Genetic computation of geodesics on three-dimensional curved surfaces

Most classical approaches to the determination of geodesics (such as the calculus of variations) are difficult to apply except for simple surfaces. Genetic algorithms are therefore used to provide a general methodology for the computation of geodesics.published_or_final_versio

Oncoproteomic profiling with antibody microarrays

The incidence of cancer and its associated mortality are increasing globally, indicating an urgent need to develop even more effective and sensitive sets of biomarkers that could help in early diagnosis and consequent intervention. Given that many cellular processes are carried out by proteins, cancer research has recently shifted toward an exploration of the full proteome for such discovery. Among the advanced methodologies that are being developed for analyzing the proteome, antibody microarrays have become a prominent tool for gathering the information required for a better understanding of disease biology, early detection, discrimination of tumors and monitoring of disease progression. Here, we review the technical aspects and challenges in the development and use of antibody microarray assays and examine recently reported applications in oncoproteomics

Production of functional protein hydrolysates from Egyptian breeds of soybean and lupin seeds

Enzymatic hydrolysis is an agro-processing aid that can be utilized in order to improve nutritional quality of protein extracts from many sources. In this study, protein extracts from ungerminated and/or germinated local Egyptian soybean and lupin flours were hydrolyzed using the enzyme papain. The hydrolysis processes were carried out for 2 h and aliquots were withdrawn at different time intervals. We have analysed the protein hydrolysate after 30 min hydrolysis as an example of a partially hydrolyzed protein, and after 120 min as an example of greatly hydrolyzed protein. The hydrolysate (2 h treatment at 80°C and pH 7.4) from both soybean and lupin flour contained significantly decreased trypsin inhibitor activity and urease activity, and a reduced phytate content, which improved the overall protein quality. Hydrolysis caused almost complete inactivation of urease in all soybean and lupin samples regardless if the seeds were germinated or not. High protein content, nitrogen solubility and invitro protein digestibility was shown after hydrolysis. Total protein content (in g/100 g extract) increased in hydrolyzed samples from 48.1 to 51-60 for soybean (dependent on pre-treatment) and from36.8 to 39.9-48.6 for lupin. Total essential amino acid content was also increased in papain hydrolyzed samples, compared to that in raw and germinated legumes. More specifically, the amount of lysine,sulphur amino acids, histidine, and to a certain extent isoleucine and threonine increased in samples from both legume species. All soybean samples exhibited antioxidant activity while in lupin samples,only those subjected to hydrolysis showed activity. Generally, it was clearly observed that the longer the duration of enzymatic hydrolysis (within the time frame of the experiment), the higher the improvement of the nutritional qualit

Iterative learning control of multivariable plants

In recent years, many researchers have proposed different iterative learningcontrollers, which unfortunately mostly require that the plants under control beregular. Therefore, in order to remove this limitation, various analogue and digitaliterative learning controllers are proposed in this thesis.Indeed, it is shown that analogue iterative learning controllers can be designed forplants with any order of irregularity using initial state shifting or initial impulsiveaction. However, such analogue controllers have to be digitalised for purpose ofimplementation. In addition, in the synthesis of their control laws, such controllersrequire some knowledge of the plants' Markov parameters. Ilerefore, new digitaliterative learning controllers are proposed. Such digital controllers circumvent theneed for detailed mathematical models of the plants in any form. Indeed, theproposed digital iterative learning controllers rely on input/output data in thesynthesis of their control laws. It is shown that digital iterative learning controllerscan be readily designed for multivariable plants of any order or irregularity using onlysuch input/output data in the form of step-responsem atrices.The learning rates achievable in both the analogue and digital iterative learningcontrol of linear multivariable plants are investigated. It is shown that the irregularityand stability characteristics of the plants under control impose severe constrains on theachievable learning rates. Indeed, it is shown that the learning parameter in the caseof digital iterative learning controllers increases as the order of plant irregularityincreases. This increase in the learning parameter affects the learning performanceand the speed of convergence adversely. This discovery led to the introduction ofcompensators in the design of digital iterative learning controllers for irregular plants which help to improve the learning performance and convergence by reducing theeffective learning parameter. Since such digital iterative learning controllers use stepresponsematrices in the synthesis of their control laws and since the step-responsecharacteristics can be identified in real time, it is shown in this thesis that iterativelearning controllers can readily be rendered adaptive in case plant dynamics areinitially unknown or time-varying.In order to demonstrate the applicability of these results to the control of roboticmanipulators, both analogue and digital iterative learning controllers are designed fora two-link manipulator in both joint and task spaces. Finally, digital iterativelearning controllers are designed and practically implemented in the real-timepositional control of a dc servo actuator

Streptomyces noboritoensis isolated from rhizosphere soil and its use in controlling banana-tissue culture contaminants

In this study, the role of Streptomyces noboritoensis (14) isolated from the rhizosphere of banana plant and having antagonistic activity against the bacterial- and fungal-tissue culture contaminants was determined in vitro. Results show that the filtrate was more effective against the fungal-tissue culture contaminants than the bacterial-tissue culture contaminants. This was indicated when jars were fungifree and bacteria-free after one month and 21 days from incubation, respectively. Results of in vitro application show that the filtrate of S. noboritoensis (14) as a bio-control agent could be used for controlling the contaminants in banana. Data showed that treatment F (sterilized shoots treated with Streptomyces filtrate and cultivated on Streptomyces-inoculated medium) was the most effective followed by treatment E (sterilized shoots untreated with Streptomyces filtrate and cultivated on Streptomyces-inoculated medium). Therefore, the study suggests conducting further studies towards the use of streptomycetes in the biological control in a large scale production.Keywords: Streptomyces, tissue culture contaminants, antagonistic activities, bio-controlAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 2908-291

Evaluating the sterility of orthodontic materials as received from the manufacturer and that exposed to clinic environment - in vitro study

Introduction: Sterilization in orthodontics has been discussed and stressed over times in the dental literature. Sterility of orthodontic materials should be of prime interest to the orthodontist as a health care professional and he should take appropriate measures to prevent the risk of cross infection. Aim: To evaluate the sterility of orthodontic materials as received from the manufacturer and that exposed to clinic environment for 6 months. Materials and methods: The sterility of orthodontic materials "as received" from the manufacturer and "clinically exposed" (unused materials stored in the clinic environment for a period of 6 months) was microbiologically evaluated (universal & conventional PCR).The materials which were included in this study were the sealed and unsealed orthodontic archwires, molar bands, elastomeric module, stainless steel bracket, coil spring and tungsten carbide burs of various brands (American Orthodontics, 3M Unitek, Ormco, Orthosystems, G&H, Modern Orthodontics, SS white etc). Results: After universal and conventional PCR, the detection of micro-organisms in all materials was significantly higher in the clinically exposed samples compared to as received samples from manufacturers (p<0.001). The detection of micro-organisms in all orthodontic wires is significantly higher in the unsealed samples compared to sealed samples (p<0.001). In universal PCR, the detection of microorganisms in all materials (Coil spring, E-chain, Elastomeric, Molar brands, Tungsten carbide) except for SS brackets is significantly higher in both as received and clinically exposed samples. Conclusion: After universal and conventional PCR, we conclude that bacteria were present on almost all orthodontic materials "as received from the manufacturers" and that exposed to a clinical environment. Therefore all materials should be sterilized before use in patients

Association of serum fetuin-A and fetuin-A gene polymorphism in relation to mineral and bone disorders in patients with chronic kidney disease

Disorders of bone and mineral metabolism contribute to an increased prevalence of vascular calcification (VC) with its adverse clinical outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The pathogenesis of VC is not fully understood. Fetuin-A is one of the inhibitors of calcification whose level is lowered in patients with CKD. In addition fetuin-A 256Ser/Ser (allele G) might affect serum fetuin-A levels. The aim of this work was to study the association betweenKeywords: Chronic kidney disease; Fetuin-A; Fetuin-A gene; Vascular calcification; Bone mineral diseas

Association between vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and chronic periodontitis among Libyans

Background: Chronic periodontitis (CP) is a common oral disease characterized by inflammation in the supporting tissue of the teeth ‘the periodontium’, periodontal attachment loss, and alveolar bone loss. The disease has a microbial etiology; however, recent findings suggest that the genetic factors, such as vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms, have also been included.Aim: Investigation of the relationship between VDR gene polymorphisms and CP among Libyans.Materials and methods: In this study, we examined 196 unrelated Libyans between the ages of 25 and 65 years, including 99 patients and 97 controls. An oral examination based on Ramfjord Index was performed at different dental clinics in Tripoli and information were collected using a self-reported questionnaire. DNA was extracted from buccal swabs; the VDR ApaI, BsmI, and FokI polymorphisms were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction and were sequenced using Sanger Method.Results: A significant difference in the newly detected ApaI SNP C/T rs#731236 was found (p0.022), whereas no significant differences were found in ApaI SNP G/T rs#7975232, BsmI SNPA/G rs#1544410, and FokI SNP A/G rs#2228570 between patients and controls (p0.939, 0.466, 0.239), respectively.Conclusion: VDR ApaI SNP C/T rs#731236 may be related to the risk of CP in the Libyan population.Keywords: chronic periodontitis; vitamin D receptor; gene; polymorphisms; variations; SN

May Measurement Month 2017: an analysis of blood pressure screening in Sudan-Northern Africa and Middle East

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. Sudan has the second highest prevalence of hypertension in North Africa. One in four people with a non-communicable disease has hypertension. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global initiative, aimed at raising awareness of high BP to act as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programs worldwide. The MMM screening survey provided an opportunity to correlate between unique risk factors and BP levels among Sudanese population. Such an approach allows for directing efforts towards setting the appropriate preventive measures as opposed to disease treatment. An opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18 was carried out in May 2017. Blood pressure measurement, the definition of hypertension and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. The study was conducted at 100 sites distributed in four states: Khartoum, Gezira, Blue Nile, and Kassala. Overall, a total of 44 413 participants were enrolled in the survey. After imputation, 7332 out of 44 118 participants with an available mean of the second and third readings had hypertension (16.6%). A total of 6956 (15.9%) participants were found to have hypertension of the 43 742 who were not receiving treatment. Among participants who were on treatment, 155 out of 374 (41.3%) had uncontrolled BP. After adjusting for age and sex, systolic and diastolic BP's were significantly higher in those receiving antihypertensive treatment, with a previous history of stroke and with elevated body mass index. Systolic BP was significantly higher in people with diabetes and with previous myocardial infarction. Smoking was associated with increased diastolic BP and decreased systolic BP. Alcohol intake as well as BP measurement on left vs. right arm had no association with BP reading. The MMM17 was the largest BP screening campaign ever held in the country. A considerable percentage of detected hypertensives were not on treatment with a significant proportion of uncontrolled hypertension among those on treatment. These results suggest that opportunistic screening can identify significant numbers with raised BP