Discovering varying patterns of Normal and interleaved ADLs in smart homes

People may do the same activity in many different ways hence, modeling and recognizing that activity based on data gathered through simple sensors like motion sensor is a complex task. In this paper, we propose an approach for activity mining and activity tracking which identifies frequent normal and interleaved activities that individuals perform. With this capability, we can track the occurrence of regular activities to monitor users and detect changes in an individual\u2019s behavioral pattern and lifestyle. We have tested the proposed method using the datasets of Washington State University CASAS and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) smart home projects. The obtained results show considerable improvements compared with existing methods

IgG immune responses to different proteins of Helicobacter Pylori as defined by immunoblot assay

Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) is an etiologic factor for chronic gastritis and peptic ulcers. Serological testing of H.pylori infection is common in Iran, as other parts of the world. There are geographical variations in the humoral immune response to various H. pylori strains in different parts of the worl. We studied the immunogenic proteins of H.pylori by means of an Immunoblot assay with antigens of H.pylori strains isolated in Iran. Sera of 64 patients suffering from dyspepsia were analyzed to determine antibodlies which were good marker of infection and the antibody patterns associated with peptic ulcer.54 out of 64 dyspeptic patients were infected by H. pylori based on positive culture or positive results of both rapid urease test and direct examination. 14 out of fity-four had peptic ulcers and the rest were catagoriied as patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia. Some of them had multiple erosions in the gut or deodenum. Tweny –two major bands were identified by immunoblot. Of these, IgG antibodies against 10 protients, and they produced immunoreative bands at 14, 16, 22, 26, 32 , 32, 44, 87, 92, 120 Kda. Antibody patterns were not identical in the patients. The presence of at least one band at 14, 16, 22, 26, 32, 35Kda was the best marker of infection(sensitivity, 90% and specificity, 80%) Major serological cross reactions were found at moderate molecular weight bands (50, 52, 54, 60, 66 KDa). The presence of at least one band at 14, 16, 22, 26, 32, 35Kda was the best marker of infection (sensitivity, 90% and specificity, 80%). Major serological crossreactions were found at moderate molerate molecular weight bands (50, 52, 54, 60, 66 KDa). The presence of antibodies to 120 Kda protein (Cag A and 87 Kda Protein (Vac A) were not associated with the presence of peptic ulcers. These were in contradiction to results obtained across Europe and U.S but in agreement with Asian studies. However the presence of at least one band at either 32 or 35 Kda was more frequent in the sera of peptic ulcer patients and non-ulcer dyspeptic patients with erosions (P<0.05). These results could be applicable to design new serological kits. In Iran and could also be used to identify new putative virulence factors for H. pylor

Investigation of 2-nitrophenol solar degradation in the simultaneous presence of K2S2O8 and H2O2: Using experimental design and artificial neural network

In this study, the interaction effect of K2S2O8 (PDS) and H2O2 (as two powerful oxidants) was investigated on the solar degradation of 2-nitrophenol (2-NF) in the two systems, i.e. absence and presence of Ag/S/TiO2 photocatalyst. Experiments were designed based on the central composite design, and two methods of response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were developed for modeling of the systems. Concentrations of PDS and H2O2 were considered as independent variables and 2-NF degradation efficiency was selected as the response. It was revealed that the predictive capacity of ANN model is more than RSM model according to their corresponding R2, R2adj, RMS, MAE, and AAD values. Therefore, ANN model was utilized to analyze the effects of the independent variables. Moreover, it was found that, by increasing the amount of either PDS or H2O2, less amount of the other oxidant was required to reach the highest degradation efficiency which shows the contributive effect of the oxidants on each other. By adding Ag/S/TiO2 visible-light-sensitive photocatalyst to the solution containing PDS and H2O2, a significant enhancement in the 2-NF degradation efficiency was observed. Using an ANN-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) approach, the values of 172.1 mg/l and 80.9 mg/l were respectively obtained as optimum concentrations for PDS and H2O2 (in the presence of the photocatalyst). Under this condition, 2-NF degradation efficiency was predicted to be 96% after only 45 min of solar light irradiation that is in a good agreement with the actual degradation efficiency of 97.1% obtained at the optimum concentrations. In addition, the relative importance of the independent variables was studied using Garson method and it was found that PDS had more impact on the response in comparison with H2O2

Single nucleotide polymorphism and asthma: from conformational variations to structural alternations

Background: Asthma is the main reason of disability, health resource exploitation and low quality of life for those who are affected. It is estimated that nearly 300 million people in the world are suffering from asthma. Studies have identified 18 genomic regions and more than 100 genes associated with asthma. Among these candidate genes, IL-17F plays a very interesting role in asthma. This study was conducted to predict the conformational and functional impact of asthma-associated IL-17F polymorphisms on protein product of the corresponding gene using Phyre2, PolyPhen2 and SIFT softwares. Methods: In the present study, 10 significant missense SNPs (rs763780, rs144576902, rs11465553, rs368500268, rs141798304, rs2397084, rs146083682, rs200163061, rs376671742, and rs373228601) were taken from Ensembl Genome Browser database. Polymorphism-induced protein structural changes were predicted using Protein Homology analogY Recognition Engine V2.0 (PHYRE2) program. The possible impact of an amino acid substitution on the function of protein was analyzed using PolyPhen-2 (Polymorphism Phenotyping Version2) and SIFT (Sorting Intolerant From Tolerant) tools. Results: The analysis revealed mutant proteins having structural changes in the number of atoms, H-bonds, turns and helices. While wild copy has 82 H-bonds, 5 helices and 20 turns, the mutant types show considerable changes. At functional level also, substantial changes were observed between the wild protein and the mutant one. Conclusion: A single nucleotide polymorphism in the gene sequence can lead to the substantial structural and functional variations in the protein product of the gene, a process that may account for etiology of a number of complex diseases including asthma

Single nucleotide polymorphism and Asthma: from conformational variations to structural alternations

Background: Asthma is the main reason of disability, health resource exploitation and low quality of life for those who are affected. It is estimated that nearly 300 million people in the world are suffering from asthma. Studies have identified 18 genomic regions and more than 100 genes associated with asthma. Among these candidate genes, IL-17F plays a very interesting role in asthma. This study was conducted to predict the conformational and functional impact of asthma-associated IL-17F polymorphisms on protein product of the corresponding gene using Phyre2, PolyPhen2 and SIFT softwares. Methods: In the present study, 10 significant missense SNPs (rs763780, rs144576902, rs11465553, rs368500268, rs141798304, rs2397084, rs146083682, rs200163061, rs376671742, and rs373228601) were taken from Ensembl Genome Browser database. Polymorphism-induced protein structural changes were predicted using Protein Homology analogY Recognition Engine V2.0 (PHYRE2) program. The possible impact of an amino acid substitution on the function of protein was analyzed using PolyPhen-2 (Polymorphism Phenotyping Version2) and SIFT (Sorting Intolerant From Tolerant) tools. Results: The analysis revealed mutant proteins having structural changes in the number of atoms, H-bonds, turns and helices. While wild copy has 82 H-bonds, 5 helices and 20 turns, the mutant types show considerable changes. At functional level also, substantial changes were observed between the wild protein and the mutant one. Conclusion: A single nucleotide polymorphism in the gene sequence can lead to the substantial structural and functional variations in the protein product of the gene, a process that may account for etiology of a number of complex diseases including asthma

Development, physicochemical characterization, and antimicrobial evaluation of niosomal myrtle essential oil

Myrtus communis (myrtle) is well known for its therapeutic effects pertaining to the major secondary metabolites including essential oils (EOs). EOs are composed of volatile compounds and simply evaporate or decompose leading to their instability. Preparation of EOs niosomal formulation may be a promising approach to deal with these obstacles. Niosomal formulations of myrtle essential oil (nMEO) were provided using non-ionic surfactants and cholesterol (Chol). In the next steps, vesicle size, zeta potential, percentage of entrapment efficiency (EE%) and physical stability of nMEO were investigated. Finally, the effect of myrtle essential oil (MEO) and nMEO on microbial growth inhibition were assessed. Values for nMEO size and zeta potential ranged from 6.17 ± 0.32 to 7.24 ± 0.61 (μm) and -20.41 ± 0.17 to -31.75 ± 0.45 (mV), respectively. Higher degrees of EE% were obtained by F6 formulation (Span/Tween 60:Chol (50:50 molar ratio)). Moreover, niosomes have been reported to be stable at 4 °C during a three-month time period. It was revealed that nMEO F6 formulation inhibited growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Serratia marcescens, and Bacillus subtilis at concentrations lower than that of MEO. Overall, it was found that stable multilamellar vesicles were formed in the presence of 0.5% MEO and F6 formulation. This formulation also exhibited better antibacterial activity than MEO

Defective maturation of dendritic cells in common variable immunodeficiency

Monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MdDCs) from many patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) have been shown recently to have reduced expression of surface molecules associated with maturity. Using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, we now show that this is due to a partial failure to fix Class II DR molecules on the surface during procedures that induce full maturation in vitro in cells from normal subjects. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I, CD86 and CD83 expression were expressed normally, but CD40 was reduced. These abnormalities are unlikely to be due to prior in vivo exposure of monocytes to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), as addition of LPS to monocytes from normal subjects in vitro caused a different pattern of changes. CVID MdDCs retained Class II DR in the cytoplasm during maturation, showed increased internalization of cross-linked Class II DR surface molecules and were unable to polarize DR within a lipid raft at contact sites with autologous lymphocytes. These cells retained some features of monocytes, such as the ability to phagocytose large numbers of fixed yeast and fluorescent carboxylated microspheres and expression of surface CD14. These abnormalities, if reflected in vivo, could compromise antigen presentation and may be a fundamental defect in the mechanism of the antibody deficiency in a substantial subset of CVID patients

Investigation of 2-nitrophenol solar degradation in the simultaneous presence of K\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eS\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e and H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e: Using experimental design and artificial neural network

In this study, the interaction effect of K2S2O8 (PDS) and H2O2 (as two powerful oxidants) was investigated on the solar degradation of 2-nitrophenol (2-NF) in the two systems, i.e. absence and presence of Ag/S/TiO2 photocatalyst. Experiments were designed based on the central composite design, and two methods of response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were developed for modeling of the systems. Concentrations of PDS and H2O2 were considered as independent variables and 2-NF degradation efficiency was selected as the response. It was revealed that the predictive capacity of ANN model is more than RSM model according to their corresponding R2, R2adj, RMS, MAE, and AAD values. Therefore, ANN model was utilized to analyze the effects of the independent variables. Moreover, it was found that, by increasing the amount of either PDS or H2O2, less amount of the other oxidant was required to reach the highest degradation efficiency which shows the contributive effect of the oxidants on each other. By adding Ag/S/TiO2 visible-light-sensitive photocatalyst to the solution containing PDS and H2O2, a significant enhancement in the 2-NF degradation efficiency was observed. Using an ANN-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) approach, the values of 172.1 mg/l and 80.9 mg/l were respectively obtained as optimum concentrations for PDS and H2O2 (in the presence of the photocatalyst). Under this condition, 2-NF degradation efficiency was predicted to be 96% after only 45 min of solar light irradiation that is in a good agreement with the actual degradation efficiency of 97.1% obtained at the optimum concentrations. In addition, the relative importance of the independent variables was studied using Garson method and it was found that PDS had more impact on the response in comparison with H2O2