Novel screening test for celiac disease using peptide functionalised gold nanoparticles

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved. AIM To develop a screening test for celiac disease based on the coating of gold nanoparticles with a peptide sequence derived from gliadin, the protein that triggers celiac disease. METHODS 20 nm gold nanoparticles were first coated with NeutrAvidin. A long chain Polyethylene glycol (PEG) linker containing Maleimide at the Ω-end and Biotin group at the α-end was used to ensure peptide coating to the gold nanoparticles. The maleimide group with the thiol (-SH) side chain reacted with the cysteine amino acid in the peptide sequence and the biotinylated and PEGylated peptide was added to the NeutrAvidin coated gold nanoparticles. The peptide coated gold nanoparticles were then converted into a serological assay. We used the peptide functionalised gold nanoparticle-based assay on thirty patient serum samples in a blinded assessment and compared our results with the previously run serological and pathological tests on these patients. RESULTS A stable colloidal suspension of peptide coated gold nanoparticles was obtained without any aggregation. An absorbance peak shift as well as color change was caused by the aggregation of gold nanoparticles following the addition of anti-gliadin antibody to peptide coated nanoparticles at levels associated with celiac disease. The developed assay has been shown to detect anti-gliadin antibody not only in quantitatively spiked samples but also in a small-scale study on real non-hemolytic celiac disease patient’s samples. CONCLUSION The study demonstrates the potential of gold nanoparticle-peptide based approach to be adapted for developing a screening assay for celiac disease diagnosis. The assay could be a part of an exclusion based diagnostic strategy and prove particularly useful for testing high celiac disease risk populations

Design Criteria for Zero Leakage Connectors for Launch Vehicles. Mathematical Model of Interface Sealing Phenomenon, Volume 2 Final Report

Mathematical model of interface sealing phenomenon in determining design criteria for zero leakage connectors for launch vehicle

Organische Chemie

n/

Problem-Based Learning in Mathematics

A teacher of mathematics has a great opportunity. If he fills his allotted time with drilling his students in routine operations, he kills their interest, hampers their intellectual development, and misuses his opportunity. But if he challenges the curiosity of his students by setting them problems proportionate to their knowledge and helps them to solve their problems with stimulating questions, he may give them a taste for, and some independent means of, independent thinking

Four-qubit entanglement from string theory

We invoke the black hole/qubit correspondence to derive the classification of four-qubit entanglement. The U-duality orbits resulting from timelike reduction of string theory from D=4 to D=3 yield 31 entanglement families, which reduce to nine up to permutation of the four qubits.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables, revtex; minor corrections, references adde

Functional traits of the world’s late Quaternary large-bodied avian and mammalian herbivores

Prehistoric and recent extinctions of large-bodied terrestrial herbivores had significant and lasting impacts on Earth’s ecosystems due to the loss of their distinct trait combinations. The world’s surviving large-bodied avian and mammalian herbivores remain among the most threatened taxa. As such, a greater understanding of the ecological impacts of large herbivore losses is increasingly important. However, comprehensive and ecologically-relevant trait datasets for extinct and extant herbivores are lacking. Here, we present HerbiTraits, a comprehensive functional trait dataset for all late Quaternary terrestrial avian and mammalian herbivores ≥10 kg (545 species). HerbiTraits includes key traits that influence how herbivores interact with ecosystems, namely body mass, diet, fermentation type, habitat use, and limb morphology. Trait data were compiled from 557 sources and comprise the best available knowledge on late Quaternary large-bodied herbivores. HerbiTraits provides a tool for the analysis of herbivore functional diversity both past and present and its effects on Earth’s ecosystems

Braids, Shuffles and Symmetrizers

Multiplicative analogues of the shuffle elements of the braid group rings are introduced; in local representations they give rise to certain graded associative algebras (b-shuffle algebras). For the Hecke and BMW algebras, the (anti)-symmetrizers have simple expressions in terms of the multiplicative shuffles. The (anti)-symmetrizers can be expressed in terms of the highest multiplicative 1-shuffles (for the Hecke and BMW algebras) and in terms of the highest additive 1-shuffles (for the Hecke algebras). The spectra and multiplicities of eigenvalues of the operators of the multiplication by the multiplicative and additive 1-shuffles are examined.Comment: 18 page

Time separation as a hidden variable to the Copenhagen school of quantum mechanics

The Bohr radius is a space-like separation between the proton and electron in the hydrogen atom. According to the Copenhagen school of quantum mechanics, the proton is sitting in the absolute Lorentz frame. If this hydrogen atom is observed from a different Lorentz frame, there is a time-like separation linearly mixed with the Bohr radius. Indeed, the time-separation is one of the essential variables in high-energy hadronic physics where the hadron is a bound state of the quarks, while thoroughly hidden in the present form of quantum mechanics. It will be concluded that this variable is hidden in Feynman's rest of the universe. It is noted first that Feynman's Lorentz-invariant differential equation for the bound-state quarks has a set of solutions which describe all essential features of hadronic physics. These solutions explicitly depend on the time separation between the quarks. This set also forms the mathematical basis for two-mode squeezed states in quantum optics, where both photons are observable, but one of them can be treated a variable hidden in the rest of the universe. The physics of this two-mode state can then be translated into the time-separation variable in the quark model. As in the case of the un-observed photon, the hidden time-separation variable manifests itself as an increase in entropy and uncertainty.Comment: LaTex 10 pages with 5 figure. Invited paper presented at the Conference on Advances in Quantum Theory (Vaxjo, Sweden, June 2010), to be published in one of the AIP Conference Proceedings serie

An algebraic classification of entangled states

We provide a classification of entangled states that uses new discrete entanglement invariants. The invariants are defined by algebraic properties of linear maps associated with the states. We prove a theorem on a correspondence between the invariants and sets of equivalent classes of entangled states. The new method works for an arbitrary finite number of finite-dimensional state subspaces. As an application of the method, we considered a large selection of cases of three subspaces of various dimensions. We also obtain an entanglement classification of four qubits, where we find 27 fundamental sets of classes.Comment: published versio

Modeling perennial groundcover effects on annual maize grain crop growth with the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator

The inclusion of perennial groundcover (PGC) in maize production offers a tenable solution to natural resources-related concerns associated with conventional maize; however, insight into system management and key information gaps is needed to guide future research. We therefore extended the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) to an annual and perennial intercrop by integrating annual and perennial APSIM modules. These were parameterized for Kentucky bluegrass (KB) (Poa pratensis L.) or creeping red fescue (CF) (Festuca rubra L.) as PGC using a three-year dataset. Our objectives for this intercropping modeling study were to: i) simultaneously model a PGC and annual cash crop using APSIM software; ii) utilize APSIM to understand interactive processes in the maize-PGC system; and iii) utilize the calibrated model to explore both production and environmental benefits via scenario modeling. For objective I, the integrated model successfully predicted maize total aboveground biomass (TAB) (relative root mean square error, RRMSE of 13- 27%) and PGC above- and belowground tissue N concentration (RRMSE of 11-18%). The calibrated model effectively captured observed trends in PGC biomass accumulation and soil nitrate (NO3). For objective II, model analysis showed that competition for light was the primary maize yield penalty factor from PGC, while water and N impacted maize yield later in the maize growing season. In objective III, we concluded that effective PGC suppression produces minimal maize yield loss and significant environmental benefits; conversely, poor groundcover suppression may produce unfavorable environmental consequences and decrease maize grain yield. Effective PGC suppression is key for long-term system success