, Englan
Conductivity/activation energy relationships for cement-based materials undergoing cyclic thermal excursions
The electrical conductivity of a range of concrete
mixes, with and without supplementary cementitious
materials (SCM), is studied through multiple cycles of
heating and cooling over the extended temperature range
-30/?70 C. When presented in an Arrhenius format, the
experimental results display hysteresis effects at the lowtemperature
end of the thermal cycle and, in those concretes
containing supplementary cementitious materials at
higher water/binder ratios, hysteresis effects were evident
over the entire temperature range becoming more discernible
with increasing number of thermal cycles. The
depression in both the freezing and thawing point could be
clearly identified and was used to estimate pore-neck and
pore-cavity radii. A simplified approach is presented to
evaluate the volumetric ratio of frozen pore water in terms
of conductivity measurements. The results also show that
the conductivity and activation energy of the concrete
specimens were related to the water/binder ratio, type of
SCM, physical state of the pore water and the thermal
cycling regime