Texture classification of proteins using support vector machines and bio-inspired metaheuristics

6th International Joint Conference, BIOSTEC 2013, Barcelona, Spain, February 11-14, 2013[Abstract] In this paper, a novel classification method of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis images is presented. Such a method uses textural features obtained by means of a feature selection process for whose implementation we compare Genetic Algorithms and Particle Swarm Optimization. Then, the selected features, among which the most decisive and representative ones appear to be those related to the second order co-occurrence matrix, are used as inputs for a Support Vector Machine. The accuracy of the proposed method is around 94 %, a statistically better performance than the classification based on the entire feature set. This classification step can be very useful for discarding over-segmented areas after a protein segmentation or identification process

Influence of maturity on volatile production and chemical composition of fruits of six apricot cultivars

The fruits of six apricot cultivars were chemically analysed at two distinct stages of maturity, first when ready for picking by conventional commercial criteria, and again after another 6 days of maturation on the tree. Firmness, levels of soluble solids (SS), organic acids (citric and malic acid), sugars (sucrose, fructose and glucose), respiration rates and the production of ethylene and other volatile compounds were measured. Forty-five volatile compounds, including 12 alcohols, 10 aldehydes. 2 ketones, 10 esters, 7 terpenes, 3 lactones and I hydrocarbon were sampled by head space SPME and identified by GC-MS. The chemical composition of the non-volatile fraction (soluble solids and organic acids) exhibited only minor differences. insufficient to differentiate between the apricot cultivars or to make any meaningful judgement of the degree of maturity. Some variation between the cultivars in the respiration rate and production of ethylene was observed. However, using a stepwise logistic regression analysis, chemicals were identified among the volatile compounds which allowed the differentiation of fruits at the two different stages of maturity. In addition to the results of physical tests of firmness using standard penetration methods, differences in the degree of fruit maturation were clearly indicated by the levels of volatiles such as trans-2-hexen-1-ol, 2-methylbutylacetate, butyl-2-methylbutyrate, 6-methyl-5-heptene-2-one, acetophenone and γ-octalactone. Principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed the development of significant differences between each of the 6 apricot cultivars over the six day period of extra maturation on the tree, as each cultivar developed its own specific chemical signature. Moreover, this varietal character, which plays such an important part in determining overall attractiveness to the consumer, was only seen in fruits picked at the later stage of maturity

The methodology of mapping, evidence, documentation, care, and protection of important avenues and their trees

Práce zahrnuje úvodní obecnou analytickou část, jejímž účelem je stručné informativní shrnutí současného poznání a komplexní podstaty řešené alejové problematiky. Na tuto část navazují konkrétní kapitoly v rámci odborné aplikované části: Mapování a dokumentace alejí (popisující stanovené a odzkoušené metody mapování, dokumentace a evidence sledovaných jevů a prvků významných alejových linií a stromořadí v krajině), Množení alejových dřevin (kde jsou rozebrány vhodné metody přemnožení vybraných alejových dřevin, péče o ně a jejich další pěstování) a Obnova a management historických alejí (kde jsou popsány jak současné postupy a principy péče a ochrany alejí a jejich dřevin, tak i používané metody (včetně zahraničních) revitalizací a obnov, které jsou významné z hlediska současné praxe)

Short-wavelength ablation of molecular solids: pulse duration and wavelength effects

As liver fibrosis is the result of persistent necroinflammation in the liver, pro-inflammatory cytokines secreted in response to cell injury have a central role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. We aimed to investigate the association of cytokine gene polymorphism and liver fibrosis among Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B.Polymorphisms at interleukin-10 (IL-10-627, -1117), interleukin-1-beta (IL-1beta-511, -31, -3964), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RN), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha-308, -238) among Chinese chronic hepatitis B patients were determined. Severe liver fibrosis was defined as Ishak fibrosis score = 4 (of 6).Fifty-nine of 273 (22%) patients had severe fibrosis. The distribution of genotypes for IL-10-627 was CC (11%), CA (41%), and AA (48%). The CC genotype at IL-10-627 was protective against severe fibrosis (odds ratio (OR) 0.11; 95% CI 0.014-0.82; P = 0.032). After adjusted for baseline variables, the adjusted OR of CC genotypes at IL-10-627 for severe fibrosis was 0.063 (95% CI 0.06-0.64; P = 0.063). Other gene polymorphisms at IL-1beta, IL-1RN, TNF-alpha, and IL-10 had no significant association with severe fibrosis. Weak linkage disequilibrium was observed between IL-10-627 and IL-10-1117 with linkage disequilibrium coefficient of 0.12 (P < 0.001). The distribution of haplotypes of IL-10-1117 and IL-10-627 was A-A (69%), A-C (26%), and G-C (5%). High and intermediate IL-10 production (A-C and G-C) haplotypes were protective against severe fibrosis (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.39-0.99; P = 0.046).High production genotype and haplotypes of IL-10 were associated with less severe liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B in Chinese

Short-wavelength ablation of molecular solids: pulse duration and wavelength effects

As liver fibrosis is the result of persistent necroinflammation in the liver, pro-inflammatory cytokines secreted in response to cell injury have a central role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. We aimed to investigate the association of cytokine gene polymorphism and liver fibrosis among Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B.Polymorphisms at interleukin-10 (IL-10-627, -1117), interleukin-1-beta (IL-1beta-511, -31, -3964), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RN), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha-308, -238) among Chinese chronic hepatitis B patients were determined. Severe liver fibrosis was defined as Ishak fibrosis score = 4 (of 6).Fifty-nine of 273 (22%) patients had severe fibrosis. The distribution of genotypes for IL-10-627 was CC (11%), CA (41%), and AA (48%). The CC genotype at IL-10-627 was protective against severe fibrosis (odds ratio (OR) 0.11; 95% CI 0.014-0.82; P = 0.032). After adjusted for baseline variables, the adjusted OR of CC genotypes at IL-10-627 for severe fibrosis was 0.063 (95% CI 0.06-0.64; P = 0.063). Other gene polymorphisms at IL-1beta, IL-1RN, TNF-alpha, and IL-10 had no significant association with severe fibrosis. Weak linkage disequilibrium was observed between IL-10-627 and IL-10-1117 with linkage disequilibrium coefficient of 0.12 (P < 0.001). The distribution of haplotypes of IL-10-1117 and IL-10-627 was A-A (69%), A-C (26%), and G-C (5%). High and intermediate IL-10 production (A-C and G-C) haplotypes were protective against severe fibrosis (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.39-0.99; P = 0.046).High production genotype and haplotypes of IL-10 were associated with less severe liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B in Chinese