Novel Catalyst for the Chirality Selective Synthesis of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-12

hierarchical structures comprising nitrogen- doped reduced GO (rGO) and acid- oxidized SWCNTs was produced using a linear hydrothermal microreactor. Fiber...structures comprising nitrogen- doped reduced GO (rGO) and acidoxidized SWCNTs was produced using a linear hydrothermal microreactor. Fiber micro... doped into Co/SiO2 catalysts to change their chirality selectivity. Further, enrichment of (9,8) nanotubes was carried out by extraction using fluorene

Effects of band selection on endmember extraction for forestry applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karathanassi, Vassilia; Andreou, Charoula; Andronis, Vassilis; Kolokoussis, Polychronis

2014-10-01

In spectral unmixing theory, data reduction techniques play an important role as hyperspectral imagery contains an immense amount of data, posing many challenging problems such as data storage, computational efficiency, and the so called "curse of dimensionality". Feature extraction and feature selection are the two main approaches for dimensionality reduction. Feature extraction techniques are used for reducing the dimensionality of the hyperspectral data by applying transforms on hyperspectral data. Feature selection techniques retain the physical meaning of the data by selecting a set of bands from the input hyperspectral dataset, which mainly contain the information needed for spectral unmixing. Although feature selection techniques are well-known for their dimensionality reduction potentials they are rarely used in the unmixing process. The majority of the existing state-of-the-art dimensionality reduction methods set criteria to the spectral information, which is derived by the whole wavelength, in order to define the optimum spectral subspace. These criteria are not associated with any particular application but with the data statistics, such as correlation and entropy values. However, each application is associated with specific land c over materials, whose spectral characteristics present variations in specific wavelengths. In forestry for example, many applications focus on tree leaves, in which specific pigments such as chlorophyll, xanthophyll, etc. determine the wavelengths where tree species, diseases, etc., can be detected. For such applications, when the unmixing process is applied, the tree species, diseases, etc., are considered as the endmembers of interest. This paper focuses on investigating the effects of band selection on the endmember extraction by exploiting the information of the vegetation absorbance spectral zones. More precisely, it is explored whether endmember extraction can be optimized when specific sets of initial bands related to leaf spectral characteristics are selected. Experiments comprise application of well-known signal subspace estimation and endmember extraction methods on a hyperspectral imagery that presents a forest area. Evaluation of the extracted endmembers showed that more forest species can be extracted as endmembers using selected bands.

Effective traffic features selection algorithm for cyber-attacks samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yihong; Liu, Fangzheng; Du, Zhenyu

2018-05-01

By studying the defense scheme of Network attacks, this paper propose an effective traffic features selection algorithm based on k-means++ clustering to deal with the problem of high dimensionality of traffic features which extracted from cyber-attacks samples. Firstly, this algorithm divide the original feature set into attack traffic feature set and background traffic feature set by the clustering. Then, we calculates the variation of clustering performance after removing a certain feature. Finally, evaluating the degree of distinctiveness of the feature vector according to the result. Among them, the effective feature vector is whose degree of distinctiveness exceeds the set threshold. The purpose of this paper is to select out the effective features from the extracted original feature set. In this way, it can reduce the dimensionality of the features so as to reduce the space-time overhead of subsequent detection. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is feasible and it has some advantages over other selection algorithms.

Aqueous biphasic extraction of uranium and thorium from contaminated soils. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chaiko, D.J.; Gartelmann, J.; Henriksen, J.L.

1995-07-01

The aqueous biphasic extraction (ABE) process for soil decontamination involves the selective partitioning of solutes and fine particulates between two immiscible aqueous phases. The biphase system is generated by the appropriate combination of a water-soluble polymer (e.g., polyethlene glycol) with an inorganic salt (e.g., sodium carbonate). Selective partitioning results in 99 to 99.5% of the soil being recovered in the cleaned-soil fraction, while only 0.5 to 1% is recovered in the contaminant concentrate. The ABE process is best suited to the recovery of ultrafine, refractory material from the silt and clay fractions of soils. During continuous countercurrent extraction tests withmore » soil samples from the Fernald Environmental Management Project site (Fernald, OH), particulate thorium was extracted and concentrated between 6- and 16-fold, while the uranium concentration was reduced from about 500 mg/kg to about 77 mg/kg. Carbonate leaching alone was able to reduce the uranium concentration only to 146 mg/kg. Preliminary estimates for treatment costs are approximately $160 per ton of dry soil. A detailed flowsheet of the ABE process is provided.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jing, Yaqi; Meng, Qinghao, E-mail: qh-meng@tju.edu.cn; Qi, Peifeng

An electronic nose (e-nose) was designed to classify Chinese liquors of the same aroma style. A new method of feature reduction which combined feature selection with feature extraction was proposed. Feature selection method used 8 feature-selection algorithms based on information theory and reduced the dimension of the feature space to 41. Kernel entropy component analysis was introduced into the e-nose system as a feature extraction method and the dimension of feature space was reduced to 12. Classification of Chinese liquors was performed by using back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN), linear discrimination analysis (LDA), and a multi-linear classifier. The classificationmore » rate of the multi-linear classifier was 97.22%, which was higher than LDA and BP-ANN. Finally the classification of Chinese liquors according to their raw materials and geographical origins was performed using the proposed multi-linear classifier and classification rate was 98.75% and 100%, respectively.« less

Antioxidant activities of two sweet pepper Capsicum annuum L. varieties phenolic extracts and the effects of thermal treatment

PubMed Central

Yazdizadeh Shotorbani, Narmin; Jamei, Rashid; Heidari, Reza

2013-01-01

Objectives: Sweet peppers Capsicum annuum L. (C. annuum) are an excellent source of vitamins A and C as well as phenolic compounds, which are important antioxidant components that may reduce the risk of diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate their antioxidant activity under various temperatures. Materials and Methods: To compare the antioxidant activity in various temperatures (20, 35, 50, and 65 °C), two different types of colored (red and green) sweet bell peppers C annuum were selected. The red peppers were selected from those cultivated in Shahreza, Esfahan and the green peppers with the local name of Gijlar were selected from those cultivated in Urmia, West Azarbayjan. The experiments were carried out to measure the total phenolic and flavonoid content, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), chain-breaking activity, scavenging activities of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and hydrogen peroxide radicals. Results: Total phenol and flavonoid contents of pepper extracts were enhanced with increasing temperature to 65 °C. Scavenging capacity of DPPH radical of red pepper extract was enhanced because of putting at 50 °C for 30 min and for Gijlar pepper extract scavenging capacity was increased at 65 °C. Scavenging capacity of hydrogen peroxide radical of extracts was the highest at 35 °C. Chain-breaking activity of red pepper extract was increased for 60 min at 35 °C. FRAP (C) of red pepper extract was significantly different (p<0.05) in compare with Gijlar pepper. Conclusion: An appropriate temperature maintained a high antioxidant activity of phenolic compound, which could be due to the combined effect of non enzymatic reaction and phenolic compound stability. PMID:25050256

Ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction and antioxidant activity of polysaccharides from pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata).

PubMed

Wu, Hao; Zhu, Junxiang; Diao, Wenchao; Wang, Chengrong

2014-11-26

An efficient ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction (UAEE) of Cucurbita moschata polysaccharides (CMCP) was established and the CMCP antioxidant activities were studied. The UAEE operating parameters (extraction temperature, ultrasonic power, pH, and liquid-to-material ratio) were optimized using the central composite design (CCD) and the mass transfer kinetic study in UAEE procedure was used to select the optimal extraction time. Enzymolysis and ultrasonication that were simultaneously conducted was selected as the UAEE synergistic model and the optimum extraction conditions with a maximum polysaccharide yield of 4.33 ± 0.15% were as follows: extraction temperature, 51.5 °C; ultrasonic power, 440 W; pH, 5.0; liquid-to-material ratio, 5.70:1 mL/g; and extraction time, 20 min. Evaluation of the antioxidant activity in vitro suggested that CMCP has good potential as a natural antioxidant used in the food or medicine industry because of their high reducing power and positive radical scavenging activity for DPPH radical. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selective extraction of high-value phenolic compounds from distillation wastewater of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) by pressurized liquid extraction.

PubMed

Pagano, Imma; Sánchez-Camargo, Andrea Del Pilar; Mendiola, Jose Antonio; Campone, Luca; Cifuentes, Alejandro; Rastrelli, Luca; Ibañez, Elena

2018-01-31

During the essential oil steam distillation from aromatic herbs, huge amounts of distillation wastewaters (DWWs) are generated. These by-products represent an exceptionally rich source of phenolic compounds such as rosmarinic acid (RA) and caffeic acid (CA). Herein, the alternative use of dried basil DWWs (dDWWs) to perform a selective extraction of RA and CA by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) employing bio-based solvent was studied. To select the most suitable solvent for PLE, the theoretical modelling of Hansen solubility parameters (HSP) was carried out. This approach allows reducing the list of candidate to two solvents: ethanol and ethyl lactate. Due to the composition of the sample, mixtures of water with those solvents were also tested. An enriched PLE extract in RA (23.90 ± 2.06 mg/g extract) with an extraction efficiency of 75.89 ± 16.03% employing a water-ethanol mixture 25:75 (% v/v) at 50°C was obtained. In the case of CA, a PLE extract with 2.42 ± 0.04 mg/g extract, having an extraction efficiency of 13.86 ± 4.96% using ethanol absolute at 50°C was achieved. DWWs are proposed as new promising sources of natural additives and/or functional ingredients for cosmetic, nutraceutical, and food applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Local Application of Platelet-Rich Fibrin During Lower Third Molar Extraction Improves Treatment Outcomes.

PubMed

He, Yun; Chen, Junliang; Huang, Yue; Pan, Qin; Nie, Minhai

2017-12-01

Application of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) during tooth extraction is able to accelerate wound healing, stimulate osseous and soft tissue regeneration, and reduce unwanted side effects. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the effect of local application of PRF on controlling postoperative signs and symptoms after the extraction of an impacted lower third molar. A systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was performed to identify all studies published up to October 2016 that investigated the effect of PRF on lower third molar extraction. Pain, swelling, trismus, alveolar osteitis (AO), and osteoblastic activity were extracted to evaluate the effect of PRF. After quality assessment, meta-analysis was performed with RevMan software (version 5.3; Cochrane Library Software, Oxford, UK). After the search and selection process, 10 studies were selected in this meta-analysis, including 468 cases of PRF application and 467 cases of non-PRF application. Of the studies, 9 were randomized controlled trials, including 7 split-mouth studies, and there was 1 retrospective case-control study. The results indicated that PRF significantly relieves pain (P = .01) and 3-day postoperative swelling (P = .03) and reduces the incidence of AO (P < .0001). However, there were no significant differences between the PRF and non-PRF groups with respect to 1-day postoperative swelling and osteoblastic activity. Local application of PRF after lower third molar extraction is a valid method for relieving pain and 3-day postoperative swelling and reducing the incidence of AO. For patients undergoing complicated surgical extraction, PRF might be a recommendation for local application into the sockets. Copyright © 2017 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A hierarchical two-phase framework for selecting genes in cancer datasets with a neuro-fuzzy system.

PubMed

Lim, Jongwoo; Wang, Bohyun; Lim, Joon S

2016-04-29

Finding the minimum number of appropriate biomarkers for specific targets such as a lung cancer has been a challenging issue in bioinformatics. We propose a hierarchical two-phase framework for selecting appropriate biomarkers that extracts candidate biomarkers from the cancer microarray datasets and then selects the minimum number of appropriate biomarkers from the extracted candidate biomarkers datasets with a specific neuro-fuzzy algorithm, which is called a neural network with weighted fuzzy membership function (NEWFM). In this context, as the first phase, the proposed framework is to extract candidate biomarkers by using a Bhattacharyya distance method that measures the similarity of two discrete probability distributions. Finally, the proposed framework is able to reduce the cost of finding biomarkers by not receiving medical supplements and improve the accuracy of the biomarkers in specific cancer target datasets.

Activity of Medicinal Plant Extracts on Multiplication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis under Reduced Oxygen Conditions Using Intracellular and Axenic Assays

PubMed Central

Bhatter, Purva D.; Gupta, Pooja D.; Birdi, Tannaz J.

2016-01-01

Aim. Test the activity of selected medicinal plant extracts on multiplication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis under reduced oxygen concentration which represents nonreplicating conditions. Material and Methods. Acetone, ethanol and aqueous extracts of the plants Acorus calamus L. (rhizome), Ocimum sanctum L. (leaf), Piper nigrum L. (seed), and Pueraria tuberosa DC. (tuber) were tested on Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv intracellularly using an epithelial cell (A549) infection model. The extracts found to be active intracellularly were further studied axenically under reducing oxygen concentrations. Results and Conclusions. Intracellular multiplication was inhibited ≥60% by five of the twelve extracts. Amongst these 5 extracts, in axenic culture, P. nigrum (acetone) was active under aerobic, microaerophilic, and anaerobic conditions indicating presence of multiple components acting at different levels and P. tuberosa (aqueous) showed bactericidal activity under microaerophilic and anaerobic conditions implying the influence of anaerobiosis on its efficacy. P. nigrum (aqueous) and A. calamus (aqueous and ethanol) extracts were not active under axenic conditions but only inhibited intracellular growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, suggesting activation of host defense mechanisms to mediate bacterial killing rather than direct bactericidal activity. PMID:26941797

Leaf Extracts of Selected Gardening Trees Can Attenuate Quorum Sensing and Pathogenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.

PubMed

Niu, Kaimin; Kuk, Min; Jung, Haein; Chan, Kokgan; Kim, Sooki

2017-09-01

An increasing concern on resistance to multiple-antibiotics has led to the discovery of novel agents and the establishment of new precaution strategy. Numerous plant sources have been widely studied to reduce virulence of pathogenic bacteria by interfering cell-to-cell based communication called quorum sensing (QS). Leaf extracts of 17 gardening trees were collected and investigated for their anti-QS effects using a sensor strain Chromobacterium violaceum CV026. Methanolic extracts of K4 ( Acer palmatum ), K9 ( Acer pseudosieboldianum ) and K13 ( Cercis chinensis ) leaves were selected for further experiments based on their antagonism effect on QS without inhibiting C. violaceum CV026 growth. Subsequently, the leaf extracts on QS-mediated virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 involved in biofilm formation, motility, bioluminescence, pyocyanin production, QS molecules production, and Caenorhabditis elegans killing activity were evaluated. The biofilm formation ability and swarming motility of P. aeruginosa PAO1 were decreased approximately 50% in the presence of these leaf extracts at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. The expression level of lecA::lux of P. aeruginosa PAO1 and pyocyanin production were also reduced. The three leaf extracts also decreased autoinducer (AI) production in P. aeruginosa PAO1 without direct degradation, suggesting that AI synthesis might have been suppressed by these extracts. The three leaf extracts also showed anti-infection activity in C. elegans model. Taken together, these results suggest that methanolic leaf extracts of K4, K9 and K13 have the potential to attenuate the virulence of P. aeruginosa PAO1.

Micro-solid-phase extraction (µ-SPE) of organophosphorous pesticides from wheat followed by LC-MS/MS determination.

PubMed

Della Pelle, Flavio; Di Crescenzo, Maria Chiara; Sergi, Manuel; Montesano, Camilla; Di Ottavio, Francesca; Scarpone, Rossana; Scortichini, Giampiero; Compagnone, Dario

2016-01-01

A rapid, selective and effective method of extraction, clean-up and concentration of organophosphorous pesticides from wheat followed by electrospray (ESI) LC-MS/MS analysis was developed. The μ-SPE (micro-solid-phase extraction) procedure resulted in good analytical performance and reduced at the same time matrix effects, analysis time and solvent consumption. Limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were in the range of 0.3-10 and 1-30 μg kg(-1), respectively, with good reproducibility (RSD ≤ 13.8) and recoveries between 75% and 109%. Coefficients of determination (r(2)) were greater than 0.996 for the studied pesticides. Despite the reduced sorbent bed mass of μ-SPE tips (4.2 mg), the analytical data showed that no saturation phenomena occurs in the tested range of concentration both for single compounds and mixtures. Several real samples were analysed and the concentrations of the selected pesticides were found to be below the respective maximum residue limit (MRLs).

Decontamination of Salmonella, Shigella, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 from leafy green vegetables using edible plant extracts.

PubMed

Orue, Nydia; García, Santos; Feng, Peter; Heredia, Norma

2013-02-01

Fresh cilantro, parsley, and spinach are products that are regularly consumed fresh, but are difficult to decontaminate, as a result, they are common vehicles of transmission of enteropathogenic bacteria. In this study, the efficacy of plant extracts as alternatives for disinfection of cilantro, parsley, and spinach that were artificially contaminated with Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Shigella sonnei was determined. Edible plant extracts obtained using ethanol as the extraction solvent were tested to determine the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and those that exhibited the lowest MBC were selected for further studies. Leaves of fresh greens were washed with sterile water and dried. For seeding, leaves were submerged in suspensions of 2 different concentrations of bacteria (1.5 × 10(8) and 1 × 10(5) ), dried, and then stored at 4 °C until use. To determine the effects of the extracts, inoculated leafy greens were submerged in a container and subjected to treatments with chlorine, Citrol®, or selected plant extracts. Each treatment type was stored at 4 °C for 0, 1, 5, and 7 d, and the bacterial counts were determined. From the 41 plant extracts tested, the extracts from oregano leaves and from the peel and pulp of limes were found to be as effective as chlorine or Citrol® in reducing by > 2 logs, the population of pathogenic bacteria on leafy greens and therefore, may be a natural and edible alternative to chemicals to reduce the risk of Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 and S. sonnei contamination on leafy vegetables. The antimicrobial efficacy of the extracts of Mexican lime and oregano was clearly demonstrated on cilantro, parsley, and spinach. The extracts of Mexican lime and oregano provide alternatives to chlorine to significantly reduce bacterial pathogens that have been associated with outbreaks from contaminated leafy green vegetables. A simple, low cost, and labor-saving extraction system for production of the extracts was used. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

Method for selectively reducing plutonium values by a photochemical process

DOEpatents

Friedman, Horace A.; Toth, Louis M.; Bell, Jimmy T.

1978-01-01

The rate of reduction of Pu(IV) to Pu(III) in nitric acid solution containing a reducing agent is enhanced by exposing the solution to 200-500 nm electromagnetic radiation. Pu values are recovered from an organic extractant solution containing Pu(IV) values and U(VI) values by the method of contacting the extractant solution with an aqueous nitric acid solution in the presence of a reducing agent and exposing the aqueous solution to electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength of 200-500 nm. Under these conditions, Pu values preferentially distribute to the aqueous phase and U values preferentially distribute to the organic phase.

Multisensor-based real-time quality monitoring by means of feature extraction, selection and modeling for Al alloy in arc welding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhifen; Chen, Huabin; Xu, Yanling; Zhong, Jiyong; Lv, Na; Chen, Shanben

2015-08-01

Multisensory data fusion-based online welding quality monitoring has gained increasing attention in intelligent welding process. This paper mainly focuses on the automatic detection of typical welding defect for Al alloy in gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) by means of analzing arc spectrum, sound and voltage signal. Based on the developed algorithms in time and frequency domain, 41 feature parameters were successively extracted from these signals to characterize the welding process and seam quality. Then, the proposed feature selection approach, i.e., hybrid fisher-based filter and wrapper was successfully utilized to evaluate the sensitivity of each feature and reduce the feature dimensions. Finally, the optimal feature subset with 19 features was selected to obtain the highest accuracy, i.e., 94.72% using established classification model. This study provides a guideline for feature extraction, selection and dynamic modeling based on heterogeneous multisensory data to achieve a reliable online defect detection system in arc welding.

Feature extraction through parallel Probabilistic Principal Component Analysis for heart disease diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Syed Muhammad Saqlain; Batool, Safeera; Khan, Imran; Ashraf, Muhammad Usman; Abbas, Syed Hussnain; Hussain, Syed Adnan

2017-09-01

Automatic diagnosis of human diseases are mostly achieved through decision support systems. The performance of these systems is mainly dependent on the selection of the most relevant features. This becomes harder when the dataset contains missing values for the different features. Probabilistic Principal Component Analysis (PPCA) has reputation to deal with the problem of missing values of attributes. This research presents a methodology which uses the results of medical tests as input, extracts a reduced dimensional feature subset and provides diagnosis of heart disease. The proposed methodology extracts high impact features in new projection by using Probabilistic Principal Component Analysis (PPCA). PPCA extracts projection vectors which contribute in highest covariance and these projection vectors are used to reduce feature dimension. The selection of projection vectors is done through Parallel Analysis (PA). The feature subset with the reduced dimension is provided to radial basis function (RBF) kernel based Support Vector Machines (SVM). The RBF based SVM serves the purpose of classification into two categories i.e., Heart Patient (HP) and Normal Subject (NS). The proposed methodology is evaluated through accuracy, specificity and sensitivity over the three datasets of UCI i.e., Cleveland, Switzerland and Hungarian. The statistical results achieved through the proposed technique are presented in comparison to the existing research showing its impact. The proposed technique achieved an accuracy of 82.18%, 85.82% and 91.30% for Cleveland, Hungarian and Switzerland dataset respectively.

Determination of phthalate esters in soil using a quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method followed by GC-MS.

PubMed

Liu, Qianjun; Chen, Di; Wu, Jiyuan; Yin, Guangcai; Lin, Qintie; Zhang, Min; Hu, Huawen

2018-04-01

A quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe procedure was designed to extract pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables with a high percentage of water. It has not been used extensively for the extraction of phthalate esters from sediments, soils, and sludges. In this work, this procedure was combined with gas chromatography with mass spectrometry to determine 16 selected phthalate esters in soil. The extraction efficiency of the samples was improved by ultrasonic extraction and dissolution of the soil samples in ultra-pure water, which promoted the dispersion of the samples. Furthermore, we have simplified the extraction step and reduced the risk of organic solvent contamination by minimizing the use of organic solvents. Different extraction solvents and clean-up adsorbents were compared to optimize the procedure. Dichloromethane/n-hexane (1:1, v/v) and n-hexane/acetone (1:1, v/v) were selected as the extractants from the six extraction solvents tested. C18/primary secondary amine (1:1, m/m) was selected as the sorbent from the five clean-up adsorbents tested. The recoveries from the spiked soils ranged from 70.00 to 117.90% with relative standard deviation values of 0.67-4.62%. The proposed approach was satisfactorily applied for the determination of phthalate esters in 12 contaminated soil samples. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Developing an effective means to reduce 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural from caramel colour.

PubMed

Guan, Yongguang; Chen, Mingshun; Yu, Shujuan; Tang, Qiang; Yan, He

2014-01-15

Supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction was used to extract 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural from caramel colour (solid content was about 75%). The procedure was carried out by response surface methodology using a quadratic polynomial model. Extraction pressure, time, temperature and ethanol content were selected as the independent variables. Conditions to obtain the highest extraction ratio of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural were determined to be an extraction pressure of 21.65MPa, time of 46.7min, temperature of 35°C and 70% ethanol content of caramel colour. The predicted 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural extraction ratio was 87.42%. Under the conditions stated above, the experimental value of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural extraction ratio was 86.98%, which was similar to the predicted value by the model. This study indicated that supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction can effectively reduce 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural from caramel colour, which can help food industry to improve the safety of the food material, as well as provide more healthy caramel colour for human beings. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of furfural production from D-xylose with formic acid as catalyst in a reactive extraction system.

PubMed

Yang, Wandian; Li, Pingli; Bo, Dechen; Chang, Heying; Wang, Xiaowei; Zhu, Tao

2013-04-01

Furfural is one of the most promising platform chemicals derived from biomass. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) was utilized to determine four important parameters including reaction temperature (170-210°C), formic acid concentration (5-25 g/L), o-nitrotoluene volume percentage (20-80 vt.%), and residence time (40-200 min). The maximum furfural yield of 74% and selectivity of 86% were achieved at 190°C for 20 g/L formic acid concentration and 75 vt.% o-nitrotoluene by 75 min. The high boiling solvent, o-nitrotoluene, was recommended as extraction solvent in a reactive extraction system to obtain high furfural yield and reduce furfural-solvent separation costs. Although the addition of halides to the xylose solutions enhanced the furfural yield and selectivity, the concentration of halides was not an important factor on the furfural yield and selectivity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Antimelanogenesis and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Selected Culinary-Medicinal Mushrooms.

PubMed

Saad, Hazwani Mat; Sim, Kae Shin; Tan, Yee Shin

2018-01-01

Five culinary-medicinal mushrooms are commonly available in the Malaysian market: Agaricus bisporus (white and brown), Ganoderma lucidum, Hypsizygus marmoreus, Pleurotus floridanus, and P. pulmonarius. These species were selected for use in the current study, the aim of which was to investigate the antimelanogenesis and anti-inflammatory activity of these mushrooms in an attempt to evaluate their potential use in cosmeceuticals. Mushroom fruiting bodies were extracted with hot water, and the extracts were freeze-dried before testing. The antimelanogenesis activity of the extracts was determined by cell viability assay, measurement of intracellular melanin content, and cellular tyrosinase assay with B16F10 melanoma cells. The anti-inflammatory activity of the mushroom extracts was tested by measuring the levels of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin-10 excreted by RAW264.7 macrophages. Brown A. bisporus reduced intracellular melanin content to the largest extent-up to 57.05 ± 3.90%-without a cytotoxic effect on B16F10 melanoma cells. This extract also reduced cellular tyrosinase activity to 17.93 ± 2.65%, performing better than kojic acid, the positive control. In parallel, the extract from brown A. bisporus, at the highest concentration tested, has appreciable anti-inflammatory activity through reductions of NO and TNF-α levels. The other 5 extracts showed moderate antimelanogenesis and anti-inflammatory activities. In summary, our findings show that A. bisporus (brown) extract has the potential to be used as an ingredient in whitening skincare products and to sooth the inflammatory response on the skin.

Determination of a flame retardant hydrolysis product in human urine by SPE and LC-MS. Comparison of molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction with a mixed-mode anion exchanger.

PubMed

Möller, Kristina; Crescenzi, Carlo; Nilsson, Ulrika

2004-01-01

Diphenyl phosphate is a hydrolysis product and possible metabolite of the flame retardant and plasticiser additive triphenyl phosphate. A molecularly imprinted polymer solid-phase extraction (MISPE) method for extracting diphenyl phosphate from aqueous solutions has been developed and compared with SPE using a commercially available mixed-mode anion exchanger. The imprinted polymer was prepared using 2-vinylpyridine (2-Vpy) as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linker, and a structural analogue of the analyte as the template molecule. The imprinted polymer was evaluated for use as a SPE sorbent, in tests with both aqueous standards and spiked urine samples, by comparing recovery and breakthrough data obtained using the imprinted form of the polymer and a non-imprinted form (NIP). Extraction from aqueous solutions resulted in more than 80% recovery. Adsorption by the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was non-selective, but selectivity was achieved by selective desorption in the wash steps. Diphenyl phosphate could also be selectively extracted from urine samples, although the urine matrix reduced the capacity of the MISPE cartridges. Recoveries from urine extraction were higher than 70%. It was important to control pH during sample loading. The MISPE method was found to yield a less complex LC-ESI-MS chromatogram of the urine extracts compared with the mixed-mode anion-exchanger method. An LC-ESI-MS method using a Hypercarb LC column with a graphitised carbon stationary phase was also evaluated for organophosphate diesters. LC-ESI-MS using negative-ion detection in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode was shown to be linear for diphenyl phosphate in the range 0.08-20 ng microL(-1).

SOLVENT EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF METALS FROM PHOSPHORIC ACID

DOEpatents

Bailes, R.H.; Long, R.S.

1958-11-01

> A solvent extraction process is presented for recovering metal values including uranium, thorium, and other lanthanide and actinide elements from crude industrial phosphoric acid solutions. The process conslsts of contacting said solution with an immisclble organic solvent extractant containing a diluent and a material selected from the group consisting of mono and di alkyl phosphates, alkyl phosphonates and alkyl phosphites. The uranlum enters the extractant phase and is subsequently recovered by any of the methods known to the art. Recovery is improved if the phosphate solution is treated with a reducing agent such as iron or aluminum powder prior to the extraction step.

Bioassay-guided supercritical fluid extraction of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibiting substances in Plantago major L.

PubMed

Stenholm, A; Göransson, U; Bohlin, L

2013-02-01

Selective extraction of plant materials is advantageous for obtaining extracts enriched with desired constituents, thereby reducing the need for subsequent chromatography purification. Such compounds include three cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitory substances in Plantago major L. targeted in this investigation: α-linolenic acid (α-LNA) (18:3 ω-3) and the triterpenic acids ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. To investigate the scope for tuning the selectivity of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using bioassay guidance, and Soxhlet extraction with dichloromethane as solvent as a reference technique, to optimise yields of these substances. Extraction parameters were varied to optimise extracts' COX-2/COX-1 inhibitory effect ratios. The crude extracts were purified initially using a solid phase extraction (SPE) clean-up procedure and the target compounds were identified with GC-MS, LC-ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS² using GC-FID for quantification. α-LNA was preferentially extracted in dynamic mode using unmodified carbon dioxide at 40°C and 172 bar, at a 0.04% (w/w) yield with a COX-2/COX-1 inhibitory effect ratio of 1.5. Ursolic and oleanolic acids were dynamically extracted at 0.25% and 0.06% yields, respectively, with no traces of (α-LNA) and a COX-2/COX-1-inhibitory effect ratio of 1.1 using 10% (v/v) ethanol as polar modifier at 75°C and 483 bar. The Soxhlet extracts had ursolic acid, oleanolic acid and αLNA yields up to 1.36%, 0.34% and 0.15%, respectively, with a COX-2/COX-1 inhibitory effect ratio of 1.2. The target substances can be extracted selectively by bioassay guided optimisation of SFE conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Selective mixed-bed solid phase extraction of atrazine herbicide from environmental water samples using molecularly imprinted polymer.

PubMed

Zarejousheghani, Mashaalah; Fiedler, Petra; Möder, Monika; Borsdorf, Helko

2014-11-01

A novel approach for the selective extraction of organic target compounds from water samples has been developed using a mixed-bed solid phase extraction (mixed-bed SPE) technique. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) particles are embedded in a network of silica gel to form a stable uniform porous bed. The capabilities of this method are demonstrated using atrazine as a model compound. In comparison to conventional molecularly imprinted-solid phase extraction (MISPE), the proposed mixed-bed MISPE method in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis enables more reproducible and efficient extraction performance. After optimization of operational parameters (polymerization conditions, bed matrix ingredients, polymer to silica gel ratio, pH of the sample solution, breakthrough volume plus washing and elution conditions), improved LODs (1.34 µg L(-1) in comparison to 2.25 µg L(-1) obtained using MISPE) and limits of quantification (4.5 µg L(-1) for mixed-bed MISPE and 7.5 µg L(-1) for MISPE) were observed for the analysis of atrazine. Furthermore, the relative standard deviations (RSDs) for atrazine at concentrations between 5 and 200 µg L(-1) ranged between 1.8% and 6.3% compared to MISPE (3.5-12.1%). Additionally, the column-to-column reproducibility for the mixed-bed MISPE was significantly improved to 16.1%, compared with 53% that was observed for MISPE. Due to the reduced bed-mass sorbent and at optimized conditions, the total amount of organic solvents required for conditioning, washing and elution steps reduced from more than 25 mL for conventional MISPE to less than 2 mL for mixed-bed MISPE. Besides reduced organic solvent consumption, total sample preparation time of the mixed-bed MISPE method relative to the conventional MISPE was reduced from more than 20 min to less than 10 min. The amount of organic solvent required for complete elution diminished from 3 mL (conventional MISPE) to less than 0.4 mL with the mixed-bed technique shows its inherent potential for online operation with an analytical instrument. In order to evaluate the selectivity and matrix effects of the developed mixed-bed MISPE method, it was applied as an extraction technique for atrazine from environmental wastewater and river water samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of methylene chloride/methanol leaf extract of Celtis durandii engler (Ulmaceae) on constriction of rat aorta.

PubMed

Dimo, T; Ntchapda, F; Atchade, A T; Yewah, M P; Kamtchouing, P; Ngassam, P

2005-07-01

Celtis durandii is a medicinal plant widely used in some part of Cameroon for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. The vasorelaxant effects of the methylene chloride/methanol leaf extract of C. durandii were examined on isolated rat thoracic aorta. The relaxant effects of C. durandii on vascular preparation from rat aorta precontracted with KCl or norepinephrine was concentration dependent. This relaxing effect was significantly reduced with KCl-induced contraction following mechanical damage to the aortic endothelium. Relaxation elicited by C. durandii was not significantly affected by glibenclamide (10(-6) M), a selective inhibitor of K-ATP-dependent channels or tetraethylammonium (10(-6) M), a non selective K+ channel blocker. Indomethacin (10(-6) M) significantly inhibited relaxation induced by the plant extract. These findings indicate that the vasorelaxation effect of the methylene chloride/methanol leaf extract of C. durandii may be mediated at least in part by prostacyclin.

Method for efficient recovery of high-purity polycarbonates from electronic waste.

PubMed

Weeden, George S; Soepriatna, Nicholas H; Wang, Nien-Hwa Linda

2015-02-17

More than one million tons of polycarbonates from waste electrical and electronic equipment are consigned to landfills at an increasing rate of 3-5% per year. Recycling the polymer waste should have a major environmental impact. Pure solvents cannot be used to selectively extract polycarbonates from mixtures of polymers with similar properties. In this study, selective mixed solvents are found using guidelines from Hansen solubility parameters, gradient polymer elution chromatography, and solubility tests. A room-temperature sequential extraction process using two mixed solvents is developed to recover polycarbonates with high yield (>95%) and a similar purity and molecular weight distribution as virgin polycarbonates. The estimated cost of recovery is less than 30% of the cost of producing virgin polycarbonates from petroleum. This method would potentially reduce raw materials from petroleum, use 84% less energy, reduce emission by 1-6 tons of CO2 per ton of polycarbonates, and reduce polymer accumulation in landfills and associated environmental hazards.

Selective extraction and separation of oxymatrine from Sophora flavescens Ait. extract by silica-confined ionic liquid.

PubMed

Bi, Wentao; Tian, Minglei; Row, Kyung Ho

2012-01-01

This study highlighted the application of a two-stepped extraction method for extraction and separation of oxymatrine from Sophora flavescens Ait. extract by utilizing silica-confined ionic liquids as sorbent. The optimized silica-confined ionic liquid was firstly mixed with plant extract to adsorb oxymatrine. Simultaneously, some interference, such as matrine, was removed. The obtained suspension was then added to a cartridge for solid phase extraction. Through these two steps, target compound was adequately separated from interferences with 93.4% recovery. In comparison with traditional solid phase extraction, this method accelerates loading and reduces the use of organic solvents during washing. Moreover, the optimization of loading volume was simplified as optimization of solid/liquid ratio. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Syzygium aqueum: A Polyphenol- Rich Leaf Extract Exhibits Antioxidant, Hepatoprotective, Pain-Killing and Anti-inflammatory Activities in Animal Models

PubMed Central

Sobeh, Mansour; Mahmoud, Mona F.; Petruk, Ganna; Rezq, Samar; Ashour, Mohamed L.; Youssef, Fadia S.; El-Shazly, Assem M.; Monti, Daria M.; Abdel-Naim, Ashraf B.; Wink, Michael

2018-01-01

Syzygium aqueum is widely used in folk medicine. A polyphenol-rich extract from its leaves demonstrated a plethora of substantial pharmacological properties. The extract showed solid antioxidant properties in vitro and protected human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) against UVA damage. The extract also reduced the elevated levels of ALT, AST, total bilirubin (TB), total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) in rats with acute CCl4 intoxication. In addition to reducing the high MDA level, the extract noticeably restored GSH and SOD to the normal control levels in liver tissue homogenates and counteracted the deleterious histopathologic changes in liver after CCl4 injection. Additionally, the extract exhibited promising anti-inflammatory activities in vitro where it inhibited LOX, COX-1, and COX-2 with a higher COX-2 selectivity than that of indomethacin and diclofenac and reduced the extent of lysis of erythrocytes upon incubation with hypotonic buffer solution. S. aqueum extract also markedly reduced leukocyte numbers with similar activities to diclofenac in rats challenged with carrageenan. Additionally, administration of the extract abolished writhes induced by acetic acid in mice and prolonged the response latency in hot plate test. Meanwhile, the identified polyphenolics from the extract showed a certain affinity for the active pockets of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) explaining the observed anti-inflammatory activities. Finally, 87 secondary metabolites (mostly phenolics) were tentatively identified in the extract based on LC-MS/MS analyses. Syzygium aqueum displays good protection against oxidative stress, free radicals, and could be a good candidate for treating oxidative stress related diseases. PMID:29922158

SW-846 Test Method 3511: Organic Compounds in Water by Microextraction

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

a procedure for extracting selected volatile and semivolatileorganic compounds from water. The microscale approach minimizes sample size and solventusage, thereby reducing the supply costs, health and safety risks, and waste generated.

Separation of Long-Lived Fission Products Tc-99 and I-129 from Synthetic Effluents by Crown Ethers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paviet-Hartmann, P.; Hartmann, T.

2006-07-01

To minimize significantly the radio-toxic inventory of nuclear geological repositories to come as well as to reduce the potential of radionuclides migration and to minimize long-term exposure, the concept of partitioning and transmutation (P/T) of nuclear waste is currently discussed. Transmutation offers the possibility to convert radio-toxic radionuclides with long half-lives into radionuclides of shorter half-lives, less toxic isotopes, or even into stable isotopes. Besides the most prominent isotopes of neptunium, plutonium, americium, and curium, the long-lived fission products Tc-99 and I-129 (half-lives of 2.13 x 10{sup 5} years, and 1.57 x 10{sup 7} years, respectively) are promising candidates formore » transmutation in order to prevent their migration from a nuclear repository. Partitioning and transmutation of the most radio-toxic radionuclides will not only minimize the nuclear waste load but most importantly will significantly reduce the long-term radio-toxic hazard of nuclear waste repositories to come. Prior to the deployment of partitioning and transmutation, selective extraction techniques are required to separate the radionuclides of concern. Since the discovery of crown ethers by C. Pedersen, various applications of crown ethers have drawn much attention. Although liquid-liquid extraction of alkali and alkali earth metals by crown ethers has been extensively studied, little data is available on the extraction of Tc-99 and I-129 by crown ethers. The methods developed herein for the specific extraction of Tc-99 and I-129 provide recommendations in support of their selectively extraction from liquid radioactive waste streams, mainly ILW. We report data on the solvent extraction of Tc-99 and I-129 from synthetic effluents by six crown ethers of varying cavity dimensions and derivatization. To satisfy the needs of new extractant systems we are demonstrating that crown ether (CE) based systems have the potential to serve as selective extractants for the separation of these long lived radionuclides from high level nuclear waste (HLW), intermediate level nuclear waste (ILW), and low level nuclear waste (LLW) streams. The experimental results show that dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB 18C6) is highly selective towards Tc-99, and dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 (DC18C6) is highly selective towards I-129. The nature of the diluent was examined and was shown to be the most influential variable in controlling the extraction coefficients of Tc-99 and I-129. Therefore the addition of polar diluent acetone to non-polar diluent toluene enhanced the distribution coefficient of Tc-99 (DTc) was by a factor of 30. For I-129, the best extraction yield was obtained after introducing tetrachloroethane. Through the process, by a single extraction step, 85 % to 95 % of Tc-99 was extracted from synthetic effluents, while 84 % to 88 % of I-129 was extracted from different acidic media. The extraction by crown ether is a fairly rapid process and the total preparation time of the chemical separation takes about 20 minutes for a batch of eight samples. (authors)« less

Allelopathic effects of water extracts ofArtemisia princeps var.orientalis on selected plant species.

PubMed

Kil, B S; Yun, K W

1992-01-01

The allelopathic effects of wormwood plants (Artemisia princeps var.orientalis) and their possible phytotoxicity on receptor species were investigated. The aqueous extracts of mature leaf, stem, and root of wormwood plants caused significant inhibition in germination and decreased seedling elongation of receptor plants, whereas germination of some species was not inhibited by extracts of stems and roots. Dry weight growth was slightly increased at lower concentrations of the extract, whereas it was proportionally inhibited at higher concentrations. The calorie value of the organic matter in receptor plants measured by bomb calorimeter was reduced proportionally to the extract concentration. However, results with extracts of juvenile leaf did not correlate with inhibition or promotion of elongation and dry weight.

Use of different extracts of coffee pulp for the production of bioethanol.

PubMed

Menezes, Evandro Galvão Tavares; do Carmo, Juliana Ribeiro; Menezes, Aline Galvão Tavares; Alves, José Guilherme Lembi Ferreira; Pimenta, Carlos José; Queiroz, Fabiana

2013-01-01

Coffee is one of the most important agricultural products in Brazil. More than 50 % of the coffee fruit is not used for the production of commercial green coffee and is therefore discarded, usually ending up in the environment. The goal of this work was to select an efficient process for obtaining coffee pulp extract and to evaluate the use of this extract in bioethanol production. The effects of heat treatment and trituration on the yield and composition of the extract were investigated by measuring the amounts of reducing sugars, starch, pectin, and phenolic compounds. The extraction process was most efficient at room temperature using grinding followed by pressing. Five different fermentation media were tested: sugarcane juice or molasses diluted with water or with coffee pulp extract and a medium with only coffee pulp extract. Batch fermentations were carried out at 30 °C for 24 h, and samples were taken to obtain measurements of the total reducing sugars, cell count, and ethanol concentration. The addition of coffee pulp extract did not influence the fermentation or yeast viability, and it can thus be mixed with sugarcane juice or molasses for the production of bioethanol, with a yield of approximately 70 g/L.

West African Sorghum bicolor Leaf Sheaths Have Anti-Inflammatory and Immune-Modulating Properties In Vitro

PubMed Central

Benson, Kathleen F.; Beaman, Joni L.; Ou, Boxin; Okubena, Ademola; Okubena, Olajuwon

2013-01-01

Abstract The impact of chronic inflammatory conditions on immune function is substantial, and the simultaneous application of anti-inflammatory and immune modulating modalities has potential for reducing inflammation-induced immune suppression. Sorghum-based foods, teas, beers, and extracts are used in traditional medicine, placing an importance on obtaining an increased understanding of the biological effects of sorghum. This study examined selected anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties in vitro of Jobelyn™, containing the polyphenol-rich leaf sheaths from a West African variant of Sorghum bicolor (SBLS). Freshly isolated primary human polymorphonuclear (PMN) and mononuclear cell subsets were used to test selected cellular functions in the absence versus presence of aqueous and ethanol extracts of SBLS. Both aqueous and nonaqueous compounds contributed to reduced reactive oxygen species formation by inflammatory PMN cells, and reduced the migration of these cells in response to the inflammatory chemoattractant leukotriene B4. Distinct effects were seen on lymphocyte and monocyte subsets in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The aqueous extract of SBLS triggered robust upregulation of the CD69 activation marker on CD3− CD56+ natural killer (NK) cells, whereas the ethanol extract of SBLS triggered similar upregulation of CD69 on CD3+ CD56+ NKT cells, CD3+ T lymphocytes, and monocytes. This was accompanied by many-fold increases in the chemokines RANTES/CCL5, Mip-1α/CCL3, and MIP-1β/CCL4. Both aqueous and nonaqueous compounds contribute to anti-inflammatory effects, combined with multiple effects on immune cell activation status. These observations may help suggest mechanisms of action that contribute to the traditional use of sorghum-based products, beverages, and extracts for immune support. PMID:23289787

Extractive fermentation for enhanced propionic acid production from lactose by Propionibacterium acidipropionici

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jin, Z.; Yang, S.T.

1998-05-01

An extractive fermentation process using an amine extractant and a hollow-fiber membrane extractor to selectively remove propionic acid from the fermentation broth was developed to produce propionate from lactose. Compared to the conventional batch fermentation, the extractive fermentation had a much higher productivity ({approximately}1 g/(L{center_dot}h) or 5-fold increase), higher propionate yield (up to 0.66 g/g or more than 20% increase), higher final product concentration (75 g/L or higher), and higher product purity ({approximately}90%). Meanwhile, acetate and succinate productions in the extractive fermentation were significantly reduced. The improved fermentation performance can be attributed to the reduced product inhibition and a possiblemore » metabolic pathway shift to favor more propionic but less acetic and succinic acid production. The process was stable and gave consistent long-term performance over the 1.5-month period studied. The effects of propionate concentration, pH, and amine content in the solvent on the extractive fermentation were also studied and are discussed in this paper.« less

Parallel Key Frame Extraction for Surveillance Video Service in a Smart City.

PubMed

Zheng, Ran; Yao, Chuanwei; Jin, Hai; Zhu, Lei; Zhang, Qin; Deng, Wei

2015-01-01

Surveillance video service (SVS) is one of the most important services provided in a smart city. It is very important for the utilization of SVS to provide design efficient surveillance video analysis techniques. Key frame extraction is a simple yet effective technique to achieve this goal. In surveillance video applications, key frames are typically used to summarize important video content. It is very important and essential to extract key frames accurately and efficiently. A novel approach is proposed to extract key frames from traffic surveillance videos based on GPU (graphics processing units) to ensure high efficiency and accuracy. For the determination of key frames, motion is a more salient feature in presenting actions or events, especially in surveillance videos. The motion feature is extracted in GPU to reduce running time. It is also smoothed to reduce noise, and the frames with local maxima of motion information are selected as the final key frames. The experimental results show that this approach can extract key frames more accurately and efficiently compared with several other methods.

Antioxidant activity of selected plant species; potential new sources of natural antioxidants.

PubMed

Nićiforović, N; Mihailović, V; Masković, P; Solujić, S; Stojković, A; Pavlović Muratspahić, D

2010-11-01

The aim of this study was to examine six plants from Serbia for their potential antioxidant activity. Therefore, six antioxidant activity assays were carried out, including: total antioxidant capacity, DPPH free-radical scavenging, the inhibitory activity toward lipid peroxidation, Fe(3+)- reducing power, Fe(2+)- chelating ability and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were also determined for each alcoholic extract. Cotinus coggygria extract contained the highest amount of total phenols (413mg GAE /g dry extract), while the highest proportion of flavonoids was found in the Echium vulgare methanol extract (105 mg RU/g). Cotinus coggygria and Halacsya sendtneri alcoholic extracts showed the highest total antioxidant capacity (313 and 231 mg AA/g dry extract), as well as DPPH free-radical scavenging (IC(50)=9 and 99 μg/ml), inhibitory activity toward lipid peroxidation (IC(50)=3 and 17 μg/ml) and reducing power. Whereas, the greatest hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, as well as ferrous ion chelating ability showed Echium vulgare, Echium rubrum and Halacsya sendtneri. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotional textile image classification based on cross-domain convolutional sparse autoencoders with feature selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zuhe; Fan, Yangyu; Liu, Weihua; Yu, Zeqi; Wang, Fengqin

2017-01-01

We aim to apply sparse autoencoder-based unsupervised feature learning to emotional semantic analysis for textile images. To tackle the problem of limited training data, we present a cross-domain feature learning scheme for emotional textile image classification using convolutional autoencoders. We further propose a correlation-analysis-based feature selection method for the weights learned by sparse autoencoders to reduce the number of features extracted from large size images. First, we randomly collect image patches on an unlabeled image dataset in the source domain and learn local features with a sparse autoencoder. We then conduct feature selection according to the correlation between different weight vectors corresponding to the autoencoder's hidden units. We finally adopt a convolutional neural network including a pooling layer to obtain global feature activations of textile images in the target domain and send these global feature vectors into logistic regression models for emotional image classification. The cross-domain unsupervised feature learning method achieves 65% to 78% average accuracy in the cross-validation experiments corresponding to eight emotional categories and performs better than conventional methods. Feature selection can reduce the computational cost of global feature extraction by about 50% while improving classification performance.

Complex eigenvalue extraction in NASTRAN by the tridiagonal reduction (FEER) method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, M.; Mann, F. I.

1977-01-01

An extension of the Tridiagonal Reduction (FEER) method to complex eigenvalue analysis in NASTRAN is described. As in the case of real eigenvalue analysis, the eigensolutions closest to a selected point in the eigenspectrum are extracted from a reduced, symmetric, tridiagonal eigenmatrix whose order is much lower than that of the full size problem. The reduction process is effected automatically, and thus avoids the arbitrary lumping of masses and other physical quantities at selected grid points. The statement of the algebraic eigenvalue problem admits mass, damping and stiffness matrices which are unrestricted in character, i.e., they may be real, complex, symmetric or unsymmetric, singular or non-singular.

Antimalarial evaluation of selected medicinal plant extracts used in Iranian traditional medicine

PubMed Central

Haddad, Mohammad Hossein Feiz; Mahbodfar, Hamidreza; Zamani, Zahra; Ramazani, Ali

2017-01-01

Objective(s): In an attempt to discover new natural active extracts against malaria parasites, the present study evaluated the antiplasmodial properties of selected plants based on Iranian traditional medicine. Materials and Methods: Ten plant species found in Iran were selected and collected based on the available literature about the Iranian traditional medicine. The methanolic extracts of these plants were investigated for in vitro antimalarial properties against chloroquine-sensitive (3D7) and multi-drug resistant (K1) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Their in vivo activity against Plasmodium berghei infection in mice was also determined. Cytotoxicity tests were carried out using the Raji cells line using the MTT assay. The extracts were phytochemically screened for their active constituents. Results: According to the IC50 and selectivity index (SI) values, of the 10 selected plant species, Citrullus colocynthis, Physalis alkekengi, and Solanum nigrum displayed potent in vitro antimalarial activity against both 3D7 and K1 strains with no toxicity (IC50= 2.01-18.67 µg/ml and SI=3.55 to 19.25). Comparisons between treated and untreated control mice showed that the mentioned plant species reduced parasitemia by 65.08%, 57.97%, and 60.68%, respectively. The existence of antiplasmodial compounds was detected in these plant extracts. Conclusion: This was the first study to highlight the in vitro and in vivo antiplasmodial effects of C. colocynthis, P. alkekengi, and S. nigrum in Iran. Future studies can use these findings to design further biological tests to identify the active constituents of the mentioned plant species and clarify their mechanism of action. PMID:28804611

Magnetic field feature extraction and selection for indoor location estimation.

PubMed

Galván-Tejada, Carlos E; García-Vázquez, Juan Pablo; Brena, Ramon F

2014-06-20

User indoor positioning has been under constant improvement especially with the availability of new sensors integrated into the modern mobile devices, which allows us to exploit not only infrastructures made for everyday use, such as WiFi, but also natural infrastructure, as is the case of natural magnetic field. In this paper we present an extension and improvement of our current indoor localization model based on the feature extraction of 46 magnetic field signal features. The extension adds a feature selection phase to our methodology, which is performed through Genetic Algorithm (GA) with the aim of optimizing the fitness of our current model. In addition, we present an evaluation of the final model in two different scenarios: home and office building. The results indicate that performing a feature selection process allows us to reduce the number of signal features of the model from 46 to 5 regardless the scenario and room location distribution. Further, we verified that reducing the number of features increases the probability of our estimator correctly detecting the user's location (sensitivity) and its capacity to detect false positives (specificity) in both scenarios.

A PCA aided cross-covariance scheme for discriminative feature extraction from EEG signals.

PubMed

Zarei, Roozbeh; He, Jing; Siuly, Siuly; Zhang, Yanchun

2017-07-01

Feature extraction of EEG signals plays a significant role in Brain-computer interface (BCI) as it can significantly affect the performance and the computational time of the system. The main aim of the current work is to introduce an innovative algorithm for acquiring reliable discriminating features from EEG signals to improve classification performances and to reduce the time complexity. This study develops a robust feature extraction method combining the principal component analysis (PCA) and the cross-covariance technique (CCOV) for the extraction of discriminatory information from the mental states based on EEG signals in BCI applications. We apply the correlation based variable selection method with the best first search on the extracted features to identify the best feature set for characterizing the distribution of mental state signals. To verify the robustness of the proposed feature extraction method, three machine learning techniques: multilayer perceptron neural networks (MLP), least square support vector machine (LS-SVM), and logistic regression (LR) are employed on the obtained features. The proposed methods are evaluated on two publicly available datasets. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of the proposed methods by comparing it with some recently reported algorithms. The experimental results show that all three classifiers achieve high performance (above 99% overall classification accuracy) for the proposed feature set. Among these classifiers, the MLP and LS-SVM methods yield the best performance for the obtained feature. The average sensitivity, specificity and classification accuracy for these two classifiers are same, which are 99.32%, 100%, and 99.66%, respectively for the BCI competition dataset IVa and 100%, 100%, and 100%, for the BCI competition dataset IVb. The results also indicate the proposed methods outperform the most recently reported methods by at least 0.25% average accuracy improvement in dataset IVa. The execution time results show that the proposed method has less time complexity after feature selection. The proposed feature extraction method is very effective for getting representatives information from mental states EEG signals in BCI applications and reducing the computational complexity of classifiers by reducing the number of extracted features. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A face and palmprint recognition approach based on discriminant DCT feature extraction.

PubMed

Jing, Xiao-Yuan; Zhang, David

2004-12-01

In the field of image processing and recognition, discrete cosine transform (DCT) and linear discrimination are two widely used techniques. Based on them, we present a new face and palmprint recognition approach in this paper. It first uses a two-dimensional separability judgment to select the DCT frequency bands with favorable linear separability. Then from the selected bands, it extracts the linear discriminative features by an improved Fisherface method and performs the classification by the nearest neighbor classifier. We detailedly analyze theoretical advantages of our approach in feature extraction. The experiments on face databases and palmprint database demonstrate that compared to the state-of-the-art linear discrimination methods, our approach obtains better classification performance. It can significantly improve the recognition rates for face and palmprint data and effectively reduce the dimension of feature space.

Modulation of ionizing radiation induced oxidative imbalance by semi-fractionated extract of Piper betle

PubMed Central

Verma, Savita; Dutta, Ajaswrata; Sankhwar, Sanghmitra; Shukla, Sandeep Kumar

2010-01-01

The study was planned to evaluate modulatory effect of aqueous extract of Piper betle leaf (PBL) on ionizing radiation mediated oxidative stress leading to normal tissues damage during radiotherapy and other radiation exposures. The total polyphenols and flavonoids known as free radical scavenger (chelators) were measured in the extract. To ascertain antioxidant potential of PBL extract, we studied free radical scavenging, metal chelation, reducing power, lipid peroxidation inhibition and ferric reducing antioxidant properties (FRAP ) using in vitro assays. Mice were exposed to varied radiation doses administered with the same extract prior to irradiation to confirm its oxidative stress minimizing efficacy by evaluating ferric reducing ability of plasma, reduced glutathione, lipid peroxidation and micro-nuclei frequency. PBL extract was effective in scavenging DPPH (up to 92% at 100 µg/ml) and superoxide radicals (up to 95% at 80 µg/ml), chelated metal ions (up to 83% at 50 µg/ml) and inhibited lipid peroxidation (up to 45.65% at 500 µg/ml) in a dose dependant manner using in vitro model. Oral administration of PBL extract (225 mg/kg body weight) 1 hr before irradiation in mice significantly enhanced (p < 0.01) radiation abated antioxidant potential of plasma and GSH level in all the observed organs. The treatment with extract effectively lowered the radiation induced lipid peroxidation at 24 hrs in all the selected organs with maximum inhibition in thymus (p < 0.01). After 48 hrs, lipid peroxidation was maximally inhibited in the group treated with the extract. Frequency of radiation induced micronucleated cells declined significantly (34.78%, p < 0.01) at 24 hrs post-irradiation interval by PBL extract administration. The results suggest that PBL extract has high antioxidant potential and relatively non-toxic and thus could be assertively used to mitigate radiotherapy inflicted normal tissues damage and also injuries caused by moderate doses of radiation during unplanned exposures. PMID:20716927

Modulation of ionizing radiation induced oxidative imbalance by semi-fractionated extract of Piper betle: an in vitro and in vivo assessment.

PubMed

Verma, Savita; Gupta, Manju Lata; Dutta, Ajaswrata; Sankhwar, Sanghmitra; Shukla, Sandeep Kumar; Flora, Swaran J S

2010-01-01

The study was planned to evaluate modulatory effect of aqueous extract of Piper betle leaf (PBL) on ionizing radiation mediated oxidative stress leading to normal tissues damage during radiotherapy and other radiation exposures. The total polyphenols and flavonoids known as free radical scavenger (chelators) were measured in the extract. To ascertain antioxidant potential of PBL extract we studied free radical scavenging, metal chelation, reducing power, lipid peroxidation inhibition and ferric reducing antioxidant properties (FRAP) using in vitro assays. Mice were exposed to varied radiation doses administered with the same extract prior to irradiation to confirm its oxidative stress minimizing efficacy by evaluating ferric reducing ability of plasma, reduced glutathione, lipid peroxidation and micro-nuclei frequency. PBL extract was effective in scavenging DPPH (up to 92% at 100 microg/ml) and superoxide radicals (up to 95% at 80 microg/ml), chelated metal ions (up to 83% at 50 microg/ml) and inhibited lipid peroxidation (up to 55.65% at 500 microg/ml) in a dose dependant manner using in vitro model. Oral administration of PBL extract (225 mg/kg body weight) 1 hr before irradiation in mice significantly enhanced (p < 0.01) radiation abated antioxidant potential of plasma and GSH level in all the observed organs. The treatment with extract effectively lowered the radiation induced lipid peroxidation at 24 hrs in all the selected organs with maximum inhibition in thymus (p < 0.01). After 48 hrs, lipid peroxidation was maximally inhibited in the group treated with the extract. Frequency of radiation induced micronucleated cells declined significantly (34.78%, p < 0.01) at 24 hrs post-irradiation interval by PBL extract administration. The results suggest that PBL extract has high antioxidant potential and relatively non-toxic and thus could be assertively used to mitigate radiotherapy inflicted normal tissues damage and also injuries caused by moderate doses of radiation during unplanned exposures.

SEPARATION OF EUROPIUM FROM OTHER LANTHANIDE RAE EARTHS BY SOLVENT EXTRACTION

DOEpatents

Peppard, D.F.; Horwitz, E.P.; Mason, G.W.

1963-02-12

This patent deals with a process of separating europium from other lanthanides present in aqueous hydrochloric or sulfuric acid solutions. The europium is selectively reduced to the divalent state with a divalent chromium salt formed in situ from chromium(III) salt plus zinc amalgam. The other trivalent lanthanides are then extracted away from the divalent europium with a nitrogen-flushed phosphoric acid ester or a phosphonic acid ester. (AEC)

Selecting relevant 3D image features of margin sharpness and texture for lung nodule retrieval.

PubMed

Ferreira, José Raniery; de Azevedo-Marques, Paulo Mazzoncini; Oliveira, Marcelo Costa

2017-03-01

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. Its diagnosis is a challenge task to specialists due to several aspects on the classification of lung nodules. Therefore, it is important to integrate content-based image retrieval methods on the lung nodule classification process, since they are capable of retrieving similar cases from databases that were previously diagnosed. However, this mechanism depends on extracting relevant image features in order to obtain high efficiency. The goal of this paper is to perform the selection of 3D image features of margin sharpness and texture that can be relevant on the retrieval of similar cancerous and benign lung nodules. A total of 48 3D image attributes were extracted from the nodule volume. Border sharpness features were extracted from perpendicular lines drawn over the lesion boundary. Second-order texture features were extracted from a cooccurrence matrix. Relevant features were selected by a correlation-based method and a statistical significance analysis. Retrieval performance was assessed according to the nodule's potential malignancy on the 10 most similar cases and by the parameters of precision and recall. Statistical significant features reduced retrieval performance. Correlation-based method selected 2 margin sharpness attributes and 6 texture attributes and obtained higher precision compared to all 48 extracted features on similar nodule retrieval. Feature space dimensionality reduction of 83 % obtained higher retrieval performance and presented to be a computationaly low cost method of retrieving similar nodules for the diagnosis of lung cancer.

In vivo effect of Commiphora swynnertonii ethanolic extracts on Trypanosoma congolense and selected immunological components in mice.

PubMed

Nagagi, Yakob P; Silayo, Richard S; Luziga, Claudius; Kweka, Eliningaya J

2017-05-23

The search for alternative trypanocidal compounds which can be available at affordable price is of paramount importance for control of trypanosomosis in human and animals. The current study evaluates the in vivo activity of ethanolic stem bark extracts on Trypanosoma congolense and selected immunological components in an inbred Swiss albino mouse model. Groups of mice infected with T. congolense were treated with the stem bark extracts at a rate of 1000 mg/kg, 1500 mg/kg, and 2000 mg/kg, twice a day in one set and thrice a day in another setting for three days consecutively. Negative (infected and untreated) and positive (infected treated with diminazene diaceturate at 3.5 mg/kg) control groups were used. Levels of parasitaemia were monitored daily for the first 10 days and thereafter 2-3 times per week to the end of experiment. In the other setting, uninfected mice, randomized in groups were treated with the extract but categorized as: thorough mixed extract (TME) and supernatant extract (SE) each at 500 mg/kg and 1500 mg/kg, in 8 hourly intervals respectively for three days consecutively. Control group was administered with phosphate buffered saline with glucose at 0.1 ml/10 g in a similar manner as for the extract. Whole blood and spleen were taken 24 h after the last treatment for hematological and histopathological analysis. The groups that received the extracts at 8 hourly intervals drastically reduced the parasitaemia. The higher dose of SE significantly reduced the percentage of lymphocytes (P < 0.05). Both high and low dose of TME significantly reduced lymphocytes percent (P < 0.05) while percent of neutrophils and monocytes increased significantly (P < 0.05). Histopathological changes of the spleen in the mice treated with higher concentrations of the extract of C. swynnertonii were suggestive of lymphocytes toxicity. The current study has provided evidence that, in vivo trypanocidal activity of ethanolic bark extracts of C. swynnertonii is probably affected by its negative effect on humoral mediated immune response. Further studies are recommended to determine its potential as an alternative source of lead compounds for trypanocidal drug discovery.

Highly Selective and Considerable Subcritical Butane Extraction to Separate Abamectin in Green Tea.

PubMed

Zhang, Yating; Gu, Lingbiao; Wang, Fei; Kong, Lingjun; Pang, Huili; Qin, Guangyong

2017-06-01

We specially carried out the subcritical butane extraction to separate abamectin from tea leaves. Four parameters, such as extraction temperature, extraction time, number of extraction cycles, and solid-liquid ratio were studied and optimized through the response surface methodology with design matrix developed by Box-Behnken. Seventeen experiments with three various factors and three variable levels were employed to investigate the effect of these parameters on the extraction of abamectin. Besides, catechins, theanine, caffeine, and aroma components were determined by both high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to evaluate the tea quality before and after the extraction. The results showed that the extraction temperature was the uppermost parameter compared with others. The optimal extraction conditions selected as follows: extraction temperature, 42°C; number of extraction cycles and extraction time, 1 and 30 min, respectively; and solid-liquid ratio, 1:10. Based on the above study, the separation efficiency of abamectin was up to 93.95%. It is notable that there has a quite low loss rate, including the negligible damage of aroma components, the bits reduce of catechins within the range of 0.7%-13.1%, and a handful lessen of caffeine and theanine of 1.81% and 2.6%, respectively. The proposed method suggested subcritical butane possesses solubility for lipid-soluble pesticides, and since most of the pesticides are attached to the surfaces of tea, thus the as-applied method was successfully effective to separate abamectin because of the so practical and promising method.

Influence of extraction conditions on antioxidant properties of passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) peel.

PubMed

Wong, Yuh Shan; Sia, Chiaw Mei; Khoo, Hock Eng; Ang, Yee Kwang; Chang, Sui Kiat; Chang, Sui Kiat; Yim, Hip Seng

2014-01-01

As a by-product of tropical fruit juice industry, passion fruit peel is a valuable functional food. It is rich in antioxidants. To determine its potential antioxidant properties of passion fruit peel, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of extraction conditions on total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The extraction conditions were selected from different percentages of ethanol (0-100%, v/v), extraction times (60-300 min), and extraction temperatures (25-60°C) that based on the optimal percentage of DPPH radical scavenging activity. The selected extraction condition was applied for further determination of total phenolic content (TPC) of the passion fruit peel extract using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent assay, while the antioxidant activities were evaluated using DPPH and ABTS radicals scavenging assays, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and β-carotene bleaching (BCB) assay. The best extraction conditions were 40% ethanol, 60 min extraction time, and extraction temperature of 30°C. The chosen extraction conditions have contributed to the high TPC and antioxidant activity of passion fruit peel. The levels of antioxidant activity obtained from the passion fruit peel were also lower compared to BHA and α-tocopherol. Positive correlations were observed between TPC and antioxidant activities as assessed by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and BCB assays. As a waste of passion fruit consumption or by-product of fruit juice industry, its peel could be considered as a potential source of natural antioxidant for possible functional food and industrial applications.

Single-trial event-related potential extraction through one-unit ICA-with-reference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lih Lee, Wee; Tan, Tele; Falkmer, Torbjörn; Leung, Yee Hong

2016-12-01

Objective. In recent years, ICA has been one of the more popular methods for extracting event-related potential (ERP) at the single-trial level. It is a blind source separation technique that allows the extraction of an ERP without making strong assumptions on the temporal and spatial characteristics of an ERP. However, the problem with traditional ICA is that the extraction is not direct and is time-consuming due to the need for source selection processing. In this paper, the application of an one-unit ICA-with-Reference (ICA-R), a constrained ICA method, is proposed. Approach. In cases where the time-region of the desired ERP is known a priori, this time information is utilized to generate a reference signal, which is then used for guiding the one-unit ICA-R to extract the source signal of the desired ERP directly. Main results. Our results showed that, as compared to traditional ICA, ICA-R is a more effective method for analysing ERP because it avoids manual source selection and it requires less computation thus resulting in faster ERP extraction. Significance. In addition to that, since the method is automated, it reduces the risks of any subjective bias in the ERP analysis. It is also a potential tool for extracting the ERP in online application.

Single-trial event-related potential extraction through one-unit ICA-with-reference.

PubMed

Lee, Wee Lih; Tan, Tele; Falkmer, Torbjörn; Leung, Yee Hong

2016-12-01

In recent years, ICA has been one of the more popular methods for extracting event-related potential (ERP) at the single-trial level. It is a blind source separation technique that allows the extraction of an ERP without making strong assumptions on the temporal and spatial characteristics of an ERP. However, the problem with traditional ICA is that the extraction is not direct and is time-consuming due to the need for source selection processing. In this paper, the application of an one-unit ICA-with-Reference (ICA-R), a constrained ICA method, is proposed. In cases where the time-region of the desired ERP is known a priori, this time information is utilized to generate a reference signal, which is then used for guiding the one-unit ICA-R to extract the source signal of the desired ERP directly. Our results showed that, as compared to traditional ICA, ICA-R is a more effective method for analysing ERP because it avoids manual source selection and it requires less computation thus resulting in faster ERP extraction. In addition to that, since the method is automated, it reduces the risks of any subjective bias in the ERP analysis. It is also a potential tool for extracting the ERP in online application.

Comprehensive process for the recovery of value and critical materials from electronic waste

DOE PAGES

Diaz, Luis A.; Lister, Tedd E.; Parkman, Jacob A.; ...

2016-04-08

The development of technologies that contribute to the proper disposal and treatment of electronic waste is not just an environmental need, but an opportunity for the recovery and recycle of valuable metals and critical materials. Value elements in electronic waste include gold, palladium, silver, copper, nickel, and rare earth elements (RE). Here, we present the development of a process that enables efficient recycling of metals from scrap mobile electronics. An electro recycling (ER) process, based on the regeneration of Fe 3+ as a weak oxidizer, is studied for the selective recovery of base metals while leaving precious metals for separatemore » extraction at reduced chemical demand. A separate process recovers rare earth oxides from magnets in electronics. Furthermore, recovery and extraction efficiencies ca. 90 % were obtained for the extraction of base metals from the non-ferromagnetic fraction in the two different solution matrices tested (H 2SO 4, and HCl). The effect of the pre-extraction of base metals in the increase of precious metals extraction efficiency was verified. On the other hand, the extraction of rare earths from the ferromagnetic fraction, performed by means of anaerobic extraction in acid media, was assessed for the selective recovery of rare earths. We developed a comprehensive flow sheet to process electronic waste to value products.« less

Development of an Economical Method to Reduce the Extractable Latex Protein Levels in Finished Dipped Rubber Products

PubMed Central

Perera, Ambegoda Liyanage Harini Amalka

2017-01-01

Natural rubber latex (NRL) allergy is caused by the extractable latex proteins in dipped rubber products. It is a major concern for the consumers who are sensitive to the allergenic extractable proteins (EP) in products such as NRL gloves. Objective of this research was to develop an economical method to reduce the EP in finished dipped NRL products. In order to reduce the EP levels, two natural proteases, bromelain from pineapple and papain from papaya, were extracted and partially purified using (NH4)2SO4. According to the newly developed method, different glove samples were treated with a 5% solution of each partially purified enzyme, for 2 hours at 60°C. Residual amounts of in treated samples were quantified using the modified Lowry assay (ASTM D5712-10). Bromelain displayed a 54 (±11)% reduction of the EP from the dipped rubber products, whereas it was 58 (±8)% with papain. These results clearly indicate that the selected natural proteases, bromelain, and papain contribute significantly towards the reduction of the total EP in finished NRL products. Application of bromelain enzyme for the aforementioned purpose has not been reported up to date, whereas papain has been used to treat raw NRL towards reducing the EP. PMID:28706952

Extraction of reduced alteration information based on Aster data: a case study of the Bashibulake uranium ore district

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Fa-wang; Liu, De-chang

2008-12-01

Practices of sandstone-type uranium exploration in recent years in China indicate that the uranium mineralization alteration information is of great importance for selecting a new uranium target or prospecting in outer area of the known uranium ore district. Taking a case study of BASHIBULAKE uranium ore district, this paper mainly presents the technical minds and methods of extracting the reduced alteration information by oil and gas in BASHIBULAKE ore district using ASTER data. First, the regional geological setting and study status in BASHIBULAKE uranium ore district are introduced in brief. Then, the spectral characteristics of altered sandstone and un-altered sandstone in BASHIBULAKE ore district are analyzed deeply. Based on the spectral analysis, two technical minds to extract the remote sensing reduced alteration information are proposed, and the un-mixing method is introduced to process ASTER data to extract the reduced alteration information in BASHIBULAKE ore district. From the enhanced images, three remote sensing anomaly zones are discovered, and their geological and prospecting significances are further made sure by taking the advantages of multi-bands in SWIR of ASTER data. Finally, the distribution and intensity of the reduced alteration information in Cretaceous system and its relationship with the genesis of uranium deposit are discussed, the specific suggestions for uranium prospecting orientation in outer of BASHIBULAKE ore district are also proposed.

Sample preparation techniques for the determination of trace residues and contaminants in foods.

PubMed

Ridgway, Kathy; Lalljie, Sam P D; Smith, Roger M

2007-06-15

The determination of trace residues and contaminants in complex matrices, such as food, often requires extensive sample extraction and preparation prior to instrumental analysis. Sample preparation is often the bottleneck in analysis and there is a need to minimise the number of steps to reduce both time and sources of error. There is also a move towards more environmentally friendly techniques, which use less solvent and smaller sample sizes. Smaller sample size becomes important when dealing with real life problems, such as consumer complaints and alleged chemical contamination. Optimal sample preparation can reduce analysis time, sources of error, enhance sensitivity and enable unequivocal identification, confirmation and quantification. This review considers all aspects of sample preparation, covering general extraction techniques, such as Soxhlet and pressurised liquid extraction, microextraction techniques such as liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and more selective techniques, such as solid phase extraction (SPE), solid phase microextraction (SPME) and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE). The applicability of each technique in food analysis, particularly for the determination of trace organic contaminants in foods is discussed.

ARSENIC SOLID-PHASE PARTITIONING IN REDUCING SEDIMENTS OF CONTAMINATED WETLAND

EPA Science Inventory

The geochemical partitioning of arsenic in organic-rich sediments from a contaminated wetland is examined using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and selective chemical extraction procedures, and evaluated in context to the anoxic diagenesis of iron and sulfur. The interaction betwe...

A multiple kernel support vector machine scheme for feature selection and rule extraction from gene expression data of cancer tissue.

PubMed

Chen, Zhenyu; Li, Jianping; Wei, Liwei

2007-10-01

Recently, gene expression profiling using microarray techniques has been shown as a promising tool to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Gene expression data contain high level of noise and the overwhelming number of genes relative to the number of available samples. It brings out a great challenge for machine learning and statistic techniques. Support vector machine (SVM) has been successfully used to classify gene expression data of cancer tissue. In the medical field, it is crucial to deliver the user a transparent decision process. How to explain the computed solutions and present the extracted knowledge becomes a main obstacle for SVM. A multiple kernel support vector machine (MK-SVM) scheme, consisting of feature selection, rule extraction and prediction modeling is proposed to improve the explanation capacity of SVM. In this scheme, we show that the feature selection problem can be translated into an ordinary multiple parameters learning problem. And a shrinkage approach: 1-norm based linear programming is proposed to obtain the sparse parameters and the corresponding selected features. We propose a novel rule extraction approach using the information provided by the separating hyperplane and support vectors to improve the generalization capacity and comprehensibility of rules and reduce the computational complexity. Two public gene expression datasets: leukemia dataset and colon tumor dataset are used to demonstrate the performance of this approach. Using the small number of selected genes, MK-SVM achieves encouraging classification accuracy: more than 90% for both two datasets. Moreover, very simple rules with linguist labels are extracted. The rule sets have high diagnostic power because of their good classification performance.

A novel star extraction method based on modified water flow model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hao; Niu, Yanxiong; Lu, Jiazhen; Ouyang, Zibiao; Yang, Yanqiang

2017-11-01

Star extraction is the essential procedure for attitude measurement of star sensor. The great challenge for star extraction is to segment star area exactly from various noise and background. In this paper, a novel star extraction method based on Modified Water Flow Model(MWFM) is proposed. The star image is regarded as a 3D terrain. The morphology is adopted for noise elimination and Tentative Star Area(TSA) selection. Star area can be extracted through adaptive water flowing within TSAs. This method can achieve accurate star extraction with improved efficiency under complex conditions such as loud noise and uneven backgrounds. Several groups of different types of star images are processed using proposed method. Comparisons with existing methods are conducted. Experimental results show that MWFM performs excellently under different imaging conditions. The star extraction rate is better than 95%. The star centroid accuracy is better than 0.075 pixels. The time-consumption is also significantly reduced.

Active learning: a step towards automating medical concept extraction.

PubMed

Kholghi, Mahnoosh; Sitbon, Laurianne; Zuccon, Guido; Nguyen, Anthony

2016-03-01

This paper presents an automatic, active learning-based system for the extraction of medical concepts from clinical free-text reports. Specifically, (1) the contribution of active learning in reducing the annotation effort and (2) the robustness of incremental active learning framework across different selection criteria and data sets are determined. The comparative performance of an active learning framework and a fully supervised approach were investigated to study how active learning reduces the annotation effort while achieving the same effectiveness as a supervised approach. Conditional random fields as the supervised method, and least confidence and information density as 2 selection criteria for active learning framework were used. The effect of incremental learning vs standard learning on the robustness of the models within the active learning framework with different selection criteria was also investigated. The following 2 clinical data sets were used for evaluation: the Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside/Veteran Affairs (i2b2/VA) 2010 natural language processing challenge and the Shared Annotated Resources/Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum (ShARe/CLEF) 2013 eHealth Evaluation Lab. The annotation effort saved by active learning to achieve the same effectiveness as supervised learning is up to 77%, 57%, and 46% of the total number of sequences, tokens, and concepts, respectively. Compared with the random sampling baseline, the saving is at least doubled. Incremental active learning is a promising approach for building effective and robust medical concept extraction models while significantly reducing the burden of manual annotation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

High-Throughput Screening of Australian Marine Organism Extracts for Bioactive Molecules Affecting the Cellular Storage of Neutral Lipids

PubMed Central

Rae, James; Fontaine, Frank; Salim, Angela A.; Lo, Harriet P.; Capon, Robert J.; Parton, Robert G.; Martin, Sally

2011-01-01

Mammalian cells store excess fatty acids as neutral lipids in specialised organelles called lipid droplets (LDs). Using a simple cell-based assay and open-source software we established a high throughput screen for LD formation in A431 cells in order to identify small bioactive molecules affecting lipid storage. Screening an n-butanol extract library from Australian marine organisms we identified 114 extracts that produced either an increase or a decrease in LD formation in fatty acid-treated A431 cells with varying degrees of cytotoxicity. We selected for further analysis a non-cytotoxic extract derived from the genus Spongia (Heterofibria). Solvent partitioning, HPLC fractionation and spectroscopic analysis (NMR, MS) identified a family of related molecules within this extract with unique structural features, a subset of which reduced LD formation. We selected one of these molecules, heterofibrin A1, for more detailed cellular analysis. Inhibition of LD biogenesis by heterofibrin A1 was observed in both A431 cells and AML12 hepatocytes. The activity of heterofibrin A1 was dose dependent with 20 µM inhibiting LD formation and triglyceride accumulation by ∼50% in the presence of 50 µM oleic acid. Using a fluorescent fatty acid analogue we found that heterofibrin A1 significantly reduces the intracellular accumulation of fatty acids and results in the formation of distinct fatty acid metabolites in both cultured cells and in embryos of the zebrafish Danio rerio. In summary we have shown using readily accessible software and a relatively simple assay system that we can identify and isolate bioactive molecules from marine extracts, which affect the formation of LDs and the metabolism of fatty acids both in vitro and in vivo. PMID:21857959

Behavioral and electroantennogram responses of plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar, to selected noxious plant extracts and insecticides

PubMed Central

Gӧkçe, A.; Stelinski, L. L.; Nortman, D. R.; Bryan, W. W.; Whalon, M. E.

2014-01-01

Abstract Behavioral and electroantennogram responses of plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), adults were tested for several methanolic plant extracts and organically approved insecticides. Plant extracts were evaluated for their potential as antifeedants or oviposition deterrents. These extract responses were also compared to those elicited by the non-neurotoxic, organic irritant-insecticide kaolin clay. Both sexes of plum curculio exhibited antennal response as measured by electroantennogram, which ranged from 0.2 to 1.1 mV, to plant extracts and the organic irritant/insecticide, with the greatest response to the extract of rough cocklebur, Xanthium strumarium L. (1.1 mV). No choice tests were conducted to compare feeding and oviposition by plum curculio on untreated apples or on apples treated with one of the extracts or the insecticide. The insecticide pyrethrum and extracts of X. strumarium and greater burdock, Arctium lappa L., significantly reduced feeding. Also, pyrethrum , A. lappa, Humulus lupulus L. (common hop), X. strumarium, and Verbascum songaricum Schrenk extracts completely inhibited egg deposition. In no-choice assays, the effects of kaolin clay with incorporated plant extracts on plum curculio feeding and oviposition were monitored as complementary tests. A. lappa-kaolin, H. lupulus –kaolin, and X. strumarium-kaolin mixtures significantly reduced the feeding of plum curculio compared to the control or kaolin clay alone. Each of the plant extract-kaolin mixtures evaluated, with the exception of Bifora radians Bieberstein (wild bishop), completely inhibited plum curculio oviposition as compared to controls. PMID:25368046

Potential use of tea extract as a complementary mouthwash: comparative evaluation of two commercial samples.

PubMed

Esimone, C O; Adikwu, M U; Nwafor, S V; Okolo, C O

2001-10-01

To evaluate the potential of using tea extracts as complementary mouthwash and to test the comparative efficacy of two commercial samples. A randomized controlled trial with 30 healthy human volunteers was carried out. The subjects were randomly assigned to 5 groups of 6 subjects per group. The ability of Ndu tea (from Cameroon) and Lipton tea (from Nigeria) to reduce colony forming units (CFU) in the liquid expectorated after 60 seconds of gargling from the mouth of the volunteers at 5 and 60 minutes were evaluated. These were compared to the values obtained from bank water and Minty Brett (thymol 0.047%), a standard antiseptic. University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. Thirty healthy human volunteers (18 males and 12 females, between 22-30 years of age) who met the eligibility requirement of being nonsmokers and not taking any other antimicrobial agent were selected for the study. Relative to the bank water, the results indicated that the hot water extract of both teas significantly (p < 0.05) reduced CFU per milliliter in the liquid expectorated after gargling at both 5 and 60 minutes. Minty Brett showed higher activity than both tea extracts; however, unlike Minty Brett both extracts still reduced the CFU per milliliter at time 60 minutes (an indication of longer duration of activity). The combination of the tea extracts with sodium lauryl sulfate (1.2% w/v), a surfactant and emulsifier, significantly increased the antimicrobial activity relative to each tea alone. Comparatively, the activity of Ndu tea was found to be slightly higher than that of Lipton tea but this was not significant (p < 0.05). Lipton and Ndu tea extracts potently reduced the CFU per milliliter. This activity was potentiated by sodium lauryl sulfate. Although Minty Brett had more potent antimicrobial activity, both tea extracts have longer duration of activity. The results indicate the potential usefulness of tea extracts as a complementary mouthwash.

Dimensionality Reduction Through Classifier Ensembles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oza, Nikunj C.; Tumer, Kagan; Norwig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

In data mining, one often needs to analyze datasets with a very large number of attributes. Performing machine learning directly on such data sets is often impractical because of extensive run times, excessive complexity of the fitted model (often leading to overfitting), and the well-known "curse of dimensionality." In practice, to avoid such problems, feature selection and/or extraction are often used to reduce data dimensionality prior to the learning step. However, existing feature selection/extraction algorithms either evaluate features by their effectiveness across the entire data set or simply disregard class information altogether (e.g., principal component analysis). Furthermore, feature extraction algorithms such as principal components analysis create new features that are often meaningless to human users. In this article, we present input decimation, a method that provides "feature subsets" that are selected for their ability to discriminate among the classes. These features are subsequently used in ensembles of classifiers, yielding results superior to single classifiers, ensembles that use the full set of features, and ensembles based on principal component analysis on both real and synthetic datasets.

[Solubilization Specificities Interferon beta-1b from Inclusion Bodies].

PubMed

Zhuravko, A S; Kononova, N V; Bobruskin, A I

2015-01-01

A new solubilization method of recombinant interferon beta-1b (IFNβ-1b) from the inclusion bodies was developed. This method allows to extract the target protein selectively in the solutions of different alcohols, such as ethanol, propanol and isopropanol. It was shown that the more effective IFNβ-1b solubilization was achieved in the 55% propanol solution. This method allowed to extract the target protein from inclusion bodies around 85-90%, and significantly reduced Escherichia coli content in the solubilizate, in comparison with standard methods.

Imprinted magnetic graphene oxide for the mini-solid phase extraction of Eu (III) from coal mine area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patra, Santanu; Roy, Ekta; Madhuri, Rashmi; Sharma, Prashant K.

2017-05-01

The present work represents the preparation of imprinted magnetic reduced graphene oxide and applied it for the selective removal of Eu (III) from local coal mines area. A simple solid phase extraction method was used for this purpose. The material shows a very high adsorption as well as removal efficiency towards Eu (III), which suggest that the material have potential to be used in future for their real time applications in removal of Eu (III) from complex matrices.

In vivo antimalarial activity and toxicological effects of methanolic extract of Cocos nucifera (Dwarf red variety) husk fibre.

PubMed

Balogun, Elizabeth Abidemi; Malomo, Sylvia Orume; Adebayo, Joseph Oluwatope; Ishola, Ahmed Adebayo; Soladoye, Ayodele Olufemi; Olatunji, Lawrence Aderemi; Kolawole, Olatunji Matthew; Oguntoye, Stephen Olubunmi; Babatunde, Abiola Samuel; Akinola, Oluwole Busayo

2014-11-01

Phytochemical constituents as well as antimalarial and toxicity potentials of the methanolic extract of the husk fibre of Dwarf Red variety of Cocos nucifera were evaluated in this study. The dried powdered husk fibre was exhaustively extracted with hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol successively and the methanolic extract was screened for flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, alkaloids, steroids, triterpenes, phlobatannins, anthraquinones and glycosides. A 4-day suppressive antimalarial test was carried out using Plasmodium berghei NK65-infected mice, to which the extract was administered at doses of 31.25, 62.5, 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight (BW). Toxicity of the extract was evaluated in rats using selected hematological parameters and organ function indices after orally administering doses of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg BW for 14 d. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenolics, saponins, glycosides, steroids and anthraquinones in the extract. Moreover, the extract reduced parasitemia by 39.2% and 45.8% at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg BW respectively on day 8 post-inoculation. Various hematological parameters evaluated were not significantly altered (P>0.05) at all doses of the extract, except red blood cell count which was significantly elevated (P<0.05) at 100 mg/kg BW. The extract significantly increased (P<0.05) urea, creatinine, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and bilirubin concentrations in the serum as well as atherogenic index, while it reduced albumin concentration significantly (P<0.05) at higher doses compared to the controls. Alanine aminotransferase activity was reduced in the liver and heart significantly (P<0.05) but was increased in the serum significantly (P<0.05) at higher doses of the extract compared to the controls. The results suggest that methanolic extract of the Dwarf red variety has partial antimalarial activity at higher doses, but is capable of impairing normal kidney and liver function as well as predisposing subjects to cardiovascular diseases.

Graphene/TiO2 nanocomposite based solid-phase extraction and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry for lipidomic profiling of avocado (Persea americana Mill.).

PubMed

Shen, Qing; Yang, Mei; Li, Linqiu; Cheung, Hon-Yeung

2014-12-10

Phospholipids possess important physiological, structural and nutritional functions in biological systems. This study described a solid-phase extraction (SPE) method, employing graphene and titanium dioxide (G/TiO2) nanocomposite as sorbent, for the selective isolation and enrichment of phospholipids from avocado (Persea americana Mill.). Based on the principal that the phosphoryl group in the phospholipid can interact with TiO2 via a bridging bidentate mode, an optimum condition was established for SPE, and was successfully applied to prepare avocado samples. The extracts were monitored by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight/tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) in both positive-ion and negative-ion modes. Results showed that phospholipids could be efficiently extracted in a clean manner by G/TiO2 based SPE. In addition, the signals of phospholipids were enhanced while the noise was reduced. Some minor peaks became more obvious. In conclusion, the nanocomposite material of G/TiO2 was proved to be a promising sorbent for selective separation of phospholipids from crude lipid extract. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bioaccessibility in vitro of nutraceuticals from bark of selected Salix species.

PubMed

Gawlik-Dziki, Urszula; Sugier, Danuta; Dziki, Dariusz; Sugier, Piotr

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate and to compare the extractability, bioaccessibility, and bioavailability in vitro of antioxidative compounds from bark of selected Salix species: S. alba (SA), S. daphnoides (SD), S. purpurea (SP), and S. daphnoides x purpurea (SDP) hybrid willow clones originating from their natural habitats and cultivated on the sandy soil. The highest amount of phenolic glycosides was found in the bark of SDP and SD. The best source of phenolics was bark of SDP. The highest content of flavonoids were found in SD bark samples, whereas the highest concentration of bioaccessible and bioavailable phenolic acids was determined in SDP bark. Bark of all tested Salix species showed significant antiradical activity. This properties are strongly dependent on extraction system and genetic factors. Regardless of Salix genotypes, the lowest chelating power was found for chemically-extractable compounds. Bark of all Salix species contained ethanol-extractable compounds with reducing ability. Besides this, high bioaccessibility and bioavailability in vitro of Salix bark phytochemicals were found. Obtained results indicate that extracts from bark tested Salix genotypes can provide health promoting benefits to the consumers; however, this problem requires further study.

Bioaccessibility In Vitro of Nutraceuticals from Bark of Selected Salix Species

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate and to compare the extractability, bioaccessibility, and bioavailability in vitro of antioxidative compounds from bark of selected Salix species: S. alba (SA), S. daphnoides (SD), S. purpurea (SP), and S. daphnoides x purpurea (SDP) hybrid willow clones originating from their natural habitats and cultivated on the sandy soil. The highest amount of phenolic glycosides was found in the bark of SDP and SD. The best source of phenolics was bark of SDP. The highest content of flavonoids were found in SD bark samples, whereas the highest concentration of bioaccessible and bioavailable phenolic acids was determined in SDP bark. Bark of all tested Salix species showed significant antiradical activity. This properties are strongly dependent on extraction system and genetic factors. Regardless of Salix genotypes, the lowest chelating power was found for chemically-extractable compounds. Bark of all Salix species contained ethanol-extractable compounds with reducing ability. Besides this, high bioaccessibility and bioavailability in vitro of Salix bark phytochemicals were found. Obtained results indicate that extracts from bark tested Salix genotypes can provide health promoting benefits to the consumers; however, this problem requires further study. PMID:24696660

Improved sample treatment for the determination of insoluble soap in sewage sludge samples by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

PubMed

Cantarero, Samuel; Zafra-Gómez, A; Ballesteros, O; Navalón, A; Vílchez, J L; Crovetto, G; Verge, C; de Ferrer, J A

2010-09-15

A new selective and sensitive method for the determination of insoluble fatty acid salts (soap) in sewage sludge samples is proposed. The method involves a clean up of sample with petroleum ether, the conversion of calcium and magnesium insoluble salts into soluble potassium salts, potassium salts extraction with methanol, and a derivatization procedure previous to the liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (LC-FLD) analysis. Three different extraction techniques (Soxhlet, microwave-assisted extraction and ultrasounds) were compared and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was selected as appropriate for our purpose. This allowed to reduce the extraction time and solvent waste (50 mL of methanol in contrast with 250 mL for Soxhlet procedure). The absence of matrix effect was demonstrated with two standards (C(13:0) and C(17:0)) that are not commercials and neither of them has been detected in sewage sludge samples. Therefore, it was possible to evaluate the matrix effect since both standards have similar environmental behaviour (adsorption and precipitation) to commercial soaps (C(10:0)-C(18:0)). The method was successfully applied to samples from different sources and consequently, with different composition. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimal selection of biochars for remediating metals contaminated mine soils

EPA Science Inventory

Approximately 500,000 abandoned mines across the U.S. pose a considerable, pervasive risk to human health and the environment due to possible exposure to the residuals of heavy metal extraction. Historically, a variety of chemical and biological methods have been used to reduce ...

A novel aptamer-based online magnetic solid phase extraction method for the selective determination of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in human urine.

PubMed

Gan, Haijiao; Xu, Hui

2018-05-30

In this work, an innovative magnetic aptamer adsorbent (Fe 3 O 4 -aptamer MNPs) was synthesized for the selective extraction of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). Amino-functionalized-Fe 3 O 4 was crosslinked with 8-OHdG aptamer by glutaraldehyde and fixed into a steel stainless tube as the sorbent of magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE). After selective extraction by the aptamer adsorbent, the adsorbed 8-OHdG was desorbed dynamically and online analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The synthesized sorbent presented outstanding features, including specific selectivity, high enrichment capacity, stability and biocompatibility. Moreover, this proposed MSPE-HPLC-MS can achieve adsorption and desorption operation integration, greatly simplify the analysis process and reduce human errors. When compared with offline MSPE, a sensitivity enhancement of 800 times was obtained for the online method. Some experimental parameters such as the amount of the sorbent, sample flow rate and sample volume, were optimized systematically. Under the optimal conditions, low limit of detection (0.01 ng mL -1 , S/N = 3), limit of quantity (0.03 ng mL -1 , S/N = 10) and wide linear range with a satisfactory correlation coefficient (R 2  ≥ 0.9992) were obtained. And the recoveries of 8-OHdG in the urine samples varied from 82% to 116%. All these results revealed that the method is simple, rapid, selective, sensitive and automated, and it could be expected to become a potential approach for the selective determination of trace 8-OHdG in complex urinary samples. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic extraction of phenolics from broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) inflorescences and evaluation of antioxidant activity in vitro.

PubMed

Wu, Hao; Zhu, Junxiang; Yang, Long; Wang, Ran; Wang, Chengrong

2015-06-01

An efficient ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic extraction technique was applied to extracting phenolics from broccoli inflorescences without organic solvents. The synergistic model of enzymolysis and ultrasonication simultaneously was selected, and the enzyme combination was optimized by orthogonal test: cellulase 7.5 mg/g FW (fresh weight), pectinase 10 mg/g FW, and papain 1.0 mg/g FW. The operating parameters in ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic extraction were optimized with response surface methodology using Box-Behnken design. The optimal extraction conditions were as follows: ultrasonic power, 440 W; liquid to material ratio, 7.0:1 mL/g; pH value of 6.0 at 54.5 ℃ for 10 min. Under these conditions, the extraction yield of phenolics achieved 1.816 ± 0.0187 mg gallic acid equivalents/gram FW. The free radical scavenging activity of ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic extraction extracts was determined by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl·assay with EC50 values of 0.25, and total antioxidant activity was determined by ferric reducing antioxidant power assay with ferric reducing antioxidant power value of 0.998 mmol FeSO4/g compared with the referential ascorbic acid of 1.184 mmol FeSO4/g. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

A combined Cyanex-923/HEH[EHP]/Dodecane solvent for recovery of transuranic elements from used nuclear fuel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, A.; Nash, K.L.

2013-07-01

The separation of minor actinides from fission product lanthanides remains a primary challenge for enabling the recycle of used nuclear fuel. To minimize the complexity of materials handling, combining extractant processes has become an increasingly attractive option. Unfortunately, combined processes sometimes suffer reduced utility due to strong dipole-dipole interactions between the extractants. The results reported here describe a system based on a combination of commercially available extractants Cyanex-923 and HEH[EHP]. In contrast to other combined extractant systems, these extractant molecules exhibit comparatively weak interactions, reducing the impact of secondary interactions. In this process, mixtures containing equal ratios of Cyanex-923 andmore » HEH[EHP] were seen to co-extract americium and the lanthanides from nitric acid solutions. Stripping of An(III) was effectively achieved through contact with an aqueous phase comprised of glycine (for pH control) and a polyamino-poly-carboxylate stripping reagent that selectively removes An(III) from the extractant phase. The lanthanides can then be stripped from the loaded organic phase contacting with high nitric acid concentrations. Extraction of fission products zirconium and molybdenum was also investigated and potential strategies for their management have been identified. The work presented demonstrates the feasibility of combining Cyanex-923 and HEH[EHP] for separating and recovering the transuranic elements from the Ln(III). (authors)« less

HIV Interventions to Reduce HIV/AIDS Stigma: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Banks, Bahby; Jonas, Dan; Miles, Margaret Shandor; Smith, Giselle Corbie

2011-01-01

We reviewed the literature to determine the effectiveness of HIV-related interventions in reducing HIV/AIDS stigma. Studies selected had randomized controlled trial (RCT), pretest–posttest with a non-randomized control group, or pretest–posttest one group study designs in which HIV-related interventions were being evaluated, and in which HIV/AIDS stigma was one of the outcomes being measured. A checklist was used to extract data from accepted studies, assess their internal validity, and overall quality. Data were extracted from 19 studies, and 14 of these studies demonstrated effectiveness in reducing HIV/ AIDS stigma. Only 2 of these 14 effective studies were considered good studies, based on quality, the extent to which the intervention focused on reducing HIV/AIDS stigma, and the statistics reported to demonstrate effectiveness. Future studies to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma could improve by designing interventions that pay greater attention to internal validity, use validated HIV/AIDS stigma instruments, and achieve both statistical and public health significance. PMID:21088989

HIV interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma: a systematic review.

PubMed

Sengupta, Sohini; Banks, Bahby; Jonas, Dan; Miles, Margaret Shandor; Smith, Giselle Corbie

2011-08-01

We reviewed the literature to determine the effectiveness of HIV-related interventions in reducing HIV/AIDS stigma. Studies selected had randomized controlled trial (RCT), pretest-posttest with a non-randomized control group, or pretest-posttest one group study designs in which HIV-related interventions were being evaluated, and in which HIV/AIDS stigma was one of the outcomes being measured. A checklist was used to extract data from accepted studies, assess their internal validity, and overall quality. Data were extracted from 19 studies, and 14 of these studies demonstrated effectiveness in reducing HIV/AIDS stigma. Only 2 of these 14 effective studies were considered good studies, based on quality, the extent to which the intervention focused on reducing HIV/AIDS stigma, and the statistics reported to demonstrate effectiveness. Future studies to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma could improve by designing interventions that pay greater attention to internal validity, use validated HIV/AIDS stigma instruments, and achieve both statistical and public health significance.

Evaluation of entropy and JM-distance criterions as features selection methods using spectral and spatial features derived from LANDSAT images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parada, N. D. J. (Principal Investigator); Dutra, L. V.; Mascarenhas, N. D. A.; Mitsuo, Fernando Augusta, II

1984-01-01

A study area near Ribeirao Preto in Sao Paulo state was selected, with predominance in sugar cane. Eight features were extracted from the 4 original bands of LANDSAT image, using low-pass and high-pass filtering to obtain spatial features. There were 5 training sites in order to acquire the necessary parameters. Two groups of four channels were selected from 12 channels using JM-distance and entropy criterions. The number of selected channels was defined by physical restrictions of the image analyzer and computacional costs. The evaluation was performed by extracting the confusion matrix for training and tests areas, with a maximum likelihood classifier, and by defining performance indexes based on those matrixes for each group of channels. Results show that in spatial features and supervised classification, the entropy criterion is better in the sense that allows a more accurate and generalized definition of class signature. On the other hand, JM-distance criterion strongly reduces the misclassification within training areas.

Antimicrobial activity of commercial Olea europaea (olive) leaf extract.

PubMed

Sudjana, Aurelia N; D'Orazio, Carla; Ryan, Vanessa; Rasool, Nooshin; Ng, Justin; Islam, Nabilah; Riley, Thomas V; Hammer, Katherine A

2009-05-01

The aim of this research was to investigate the activity of a commercial extract derived from the leaves of Olea europaea (olive) against a wide range of microorganisms (n=122). Using agar dilution and broth microdilution techniques, olive leaf extract was found to be most active against Campylobacter jejuni, Helicobacter pylori and Staphylococcus aureus [including meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA)], with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) as low as 0.31-0.78% (v/v). In contrast, the extract showed little activity against all other test organisms (n=79), with MICs for most ranging from 6.25% to 50% (v/v). In conclusion, olive leaf extract was not broad-spectrum in action, showing appreciable activity only against H. pylori, C. jejuni, S. aureus and MRSA. Given this specific activity, olive leaf extract may have a role in regulating the composition of the gastric flora by selectively reducing levels of H. pylori and C. jejuni.

Enhancing polyphenol extraction from unripe apples by carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes.

PubMed

Zheng, Hu-zhe; Hwang, In-Wook; Chung, Shin-Kyo

2009-12-01

The effects of process variables such as enzyme types, enzyme ratio, reaction temperature, pH, time, and ethanol concentration on the extraction of unripe apple polyphenol were investigated. The results indicated that Viscozyme L had the strongest effect on polyphenols extraction and was selected to study the polyphenol composition. The ratio of enzyme (Viscozyme L) to substrate (2 fungal beta-glucanase units (FBG)) at 0.02, reaction at pH 3.7, 50 degrees C for 12 h, and ethanol concentration of 70% were chosen as the most favorable extraction condition. Total phenolic content (TPC), reducing sugar content (RSC), and extraction yield increased by about 3, 1.5, and 2 times, respectively, compared with control. The contents of p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and caffeic acid increased to 8, 4, and 32 times, respectively. The enzyme-aided polyphenol extraction process from unripe apples might be applied to food industry for enhancing bioactive compound production.

Enhancing polyphenol extraction from unripe apples by carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes*

PubMed Central

Zheng, Hu-zhe; Hwang, In-Wook; Chung, Shin-Kyo

2009-01-01

The effects of process variables such as enzyme types, enzyme ratio, reaction temperature, pH, time, and ethanol concentration on the extraction of unripe apple polyphenol were investigated. The results indicated that Viscozyme L had the strongest effect on polyphenols extraction and was selected to study the polyphenol composition. The ratio of enzyme (Viscozyme L) to substrate (2 fungal beta-glucanase units (FBG)) at 0.02, reaction at pH 3.7, 50 °C for 12 h, and ethanol concentration of 70% were chosen as the most favorable extraction condition. Total phenolic content (TPC), reducing sugar content (RSC), and extraction yield increased by about 3, 1.5, and 2 times, respectively, compared with control. The contents of p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and caffeic acid increased to 8, 4, and 32 times, respectively. The enzyme-aided polyphenol extraction process from unripe apples might be applied to food industry for enhancing bioactive compound production. PMID:19946955

Screening of intact yeasts and cell extracts to reduce Scrapie prions during biotransformation of food waste.

PubMed

Huyben, David; Boqvist, Sofia; Passoth, Volkmar; Renström, Lena; Allard Bengtsson, Ulrika; Andréoletti, Olivier; Kiessling, Anders; Lundh, Torbjörn; Vågsholm, Ivar

2018-02-08

Yeasts can be used to convert organic food wastes to protein-rich animal feed in order to recapture nutrients. However, the reuse of animal-derived waste poses a risk for the transmission of infectious prions that can cause neurodegeneration and fatality in humans and animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of yeasts to reduce prion activity during the biotransformation of waste substrates-thereby becoming a biosafety hurdle in such a circular food system. During pre-screening, 30 yeast isolates were spiked with Classical Scrapie prions and incubated for 72 h in casein substrate, as a waste substitute. Based on reduced Scrapie seeding activity, waste biotransformation and protease activities, intact cells and cell extracts of 10 yeasts were further tested. Prion analysis showed that five yeast species reduced Scrapie seeding activity by approximately 1 log10 or 90%. Cryptococcus laurentii showed the most potential to reduce prion activity since both intact and extracted cells reduced Scrapie by 1 log10 and achieved the highest protease activity. These results show that select forms of yeast can act as a prion hurdle during the biotransformation of waste. However, the limited ability of yeasts to reduce prion activity warrants caution as a sole barrier to transmission as higher log reductions are needed before using waste-cultured yeast in circular food systems.

Intensification of marrubiin concentration by optimization of microwave-assisted (low CO2 yielding) extraction process for Marrubium vulgare using central composite design and antioxidant evaluation.

PubMed

Mittal, Vineet; Nanda, Arun

2017-12-01

Marrubium vulgare Linn (Lamiaceae) was generally extracted by conventional methods with low yield of marrubiin; these processes were not considered environment friendly. This study extracts the whole plant of M. vulgare by microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and optimizes the effect of various extraction parameters on the marrubiin yield by using Central Composite Design (CCD). The selected medicinal plant was extracted using ethanol: water (1:1) as solvent by MAE. The plant material was also extracted using a Soxhlet and the various extracts were analyzed by HPTLC to quantify the marrubiin concentration. The optimized conditions for the microwave-assisted extraction of selected medicinal plant was microwave power of 539 W, irradiation time of 373 s and solvent to drug ratio, 32 mL per g of the drug. The marrubiin concentration in MAE almost doubled relative to the traditional method (0.69 ± 0.08 to 1.35 ± 0.04%). The IC 50 for DPPH was reduced to 66.28 ± 0.6 μg/mL as compared to conventional extract (84.14 ± 0.7 μg/mL). The scanning electron micrographs of the treated and untreated drug samples further support the results. The CCD can be successfully applied to optimize the extraction parameters (MAE) for M. vulgare. Moreover, in terms of environmental impact, the MAE technique could be assumed as a 'Green approach' because the MAE approach for extraction of plant released only 92.3 g of CO 2 as compared to 3207.6 g CO 2 using the Soxhlet method of extraction.

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and urease inhibiting activities of methanolic extracts from Cyphostemma digitatum stem and roots.

PubMed

Khan, Rasool; Saif, Abdullah Qasem; Quradha, Mohammed Mansour; Ali, Jawad; Rauf, Abdur; Khan, Ajmal

2016-01-01

Cyphostemma digitatum stem and roots extracts were investigated for antioxidant, antimicrobial, urease inhibition potential and phytochemical analysis. Phytochemical screening of the roots and stem extract revealed the presence of secondary metabolites including flavonoids, alkaloids, coumarins, saponins, terpenoids, tannins, carbohydrates/reducing sugars and phenolic compounds. The methanolic extracts of the roots displayed highest antioxidant activity (93.518%) against DPPH while the crude methanolic extract of the stem showed highest antioxidant activity (66.163%) at 100 μg/mL concentration. The methanolic extracts of both stem and roots were moderately active or even found to be less active against the selected bacterial and fungal strains (Tables S2 and S3). The roots extract (methanol) showed significant urease enzyme inhibition activity (IC50 = 41.2 ± 0.66; 0.2 mg/mL) while the stem extract was found moderately active (IC50 = 401.1 ± 0.58; 0.2 mg/mL) against thiourea (IC50 = 21.011; 0.2 mg/mL).

The impact of chewing gum on halitosis parameters: a systematic review.

PubMed

Muniz, Francisco Wilker Mustafa Gomes; Friedrich, Stephanie Anagnostopoulos; Silveira, Carina Folgearini; Rösing, Cassiano Kuchenbecker

2017-02-17

This study aimed to analyze the impact of chewing gum on halitosis parameters. Three databases were searched with the following focused question: 'Can chewing gum additionally reduce halitosis parameters, such as organoleptic scores and volatile sulfur compounds (VSC), when compared to a control treatment'? Controlled clinical trials presenting at least two halitosis measurements (organoleptic scores and/or VSC) were included. Ten studies were included, and different active ingredients were used. One study was performed using a chewing gum without any active ingredient. Chewing gum containing probiotic bacterium was shown to significantly reduce the organoleptic scores. Chewing gums containing zinc acetate and magnolia bark extract as well as allylisothiocyanate (AITC) with zinc lactate significantly reduced the levels of VSC in comparison to a placebo chewing gum. Furthermore, a sodium bicarbonate-containing chewing gum significantly reduced the VSC levels in comparison to rinsing with water. Furthermore, eucalyptus-extract chewing gum showed significant reductions in both organoleptic scores and VSC when compared with a control chewing gum. Chewing gum containing sucrose was able to reduce the VSC levels, in comparison to xylitol and zinc citrate chewing gum, but only for 5 min. It was concluded that chewing gums containing probiotics Lactobaccilus, zinc acetate and magnolia bark extract, eucalyptus-extract, and AITC with zinc lactate may be suitable for halitosis management. However, the low number of included studies and the high heterogeneity among the selected studies may limit the clinical applications of these findings.

Germination of Medicago sativa is inhibited by soluble compounds in cement dust.

PubMed

Lafragüeta, Cristina; García-Criado, Balbino; Arranz, Angel; Vázquez-de-Aldana, Beatriz R

2014-01-01

Deposition of cement dust on soils and plant surfaces is known to affect plant growth and the species composition of plant communities, but little is known about its effects (and those of its pH and constituents) on germination. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the toxicity of an aqueous cement extract, constituents of the extract and pH on the germination of seeds of a selected species, Medicago sativa. First, the effects of the extract were tested in assays with concentrations and exposure durations ranging from 0 to 1.0 g/mL and 4 to 96 h, respectively. At 0.8 g/mL, the extract strongly inhibited germination; a 4-h exposure reduced the germination rate, from 77 ± 1.8 to 50 ± 2.6% (mean ± SE), while 8-h exposure completely inhibited it. Further, treatment at this concentration killed the non-germinating seeds, thus the inhibition was due to toxic effects. Neither the pH of the extract nor the concentration of its main soluble elements separately (K, Ca, S, Na, or Cr) caused the toxicity since germination rates were not significantly reduced when these variables were tested individually. However, a mixture of the elements in solution reduced germination rates, suggesting that they have adverse synergistic effects.

Application of supercritical fluid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry to the determination of fat-soluble vitamins in selected food products.

PubMed

Oberson, Jean-Marie; Campos-Giménez, Esther; Rivière, Johann; Martin, Frédéric

2018-06-01

In the present manuscript, we describe a fully optimized and validated method suitable to analyse nine compounds (retinyl acetate, retinyl palmitate, retinol, α-tocopherol, α-tocopheryl acetate, cholecalciferol, ergocalciferol, phylloquinone, menaquinone-4) representing the major contributors to the fat-soluble vitamin activity of selected food products (infant formulas, adult nutritionals, infant cereals and mixed meals). Sample preparation involves direct solvent extraction using enzyme-assisted matrix disintegration and methanolic protein precipitation. Direct injection of the extract allows quantification of vitamins A, E and K in only 7 min, while vitamin D is determined after fast derivatization of the extract. Separation is achieved by supercritical fluid chromatography and detection performed by tandem mass spectrometry in positive Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization mode. Results on a Standard Reference Material (SRM 1849a Infant/Adult Nutritional) were not statistically different from reference values. Full validation of the method showed excellent overall performance. Average recovery rate was between 90 and 110% for all vitamins and matrixes. The methodology shows enhanced safety and reduced cost as compared with previously published methods, together with potential for application to more complex matrixes. The full procedure can be easily applied in control laboratories dramatically increasing sample throughput and reducing solvent consumption. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Application of micro-power system in the surgery of tooth extraction].

PubMed

Kaijin, Hu; Yongfeng, Li

2015-02-01

Tooth extraction is a common operation in oral surgery. Traditional-extraction instruments, such as bone chisel, elevator, and bone hammer, lead to not only severe trauma but also unnecessary complications, and patients easily become nervous and apprehensive if tooth extraction is performed using these violent instruments. In recent years, with the develop- ment of minimally invasive concept and technology, various micro-power instruments have been used for tooth extraction. This innovative technology can reduce the iatrogenic trauma and complications of tooth extraction. Additionally, this technology can greatly decrease the patient's physical and mental pressure. The new equipment compensates for the deficiency of traditional tooth extraction equipment and facilitates the gradual replacement of the latter. Diverse micro-power systems have distinct strengths and weaknesses, so some auxiliary instruments are still needed during tooth extraction. This paper focuses on the various micro-power systems for tooth extraction and tries to compare the advantages and disadvantages of these systems. Selection and usage of auxiliary equipment are also introduced. Thus, this paper provides reference for the proper application of the micro-power systems in tooth extraction.

Liming effects on cadmium stabilization in upland soil affected by gold mining activity.

PubMed

Hong, Chang Oh; Lee, Do Kyoung; Chung, Doug Young; Kim, Pil Joo

2007-05-01

To reduce cadmium (Cd) uptake of plants cultivated in heavy metal-contaminated soil, the best liming material was selected in the incubation test. The effect of the selected material was evaluated in the field. In the incubation experimentation, CaCO(3), Ca(OH)(2), CaSO(4).2H(2)O, and oyster shell meal were mixed with soil at rates corresponding to 0, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 mg Ca kg(-1). The limed soil was moistened to 70% of field moisture capacity, and incubated at 25 degrees C for 4 weeks. Ca(OH)(2) was found to be more efficient on reducing soil NH(4)OAc extractable Cd concentration, due to pH increase induced net negative charge. The selected Ca(OH)(2) was applied at rates 0, 2, 4, 8 Mg ha(-1) and then cultivated radish (Raphanus sativa L.) in the field. NH(4)OAc extractable Cd concentration of soil and plant Cd concentration decreased significantly with increasing Ca(OH)(2) rate, since alkaline-liming material markedly increased net negative charge of soil induced by pH increase, and decreased bioavailable Cd fractions (exchangeable + acidic and reducible Cd fraction) during radish cultivation. Cadmium uptake of radish could be reduced by about 50% by amending with about 5 Mg ha(-1) Ca(OH)(2) without adverse effect on radish yield and growth. The increase of net negative charge of soil by Ca(OH)(2) application may suppress Cd uptake and the competition between Ca(2+) and Cd(2+) may additionally affect the suppression of Cd uptake.

Simultaneous determination of phenolic compounds in Equisetum palustre L. by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry combined with matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction.

PubMed

Wei, Zuofu; Pan, Youzhi; Li, Lu; Huang, Yuyang; Qi, Xiaolin; Luo, Meng; Zu, Yuangang; Fu, Yujie

2014-11-01

A method based on matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction followed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry is presented for the extraction and determination of phenolic compounds in Equisetum palustre. This method combines the high efficiency of matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction and the rapidity, sensitivity, and accuracy of ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. The influential parameters of the matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction were investigated and optimized. The optimized conditions were as follows: silica gel was selected as dispersing sorbent, the ratio of silica gel to sample was selected to be 2:1 (400/200 mg), and 8 mL of 80% methanol was used as elution solvent. Furthermore, a fast and sensitive ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for the determination of nine phenolic compounds in E. palustre. This method was carried out within <6 min, and exhibited satisfactory linearity, precision, and recovery. Compared with ultrasound-assisted extraction, the proposed matrix solid-phase dispersion procedure possessed higher extraction efficiency, and was more convenient and time saving with reduced requirements on sample and solvent amounts. All these results suggest that the developed method represents an excellent alternative for the extraction and determination of active components in plant matrices. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Selective Extraction of Uranium from Liquid or Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farawila, Anne F.; O'Hara, Matthew J.; Wai, Chien M.

2012-07-31

Current liquid-liquid extraction processes used in recycling irradiated nuclear fuel rely on (1) strong nitric acid to dissolve uranium oxide fuel, and (2) the use of aliphatic hydrocarbons as a diluent in formulating the solvent used to extract uranium. The nitric acid dissolution process is not selective. It dissolves virtually the entire fuel meat which complicates the uranium extraction process. In addition, a solvent washing process is used to remove TBP degradation products, which adds complexity to the recycling plant and increases the overall plant footprint and cost. A liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide (l/sc -CO2) system was designed tomore » mitigate these problems. Indeed, TBP nitric acid complexes are highly soluble in l/sc -CO2 and are capable of extracting uranium directly from UO2, UO3 and U3O8 powders. This eliminates the need for total acid dissolution of the irradiated fuel. Furthermore, since CO2 is easily recycled by evaporation at room temperature and pressure, it eliminates the complex solvent washing process. In this report, we demonstrate: (1) A reprocessing scheme starting with the selective extraction of uranium from solid uranium oxides into a TBP-HNO3 loaded Sc-CO2 phase, (2) Back extraction of uranium into an aqueous phase, and (3) Conversion of recovered purified uranium into uranium oxide. The purified uranium product from step 3 can be disposed of as low level waste, or mixed with enriched uranium for use in a reactor for another fuel cycle. After an introduction on the concept and properties of supercritical fluids, we first report the characterization of the different oxides used for this project. Our extraction system and our online monitoring capability using UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy directly in sc-CO2 is then presented. Next, the uranium extraction efficiencies and kinetics is demonstrated for different oxides and under different physical and chemical conditions: l/sc -CO2 pressure and temperature, TBP/HNO3 complex used, reductant or complexant used for selectivity, and ionic liquids used as supportive media. To complete the extraction and recovery cycle, we then demonstrate uranium back extraction from the TBP loaded sc-CO2 phase into an aqueous phase and the characterization of the uranium complex formed at the end of this process. Another aspect of this project was to limit proliferation risks by either co-extracting uranium and plutonium, or by leaving plutonium behind by selectively extracting uranium. We report that the former is easily achieved, since plutonium is in the tetravalent or hexavalent oxidation state in the oxidizing environment created by the TBP-nitric acid complex, and is therefore co-extracted. The latter is more challenging, as a reductant or complexant to plutonium has to be used to selectively extract uranium. After undertaking experiments on different reducing or complexing systems (e.g., AcetoHydroxamic Acid (AHA), Fe(II), ascorbic acid), oxalic acid was chosen as it can complex tetravalent actinides (Pu, Np, Th) in the aqueous phase while allowing the extraction of hexavalent uranium in the sc-CO2 phase. Finally, we show results using an alternative media to commonly used aqueous phases: ionic liquids. We show the dissolution of uranium in ionic liquids and its extraction using sc-CO2 with and without the presence of AHA. The possible separation of trivalent actinides from uranium is also demonstrated in ionic liquids using neodymium as a surrogate and diglycolamides as the extractant.« less

Egg extract of apple snail for eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their antibacterial activity.

PubMed

Janthima, Ratima; Khamhaengpol, Arunrat; Siri, Sineenat

2018-03-01

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) provides the alternative method with cost effectiveness and the eco-friendly process by using natural biomolecules as reducing and stabilizing agents. Alternative to the most studies of plant extracts, this work demonstrated a use of egg extract of apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) for an eco-friendly production of AgNPs. The extract contained at least six proteins with the molecular weight in a range of 24-65 kDa that exhibited the reducing activity. The dispersive AgNPs were produced in the reaction containing only the extract and silver nitrate, as determined by the characteristic surface plasmon resonance peak of silver at 412 nm. The synthesized AgNPs were spherical with the average diameter of 9.0 ± 5.9 nm. The X-ray diffraction pattern and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) analyses confirmed the face-cubic centre (fcc) unit cell structure of AgNPs. The synthesized AgNPs exhibited the antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli. Results of this work clearly showed the potential use of the egg extract of apple snail for a green synthesis of small size AgNPs exhibiting the antibacterial activity.

Marked antigiardial activity of Yucca baccata extracts: a potential natural alternative for treating protozoan infections.

PubMed

Quihui-Cota, Luis; León-Trujillo, Rocio; Astiazarán-García, Humberto; Esparza-Romero, Julián; del Refugio Robles, María; Robles-Zepeda, Ramón E; Canett, Rafael; Sánchez-Escalante, Jesús

2014-01-01

Human giardiosis is a public health problem in Mexico, where the national prevalence was estimated to be up to 68%. Misuse of antiprotozoal drugs may result in low effectiveness and undesirable side effects. Research on natural products is a good strategy for discovering more effective antiparasitic compounds. This study evaluated the antigiardial activity of extracts of Yucca baccata, which is native to northwestern Mexico. Forty-two gerbils (females) were weighed and orally inoculated with 5 × 10(6) Giardia trophozoites. Two gerbils were selected at random to confirm infection. Forty living gerbils were randomly allocated into 5 treatment groups (8 per group). Gerbils were randomly assigned to be treated with 24.4 mg/mL, 12.2 mg/mL, and 6.1 mg/mL of extracts, metronidazole (2 mg/mL) or PBS, which were intragastrically administered once per day for 3 days. Nine gerbils died during the study course. On day 10 postinfection, gerbils were euthanized and trophozoites were quantified. Yucca extracts reduced, albeit not significantly, the trophozoite counts in the duodenum segment. Only the high-extract concentration significantly reduced the trophozoite counts in the proximal segment and it was similar to that of metronidazole. Extracts of Y. baccata may represent an effective and natural therapeutic alternative for human giardiosis.

Role of the flavonoid-rich fraction in the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of Bauhinia forficata Link. (Fabaceae) leaves extract.

PubMed

Miceli, Natalizia; Buongiorno, Luigina Pasqualina; Celi, Maria Grazia; Cacciola, Francesco; Dugo, Paola; Donato, Paola; Mondello, Luigi; Bonaccorsi, Irene; Taviano, Maria Fernanda

2016-06-01

Bauhinia forficata Link. is utilised as an antidiabetic in Brazilian folk-medicine; furthermore, its antioxidant properties suggest a potential usefulness in the prevention of diabetes complications associated with oxidative stress. The contribution of a flavonoid-rich fraction (FRF), HPLC-PDA-ESI-MS characterised, to the antioxidant and cytotoxic properties of B. forficata hydro-alcoholic leaves extract was evaluated for the first time. Both extract and FRF showed radical-scavenging activity and reducing power with a strong relationship with the flavonoid content found; hence, flavonoids are mainly responsible for the primary antioxidant activity of B. forficata extract. The extract significantly decreased FO-1 cell viability at the higher concentrations. FRF did not exert any effect; thus, flavonoids do not appear to be responsible for the cytotoxicity of the extract. The extract resulted virtually non-toxic against both Artemia salina and normal human lymphocytes, demonstrating potential selectivity in inhibiting cancer cell growth. Finally, no antimicrobial activity was observed against the bacteria and yeasts tested.

Detection and measurement of organic lampricide residues

USGS Publications Warehouse

Daniels, Stacy L.; Kempe, Lloyd L.; Billy, Thomas J.; Beeton, Alfred M.

1965-01-01

The selective lampricide, 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM), and its synergist, 5,2'-dichloro-4'-nitrosalicylanilide (DCN), are separable from natural waters by anion exchange. The adsorbed compounds can then be recovered from the resin as concentrates by elution with selective solvent mixtures. Measurements of the amounts of lampricides in the final concentrates can be made colorimetrically at 395 mI? for TFM and at 530 mI? for the safranin complex of DCN. TFM has also been separated for quantitative determination from homogenates of whole fish. The fish is first macerated in a blender and then hydrolyzed in hot, 3 N hydrochloric acid. The amount of background color, due to certain components of the fish in the hydrolysate, is reduced by one or a combination of three methods: (1) a series of three extractions with ether, methylene chloride, and benzene; (2) cation exchange followed by methylene chloride extraction; or (3) ether extraction followed by anion exchange and subsequent desorption with amyl acetate-acetic acid.

Evaluation of Antidepressant-like Effect of Citrus Maxima Leaves in Animal Models of Depression.

PubMed

Potdar, Vikram H; Kibile, Swati J

2011-09-01

This study planned to assess antidepressant like activity of aqueous extract from leaves of Citrus maxima Merr. (Rutaceae). Boiling was used for aqueous extraction. Acute toxicity study was performed in mice. Antidepressant activity was studied using locomotor activity test, modified forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). Three doses 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg of aqueous extract of leaves were selected for testing. Fluoxetine (20 mg/kg, i.p.) and imipramine (30 mg/kg, i.p.) were used as the standard drugs. Aqueous extract of Citrus maxima leaves significantly reduced immobility time in both TST and FST. In locomotor activity testing it showed psychostimulant effect. Extract increased the climbing behavior in FST, which is similar to effect observed with imipramine. The results of this study suggest that antidepressant like effect of Citrus maxima seems to be mediated by an increase in norepinephrine level in synapses.

Silicone rubber selection for passive sampling of pesticides in water.

PubMed

Martin, A; Margoum, C; Randon, J; Coquery, M

2016-11-01

Silicone rubber can extract organic compounds with a broad range of polarities (logKow>2-3) from aqueous samples. Such compounds include substances of major concern in the protection of aquatic ecosystems and human health, e.g. pesticides. Silicone rubbers (SRs) with various characteristics have been successfully used in sorptive methods for water sample extraction in the laboratory (SPME, SBSE), and for passive sampling in aquatic environments. However, only few studies have evaluated variability in organic compound sorption due to the origin of SRs, particularly for pesticides. The aim of this study was to select an SR for the extraction of pesticides from water samples by passive sampling. To this end we measured the impact of seven SR formulations on sorption capacity, defined by the partition coefficient (Ksw). Kinetic experiments and sorption isotherms were performed to determine extraction recovery as a selection criterion for SRs, and pesticide partition coefficients. Very large differences in affinity for pesticides were found between two kinds of SRs: "Polymerized SR kits" and "Manufactured SRs". One SR was chosen among the "Manufactured SRs", and the Ksw values of 21 pesticides were determined, filling a gap in the literature (1.50

Selective modulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress markers in prostate cancer cells by a standardized mangosteen fruit extract.

PubMed

Li, Gongbo; Petiwala, Sakina M; Pierce, Dana R; Nonn, Larisa; Johnson, Jeremy J

2013-01-01

The increased proliferation of cancer cells is directly dependent on the increased activity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) machinery which is responsible for protein folding, assembly, and transport. In fact, it is so critical that perturbations in the endoplasmic reticulum can lead to apoptosis. This carefully regulated organelle represents a unique target of cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. In this study, a standardized mangosteen fruit extract (MFE) was evaluated for modulating ER stress proteins in prostate cancer. Two human prostate cancer cell lines, 22Rv1 and LNCaP, and prostate epithelial cells (PrECs) procured from two patients undergoing radical prostatectomy were treated with MFE. Flow cytometry, MTT, BrdU and Western blot were used to evaluate cell apoptosis, viability, proliferation and ER stress. Next, we evaluated MFE for microsomal stability and anti-cancer activity in nude mice. MFE induced apoptosis, decreased viability and proliferation in prostate cancer cells. MFE increased the expression of ER stress proteins. Interestingly, MFE selectively promotes ER stress in prostate cancer cells while sparing PrECs. MFE suppressed tumor growth in a xenograft tumor model without obvious toxicity. Mangosteen fruit extract selectively promotes endoplasmic reticulum stress in cancer cells while sparing non-tumorigenic prostate epithelial cells. Furthermore, in an in vivo setting mangosteen fruit extract significantly reduces xenograft tumor formation.

Selective Modulation of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Markers in Prostate Cancer Cells by a Standardized Mangosteen Fruit Extract

PubMed Central

Li, Gongbo; Petiwala, Sakina M.; Pierce, Dana R.; Nonn, Larisa; Johnson, Jeremy J.

2013-01-01

The increased proliferation of cancer cells is directly dependent on the increased activity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) machinery which is responsible for protein folding, assembly, and transport. In fact, it is so critical that perturbations in the endoplasmic reticulum can lead to apoptosis. This carefully regulated organelle represents a unique target of cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. In this study, a standardized mangosteen fruit extract (MFE) was evaluated for modulating ER stress proteins in prostate cancer. Two human prostate cancer cell lines, 22Rv1 and LNCaP, and prostate epithelial cells (PrECs) procured from two patients undergoing radical prostatectomy were treated with MFE. Flow cytometry, MTT, BrdU and Western blot were used to evaluate cell apoptosis, viability, proliferation and ER stress. Next, we evaluated MFE for microsomal stability and anti-cancer activity in nude mice. MFE induced apoptosis, decreased viability and proliferation in prostate cancer cells. MFE increased the expression of ER stress proteins. Interestingly, MFE selectively promotes ER stress in prostate cancer cells while sparing PrECs. MFE suppressed tumor growth in a xenograft tumor model without obvious toxicity. Mangosteen fruit extract selectively promotes endoplasmic reticulum stress in cancer cells while sparing non-tumorigenic prostate epithelial cells. Furthermore, in an in vivo setting mangosteen fruit extract significantly reduces xenograft tumor formation. PMID:24367485

Optimisation of Croton gratissimus Oil Extraction by n-Hexane and Ethyl Acetate Using Response Surface Methodology.

PubMed

Jiyane, Phiwe Charles; Tumba, Kaniki; Musonge, Paul

2018-04-01

The extraction of oil from Croton gratissimus seeds was studied using the three-factor five-level full-factorial central composite rotatable design (CCRD) of the response surface methodology (RSM). The effect of the three factors selected, viz., extraction time, extraction temperature and solvent-to-feed ratio on the extraction oil yield was investigated when n-hexane and ethyl acetate were used as extraction solvents. The coefficients of determination (R 2 ) of the models developed were 0.98 for n-hexane extraction and 0.97 for ethyl acetate extraction. These results demonstrated that the models developed adequately represented the processes they described. From the optimized model, maximum extraction yield obtained from n-hexane and ethyl acetate extraction were 23.88% and 23.25%, respectively. In both cases the extraction temperature and solvent-to-feed ratio were 35°C and 5 mL/g, respectively. In n-hexane extraction the maximum conditions were reached only after 6 min whereas in ethyl acetate extraction it took 20 min to get the maximum extraction oil yield. Oil extraction of Croton gratissimus seeds, in this work, favoured the use of n-hexane as an extraction solvent as it offered higher oil yields at low temperatures and reduced residence times.

Wire bonding quality monitoring via refining process of electrical signal from ultrasonic generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Wuwei; Meng, Qingfeng; Xie, Youbo; Fan, Hong

2011-04-01

In this paper, a technique for on-line quality detection of ultrasonic wire bonding is developed. The electrical signals from the ultrasonic generator supply, namely, voltage and current, are picked up by a measuring circuit and transformed into digital signals by a data acquisition system. A new feature extraction method is presented to characterize the transient property of the electrical signals and further evaluate the bond quality. The method includes three steps. First, the captured voltage and current are filtered by digital bandpass filter banks to obtain the corresponding subband signals such as fundamental signal, second harmonic, and third harmonic. Second, each subband envelope is obtained using the Hilbert transform for further feature extraction. Third, the subband envelopes are, respectively, separated into three phases, namely, envelope rising, stable, and damping phases, to extract the tiny waveform changes. The different waveform features are extracted from each phase of these subband envelopes. The principal components analysis (PCA) method is used for the feature selection in order to remove the relevant information and reduce the dimension of original feature variables. Using the selected features as inputs, an artificial neural network (ANN) is constructed to identify the complex bond fault pattern. By analyzing experimental data with the proposed feature extraction method and neural network, the results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed feature extraction method and the constructed artificial neural network in detecting and identifying bond quality.

Antimicrobial activity of extracts and select compounds in the heartwood of seven western conifers toward Phytophthora ramorum

Treesearch

Daniel K. Manter; Rick G. Kelsey; Joseph J. Karchesy

2008-01-01

Previously, we demonstrated that wood chips, essential oil, and four individual compounds from Alaska yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis [D. Don] Spach) heartwood strongly inhibit the germination f Phytophthora ramorum (Werres, de Cock, Man int Veld) zoospores or sporangia, and reduce hyphal growth in culture (Manter and...

PATTERN RECOGNITION APPROACH TO MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS,

DTIC Science & Technology

A sequential method of pattern recognition was used to recognize hyperthyroidism in a sample of 2219 patients being treated at the Straub Clinic in...the most prominent class features are selected. Thus, the symptoms which best distinguish hyperthyroidism are extracted at every step and the number of tests required to reach a diagnosis is reduced. (Author)

A Genetic-Based Feature Selection Approach in the Identification of Left/Right Hand Motor Imagery for a Brain-Computer Interface

PubMed Central

Yaacoub, Charles; Mhanna, Georges; Rihana, Sandy

2017-01-01

Electroencephalography is a non-invasive measure of the brain electrical activity generated by millions of neurons. Feature extraction in electroencephalography analysis is a core issue that may lead to accurate brain mental state classification. This paper presents a new feature selection method that improves left/right hand movement identification of a motor imagery brain-computer interface, based on genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks used as classifiers. Raw electroencephalography signals are first preprocessed using appropriate filtering. Feature extraction is carried out afterwards, based on spectral and temporal signal components, and thus a feature vector is constructed. As various features might be inaccurate and mislead the classifier, thus degrading the overall system performance, the proposed approach identifies a subset of features from a large feature space, such that the classifier error rate is reduced. Experimental results show that the proposed method is able to reduce the number of features to as low as 0.5% (i.e., the number of ignored features can reach 99.5%) while improving the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and precision of the classifier. PMID:28124985

A Genetic-Based Feature Selection Approach in the Identification of Left/Right Hand Motor Imagery for a Brain-Computer Interface.

PubMed

Yaacoub, Charles; Mhanna, Georges; Rihana, Sandy

2017-01-23

Electroencephalography is a non-invasive measure of the brain electrical activity generated by millions of neurons. Feature extraction in electroencephalography analysis is a core issue that may lead to accurate brain mental state classification. This paper presents a new feature selection method that improves left/right hand movement identification of a motor imagery brain-computer interface, based on genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks used as classifiers. Raw electroencephalography signals are first preprocessed using appropriate filtering. Feature extraction is carried out afterwards, based on spectral and temporal signal components, and thus a feature vector is constructed. As various features might be inaccurate and mislead the classifier, thus degrading the overall system performance, the proposed approach identifies a subset of features from a large feature space, such that the classifier error rate is reduced. Experimental results show that the proposed method is able to reduce the number of features to as low as 0.5% (i.e., the number of ignored features can reach 99.5%) while improving the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and precision of the classifier.

Evaluation of Selected Culinary-Medicinal Mushrooms for Antioxidant and ACE Inhibitory Activities

PubMed Central

Abdullah, Noorlidah; Ismail, Siti Marjiana; Aminudin, Norhaniza; Shuib, Adawiyah Suriza; Lau, Beng Fye

2012-01-01

Considering the importance of diet in prevention of oxidative stress-related diseases including hypertension, this study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant and ACE inhibitory activities of selected culinary-medicinal mushrooms extracted by boiling in water for 30 min. Antioxidant capacity was measured using the following assays: DPPH free radical scavenging activity, β-carotene bleaching, inhibition of lipid peroxidation, reducing power ability, and cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC). Antioxidant potential of each mushroom species was calculated based on the average percentages relative to quercetin and summarized as Antioxidant Index (AI). Ganoderma lucidum (30.1%), Schizophyllum commune (27.6%), and Hericium erinaceus (17.7%) showed relatively high AI. Total phenolics in these mushrooms varied between 6.19 to 63.51 mg GAE/g extract. In the ACE inhibitory assay, G. lucidum was shown to be the most potent species (IC50 = 50 μg/mL). Based on our findings, culinary-medicinal mushrooms can be considered as potential source of dietary antioxidant and ACE inhibitory agents. PMID:21716693

Solid-substrate fermentation of wheat grains by mycelia of indigenous species of the genus Ganoderma (higher Basidiomycetes) to enhance the antioxidant activities.

PubMed

Subramaniam, Sarasvathy; Sabaratnam, Vikineswary; Kuppusamy, Umah Rani; Tan, Yee Shin

2014-01-01

Species of the genus Ganoderma are a cosmopolitan wood decaying white rot fungi, which has been used by the Asians for therapeutic purposes for centuries. In the present study, solid-substrate fermentation (SSF) of wheat grains (Triticum aestivum L.) was carried out with indigenous Ganoderma australe (KUM60813) and G. neo-japonicum (KUM61076) selected based on ethnomycological knowledge. G. lucidum (VITA GL) (a commercial strain) was also included in the study. Antioxidant activities of the crude ethanol and aqueous extracts of the fermented and unfermented wheat grains were investigated by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging ability, and lipid peroxidation assay. Among the six mycelia extracts tested, the ethanol extract from wheat fermented with KUM61076 mycelia showed the most potent antioxidant activities, whereas the ethanol extract of wheat grains fermented with KUM60813 mycelia has a good potential in protecting frying oils against oxidation. Total phenolic content (TPC) in the ethanol extracts were higher than that in the aqueous extract. The wheat grains fermented with G. australe (KUM60813) and G. neo-japonicum KUM61076 have greater antioxidant potential compared to the commercially available G. lucidum (VITA GL). The antioxidant activities of the mycelia extracts had a positive correlation with their phenolic contents. Thus phenolic compounds may play a vital role in the antioxidant activities of the selected Ganoderma spp.

Behavioral and electroantennogram responses of plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar, to selected noxious plant extracts and insecticides.

PubMed

Gӧkçe, A; Stelinski, L L; Nortman, D R; Bryan, W W; Whalon, M E

2014-01-01

Behavioral and electroantennogram responses of plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), adults were tested for several methanolic plant extracts and organically approved insecticides. Plant extracts were evaluated for their potential as antifeedants or oviposition deterrents. These extract responses were also compared to those elicited by the non-neurotoxic, organic irritant-insecticide kaolin clay. Both sexes of plum curculio exhibited antennal response as measured by electroantennogram, which ranged from 0.2 to 1.1 mV, to plant extracts and the organic irritant/insecticide, with the greatest response to the extract of rough cocklebur, Xanthium strumarium L. (1.1 mV). No choice tests were conducted to compare feeding and oviposition by plum curculio on untreated apples or on apples treated with one of the extracts or the insecticide. The insecticide pyrethrum and extracts of X. strumarium and greater burdock, Arctium lappa L., significantly reduced feeding. Also, pyrethrum, A. lappa, Humulus lupulus L. (common hop), X. strumarium, and Verbascum songaricum Schrenk extracts completely inhibited egg deposition. In no-choice assays, the effects of kaolin clay with incorporated plant extracts on plum curculio feeding and oviposition were monitored as complementary tests. A. lappa-kaolin, H. lupulus-kaolin, and X. strumarium-kaolin mixtures significantly reduced the feeding of plum curculio compared to the control or kaolin clay alone. Each of the plant extract-kaolin mixtures evaluated, with the exception of Bifora radians Bieberstein (wild bishop), completely inhibited plum curculio oviposition as compared to controls. This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.

Wound Healing Potential of Formulated Extract from Hibiscus Sabdariffa Calyx

PubMed Central

Builders, P. F.; Kabele-Toge, B.; Builders, M.; Chindo, B. A.; Anwunobi, Patricia A.; Isimi, Yetunde C.

2013-01-01

Wound healing agents support the natural healing process, reduce trauma and likelihood of secondary infections and hasten wound closure. The wound healing activities of water in oil cream of the methanol extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (Malvaceae) was evaluated in rats with superficial skin excision wounds. Antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Echerichia coli were determined. The total flavonoid content, antioxidant properties and thin layer chromatographic fingerprints of the extract were also evaluated. The extract demonstrated antioxidant properties with a total flavonoid content of 12.30±0.09 mg/g. Six reproducible spots were obtained using methanol:water (95:5) as the mobile phase. The extract showed no antimicrobial activity on the selected microorganisms, which are known to infect and retard wound healing. Creams containing H. sabdariffa extract showed significant (P<0.05) and concentration dependent wound healing activities. There was also evidence of synergism with creams containing a combination of gentamicin and H. sabdariffa extract. This study, thus, provides evidence of the wound healing potentials of the formulated extract of the calyces of H. sabdariffa and synergism when co-formulated with gentamicin. PMID:23901160

Techno-economic assessment of hybrid extraction and distillation processes for furfural production from lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Nhien, Le Cao; Long, Nguyen Van Duc; Kim, Sangyong; Lee, Moonyong

2017-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the most promising alternatives for replacing mineral resources to overcome global warming, which has become the most important environmental issue in recent years. Furfural was listed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as one of the top 30 potential chemicals arising from biomass. However, the current production of furfural is energy intensive and uses inefficient technology. Thus, a hybrid purification process that combines extraction and distillation to produce furfural from lignocellulosic biomass was considered and investigated in detail to improve the process efficiency. This effective hybrid process depends on the extracting solvent, which was selected based on a comprehensive procedure that ranged from solvent screening to complete process design. Various solvents were first evaluated in terms of their extraction ability. Then, the most promising solvents were selected to study the separation feasibility. Eventually, processes that used the three best solvents (toluene, benzene, and butyl chloride) were designed and optimized in detail using Aspen Plus. Sustainability analysis was performed to evaluate these processes in terms of their energy requirements, total annual costs (TAC), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. The results showed that butyl chloride was the most suitable solvent for the hybrid furfural process because it could save 44.7% of the TAC while reducing the CO 2 emissions by 45.5% compared to the toluene process. In comparison with the traditional purification process using distillation, this suggested hybrid extraction/distillation process can save up to 19.2% of the TAC and reduce 58.3% total annual CO 2 emissions. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis of the feed composition and its effect on the performance of the proposed hybrid system was conducted. Butyl chloride was found to be the most suitable solvent for the hybrid extraction/distillation process of furfural production. The proposed hybrid sequence was more favorable than the traditional distillation process when the methanol fraction of the feed stream was <3% and more benefit could be obtained when that fraction decreased.

Free radical scavenging actions of three Trifolium species in the protection of blood plasma antioxidant capacity in vitro.

PubMed

Kolodziejczyk-Czepas, Joanna; Nowak, Pawel; Moniuszko-Szajwaj, Barbara; Kowalska, Iwona; Stochmal, Anna

2015-01-01

Three clover [Trifolium L. (Leguminosae)] species were selected on the basis of data from traditional medicine, phytochemical profiles, and agricultural significance. The in vitro evaluations of free radical scavenging properties, ferric reducing abilities, and antioxidant effects of extracts from T. pratense L. (crude extract and phenolic fraction), T. pallidum L., and T. scabrum L. (phenolic fractions) were performed. Activities of the Trifolium extracts were determined at their final concentrations of 1.5-50 µg/ml. Free radical scavenging properties of methanol extract solutions were estimated by the reduction of DPPH(•) and ABTS(•) radicals. Measurements of the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were carried out to assess the antioxidant activities of the extracts in human blood plasma under conditions of oxidative stress, induced by 200 μM peroxynitrite. The phenolic fraction of T. pratense displayed the strongest ABTS(•) and DPPH(•) radical scavenging effects (EC50 value of 21.69 and 12.27 µg/ml, respectively). The EC50 value for T. pallidum extract attained 29.77 and 30.06 µg/ml. The two remaining extracts were less potent scavengers (EC50 value higher than 50 µg/ml). Similar differences were obtained during evaluation of the ferric reducing abilities. Analysis of antioxidant properties of the extracts in blood plasma did not provide such evident differences in their actions, however, it indicated that the T. pratense phenolic fraction displayed the strongest effect. The examined Trifolium extracts partly protected blood plasma and enhanced its non-enzymatic antioxidant defense against harmful action of peroxynitrite in vitro.

Determination of trace mercury in water based on N-octylpyridinium ionic liquids preconcentration and stripping voltammetry.

PubMed

Li, Zhenhan; Xia, Shanhong; Wang, Jinfen; Bian, Chao; Tong, Jianhua

2016-01-15

A novel method for determination of trace mercury in water is developed. The method is performed by extracting mercury firstly with ionic liquids (ILs) and then detecting the concentration of mercury in organic media with anodic stripping voltammetry. Liquid-liquid extraction of mercury(II) ions by four ionic liquids with N-octylpyridinium cations ([OPy](+)) was studied. N-octylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate and N-octylpyridinium trifluoromethylsulfonate were found to be efficient and selective extractant for mercury. Temperature controlled dispersive liquid phase microextraction (TC-DLPME) technique was utilized to improve the performance of preconcentration. After extraction, precipitated IL was diluted by acetonitrile buffer and mercury was detected by differential pulse stripping voltammetry (DPSV) with gold disc electrode. Mercury was enriched by 17 times while interfering ions were reduced by two orders of magnitude in the organic media under optimum condition. Sensitivity and selectivity for electrochemical determination of mercury were improved by using the proposed method. Tap, pond and waste water samples were analyzed with recoveries ranging from 81% to 107% and detection limit of 0.05 μg/L. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A polygon soup representation for free viewpoint video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colleu, T.; Pateux, S.; Morin, L.; Labit, C.

2010-02-01

This paper presents a polygon soup representation for multiview data. Starting from a sequence of multi-view video plus depth (MVD) data, the proposed representation takes into account, in a unified manner, different issues such as compactness, compression, and intermediate view synthesis. The representation is built in two steps. First, a set of 3D quads is extracted using a quadtree decomposition of the depth maps. Second, a selective elimination of the quads is performed in order to reduce inter-view redundancies and thus provide a compact representation. Moreover, the proposed methodology for extracting the representation allows to reduce ghosting artifacts. Finally, an adapted compression technique is proposed that limits coding artifacts. The results presented on two real sequences show that the proposed representation provides a good trade-off between rendering quality and data compactness.

Caesalpinia decapetala Extracts as Inhibitors of Lipid Oxidation in Beef Patties.

PubMed

Gallego, Maria G; Gordon, Michael H; Segovia, Francisco J; Almajano, María P

2015-07-31

In this study we investigated the effects of Caesalpinia decapetala (CD) extracts on lipid oxidation in ground beef patties. Plant extracts and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were individually added to patties at both 0.1% and 0.5% (w/w) concentrations. We assessed the antioxidant efficacy of CD by the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and evaluated their potential as natural antioxidants for meat preservation by thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values, hexanal content, fatty acid composition and color parameters. These were tested periodically during 11 days of refrigerated storage. TBARS levels were significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) in the samples containing plant extracts or BHT than in the non-treated control. In addition, the beef patties formulated with the selected plant extracts showed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) better color stability than those without antioxidants. These results indicate that edible plant extracts are promising sources of natural antioxidants and can potentially be used as functional preservatives in meat products.

Antioxidant properties of selected Oriental non-culinary/nutraceutical herb extracts as evaluated in raw and cooked meat.

PubMed

Han, J; Rhee, K S

2005-05-01

Ethanol extracts of white peony (WP), red peony (RP), sappanwood (SW), Moutan peony (MP), rehmania (RE) or angelica (AN) were individually added to ground goat meat at 0.5-2.0% (g dry extract/100 g final meat sample), and raw and cooked samples were aerobically refrigerated for 0, 3 or 6 days. These extracts and rosemary extract (RO) were also individually added to salted or unsalted ground beef at 0.01-0.25% and refrigerated as raw or cooked patties. WP, RP, RE, SW and MP markedly reduced (P<0.05) lipid oxidation in cooked-stored goat meat. With 0.25% of WP, RP, SW, MP or RO in beef, lipid oxidation during storage was minimal in raw and cooked patties (plain or salted); raw patty redness values at day 6 were higher (P<0.05) for SW, WP, RP or MP than RO treatment or the control. At 0.01%, SW was more antioxidative (P<0.05) than the other extracts.

An Efficient Method for Genomic DNA Extraction from Different Molluscs Species

PubMed Central

Pereira, Jorge C.; Chaves, Raquel; Bastos, Estela; Leitão, Alexandra; Guedes-Pinto, Henrique

2011-01-01

The selection of a DNA extraction method is a critical step when subsequent analysis depends on the DNA quality and quantity. Unlike mammals, for which several capable DNA extraction methods have been developed, for molluscs the availability of optimized genomic DNA extraction protocols is clearly insufficient. Several aspects such as animal physiology, the type (e.g., adductor muscle or gills) or quantity of tissue, can explain the lack of efficiency (quality and yield) in molluscs genomic DNA extraction procedure. In an attempt to overcome these aspects, this work describes an efficient method for molluscs genomic DNA extraction that was tested in several species from different orders: Veneridae, Ostreidae, Anomiidae, Cardiidae (Bivalvia) and Muricidae (Gastropoda), with different weight sample tissues. The isolated DNA was of high molecular weight with high yield and purity, even with reduced quantities of tissue. Moreover, the genomic DNA isolated, demonstrated to be suitable for several downstream molecular techniques, such as PCR sequencing among others. PMID:22174651

Anti-amnesic effects of Ganoderma species: A possible cholinergic and antioxidant mechanism.

PubMed

Kaur, Ravneet; Singh, Varinder; Shri, Richa

2017-08-01

Mushrooms are valued for their nutritional as well as medicinal properties. Ganoderma species are used traditionally to treat neurological disorders but scientific evidence for this is insufficient. The present study was designed to systematically evaluate the anti-amnesic effect of selected Ganoderma species i.e. G. mediosinense and G. ramosissimum. Extracts of selected mushroom species were evaluated for their antioxidant activity and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition using in-vitro assays (DPPH and Ellman tests respectively). The anti-amnesic potential of the most active extract (i.e. 70% methanol extract of G. mediosinense) was confirmed using mouse model of scopolamine-induced amnesia. Mice were treated with bioactive extract and donepezil once orally before the induction of amnesia. Cognitive functions were evaluated using passive shock avoidance (PSA) and novel object recognition (NOR) tests. The effect on brain AChE activity, brain oxidative stress (TBARS level) and neuronal damage (H & E staining) were also assessed. In-vitro results showed strong antioxidant and AChE inhibitory activities by G. mediosinense extract (GME). Therefore, it was selected for in-vivo studies. GME pre-treatment (800mg/kg, p.o.) reversed the effect of scopolamine in mice, evident by significant decrease (p <0.05) in the transfer latency time and increase in object recognition index in PSA and NOR, respectively. GME significantly reduced the brain AChE activity and oxidative stress. Histopathological examination of brain tissues showed decrease in vacuolated cytoplasm and increase in pyramidal cells in brain hippocampal and cortical regions. GME exerts anti-amnesic effect through AChE inhibition and antioxidant mechanisms. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Marked Antigiardial Activity of Yucca baccata Extracts: A Potential Natural Alternative for Treating Protozoan Infections

PubMed Central

Quihui-Cota, Luis; León-Trujillo, Rocio; Astiazarán-García, Humberto; Esparza-Romero, Julián; Robles, María del Refugio; Robles-Zepeda, Ramón E.; Canett, Rafael; Sánchez-Escalante, Jesús

2014-01-01

Human Giardiosis is a public health problem in Mexico, where the national prevalence was estimated to be up to 68%. Misuse of antiprotozoal drugs may result in low effectiveness and undesirable side effects. Research on natural products is a good strategy for discovering more effective antiparasitic compounds. This study evaluated the antigiardial activity of extracts of Yucca baccata, which is native to northwestern Mexico. Forty-two gerbils (females) were weighed and orally inoculated with 5 × 106 Giardia trophozoites. Two gerbils were selected at random to confirm infection. Forty living gerbils were randomly allocated into 5 treatment groups (8 per group). Gerbils were randomly assigned to be treated with 24.4 mg/mL, 12.2 mg/mL, and 6.1 mg/mL of extracts, metronidazole (2 mg/mL) or PBS, which were intragastrically administered once per day for 3 days. Nine gerbils died during the study course. On day 10 postinfection, gerbils were euthanized and trophozoites were quantified. Yucca extracts reduced, albeit not significantly, the trophozoite counts in the duodenum segment. Only the high-extract concentration significantly reduced the trophozoite counts in the proximal segment and it was similar to that of metronidazole. Extracts of Y. baccata may represent an effective and natural therapeutic alternative for human giardiosis. PMID:25250335

Efficacy of a single dose of low-level laser therapy in reducing pain, swelling, and trismus following third molar extraction surgery.

PubMed

Landucci, A; Wosny, A C; Uetanabaro, L C; Moro, A; Araujo, M R

2016-03-01

The clinical efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) for the reduction of pain, swelling, and trismus following the surgical extraction of third molars was evaluated. Mandibular third molars, with similar radiographic positions on two distinct sections, were extracted from 22 patients. Immediately after extraction from the randomly selected right or left side, LLLT was applied (study group). The same extraction procedure was performed 21 days later on the other third molar, without the application of LLLT (control group). LLLT was applied at 10 points: four intraoral in close proximity to the socket and six extraoral along the masseter muscle. Pain intensity was assessed using a visual analogue scale, swelling was measured as the distance from the tragus to the median base of the mentum, and trismus was assessed by the extent of mouth opening. Data were collected at four time points: before surgery, immediately after surgery, 48h postoperatively, and 7 days postoperatively. Compared with the control group, the study group showed significant reductions in pain, swelling, and trismus at 48h and 7 days postoperatively. In conclusion, a single dose of LLLT was effective at reducing the postoperative discomforts (pain, swelling, and trismus) associated with third molar extraction surgery. Copyright © 2015 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of extracts and oils of mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) repellent plants from Sweden and Guinea-Bissau.

PubMed

Jaenson, Thomas G T; Pålsson, Katinka; Borg-Karlson, Anna-Karin

2006-01-01

In laboratory tests, ethyl acetate extracts of Hyptis suaveolens Poit. from Guinea-Bissau and Rhododendon tomentosum (Stokes) H. Harmaja (formerly Ledum palustre L.) and Myrica gale L. significantly reduced probing activity of Aedes aegypti (L.). In the field in southern Sweden, extracts of leaves of R. tomentosum, M. gale, and Achillea millefolium L. significantly reduced biting by Aedes mosquitoes. Volatile compounds from M. gale, R. tomentosum, A. millefolium, and H. suaveolens were collected by solid phase microextraction (SPME). Alternatively, compounds in the plants were subjected to extraction by organic solvents of different polarities or by steam distillation and collection by SPME. Compounds collected were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Leaves of H. suaveolens contained mainly beta-caryophyllene, bergamotene, and terpinolene. The volatile fraction of an ethyl acetate extract of H. suaveolens was collected by SPME and included beta-caryophyllene, (-) -sabinene, beta-pinene, limonene, alpha-pinene, and bergamotene. The main volatiles detected were alpha-pinene, alpha-phellandrene, myrcene, and limonene from M. gale leaves or inflorescences; pcymene, sabinene, and terpinyl acetate from leaves of R. tomentosum; and (-)-germacrene D, beta-pinene, sabinene, and alpha-pinene from A. millefolium leaves or inflorescences. The selected plant species contained numerous volatiles known to have insecticidal, acaricidal, "pesticidal," and/ or insect repellent properties.

Selective aqueous extraction of organics coupled with trapping by membrane separation

DOEpatents

van Eikeren, Paul; Brose, Daniel J.; Ray, Roderick J.

1991-01-01

An improvement to processes for the selective extractation of organic solutes from organic solvents by water-based extractants is disclosed, the improvement comprising coupling various membrane separation processes with the organic extraction process, the membrane separation process being utilized to continuously recycle the water-based extractant and at the same time selectively remove or concentrate organic solute from the water-based extractant.

New application of two Antarctic macroalgae Palmaria decipiens and Desmarestia menziesii in the synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Ballesteros, N.; González-Rodríguez, J. B.; Rodríguez-Argüelles, M. C.; Lastra, M.

2018-03-01

In this study, two Antarctic macroalgae (Rhodophyta Palmaria decipiens and Phaeophyta Desmarestia menziessi) were selected in order to report their use for the biosynthesis of nanomaterials. Two aqueous extracts of the macroalgae were prepared and their reducing activity, total phenolic content and DPPH scavenging activity were determined, showing that brown seaweed has higher antioxidant activity than red seaweed. Aqueous extracts were used as an eco-friendly, one-pot synthetic route to obtain gold and silver nanoparticles acting both as reducing and stabilizing agents. The nanoparticles obtained were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), demonstrating the formation of gold and silver nanoparticles with mean diameters of 36.8 ± 5.3 and 11.5 ± 3.3 nm for Au@PD and Au@DM and 7.0 ± 1.2 nm and 17.8 ± 2.6 nm in the case of Ag@PD and Ag@DM. Lastly, functional groups of the biomolecules present in the extracts were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) prior to, and after, the synthesis of the nanoparticles, in order to obtain information about the biomolecules involved in the reducing and stabilization process.

Antioxidative activity of lactobacilli measured by oxygen radical absorbance capacity.

PubMed

Saide, J A O; Gilliland, S E

2005-04-01

The reducing ability and antioxidative activity of some species of Lactobacillus were compared under in vitro conditions. Cultures of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. lactis, Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Lactobacillus casei were grown at 37 degrees C in de Man, Rogosa, Sharpe (MRS) broth supplemented with 0.5% 2,3,5 triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) to evaluate reducing activity. Reduced TTC was extracted from the cultures with acetone, and the intensity of the red color measured colorimetrically at 485 nm was an indication of reducing activity. The lactobacilli varied significantly in relative ability to reduce TTC when grown in MRS broth for 15 h. The relative amounts of growth as indicated by pH values at 18 h appeared to influence the amount of reduction. Antioxidative activity was evaluated by the ability of the whole cells or the cell-free extracts from cultures to protect a protein from being attacked by free radicals. These analyses were performed using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity method. All cultures tested exhibited some degree of antioxidative activity. Among the treatments, the cell-free extracts from cells grown in MRS broth exhibited significantly higher values than did whole cells. There was no apparent relationship between the reducing and antioxidative activities of the cultures evaluated. The results from this study show that these cultures can provide a source of dietary antioxidants. Furthermore, selection of cultures that produce antioxidants as starters could provide yet another health or nutritional benefit from cultured or culture-containing dairy products.

The Impact of the Roast Levels of Coffee Extracts on their Potential Anticancer Activities.

PubMed

Mojica, Benigno E; Fong, Lisa E; Biju, Denny; Muharram, Alfeah; Davis, Isabel M; Vela, Klarisse O; Rios, Diana; Osorio-Camacena, Elena; Kaur, Baljit; Rojas, Sebastian M; Forester, Sarah C

2018-04-01

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and contains numerous phytochemicals that are beneficial to consumer health. The phytochemical profile of coffee, however, can be affected by the roast level. In this study, we compared the effect of roasting level on the growth inhibitory activity of HT-29 (colon) and SCC-25 (oral) cancer cell lines. The different roasting stages selected for this study were green, cinnamon/blonde, city/medium, full city/medium-dark, and full city plus/dark. Cancer cells were treated with various concentrations of coffee extracts for 72 hr. Cell viability was quantified using the thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide assay. It was found that the lighter roast extracts, Cinnamon in particular, reduced cell growth more than darker roast extracts. The Cinnamon extract had the greatest amount of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Relative levels of gallic, caffeic, and chlorogenic acid in the extracts were also compared. The Cinnamon coffee extract had the highest levels of gallic and caffeic acids, which have both been widely-regarded as bioactive phytochemicals. In conclusion, the consumption of lighter roasted coffee, may contribute to the prevention of certain types of cancer such as oral and colon. Chemical compounds in coffee may reduce the risk for certain types of cancers. These compounds may be particularly abundant in lighter roasted coffee. Therefore, lighter roasted coffee could contribute to the prevention of cancer through a healthy diet. © 2018 Institute of Food Technologists®.

In vivo screening of four phytochemicals/extracts and a fungal immunomodulatory protein against an Eimeria acervulina infection in broilers.

PubMed

Peek, H W; Halkes, S B A; Mes, J J; Landman, W J M

2013-01-01

Besides the anticoccidial drug resistance problem, increasing consumer concerns about food safety and residues have propelled the quest for alternative prevention and control strategies amongst which phytotherapy has gained appeal due to a renewed interest in natural medicine. The objective was in vivo screening of four phytochemicals/extracts and a fungal immunomodulatory protein (FIP) against an Eimeria acervulina infection in broilers. Four phytochemicals/extracts (extract from Echinacea purpurea, betaine (Betain™), curcumin, carvacrol (two different doses)), and a recombinant FIP from Ganoderma lucidum cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli were investigated for their anticoccidial potential. The experiment was conducted in a battery cage trial with 54 cages of eight birds each. Broilers infected with E. acervulina (a low and high infection dose of 10(4) and 10(5) sporulated oocysts, respectively) and treated with the phytochemicals/extracts or the FIP were compared with broilers treated with the anticoccidial salinomycin sodium (Sacox®) and with an untreated uninfected and an untreated infected control group. Coccidiosis lesion scores, body weight gains and oocyst shedding were used as parameters. The results showed a coccidiosis infection dose effect on the mean coccidiosis lesion scores. The phytochemicals/extracts and the FIP failed to reduce coccidiosis lesion scores and oocyst shedding, while salinomycin efficiently controlled the E. acervulina infection and enabled significantly higher body weight gains. In conclusion, the selected phytochemicals/extracts and the FIP did not reduce the lesions of an experimentally induced E. acervulina infection.

Phytopharmacological evaluation of ethanol extract of Sida cordifolia L. roots.

PubMed

Momin, Mohammad Abdul Motalib; Bellah, Sm Faysal; Rahman, Sarder Mohammad Raussel; Rahman, Ahmed Ayedur; Murshid, Gazi Mohammad Monjur; Emran, Talha Bin

2014-01-01

To investigate the phytochemical screening (group determination) and selected pharmacological activities (antioxidant, antimicrobial and analgesic activity) of the plant Sida cordifolia Linn (S. cordifolia). Eighty percent concentrated ethanol extract of the roots was used. To identify the chemical constituents of plant extract standard procedures were followed. In phytochemical screening the crude extract was tested for the presence of different chemical groups like reducing sugar, tannins, saponins, steroids, flavonoids, gums, alkaloids and glycosides. The antioxidant property of ethanolic extract of S. cordifolia was assessed by DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Analgesic activity of the extract was tested using the model of acetic acid induced writhing in mice. Diclofenac sodium is used as reference standard drug for the analgesic activity test. Antibacterial activity of plant extract was carried out using disc diffusion method with five pathogenic bacteria comparison with kanamycin as a standard. Phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic extract of the roots of S. cordifolia indicated the presence of reducing sugar, alkaloids, steroids and saponins. In DPPH scavenging assay the IC50 value was found to be 50 μg/mL which was not comparable to the standard ascorbic acid. The crude extract produced 44.30% inhibition of writhing at the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight which is statistically significant (P>0.001). The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract of the roots of S. cordifolia showed no antimicrobial activity against five types of microorganisms. The experiment was conducted only with five species of bacteria as test species, which do not at all indicate the total inactivity against micro-organisms. The obtained results provide a support for the use of this plant in traditional medicine but further pharmacological studies are required. Copyright © 2014 Asian Pacific Tropical Biomedical Magazine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phytopharmacological evaluation of ethanol extract of Sida cordifolia L. roots

PubMed Central

Momin, Mohammad Abdul Motalib; Bellah, Sm Faysal; Rahman, Sarder Mohammad Raussel; Rahman, Ahmed Ayedur; Murshid, Gazi Mohammad Monjur; Emran, Talha Bin

2014-01-01

Objective To investigate the phytochemical screening (group determination) and selected pharmacological activities (antioxidant, antimicrobial and analgesic activity) of the plant Sida cordifolia Linn (S. cordifolia). Methods Eighty percent concentrated ethanol extract of the roots was used. To identify the chemical constituents of plant extract standard procedures were followed. In phytochemical screening the crude extract was tested for the presence of different chemical groups like reducing sugar, tannins, saponins, steroids, flavonoids, gums, alkaloids and glycosides. The antioxidant property of ethanolic extract of S. cordifolia was assessed by DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Analgesic activity of the extract was tested using the model of acetic acid induced writhing in mice. Diclofenac sodium is used as reference standard drug for the analgesic activity test. Antibacterial activity of plant extract was carried out using disc diffusion method with five pathogenic bacteria comparison with kanamycin as a standard. Results Phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic extract of the roots of S. cordifolia indicated the presence of reducing sugar, alkaloids, steroids and saponins. In DPPH scavenging assay the IC50 value was found to be 50 µg/mL which was not comparable to the standard ascorbic acid. The crude extract produced 44.30% inhibition of writhing at the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight which is statistically significant (P>0.001). The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract of the roots of S. cordifolia showed no antimicrobial activity against five types of microorganisms. The experiment was conducted only with five species of bacteria as test species, which do not at all indicate the total inactivity against micro-organisms. Conclusions The obtained results provide a support for the use of this plant in traditional medicine but further pharmacological studies are required. PMID:24144125

Reduced protein carbonylation of cube steak and catfish fillet using antioxidative coatings containing cheddar whey, casein hydrolyzate and oolong tea extract

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Hydrolysis of casein using chymotrypsin results in the formation of polypeptides (casein hydrolyzate, CH) with a hydrophobic aromatic amino acid on one end of the chain because the enzyme selectively cleaves the adjacent peptide-bond. Due to resonance of the aromatic micro-domain, thiols become redo...

Reconciling timber extraction with biodiversity conservation in tropical forests using reduced-impact logging

PubMed Central

Bicknell, Jake E; Struebig, Matthew J; Davies, Zoe G; Baraloto, Christopher

2015-01-01

Over 20% of the world's tropical forests have been selectively logged, and large expanses are allocated for future timber extraction. Reduced-impact logging (RIL) is being promoted as best practice forestry that increases sustainability and lowers CO2 emissions from logging, by reducing collateral damage associated with timber extraction. RIL is also expected to minimize the impacts of selective logging on biodiversity, although this is yet to be thoroughly tested. We undertake the most comprehensive study to date to investigate the biodiversity impacts of RIL across multiple taxonomic groups. We quantified birds, bats and large mammal assemblage structures, using a before-after control-impact (BACI) design across 20 sample sites over a 5-year period. Faunal surveys utilized point counts, mist nets and line transects and yielded >250 species. We examined assemblage responses to logging, as well as partitions of feeding guild and strata (understorey vs. canopy), and then tested for relationships with logging intensity to assess the primary determinants of community composition. Community analysis revealed little effect of RIL on overall assemblages, as structure and composition were similar before and after logging, and between logging and control sites. Variation in bird assemblages was explained by natural rates of change over time, and not logging intensity. However, when partitioned by feeding guild and strata, the frugivorous and canopy bird ensembles changed as a result of RIL, although the latter was also associated with change over time. Bats exhibited variable changes post-logging that were not related to logging, whereas large mammals showed no change at all. Indicator species analysis and correlations with logging intensities revealed that some species exhibited idiosyncratic responses to RIL, whilst abundance change of most others was associated with time. Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates the relatively benign effect of reduced-impact logging (RIL) on birds, bats and large mammals in a neotropical forest context, and therefore, we propose that forest managers should improve timber extraction techniques more widely. If RIL is extensively adopted, forestry concessions could represent sizeable and important additions to the global conservation estate – over 4 million km2. PMID:25954054

An efficient and economical MTT assay for determining the antioxidant activity of plant natural product extracts and pure compounds.

PubMed

Liu, Yunbao; Nair, Muraleedharan G

2010-07-23

Antioxidants scavenge free radicals, singlet oxygen, and electrons in cellular redox reactions. The yellow MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] is reduced to a purple formazan by mitochondrial enzymes. NADPH is the basis of established in vitro cell viability assays. An antioxidant assay has been developed utilizing the redox reaction between MTT and selected natural product extracts and purified compounds. This simple, fast, and inexpensive MTT antioxidant assay is comparable with the lipid peroxidation inhibitory assay and can be mechanized to achieve high throughput.

Antioxidant properties and phenolic profile characterization by LC-MS/MS of selected Tunisian pomegranate peels.

PubMed

Abid, Mouna; Yaich, Héla; Cheikhrouhou, Salma; Khemakhem, Ibtihel; Bouaziz, Mohamed; Attia, Hamadi; Ayadi, M A

2017-08-01

Antioxidant contents and activities of different extracts from four Tunisian pomegranate peels, locally called "Acide", "Gabsi", "Nebli" and "Tounsi", were studied. Peels samples were extracted with three solvents (water, ethanol and acetone). For each extract, the total phenol contents and antioxidant activity were evaluated. The highest values of polyphenol, tannins, flavonoids and anthocyanins were recorded in the acetone extract of Acide ecotype with 304.6 mg gallic acid equivalent/g; 292.23 mg gallic acid equivalent/g; 15.46 mg Quercetin/g and 54.51 mg cy-3-glu/100 g, respectively. The acetone extract of Acide ecotype also showed the highest free radical-scavenging and reducing power activity compared to other extracts. Besides, the phytochemical analysis by LC-MS/MS revealed a high content of ellagitannins with punicalagin and punicalagin derivatives as the major compounds that might be responsible for promising antioxidant activity of pomegranate peel extracts. Two compounds (Castalagin derivative and Galloyl-bis-HHDP-hex derivative) were detected only in "Acide" ecotype in important contents.

A multiherbal formulation influencing immune response in vitro.

PubMed

Menghini, L; Leporini, L; Scanu, N; Pintore, G; Ferrante, C; Recinella, L; Orlando, G; Vacca, M; Brunetti, L

2012-02-01

Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of phytocomplexes of Uncaria, Shiitake and Ribes in terms of viability and inflammatory response on immune cell-derived cultures. Standardized extracts of Uncaria, Shitake and Ribes and their commercial formulation were tested on cell lines PBMC, U937 and macrophage. The activity was evaluated in terms of cell viability (MTT test), variations of oxidative marker release (ROS and PGE2) and modulatory effects on immune response (gene expression of IL-6, IL-8 and TNFα, RT-PCR). Cell viability was not affected by extracts, except subtle variations observed only at higher doses (>250 µg/mL). The extract mixture was well tolerated, with no effects on cell viability up to doses of 500 µg/mL. Pre-treatment of macrophages with subtoxic doses of the extracts reduced the basal release of oxidative markers and enhanced the cell response to exogenous oxidant stimulation, as revealed by ROS and PGE2 release reduction. The same treatment on macrophage resulted in a selective modulation of the immune response, as shown by an increase of IL-6 mRNA and, partially, IL-8 mRNA, while a reduction was observed for TNFα mRNA. Data confirm that extracts and their formulations can act as regulator of the immune system with mechanisms involving the oxidative stress and the release of selected proinflammatory cytokines.

In vitro activities of plant extracts on human Loa loa isolates and cytotoxicity for eukaryotic cells.

PubMed

Mengome, Line-Edwige; Akue, Jean Paul; Souza, Alain; Feuya Tchoua, Guy Raymond; Nsi Emvo, Edouard

2010-08-01

Loa loa, a filarial worm, can cause fatal encephalitis in humans. In an attempt to find alternatives to the standard treatments (ivermectin and diethylcarbamazine citrate), we tested 12 methanolic extracts of nine traditional plant remedies. The extracts (100-0.09 microg/ml) were incubated with 20 Loa loa microfilariae isolated from patients at 37 degrees C with 5% CO(2) in modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% fetal serum and antibiotics. Activity was evaluated 120 h later by counting live microfilariae under a microscope. Cytotoxicity for eukaryotic cells was estimated by measuring 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2-5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide transformation to formazan at 450 nM in a spectrophotometer. The plants tested were Lophira alata, Greenwayodendron suaveolens, Uapaca togoensis, Zanthoxylum heitzii, Peperomia pellucida, Piptadeniastrum africanum, Petersianthus macrocarpus, Vernonia conferta, and Vernonia hymenolepis. Chemical screening showed that most of the extracts contained reducing sugars, tannin or polyphenols, sterols or triterpenes, saponosides, and alkaloids. None contained carotinoids and few contained flavonoids. The 50% lethal concentration ranged from 0.22 to 70.28 microg/ml, while the 50% inhibitory concentration for eukaryotic cells (IC(50)) ranged from 8.52 to 119.52 microg/ml. Extracts of P. macrocarpus (selectivity index = 72.16), P. africanum (13.69), Z. heitzii (12.11), and L. alata (9.26) were highly selective for L. loa.

Aldose reductase inhibitory, anti-cataract and antioxidant potential of selected medicinal plants from the Marathwada region, India.

PubMed

Gacche, R N; Dhole, N A

2011-04-01

The water, ethanol and chloroform extracts of selected plants such as Adhatoda vasica (L.) (Acanthaceae), Caesalpinia bonduc (L.), Cassia fistula (L.) (Caesalpiniaceae) and Biophytum sensitivum (L.) (Oxalidaceae) were evaluated for rat lens aldose reductase inhibitory (RLAR) potential, anti-cataract and antioxidant activities. All the samples inhibited the aldose reductase considerably and exhibited anti-cataract activity, while C. fistula (IC(50), 0.154 mg mL(-1)) showed significant RLAR inhibitory activity as compared to the other tested samples, and was further found to be more effective in maintaining sugar-induced lens opacity in the rat lens model. The antioxidant potential of plant extracts was determined using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazine), hydroxyl (OH), nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) scavenging activities, along with determination of reducing power, ferrous ion chelating ability and inhibition of polyphenol oxidase (PPO). The extracts of the tested plant showed significant free radical scavenging activities and inhibited the activity of enzyme PPO, a model oxidising enzyme. The plant samples were found to possess considerable amounts of vitamin C, total polyphenols and flavonoids.

Simultaneous dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction derivatisation and gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis of subcritical water extracts of sweet and sour cherry stems.

PubMed

Švarc-Gajić, Jaroslava; Clavijo, Sabrina; Suárez, Ruth; Cvetanović, Aleksandra; Cerdà, Víctor

2018-03-01

Cherry stems have been used in traditional medicine mostly for the treatment of urinary tract infections. Extraction with subcritical water, according to its selectivity, efficiency and other aspects, differs substantially from conventional extraction techniques. The complexity of plant subcritical water extracts is due to the ability of subcritical water to extract different chemical classes of different physico-chemical properties and polarities in a single run. In this paper, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) with simultaneous derivatisation was optimised for the analysis of complex subcritical water extracts of cherry stems to allow simple and rapid preparation prior to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). After defining optimal extracting and dispersive solvents, the optimised method was used for the identification of compounds belonging to different chemical classes in a single analytical run. The developed sample preparation protocol enabled simultaneous extraction and derivatisation, as well as convenient coupling with GC-MS analysis, reducing the analysis time and number of steps. The applied analytical protocol allowed simple and rapid chemical screening of subcritical water extracts and was used for the comparison of subcritical water extracts of sweet and sour cherry stems. Graphical abstract DLLME GC MS analysis of cherry stem extracts obtained by subcritical water.

Phytochemicals Analysis and Medicinal Potentials of Hydroalcoholic Extract from Curtisia dentata (Burm.f) C.A. Sm Stem Bark

PubMed Central

Oyedemi, Sunday Oyewole; Oyedemi, Blessing Ogochukwuamaka; Arowosegbe, Sunday; Afolayan, Anthony Jide

2012-01-01

Curtisia dentata (CD) is a vulnerable medicinal plant used for the treatment of stomach ailments in South Africa. However, there is a lack of sufficient data on its phytochemical components and medicinal properties. The phytochemical analysis of the extract was estimated using standard assay methods while its antibacterial activity was determined by the agar dilution method against selected bacteria. The antioxidant activity of the extract was done using ferric reducing power, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic-acid (ABTS), nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipid peroxidation (LPO). The cytotoxicity assay of the extract was assessed using the brine shrimp lethality test with LC50 value of 0.302 mg/mL. The antibacterial activity of the extract demonstrated an appreciable broad spectrum activity against the tested bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges between 5000 and 0.5 mg/L. Both phenol and flavonoid concentrations were 14.86 mg tannic acid equivalent/g and 13.64 mg quercetin equivalent/g, respectively. The percentage composition of saponins (13.26) was highest, followed by steroids (1.42), while alkaloids and tannins had the same value of 0.51. Similarly, IC50 values of the extract against DPPH, ABTS, H2O2, LPO and NO were 0.017, 0.018, 0.159, 0.06 and 0.052 mg/mL, respectively. The reducing power of the extract was found to be concentration dependent. Our data suggest that the 70% ethanol extract from the CD extract has antibacterial and antioxidant properties due to the presence of bio-active compounds and thus support its folkloric use in the treatment of diseases. PMID:22754358

Preliminary Design on Screw Press Model of Palm Oil Extraction Machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Firdaus, Muhammad; Salleh, S. M.; Nawi, I.; Ngali, Z.; Siswanto, W. A.; Yusup, E. M.

2017-01-01

The concept of the screw press is to compress the fruit bunch between the main screw and travelling cones to extract the palm oil. Visual inspection, model development and simulation of screw press by using Solidworks 2016 and calculation of design properties were performed to support the investigation. The project aims to analyse different design of screw press which improves in reducing maintenance cost and increasing lifespan. The currently existing of screw press can endure between 500 to 900 hours and requires frequent maintenance. Different configurations have been tried in determination of best design properties in screw press. The results specify that screw press with tapered inner shaft has more total lifespan (hours) compared existing screw press. The selection of the screw press with tapered inner shaft can reduce maintenance cost and increase lifespan of the screw press.

Antioxidant, anticholinesterase and antifatigue effects of Trichilia catigua (catuaba).

PubMed

Martins, Nadini Oliveira; de Brito, Isabella Modelli; Araújo, Sandra Syomara O; Negri, Giuseppina; Carlini, Elisaldo de Araújo; Mendes, Fúlvio Rieli

2018-06-05

Trichilia catigua A. Juss. (Meliaceae) is a species known as catuaba and used in folk medicine for the treatment of fatigue, stress, impotence and memory deficit. The main phytochemical compounds identified in the barks of T. catigua are flavalignans, flavan-3-ols and flavonoids which are associated with its antioxidant activity. Pre-clinical studies with T. catigua extracts have identified many pharmacological properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, antinociceptive, pro-memory and neuroprotective against ischemia and oxidative stress. This study was designed in order to compare the chemical composition and in vitro antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity of four different polarity extracts and selected the one most active for in vivo studies in rodent models of stress, fatigue and memory. Hexane, chloroform, hydroalcoholic and aqueous extracts from bark of Trichilia catigua were analyzed by RPHPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS. Antioxidant activity was assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) assay and acetylcholinesterase inhibition by Ellman's modified method. In vivo studies (stress, fatigue and memory) were carried out with adult male mice and rats treated with hydroalcoholic extract in doses of 25-300 mg/kg (p.o.). We confirmed the presence of cinchonain IIa, Ia and Ib, as main constituents in the four extracts, while procyanidins were detected only in hydroalcoholic extract. Antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity were observed for all extracts, with most potent activity found on the hydroalcoholic extract (EC 50  = 43 μg/mL and IC 50  = 142 μg/mL for DPPH scavenger and acetylcholinesterase inhibition, respectively). The treatment of laboratory animals with hydroalcoholic extract did not protect rats from cold immobilization stress and did not prevent the scopolamine-induced amnesia in mice. However, the treatment of mice with the hydroalcoholic extract partially reduced the fatigue induced by treadmill, since the highest dose increased the spontaneous locomotor activity and reduced the deficit on grip strength after the forced exercise (p < 0.05), in some observation times. These data suggest the hydroalcoholic extract as the most suitable for plant extraction and partially support the folk use of T. catigua as antifatigue drug. . Trichilia catigua hydroalcoholic extract exhibits antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity in vitro and reduces the fatigue induced by forced exercise.

Extension of the tridiagonal reduction (FEER) method for complex eigenvalue problems in NASTRAN

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, M.; Mann, F. I.

1978-01-01

As in the case of real eigenvalue analysis, the eigensolutions closest to a selected point in the eigenspectrum were extracted from a reduced, symmetric, tridiagonal eigenmatrix whose order was much lower than that of the full size problem. The reduction process was effected automatically, and thus avoided the arbitrary lumping of masses and other physical quantities at selected grid points. The statement of the algebraic eigenvalue problem admitted mass, damping, and stiffness matrices which were unrestricted in character, i.e., they might be real, symmetric or nonsymmetric, singular or nonsingular.

Blocking negative effects of senescence in human skin fibroblasts with a plant extract.

PubMed

Lämmermann, Ingo; Terlecki-Zaniewicz, Lucia; Weinmüllner, Regina; Schosserer, Markus; Dellago, Hanna; de Matos Branco, André Dargen; Autheried, Dominik; Sevcnikar, Benjamin; Kleissl, Lisa; Berlin, Irina; Morizot, Frédérique; Lejeune, Francois; Fuzzati, Nicola; Forestier, Sandra; Toribio, Alix; Tromeur, Anaïs; Weinberg, Lionel; Higareda Almaraz, Juan Carlos; Scheideler, Marcel; Rietveld, Marion; El Ghalbzouri, Abdoel; Tschachler, Erwin; Gruber, Florian; Grillari, Johannes

2018-01-01

There is increasing evidence that senescent cells are a driving force behind many age-related pathologies and that their selective elimination increases the life- and healthspan of mice. Senescent cells negatively affect their surrounding tissue by losing their cell specific functionality and by secreting a pro-tumorigenic and pro-inflammatory mixture of growth hormones, chemokines, cytokines and proteases, termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Here we identified an extract from the plant Solidago virgaurea subsp. alpestris , which exhibited weak senolytic activity, delayed the acquisition of a senescent phenotype and induced a papillary phenotype with improved functionality in human dermal fibroblasts. When administered to stress-induced premature senescent fibroblasts, this extract changed their global mRNA expression profile and particularly reduced the expression of various SASP components, thereby ameliorating the negative influence on nearby cells. Thus, the investigated plant extract represents a promising possibility to block age-related loss of tissue functionality.

Hierarchical Feature Extraction With Local Neural Response for Image Recognition.

PubMed

Li, Hong; Wei, Yantao; Li, Luoqing; Chen, C L P

2013-04-01

In this paper, a hierarchical feature extraction method is proposed for image recognition. The key idea of the proposed method is to extract an effective feature, called local neural response (LNR), of the input image with nontrivial discrimination and invariance properties by alternating between local coding and maximum pooling operation. The local coding, which is carried out on the locally linear manifold, can extract the salient feature of image patches and leads to a sparse measure matrix on which maximum pooling is carried out. The maximum pooling operation builds the translation invariance into the model. We also show that other invariant properties, such as rotation and scaling, can be induced by the proposed model. In addition, a template selection algorithm is presented to reduce computational complexity and to improve the discrimination ability of the LNR. Experimental results show that our method is robust to local distortion and clutter compared with state-of-the-art algorithms.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Azadirachta indica leaf extract and its antimicrobial study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Pragyan; Das, Bhagyalaxmi; Mohanty, Abhipsa; Mohapatra, Sujata

2017-11-01

In this study, green synthesis of silver nanoparticles was done using leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica. The flavonoids and terpenoids present in the extract act as both reducing and capping agent. Microbes ( Escherichia coli and Gram-positive bacteria) were isolated from borewell water using selective media. The silver nanoparticles showed antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive bacteria and E. coli. However the silver nanoparticles were more effective against E. coli as compared to Gram-positive bacteria. Various techniques were used to characterize synthesized silver nanoparticles such as DLS and UV-visible spectrophotometer. The absorbance peak was in the range of 420-450 nm, that varied depending upon the variation in the concentration of neem extract. This is a very rapid and cost-effective method for generation of silver nanoparticle at room temperature, however, its exact dose in water purification has to be determined.

A new strategy for accelerated extraction of target compounds using molecularly imprinted polymer particles embedded in a paper-based disk.

PubMed

Zarejousheghani, Mashaalah; Schrader, Steffi; Möder, Monika; Schmidt, Matthias; Borsdorf, Helko

2018-03-01

In this study, a general simple and inexpensive method is introduced for the preparation of a paper-based selective disk-type solid phase extraction (SPE) technique, appropriate for fast and high throughput monitoring of target compounds. An ion exchange molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized for the extraction and analysis of acesulfame, an anthropogenic water quality marker. Acesulfame imprinting was used as an example for demonstrating the benefits of a nanosized, swellable MIP extraction sorbents integrated in an on-site compatible concept for water quality monitoring. Compared with an 8 mL standard SPE cartridge, the paper-based MIP disk (47 mm ø) format allowed (1) high sample flow rates up to 30 mL•min -1 without losing extraction efficiency (2) extracting sample volumes up to 500 mL in much shorter times than with standard SPE, (3) the reuse of the disks (up to 3 times more than SPE cartridge) due to high robustness and an efficient post-cleaning, and (4) reducing the sampling time from 100 minutes (using the standard SPE format) to about 2 minutes with the MIP paper disk for 50 mL water sample. Different parameters like cellulose fiber/polymer ratios, sample volume, sample flow-rate, washing, and elution conditions were evaluated and optimized. Using developed extraction technique with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-MS) analysis, a new protocol was established that provides detection and quantification limits of 0.015 μg•L -1 and 0.05 μg•L -1 , respectively. The developed paper disks were used in-field for the selective extraction of target compounds and transferred to the laboratory for further analysis. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Selective treatment to reduce contamination of propolis by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) still preserving its active polyphenol component and antioxidant activity.

PubMed

Galeotti, Fabio; Crimaldi, Laura; Maccari, Francesca; Zaccaria, Vincenzo; Fachini, Alfredo; Volpi, Nicola

2017-09-01

The adverse effects on health and environment caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are critical problems. EFSA has defined 16 priority PAHs that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic, and identified eight (PAH8) priority PAHs as good indicators of the toxicity and occurrence in food. Food supplements containing propolis were also found to contain relatively high quantities of PAHs. We report about an extractive procedure which is able to purify propolis from a high content of PAHs using a balanced mixture of ethanol and water solvents. Extracts were characterised for total content of polyphenols, for in vitro antioxidant activity, and single classes of polyphenols evaluated by HPLC-ESI-MS. Obtained propolis extracts were found to have PAH8 and specific benzo[a]pyrene content below limits recommended by EFSA. The reported extractive procedure is easily applicable for possible industrial productions and may also be adopted to the purification of polyphenols from other plant extracts and natural sources.

Comparative study of antioxidant properties and total phenolic content of 30 plant extracts of industrial interest using DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOD, and ORAC assays.

PubMed

Dudonné, Stéphanie; Vitrac, Xavier; Coutière, Philippe; Woillez, Marion; Mérillon, Jean-Michel

2009-03-11

Aqueous extracts of 30 plants were investigated for their antioxidant properties using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging capacity assay, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, superoxide dismutase (SOD) assay, and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) assay. Total phenolic content was also determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. Antioxidant properties and total phenolic content differed significantly among selected plants. It was found that oak (Quercus robur), pine (Pinus maritima), and cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) aqueous extracts possessed the highest antioxidant capacities in most of the methods used, and thus could be potential rich sources of natural antioxidants. These extracts presented the highest phenolic content (300-400 mg GAE/g). Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) and clove (Eugenia caryophyllus clovis) aqueous extracts also showed strong antioxidant properties and a high phenolic content (about 200 mg GAE/g). A significant relationship between antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content was found, indicating that phenolic compounds are the major contributors to the antioxidant properties of these plants.

Selection of Atmospheric Environmental Monitoring Sites based on Geographic Parameters Extraction of GIS and Fuzzy Matter-Element Analysis.

PubMed

Wu, Jianfa; Peng, Dahao; Ma, Jianhao; Zhao, Li; Sun, Ce; Ling, Huanzhang

2015-01-01

To effectively monitor the atmospheric quality of small-scale areas, it is necessary to optimize the locations of the monitoring sites. This study combined geographic parameters extraction by GIS with fuzzy matter-element analysis. Geographic coordinates were extracted by GIS and transformed into rectangular coordinates. These coordinates were input into the Gaussian plume model to calculate the pollutant concentration at each site. Fuzzy matter-element analysis, which is used to solve incompatible problems, was used to select the locations of sites. The matter element matrices were established according to the concentration parameters. The comprehensive correlation functions KA (xj) and KB (xj), which reflect the degree of correlation among monitoring indices, were solved for each site, and a scatter diagram of the sites was drawn to determine the final positions of the sites based on the functions. The sites could be classified and ultimately selected by the scatter diagram. An actual case was tested, and the results showed that 5 positions can be used for monitoring, and the locations conformed to the technical standard. In the results of this paper, the hierarchical clustering method was used to improve the methods. The sites were classified into 5 types, and 7 locations were selected. Five of the 7 locations were completely identical to the sites determined by fuzzy matter-element analysis. The selections according to these two methods are similar, and these methods can be used in combination. In contrast to traditional methods, this study monitors the isolated point pollutant source within a small range, which can reduce the cost of monitoring.

Select phytochemicals suppress human T-lymphocytes and mouse splenocytes suggesting their use in autoimmunity and transplantation

PubMed Central

Hushmendy, Shazaan; Jayakumar, Lalithapriya; Hahn, Amy B.; Bhoiwala, Devang; Bhoiwala, Dipti L.; Crawford, Dana R.

2009-01-01

We have considered a novel “rational” gene targeting approach for treating pathologies whose genetic bases are defined using select phytochemicals. We reason that one such potential application of this approach would be conditions requiring immunosuppression such as autoimmune disease and transplantation, where the genetic target is clearly defined; i.e., interleukin-2 and associated T-cell activation. Therefore, we hypothesized that select phytochemicals can suppress T-lymphocyte proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. The immunosuppressive effects of berry extract, curcumin, quercetin, sulforaphane, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), resveratrol, α-tocopherol, vitamin C and sucrose were tested on anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28-activated primary human T-lymphocytes in culture. Curcumin, sulforaphane, quercetin, berry extract and EGCG all significantly inhibited T-cell proliferation, and this effect was not due to toxicity. IL-2 production was also reduced by these agents, implicating this important T-cell cytokine in proliferation suppression. Except for berry extract, these same agents also inhibited mouse splenic T-cell proliferation and IL-2 production. Subsequent in vivo studies revealed that quercetin (but not sulforaphane) modestly suppressed mouse splenocyte proliferation following supplementation of BALB/c mice diets. This effect was especially prominent if corrected for the loss of supplement “recall” as observed in cultured T-cells. These results suggest the potential use of these select phytochemicals for treating autoimmune and transplant patients, and support our strategy of using select phytochemicals to treat genetically-defined pathologies, an approach that we believe is simple, healthy, and cost-effective. PMID:19761891

Monitoring of Soil Remediation Process in the Metal Mining Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kyoung-Woong; Ko, Myoung-Soo; Han, Hyeop-jo; Lee, Sang-Ho; Na, So-Young

2016-04-01

Stabilization using proper additives is an effective soil remediation technique to reduce As mobility in soil. Several researches have reported that Fe-containing materials such as amorphous Fe-oxides, goethite and hematite were effective in As immobilization and therefore acid mine drainage sludge (AMDS) may be potential material for As immobilization. The AMDS is the by-product from electrochemical treatment of acid mine drainage and mainly contains Fe-oxide. The Chungyang area in Korea is located in the vicinity of the huge abandoned Au-Ag Gubong mine which was closed in the 1970s. Large amounts of mine tailings have been remained without proper treatment and the mobilization of mine tailings can be manly occurred during the summer heavy rainfall season. Soil contamination from this mobilization may become an urgent issue because it can cause the contamination of groundwater and crop plants in sequence. In order to reduce the mobilization of the mine tailings, the pilot scale study of in-situ stabilization using AMDS was applied after the batch and column experiments in the lab. For the monitoring of stabilization process, we used to determine the As concentration in crop plants grown on the field site but it is not easily applicable because of time and cost. Therefore, we may need simple monitoring technique to measure the mobility or leachability which can be comparable with As concentration in crop plants. We compared several extraction methods to suggest the representative single extraction method for the monitoring of soil stabilization efficiency. Several selected extraction methods were examined and Mehlich 3 extraction method using the mixture of NH4F, EDTA, NH4NO3, CH3COOH and HNO3 was selected as the best predictor of the leachability or mobility of As in the soil remediation process.

77 FR 74222 - Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-13

... protection of public health and the environment. The cleanup goal for surface soil is PCBs of 25 ppm which is... and Highway 202. The selected remedy for OU-3 is soil capping and expanded groundwater extraction. The objectives of the remedial action for soils include: Reducing risks to area workers and trespassers from...

The feasibility of harmonizing gluten ELISA measurements.

PubMed

Rzychon, Malgorzata; Brohée, Marcel; Cordeiro, Fernando; Haraszi, Reka; Ulberth, Franz; O'Connor, Gavin

2017-11-01

Many publications have highlighted that routine ELISA methods do not give rise to equivalent gluten content measurement results. In this study, we assess this variation between results and its likely impact on the enforcement of the EU gluten-free legislation. This study systematically examines the feasibility of harmonizing gluten ELISA assays by the introduction of: a common extraction procedure; a common calibrator, such as a pure gluten extract and an incurred matrix material. The comparability of measurements is limited by a weak correlation between kit results caused by differences in the selectivity of the methods. This lack of correlation produces bias that cannot be corrected by using reference materials alone. The use of a common calibrator reduced the between-assay variability to some extent, but variation due to differences in selectivity of the assays was unaffected. Consensus on robust markers and their conversion to "gluten content" are required. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Study of a Vocal Feature Selection Method and Vocal Properties for Discriminating Four Constitution Types

PubMed Central

Kim, Keun Ho; Ku, Boncho; Kang, Namsik; Kim, Young-Su; Jang, Jun-Su; Kim, Jong Yeol

2012-01-01

The voice has been used to classify the four constitution types, and to recognize a subject's health condition by extracting meaningful physical quantities, in traditional Korean medicine. In this paper, we propose a method of selecting the reliable variables from various voice features, such as frequency derivative features, frequency band ratios, and intensity, from vowels and a sentence. Further, we suggest a process to extract independent variables by eliminating explanatory variables and reducing their correlation and remove outlying data to enable reliable discriminant analysis. Moreover, the suitable division of data for analysis, according to the gender and age of subjects, is discussed. Finally, the vocal features are applied to a discriminant analysis to classify each constitution type. This method of voice classification can be widely used in the u-Healthcare system of personalized medicine and for improving diagnostic accuracy. PMID:22529874

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of selected medicinal plants and fungi containing phenolic and flavonoid compounds

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background This study aims to determine the relationship between the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the thirteen herbs and two fungi extracts, and their total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Methods Antioxidant activities were evaluated by four assays: an antioxidant activity assay using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a DPPH ((2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay to assess free radical scavenging, an assay assessing ferrous ions or iron (II) chelating ability, and a ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminium chloride methods, respectively. Anti-inflammatory activities were determined by measuring the inhibition of nitric oxide and TNF-α production in lipopolysaccharide- and interferon-γ-activated J774A.1 macrophages. Their cytotoxicities against macrophages were determined by MTT assay. Results A positive linear correlation between antioxidant activities and the total phenolic and flavonoid content of the plant extracts was found. The plant extracts with high phenolic and flavonoid content also exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity with good cell viability. Conclusion The selected herbs could be a rich source of antioxidants and free radical scavenging compounds. The levels of phenolic and flavonoid compounds were correlated with the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts from the herbs. PMID:23176585

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of selected medicinal plants and fungi containing phenolic and flavonoid compounds.

PubMed

Diaz, Patricia; Jeong, Sang Chul; Lee, Samiuela; Khoo, Cheang; Koyyalamudi, Sundar Rao

2012-11-24

This study aims to determine the relationship between the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the thirteen herbs and two fungi extracts, and their total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Antioxidant activities were evaluated by four assays: an antioxidant activity assay using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a DPPH ((2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay to assess free radical scavenging, an assay assessing ferrous ions or iron (II) chelating ability, and a ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminium chloride methods, respectively. Anti-inflammatory activities were determined by measuring the inhibition of nitric oxide and TNF-α production in lipopolysaccharide- and interferon-γ-activated J774A.1 macrophages. Their cytotoxicities against macrophages were determined by MTT assay. A positive linear correlation between antioxidant activities and the total phenolic and flavonoid content of the plant extracts was found. The plant extracts with high phenolic and flavonoid content also exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity with good cell viability. The selected herbs could be a rich source of antioxidants and free radical scavenging compounds. The levels of phenolic and flavonoid compounds were correlated with the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts from the herbs.

Characterising Tidal Flow Within AN Energetic Tidal Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neill, S. P.; Goward Brown, A.; Lewis, M. J.

2016-02-01

The Pentland Firth is a highly energetic and complex tidal strait separating the north of Scotland with the Orkney Islands and is a key location for tidal energy exploitation. Topographic features including islands and headlands, combined with bathymetric complexities within the Pentland Firth create turbulent hydrodynamic flows which are difficult to observe. Site selection in tidal energy environments historically focuses on tidal current magnitude. Without consideration for the more complex hydrodynamics of tidal energy environments tidal energy developers may miss the opportunity to tune their devices or create environment specific tidal energy converters in order to harness the greatest potential from site. Fully characterising these tidal energy environments ensures economic energy extraction. Understanding the interaction of energy extraction with the environment will reduce uncertainty in site selection and allow mitigation of any potential environmental concerns. We apply the 3D ROMS model to the Pentland Firth with the aim of resolving uncertainties within tidal energy resource assessment. Flow magnitudes and directions are examined with a focus on tidal phasing and asymmetry and application to sediment dynamics. Using the ROMS model, it is possible to determine the extent to which the tidal resource varies temporally and spatially with tidal energy extraction. Accurately modelling the tidal dynamics within this environment ensures that potential consequences of tidal energy extraction on the surrounding environment are better understood.

Does chlorhexidine reduce bacteremia following tooth extraction? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Arteagoitia, Iciar; Rodriguez Andrés, Carlos; Ramos, Eva

2018-01-01

Scientific evidence is not clear regarding the use of antimicrobial mouth rinse before dental extraction to reduce bacteremia. We tested the null hypothesis that there would be no difference in the incidence of bacteremia following dental extractions in patients treated with or without chlorhexidine. We conducted a meta-analysis following the recommendations proposed by PRISMA Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. The data sources Pubmed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, and Ovid MD were searched until April 30, 2017. (chlorhexidine) AND (bacteremia OR bacteraemia) AND (extraction OR removal) were used as key words in a free-text search. Published meeting abstracts were searched. The references of each article were reviewed. We only included randomized controlled clinical trials. There were no restrictions regarding language or date of publication. The outcome measure was the incidence of the bacteremia measured within the first ten minutes post-extraction. Two reviewers independently undertook the risk of bias assessment and data extraction. A fixed-effects inverse variance weighted meta-analysis was conducted. Out of 18 studies, eight eligible trials with 523 participants were selected, 267 in the experimental group and 256 in the control group: risk ratio = 0.882 (95% confidence interval 0.799 to 0.975; p = 0.014), heterogeneity I2 = 13.07%, and p = 0.33. The number needed to treat was 16 (95% CI 7-Infinity). Approximately 12% of bacteremia cases can be prevented if a population is exposed to chlorhexidine. CRD42016046586.

Antiquorum sensing, antibiofilm formation and cytotoxicity activity of commonly used medicinal plants by inhabitants of Borabu sub-county, Nyamira County, Kenya

PubMed Central

Omwenga, Eric Omori; Hensel, Andreas; Pereira, Susana; Shitandi, Alfred Anakalo

2017-01-01

Productions of various bacterial traits like production of virulence factors (e.g. toxins, enzymes), biofilm formation, luminescence among others, have been known to be controlled by quorum sensing (QS), a process that is dependent on chemical signals or autoinducers (AIs). Bacteria known to rely on such AIs are known to be virulent and tend to be resistant against various antimicrobial agents. Therefore, strategies aimed at the inhibition of QS pathways, are regarded as potential novel therapies in managing bacterial virulence hence reducing their ability to induce infections in humans. In the present study, a portfolio of 25 medicinal plant extracts (ethanol 50% v/v) used in southwestern Kenya were assayed against a transformed E. coli Top 10 reporter QS strain. This biosensor responds to the exogenous addition of 3-oxo-N-hexanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC6HSL) expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). The large majority of the screened medicinal plants seemed to exhibit toxic effects and almost none of them induced antiquorum sensing (AQS) activity. This could be the consequence of the presence of mixed compounds in the extracts. Elaeodendron buchananii Loes and Acacia gerrardii Benth extracts that seemed to show AQS activity were further proved found to possess mild AQS but with defined antimicrobial activities, and no antibiofilm formation inhibition. As a control, an E. coli pBCA9145_jtk2828::sfGFP strain that produces constitutively GFP was used and confirmed that none of the two extracts quenched the fluorescence of sfGFP. Cytotoxicity assays with mammalian MDCK cells also did indicate that the selected extracts with putative AQS activity, also reduced the cell viability. Therefore, further studies will be needed to separate and re-test the individual compounds especially from the selected two promising plants. PMID:29091715

Critical evaluation of the ability of sequential extraction procedures to quantify discrete forms of selenium in sediments and soils.

PubMed

Wright, Michael T; Parker, David R; Amrhein, Christopher

2003-10-15

Sequential extraction procedures (SEPs) have been widely used to characterize the mobility, bioavailibility, and potential toxicity of trace elements in soils and sediments. Although oft-criticized, these methods may perform best with redox-labile elements (As, Hg, Se) for which more discrete biogeochemical phases may arise from variations in oxidation number. We critically evaluated two published SEPs for Se for their specificity and precision by applying them to four discrete components in an inert silica matrix: soluble Se(VI) (selenate), Se(IV) (selenite) adsorbed onto goethite, elemental Se, and a metal selenide (FeSe; achavalite). These were extracted both individually and in a mixed model sediment. The more selective of the two procedures was modified to further improve its selectivity (SEP 2M). Both SEP 1 and SEP 2M quantitatively recovered soluble selenate but yielded incomplete recoveries of adsorbed selenite (64% and 81%, respectively). SEP 1 utilizes 0.1 M K2S2O8 to target "organically associated" Se, but this extractant also solubilized most of the elemental (64%) and iron selenide (91%) components of the model sediment. In SEP 2M, the Na2SO3 used in step III is effective in extracting elemental Se but also extracted 17% of the Se from the iron selenide, such that the elemental fraction would be overestimated should both forms coexist. Application of SEP 2M to eight wetland sediments further suggested that the Na2SO3 in step III extracts some organically associated Se, so a NaOH extraction was inserted beforehand to yield a further modification, SEP 2OH. Results using this five-step procedure suggested that the four-step SEP 2M could overestimate elemental Se by as much as 43% due to solubilization of organic Se. Although still imperfect in its selectivity, SEP 20H may be the most suitable procedure for routine, accurate fractionation of Se in soils and sediments. However, the strong oxidant (NaOCl) used in the final step cannot distinguish between refractory organic forms of Se and pyritic Se that might form under sulfur-reducing conditions.

Face recognition via Gabor and convolutional neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Tongwei; Wu, Menglu; Lu, Tao

2018-04-01

In recent years, the powerful feature learning and classification ability of convolutional neural network have attracted widely attention. Compared with the deep learning, the traditional machine learning algorithm has a good explanatory which deep learning does not have. Thus, In this paper, we propose a method to extract the feature of the traditional algorithm as the input of convolution neural network. In order to reduce the complexity of the network, the kernel function of Gabor wavelet is used to extract the feature from different position, frequency and direction of target image. It is sensitive to edge of image which can provide good direction and scale selection. The extraction of the image from eight directions on a scale are as the input of network that we proposed. The network have the advantage of weight sharing and local connection and texture feature of the input image can reduce the influence of facial expression, gesture and illumination. At the same time, we introduced a layer which combined the results of the pooling and convolution can extract deeper features. The training network used the open source caffe framework which is beneficial to feature extraction. The experiment results of the proposed method proved that the network structure effectively overcame the barrier of illumination and had a good robustness as well as more accurate and rapid than the traditional algorithm.

Antiviral activity of maca (Lepidium meyenii) against human influenza virus.

PubMed

Del Valle Mendoza, Juana; Pumarola, Tomàs; Gonzales, Libertad Alzamora; Del Valle, Luis J

2014-09-01

To investigate antiviral activity of maca to reduce viral load in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells infected with influenza type A and B viruses (Flu-A and Flu-B, respectively). Maca were extracted with methanol (1:2, v/v). The cell viability and toxicity of the extracts were evaluated on MDCK cells using method MTT assay. Antiviral activity of compounds against Flu-A and Flu-B viruses was assayed using a test for determining the inhibition of the cytopathic effect on cell culture and multiplex RT-PCR. The methanol extract of maca showed low cytotoxicity and inhibited influenza-induced cytopathic effect significantly, while viral load was reduced via inhibition of viral growth in MDCK infected cells. Maca contains potent inhibitors of Flu-A and Flu-B with a selectivity index [cytotoxic concentration 50%/IC50] of 157.4 and 110.5, respectively. In vitro assays demonstrated that maca has antiviral activity not only against Flu-A (like most antiviral agents) but also Flu-B viruses, providing remarkable therapeutic benefits. Copyright © 2014 Hainan Medical College. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Acrylamide: inhibition of formation in processed food and mitigation of toxicity in cells, animals, and humans.

PubMed

Friedman, Mendel

2015-06-01

Potentially toxic acrylamide is largely derived from the heat-inducing reactions between the amino group of the amino acid asparagine and carbonyl groups of glucose and fructose in plant-derived foods including cereals, coffees, almonds, olives, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. This review surveys and consolidates the following dietary aspects of acrylamide: distribution in food, exposure and consumption by diverse populations, reduction of the content in different food categories, and mitigation of adverse in vivo effects. Methods to reduce acrylamide levels include selecting commercial food with a low acrylamide content, selecting cereal and potato varieties with low levels of asparagine and reducing sugars, selecting processing conditions that minimize acrylamide formation, adding food-compatible compounds and plant extracts to food formulations before processing that inhibit acrylamide formation during processing of cereal products, coffees, teas, olives, almonds, and potato products, and reducing multiorgan toxicity (antifertility, carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, teratogenicity). The herein described observations and recommendations are of scientific interest for food chemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology, but also have the potential to benefit nutrition, food safety, and human health.

Extracts of Agrimonia eupatoria L. as sources of biologically active compounds and evaluation of their antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antibiofilm activities.

PubMed

Muruzović, Mirjana Ž; Mladenović, Katarina G; Stefanović, Olgica D; Vasić, Sava M; Čomić, Ljiljana R

2016-07-01

In this study, we determined the concentration of total phenols, flavonoids, tannins, and proanthocyanidins in the water, diethyl ether, acetone, and ethanol extracts of Agrimonia eupatoria L. We also investigated the antioxidant activity of these extracts using two methods [2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and reducing power] and their in vitro antimicrobial (antibacterial and antifungal) activity on some selected species of bacteria and fungi. In addition, the effects of the acetone and water extracts on the inhibition of biofilm formation of Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated using the crystal violet method. The concentration of total phenols was measured according to the Folin-Ciocalteu method and the values obtained ranged from 19.61 mgGA/g to 220.31 mgGA/g. The concentration of flavonoids was examined by the aluminum chloride method and the values obtained ranged from 20.58 mgRU/g to 97.06 mgRU/g. The total tannins concentration was measured by the polyvinylpolypyrrolidone method and the values obtained ranged from 3.06 mgGA/g to 207.27 mgGA/g. The concentration of proanthocyanidins was determined by the butanol-HCl method and the values obtained ranged from 4.15 CChE/g to 103.72 CChE/g. Among the various extracts studied, the acetone extract exhibited good antioxidant activity (97.13%, as determined by the DPPH method). The acetone extract was active in the absorbance value range from 2.2665 to 0.2495 (as determined by the reducing power method). The strongest antimicrobial activity was detected on G + bacteria, especially on probiotic species, and the acetone extract demonstrated the highest activity. Biofilm inhibitory concentration required to reduce biofilm coverage by 50% values for acetone extract was 4315 μg/mL for P. mirabilis and 4469.5 μg/mL for P. aeruginosa. The results provide a basis for further research of this plant species. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Activities of Dianthus Thunbergii Hooper and Hypoxis Argentea Harv Ex Baker: Plants Used for the Management of Diabetes Mellitus in Eastern Cape, South Africa.

PubMed

Akinrinde, Akinleye Stephen; Afolayan, Anthony Jide; Bradley, Graeme

2018-01-01

Inhabitants of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa use the roots of Dianthus thunbergii and corms of Hypoxis argentea to treat diabetes mellitus and other ailments. The objective of this study was to analyze the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activities of the aqueous and ethanol extracts of the roots and corms of two plants. Total phenolics, flavonoids, flavonols, proanthocyanidins, tannins, and alkaloids were determined by standard methods. The scavenging activities of the extracts against 1,1 diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), and their ferric-reducing antioxidant potentials (FRAPs) were measured. The ethanol extract of H. argentea had the highest content of phenolics (66.71 ± 2.71 mg gallic acid equivalent/g) and tannins (1.18 ± 0.07 mg TAE/g), while the ethanol extract of D. thunbergii gave higher contents of flavonoids and proanthocyanidins (62.21 ± 1.75 mg Qe/g and 432.62 ± 2.43 mg Ca/g, respectively). Flavonols were the most predominant in the aqueous extract of H. argentea (25.51 ± 1.92 mg Qe/g). We observed a concentration-dependent response in the ABTS- and H 2 O 2 -scavenging activities and FRAP values of the extracts and standards (Vitamin C, butylated hydroxytoluene, and rutin). The ethanol extracts of both plants generally demonstrated better antioxidant activities against H 2 O 2 , NO, and ABTS while also possessing better reducing power than the aqueous extracts. The aqueous extract of D. thunbergii , however, showed the best DPPH scavenging activity. The higher content of phytochemicals and antioxidant capacity obtained for the ethanol extracts of D. thunbergii and H. argentea may prove to be valuable information in selecting suitable extraction solvents for the medicinal applications of both plants. Ethanol extracts of Hypoxis argentea had the highest levels of phenolics and tanninsEthanol extracts of Dianthus thunbergii had the highest levels of flavonoids and proanthocyanidinsEthanol extracts of both plants possess better antioxidant activityagainst hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, and ABTS as well as higher reducingpower than the aqueous extractsAqueous extract of Dianthus thunbergii had the highest free radical scavenging activity as measured with DPPH. Abbreviations used: ABTS: 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid); BHT: Butylated hydroxytoluene; DPPH: 1,1 diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl; DTA: Dianthus thunbergii aqueous extract (16.6%); DTE: Dianthus thunbergii ethanol extract (2.4%); Fe 3+ -TPTZ: Ferric tripyridyltriazine; FRAP: Ferric-reducing antioxidant potentials; GAE: Gallic acid equivalent; HAA: Hypoxis argentea aqueous extract (3.2%); HAE: Hypoxis argentea ethanol extract (1.8%); Qe: Quercetin equivalence; ROS: Reactive oxygen species; TBA: Thiobarbituric acid;TCA: Trichloroacetic acid.

Information Gain Based Dimensionality Selection for Classifying Text Documents

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dumidu Wijayasekara; Milos Manic; Miles McQueen

2013-06-01

Selecting the optimal dimensions for various knowledge extraction applications is an essential component of data mining. Dimensionality selection techniques are utilized in classification applications to increase the classification accuracy and reduce the computational complexity. In text classification, where the dimensionality of the dataset is extremely high, dimensionality selection is even more important. This paper presents a novel, genetic algorithm based methodology, for dimensionality selection in text mining applications that utilizes information gain. The presented methodology uses information gain of each dimension to change the mutation probability of chromosomes dynamically. Since the information gain is calculated a priori, the computational complexitymore » is not affected. The presented method was tested on a specific text classification problem and compared with conventional genetic algorithm based dimensionality selection. The results show an improvement of 3% in the true positives and 1.6% in the true negatives over conventional dimensionality selection methods.« less

Antihyperlipidemic, Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities of Methanolic and Aqueous Extracts of Different Parts of Star Fruit.

PubMed

Saghir, Sultan A M; Sadikun, Amirin; Al-Suede, Fouad S R; Majid, Amin M S A; Murugaiyah, Vikneswaran

Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) is a well-known plant in Malaysia which bears a great significance in traditional medicine. This study aimed to evaluate the antihyperlipidemic effect, antioxidant potential and cytotoxicity of aqueous and methanolic extracts of ripe and unripe fruits, leaves and stem of A. carambola. Antihyperlipidemic activity was assessed in poloxamer-407 (P-407) induced acute hyperlipidemic rat's model. The antioxidant activity was assessed in vitro using 2, 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging, 1-diphenyl-2-dipicrylhydrazyl radical scavenging (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. In addition, cytotoxicity of A. carambola extracts was assessed using MTS assay on four leukemic cell lines (human colon cancer, human promyeloid leukemia, erythroid leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia) and one normal cell (human umbilical vein endothelial cells). Methanolic extract of leaves had the most potent antihyperlipidemic activity in P-407 model, whereby it significantly reduced serum levels of total cholesterol (P<0.01), triglycerides (P<0.01), low-density lipoprotein (P<0.05), verylow- density lipoprotein (P<0.01) and atherogenic index (P<0.01). On the other hand, methanolic extracts of A. carambola stem and leaves showed the strongest antioxidant activity. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extracts exhibited significant correlations with antioxidant but not with antihyperlipidemic activities. All plant parts showed no cytotoxic effect on the selected cancer or normal cell lines. Antihyperlipidemic activity of different parts of A. carambola is greatly affected by extraction solvents used. Methanolic extract of A. carambola leaves exhibited higher antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant potentials compared to other parts of the plant.

Direct manipulation of insect reproduction by agents of parasite origin

PubMed Central

Webb, T. J.; Hurd, H.

1999-01-01

Reproductive output of female Tenebrio molitor beetles is reduced upon infection with metacestodes of the rat tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta. We are using this as a model to investigate the adaptive significance of parasite-induced curtailment of insect reproduction. Production of the yolk protein vitellogenin (Vg) in the insect fat body is significantly reduced both in vitro and in vivo by metacestodes. Synthesis can be measured by using [14C]L-leucine incorporation, followed by immunoprecipitation. In this paper we demonstrate that a significant decrease in [14C]Vg can be produced by an acetic acid extract of the parasite. Conclusive evidence is presented that the active component(s) originate from the metacestodes: an extract of parasites grown entirely axenically has similar deleterious effects. The developmental stage of the metacestode is important: immature (stage I to II) parasites had greater capacity to suppress Vg synthesis than mature ones (stage V to VI). Examination of the chemical nature of the effector molecule(s) revealed that acetic-acid-extractable, boiling-resistant, pronase-sensitive agents in the molecular mass range 10 to 50 kDa reduced Vg synthesis by 47.4%. These data suggest that metacestodes produce a modulator molecule that directly affects insect vitellogenesis and, therefore, that reduction of host fitness may confer a selective advantage upon the parasite.

Total Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), Antioxidant Activity, and Acceptance of Synbiotic Yoghurt with Binahong Leaf Extract (Anredera cordifolia (Ten.) Steenis)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lestari, R. P.; Nissa, C.; Afifah, D. N.; Anjani, G.; Rustanti, N.

2018-02-01

Alternative treatment for metabolic syndrome can be done by providing a diet consist of functional foods or beverages. Synbiotic yoghurt containing binahong leaf extract which high in antioxidant, total LAB and fiber can be selected to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome. The effect of binahong leaf extract in synbiotic yoghurt against total LAB, antioxidant activity, and acceptance were analyzed. The experiment was done with complete randomized design with addition of binahong leaf extract 0% (control); 0.12%; 0.25%; 0.5% in synbiotic yoghurt. Analysis of total LAB using Total Plate Count test, antioxidant activity using DPPH, and acceptance were analyzed by hedonic test. The addition of binahong leaf extract in various doses in synbiotic yoghurt decreased total LAB without significant effect (p=0,145). There was no effect of addition binahong leaf extract on antioxidant activity (p=0,297). The addition of binahong leaf extract had an effect on color, but not on aroma, texture and taste. The best result was yoghurt synbiotic with addition of 0,12% binahong leaf extract. Conclusion of the research was the addition of binahong leaf extract to synbiotic yogurt did not significantly affect total LAB, antioxidant activity, aroma, texture and taste; but had a significant effect on color.

Pretreatment Solution for Water Recovery Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muirhead, Dean (Inventor)

2018-01-01

Chemical pretreatments are used to produce usable water by treating a water source with a chemical pretreatment that contains a hexavalent chromium and an acid to generate a treated water source, wherein the concentration of sulfate compounds in the acid is negligible, and wherein the treated water source remains substantially free of precipitates after the addition of the chemical pretreatment. Other methods include reducing the pH in urine to be distilled for potable water extraction by pretreating the urine before distillation with a pretreatment solution comprising one or more acid sources selected from a group consisting of phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, and nitric acid, wherein the urine remains substantially precipitate free after the addition of the pretreatment solution. Another method described comprises a process for reducing precipitation in urine to be processed for water extraction by mixing the urine with a pretreatment solution comprising hexavalent chromium compound and phosphoric acid.

In Vitro and In Vivo Antidiabetic Evaluation of Selected Culinary-Medicinal Mushrooms (Agaricomycetes).

PubMed

Singh, Varinder; Bedi, Gurleen Kaur; Shri, Richa

2017-01-01

Management of type 2 diabetes by delaying or preventing glucose absorption using natural products is gaining significant attention. Edible mushrooms are well documented for their nutritional and medicinal properties. This investigation was designed to evaluate the antidiabetic activity of aqueous extracts of selected culinary-medicinal mushrooms, namely, Pleurotus ostreatus, Calocybe indica, and Volvariella volvacea, using in vitro models (α-amylase inhibition assay, glucose uptake by yeast cells, and glucose adsorption capacity). The most active extract was subsequently examined in vivo using the oral starch tolerance test in mice. All prepared extracts showed dose-dependent inhibition of α-amylase and an increase in glucose transport across yeast cells. C. indica extract was the most active α-amylase inhibitor (half-maximal inhibitory concentration, 18.07 ± 0.75 mg/mL) and exhibited maximum glucose uptake by yeast cells (77.53 ± 0.97% at 35 mg/mL). All extracts demonstrated weak glucose adsorption ability. The positive in vitro tests for C. indica paved the way for in vivo studies. C. indica extract (200 and 400 mg/kg) significantly (P < 0.05) reduced postprandial blood glucose peaks in mice challenged with starch. The extract (400 mg/kg) and acarbose normalized blood glucose levels at 180 minutes, when they were statistically similar to values in normal mice. Thus, it may be concluded that the antidiabetic effect of C. indica is mediated by inhibition of starch metabolism (α-amylase inhibition), increased glucose uptake by peripheral cells (promotion of glucose uptake by yeast cells), and mild entrapment (adsorption) of glucose. Hence, C. indica can be developed as antidiabetic drug after detailed pharmacological studies.

A Transform-Based Feature Extraction Approach for Motor Imagery Tasks Classification

PubMed Central

Khorshidtalab, Aida; Mesbah, Mostefa; Salami, Momoh J. E.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present a new motor imagery classification method in the context of electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI). This method uses a signal-dependent orthogonal transform, referred to as linear prediction singular value decomposition (LP-SVD), for feature extraction. The transform defines the mapping as the left singular vectors of the LP coefficient filter impulse response matrix. Using a logistic tree-based model classifier; the extracted features are classified into one of four motor imagery movements. The proposed approach was first benchmarked against two related state-of-the-art feature extraction approaches, namely, discrete cosine transform (DCT) and adaptive autoregressive (AAR)-based methods. By achieving an accuracy of 67.35%, the LP-SVD approach outperformed the other approaches by large margins (25% compared with DCT and 6 % compared with AAR-based methods). To further improve the discriminatory capability of the extracted features and reduce the computational complexity, we enlarged the extracted feature subset by incorporating two extra features, namely, Q- and the Hotelling’s \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document} }{}$T^{2}$ \\end{document} statistics of the transformed EEG and introduced a new EEG channel selection method. The performance of the EEG classification based on the expanded feature set and channel selection method was compared with that of a number of the state-of-the-art classification methods previously reported with the BCI IIIa competition data set. Our method came second with an average accuracy of 81.38%. PMID:27170898

Selective and sensitive speciation analysis of Cr(VI) and Cr(III), at sub-μgL-1 levels in water samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry after electromembrane extraction.

PubMed

Tahmasebi, Zeinab; Davarani, Saied Saeed Hosseiny

2016-12-01

In this work, electromembrane extraction in combination with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS) was investigated for speciation, preconcentration and quantification of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) in water samples through the selective complexation of Cr(VI) with 1,5-diphenylcarbazide (DPC) as a complexing agent. DPC reduces Cr(VI) to Cr(III) ions and then Cr(III) species are extracted based on electrokinetic migration of their cationic complex (Cr(III)-DPC) toward the negative electrode placed in the hollow fiber. Also, once oxidized to Cr(VI), Cr(III) ions in initial sample were determined by this procedure. The influence of extraction parameters such as pH, type of organic solvent, chelating agent concentration, stirring rate, extraction time and applied voltage were evaluated following a one-at-a-time optimization approach. Under optimized conditions, the extracted analyte was quantified by ETAAS, with an acceptable linearity in the range of 0.05-5ngmL -1 (R 2 value=0.996), and a repeatability (%RSD) between 3.7% and 12.2% (n=4) for 5.0 and 1.0ngmL -1 of Cr(VI), respectively. Also, we obtained an enrichment factor of 110 that corresponded to the recovery of 66%. The detection limit (S/N ratio of 3:1) was 0.02ngmL -1 . Finally, this new method was successfully employed to determine Cr(III) and Cr(VI) species in real water samples. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Selective Extraction and Purification of Azaspiracids from Blue Mussels ( Mytilus edulis) Using Boric Acid Gel.

PubMed

Miles, Christopher O; Kilcoyne, Jane; McCarron, Pearse; Giddings, Sabrina D; Waaler, Thor; Rundberget, Thomas; Samdal, Ingunn A; Løvberg, Kjersti E

2018-03-21

Azaspiracids belong to a family of more than 50 polyether toxins originating from marine dinoflagellates such as Azadinium spinosum. All of the azaspiracids reported thus far contain a 21,22-dihydroxy group. Boric acid gel can bind selectively to compounds containing vic-diols or α-hydroxycarboxylic acids via formation of reversible boronate complexes. Here we report use of the gel to selectively capture and release azaspiracids from extracts of blue mussels. Analysis of the extracts and fractions by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) showed that this procedure resulted in an excellent cleanup of the azaspiracids in the extract. Analysis by enzyme-linked immunoasorbent assay (ELISA) and LC-MS indicated that most azaspiracid analogues were recovered in good yield by this procedure. The capacity of boric acid gel for azaspiracids was at least 50 μg/g, making this procedure suitable for use in the early stages of preparative purification of azaspiracids. In addition to its potential for concentration of dilute samples, the extensive cleanup provided by boric acid gel fractionation of azaspiracids in mussel samples almost eliminated matrix effects during subsequent LC-MS and could be expected to reduce matrix effects during ELISA analysis. The method may therefore prove useful for quantitative analysis of azaspiracids as part of monitoring programs. Although LC-MS data showed that okadaic acid analogues also bound to the gel, this was much less efficient than for azaspiracids under the conditions used. The boric acid gel methodology is potentially applicable to other important groups of natural toxins containing diols including ciguatoxins, palytoxins, pectenotoxins, tetrodotoxin, trichothecenes, and toxin glycosides.

Pseudomonas oleovorans strain KBPF-004 culture supernatants reduced seed transmission of Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus and Pepper mild mottle virus, and remodeled aggregation of 126 kDa and subcellular localization......

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Efforts to control viral diseases in crop production include several types of physical or chemical treatments; antiviral extracts from a number of plants have also been examined to inhibit plant viral infection. However, treatments utilizing naturally selected microorganisms with activity against pl...

Is protective equipment useful in preventing concussion? A systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Benson, B W; Hamilton, G M; Meeuwisse, W H; McCrory, P; Dvorak, J

2009-05-01

To determine if there is evidence that equipment use reduces sport concussion risk and/or severity. 12 electronic databases were searched using a combination of Medical Subject Headings and text words to identify relevant articles. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to select studies for review. Data extracted included design, study population, exposure/outcome measures and results. The quality of evidence was assessed based on epidemiologic criteria regarding internal and external validity (ie, strength of design, sample size/power calculation, selection bias, misclassification bias, control of potential confounding and effect modification). In total, 51 studies were selected for review. A comparison between studies was difficult due to the variability in research designs, definition of concussion, mouthguard/helmet/headgear/face shield types, measurements used to assess exposure and outcomes, and variety of sports assessed. The majority of studies were observational, with 23 analytical epidemiologic designs related to the subject area. Selection bias was a concern in the reviewed studies, as was the lack of measurement and control for potentially confounding variables. There is evidence that helmet use reduces head injury risk in skiing, snowboarding and bicycling, but the effect on concussion risk is inconclusive. No strong evidence exists for the use of mouthguards or face shields to reduce concussion risk. Evidence is provided to suggest that full facial protection in ice hockey may reduce concussion severity, as measured by time loss from competition.

Selective Extraction of Flavonoids from Sophora flavescens Ait. by Mechanochemistry.

PubMed

Zhang, Qihong; Yu, Jingbo; Wang, Yingyao; Su, Weike

2016-07-29

Flavonoids from Sophora flavescens were selectively extracted by mechanochemical-promoted extraction technology (MPET) after using response surface methodology to determine the optimal extraction parameters. The highest yield of 35.17 mg/g was achieved by grinding the roots with Na₂CO₃ (15%) at 440 rpm/min for 17.0 min and water was used as the sole solvent with a ratio of solvent to solid material of 25 mL/g. Flavonoids prepared by MPET demonstrated relatively higher antioxidant activities in subsequent DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays. Main constituents in the extracts, including kurarinol, kushenol I/N and kurarinone, were characterized by HPLC-MS/MS, indicating good selective extraction by MPET. Physicochemical property changes of powder during mechanochemical milling were identified by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and UV-Vis diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy. Compared with traditional extraction methods, MPET possesses notable advantages of higher selectivity, lower extraction temperature, shorter extraction time, and organic solvent free properties.

Selective separation of trivalent f-ions using 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxamide ligands in ionic liquids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dehaudt, Jeremy; Williams, Neil J.; Shkrob, Ilya A.

1,10-Phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxamide complexants decorated with alkyl chains and imidazolium cations have been studied for extraction of trivalent f-ions into imidazolium ionic liquids. The dicationic complexants are shown to extract Am over Eu with separation factors > 50 and high extraction efficiencies. Lastly, the different size selectivities for lanthanide ions were observed for these two types of the complexants, highlighting the importance of the positive charge in controlling both extraction efficiencies and extraction selectivities.

Selective separation of trivalent f-ions using 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxamide ligands in ionic liquids

DOE PAGES

Dehaudt, Jeremy; Williams, Neil J.; Shkrob, Ilya A.; ...

2016-06-13

1,10-Phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxamide complexants decorated with alkyl chains and imidazolium cations have been studied for extraction of trivalent f-ions into imidazolium ionic liquids. The dicationic complexants are shown to extract Am over Eu with separation factors > 50 and high extraction efficiencies. Lastly, the different size selectivities for lanthanide ions were observed for these two types of the complexants, highlighting the importance of the positive charge in controlling both extraction efficiencies and extraction selectivities.

Parallel optimization of signal detection in active magnetospheric signal injection experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gowanlock, Michael; Li, Justin D.; Rude, Cody M.; Pankratius, Victor

2018-05-01

Signal detection and extraction requires substantial manual parameter tuning at different stages in the processing pipeline. Time-series data depends on domain-specific signal properties, necessitating unique parameter selection for a given problem. The large potential search space makes this parameter selection process time-consuming and subject to variability. We introduce a technique to search and prune such parameter search spaces in parallel and select parameters for time series filters using breadth- and depth-first search strategies to increase the likelihood of detecting signals of interest in the field of magnetospheric physics. We focus on studying geomagnetic activity in the extremely and very low frequency ranges (ELF/VLF) using ELF/VLF transmissions from Siple Station, Antarctica, received at Québec, Canada. Our technique successfully detects amplified transmissions and achieves substantial speedup performance gains as compared to an exhaustive parameter search. We present examples where our algorithmic approach reduces the search from hundreds of seconds down to less than 1 s, with a ranked signal detection in the top 99th percentile, thus making it valuable for real-time monitoring. We also present empirical performance models quantifying the trade-off between the quality of signal recovered and the algorithm response time required for signal extraction. In the future, improved signal extraction in scenarios like the Siple experiment will enable better real-time diagnostics of conditions of the Earth's magnetosphere for monitoring space weather activity.

In vitro anti-HIV and antioxidant activity of Hoodia gordonii (Apocynaceae), a commercial plant product.

PubMed

Kapewangolo, Petrina; Knott, Michael; Shithigona, Regina E K; Uusiku, Sylvia L; Kandawa-Schulz, Martha

2016-10-24

Hoodia gordonii products are widely commercialized for anti-obesity purposes; however, minimal research is available on the other health properties demonstrated by this popular herbal plant. H. gordonii crude extracts (ethanol and ethyl acetate) were assayed for in vitro anti-HIV-1 protease (PR), reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase activity. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and reducing power assays were used for the antioxidant analysis. In addition, qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analyses of the extracts were determined using standard methods. H. gordonii extract demonstrated good inhibition against HIV RT with IC 50 values of 73.55 ± 0.04 and 69.81 ± 9.45 μg/mL for ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts, respectively. Both extracts also demonstrated inhibitory activity against HIV PR with IC 50 values of 97.29 ± 0.01 and 63.76 ± 9.01 μg/mL for ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts. In addition, H. gordonii also showed good antioxidant activity with IC 50 values of 124.6 ± 11.3 and 126.2 ± 3.15 μg/mL obtained for ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts, respectively. The reducing power of H. gordonii extracts increased as the concentration increased which confirmed the presence of antioxidants (reductants) in the extracts. Phytochemical screening of H. gordonii revealed the presence of phenolics, alkaloids, terpenes, steroids, cardiac glycosides and tannins in the ethanolic extract, while the ethyl acetate extract only showed the presence of phenolics, cardiac glycosides and steroids. The total phenolic content was 420 ± 0.17 and 319.9 ± 0.2 mg GAE/g for the ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts, respectively. The ethanol extract, which revealed the presence of tannins, had a tannin content of 330 ± 0.2 mg TAE/g extract. This data suggests that H. gordonii has good in vitro inhibition against selected HIV-1 enzymes as well as antioxidant properties, suggesting new potential uses for this commercial plant.

Phytochemical screening, anti-oxidant activity and in vitro anticancer potential of ethanolic and water leaves extracts of Annona muricata (Graviola).

PubMed

Gavamukulya, Yahaya; Abou-Elella, Faten; Wamunyokoli, Fred; AEl-Shemy, Hany

2014-09-01

To determine the phytochemical composition, antioxidant and anticancer activities of ethanolic and water leaves extracts of Annona muricata (A. muricata) from the Eastern Uganda. Phytochemical screening was conducted using standard qualitative methods and a Chi-square goodness of fit test was used to assign the relative abundance of the different phytochemicals. The antioxidant activity was determined using the 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and reducing power methods whereas the in vitro anticancer activity was determined using three different cell lines. Phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed that they were rich in secondary class metabolite compounds such as alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids, coumarins and lactones, anthraquinones, tannins, cardiac glycosides, phenols and phytosterols. Total phenolics in the water extract were (683.69±0.09) μg/mL gallic acid equivalents (GAE) while it was (372.92±0.15) μg/mL GAE in the ethanolic extract. The reducing power was 216.41 μg/mL in the water extract and 470.51 μg/mL GAE in the ethanolic extract. In vitro antioxidant activity IC50 was 2.0456 mg/mL and 0.9077 mg/mL for ethanolic and water leaves extracts of A. muricata respectively. The ethanolic leaves extract was found to be selectively cytotoxic in vitro to tumor cell lines (EACC, MDA and SKBR3) with IC50 values of 335.85 μg/mL, 248.77 μg/mL, 202.33 μg/mL respectively, while it had no cytotoxic effect on normal spleen cells. The data also showed that water leaves extract of A. muricata had no anticancer effect at all tested concentrations. The results showed that A. muricata was a promising new antioxidant and anticancer agent. Copyright © 2014 Hainan Medical College. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mammogram classification scheme using 2D-discrete wavelet and local binary pattern for detection of breast cancer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adi Putra, Januar

2018-04-01

In this paper, we propose a new mammogram classification scheme to classify the breast tissues as normal or abnormal. Feature matrix is generated using Local Binary Pattern to all the detailed coefficients from 2D-DWT of the region of interest (ROI) of a mammogram. Feature selection is done by selecting the relevant features that affect the classification. Feature selection is used to reduce the dimensionality of data and features that are not relevant, in this paper the F-test and Ttest will be performed to the results of the feature extraction dataset to reduce and select the relevant feature. The best features are used in a Neural Network classifier for classification. In this research we use MIAS and DDSM database. In addition to the suggested scheme, the competent schemes are also simulated for comparative analysis. It is observed that the proposed scheme has a better say with respect to accuracy, specificity and sensitivity. Based on experiments, the performance of the proposed scheme can produce high accuracy that is 92.71%, while the lowest accuracy obtained is 77.08%.

Antileishmanial Potential of Tropical Rainforest Plant Extracts

PubMed Central

Monzote, Lianet; Piñón, Abel; Setzer, William N.

2014-01-01

A total of 115 different plant extracts from our collection, representing 96 plant species, have been evaluated for in vitro antileishmanial activity against L. amazonensis promastigotes. In addition, the extracts were screened for cytotoxic activity against BALB/c mouse macrophages in order to assess a selectivity index. Crude extracts that showed a selectivity index (CC50 for macrophage / IC50 for promastigotes) ≥ 5 or with IC50 < 12.5 μg/mL against promastigotes, a total of 28 extracts, were further screened for anti-amastigote activity. A total of 25 extracts showed promising activity against L. amazonensis promastigotes with low cytotoxic activity. Ten of these extracts showed selectivity indices, (CC50 for macrophages / IC50 for amastigotes) greater than 10 and are considered “hits”, worthy candidates for further phytochemical exploration: Conostegia xalapensis methanol bark extract, Endiandra palmerstonii bark extract, Eugenia monteverdensis acetone bark extract, Eugenia sp. “fine leaf” acetone bark extract, Exothea paniculata chloroform bark extract, Mallotus paniculatus ethanol bark extract, Matelea pseudobarbata ethanol extract, Quercus insignis ethanol bark extract, Sassafras albidum dichloromethane bark extract, and Stemmadenia donnell-smithii acetone bark extract. PMID:28933376

[Effective interventions to reduce absenteeism among hospital nurses].

PubMed

Blanca-Gutiérrez, Joaquín Jesús; Jiménez-Díaz, María del Carmen; Escalera-Franco, Luis Felipe

2013-01-01

To select and summarize the interventions that have proved effective in reducing absenteeism among hospital nurses. A scoping review was conducted through a literature search using Medline, Web of Science, Cinahl, Embase, Lilacs, Cuiden and Cochrane Library Plus databases. Of a total of 361 articles extracted, 15 were finally selected for this review. The implementation of multifaceted support or physical training programs can produce positive results in terms of reducing absenteeism among hospital nurses. Cognitive-behavioral type interventions require studies with larger samples to provide conclusive results. Establishing more flexible working shifts may also reduce absenteeism rates, although again studies with larger samples are needed. Programs aimed at managing change developed by nurses themselves, participatory management of professional relations, the support provided by supervisors who are opposed to hierarchical leadership styles, and wage supplements that reward the lack of absence can also reduce these types of indicators. Absenteeism can be considered as a final result and a consequence of the level of job satisfaction. The effectiveness of interventions to reduce absenteeism among hospital nurses will no doubt largely depend on the ability of these interventions to increase the job satisfaction of these workers. Copyright © 2012 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

In vitro screening of selected feed additives, plant essential oils and plant extracts for rumen methane mitigation.

PubMed

Durmic, Zoey; Moate, Peter J; Eckard, Richard; Revell, Dean K; Williams, Richard; Vercoe, Philip E

2014-04-01

Ruminants produce large quantities of methane in their rumen as a by-product of microbial digestion of feed. Antibiotics are added to ruminant feed to reduce wasteful production of methane; however, this practice has some downsides. A search for safer and natural feed additives with anti-methanogenic properties is under way. The objective of this research was to examine selected feed additives, plant essential oils and plant extracts for their anti-methanogenic potential in the rumen using an in vitro batch fermentation system. A significant reduction (P < 0.05) in methane production was observed with nine feed additives (up to 40% reduction), all eight essential oils (up to 75% reduction) and two plant extracts (14% reduction) when compared to their respective controls. Amongst these, only an algal meal high in docosahexaenoic acid, preparations of Nannochloropsis oculata, calcareous marine algae, yeast metabolites and two tannins did not inhibit microbial gas and volatile acid production. The current study identified some potent dietary ingredients or plant compounds that can assist in developing novel feed additives for methane mitigation from the rumen. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Fuzzy Nonlinear Proximal Support Vector Machine for Land Extraction Based on Remote Sensing Image

PubMed Central

Zhong, Xiaomei; Li, Jianping; Dou, Huacheng; Deng, Shijun; Wang, Guofei; Jiang, Yu; Wang, Yongjie; Zhou, Zebing; Wang, Li; Yan, Fei

2013-01-01

Currently, remote sensing technologies were widely employed in the dynamic monitoring of the land. This paper presented an algorithm named fuzzy nonlinear proximal support vector machine (FNPSVM) by basing on ETM+ remote sensing image. This algorithm is applied to extract various types of lands of the city Da’an in northern China. Two multi-category strategies, namely “one-against-one” and “one-against-rest” for this algorithm were described in detail and then compared. A fuzzy membership function was presented to reduce the effects of noises or outliers on the data samples. The approaches of feature extraction, feature selection, and several key parameter settings were also given. Numerous experiments were carried out to evaluate its performances including various accuracies (overall accuracies and kappa coefficient), stability, training speed, and classification speed. The FNPSVM classifier was compared to the other three classifiers including the maximum likelihood classifier (MLC), back propagation neural network (BPN), and the proximal support vector machine (PSVM) under different training conditions. The impacts of the selection of training samples, testing samples and features on the four classifiers were also evaluated in these experiments. PMID:23936016

Ionic liquid-based microwave-assisted extraction of essential oil and biphenyl cyclooctene lignans from Schisandra chinensis Baill fruits.

PubMed

Ma, Chun-hui; Liu, Ting-ting; Yang, Lei; Zu, Yuan-gang; Chen, Xiaoqiang; Zhang, Lin; Zhang, Ying; Zhao, Chunjian

2011-12-02

Ionic liquid-based microwave-assisted extraction (ILMAE) has been successfully applied in extracting essential oil and four kinds of biphenyl cyclooctene lignans from Schisandra chinensis Baill. 0.25 M 1-lauryl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ionic liquid is selected as solvent. The optimum parameters of dealing with 25.0 g sample are 385 W irradiation power, 40 min microwave extraction time and 1:12 solid-liquid ratio. The yields of essential oil and lignans are 12.12±0.37 ml/kg and 250.2±38.2 mg/kg under the optimum conditions. The composition of the essential oil extracted by hydro-distillation, steam-distillation and ILMAE is analyzed by GC-MS. With ILMAE method, the energy consumption time has not only been shortened to 40 min (hydro-distillation 3.0 h for extracting essential oil and reflux extraction 4.0 h for extracting lignans, respectively), but also the extraction efficiency has been improved (extraction of lignans and distillation of essential oil at the same time) and reduces the environmental pollution. S. chinensis materials treated by different methods are observed by scanning electronic microscopy. Micrographs provide more evidence to prove that ILMAE is a better and faster method. The experimental results also indicate that ILMAE is a simple and efficient technique for sample preparation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

C-phycocyanin extraction assisted by pulsed electric field from Artrosphira platensis.

PubMed

Martínez, Juan Manuel; Luengo, Elisa; Saldaña, Guillermo; Álvarez, Ignacio; Raso, Javier

2017-09-01

This paper assesses the application of pulsed electric fields (PEF) to the fresh biomass of Artrhospira platensis in order to enhance the extraction of C-phycocyanin into aqueous media. Electroporation of A. platensis depended on both electric field strength and treatment duration. The minimum electric field intensity for detecting C-phycocyanin in the extraction medium was 15kV/cm after the application of a treatment time 150μs (50 pulses of 3μs). However higher electric field strength were required when shorter treatment times were applied. Response surface methodology was used in order to investigate the influence of electric field strength (15-25kV/cm), treatment time (60-150μs), and temperature of application of PEF (10-40°C) on C-phycocyanin extraction yield (PEY). The increment of the temperature PEF treatment reduced the electric field strength and the treatment time required to obtain a given PEY and, consequently decreased the total specific energy delivered by the treatment. For example, the increment of temperature from 10°C to 40°C permitted to reduce the electric field strength required to extract 100mg/g d w of C-phycocyanin from 25 to 18kV/cm, and the specific energy input from 106.7 to 67.5kJ/Kg. Results obtained in this investigation demonstrated PEF's potential for selectively extraction C-phycocyanin from fresh A. platensis biomass. The purity of the C-phycocyanin extract obtained from the electroporated cells was higher than that obtained using other techniques based on the cell complete destruction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of polyphenol-rich extract from berries of Aronia melanocarpa on the markers of oxidative stress and blood platelet activation.

PubMed

Olas, Beata; Kedzierska, Magdalena; Wachowicz, Barbara; Stochmal, Anna; Oleszek, Wieslaw

2010-01-01

Bioactive substances found in numerous foods can be successfully and safely used to modify various cellular functions and affect the oxidative stress. Aronia melanocarpa fruits (Rosaceae) are one of the richest plant sources of phenolic substances shown to have anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antioxidative and antiplatelet activities. We investigated antioxidant properties of the extract from berries of A. melanocarpa by the estimation of the selected and other biomarkers of oxidative stress, i.e. the level of 8-epi-prostaglandin F(2) (8-EPI) (by immunoassay kit) and the amount of glutathione (by HPLC method) in control platelets and platelets treated with H(2)O(2). The expression of alpha(IIb)beta(3) (a marker of platelet activation) was measured by flow cytometer. The antioxidative and antiplatelet properties of the tested extract were also compared with the action of a well characterized antioxidative and antiplatelet commercial monomeric polyphenol-resveratrol. The extract from berries of A. melanocarpa (at the highest tested concentration -100 microg/ml) decreased the production of 8-EPI (a marker of lipid peroxidation) in control blood platelets and platelets treated with H(2)O(2) (2 mM). A combined action of the tested plant extract and H(2)O(2) evoked a significant increase of reduced form of glutathione in platelets compared with cells treated with H(2)O(2) only. Moreover, the tested plant extract (at the highest used concentration -100 microg/ml) reduced the expression of alpha(IIb)beta(3) on blood platelets. Comparative studies indicate that the tested plant extract was found to be more reactive in blood platelets than the solution of pure resveratrol.

Improving the performance of univariate control charts for abnormal detection and classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yiakopoulos, Christos; Koutsoudaki, Maria; Gryllias, Konstantinos; Antoniadis, Ioannis

2017-03-01

Bearing failures in rotating machinery can cause machine breakdown and economical loss, if no effective actions are taken on time. Therefore, it is of prime importance to detect accurately the presence of faults, especially at their early stage, to prevent sequent damage and reduce costly downtime. The machinery fault diagnosis follows a roadmap of data acquisition, feature extraction and diagnostic decision making, in which mechanical vibration fault feature extraction is the foundation and the key to obtain an accurate diagnostic result. A challenge in this area is the selection of the most sensitive features for various types of fault, especially when the characteristics of failures are difficult to be extracted. Thus, a plethora of complex data-driven fault diagnosis methods are fed by prominent features, which are extracted and reduced through traditional or modern algorithms. Since most of the available datasets are captured during normal operating conditions, the last decade a number of novelty detection methods, able to work when only normal data are available, have been developed. In this study, a hybrid method combining univariate control charts and a feature extraction scheme is introduced focusing towards an abnormal change detection and classification, under the assumption that measurements under normal operating conditions of the machinery are available. The feature extraction method integrates the morphological operators and the Morlet wavelets. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is validated on two different experimental cases with bearing faults, demonstrating that the proposed approach can improve the fault detection and classification performance of conventional control charts.

Aqueous and Ethanolic Valeriana officinalis Extracts Change the Binding of Ligands to Glutamate Receptors

PubMed Central

Del Valle-Mojica, Lisa M.; Cordero-Hernández, José M.; González-Medina, Giselle; Ramos-Vélez, Igmeris; Berríos-Cartagena, Nairimer; Torres-Hernández, Bianca A.; Ortíz, José G.

2011-01-01

The effects of two valerian extracts (aqueous and hydroalcoholic) were investigated through [3H]Glutamate ([3H]Glu) and [3H]Fluorowillardine ([3H]FW) receptor binding assays using rat synaptic membranes in presence of different receptor ligands. In addition, the extract stability was monitored spectrophotometrically. Both extracts demonstrated interaction with ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). However, the extracts displayed considerable differences in receptor selectivity. The hydroalcoholic extract selectively interacted with quisqualic acid (QA), group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) ligand, while the aqueous extract did not alter the binding of QA. The stability of the extracts was examined during several weeks. Freshly prepared extract inhibited 38–60% of [3H]FW binding (AMPA). After 10 days, the aqueous extract inhibited 85% of [3H]FW binding while the hydroalcoholic extract markedly potentiated (200%) [3H]FW binding to AMPA receptors. Thus, our results showed that factors such as extraction solvent and extract stability determine the selectivity for glutamate receptor (GluR) interactions. PMID:21151614

Aqueous and Ethanolic Valeriana officinalis Extracts Change the Binding of Ligands to Glutamate Receptors.

PubMed

Del Valle-Mojica, Lisa M; Cordero-Hernández, José M; González-Medina, Giselle; Ramos-Vélez, Igmeris; Berríos-Cartagena, Nairimer; Torres-Hernández, Bianca A; Ortíz, José G

2011-01-01

The effects of two valerian extracts (aqueous and hydroalcoholic) were investigated through [(3)H]Glutamate ([(3)H]Glu) and [(3)H]Fluorowillardine ([(3)H]FW) receptor binding assays using rat synaptic membranes in presence of different receptor ligands. In addition, the extract stability was monitored spectrophotometrically. Both extracts demonstrated interaction with ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). However, the extracts displayed considerable differences in receptor selectivity. The hydroalcoholic extract selectively interacted with quisqualic acid (QA), group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) ligand, while the aqueous extract did not alter the binding of QA. The stability of the extracts was examined during several weeks. Freshly prepared extract inhibited 38-60% of [(3)H]FW binding (AMPA). After 10 days, the aqueous extract inhibited 85% of [(3)H]FW binding while the hydroalcoholic extract markedly potentiated (200%) [(3)H]FW binding to AMPA receptors. Thus, our results showed that factors such as extraction solvent and extract stability determine the selectivity for glutamate receptor (GluR) interactions.

Isolation, Separation, and Preconcentration of Biologically Active Compounds from Plant Matrices by Extraction Techniques.

PubMed

Raks, Victoria; Al-Suod, Hossam; Buszewski, Bogusław

2018-01-01

Development of efficient methods for isolation and separation of biologically active compounds remains an important challenge for researchers. Designing systems such as organomineral composite materials that allow extraction of a wide range of biologically active compounds, acting as broad-utility solid-phase extraction agents, remains an important and necessary task. Selective sorbents can be easily used for highly selective and reliable extraction of specific components present in complex matrices. Herein, state-of-the-art approaches for selective isolation, preconcentration, and separation of biologically active compounds from a range of matrices are discussed. Primary focus is given to novel extraction methods for some biologically active compounds including cyclic polyols, flavonoids, and oligosaccharides from plants. In addition, application of silica-, carbon-, and polymer-based solid-phase extraction adsorbents and membrane extraction for selective separation of these compounds is discussed. Potential separation process interactions are recommended; their understanding is of utmost importance for the creation of optimal conditions to extract biologically active compounds including those with estrogenic properties.

Capric Acid Secreted by S. boulardii Inhibits C. albicans Filamentous Growth, Adhesion and Biofilm Formation

PubMed Central

Murzyn, Anna; Krasowska, Anna; Stefanowicz, Piotr; Dziadkowiec, Dorota; Łukaszewicz, Marcin

2010-01-01

Candidiasis are life-threatening systemic fungal diseases, especially of gastro intestinal track, skin and mucous membranes lining various body cavities like the nostrils, the mouth, the lips, the eyelids, the ears or the genital area. Due to increasing resistance of candidiasis to existing drugs, it is very important to look for new strategies helping the treatment of such fungal diseases. One promising strategy is the use of the probiotic microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit. Such a probiotic microorganism is yeast Saccharomyces boulardii, a close relative of baker yeast. Saccharomyces boulardii cells and their extract affect the virulence factors of the important human fungal pathogen C. albicans, its hyphae formation, adhesion and biofilm development. Extract prepared from S. boulardii culture filtrate was fractionated and GC-MS analysis showed that the active fraction contained, apart from 2-phenylethanol, caproic, caprylic and capric acid whose presence was confirmed by ESI-MS analysis. Biological activity was tested on C. albicans using extract and pure identified compounds. Our study demonstrated that this probiotic yeast secretes into the medium active compounds reducing candidal virulence factors. The chief compound inhibiting filamentous C. albicans growth comparably to S. boulardii extract was capric acid, which is thus responsible for inhibition of hyphae formation. It also reduced candidal adhesion and biofilm formation, though three times less than the extract, which thus contains other factors suppressing C. albicans adherence. The expression profile of selected genes associated with C. albicans virulence by real-time PCR showed a reduced expression of HWP1, INO1 and CSH1 genes in C. albicans cells treated with capric acid and S. boulardii extract. Hence capric acid secreted by S. boulardii is responsible for inhibition of C. albicans filamentation and partially also adhesion and biofilm formation. PMID:20706577

In vitro and in vivo anti-allergic effects of Arctium lappa L.

PubMed

Knipping, Karen; van Esch, Elisabeth C A M; Wijering, Selva C; van der Heide, Sicco; Dubois, Anthony E; Garssen, Johan

2008-11-01

The discovery of drugs that can be used for the treatment of allergic disease is important in human health. Arctium lappa Linne (Compositae) (AL) has been used as a traditional medicine in Brazil and throughout Asia and is known to have an anti-inflammatory effect. In this study, the inhibitory effects of AL on degranulation and the release of mediators as well as on inhibition of cys-leukotriene biosynthesis by basophils were investigated. AL was selected out of 10,000 herbal extracts in a set-up for high throughput screening in which the degree of degranulation was monitored by the release of beta-hexosaminidase from rat basophil leukemia (RBL-2H3) cells. The AL extract significantly reduced degranulation and biosynthesis of cys-leukotrienes of human basophils in peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells (PBMCs) (50% inhibitory concentration [IC(50)] = 8.3 and 11.4 microg/ml, respectively). Viability and metabolic activity of the PBMCs were not affected. Although arctiin, the active component of AL that has been described in the literature, was not able to reduce degranulation in RBL-2H3 cells, a single high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fraction from the AL extract inhibited beta-hexosaminidase release (IC(50) = 22.2 microg/ml). Topical administration of an aqueous extract of AL (5 mg/ear) on the ear of whey-sensitized mice 4 hrs before challenge with whey in the ear inhibited acute ear swelling by 50% in an in vivo cow's milk allergic model. The extract had no effect in this model when administered orally. In conclusion, the active component present in the active HPLC fraction of the AL extract was able to significantly reduce the release of inflammatory mediators through inhibition of degranulation and cys-leukotriene release in vitro. In addition, this active component was able to inhibit acute skin response in mice in vivo, indicating that AL is a very promising natural component for use in anti-allergic treatment.

Green corrosion inhibition of mild steel to aqueous sulfuric acid by the extract of Corchorus olitorius stems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gobara, Mohamed; Zaghloul, Basem; Baraka, Ahmad; Elsayed, Mohamed; Zorainy, Mahmoud; Mokhtar Kotb, Mohamed; Elnabarawy, Hany

2017-04-01

Extract of Corchorus olitorius stems (ECS) was used as a green inhibitor for the inhibition of mild steel corrosion in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. GC/MS was used for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the extract. The corrosion performance of the extract was evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarization and weight loss. The results showed that ECS is a mixed-type inhibitor which reduces both anodic and cathodic reactions and the inhibition efficiency was reached up to 93%. Adsorption isotherm data was recorded at different temperatures and analyzed by selected adsorption isotherm models to reveal characteristics of inhibition. Thermodynamic calculations showed that the inhibition efficiency increases with increasing inhibitor concentration, and decreases with increasing temperature. Adsorption of ECS on the mild steel surface was found to be spontaneous and exothermic. Adsorption is suggested to be physisorption according to El-Awady isotherm model. Also, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the surface morphology to confirm the corrosion results.

Glacier Frontal Line Extraction from SENTINEL-1 SAR Imagery in Prydz Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, F.; Wang, Z.; Zhang, S.; Zhang, Y.

2018-04-01

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can provide all-day and all-night observation of the earth in all-weather conditions with high resolution, and it is widely used in polar research including sea ice, sea shelf, as well as the glaciers. For glaciers monitoring, the frontal position of a calving glacier at different moments of time is of great importance, which indicates the estimation of the calving rate and flux of the glaciers. In this abstract, an automatic algorithm for glacier frontal extraction using time series Sentinel-1 SAR imagery is proposed. The technique transforms the amplitude imagery of Sentinel-1 SAR into a binary map using SO-CFAR method, and then frontal points are extracted using profile method which reduces the 2D binary map to 1D binary profiles, the final frontal position of a calving glacier is the optimal profile selected from the different average segmented profiles. The experiment proves that the detection algorithm for SAR data can automatically extract the frontal position of glacier with high efficiency.

Effect of Encapsulation on Antimicrobial Activity of
Herbal Extracts with Lysozyme

PubMed Central

Matouskova, Petra; Bokrova, Jitka; Benesova, Pavla

2016-01-01

Summary Resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics has increased. The use of natural components with antimicrobial properties can be of great significance to reduce this problem. The presented work is focused on the study of the effect of encapsulation of selected plant and animal antimicrobial substances (herbs, spices, lysozyme and nisin) on their activity and stability. Antimicrobial components were packaged into liposomes and polysaccharide particles (alginate, chitosan and starch). Antimicrobial activity was tested against two Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus luteus) and two Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens) bacteria. Encapsulation was successful in all types of polysaccharide particles and liposomes. The prepared particles exhibited very good long-term stability, especially in aqueous conditions. Antimicrobial activity was retained in all types of particles. Liposomes with encapsulated herb and spice extracts exhibited very good inhibitory effect against all tested bacterial strains. Most of herbal extracts had very good antimicrobial effect against the tested Gram-negative bacterial strains, while Gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive to lysozyme particles. Thus, particles with co-encapsulated herbs and lysozyme are more active against different types of bacteria, and more stable and more effective during long-term storage. Particles with encapsulated mixture of selected plant extracts and lysozyme could be used as complex antimicrobial preparation with controlled release in the production of food and food supplements, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. PMID:27956862

Evaluation of Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Some Common Herbs.

PubMed

Abdul Qadir, Muhammad; Shahzadi, Syeda Kiran; Bashir, Asad; Munir, Adil; Shahzad, Shabnam

2017-01-01

The study was designed to evaluate the phenolic, flavonoid contents and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of onion ( Allium cepa ), garlic ( Allium sativum ), mint ( Mentha spicata ), thyme ( Thymus vulgaris ), oak ( Quercus ), aloe vera ( Aloe barbadensis Miller), and ginger ( Zingiber officinale ). All extracts showed a wide range of total phenolic contents, that is, 4.96 to 98.37 mg/100 g gallic acid equivalents, and total flavonoid contents, that is, 0.41 to 17.64 mg/100 g catechin equivalents. Antioxidant activity (AA) was determined by measuring reducing power, inhibition of peroxidation using linoleic acid system, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity. Different extracts inhibited oxidation of linoleic acid by 16.6-84.2% while DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC 50 values) ranged from 17.8% to 79.1  μ g/mL. Reducing power at 10 mg/mL extract concentration ranged from 0.11 to 0.84 nm. Furthermore the extracts of these medicinal herbs in 80% methanol, 80% ethanol, 80% acetone, and 100% water were screened for antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method against selected bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , Bacillus subtilis , and Pasteurella multocida , and fungal strains, Aspergillus niger , Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus solani , and Alternaria alternata . The extracts show better antimicrobial activity against bacterial strains as compared to fungal strains. Results of various assays were analyzed statistically by applying appropriate statistical methods.

Evaluation of Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Some Common Herbs

PubMed Central

Abdul Qadir, Muhammad; Bashir, Asad; Munir, Adil

2017-01-01

The study was designed to evaluate the phenolic, flavonoid contents and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of onion (Allium cepa), garlic (Allium sativum), mint (Mentha spicata), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), oak (Quercus), aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller), and ginger (Zingiber officinale). All extracts showed a wide range of total phenolic contents, that is, 4.96 to 98.37 mg/100 g gallic acid equivalents, and total flavonoid contents, that is, 0.41 to 17.64 mg/100 g catechin equivalents. Antioxidant activity (AA) was determined by measuring reducing power, inhibition of peroxidation using linoleic acid system, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity. Different extracts inhibited oxidation of linoleic acid by 16.6–84.2% while DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50 values) ranged from 17.8% to 79.1 μg/mL. Reducing power at 10 mg/mL extract concentration ranged from 0.11 to 0.84 nm. Furthermore the extracts of these medicinal herbs in 80% methanol, 80% ethanol, 80% acetone, and 100% water were screened for antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method against selected bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Pasteurella multocida, and fungal strains, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus solani, and Alternaria alternata. The extracts show better antimicrobial activity against bacterial strains as compared to fungal strains. Results of various assays were analyzed statistically by applying appropriate statistical methods. PMID:28316626

Analysis of microarray leukemia data using an efficient MapReduce-based K-nearest-neighbor classifier.

PubMed

Kumar, Mukesh; Rath, Nitish Kumar; Rath, Santanu Kumar

2016-04-01

Microarray-based gene expression profiling has emerged as an efficient technique for classification, prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Frequent changes in the behavior of this disease generates an enormous volume of data. Microarray data satisfies both the veracity and velocity properties of big data, as it keeps changing with time. Therefore, the analysis of microarray datasets in a small amount of time is essential. They often contain a large amount of expression, but only a fraction of it comprises genes that are significantly expressed. The precise identification of genes of interest that are responsible for causing cancer are imperative in microarray data analysis. Most existing schemes employ a two-phase process such as feature selection/extraction followed by classification. In this paper, various statistical methods (tests) based on MapReduce are proposed for selecting relevant features. After feature selection, a MapReduce-based K-nearest neighbor (mrKNN) classifier is also employed to classify microarray data. These algorithms are successfully implemented in a Hadoop framework. A comparative analysis is done on these MapReduce-based models using microarray datasets of various dimensions. From the obtained results, it is observed that these models consume much less execution time than conventional models in processing big data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of modified zeolite on the removal and stabilization of heavy metals in contaminated lake sediment using BCR sequential extraction.

PubMed

Wen, Jia; Yi, Yuanjie; Zeng, Guangming

2016-08-01

Sediment can be applied on land as a soil conditioner. However, toxic substances such as heavy metals within the sediment often lead to soil contamination if no proper management is conducted prior to land application. In order to reduce the bioavailable portion of heavy metals such as Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd, zeolite as a kind of stabilizer was investigated on the effect of metal stabilization in sediment. Zeolite was firstly modified and screened to get the best condition for removal of heavy metals. Results showed that the granulated zeolite with NaCl conditioning had the highest CEC and metal sorption. Using BCR sequential extraction, the selected modified zeolite effectively stabilized Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd in sediment to different extents. It was most suitable for Cd stabilization by reducing its acid exchangeable fraction while increasing the contents of the reducible and residual fractions. Modified zeolite also immobilized Cu, Zn and Pb in sediment by enhancing one stable fraction while decreasing the acid exchangeable fraction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Activities of Dianthus Thunbergii Hooper and Hypoxis Argentea Harv Ex Baker: Plants Used for the Management of Diabetes Mellitus in Eastern Cape, South Africa

PubMed Central

Akinrinde, Akinleye Stephen; Afolayan, Anthony Jide; Bradley, Graeme

2018-01-01

Background: Inhabitants of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa use the roots of Dianthus thunbergii and corms of Hypoxis argentea to treat diabetes mellitus and other ailments. Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activities of the aqueous and ethanol extracts of the roots and corms of two plants. Materials and Methods: Total phenolics, flavonoids, flavonols, proanthocyanidins, tannins, and alkaloids were determined by standard methods. The scavenging activities of the extracts against 1,1 diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and their ferric-reducing antioxidant potentials (FRAPs) were measured. Results: The ethanol extract of H. argentea had the highest content of phenolics (66.71 ± 2.71 mg gallic acid equivalent/g) and tannins (1.18 ± 0.07 mg TAE/g), while the ethanol extract of D. thunbergii gave higher contents of flavonoids and proanthocyanidins (62.21 ± 1.75 mg Qe/g and 432.62 ± 2.43 mg Ca/g, respectively). Flavonols were the most predominant in the aqueous extract of H. argentea (25.51 ± 1.92 mg Qe/g). We observed a concentration-dependent response in the ABTS- and H2O2-scavenging activities and FRAP values of the extracts and standards (Vitamin C, butylated hydroxytoluene, and rutin). The ethanol extracts of both plants generally demonstrated better antioxidant activities against H2O2, NO, and ABTS while also possessing better reducing power than the aqueous extracts. The aqueous extract of D. thunbergii, however, showed the best DPPH scavenging activity. Conclusion: The higher content of phytochemicals and antioxidant capacity obtained for the ethanol extracts of D. thunbergii and H. argentea may prove to be valuable information in selecting suitable extraction solvents for the medicinal applications of both plants. SUMMARY Ethanol extracts of Hypoxis argentea had the highest levels of phenolics and tanninsEthanol extracts of Dianthus thunbergii had the highest levels of flavonoids and proanthocyanidinsEthanol extracts of both plants possess better antioxidant activityagainst hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, and ABTS as well as higher reducingpower than the aqueous extractsAqueous extract of Dianthus thunbergii had the highest free radical scavenging activity as measured with DPPH. Abbreviations used: ABTS: 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid); BHT: Butylated hydroxytoluene; DPPH: 1,1 diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl; DTA: Dianthus thunbergii aqueous extract (16.6%); DTE: Dianthus thunbergii ethanol extract (2.4%); Fe3+-TPTZ: Ferric tripyridyltriazine; FRAP: Ferric-reducing antioxidant potentials; GAE: Gallic acid equivalent; HAA: Hypoxis argentea aqueous extract (3.2%); HAE: Hypoxis argentea ethanol extract (1.8%); Qe: Quercetin equivalence; ROS: Reactive oxygen species; TBA: Thiobarbituric acid;TCA: Trichloroacetic acid. PMID:29720831

United States Marine Corps Career Designation Board: Significant Factors in Predicting Selection

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services...Advisor Dina Shatnawi Second Reader William Gates Dean, Graduate School of Business and Public Policy iv THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY...but also do it in a way that would be easiest for me to use. Doreen assisted in extracting the necessary FITREP data, which added significant value

Combined effects of plant extracts in inhibiting the growth of Bacillus cereus in reconstituted infant rice cereal.

PubMed

Jun, Hyejung; Kim, Jinsol; Bang, Jihyun; Kim, Hoikyung; Beuchat, Larry R; Ryu, Jee-Hoon

2013-01-01

A study was done to determine the potential use of plant extracts to inhibit the growth of Bacillus cereus in reconstituted infant rice cereal. A total of 2116 extracts were screened for inhibitory activity against B. cereus using an agar well diffusion assay. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal lethal concentrations (MLC) of 14 promising extracts in tryptic soy broth (TSB) were determined. Dryopteris erythrosora (autumn fern) root extract showed the lowest MIC (0.0156 mg/ml), followed by Siegesbeckia glabrescens (Siegesbeckia herb) leaf (0.0313 mg/ml), Morus alba (white mulberry) cortex (0.0313 mg/ml), Carex pumila (sand sedge) root (0.0625 mg/ml), and Citrus paradisi (grapefruit) seed (0.0625 mg/ml) extracts. The order of MLCs of extracts was D. erythrosora root (0.0156 mg/ml)

ESO science data product standard for 1D spectral products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Micol, Alberto; Arnaboldi, Magda; Delmotte, Nausicaa A. R.; Mascetti, Laura; Retzlaff, Joerg

2016-07-01

The ESO Phase 3 process allows the upload, validation, storage, and publication of reduced data through the ESO Science Archive Facility. Since its introduction, 2 million data products have been archived and published; 80% of them are one-dimensional extracted and calibrated spectra. Central to Phase3 is the ESO science data product standard that defines metadata and data format of any product. This contribution describes the ESO data standard for 1d-spectra, its adoption by the reduction pipelines of selected instrument modes for in-house generation of reduced spectra, the enhanced archive legacy value. Archive usage statistics are provided.

Extraction Selectivity of a Quaternary Alkylammonium Salt for Trivalent Actinides over Trivalent Lanthanides: Does Extractant Aggregation Play a Role?

DOE PAGES

Knight, Andrew W.; Chiarizia, Renato; Soderholm, L.

2017-05-10

In this paper, the extraction behavior of a quaternary alkylammonium salt extractant was investigated for its selectivity for trivalent actinides over trivalent lanthanides in nitrate and thiocyanate media. The selectivity was evaluated by solvent extraction experiments through radiochemical analysis of 241Am and 152/154Eu. Solvent extraction distribution and slope-analysis experiments were performed with americium(III) and europium(III) with respect to the ligand (nitrate and thiocyanate), extractant, and metal (europium only) concentrations. Further evaluation of the equilibrium expression that governs the extraction process indicated the appropriate use of the saturation method for estimation of the aggregation state of quaternary ammonium extractants in themore » organic phase. From the saturation method, we observed an average aggregation number of 5.4 ± 0.8 and 8.5 ± 0.9 monomers/aggregate for nitrate and thiocyanate, respectively. Through a side-by-side comparison of the nitrate and thiocyanate forms, we discuss the potential role of the aggregation in the increased selectivity for trivalent actinides over trivalent lanthanides in thiocyanate media.« less

Extraction Selectivity of a Quaternary Alkylammonium Salt for Trivalent Actinides over Trivalent Lanthanides: Does Extractant Aggregation Play a Role?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Knight, Andrew W.; Chiarizia, Renato; Soderholm, L.

In this paper, the extraction behavior of a quaternary alkylammonium salt extractant was investigated for its selectivity for trivalent actinides over trivalent lanthanides in nitrate and thiocyanate media. The selectivity was evaluated by solvent extraction experiments through radiochemical analysis of 241Am and 152/154Eu. Solvent extraction distribution and slope-analysis experiments were performed with americium(III) and europium(III) with respect to the ligand (nitrate and thiocyanate), extractant, and metal (europium only) concentrations. Further evaluation of the equilibrium expression that governs the extraction process indicated the appropriate use of the saturation method for estimation of the aggregation state of quaternary ammonium extractants in themore » organic phase. From the saturation method, we observed an average aggregation number of 5.4 ± 0.8 and 8.5 ± 0.9 monomers/aggregate for nitrate and thiocyanate, respectively. Through a side-by-side comparison of the nitrate and thiocyanate forms, we discuss the potential role of the aggregation in the increased selectivity for trivalent actinides over trivalent lanthanides in thiocyanate media.« less

Dynamic fractionation of trace metals in soil and sediment samples using rotating coiled column extraction and sequential injection microcolumn extraction: a comparative study.

PubMed

Rosende, Maria; Savonina, Elena Yu; Fedotov, Petr S; Miró, Manuel; Cerdà, Víctor; Wennrich, Rainer

2009-09-15

Dynamic fractionation has been recognized as an appealing alternative to conventional equilibrium-based sequential extraction procedures (SEPs) for partitioning of trace elements (TE) in environmental solid samples. This paper reports the first attempt for harmonization of flow-through dynamic fractionation using two novel methods, the so-called sequential injection microcolumn (SIMC) extraction and rotating coiled column (RCC) extraction. In SIMC extraction, a column packed with the solid sample is clustered in a sequential injection system, while in RCC, the particulate matter is retained under the action of centrifugal forces. In both methods, the leachants are continuously pumped through the solid substrates by the use of either peristaltic or syringe pumps. A five-step SEP was selected for partitioning of Cu, Pb and Zn in water soluble/exchangeable, acid-soluble, easily reducible, easily oxidizable and moderately reducible fractions from 0.2 to 0.5 g samples at an extractant flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1) prior to leachate analysis by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. Similarities and discrepancies between both dynamic approaches were ascertained by fractionation of TE in certified reference materials, namely, SRM 2711 Montana Soil and GBW 07311 sediment, and two real soil samples as well. Notwithstanding the different extraction conditions set by both methods, similar trends of metal distribution were in generally found. The most critical parameters for reliable assessment of mobilizable pools of TE in worse-case scenarios are the size-distribution of sample particles, the density of particles, the content of organic matter and the concentration of major elements. For reference materials and a soil rich in organic matter, the extraction in RCC results in slightly higher recoveries of environmentally relevant fractions of TE, whereas SIMC leaching is more effective for calcareous soils.

SEPARATION OF URANIUM, PLUTONIUM, AND FISSION PRODUCTS

DOEpatents

Spence, R.; Lister, M.W.

1958-12-16

Uranium and plutonium can be separated from neutron-lrradiated uranium by a process consisting of dissolvlng the lrradiated material in nitric acid, saturating the solution with a nitrate salt such as ammonium nitrate, rendering the solution substantially neutral with a base such as ammonia, adding a reducing agent such as hydroxylamine to change plutonium to the trivalent state, treating the solution with a substantially water immiscible organic solvent such as dibutoxy diethylether to selectively extract the uranium, maklng the residual aqueous solutlon acid with nitric acid, adding an oxidizing agent such as ammonlum bromate to oxidize the plutonium to the hexavalent state, and selectlvely extracting the plutonium by means of an immlscible solvent, such as dibutoxy dlethyletber.

Response surface methodology based extraction of Tribulus terrestris leads to an upsurge of antilithiatic potential by inhibition of calcium oxalate crystallization processes.

PubMed

Kaushik, Jyoti; Tandon, Simran; Gupta, Varun; Nayyar, Jasamrit; Singla, Surinder Kumar; Tandon, Chanderdeep

2017-01-01

Tribulus terrestris has significant antilithiatic efficacy established via both in vitro as well as in vivo studies and is used in numerous anti-urolithiatic herbal formulations viz. Cystone, Uriflow, Uritone and Neeri. However, to fully utilize its antilithiatic potential, the influence of different extraction parameters on antilithiatic ability of T. terrestris aqueous extract needs elucidation. Thus, the current study was undertaken using statistically optimized extraction conditions for aqueous extract preparation. Response surface methodology was employed to observe the influence of three variables i.e. temperature (°C), time (h) and solid: liquid ratio (S: L) on the extraction yield (%) and protein content (mg/g) of T. terrestris aqueous extract. RSM results revealed that the high S:L ratio, low temperature and reduced incubation time were optimal conditions for aqueous extraction. Under such extraction conditions the protein content reached the value of 26.6±1.22 mg/g and the obtained extraction yield was 27.32±1.62%. The assessment of antilithiatic activity of 4 selected extracts (AE1-4), revealed enhanced nucleation and aggregation inhibition of calcium oxalate crystals with AE1 and AE2, which in addition significantly altered the size and morphology of calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystals compared to AE3 and AE4. In vitro cell culture based studies on renal epithelial cells (MDCK, NRK-52E and PK 15) proved that the AE1 showed higher cytoprotective potency by increasing cell viability as compared to the oxalate treated group. The free radical scavenging activity of aqueous extract lowered the reactive oxygen specie's induced damage and potentially reduced the signals of programmed cell death due to oxalate injury. In addition, modulation of the COM crystal morphology was enhanced by AE1 as compared to AE2. The FTIR and GC-MS analysis of AE1, showed the presence of biomolecules which could aid in the attenuation of lithiatic process. In the light of these results the utility of the RSM approach to fully optimize the antilithiatic potential of T. terrestris cannot be undermined.

Antimicrobial activity of hop extracts against foodborne pathogens for meat applications.

PubMed

Kramer, B; Thielmann, J; Hickisch, A; Muranyi, P; Wunderlich, J; Hauser, C

2015-03-01

The objective of this study was the fundamental investigation of the antimicrobial efficiency of various hop extracts against selected foodborne pathogens in vitro, as well as their activity against Listeria monocytogenes in a model meat marinade and on marinated pork tenderloins. In a first step, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of three hop extracts containing either α- or β-acids or xanthohumol were determined against test bacteria including L. monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli by a colorimetric method based on the measurement of bacterial metabolic activity. Moreover, the influence of either lactic or citric acid on the antimicrobial activity of the hop extracts was evaluated. The efficiency of hop extracts as a natural food preservative was then tested in a model meat marinade at 2 and 8°C, respectively, and finally on marinated pork. The experiments showed that Gram-positive bacteria were strongly inhibited by hop extracts containing β-acids and xanthohumol (MIC values of 6.3 and 12.5 ppm, respectively), whereas the antimicrobial activity of the investigated α-acid extract was significantly lower (MIC values of 200 ppm). Gram-negative bacteria were highly resistant against all tested hop extracts. Acidification of the test media led to a decrease of the MIC values. The inhibitory activity of the hop extracts against L. monocytogenes was strongly reduced in a fat-containing model meat marinade, but the efficiency of β-acids in this matrix could be increased by lowering pH and storage temperatures. By applying 0.5 % β-acids at pH = 5 in a model marinade, the total aerobic count of pork tenderloins was reduced up to 0.9 log10 compared with marinated pork without hop extract after 2 weeks of storage at 5°C. β-acid containing hop extracts have proven to possess a high antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria in vitro and in a practice-related application for food preservation. Antimicrobial hop extracts could be used as natural preservatives in food applications to extend the shelf life and to increase the safety of fresh products. © 2014 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Response surface methodology based extraction of Tribulus terrestris leads to an upsurge of antilithiatic potential by inhibition of calcium oxalate crystallization processes

PubMed Central

Kaushik, Jyoti; Tandon, Simran; Gupta, Varun; Nayyar, Jasamrit; Singla, Surinder Kumar; Tandon, Chanderdeep

2017-01-01

Tribulus terrestris has significant antilithiatic efficacy established via both in vitro as well as in vivo studies and is used in numerous anti-urolithiatic herbal formulations viz. Cystone, Uriflow, Uritone and Neeri. However, to fully utilize its antilithiatic potential, the influence of different extraction parameters on antilithiatic ability of T. terrestris aqueous extract needs elucidation. Thus, the current study was undertaken using statistically optimized extraction conditions for aqueous extract preparation. Response surface methodology was employed to observe the influence of three variables i.e. temperature (°C), time (h) and solid: liquid ratio (S: L) on the extraction yield (%) and protein content (mg/g) of T. terrestris aqueous extract. RSM results revealed that the high S:L ratio, low temperature and reduced incubation time were optimal conditions for aqueous extraction. Under such extraction conditions the protein content reached the value of 26.6±1.22 mg/g and the obtained extraction yield was 27.32±1.62%. The assessment of antilithiatic activity of 4 selected extracts (AE1-4), revealed enhanced nucleation and aggregation inhibition of calcium oxalate crystals with AE1 and AE2, which in addition significantly altered the size and morphology of calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystals compared to AE3 and AE4. In vitro cell culture based studies on renal epithelial cells (MDCK, NRK-52E and PK 15) proved that the AE1 showed higher cytoprotective potency by increasing cell viability as compared to the oxalate treated group. The free radical scavenging activity of aqueous extract lowered the reactive oxygen specie’s induced damage and potentially reduced the signals of programmed cell death due to oxalate injury. In addition, modulation of the COM crystal morphology was enhanced by AE1 as compared to AE2. The FTIR and GC-MS analysis of AE1, showed the presence of biomolecules which could aid in the attenuation of lithiatic process. In the light of these results the utility of the RSM approach to fully optimize the antilithiatic potential of T. terrestris cannot be undermined. PMID:28846699

Selectivity of physiotherapist programs in the United States does not differ by institutional funding source or research activity level.

PubMed

Riley, Sean P; Covington, Kyle; Landry, Michel D; McCallum, Christine; Engelhard, Chalee; Cook, Chad E

2016-01-01

This study aimed to compare selectivity characteristics among institution characteristics to determine differences by institutional funding source (public vs. private) or research activity level (research vs. non-research). This study included information provided by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) and the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. Data were extracted from all students who graduated in 2011 from accredited physical therapy programs in the United States. The public and private designations of the institutions were extracted directly from the classifications from the 'CAPTE annual accreditation report,' and high and low research activity was determined based on Carnegie classifications. The institutions were classified into four groups: public/research intensive, public/non-research intensive, private/research intensive, and private/non-research intensive. Descriptive and comparison analyses with post hoc testing were performed to determine whether there were statistically significant differences among the four groups. Although there were statistically significant baseline grade point average differences among the four categorized groups, there were no significant differences in licensure pass rates or for any of the selectivity variables of interest. Selectivity characteristics did not differ by institutional funding source (public vs. private) or research activity level (research vs. non-research). This suggests that the concerns about reduced selectivity among physiotherapy programs, specifically the types that are experiencing the largest proliferation, appear less warranted.

Comparative Analysis of Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Activity and Quantitative Characterization of Some Phenolic Compounds in Selected Herbs and Spices in Different Solvent Extraction Systems.

PubMed

Sepahpour, Shabnam; Selamat, Jinap; Abdul Manap, Mohd Yazid; Khatib, Alfi; Abdull Razis, Ahmad Faizal

2018-02-13

This study evaluated the efficacy of various organic solvents (80% acetone, 80% ethanol, 80% methanol) and distilled water for extracting antioxidant phenolic compounds from turmeric, curry leaf, torch ginger and lemon grass extracts. They were analyzed regarding the total phenol and flavonoid contents, antioxidant activity and concentration of some phenolic compounds. Antioxidant activity was determined by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Quantification of phenolic compounds was carried out using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). All the extracts possessed antioxidant activity, however, the different solvents showed different efficiencies in the extraction of phenolic compounds. Turmeric showed the highest DPPH values (67.83-13.78%) and FRAP (84.9-2.3 mg quercetin/g freeze-dried crude extract), followed by curry leaf, torch ginger and lemon grass. While 80% acetone was shown to be the most efficient solvent for the extraction of total phenolic compounds from turmeric, torch ginger and lemon grass (221.68, 98.10 and 28.19 mg GA/g freeze dried crude extract, respectively), for the recovery of phenolic compounds from curry leaf (92.23 mg GA/g freeze-dried crude extract), 80% ethanol was the most appropriate solvent. Results of HPLC revealed that the amount of phenolic compounds varied depending on the types of solvents used.

Evaluation of cytotoxic and antitumoral properties of Tessaria absinthioides (Hook & Arn) DC, "pájaro bobo", aqueous extract.

PubMed

Persia, Fabio A; Rinaldini, Estefanía; Carrión, Adriana; Hapon, María Belén; Gamarra-Luques, Carlos

2017-01-01

Higher plants have provided various natural derived drugs used currently in western medicine. Tessaria absinthioides (Hook. & Arn.) DC, Asteraceae, is a native plant from South-America with reported ethnopharmacological and culinary uses. Despite recent scientific reports about plants properties, there is not a well conducted research about its anticancer and potential toxic effects. The current work demonstrates the plant aqueous extract composition; the in vitro induced cytotoxicity, and explores, in vivo, its oral toxicity and antitumoral effects. Composition of aqueous extract was determined by phytochemical reactions. Cytotoxicity was tested in tumoral (Hela, Gli-37, HCT-116 and MCF-7) and non-tumoral (HBL-100) cells, using MTT assay. Oral toxicity and the antitumor activity against colorectal carcinoma were studied in rodents. The chemical analysis revealed the presence of flavonoids, carbohydrates, sterols, terpenes and tannins. Cytotoxicity towards tumoral cells was observed (CV50: 3.0 to 14.8 υg/ml); while in non-tumoral cells, extracts evidenced a selective reduced toxicity (CV50: 29.5 υg/ml). Oral administration of the extract does not induce acute nor dose-repeated toxicity at doses up to 2000 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg/day, respectively. The antitumoral effect was confirmed by a significant increase in a median survival from 24 weeks (non-treated) to 30 weeks (T. absinthioides treated). The present data indicate that T. absinthioides extract exhibits cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines, with no-toxic effects and significant antitumoral effects in colorectal cancer when is orally administrated. In conclusion, T. absinthioides possesses selective cytotoxicity and antitumoral activities, making its plant derivatives products promising for cancer research and treatment.

Improving the environmental profile of wood panels via co-production of ethanol and acetic acid.

PubMed

Earles, J Mason; Halog, Anthony; Shaler, Stephen

2011-11-15

The oriented strand board (OSB) biorefinery is an emerging technology that could improve the building, transportation, and chemical sectors' environmental profiles. By adding a hot water extraction stage to conventional OSB panel manufacturing, hemicellulose polysaccharides can be extracted from wood strands and converted to renewably sourced ethanol and acetic acid. Replacing fossil-based gasoline and acetic acid has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, among other possible impacts. At the same time, hemicellulose extraction could improve the environmental profile of OSB panels by reducing the level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted during manufacturing. In this study, the life cycle significance of such GHG, VOC, and other emission reductions was investigated. A process model was developed based on a mix of laboratory and industrial-level mass and energy flow data. Using these data a life cycle assessment (LCA) model was built. Sensitive process parameters were identified and used to develop a target production scenario for the OSB biorefinery. The findings suggest that the OSB biorefinery's deployment could substantially improve human and ecosystem health via reduction of select VOCs compared to conventionally produced OSB, gasoline, and acetic acid. Technological advancements are needed, however, to achieve desirable GHG reductions.

Three-dimensional contour edge detection algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yizhou; Ong, Sim Heng; Kassim, Ashraf A.; Foong, Kelvin W. C.

2000-06-01

This paper presents a novel algorithm for automatically extracting 3D contour edges, which are points of maximum surface curvature in a surface range image. The 3D image data are represented as a surface polygon mesh. The algorithm transforms the range data, obtained by scanning a dental plaster cast, into a 2D gray scale image by linearly converting the z-value of each vertex to a gray value. The Canny operator is applied to the median-filtered image to obtain the edge pixels and their orientations. A vertex in the 3D object corresponding to the detected edge pixel and its neighbors in the direction of the edge gradient are further analyzed with respect to their n-curvatures to extract the real 3D contour edges. This algorithm provides a fast method of reducing and sorting the unwieldy data inherent in the surface mesh representation. It employs powerful 2D algorithms to extract features from the transformed 3D models and refers to the 3D model for further analysis of selected data. This approach substantially reduces the computational burden without losing accuracy. It is also easily extended to detect 3D landmarks and other geometrical features, thus making it applicable to a wide range of applications.

Decoding-Accuracy-Based Sequential Dimensionality Reduction of Spatio-Temporal Neural Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Funamizu, Akihiro; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

Performance of a brain machine interface (BMI) critically depends on selection of input data because information embedded in the neural activities is highly redundant. In addition, properly selected input data with a reduced dimension leads to improvement of decoding generalization ability and decrease of computational efforts, both of which are significant advantages for the clinical applications. In the present paper, we propose an algorithm of sequential dimensionality reduction (SDR) that effectively extracts motor/sensory related spatio-temporal neural activities. The algorithm gradually reduces input data dimension by dropping neural data spatio-temporally so as not to undermine the decoding accuracy as far as possible. Support vector machine (SVM) was used as the decoder, and tone-induced neural activities in rat auditory cortices were decoded into the test tone frequencies. SDR reduced the input data dimension to a quarter and significantly improved the accuracy of decoding of novel data. Moreover, spatio-temporal neural activity patterns selected by SDR resulted in significantly higher accuracy than high spike rate patterns or conventionally used spatial patterns. These results suggest that the proposed algorithm can improve the generalization ability and decrease the computational effort of decoding.

Homogenization-assisted cavitation hybrid rotation extraction and macroporous resin enrichment of dihydroquercetin from Larix gmelinii.

PubMed

Xia, Yu; Wang, Yinhang; Li, Wei; Ma, Chunhui; Liu, Shouxin

2017-12-01

Cavitation hybrid rotation, which was and is still looked upon as an unavoidable nuisance in the flow systems, for extraction processing intensification of active chemical compounds from natural products. In this study, a homogenization-assisted cavitation hybrid rotation extraction method was applied to extract dihydroquercetin (DHQ) from larch (Larix gmelinii) wood root. The extraction parameters were optimized in single factor experiments with the DHQ extraction yields as the response values. The optimum conditions were as follows: number of extractions, three; ethanol volume fraction for the extraction, 60%; liquid-solid ratio for homogenization, 10mL/g; homogenization time, 8min; liquid-solid ratio for cavitation extraction, 9mL/g, and cavitation extraction time, 35min. Under these conditions, the DHQ content in extract was 4.50±0.02mg/g, and the extraction efficiency was higher than those of traditional techniques. Cavitation can be effectively used to improve the extraction rate by increasing the mass transfer rates and possible rupture of cell wall due to formation of microcavities leading to higher product yields with reduced processing time and solvent consumption. After the extraction process, macroporous resin column chromatography was used to concentrate and purify the DHQ. Three resins were selected from fifteen macroporous resins for further investigation of their performance. Among these resins, AB-8 resin exhibited relatively better adsorption capacities and desorption ratios for DHQ. The ethanol volume fraction of the solutions for sample loading and desorption, and flow rates for loading and desorption were optimized for the macroporous resin column chromatography. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterisation of Mediterranean grape pomace seed and skin extracts: polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity.

PubMed

Ky, Isabelle; Teissedre, Pierre-Louis

2015-01-29

Grape pomace seeds and skins from different Mediterranean varieties (Grenache [GRE], Syrah [SYR], Carignan [CAR], Mourvèdre [MOU] and Alicante [ALI]) were extracted using water and water/ethanol 70% in order to develop edible extracts (an aqueous extract [EAQ] and a 70% hydro-alcoholic extract [EA70]) for potential use in nutraceutical or cosmetic formulations. In this study, global content (total polyphenols, total anthocyanins and total tannins), flavan-3-ols and anthocyanins were assessed using HPLC-UV-Fluo-MSn. In addition, extract potential was evaluated by four different assays: Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC), Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Potential assay (FRAP), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) or ABTS assay and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. As expected, seed pomace extracts contained higher amounts of polyphenols then skin pomace extracts. Indeed, seeds from Syrah contained a particularly important amount of total polyphenols and tannins in both type of extract (up to 215.84 ± 1.47 mg of gallic acid equivalent [GAE]/g dry weight (DW) and 455.42 ± 1.84 mg/g DW, respectively). These extracts also expressed the highest antioxidant potential with every test. For skins, the maximum total phenolic was found in Alicante EAQ (196.71 ± 0.37 mg GAE/g DW) and in Syrah EA70 (224.92 ± 0.18 mg GAE/g DW). Results obtained in this article constitute a useful tool for the pre-selection of grape pomace seed and skin extracts for nutraceutical purposes.

Techno-economic analysis of extraction-based separation systems for acetone, butanol, and ethanol recovery and purification.

PubMed

Grisales Díaz, Víctor Hugo; Olivar Tost, Gerard

2017-01-01

Dual extraction, high-temperature extraction, mixture extraction, and oleyl alcohol extraction have been proposed in the literature for acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) production. However, energy and economic evaluation under similar assumptions of extraction-based separation systems are necessary. Hence, the new process proposed in this work, direct steam distillation (DSD), for regeneration of high-boiling extractants was compared with several extraction-based separation systems. The evaluation was performed under similar assumptions through simulation in Aspen Plus V7.3 ® software. Two end distillation systems (number of non-ideal stages between 70 and 80) were studied. Heat integration and vacuum operation of some units were proposed reducing the energy requirements. Energy requirement of hybrid processes, substrate concentration of 200 g/l, was between 6.4 and 8.3 MJ-fuel/kg-ABE. The minimum energy requirements of extraction-based separation systems, feeding a water concentration in the substrate equivalent to extractant selectivity, and ideal assumptions were between 2.6 and 3.5 MJ-fuel/kg-ABE, respectively. The efficiencies of recovery systems for baseline case and ideal evaluation were 0.53-0.57 and 0.81-0.84, respectively. The main advantages of DSD were the operation of the regeneration column at atmospheric pressure, the utilization of low-pressure steam, and the low energy requirements of preheating. The in situ recovery processes, DSD, and mixture extraction with conventional regeneration were the approaches with the lowest energy requirements and total annualized costs.

Whole-body tissue stabilization and selective extractions via tissue-hydrogel hybrids for high-resolution intact circuit mapping and phenotyping.

PubMed

Treweek, Jennifer B; Chan, Ken Y; Flytzanis, Nicholas C; Yang, Bin; Deverman, Benjamin E; Greenbaum, Alon; Lignell, Antti; Xiao, Cheng; Cai, Long; Ladinsky, Mark S; Bjorkman, Pamela J; Fowlkes, Charless C; Gradinaru, Viviana

2015-11-01

To facilitate fine-scale phenotyping of whole specimens, we describe here a set of tissue fixation-embedding, detergent-clearing and staining protocols that can be used to transform excised organs and whole organisms into optically transparent samples within 1-2 weeks without compromising their cellular architecture or endogenous fluorescence. PACT (passive CLARITY technique) and PARS (perfusion-assisted agent release in situ) use tissue-hydrogel hybrids to stabilize tissue biomolecules during selective lipid extraction, resulting in enhanced clearing efficiency and sample integrity. Furthermore, the macromolecule permeability of PACT- and PARS-processed tissue hybrids supports the diffusion of immunolabels throughout intact tissue, whereas RIMS (refractive index matching solution) grants high-resolution imaging at depth by further reducing light scattering in cleared and uncleared samples alike. These methods are adaptable to difficult-to-image tissues, such as bone (PACT-deCAL), and to magnified single-cell visualization (ePACT). Together, these protocols and solutions enable phenotyping of subcellular components and tracing cellular connectivity in intact biological networks.

Phytochemical screening, antioxidants and antimicrobial potential of Lantana camara in different solvents

PubMed Central

Naz, Rabia; Bano, Asghari

2013-01-01

Objective To evaluate the antioxidant activity, hydrogen peroxide radicals scavenging activity, reducing power, the total phenolic and flavonoids contents, and antimicrobial and antifungal activities of methanol, ethanol and water extracts of leaves of Lantana camara (L. camara). Methods Methanol, ethanol and water extracts were evaluated against four Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis) and two fungal strains (Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus). Methanol extract at different concentrations was tested for antioxidant potential and phytochemicals were determined by using spectrophotometric method. Results The total phenolic content was (40.859±0.017) mg gallic acid/g in the leaves of L. camara, while the total flavonoids was (53.112±0.199) mg/g dry weight. Methanol leaf extract of L. camara showed maximum antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and was also effective against other bacterial strains as compared to ethanol and aqueous extracts of leaves. The methanol leaf extract of L. camara exhibited significant inhibition (71%) and (66%) against Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus respectively. Conclusions The methanol extract of the L. camara leaves is effective against selected bacterial and fungal strains. Its phytochemical contents have broad antimicrobial properties and the plant might be a novel source of antimicrobial drug.

Reductive reactivity of iron(III) oxides in the east china sea sediments: characterization by selective extraction and kinetic dissolution.

PubMed

Chen, Liang-Jin; Zhu, Mao-Xu; Yang, Gui-Peng; Huang, Xiang-Li

2013-01-01

Reactive Fe(III) oxides in gravity-core sediments collected from the East China Sea inner shelf were quantified by using three selective extractions (acidic hydroxylamine, acidic oxalate, bicarbonate-citrate buffered sodium dithionite). Also the reactivity of Fe(III) oxides in the sediments was characterized by kinetic dissolution using ascorbic acid as reductant at pH 3.0 and 7.5 in combination with the reactive continuum model. Three parameters derived from the kinetic method: m 0 (theoretical initial amount of ascorbate-reducible Fe(III) oxides), k' (rate constant) and γ (heterogeneity of reactivity), enable a quantitative characterization of Fe(III) oxide reactivity in a standardized way. Amorphous Fe(III) oxides quantified by acidic hydroxylamine extraction were quickly consumed in the uppermost layer during early diagenesis but were not depleted over the upper 100 cm depth. The total amounts of amorphous and poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxides are highly available for efficient buffering of dissolved sulfide. As indicated by the m 0, k' and γ, the surface sediments always have the maximum content, reactivity and heterogeneity of reactive Fe(III) oxides, while the three parameters simultaneously downcore decrease, much more quickly in the upper layer than at depth. Albeit being within a small range (within one order of magnitude) of the initial rates among sediments at different depths, incongruent dissolution could result in huge discrepancies of the later dissolution rates due to differentiating heterogeneity, which cannot be revealed by selective extraction. A strong linear correlation of the m 0 at pH 3.0 with the dithionite-extractable Fe(III) suggests that the m 0 may represent Fe(III) oxide assemblages spanning amorphous and crystalline Fe(III) oxides. Maximum microbially available Fe(III) predicted by the m 0 at pH 7.5 may include both amorphous and a fraction of other less reactive Fe(III) phases.

Reductive Reactivity of Iron(III) Oxides in the East China Sea Sediments: Characterization by Selective Extraction and Kinetic Dissolution

PubMed Central

Chen, Liang-Jin; Zhu, Mao-Xu; Yang, Gui-Peng; Huang, Xiang-Li

2013-01-01

Reactive Fe(III) oxides in gravity-core sediments collected from the East China Sea inner shelf were quantified by using three selective extractions (acidic hydroxylamine, acidic oxalate, bicarbonate-citrate buffered sodium dithionite). Also the reactivity of Fe(III) oxides in the sediments was characterized by kinetic dissolution using ascorbic acid as reductant at pH 3.0 and 7.5 in combination with the reactive continuum model. Three parameters derived from the kinetic method: m 0 (theoretical initial amount of ascorbate-reducible Fe(III) oxides), k′ (rate constant) and γ (heterogeneity of reactivity), enable a quantitative characterization of Fe(III) oxide reactivity in a standardized way. Amorphous Fe(III) oxides quantified by acidic hydroxylamine extraction were quickly consumed in the uppermost layer during early diagenesis but were not depleted over the upper 100 cm depth. The total amounts of amorphous and poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxides are highly available for efficient buffering of dissolved sulfide. As indicated by the m 0, k′ and γ, the surface sediments always have the maximum content, reactivity and heterogeneity of reactive Fe(III) oxides, while the three parameters simultaneously downcore decrease, much more quickly in the upper layer than at depth. Albeit being within a small range (within one order of magnitude) of the initial rates among sediments at different depths, incongruent dissolution could result in huge discrepancies of the later dissolution rates due to differentiating heterogeneity, which cannot be revealed by selective extraction. A strong linear correlation of the m 0 at pH 3.0 with the dithionite-extractable Fe(III) suggests that the m 0 may represent Fe(III) oxide assemblages spanning amorphous and crystalline Fe(III) oxides. Maximum microbially available Fe(III) predicted by the m 0 at pH 7.5 may include both amorphous and a fraction of other less reactive Fe(III) phases. PMID:24260377

High-performance thin-layer chromatography linked with (bio)assays and mass spectrometry - a suited method for discovery and quantification of bioactive components? Exemplarily shown for turmeric and milk thistle extracts.

PubMed

Taha, Mahmoud N; Krawinkel, Michael B; Morlock, Gertrud E

2015-05-15

Extraction parameters, chemical fingerprint, and the single compounds' activity levels were considered for the selection of active botanicals. For an initial survey, the total bioactivity (i.e., total reducing capacity, total flavonoids contents and free radical scavenging capacity) of 21 aqueous and 21 ethanolic plant extracts was investigated. Ethanolic extracts showed a higher yield and were further analyzed by HPTLC in detail to obtain fingerprints of single flavonoids and further bioactive components. Exemplarily shown for turmeric (Curcuma longa) and milk thistle (Silybum marianum), effect-directed analysis (EDA) was performed using three selected (bio)assays, the Aliivibrio fischeri bioassay, the Bacillus subtilis bioassay and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH*) assay. As a proof of principle, the bioactive components found in the extracts were confirmed by HPTLC-MS. Bioassays in combination with planar chromatography directly linked to the known, single effective compounds like curcumin and silibinin. However, also some unknown bioactive components were discovered and exemplarily characterized, which demonstrated the strength of this kind of EDA. HPTLC-UV/Vis/FLD-EDA-MS could become a useful tool for selection of active botanicals and for the activity profiling of the active ingredients therein. The flexibility in effect-directed detections allows a comprehensive survey of effective ingredients in samples. This streamlined methodology comprised a non-targeted, effect-directed screening first, followed by a highly targeted characterization of the discovered bioactive compounds. HPTLC-EDA-MS can also be recommended for bioactivity profiling of food on the food intake side, as not only effective phytochemicals, but also unknown bioactive degradation products during food processing or contamination products or residues or metabolites can be detected. Thus, an efficient survey on potential food intake effects on wellness could be obtained. Having performed both, sum parameter assays and HPTLC analysis, a comparison of both approaches was made and discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Iris-supported lens implantation v. simple cataract extraction. An analysis of data.

PubMed

Galin, M A; Obstbaum, S A; Boniuk, V; Galin, A; Silverstone, D

1977-04-01

In a study of a selected age (greater than 60) and ocularly matched population requiring cataract extraction, a perfectly executed intracapsular cataract extraction followed by the introduction of a Fyodorov Type II ("Sputnik") lens did not lead to irreversible anterior or posterior segment changes different from those seen in a group followed for from 5 to 9 years. It did lead to an incidence of implant support dislocation and to membrane formation in about 10% of cases, reducible to about 2% with correctly made lenses and the appropriate use of postoperative drugs. The incidence of corneal degeneration (0), retinal detachment (2%), and intraretinal cystic maculopathy (3%) was equal in each group. Visual acuity levels were also equal. In appropriate cases, if the surgery is carried out with sufficient skill, the reward to risk ratio of implantation not only justifies but indicates the use of such lenses.

Extraction of SelectSecure leads compared to conventional pacing leads in patients with congenital heart disease and congenital atrioventricular block.

PubMed

Shepherd, Emma; Stuart, Graham; Martin, Rob; Walsh, Mark A

2015-06-01

SelectSecure™ pacing leads (Medtronic Inc) are increasingly being used in pediatric patients and adults with structural congenital heart disease. The 4Fr lead is ideal for patients who may require lifelong pacing and can be advantageous for patients with complex anatomy. The purpose of this study was to compare the extraction of SelectSecure leads with conventional (stylette-driven) pacing leads in patients with structural congenital heart disease and congenital atrioventricular block. The data on lead extractions from pediatric and adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients from August 2004 to July 2014 at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and the Bristol Heart Institute were reviewed. Multivariable regression analysis was used to determine whether conventional pacing leads were associated with a more difficult extraction process. A total of 57 patients underwent pacemaker lead extractions (22 SelectSecure, 35 conventional). No deaths occurred. Mean age at the time of extraction was 17.6 ± 10.5 years, mean weight was 47 ± 18 kg, and mean lead age was 5.6 ± 2.6 years (range 1-11 years). Complex extraction (partial extraction/femoral extraction) was more common in patients with conventional pacing leads at univariate (P < .01) and multivariate (P = .04) levels. Lead age was also a significant predictor of complex extraction (P < .01). SelectSecure leads can be successfully extracted using techniques that are used for conventional pacing leads. They are less likely to be partially extracted and are less likely to require extraction using a femoral approach compared with conventional pacing leads. Copyright © 2015 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Selective functionalization of the mesopores of SBA-15

DOE PAGES

Webb, Jonathan D.; Seki, Tomohiro; Goldston, Jennifer F.; ...

2014-10-23

In this study, a method has been developed that permits the highly selective functionalization of the interior and exterior surfaces of the ubiquitous mesoporous material, SBA-15. The key step is reloading the as-synthesized material with structure-directing agent, Pluronic ® P123, prior to selective functionalization of the external surface with a silylating agent. This new approach represents a significant improvement over literature procedures. Results from physisorption analyses as well as solid-state NMR permit a detailed, quantitative assessment of functionalized SBA-15. This work also provides insight into the stability of the silyl layer during extraction procedures – an issue often neglected inmore » other studies but of significant importance as decomposition of this layer could result in the introduction of new silanols and reduce the effectiveness of any selective grafting procedure.« less

[Electroencephalogram Feature Selection Based on Correlation Coefficient Analysis].

PubMed

Zhou, Jinzhi; Tang, Xiaofang

2015-08-01

In order to improve the accuracy of classification with small amount of motor imagery training data on the development of brain-computer interface (BCD systems, we proposed an analyzing method to automatically select the characteristic parameters based on correlation coefficient analysis. Throughout the five sample data of dataset IV a from 2005 BCI Competition, we utilized short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and correlation coefficient calculation to reduce the number of primitive electroencephalogram dimension, then introduced feature extraction based on common spatial pattern (CSP) and classified by linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Simulation results showed that the average rate of classification accuracy could be improved by using correlation coefficient feature selection method than those without using this algorithm. Comparing with support vector machine (SVM) optimization features algorithm, the correlation coefficient analysis can lead better selection parameters to improve the accuracy of classification.

Feature Extraction and Selection Strategies for Automated Target Recognition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greene, W. Nicholas; Zhang, Yuhan; Lu, Thomas T.; Chao, Tien-Hsin

2010-01-01

Several feature extraction and selection methods for an existing automatic target recognition (ATR) system using JPLs Grayscale Optical Correlator (GOC) and Optimal Trade-Off Maximum Average Correlation Height (OT-MACH) filter were tested using MATLAB. The ATR system is composed of three stages: a cursory region of-interest (ROI) search using the GOC and OT-MACH filter, a feature extraction and selection stage, and a final classification stage. Feature extraction and selection concerns transforming potential target data into more useful forms as well as selecting important subsets of that data which may aide in detection and classification. The strategies tested were built around two popular extraction methods: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA). Performance was measured based on the classification accuracy and free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) output of a support vector machine(SVM) and a neural net (NN) classifier.

Feature extraction and selection strategies for automated target recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greene, W. Nicholas; Zhang, Yuhan; Lu, Thomas T.; Chao, Tien-Hsin

2010-04-01

Several feature extraction and selection methods for an existing automatic target recognition (ATR) system using JPLs Grayscale Optical Correlator (GOC) and Optimal Trade-Off Maximum Average Correlation Height (OT-MACH) filter were tested using MATLAB. The ATR system is composed of three stages: a cursory regionof- interest (ROI) search using the GOC and OT-MACH filter, a feature extraction and selection stage, and a final classification stage. Feature extraction and selection concerns transforming potential target data into more useful forms as well as selecting important subsets of that data which may aide in detection and classification. The strategies tested were built around two popular extraction methods: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA). Performance was measured based on the classification accuracy and free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) output of a support vector machine(SVM) and a neural net (NN) classifier.

Biological Activities and Chemical Composition of Methanolic Extracts of Selected Autochthonous Microalgae Strains from the Red Sea.

PubMed

Pereira, Hugo; Custódio, Luísa; Rodrigues, Maria João; de Sousa, Carolina Bruno; Oliveira, Marta; Barreira, Luísa; Neng, Nuno da Rosa; Nogueira, José Manuel Florêncio; Alrokayan, Salman A; Mouffouk, Fouzi; Abu-Salah, Khalid M; Ben-Hamadou, Radhouan; Varela, João

2015-06-03

Four lipid-rich microalgal species from the Red Sea belonging to three different genera (Nannochloris, Picochlorum and Desmochloris), previously isolated as novel biodiesel feedstocks, were bioprospected for high-value, bioactive molecules. Methanol extracts were thus prepared from freeze-dried biomass and screened for different biological activities. Nannochloris sp. SBL1 and Desmochloris sp. SBL3 had the highest radical scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, and the best copper and iron chelating activities. All species had potent butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activity (>50%) and mildly inhibited tyrosinase. Picochlorum sp. SBL2 and Nannochloris sp. SBL4 extracts significantly reduced the viability of tumoral (HepG2 and HeLa) cells with lower toxicity against the non-tumoral murine stromal (S17) cells. Nannochloris sp. SBL1 significantly reduced the viability of Leishmania infantum down to 62% (250 µg/mL). Picochlorum sp. SBL2 had the highest total phenolic content, the major phenolic compounds identified being salicylic, coumaric and gallic acids. Neoxanthin, violaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein and β-carotene were identified in the extracts of all strains, while canthaxanthin was only identified in Picochlorum sp. SBL2. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that the microalgae included in this work could be used as sources of added-value products that could be used to upgrade the final biomass value.

Biological Activities and Chemical Composition of Methanolic Extracts of Selected Autochthonous Microalgae Strains from the Red Sea

PubMed Central

Pereira, Hugo; Custódio, Luísa; Rodrigues, Maria João; Bruno de Sousa, Carolina; Oliveira, Marta; Barreira, Luísa; Neng, Nuno da Rosa; Nogueira, José Manuel Florêncio; Alrokayan, Salman A.; Mouffouk, Fouzi; Abu-Salah, Khalid M.; Ben-Hamadou, Radhouan; Varela, João

2015-01-01

Four lipid-rich microalgal species from the Red Sea belonging to three different genera (Nannochloris, Picochlorum and Desmochloris), previously isolated as novel biodiesel feedstocks, were bioprospected for high-value, bioactive molecules. Methanol extracts were thus prepared from freeze-dried biomass and screened for different biological activities. Nannochloris sp. SBL1 and Desmochloris sp. SBL3 had the highest radical scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, and the best copper and iron chelating activities. All species had potent butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activity (>50%) and mildly inhibited tyrosinase. Picochlorum sp. SBL2 and Nannochloris sp. SBL4 extracts significantly reduced the viability of tumoral (HepG2 and HeLa) cells with lower toxicity against the non-tumoral murine stromal (S17) cells. Nannochloris sp. SBL1 significantly reduced the viability of Leishmania infantum down to 62% (250 µg/mL). Picochlorum sp. SBL2 had the highest total phenolic content, the major phenolic compounds identified being salicylic, coumaric and gallic acids. Neoxanthin, violaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein and β-carotene were identified in the extracts of all strains, while canthaxanthin was only identified in Picochlorum sp. SBL2. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that the microalgae included in this work could be used as sources of added-value products that could be used to upgrade the final biomass value. PMID:26047482

Zebra chip disease decreases tuber (Solanum tuberosum L.) protein content by attenuating protease inhibitor levels and increasing protease activities.

PubMed

Kumar, G N Mohan; Knowles, Lisa O; Knowles, N Richard

2015-11-01

Zebra chip disease of potato decreases protease inhibitor levels resulting in enhanced serine-type protease activity, decreased protein content and altered protein profiles of fully mature tubers. Zebra-chip (ZC), caused by Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso), is a relatively new disease of potato that negatively affects growth, yield, propagation potential, and fresh and process qualities of tubers. Diseased plants produce tubers with characteristic brown discoloration of vascular tissue accompanied by elevated levels of free amino acids and reducing sugars. Here we demonstrate that ZC disease induces selective protein catabolism in tubers through modulating protease inhibitor levels. Soluble protein content of tubers from CLso-infected plants was 33% lower than from non-infected plants and electrophoretic analyses revealed substantial reductions in major tuber proteins. Patatin (~40 kDa) and ser-, asp- (22 kDa) and cys-type (85 kDa) protease inhibitors were either absent or greatly reduced in ZC-afflicted tubers. In contrast to healthy (non-infected) tubers, the proteolytic activity in CLso infected tubers was high and the ability of extracts from infected tubers to inhibit trypsin (ser-type) and papain (cys-type) proteases greatly attenuated. Moreover, extracts from CLso-infected tubers rapidly catabolized proteins purified from healthy tubers (40 kDa patatin, 22 kDa protease inhibitors, 85 kDa potato multicystatin) when subjected to proteolysis individually. In contrast, crude extracts from non-infected tubers effectively inhibited the proteolytic activity from ZC-afflicted tubers. These results suggest that the altered protein profile of ZC afflicted tubers is largely due to loss of ser- and cys-type protease inhibitors. Further analysis revealed a novel PMSF-sensitive (ser) protease (ca. 80-120 kDa) in CLso infected tubers. PMSF abolished the proteolytic activities responsible for degrading patatin, the 22 kDa protease inhibitor(s) and potato multicystatin by CLso infected tubers. The disease-induced loss of patatin and protease inhibitors therefore appears to be modulated by ser-type protease(s). The selective catabolism of proteins in ZC-afflicted tubers undoubtedly affects downstream aspects of carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, which is ultimately reflected by the accumulation of reducing sugars, free amino acids and reduced sprouting capacity.

Evaluation of economically feasible, natural plant extract-based microbiological media for producing biomass of the dry rot biocontrol strain Pseudomonas fluorescens P22Y05 in liquid culture.

PubMed

Khalil, Sadia; Ali, Tasneem Adam; Skory, Chris; Slininger, Patricia J; Schisler, David A

2016-02-01

The production of microbial biomass in liquid media often represents an indispensable step in the research and development of bacterial and fungal strains. Costs of commercially prepared nutrient media or purified media components, however, can represent a significant hurdle to conducting research in locations where obtaining these products is difficult. A less expensive option for providing components essential to microbial growth in liquid culture is the use of extracts of fresh or dried plant products obtained by using hot water extraction techniques. A total of 13 plant extract-based media were prepared from a variety of plant fruits, pods or seeds of plant species including Allium cepa (red onion bulb), Phaseolus vulgaris (green bean pods), and Lens culinaris (lentil seeds). In shake flask tests, cell production by potato dry rot antagonist Pseudomonas fluorescens P22Y05 in plant extract-based media was generally statistically indistinguishable from that in commercially produced tryptic soy broth and nutrient broth as measured by optical density and colony forming units/ml produced (P ≤ 0.05, Fisher's protected LSD). The efficacy of biomass produced in the best plant extract-based media or commercial media was equivalent in reducing Fusarium dry rot by 50-96% compared to controls. In studies using a high-throughput microbioreactor, logarithmic growth of P22Y05 in plant extract-based media initiated in 3-5 h in most cases but specific growth rate and the time of maximum OD varied as did the maximum pH obtained in media. Nutrient analysis of selected media before and after cell growth indicated that nitrogen in the form of NH4 accumulated in culture supernatants, possibly due to unbalanced growth conditions brought on by a scarcity of simple sugars in the media tested. The potential of plant extract-based media to economically produce biomass of microbes active in reducing plant disease is considerable and deserves further research.

Simple methods to reduce major allergen Ara h 1 and Ana o 1/2 in peanut and cashew extracts

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Whole peanut extracts are usually used in immunotherapy but may have side effects. Reducing major peanut allergen(s) in the extracts may reduce the side effects. Three simple methods were evaluated to reduce major allergen Ara h 1 from a peanut extract: (1) treatment with p-aminobenzamidine (pABA); ...

[Comparison of the antioxidant properties of selected parts of raspberry (Rubus idaeus) and blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)

PubMed

Zielonka-Brzezicka, Joanna; Nowak, Anna; Zielińska, Magdalena; Klimowicz, Adam

Antioxidants contained in plant raw materials prevent oxidative stress, and reduce the degenerative effects of free radical reactions and damage caused by UV radiation. Antioxidant activity is exhibited, for example, in raspberry (Rubus idaeus), and blackberry (Rubus fruticosus), which have a high content of tannins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, vitamins and minerals. The raw plant material consisted of fresh and dried leaves and fruits of raspberries and blackberries harvested in 2014. This material was extracted using a Soxhlet apparatus and by an ultrasound-assisted technique. To evaluate antioxidant activity DPPH and FRAP methods were used in the first year and DPPH and ABTS methods in the second year of the study. The highest antioxidant activity, evaluated by the DPPH method in 2015, was demonstrated by both raspberry and blackberry fresh leaf extracts, whereas the highest reductive ability, assessed by FRAP, was demonstrated in fresh and dried blackberry leaves. In the next year of the study (2016), the activity of samples evaluated using the DPPH method did not differ significantly, with the exception of fresh raspberry leaf. In this year, the highest antioxidant properties, assessed using the ABTS method, were shown by extracts made of fresh blackberry leaves and fruits, and dried blackberry leaves. All the studied material, both ethanolic leaves and fruit extracts of raspberry and blackberry, reduced free radicals, which was examined using three methods of evaluation of the antioxidative properties (DPPH, FRAP and ABTS). The storage of ethanolic extracts at ambient temperature had no significant impact on the activity reduction of the evaluated plant material. The antioxidant activity of most examined extracts remained consistently high, which may be reflected in the use of the studied materials as sources of antioxidants in the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries.

Extractions of isoquinoline alkaloids with butanol and octanol.

PubMed

Gregorová, Jana; Babica, Jan; Marek, Radek; Paulová, Hana; Táborská, Eva; Dostál, Jirí

2010-09-01

Six different isoquinoline alkaloids (sanguinarine, chelerythrine, berberine, coptisine, allocryptopine, and protopine) were extracted by butanol and octanol from aqueous solution, pH 4.5. The samples were analyzed by HPLC. Butanol extraction was non-selective, alkaloids passed into organic phase in 83-98%. Octanol extraction provided more selective yields: sanguinarine 99%, chelerythrine 94%, berberine 18%, coptisine 16%, allocryptopine 7.5%, protopine 7%. Further, we tested octanol treatment of extract from Dicranostigma lactucoides. The octanol extraction yields were also selective: sanguinarine 98%, chelerythrine 92%, chelirubine 92.5%, protopine 6% and allocryptopine 3.5%. 6-Butoxy-5,6-dihydrosanguinarine and 6-butoxy-5,6-dihydrochelerythrine were prepared and their NMR and MS data are reported and discussed. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the Inhibitory Effects of Bavachinin and Bavachin on Human Monoamine Oxidases A and B

PubMed Central

Zarmouh, Najla O.; Mazzio, Elizabeth A.; Elshami, Faisel M.; Messeha, Samia S.; Eyunni, Suresh V. K.; Soliman, Karam F. A.

2015-01-01

Monoamine oxidase B inhibitors (MAO-BIs) are used in the early management of Parkinson's disease (PD). Long-term suspected side effects of MAO-B classical inhibitors established the need for safer alternative therapeutic agents. In our study, the flavanone bavachinin (BNN) and its analog bavachin (BVN) found in the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia L. ethanolic extract (PCSEE) were investigated for their human MAO-A and MAO-B (hMAO-A and hMAO-B) inhibition. Both PCSEE and BNN effectively reduced hMAO-B activity more than hMAO-A while BVN had activating effects. BNN showed selective hMAO-B inhibition (IC50 ~ 8.82 μM) more than hMAO-A (IC502009;~ 189.28 μM). BNN in the crude extract was determined by HPLC, also validated by TLC showing a yield of 0.21% PCSEE dry weight. BNN competitively inhibited hMAO-A and hMAO-B, with a lower hMAO-B K i than hMAO-A K i by 10.33-fold, and reduced hMAO-B K m/V max efficiency ratio to be comparable to the standard selegiline. Molecular docking examination of BNN and BVN predicted an indirect role of BNN C7-methoxy group for its higher affinity, selectivity, and reversibility as an MAO-BI. These findings suggest that BNN, which is known to be a potent PPAR-γ agonist, is a selective and competitive hMAO-B inhibitor and could be used in the management of PD. PMID:26557867

Review of particle-in-cell modeling for the extraction region of large negative hydrogen ion sources for fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wünderlich, D.; Mochalskyy, S.; Montellano, I. M.; Revel, A.

2018-05-01

Particle-in-cell (PIC) codes are used since the early 1960s for calculating self-consistently the motion of charged particles in plasmas, taking into account external electric and magnetic fields as well as the fields created by the particles itself. Due to the used very small time steps (in the order of the inverse plasma frequency) and mesh size, the computational requirements can be very high and they drastically increase with increasing plasma density and size of the calculation domain. Thus, usually small computational domains and/or reduced dimensionality are used. In the last years, the available central processing unit (CPU) power strongly increased. Together with a massive parallelization of the codes, it is now possible to describe in 3D the extraction of charged particles from a plasma, using calculation domains with an edge length of several centimeters, consisting of one extraction aperture, the plasma in direct vicinity of the aperture, and a part of the extraction system. Large negative hydrogen or deuterium ion sources are essential parts of the neutral beam injection (NBI) system in future fusion devices like the international fusion experiment ITER and the demonstration reactor (DEMO). For ITER NBI RF driven sources with a source area of 0.9 × 1.9 m2 and 1280 extraction apertures will be used. The extraction of negative ions is accompanied by the co-extraction of electrons which are deflected onto an electron dump. Typically, the maximum negative extracted ion current is limited by the amount and the temporal instability of the co-extracted electrons, especially for operation in deuterium. Different PIC codes are available for the extraction region of large driven negative ion sources for fusion. Additionally, some effort is ongoing in developing codes that describe in a simplified manner (coarser mesh or reduced dimensionality) the plasma of the whole ion source. The presentation first gives a brief overview of the current status of the ion source development for ITER NBI and of the PIC method. Different PIC codes for the extraction region are introduced as well as the coupling to codes describing the whole source (PIC codes or fluid codes). Presented and discussed are different physical and numerical aspects of applying PIC codes to negative hydrogen ion sources for fusion as well as selected code results. The main focus of future calculations will be the meniscus formation and identifying measures for reducing the co-extracted electrons, in particular for deuterium operation. The recent results of the 3D PIC code ONIX (calculation domain: one extraction aperture and its vicinity) for the ITER prototype source (1/8 size of the ITER NBI source) are presented.

Metal separation from mixed types of batteries using selective precipitation and liquid-liquid extraction techniques.

PubMed

Provazi, Kellie; Campos, Beatriz Amaral; Espinosa, Denise Crocce Romano; Tenório, Jorge Alberto Soares

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to study metal separation from a sample composed of a mixture of the main types of spent household batteries, using a hydrometallurgical route, comparing selective precipitation and liquid-liquid extraction separation techniques. The preparation of the solution consisted of: grinding the waste of mixed batteries, reduction and volatile metals elimination using electric furnace and acid leaching. From this solution two different routes were studied: selective precipitation with sodium hydroxide and liquid-liquid extraction using Cyanex 272 [bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphoric acid] as extracting agent. The best results were obtained from liquid-liquid extraction in which Zn had a 99% extraction rate at pH 2.5. More than 95% Fe was extracted at pH 7.0, the same pH at which more than 90% Ce was extracted. About 88% Mn, Cr and Co was extracted at this pH. At pH 3.0, more than 85% Ni was extracted, and at pH 3.5 more than 80% of Cd and La was extracted. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Speech Emotion Feature Selection Method Based on Contribution Analysis Algorithm of Neural Network

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang Xiaojia; Mao Qirong; Zhan Yongzhao

There are many emotion features. If all these features are employed to recognize emotions, redundant features may be existed. Furthermore, recognition result is unsatisfying and the cost of feature extraction is high. In this paper, a method to select speech emotion features based on contribution analysis algorithm of NN is presented. The emotion features are selected by using contribution analysis algorithm of NN from the 95 extracted features. Cluster analysis is applied to analyze the effectiveness for the features selected, and the time of feature extraction is evaluated. Finally, 24 emotion features selected are used to recognize six speech emotions.more » The experiments show that this method can improve the recognition rate and the time of feature extraction.« less

Dual-wavelength phase-shifting digital holography selectively extracting wavelength information from wavelength-multiplexed holograms.

PubMed

Tahara, Tatsuki; Mori, Ryota; Kikunaga, Shuhei; Arai, Yasuhiko; Takaki, Yasuhiro

2015-06-15

Dual-wavelength phase-shifting digital holography that selectively extracts wavelength information from five wavelength-multiplexed holograms is presented. Specific phase shifts for respective wavelengths are introduced to remove the crosstalk components and extract only the object wave at the desired wavelength from the holograms. Object waves in multiple wavelengths are selectively extracted by utilizing 2π ambiguity and the subtraction procedures based on phase-shifting interferometry. Numerical results show the validity of the proposed technique. The proposed technique is also experimentally demonstrated.

Ultraviolet light assisted extraction of flavonoids and allantoin from aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Symphytum officinale

PubMed Central

Al-Nimer, Marwan S. M.; Wahbee, Zainab

2017-01-01

Aim: Symphytum officinale (comfrey) is a medicinal plant commonly used in decoction and to treat ailments. It protects the skin against ultraviolet (UV)-irradiation. UV irradiation may induce variable effects on the constituents of herbal extracts and thereby may limit or improve the advantages of using these extracts as medicinal supplements. This study aimed to assess the effect of UV radiations including UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C on the constituents of S. officinale aqueous and alcoholic extracts. Materials and Methods: Comfrey extracts (1% w/v) were prepared using distilled water, ethanol, and methanol. They were exposed to wavelengths of UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C for 10 min. The principal peak on the UV-spectroscopy scanning, the flavonoids, reducing power, and the allantoin levels were determined before and after irradiation. Results: UV irradiation reduces the magnitude of the principle peak at 355 nm wavelength of the aqueous infusion and methanol extracts. It improves the levels of flavonoids and reducing power of the aqueous extracts and increases the levels of allanotoin in aqueous and methanol extracts. Conclusions: UV-radiation enhances the yields of active ingredient of comfrey extracted with methanol, whereas improves the flavonoids, reducing power, and allantoin levels of comfrey extracted by the aqueous infusion method. UV-radiation reduces the levels of flavonoids, reducing power and allantoin when the comfrey extracted by alcohols. PMID:28894626

Phased laser diode array permits selective excitation of ultrasonic guided waves in coated bone-mimicking tubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moilanen, Petro; Salmi, Ari; Kilappa, Vantte; Zhao, Zuomin; Timonen, Jussi; Hæggström, Edward

2017-10-01

This paper validates simulation predictions, which state that specific modes could be enhanced in quantitative ultrasonic bone testing. Tunable selection of ultrasonic guided wave excitation is useful in non-destructive testing since it permits the mediation of energy into diagnostically useful modes while reducing the energy mediated into disturbing contributions. For instance, it is often challenging to distinguish and extract the useful modes from ultrasound signals measured in bone covered by a soft tissue. We show that a laser diode array can selectively excite ultrasound in bone mimicking phantoms. A fiber-coupled diode array (4 elements) illuminated two solid tubes (2-3 mm wall thickness) embraced by an opaque soft-tissue mimicking elastomer coating (5 mm thick). A predetermined time delay matching the selected mode and frequency was employed between the outputs of the elements. The generated ultrasound was detected by a 215 kHz piezo receiver. Our results suggest that this array reduces the disturbances caused by the elastomer cover and so pave way to permit non-contacting in vivo guided wave ultrasound assessment of human bones. The implementation is small, inexpensive, and robust in comparison with the conventional pulsed lasers.

Zero valent Fe-reduced graphene oxide quantum dots as a novel magnetic dispersive solid phase microextraction sorbent for extraction of organophosphorus pesticides in real water and fruit juice samples prior to analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Akbarzade, Samaneh; Chamsaz, Mahmoud; Rounaghi, Gholam Hossein; Ghorbani, Mahdi

2018-01-01

A selective and sensitive magnetic dispersive solid-phase microextraction (MDSPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed for extraction and determination of organophosphorus pesticides (Sevin, Fenitrothion, Malathion, Parathion, and Diazinon) in fruit juice and real water samples. Zero valent Fe-reduced graphene oxide quantum dots (rGOQDs@ Fe) as a new and effective sorbent were prepared and applied for extraction of organophosphorus pesticides using MDSPME method. In order to study the performance of this new sorbent, the ability of rGOQDs@ Fe was compared with graphene oxide and magnetic graphene oxide nanocomposite by recovery experiments of the organophosphorus pesticides. Several affecting parameters in the microextraction procedure, including pH of donor phase, donor phase volume, stirring rate, extraction time, and desorption conditions such as the type and volume of solvents and desorption time were thoroughly investigated and optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the method showed a wide linear dynamic range with R-square between 0.9959 and 0.9991. The limit of detections, the intraday and interday relative standard deviations (n = 5) were less than 0.07 ngmL -1 , 4.7, and 8.6%, respectively. The method was successfully applied for extraction and determination of organophosphorus pesticides in real water samples (well, river and tap water) and fruit juice samples (apple and grape juice). The obtained relative recoveries were in the range of 82.9%-113.2% with RSD percentages of less than 5.8% for all the real samples.

Cellular and Biophysical Pipeline for the Screening of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Beta/Delta Agonists: Avoiding False Positives

PubMed Central

Batista, Fernanda Aparecida Heleno

2018-01-01

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta/delta (PPARß/δ) is considered a therapeutic target for metabolic disorders, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Here, we developed one pipeline for the screening of PPARß/δ agonists, which reduces the cost, time, and false-positive hits. The first step is an optimized 3-day long cellular transactivation assay based on reporter-gene technology, which is supported by automated liquid-handlers. This primary screening is followed by a confirmatory transactivation assay and by two biophysical validation methods (thermal shift assay (TSA) and (ANS) fluorescence quenching), which allow the calculation of the affinity constant, giving more information about the selected hits. All of the assays were validated using well-known commercial agonists providing trustworthy data. Furthermore, to validate and test this pipeline, we screened a natural extract library (560 extracts), and we found one plant extract that might be interesting for PPARß/δ modulation. In conclusion, our results suggested that we developed a cheaper and more robust pipeline that goes beyond the single activation screening, as it also evaluates PPARß/δ tertiary structure stabilization and the ligand affinity constant, selecting only molecules that directly bind to the receptor. Moreover, this approach might improve the effectiveness of the screening for agonists that target PPARß/δ for drug development.

Layout pattern analysis using the Voronoi diagram of line segments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dey, Sandeep Kumar; Cheilaris, Panagiotis; Gabrani, Maria; Papadopoulou, Evanthia

2016-01-01

Early identification of problematic patterns in very large scale integration (VLSI) designs is of great value as the lithographic simulation tools face significant timing challenges. To reduce the processing time, such a tool selects only a fraction of possible patterns which have a probable area of failure, with the risk of missing some problematic patterns. We introduce a fast method to automatically extract patterns based on their structure and context, using the Voronoi diagram of line-segments as derived from the edges of VLSI design shapes. Designers put line segments around the problematic locations in patterns called "gauges," along which the critical distance is measured. The gauge center is the midpoint of a gauge. We first use the Voronoi diagram of VLSI shapes to identify possible problematic locations, represented as gauge centers. Then we use the derived locations to extract windows containing the problematic patterns from the design layout. The problematic locations are prioritized by the shape and proximity information of the design polygons. We perform experiments for pattern selection in a portion of a 22-nm random logic design layout. The design layout had 38,584 design polygons (consisting of 199,946 line segments) on layer Mx, and 7079 markers generated by an optical rule checker (ORC) tool. The optical rules specify requirements for printing circuits with minimum dimension. Markers are the locations of some optical rule violations in the layout. We verify our approach by comparing the coverage of our extracted patterns to the ORC-generated markers. We further derive a similarity measure between patterns and between layouts. The similarity measure helps to identify a set of representative gauges that reduces the number of patterns for analysis.

Intelligent fault diagnosis of rolling bearings using an improved deep recurrent neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Hongkai; Li, Xingqiu; Shao, Haidong; Zhao, Ke

2018-06-01

Traditional intelligent fault diagnosis methods for rolling bearings heavily depend on manual feature extraction and feature selection. For this purpose, an intelligent deep learning method, named the improved deep recurrent neural network (DRNN), is proposed in this paper. Firstly, frequency spectrum sequences are used as inputs to reduce the input size and ensure good robustness. Secondly, DRNN is constructed by the stacks of the recurrent hidden layer to automatically extract the features from the input spectrum sequences. Thirdly, an adaptive learning rate is adopted to improve the training performance of the constructed DRNN. The proposed method is verified with experimental rolling bearing data, and the results confirm that the proposed method is more effective than traditional intelligent fault diagnosis methods.

Comparison of methods for extraction of ethyl carbamate from alcoholic beverages in gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis.

PubMed

Mirzoian, Armen; Mabud, Abdul

2006-01-01

A procedure to analyze ethyl carbamate (EC) by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was optimized and validated. Deuterated EC (d5-EC) was added to the samples as an internal standard followed by extraction with polystyrene crosslinked polystyrene cartridges using minimal volumes of ethyl acetate. The EC response was measured in selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode and found to be linear in the range between the limit of quantitation (10 micro/L) and 1000 microg/L. EC recoveries varied from 92 to 112%, with the average value of 100 +/- 8%. The procedure compared well (r2 = 0.9970) with the existing AOAC Official Method with the added benefits of minimal solvent usage and reduced matrix interferences.

The polyphenol-rich extracts from black chokeberry and grape seeds impair changes in the platelet adhesion and aggregation induced by a model of hyperhomocysteinemia.

PubMed

Malinowska, Joanna; Oleszek, Wieslaw; Stochmal, Anna; Olas, Beata

2013-04-01

The mechanism action of the polyphenol-rich extracts from berries of Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry) and from grape seeds in the defence against homocysteine (Hcy) and its derivatives action in blood platelets is still unknown. In this study, the influence of the aronia extract and grape seeds extract (GSE) on the platelet adhesion to collagen and fibrinogen and the platelet aggregation during a model of hyperhomocysteinemia was investigated. The aim of our study in vitro was also to investigate superoxide anion radicals (O₂⁻•) production after incubation of platelets with Hcy, HTL and the aronia extract and GSE during a model of hyperhomocysteinemia (induced by reduced form of homocysteine at final dose of 100 μM) and the most reactive form of Hcy--its cyclic thioester, homocysteine thiolactone (HTL, 1 μM). Moreover, the additional aim of our study was also to establish and compare the influence of the aronia extract, GSE and resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxystilben), a phenolic compound, which has been supposed to be beneficial for the prevention of cardiovascular events, on selected steps of platelet activation. The effects of tested extracts on adhesion of blood platelets to collagen and fibrinogen were determined according to Tuszynski and Murphy. The platelet aggregation was determined by turbidimetry method using a Chrono-log Lumi-aggregometer. We have observed that HTL, like its precursor-Hcy stimulated the generation of O₂⁻• (measured by the superoxide dismutase-inhibitable reduction of cytochrome c) in platelets and caused an augmentation of the platelet adhesion and aggregation induced by the strong physiological agonist-thrombin. Our present results in vitro also demonstrated that the aronia extract and grape seeds extract reduced the toxicity action of Hcy and HTL on blood platelet adhesion to collagen and fibrinogen, the platelet aggregation and superoxide anion radicals production in platelets, suggesting its potential protective effects on hemostasis during hyperhomocysteinemia. In the comparative studies, the aronia extract was found to be more effective antiplatelet factors, than GSE or resveratrol during a model of hyperhomocysteinemia. It gives hopes for development of diet supplements, which may be important during hyperhomocysteinemia.

A mixture model with a reference-based automatic selection of components for disease classification from protein and/or gene expression levels

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Bioinformatics data analysis is often using linear mixture model representing samples as additive mixture of components. Properly constrained blind matrix factorization methods extract those components using mixture samples only. However, automatic selection of extracted components to be retained for classification analysis remains an open issue. Results The method proposed here is applied to well-studied protein and genomic datasets of ovarian, prostate and colon cancers to extract components for disease prediction. It achieves average sensitivities of: 96.2 (sd = 2.7%), 97.6% (sd = 2.8%) and 90.8% (sd = 5.5%) and average specificities of: 93.6% (sd = 4.1%), 99% (sd = 2.2%) and 79.4% (sd = 9.8%) in 100 independent two-fold cross-validations. Conclusions We propose an additive mixture model of a sample for feature extraction using, in principle, sparseness constrained factorization on a sample-by-sample basis. As opposed to that, existing methods factorize complete dataset simultaneously. The sample model is composed of a reference sample representing control and/or case (disease) groups and a test sample. Each sample is decomposed into two or more components that are selected automatically (without using label information) as control specific, case specific and not differentially expressed (neutral). The number of components is determined by cross-validation. Automatic assignment of features (m/z ratios or genes) to particular component is based on thresholds estimated from each sample directly. Due to the locality of decomposition, the strength of the expression of each feature across the samples can vary. Yet, they will still be allocated to the related disease and/or control specific component. Since label information is not used in the selection process, case and control specific components can be used for classification. That is not the case with standard factorization methods. Moreover, the component selected by proposed method as disease specific can be interpreted as a sub-mode and retained for further analysis to identify potential biomarkers. As opposed to standard matrix factorization methods this can be achieved on a sample (experiment)-by-sample basis. Postulating one or more components with indifferent features enables their removal from disease and control specific components on a sample-by-sample basis. This yields selected components with reduced complexity and generally, it increases prediction accuracy. PMID:22208882

A parallel-group comparison study of celecoxib with loxoprofen sodium in third mandibular molar extraction patients.

PubMed

Yamashita, Y; Sano, N; Shimohira, D; Danjo, A; Goto, M

2014-12-01

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used widely, but they may damage the upper gastrointestinal mucosa owing to their mechanism of action. Selective cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) inhibitors are known to have a reduced risk for such damage. In this comparative study, the efficacy and safety of the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib for pain after third mandibular molar extraction were compared with those of loxoprofen sodium. This was a parallel-group comparison study; 107 patients who had undergone third mandibular molar extraction were given celecoxib and 102 were given loxoprofen. The level of pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS) 15 min and 30 min after taking the experimental drug decreased over time, with no significant difference between the two groups. The percentage of patients taking a second dose was 64.5% for celecoxib and 80.4% for loxoprofen. The time to second dose was significantly longer for celecoxib (533.5 min) than for loxoprofen (387.4 min). There was no significant difference in the patients' impression of efficacy between the two groups, with ratings of 'excellent' and 'good' for 77.4% in the loxoprofen group and 74.5% in the celecoxib group. These results demonstrate that celecoxib is of equal clinical value to loxoprofen for acute pain after third mandibular molar extraction. Copyright © 2014 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mutual information-based facial expression recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hazar, Mliki; Hammami, Mohamed; Hanêne, Ben-Abdallah

2013-12-01

This paper introduces a novel low-computation discriminative regions representation for expression analysis task. The proposed approach relies on interesting studies in psychology which show that most of the descriptive and responsible regions for facial expression are located around some face parts. The contributions of this work lie in the proposition of new approach which supports automatic facial expression recognition based on automatic regions selection. The regions selection step aims to select the descriptive regions responsible or facial expression and was performed using Mutual Information (MI) technique. For facial feature extraction, we have applied Local Binary Patterns Pattern (LBP) on Gradient image to encode salient micro-patterns of facial expressions. Experimental studies have shown that using discriminative regions provide better results than using the whole face regions whilst reducing features vector dimension.

Immediate Implants: Clinical Guidelines for Esthetic Outcomes

PubMed Central

Javaid, Mohammad A.; Khurshid, Zohaib; Zafar, Muhammad S.; Najeeb, Shariq

2016-01-01

Research has shown that tooth loss results in morphological changes in alveolar ridge that may influence the subsequent implant placement. Immediate implant placement was introduced as a possible means to limit bone resorption and reduce the number of surgical procedures following tooth extraction. Histological and clinical evidence from human clinical studies showing efficacy of immediate implants has come to light over the last decade or so. However, immediate implant placement is a challenging surgical procedure and requires proper case selection and surgical technique. Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of clinical guidelines for immediate implant placement case selection. Therefore, the aim of this mini-review is to analyze critical evidence from human studies in order to establish clinical guidelines which may help clinicians in case selection when considering immediate implant placement protocol. PMID:29563463

Comparison of Genetic Algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization and Biogeography-based Optimization for Feature Selection to Classify Clusters of Microcalcifications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khehra, Baljit Singh; Pharwaha, Amar Partap Singh

2017-04-01

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is one type of breast cancer. Clusters of microcalcifications (MCCs) are symptoms of DCIS that are recognized by mammography. Selection of robust features vector is the process of selecting an optimal subset of features from a large number of available features in a given problem domain after the feature extraction and before any classification scheme. Feature selection reduces the feature space that improves the performance of classifier and decreases the computational burden imposed by using many features on classifier. Selection of an optimal subset of features from a large number of available features in a given problem domain is a difficult search problem. For n features, the total numbers of possible subsets of features are 2n. Thus, selection of an optimal subset of features problem belongs to the category of NP-hard problems. In this paper, an attempt is made to find the optimal subset of MCCs features from all possible subsets of features using genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and biogeography-based optimization (BBO). For simulation, a total of 380 benign and malignant MCCs samples have been selected from mammogram images of DDSM database. A total of 50 features extracted from benign and malignant MCCs samples are used in this study. In these algorithms, fitness function is correct classification rate of classifier. Support vector machine is used as a classifier. From experimental results, it is also observed that the performance of PSO-based and BBO-based algorithms to select an optimal subset of features for classifying MCCs as benign or malignant is better as compared to GA-based algorithm.

Process for the extraction of strontium from acidic solutions

DOEpatents

Horwitz, E.P.; Dietz, M.L.

1994-09-06

The invention is a process for selectively extracting strontium values from aqueous nitric acid waste solutions containing these and other fission product values. The extractant solution is a macrocyclic polyether in an aliphatic hydrocarbon diluent containing a phase modifier. The process will selectively extract strontium values from nitric acid solutions which are up to 6 molar in nitric acid. 4 figs.

Process for the extraction of strontium from acidic solutions

DOEpatents

Horwitz, E. Philip; Dietz, Mark L.

1994-01-01

The invention is a process for selectively extracting strontium values from aqueous nitric acid waste solutions containing these and other fission product values. The extractant solution is a macrocyclic polyether in an aliphatic hydrocarbon diluent containing a phase modifier. The process will selectively extract strontium values from nitric acid solutions which are up to 6 molar in nitric acid.

Process for the extraction of strontium from acidic solutions

DOEpatents

Horwitz, E.P.; Dietz, M.L.

1993-01-01

The invention is a process for selectively extracting strontium values from aqueous nitric acid waste solutions containing these and other fission product values. The extractant solution is a macrocyclic polyether in an aliphatic hydrocarbon diluent containing a phase modifier. The process will selectively extract strontium values from nitric acid solutions which are up to 6 molar in nitric acid.

Selective Solid-liquid Extraction and Liquid-liquid Extraction of Lithium Chloride using Strapped Calix[4]pyrroles

DOE PAGES

He, Qing; Williams, Neil J.; Oh, Ju; ...

2018-05-25

LiCl is a classic "hard" ion salt that is present in lithium-rich brines and a key component in end-of-life materials (i.e., used lithium-ion batteries). Its isolation and purification from like salts is a recognized challenge with potential strategic and economic implications. Here in this paper, we describe two ditopic calix[4]pyrrole-based ion pair receptors (2 and 3), that are capable of selectively capturing LiCl. Under solid-liquid extraction conditions, using 2 as the extractant, LiCl could be separated from a NaCl-KCl salt mixture containing as little as 1% LiCl with ~100% selectivity, while receptor 3 achieved similar separations when the LiCl levelmore » was as low as 200 ppm. Under liquid-liquid extraction conditions using nitrobenzene as the non-aqueous phase, the extraction preference displayed by 2 is KCl > NaCl > LiCl. Lastly, in contrast, 3 exhibits high selectivity towards LiCl over NaCl and KCl, with no appreciable extraction being observed for the latter two salts.« less

Selective Solid-liquid Extraction and Liquid-liquid Extraction of Lithium Chloride using Strapped Calix[4]pyrroles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

He, Qing; Williams, Neil J.; Oh, Ju

LiCl is a classic "hard" ion salt that is present in lithium-rich brines and a key component in end-of-life materials (i.e., used lithium-ion batteries). Its isolation and purification from like salts is a recognized challenge with potential strategic and economic implications. Here in this paper, we describe two ditopic calix[4]pyrrole-based ion pair receptors (2 and 3), that are capable of selectively capturing LiCl. Under solid-liquid extraction conditions, using 2 as the extractant, LiCl could be separated from a NaCl-KCl salt mixture containing as little as 1% LiCl with ~100% selectivity, while receptor 3 achieved similar separations when the LiCl levelmore » was as low as 200 ppm. Under liquid-liquid extraction conditions using nitrobenzene as the non-aqueous phase, the extraction preference displayed by 2 is KCl > NaCl > LiCl. Lastly, in contrast, 3 exhibits high selectivity towards LiCl over NaCl and KCl, with no appreciable extraction being observed for the latter two salts.« less

Development of new composite biosorbents from olive pomace wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagnanelli, Francesca; Viggi, Carolina Cruz; Toro, Luigi

2010-06-01

In this study olive pomace was used as a source of binding substances for the development of composite biosorbents to be used in heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions. The aim was to obtain biosorbent material with an increased concentration of binding sites. The effects of two different extraction procedures (one using only methanol and the other one hexane followed by methanol) on the binding properties of olive pomace were tested by potentiometric titrations and batch biosorption tests for copper and cadmium removal. Titration modelling evidenced that both kinds of extractions generated a solid with a reduced amount of protonatable sites. Biosorption tests were organized according to full factorial designs. Analysis of variance denoted that both kinds of extractions determined a statistically significant negative effect on metal biosorption. In the case of cadmium extractions also determined a significant decrease of selectivity with respect to olive pomace. When the acid-base and binding properties of the substances extracted were determined, they were adsorbed onto a synthetic resin (octadecylsilane) and calcium alginate beads. In this way two kinds of composite biosorbents have been obtained both having an increased concentration of binding substances with respect to native olive pomace, also working more efficiently in metal removal.

Automatic facial animation parameters extraction in MPEG-4 visual communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chenggen; Gong, Wanwei; Yu, Lu

2002-01-01

Facial Animation Parameters (FAPs) are defined in MPEG-4 to animate a facial object. The algorithm proposed in this paper to extract these FAPs is applied to very low bit-rate video communication, in which the scene is composed of a head-and-shoulder object with complex background. This paper addresses the algorithm to automatically extract all FAPs needed to animate a generic facial model, estimate the 3D motion of head by points. The proposed algorithm extracts human facial region by color segmentation and intra-frame and inter-frame edge detection. Facial structure and edge distribution of facial feature such as vertical and horizontal gradient histograms are used to locate the facial feature region. Parabola and circle deformable templates are employed to fit facial feature and extract a part of FAPs. A special data structure is proposed to describe deformable templates to reduce time consumption for computing energy functions. Another part of FAPs, 3D rigid head motion vectors, are estimated by corresponding-points method. A 3D head wire-frame model provides facial semantic information for selection of proper corresponding points, which helps to increase accuracy of 3D rigid object motion estimation.

Water-compatible molecularly imprinted polymers for efficient direct injection on-line solid-phase extraction of ropivacaine and bupivacaine from human plasma.

PubMed

Cobb, Zoe; Sellergren, Börje; Andersson, Lars I

2007-12-01

Two novel molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) selected from a combinatorial library of bupivacaine imprinted polymers were used for selective on-line solid-phase extraction of bupivacaine and ropivacaine from human plasma. The MIPs were prepared using methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the cross-linking monomer and in addition hydroxyethylmethacrylate to render the polymer surface hydrophilic. The novel MIPs showed high selectivity for the analytes and required fewer and lower concentrations of additives to suppress non-specific adsorption compared with a conventional MIP. This enabled the development of an on-line system for direct extraction of buffered plasma. Selective extraction was achieved without the use of time-consuming solvent switch steps, and transfer of the analytes from the MIP column to the analytical column was carried out under aqueous conditions fully compatible with reversed-phase LC gradient separation of analyte and internal standard. The MIPs showed excellent aqueous compatibility and yielded extractions with acceptable recovery and high selectivity.

An Efficient Method for Automatic Road Extraction Based on Multiple Features from LiDAR Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Y.; Hu, X.; Guan, H.; Liu, P.

2016-06-01

The road extraction in urban areas is difficult task due to the complicated patterns and many contextual objects. LiDAR data directly provides three dimensional (3D) points with less occlusions and smaller shadows. The elevation information and surface roughness are distinguishing features to separate roads. However, LiDAR data has some disadvantages are not beneficial to object extraction, such as the irregular distribution of point clouds and lack of clear edges of roads. For these problems, this paper proposes an automatic road centerlines extraction method which has three major steps: (1) road center point detection based on multiple feature spatial clustering for separating road points from ground points, (2) local principal component analysis with least squares fitting for extracting the primitives of road centerlines, and (3) hierarchical grouping for connecting primitives into complete roads network. Compared with MTH (consist of Mean shift algorithm, Tensor voting, and Hough transform) proposed in our previous article, this method greatly reduced the computational cost. To evaluate the proposed method, the Vaihingen data set, a benchmark testing data provided by ISPRS for "Urban Classification and 3D Building Reconstruction" project, was selected. The experimental results show that our method achieve the same performance by less time in road extraction using LiDAR data.

Development of an ionic liquid-based microwave-assisted method for simultaneous extraction and distillation for determination of proanthocyanidins and essential oil in Cortex cinnamomi.

PubMed

Liu, Ye; Yang, Lei; Zu, Yuangang; Zhao, Chunjian; Zhang, Lin; Zhang, Ying; Zhang, Zhonghua; Wang, Wenjie

2012-12-15

Cortex cinnamomi is associated with many health benefits and is used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In this study, an efficient ionic liquid-based microwave-assisted simultaneous extraction and distillation (ILMSED) technique was used to extract cassia oil and proanthocyanidins from Cortex cinnamomi; these were quantified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the vanillin-HCl colorimetric method, respectively. 0.5M 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ionic liquid was selected as solvent. The optimum parameters of dealing with 20.0 g sample were 230 W microwave irradiation power, 15 min microwave extraction time and 10 liquid-solid ratio. The yields of essential oil and proanthocyanidins were 1.24 ± 0.04% and 4.58 ± 0.21% under the optimum conditions. The composition of the essential oil was analysed by GC-MS. Using the ILMSED method, the energy consumption was reduced and the extraction yields were improved. The proposed method was validated using stability, repeatability, and recovery experiments. The results indicated that the developed ILMSED method provided a good alternative for the extraction of both the essential oil and proanthocyanidins from Cortex cinnamomi. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Random forest feature selection approach for image segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lefkovits, László; Lefkovits, Szidónia; Emerich, Simina; Vaida, Mircea Florin

2017-03-01

In the field of image segmentation, discriminative models have shown promising performance. Generally, every such model begins with the extraction of numerous features from annotated images. Most authors create their discriminative model by using many features without using any selection criteria. A more reliable model can be built by using a framework that selects the important variables, from the point of view of the classification, and eliminates the unimportant once. In this article we present a framework for feature selection and data dimensionality reduction. The methodology is built around the random forest (RF) algorithm and its variable importance evaluation. In order to deal with datasets so large as to be practically unmanageable, we propose an algorithm based on RF that reduces the dimension of the database by eliminating irrelevant features. Furthermore, this framework is applied to optimize our discriminative model for brain tumor segmentation.

Comparison of Different EHG Feature Selection Methods for the Detection of Preterm Labor

PubMed Central

Alamedine, D.; Khalil, M.; Marque, C.

2013-01-01

Numerous types of linear and nonlinear features have been extracted from the electrohysterogram (EHG) in order to classify labor and pregnancy contractions. As a result, the number of available features is now very large. The goal of this study is to reduce the number of features by selecting only the relevant ones which are useful for solving the classification problem. This paper presents three methods for feature subset selection that can be applied to choose the best subsets for classifying labor and pregnancy contractions: an algorithm using the Jeffrey divergence (JD) distance, a sequential forward selection (SFS) algorithm, and a binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) algorithm. The two last methods are based on a classifier and were tested with three types of classifiers. These methods have allowed us to identify common features which are relevant for contraction classification. PMID:24454536

Lead extraction by selective operation of a nanosecond-pulsed 355nm laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herzog, Amir; Bogdan, Stefan; Glikson, Michael; Ishaaya, Amiel A.; Love, Charles

2016-03-01

Lead extraction (LE) is necessary for patients who are suffering from a related infection, or in opening venous occlusions that prevent the insertion of additional lead. In severe cases of fibrous encapsulation of the lead within a vein, laser-based cardiac LE has become one of the foremost methods of removal. In cases where the laser radiation (typically at 308 nm wavelength) interacts with the vein wall rather than with the fibrotic lesion, severe injury and subsequent bleeding may occur. Selective tissue ablation was previously demonstrated by a laser operating in the UV regime; however, it requires the use of sensitizers (e.g.: tetracycline). In this study, we present a preliminary examination of efficacy and safety aspects in the use of a nanosecond-pulsed solid-state laser radiation, at 355 nm wavelength, guided in a catheter consisting of optical fibers, in LE. Specifically, we demonstrate a correlation between the tissue elasticity and the catheter advancement rate, in ex-vivo experiments. Our results indicate a selectivity property for specific parameters of the laser radiation and catheter design. The selectivity is attributed to differences in the mechanical properties of the fibrotic tissue and a normal vein wall, leading to a different photomechanical response of the tissue's extracellular matrix. Furthermore, we performed successful in-vivo animal trials, providing a basic proof of concept for using the suggested scheme in LE. Selective operation using a 355 nm laser may reduce the risk of blood vessel perforation as well as the incidence of major adverse events.

NIOBIUM-TANTALUM SEPARATION

DOEpatents

Wilhelm, H.A.; Foos, R.A.

1959-01-27

The usual method for the separation of tantalum and niobium consists of a selective solvent extraction from an aqueous hydrofluoric acid solution of the metals. A difficulty encountered in this process is the fact that the corrosion problems associated with hydrofluoric acid are serious. It has been found that the corrosion caused by the hydrofluoric acid may be substantially reduced by adding to the acidic solution an amine, such as phenyl diethanolamine or aniline, and adjusting pH value to between 4 and 6.

Cytotoxic constituents of Pachyrhizus tuberosus from Peruvian amazon.

PubMed

Leuner, Olga; Havlik, Jaroslav; Budesinsky, Milos; Vrkoslav, Vladimir; Chu, Jessica; Bradshaw, Tracey D; Hummelova, Jana; Miksatkova, Petra; Lapcik, Oldrich; Valterova, Irena; Kokoska, Ladislav

2013-10-01

Investigations into the chemical constituents of the seeds of the neglected tuber crop Pachyrhizus tuberosus (Leguminosae) resulted in the isolation of seven components: five rotenoids [12a-hydroxyerosone (1), 12a-hydroxydolineone (2), erosone (3), 12a-hydroxyrotenone (4) and rotenone (6)], a phenylfuranocoumarin [pachyrrhizine (5)] and an isoflavanone [neotenone (7)]. The compounds were isolated using several chromatography techniques and characterized and verified by NMR and HPLC/MS. The MTT assay was used to examine the selective cytotoxic effects of the methanolic P. tuberosus extract and isolated compounds in two human cancer cell lines [breast (MCF-7) and colorectal (HCT-116)] and in non-transformed human fibroblasts (MRC-5); IC50 values were calculated. The methanolic P. tuberosus extract displayed respectable cytotoxic effects against HCT-116 and MCF-7 cells with IC50 values of 7.3 and 6.3 microg/mL, respectively. Of the compounds, 6 exacted greatest cytotoxicity and selectivity towards the cancer cell lines tested, yielding IC50 values of 0.3 microg/mL against both MCF-7 and HCT-116 cells, and a 6-fold reduced activity against MRC-5 fibroblasts. Compound 4 also demonstrated cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and HCT-116 (1.1 and 1.8 microg/mL, respectively), and reduced cytotoxicity towards MRC-5 cells (7.5 mirog/mL). The results revealed from the in vitro cytotoxic MTT assay are worthy of further antitumor investigation.

Enzyme-assisted extraction of phenolics from winemaking by-products: Antioxidant potential and inhibition of alpha-glucosidase and lipase activities.

PubMed

de Camargo, Adriano Costa; Regitano-d'Arce, Marisa Aparecida Bismara; Biasoto, Aline Camarão Telles; Shahidi, Fereidoon

2016-12-01

Phenolics in food and agricultural processing by-products exist in the soluble and insoluble-bound forms. The ability of selected enzymes in improving the extraction of insoluble-bound phenolics from the starting material (experiment I) or the residues containing insoluble-bound phenolics (experiment II) were evaluated. Pronase and Viscozyme improved the extraction of insoluble-bound phenolics as evaluated by total phenolic content, antioxidant potential as determined by ABTS and DPPH assays, and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity, reducing power as well as evaluation of inhibition of alpha-glucosidase and lipase activities. Viscozyme released higher amounts of gallic acid, catechin, and prodelphinidin dimer A compared to Pronase treatment. Furthermore, p-coumaric and caffeic acids, as well as procyanidin dimer B, were extracted with Viscozyme but not with Pronase treatment. Solubility plays an important role in the bioavailability of phenolic compounds, hence this study may assist in better exploitation of phenolics from winemaking by-products as functional food ingredients and/or supplements. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of ionic surfactants on the morphology of silver nanoparticles using Paan (Piper betel) leaf petiole extract.

PubMed

Khan, Zaheer; Bashir, Ommer; Hussain, Javed Ijaz; Kumar, Sunil; Ahmad, Rabia

2012-10-01

Stable silver nanoparticles were synthesized by the reduction of silver ions with a Paan (Piper betel) leaf petiole extract in absence and presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). The reaction process was simple and convenient to handle, and was monitored using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Absorbance of Ag-nanoparticles increases with the concentrations of Paan leaf extract, acts as reducing, stabilizing and capping agents. The polyphenolic groups of petiole extract are responsible to the rapid reduction of Ag(+) ions into metallic Ag(0). The results indicated that the shape of the spectra, number of peaks and its position strongly depend on the concentration of CTAB, which played a shape-controlling role during the formation of silver nanoparticles in the solutions, whereas SDS has no significant effect. The morphology (spherical, truncated triangular polyhedral plate and some irregular nanoparticles) and crystalline phase of the particles were determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of selected Indonesian plant extracts on E. cuniculi infection in vivo.

PubMed

Sak, Bohumil; Jandová, Anna; Doležal, Karel; Kváč, Martin; Květoňová, Dana; Hlásková, Lenka; Rost, Michael; Olšanský, Milan; Nurcahyo, Wisnu; Foitová, Ivona

2017-10-01

The present study was conducted to evaluate the methanolic extracts from several plant leaves widely used in traditional medicine to cure digestive tract disorders and in the self-medication of wild animals such as non-human primates, namely Archidendron fagifolium, Diospyros sumatrana, Shorea sumatrana, and Piper betle leaves, with regard to their antimicrosporidial activity against Encephalitozoon cuniculi in immunocompetent BALB/c mice determined using molecular detection of microsporidial DNA (qPCR) in various tissues and body fluids of infected, treated mice. Of the plant extracts tested, Diospyros sumatrana provided the most promising results, reducing spore shedding by 88% compared to untreated controls. Moreover, total burden per 1 g of tissue in the D. sumatrana extract-treated group reached 87% reduction compared to untreated controls, which was comparable to the effect of the standard drug, Albendazole. This data represents the baseline necessary for further research focused on determining the structure, activity and modes of action of the active compounds, mainly of D. sumatrana, enabling subsequent development of antimicrosporidial remedies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Extraction and derivatization of polar herbicides for GC-MS analyses.

PubMed

Ranz, Andreas; Maier, Eveline; Motter, Herbert; Lankmayr, Ernst

2008-09-01

A sample preparation procedure including a simultaneous microwave-assisted (MA) extraction and derivatization for the determination of chlorophenoxy acids in soil samples is presented. For a selective and sensitive measurement, an analytical technique such as GC coupled with MS needs to be adopted. For GC analyses, chlorophenoxy acids have to be converted into more volatile and thermally stable derivatives. Derivatization by means of microwave radiation offers new alternatives in terms of shorter derivatization time and reduces susceptibility for the formation of artefacts. Extraction and derivatization into methyl esters (ME) were performed with sulphuric acid and methanol. Due to the novelty of the simultaneous extraction and derivatization assisted by means of microwave radiation, a careful investigation and optimization of influential reaction parameters was necessary. It could be shown that the combination of sulphuric acid and methanol provides a fast sample preparation including an efficient clean up procedure. The data obtained by the described method are in good agreement with those published for the reference material. Finally, compared to conventional heating and also to the standard procedure of the EPA, the sample preparation time could be considerably shortened.

Extraction of S- and N-compounds from the mixture of hydrocarbons by ionic liquids as selective solvents.

PubMed

Gabrić, Beata; Sander, Aleksandra; Cvjetko Bubalo, Marina; Macut, Dejan

2013-01-01

Liquid-liquid extraction is an alternative method that can be used for desulfurization and denitrification of gasoline and diesel fuels. Recent approaches employ different ionic liquids as selective solvents, due to their general immiscibility with gasoline and diesel, negligible vapor pressure, and high selectivity to sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds. For that reason, five imidazolium-based ionic liquids and one pyridinium-based ionic liquid were selected for extraction of thiophene, dibenzothiophene, and pyridine from two model solutions. The influences of hydrodynamic conditions, mass ratio, and number of stages were investigated. Increasing the mass ratio of ionic liquid/model fuel and multistage extraction promotes the desulfurization and denitrification abilities of the examined ionic liquids. All selected ionic liquids can be reused and regenerated by means of vacuum evaporation.

Extraction of S- and N-Compounds from the Mixture of Hydrocarbons by Ionic Liquids as Selective Solvents

PubMed Central

Gabrić, Beata; Sander, Aleksandra; Cvjetko Bubalo, Marina; Macut, Dejan

2013-01-01

Liquid-liquid extraction is an alternative method that can be used for desulfurization and denitrification of gasoline and diesel fuels. Recent approaches employ different ionic liquids as selective solvents, due to their general immiscibility with gasoline and diesel, negligible vapor pressure, and high selectivity to sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds. For that reason, five imidazolium-based ionic liquids and one pyridinium-based ionic liquid were selected for extraction of thiophene, dibenzothiophene, and pyridine from two model solutions. The influences of hydrodynamic conditions, mass ratio, and number of stages were investigated. Increasing the mass ratio of ionic liquid/model fuel and multistage extraction promotes the desulfurization and denitrification abilities of the examined ionic liquids. All selected ionic liquids can be reused and regenerated by means of vacuum evaporation. PMID:23843736

Determination of antioxidants by a novel on-line HPLC-cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) assay with post-column detection.

PubMed

Celik, Saliha Esin; Ozyürek, Mustafa; Güçlü, Kubilay; Apak, Reşat

2010-07-26

A novel on-line HPLC-cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) method was developed for the selective determination of polyphenols (flavonoids, simple phenolic and hydroxycinnamic acids) in complex plant matrices. The method combines chromatographic separation, constituent analysis, and post-column identification of antioxidants in plant extracts. The separation of polyphenols was performed on a C18 column using gradient elution with two different mobile phase solutions, i.e., MeOH and 0.2% o-phosphoric acid. The HPLC-separated antioxidant polyphenols in the extracts react with copper(II)-neocuproine (Cu(II)-Nc) reagent in a post-column reaction coil to form a derivative. The reagent is reduced by antioxidants to the copper(I)-neocuproine (Cu(I)-Nc) chelate having maximum absorption at 450 nm. The negative peaks of antioxidant constituents were monitored by measuring the increase in absorbance due to Cu(I)-Nc. The detection limits of polyphenols at 450 nm (in the range of 0.17-3.46 microM) after post-column derivatization were comparable to those at 280 nm UV detection without derivatization. The developed method was successfully applied to the identification of antioxidant compounds in crude extracts of Camellia sinensis, Origanum marjorana and Mentha. The method is rapid, inexpensive, versatile, non-laborious, uses stable reagents, and enables the on-line qualitative and quantitative estimation of antioxidant constituents of complex plant samples. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ON-SITE SOLID-PHASE EXTRACTION AND LABORATORY ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Fragrance materials such as synthetic musks in aqueous samples, are normally determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode to provide maximum sensitivity after liquid-liquid extraction of I -L samples. Full-scan mass spectra are required to verify that a target analyte has been found by comparison with the mass spectra of fragrance compounds in the NIST mass spectral library. A I -L sample usually provides insufficient analyte for full scan data acquisition. This paper describes an on-site extraction method developed at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)- Las Vegas Nevada - for synthetic musks from 60 L of wastewater effluent. Such a large sample volume permits high-quality, full-scan mass spectra to be obtained for a wide array of synthetic musks. Quantification of these compounds was achieved from the full-scan data directly, without the need to acquire SIM data. The detection limits obtained with this method are an order of magnitude lower than those obtained from liquid-liquid and other solid phase extraction methods. This method is highly reproducible, and recoveries ranged from 80 to 97% in spiked sewage treatment plant effluent. The high rate of sorbent-sample mass transfer eliminated the need for a methanolic activation step, which reduced extraction time, labor, and solvent use, More samples could be extracted in the field at lower cost. After swnple extraction, the light- weight cartridges ar

Comparison of the application of B-mode and strain elastography ultrasound in the estimation of lymph node metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma based on a radiomics approach.

PubMed

Liu, Tongtong; Ge, Xifeng; Yu, Jinhua; Guo, Yi; Wang, Yuanyuan; Wang, Wenping; Cui, Ligang

2018-06-21

B-mode ultrasound (B-US) and strain elastography ultrasound (SE-US) images have a potential to distinguish thyroid tumor with different lymph node (LN) status. The purpose of our study is to investigate whether the application of multi-modality images including B-US and SE-US can improve the discriminability of thyroid tumor with LN metastasis based on a radiomics approach. Ultrasound (US) images including B-US and SE-US images of 75 papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) cases were retrospectively collected. A radiomics approach was developed in this study to estimate LNs status of PTC patients. The approach included image segmentation, quantitative feature extraction, feature selection and classification. Three feature sets were extracted from B-US, SE-US, and multi-modality containing B-US and SE-US. They were used to evaluate the contribution of different modalities. A total of 684 radiomics features have been extracted in our study. We used sparse representation coefficient-based feature selection method with 10-bootstrap to reduce the dimension of feature sets. Support vector machine with leave-one-out cross-validation was used to build the model for estimating LN status. Using features extracted from both B-US and SE-US, the radiomics-based model produced an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) [Formula: see text] 0.90, accuracy (ACC) [Formula: see text] 0.85, sensitivity (SENS) [Formula: see text] 0.77 and specificity (SPEC) [Formula: see text] 0.88, which was better than using features extracted from B-US or SE-US separately. Multi-modality images provided more information in radiomics study. Combining use of B-US and SE-US could improve the LN metastasis estimation accuracy for PTC patients.

Pancreatic lipase and α-amylase inhibitory activities of plants used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

PubMed

2016-07-07

To find new, plant based drugs for the treatment of obesity and/or diabetes mellitus type 2 through the inhibition of essential digestive enzymes, in vitro tests were carried out on selected plants or fungi with weight-reducing, blood glucose-reducing or related potential, used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Aqueous and methanolic extracts of 32 Chinese herbal medicines were assayed for their in vitro inhibitory activity against pancreatic lipase (PL) and α-amylase (PA). PL activity was measured by using an enzymatic in vitro assay based on the hydrolysis kinetics of an oleate ester of 4-methylumbelliferone. For the determination of α-amylase activity an enzyme assay based on the hydrolytic cleavage of a modified starch derivative was used. Our findings have shown that the methanolic extract of Lycopus lucidus Turcz. var. hirtus Regel (Lamiaceae) was a very effective PL inhibitor (IC50: 88.3±4.1 μg/mL). A high anti-amylase activity showed the methanolic extract of Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim. (Curcurbitaceae, IC50: 248.8±67.3 μg/mL). This work provides a priority list of interesting plants for further study with respect to the treatment of obesity and associated metabolic diseases.

Alpha-Amylase Inhibition and Antioxidative Capacity of Some Antidiabetic Plants Used by the Traditional Healers in Southeastern Nigeria

PubMed Central

Oyedemi, Blessing O.; Ijeh, Ifeoma I.; Ohanyerem, Princemartins E.; Aiyegoro, Olayinka A.

2017-01-01

Oxidative stress plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome including diabetes mellitus (DM). The inhibition of alpha-amylase is an important therapeutic target in the regulation of postprandial increase of blood glucose in diabetic patients. The present study investigated the alpha-amylase inhibitory and antioxidant potential of selected herbal drugs used in the treatment of DM by the traditional healers in Isiala Mbano and Ikwuano regions of southeastern Nigeria. Antioxidant activity was evaluated in terms of free radical scavenging, reducing power, and total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid content (TFC) in consonance with the TLC profiling. The results showed that methanol crude extracts from Anacardium occidentale (AO) and Ceiba pentandra (CP) recorded higher TPC and TFC, potent free radical scavenging, and efficient reducing power (RP) as compared with other plant samples. All the plant extracts exhibited a relative alpha-amylase inhibition apart from Strophanthus hispidus (SH) extract with a negative effect. We discovered a mild to weak correlation between alpha-amylase inhibition or antioxidative capacity and the total phenol or flavonoid content. At least in part, the results obtained in this work support the traditional use of certain plant species in the treatment of patients with DM. PMID:28367491

Antioxidative activities of 62 wild mushrooms from Nepal and the phenolic profile of some selected species.

PubMed

Tamrakar, Sonam; Tran, Hai Bang; Nishida, Marina; Kaifuchi, Satoru; Suhara, Hiroto; Doi, Katsumi; Fukami, Katsuya; Parajuli, Gopal Prasad; Shimizu, Kuniyoshi

2016-10-01

Mushrooms have garnered immense popularity for their nutritional as well as medicinal values. The therapeutic potential of mushrooms in Nepal, a country well known for its biodiversity and natural medicinal resources, remains largely unstudied. Therefore, this study attempts to unveil the antioxidative properties of Nepalese wild mushrooms. Sixty-two wild mushroom samples were collected from several forests in different parts of Nepal. Ethanol and water extracts of the dried samples were tested for their antioxidative activities using total phenolic content (TPC), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and reducing power (RP) assays. Ethanol extracts of samples belonging to the order Hymenochaetales showed significantly high activity in all the assays. Inonotus clemensiae had an exceptionally high TPC of 643.2 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g extract and also exhibited the lowest EC50 values in DPPH (0.081 mg/mL), ABTS (0.409 mg/mL), and EC0.5 value in reducing power (RP; 0.031 mg/mL) assays. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the top ten samples with the highest TPC was done to identify the phenolic compounds in the extracts, followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis for some unknown compounds. These findings highlight the very strong antioxidative activity of Nepalese mushrooms, and paves the way for further research to explore their economic potential.

Does 3-dimensional imaging of the third molar reduce the risk of experiencing inferior alveolar nerve injury owing to extraction?: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Clé-Ovejero, Adrià; Sánchez-Torres, Alba; Camps-Font, Octavi; Gay-Escoda, Cosme; Figueiredo, Rui; Valmaseda-Castellón, Eduard

2017-08-01

Clinicians generally use panoramic radiographic (PR) images to assess the proximity of the mandibular third molar to the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN). However, in cases in which a patient needs to undergo a third-molar extraction, many clinicians also assess computed tomographic (CT) images to prevent nerve damage. Two of the authors independently searched MEDLINE (through PubMed), Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Ovid. The authors included randomized or nonrandomized longitudinal studies whose investigators had compared the number of IAN injuries after third-molar extraction in patients who had undergone preoperative CT with patients who had undergone only PR. The authors analyzed the full text of 26 of the 745 articles they initially selected. They included 6 studies in the meta-analysis. Four of the studies had a high risk of bias, and the investigators of only 1 study had used blinding with the patients. The authors observed no statistically significant differences between groups related to the total number of nerve injuries (risk ratio, 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.50 to 1.85; P = .91). The prognosis of the injuries was similar for both groups. Although having preoperative CT images might be useful for clinicians in terms of diagnosing and extracting mandibular third molars, having these CT images does not reduce patients' risk of experiencing IAN injuries nor does it affect their prognosis. Copyright © 2017 American Dental Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mechanism of herpes simplex virus type 2 suppression by propolis extracts.

PubMed

Nolkemper, Silke; Reichling, Jürgen; Sensch, Karl Heinz; Schnitzler, Paul

2010-02-01

Genital herpes caused by herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is a chronic, persistent infection spreading efficiently and silently as sexually transmitted disease through the population. Antiviral agents currently applied for the treatment of herpesvirus infections include acyclovir and derivatives. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of propolis were phytochemically analysed, different polyphenols, flavonoids and phenylcarboxylic acids were identified as major constituents. The aqueous propolis extract revealed a relatively high amount of phenylcarboxylic acids and low concentrations flavonoids when compared to the ethanolic special extract GH 2002. The cytotoxic and antiherpetic effect of propolis extracts against HSV-2 was analysed in cell culture, and revealed a moderate cytotoxicity on RC-37 cells. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of aqueous and ethanolic GH 2002 propolis extracts for HSV-2 plaque formation was determined at 0.0005% and 0.0004%, respectively. Both propolis extracts exhibited high levels of antiviral activity against HSV-2 in viral suspension tests, infectivity was significantly reduced by >99% and a direct concentration- and time-dependent antiherpetic activity could be demonstrated for both extracts. In order to determine the mode of virus suppression by propolis, the extracts were added at different times during the viral infection cycle. Addition of these drugs to uninfected cells prior to infection or to herpesvirus-infected cells during intracellular replication had no effect on virus multiplication. However both propolis extracts exhibited high anti-herpetic activity when viruses were pretreated with these drugs prior to infection. Selectivity indices were determined at 80 and 42.5 for the aqueous and ethanolic extract, respectively, thus propolis extracts might be suitable for topical therapy in recurrent herpetic infection. Copyright 2009 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Optimal selection of biochars for remediating metals ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Approximately 500,000 abandoned mines across the U.S. pose a considerable, pervasive risk to human health and the environment due to possible exposure to the residuals of heavy metal extraction. Historically, a variety of chemical and biological methods have been used to reduce the bioavailability of the metals at mine sites. Biochar with its potential to complex and immobilize heavy metals, is an emerging alternative for reducing bioavailability. Furthermore, biochar has been reported to improve soil conditions for plant growth and can be used for promoting the establishment of a soil-stabilizing native plant community to reduce offsite movement of metal-laden waste materials. Because biochar properties depend upon feedstock selection, pyrolysis production conditions, and activation procedures used, they can be designed to meet specific remediation needs. As a result biochar with specific properties can be produced to correspond to specific soil remediation situations. However, techniques are needed to optimally match biochar characteristics with metals contaminated soils to effectively reduce metal bioavailability. Here we present experimental results used to develop a generalized method for evaluating the ability of biochar to reduce metals in mine spoil soil from an abandoned Cu and Zn mine. Thirty-eight biochars were produced from approximately 20 different feedstocks and produced via slow pyrolysis or gasification, and were allowed to react with a f

Development of a seaweed species-selection index for successful culture in a seaweed-based integrated aquaculture system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Yun Hee; Hwang, Jae Ran; Chung, Ik Kyo; Park, Sang Rul

2013-03-01

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) has been proposed as a concept that combines the cultivation of fed aquaculture species ( e.g., finfish/shrimp) with extractive aquaculture species ( e.g., shellfish/seaweed). In seaweed-based integrated aquaculture, seaweeds have the capacity to reduce the environmental impact of nitrogen-rich effluents on coastal ecosystems. Thus, selection of optimal species for such aquaculture is of great importance. The present study aimed to develop a seaweed species-selection index for selecting suitable species in seaweed-based integrated aquaculture system. The index was synthesized using available literature-based information, reference data, and physiological seaweed experiments to identify and prioritize the desired species. Undaria pinnatifida, Porphyra yezoensis and Ulva compressa scored the highest according to a seaweed-based integrated aquaculture suitability index (SASI). Seaweed species with the highest scores were adjudged to fit the integrated aquaculture systems. Despite the application of this model limited by local aquaculture environment, it is considered to be a useful tool for selecting seaweed species in IMTA.

Whole-body tissue stabilization and selective extractions via tissue-hydrogel hybrids for high-resolution intact circuit mapping and phenotyping

PubMed Central

Treweek, Jennifer B; Deverman, Benjamin E; Greenbaum, Alon; Lignell, Antti; Xiao, Cheng; Cai, Long; Ladinsky, Mark S; Bjorkman, Pamela J; Fowlkes, Charless C; Gradinaru, Viviana

2016-01-01

To facilitate fine-scale phenotyping of whole specimens, we describe here a set of tissue fixation-embedding, detergent-clearing and staining protocols that can be used to transform excised organs and whole organisms into optically transparent samples within 1–2 weeks without compromising their cellular architecture or endogenous fluorescence. PACT (passive CLARITY technique) and PARS (perfusion-assisted agent release in situ) use tissue-hydrogel hybrids to stabilize tissue biomolecules during selective lipid extraction, resulting in enhanced clearing efficiency and sample integrity. Furthermore, the macromolecule permeability of PACT- and PARS-processed tissue hybrids supports the diffusion of immunolabels throughout intact tissue, whereas RIMS (refractive index matching solution) grants high-resolution imaging at depth by further reducing light scattering in cleared and uncleared samples alike. These methods are adaptable to difficult-to-image tissues, such as bone (PACT-deCAL), and to magnified single-cell visualization (ePACT). Together, these protocols and solutions enable phenotyping of subcellular components and tracing cellular connectivity in intact biological networks. PMID:26492141

Bio-reduction of Cr(VI) by exopolysaccharides (EPS) from indigenous bacterial species of Sukinda chromite mine, India.

PubMed

Harish, R; Samuel, Jastin; Mishra, R; Chandrasekaran, N; Mukherjee, A

2012-07-01

Chrome mining activity has contributed intensively towards pollution of hexavalent chromium around Sukinda Valley, Orissa, India. In an attempt to study the specific contribution of exopolysaccharides (EPS) extracted from indigenous isolates towards Cr(VI) reduction, three chromium (VI) tolerant strains were isolated from the effluent mining sludge. Based on the tolerance towards Cr(VI) and EPS production capacity, one of them was selected for further work. The taxonomic identity of the selected strain was confirmed to be Enterobacter cloacae (showing 98% similarity in BLAST search to E. cloacae) through 16S rRNA analysis. The EPS production was observed to increase with increasing Cr(VI) concentration in the growth medium, highest being 0.078 at 100 mg/l Cr(VI). The extracted EPS from Enterobacter cloacae SUKCr1D was able to reduce 31.7% of Cr(VI) at 10 mg/l concentration, which was relevant to the prevailing natural concentrations at Sukinda mine effluent sludge. The FT-IR spectral studies confirmed the surface chemical interactions of hexavalent chromium with EPS.

An Analysis of EMG Electrode Configuration for Targeted Muscle Reinnervation Based Neural Machine Interface

PubMed Central

Huang, He; Zhou, Ping; Li, Guanglin; Kuiken, Todd A.

2015-01-01

Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) is a novel neural machine interface for improved myoelectric prosthesis control. Previous high-density (HD) surface electromyography (EMG) studies have indicated that tremendous neural control information can be extracted from the reinnervated muscles by EMG pattern recognition (PR). However, using a large number of EMG electrodes hinders clinical application of the TMR technique. This study investigated a reduced number of electrodes and the placement required to extract sufficient neural control information for accurate identification of user movement intents. An electrode selection algorithm was applied to the HD EMG recordings from each of 4 TMR amputee subjects. The results show that when using only 12 selected bipolar electrodes the average accuracy over subjects for classifying 16 movement intents was 93.0(±3.3)%, just 1.2% lower than when using the entire HD electrode complement. The locations of selected electrodes were consistent with the anatomical reinnervation sites. Additionally, a practical protocol for clinical electrode placement was developed, which does not rely on complex HD EMG experiment and analysis while maintaining a classification accuracy of 88.7±4.5%. These outcomes provide important guidelines for practical electrode placement that can promote future clinical application of TMR and EMG PR in the control of multifunctional prostheses. PMID:18303804

In vitro inhibitory activities of selected Australian medicinal plant extracts against protein glycation, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and digestive enzymes linked to type II diabetes.

PubMed

Deo, Permal; Hewawasam, Erandi; Karakoulakis, Aris; Claudie, David J; Nelson, Robert; Simpson, Bradley S; Smith, Nicholas M; Semple, Susan J

2016-11-04

There is a need to develop potential new therapies for the management of diabetes and hypertension. Australian medicinal plants collected from the Kuuku I'yu (Northern Kaanju) homelands, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia were investigated to determine their therapeutic potential. Extracts were tested for inhibition of protein glycation and key enzymes relevant to the management of hyperglycaemia and hypertension. The inhibitory activities were further correlated with the antioxidant activities. Extracts of five selected plant species were investigated: Petalostigma pubescens, Petalostigma banksii, Memecylon pauciflorum, Millettia pinnata and Grewia mesomischa. Enzyme inhibitory activity of the plant extracts was assessed against α-amylase, α-glucosidase and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). Antiglycation activity was determined using glucose-induced protein glycation models and formation of protein-bound fluorescent advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). Antioxidant activity was determined by measuring the scavenging effect of plant extracts against 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and using the ferric reducing anti-oxidant potential assay (FRAP). Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were also determined. Extracts of the leaves of Petalostigma banksii and P. pubescens showed the strongest inhibition of α-amylase with IC 50 values of 166.50 ± 5.50 μg/mL and 160.20 ± 27.92 μg/mL, respectively. The P. pubescens leaf extract was also the strongest inhibitor of α-glucosidase with an IC 50 of 167.83 ± 23.82 μg/mL. Testing for the antiglycation potential of the extracts, measured as inhibition of formation of protein-bound fluorescent AGEs, showed that P. banksii root and fruit extracts had IC 50 values of 34.49 ± 4.31 μg/mL and 47.72 ± 1.65 μg/mL, respectively, which were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than other extracts. The inhibitory effect on α-amylase, α-glucosidase and the antiglycation potential of the extracts did not correlate with the total phenolic, total flavonoid, FRAP or DPPH. For ACE inhibition, IC 50 values ranged between 266.27 ± 6.91 to 695.17 ± 15.38 μg/mL. The tested Australian medicinal plant extracts inhibit glucose-induced fluorescent AGEs, α-amylase, α-glucosidase and ACE with extracts of Petalostigma species showing the most promising activity. These medicinal plants could potentially be further developed as therapeutic agents in the treatment of hyperglycaemia and hypertension.

Classification of Weed Species Using Artificial Neural Networks Based on Color Leaf Texture Feature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhichen; An, Qiu; Ji, Changying

The potential impact of herbicide utilization compel people to use new method of weed control. Selective herbicide application is optimal method to reduce herbicide usage while maintain weed control. The key of selective herbicide is how to discriminate weed exactly. The HIS color co-occurrence method (CCM) texture analysis techniques was used to extract four texture parameters: Angular second moment (ASM), Entropy(E), Inertia quadrature (IQ), and Inverse difference moment or local homogeneity (IDM).The weed species selected for studying were Arthraxon hispidus, Digitaria sanguinalis, Petunia, Cyperus, Alternanthera Philoxeroides and Corchoropsis psilocarpa. The software of neuroshell2 was used for designing the structure of the neural network, training and test the data. It was found that the 8-40-1 artificial neural network provided the best classification performance and was capable of classification accuracies of 78%.

Determination of CMPO using HPLC -UV

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gracy Elias; Gary S. Groenewold; Bruce J. Mincher

Octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO) is an extractant proposed for selective separation of radionuclide metals from used nuclear fuel solutions using solvent extraction. Radiolysis reactions can degrade CMPO and reduce separation performance and hence methods for measuring concentration of CMPO and identifying degradation products are needed. A novel high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method employing ultraviolet detection (UV) was developed to detect and quantitate CMPO in dodecane. Some radiolysis products in gamma and alpha irradiated CMPO solutions were identified using HPLC/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Validation data indicated that the HPLC-UV method for CMPO determination provided good linearity, sensitivity, procedure accuracy and systemmore » precision. CMPO-nitric acid complexes were also identified, that account for the apparent loss of CMPO in acidic environment, independent of irradiation.« less

Pressurized liquid extraction and chemical characterization of safflower oil: A comparison between methods.

PubMed

Conte, Rogério; Gullich, Letícia M D; Bilibio, Denise; Zanella, Odivan; Bender, João P; Carniel, Naira; Priamo, Wagner L

2016-12-15

This work investigates the extraction process of safflower oil using pressurized ethanol, and compares the chemical composition obtained (in terms of fatty acids) with other extraction techniques. Soxhlet and Ultrasound showed maximum global yield of 36.53% and 30.41%, respectively (70°C and 240min). PLE presented maximum global yields of 25.62% (3mLmin(-1)), 19.94% (2mLmin(-1)) and 12.37% (1mLmin(-1)) at 40°C, 100bar and 60min. Palmitic acid showed the lower concentration in all experimental conditions (from 5.70% to 7.17%); Stearic and Linoleic acid presented intermediate concentrations (from 2.93% to 25.09% and 14.09% to 19.06%, respectively); Oleic acid showed higher composition (from 55.12% to 83.26%). Differences between percentages of fatty acids, depending on method were observed. Results may be applied to maximize global yields and select fatty acids, reducing the energetic costs and process time. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low-level Laser Therapy on Postoperative Pain after Mandibular Third Molar Surgery

PubMed Central

Hamid, May Ayad

2017-01-01

Introduction: The analgesic effect of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) after mandibular third molar (MTM) extraction is controversial. The aim is to evaluate the effect of intraoral LLLT on postoperative pain after MTMs extraction. Methods: Thirty patients with bilateral symmetrical impacted MTMs underwent surgical extractions. Experimental and control sides were randomly selected to receive LLLT or placebo. Following suturing, a dental assistant applied 810 nm gallium aluminum arsenide (GaAlAs) at three points for 30 s each with a total energy of 9 J. Pain was recorded on a visual analog scale on the 7 successive days. Results: Data analyzed by IBM SPSS Statistics 23 for Windows with P ≤ 0.05 significance level. LLLT appeared to have a high significant effect on pain reduction; however, there was a mild increase in pain after the 4th day. Conclusion: Intraoral 810 nm GaAlAs is effective in reducing postoperative pain when a dose of 32.86 J/cm2 is used. PMID:29264287

Direct analyte-probed nanoextraction coupled to nanospray ionization-mass spectrometry of drug residues from latent fingerprints.

PubMed

Clemons, Kristina; Wiley, Rachel; Waverka, Kristin; Fox, James; Dziekonski, Eric; Verbeck, Guido F

2013-07-01

Here, we present a method of extracting drug residues from fingerprints via Direct Analyte-Probed Nanoextraction coupled to nanospray ionization-mass spectrometry (DAPNe-NSI-MS). This instrumental technique provides higher selectivity and lower detection limits over current methods, greatly reducing sample preparation, and does not compromise the integrity of latent fingerprints. This coupled to Raman microscopy is an advantageous supplement for location and identification of trace particles. DAPNe uses a nanomanipulator for extraction and differing microscopies for localization of chemicals of interest. A capillary tip with solvent of choice is placed in a nanopositioner. The surface to be analyzed is placed under a microscope, and a particle of interest is located. Using a pressure injector, the solvent is injected onto the surface where it dissolves the analyte, and then extracted back into the capillary tip. The solution is then directly analyzed via NSI-MS. Analyses of caffeine, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and ecstasy have been performed successfully. © 2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Green synthesis of gold nanoparticles using aqueous extract of Dillenia indica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sett, Arghya; Gadewar, Manoj; Sharma, Pragya; Deka, Manab; Bora, Utpal

2016-06-01

In this study, we report a novel method of gold nanoparticle (AuNP) synthesis using aqueous fruit extract of Dillenia indica. The phytochemicals present in the fruit extract act as an effective reducing and capping agent to synthesize AuNPs. The synthesized AuNPs were characterized by spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. TEM studies revealed the particles of various sizes and mainly spherical in shape. Selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images confirmed the crystallinity of the particles. The XRD patterns showed peaks at (111), (200), (220) which exhibited preferential orientation of the AuNPs as face-centered cubic crystal. FTIR measurements confirmed the coating of phenolic compounds on the AuNPs indicating a possible role of biomolecules for the capping and efficient stabilization of the AuNPs. The synthesized AuNPs did not show any form of cytotoxicity in the normal fibroblast cell line L929.

[Applicational evaluation of split tooth extractions of upper molars using piezosurgery].

PubMed

Li, D; Guo, C B; Liu, Y; Wang, E B

2016-02-18

To evaluate the efficacy of Piezosurgery in split teeth extractions. A single-center, randomized, split-mouth study was performed using a consecutive serious of unrelated healthy patients attending the departing of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology. 40 patients were selected for extraction of maxillary molars without reservation value,splitting or nonvital teeth. They were divided into control (20 patients) and test groups (20 patients) randomly. Surgical treatments for both groups were under local anesthesia. Molar teeth of control group were extracted by common equipments like dental elevators, chisels, forceps, etc. While molar teeth of experimental group were extracted by Piezosurgery, aided with the use of common equipments if needed. Then we compared the duration of surgery, frequency of the usage of chisels, expansion of postoperative bony socket surgical discomfort and postoperative pain between two groups. The average of operation time was (629.5±171.0) s in control group and (456.0±337.2) s in test group. The buccal alveolar bone reduced (1.07±0.64) mm in control group and (1.49±0.61) mm in test group. There was a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The duration of surgery for experimental group was significantly longer than that of the control group, but the change of buccal alveolar bone was lower than the control group. For visual analogue scale (VAS) value of surgical discomfort, expansion of postoperative bony socket and the operative fear rate, there were no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Piezosugery can be better to preserve alveolar bone, reduce trauma and patient's fear. Application of the piezosugery reflect the characteristics of minimally invasive extraction, which has the value of promotion. The Piezosurgery technique have the advantage of reducing change of buccal alveolar bone during the surgery, but a longer surgical time was required when compared with the conventional technique. VAS value of surgical discomfort, expansion of postoperative bony socket and the operative fear rate, there were no significant difference. Minimally invasive tooth extraction technique has good clinical results and high satisfaction. Piezosurgery proved its worth as the instrument adapted to limiting the destruction of bone tissue.

[Applicational evaluation of split tooth extractions of upper molars using piezosurgery].

PubMed

Li, D; Guo, C B; Liu, Y; Wang, E B

2016-08-18

To evaluate the efficacy of Piezosurgery in split teeth extractions. A single-center, randomized, split-mouth study was performed using a consecutive serious of unrelated healthy patients attending the departing of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology. 40 patients were selected for extraction of maxillary molars without reservation value,splitting or nonvital teeth. They were divided into control (20 patients) and test groups (20 patients) randomly. Surgical treatments for both groups were under local anesthesia. Molar teeth of control group were extracted by common equipments like dental elevators, chisels, forceps, etc. While molar teeth of experimental group were extracted by Piezosurgery, aided with the use of common equipments if needed. Then we compared the duration of surgery, frequency of the usage of chisels, expansion of postoperative bony socket surgical discomfort and postoperative pain between two groups. The average of operation time was (629.5±171.0) s in control group and (456.0±337.2) s in test group. The buccal alveolar bone reduced (1.07±0.64) mm in control group and (1.49±0.61) mm in test group. There was a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The duration of surgery for experimental group was significantly longer than that of the control group, but the change of buccal alveolar bone was lower than the control group. For visual analogue scale (VAS) value of surgical discomfort, expansion of postoperative bony socket and the operative fear rate, there were no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Piezosugery can be better to preserve alveolar bone, reduce trauma and patient's fear. Application of the piezosugery reflect the characteristics of minimally invasive extraction, which has the value of promotion. The Piezosurgery technique have the advantage of reducing change of buccal alveolar bone during the surgery, but a longer surgical time was required when compared with the conventional technique. VAS value of surgical discomfort, expansion of postoperative bony socket and the operative fear rate, there were no significant difference. Minimally invasive tooth extraction technique has good clinical results and high satisfaction. Piezosurgery proved its worth as the instrument adapted to limiting the destruction of bone tissue.

Acetic acid removal from corn stover hydrolysate using ethyl acetate and the impact on Saccharomyces cerevisiae bioethanol fermentation.

PubMed

Aghazadeh, Mahdieh; Ladisch, Michael R; Engelberth, Abigail S

2016-07-08

Acetic acid is introduced into cellulose conversion processes as a consequence of composition of lignocellulose feedstocks, causing significant inhibition of adapted, genetically modified and wild-type S. cerevisiae in bioethanol fermentation. While adaptation or modification of yeast may reduce inhibition, the most effective approach is to remove the acetic acid prior to fermentation. This work addresses liquid-liquid extraction of acetic acid from biomass hydrolysate through a pathway that mitigates acetic acid inhibition while avoiding the negative effects of the extractant, which itself may exhibit inhibition. Candidate solvents were selected using simulation results from Aspen Plus™, based on their ability to extract acetic acid which was confirmed by experimentation. All solvents showed varying degrees of toxicity toward yeast, but the relative volatility of ethyl acetate enabled its use as simple vacuum evaporation could reduce small concentrations of aqueous ethyl acetate to minimally inhibitory levels. The toxicity threshold of ethyl acetate, in the presence of acetic acid, was found to be 10 g L(-1) . The fermentation was enhanced by extracting 90% of the acetic acid using ethyl acetate, followed by vacuum evaporation to remove 88% removal of residual ethyl acetate along with 10% of the broth. NRRL Y-1546 yeast was used to demonstrate a 13% increase in concentration, 14% in ethanol specific production rate, and 11% ethanol yield. This study demonstrated that extraction of acetic acid with ethyl acetate followed by evaporative removal of ethyl acetate from the raffinate phase has potential to significantly enhance ethanol fermentation in a corn stover bioethanol facility. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:929-937, 2016. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Selective enrichment in bioactive compound from Kniphofia uvaria by super/subcritical fluid extraction and centrifugal partition chromatography.

PubMed

Duval, Johanna; Destandau, Emilie; Pecher, Virginie; Poujol, Marion; Tranchant, Jean-François; Lesellier, Eric

2016-05-20

Nowadays, a large portion of synthetic products (active cosmetic and therapeutic ingredients) have their origin in natural products. Kniphofia uvaria is a plant from Africa which has proved in the past by in-vivo tests an antioxidant activity due to compounds present in roots. Recently, we have observed anthraquinones in K. uvaria seeds extracts. These derivatives are natural colorants which could have interesting bioactive potential. The aim of this study was to obtain an extract enriched in anthraquinones from K. uvaria seeds which mainly contains glycerides. First, the separation of the seed compounds was studied by using supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) in the goal to provide a rapid quantification method of these bioactive compounds. A screening of numerous polar stationary phases was achieved for selecting the most suited phase to the separation of the four anthraquinones founded in the seeds. A gradient elution was optimized for improving the separation of the bioactive compounds from the numerous other families of major compounds of the extracts (fatty acids, di- and triglycerides). Besides, a non-selective and green Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) with pure CO2 was applied to seeds followed by a Centrifugal Partition Chromatography (CPC). The CPC system was optimized by using the Arizona phase system, to enrich the extract in anthraquinones. Two systems were selected to isolate the bioactive compounds from the oily extract with varied purity target. The effect of the injection mode for these very viscous samples was also studied. Finally, in order to directly apply a selective process of extraction to the seeds, the super/subcritical fluid extraction was optimized to increase the anthraquinone yield in the final extract, by studying varied modifier compositions and nature, as well as different temperatures and backpressures. Conditions suited to favour an enrichment factor bases on the ratio of anthraquinone and trilycerides extracted are described. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Highly Efficient Extraction of Phenolic Compounds by Use of Magnetic Room Temperature Ionic Liquids for Environmental Remediation

PubMed Central

Deng, Ning; Li, Min; Zhao, Lijie; Lu, Chengfei; de Rooy, Sergio L.; Warner, Isiah M.

2011-01-01

A hydrophobic magnetic room temperature ionic liquid (MRTIL), trihexyltetradecylphosphonium tetrachloroferrate(III) ([3C6PC14][FeCl4]), was synthesized from trihexyltetradecylphosphonium chloride and FeCl3·6H2O. This MRTIL was investigated as a possible separation agent for solvent extraction of phenolic compounds from aqueous solution. Due to its strong paramagnetism, [3C6PC14][FeCl4] responds to an external neodymium magnet, which was employed in the design of a novel magnetic extraction technique. The conditions for extraction, including extraction time, volume ratio between MRTIL and aqueous phase, pH of aqueous solution, and structures of phenolic compounds were investigated and optimized. The magnetic extraction of phenols achieved equilibrium in 20 min and the phenolic compounds were found to have higher distribution ratios under acidic conditions. In addition, it was observed that phenols containing a greater number of chlorine or nitro substitutents exhibited higher distribution ratios. For example, the distribution ratio of phenol (DPh) was 107. In contrast, 3,5-dichlorophenol distribution ratio (D3,5-DCP) had a much higher value of 6372 under identical extraction conditions. When compared with four selected traditional non-magnetic room temperature ionic liquids, our [3C6PC14][FeCl4] exhibited significantly higher extraction efficiency under the same experimental conditions used in this work. Pentachlorophenol, a major component in the contaminated soil sample obtained from a superfund site, was successfully extracted and removed by use of [3C6PC14][FeCl4] with high extraction efficiency. Pentachlorophenol concentration was dramatically reduced from 7.8 μg.mL−1 to 0.2 μg.mL−1 after the magnetic extraction by use of [3C6PC14][FeCl4]. PMID:21783320

ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANT EXTRACTS AGAINST PHYTOPATHOGENIC FUNGI

PubMed Central

Mahlo, Salome Mamokone; Chauke, Hasani Richard; McGaw, Lyndy; Eloff, Jacobus

2016-01-01

Background: Medicinal plants are used by many ethnic groups as a source of medicine for the treatment of various ailments in both humans and domestic animals. These plants produce secondary metabolites that have antimicrobial properties, thus screening of medicinal plants provide another alternative for producing chemical fungicides that are relatively non-toxic and cost-effective. Materials and methods: Leaf extracts of selected South African plant species (Bucida buceras, Breonadia salicina, Harpephyllum caffrum, Olinia ventosa, Vangueria infausta and Xylotheca kraussiana) were investigated for activity against selected phytopathogenic fungi (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus parasiticus, Colletotricum gloeosporioides, Penicillium janthinellum, P. expansum, Trichoderma harzianum and Fusarium oxysporum). These plant fungal pathogens causes major economic losses in fruit industry such as blue rot on nectaries and postharvest disease in citrus. Plant species were selected from 600 evaluated inter alia, against two animal fungal pathogens (Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans). Antioxidant activity of the selected plant extracts were investigated using a qualitative assay (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)). Bioautography assay was used to determine the number of antifungal compounds in plant extracts. Results: All plant extracts were active against the selected plant phytopathogenic fungi. Moreover, Bucida buceras had the best antifungal activity against four of the fungi, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values as low as 0.02 mg/ml and 0.08 mg/ml against P. expansum, P. janthinellum, T. harzianum and F. oxysporum. The plant extracts of five plant species did not possess strong antioxidant activity. However, methanol extract of X. kraussiana was the most active radical scavenger in the DPPH assay amongst the six medicinal plants screened. No antifungal compounds were observed in some of the plant extracts with good antifungal activity as shown in the microdilution assay, indicating possible synergism between the separated metabolites. Conclusion: The results showed that acetone was the best extractant. Furthermore, our findings also confirm the traditional use of Breonadia salicina and demonstrate the potential value of developing biopesticides from plants. PMID:28852739

ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANT EXTRACTS AGAINST PHYTOPATHOGENIC FUNGI.

PubMed

Mahlo, Salome Mamokone; Chauke, Hasani Richard; McGaw, Lyndy; Eloff, Jacobus

2016-01-01

Medicinal plants are used by many ethnic groups as a source of medicine for the treatment of various ailments in both humans and domestic animals. These plants produce secondary metabolites that have antimicrobial properties, thus screening of medicinal plants provide another alternative for producing chemical fungicides that are relatively non-toxic and cost-effective. Leaf extracts of selected South African plant species ( Bucida buceras, Breonadia salicina, Harpephyllum caffrum, Olinia ventosa, Vangueria infausta and Xylotheca kraussiana ) were investigated for activity against selected phytopathogenic fungi ( Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus parasiticus, Colletotricum gloeosporioides, Penicillium janthinellum, P. expansum, Trichoderma harzianum and Fusarium oxysporum ). These plant fungal pathogens causes major economic losses in fruit industry such as blue rot on nectaries and postharvest disease in citrus. Plant species were selected from 600 evaluated inter alia, against two animal fungal pathogens ( Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans ). Antioxidant activity of the selected plant extracts were investigated using a qualitative assay (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)). Bioautography assay was used to determine the number of antifungal compounds in plant extracts. All plant extracts were active against the selected plant phytopathogenic fungi. Moreover, Bucida buceras had the best antifungal activity against four of the fungi, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values as low as 0.02 mg/ml and 0.08 mg/ml against P. expansum, P. janthinellum, T. harzianum and F. oxysporum . The plant extracts of five plant species did not possess strong antioxidant activity. However, methanol extract of X. kraussiana was the most active radical scavenger in the DPPH assay amongst the six medicinal plants screened. No antifungal compounds were observed in some of the plant extracts with good antifungal activity as shown in the microdilution assay, indicating possible synergism between the separated metabolites. The results showed that acetone was the best extractant. Furthermore, our findings also confirm the traditional use of Breonadia salicina and demonstrate the potential value of developing biopesticides from plants.

Molecularly imprinted polymers with synthetic dummy template for simultaneously selective removal and enrichment of ginkgolic acids from Ginkgo biloba L. leaves extracts.

PubMed

Ji, Wenhua; Ma, Xiuli; Xie, Hongkai; Chen, Lingxiao; Wang, Xiao; Zhao, Hengqiang; Huang, Luqi

2014-11-14

Dummy molecularly imprinted polymers (DMIPs) for simultaneously selective removal and enrichment of ginkgolic acids (GAs) during the processing of Ginkgo biloba leaves have been prepared. Two dummy template molecule with similar structural skeleton to GAs, 6-methoxysalicylic acid (MOSA, DT-1) and 6-hexadecyloxysalicylic acid (HOSA, DT-2), have been designed and synthesized. The performance of the DMIPs and NIPs were evaluated including selective recognition capacity, adsorption isotherm, and adsorption kinetics. The selective recognition capacity of the three GAs with four analogues on the sorbents illustrated that the DMIPs sorbents have high specificity for GAs. An efficient method based on DMIP-HOSA coupled with solid-phase extraction (SPE) was developed for simultaneously selective removal and enrichment of ginkgolic acids (GAs) during the processing of Ginkgo biloba leaves. The method showed excellent recoveries (82.5-88.7%) and precision (RSD 0.5-2.6%, n=5) for licorice extracts, Gastrodia elata extracts and pepper extracts spiked at three concentration levels each (50, 100, 200 μg mL(-1)). The results indicated that GAs and standardized Ginkgo biloba leaves extracts could be obtained simultaneously through the DMIP-SPE. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of new efficient method for isolation of phenolics from sea algae prior to their rapid resolution liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric determination.

PubMed

Klejdus, Bořivoj; Plaza, Merichel; Šnóblová, Marie; Lojková, Lea

2017-02-20

The extraction of phenolic compounds from 4 different sea algae samples, three brown algae (Cystoseira abies-marina, C. abies-marina grinded under cryogenic conditions with liquid nitrogen, Undaria pinnatifida and Sargassum muticum) and one red algae (Chondrus crispus) via solid phase extraction using micro-elution solid-phase extraction (μ-SPE) plate method was studied. Prior to μ-SPE, 50mg of algae with 80% methanol mixture was extracted in hyphenated series by various extraction techniques, such as pressurized liquid extraction and Ika Ultra-Turrax ® Tube Drive, in combination with ultrasound assisted extraction. The μ-SPE plate technique reduced the time of sample pre-treatment thanks to higher sensitivity and pre-concentration effect. Selected groups of benzoic acid derivatives (p-hydroxybenzoic, protocatechuic, gallic, vanillic, and syringic acids), hydroxybenzaldehydes (4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, and 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde), and cinnamic acid derivatives (p-coumaric, caffeic, ferulic, sinapic, and chlorogenic acids) were determined using rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry detection with negative ion electrospray ionization (RRLC-ESI-MS) using multiple reactions monitoring. LOQs of measured samples varied in the range 0.23-1.68ng/mL and LODs in the range 0.07-0.52ng/mL. The applied method allowed a simultaneous determination of phenolics (i.e. free, esters soluble in methanol, glycosides, and esters insoluble in methanol) in less than 5min (including alkaline or acidic hydrolysis of raw extracts) from sea algae extracts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Liposome-containing Hibiscus sabdariffa calyx extract formulations with increased antioxidant activity, improved dermal penetration and reduced dermal toxicity.

PubMed

Pinsuwan, Sirirat; Amnuaikit, Thanaporn; Ungphaiboon, Suwipa; Itharat, Arunporn

2010-12-01

Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn, or Roselle, is a medicinal plant used extensively in traditional Thai medicine since ancient times. The extracts of Roselle calyces possess antioxidant activity and have potential for development as active ingredients in cosmetic products. However the limitations of using Roselle extracts in cosmetics are its low skin permeation and dermal irritation. Liposome technology is an obvious approach that might overcome these problems. Liposome formulations of standardized Roselle extracts were developed with various lipid components. The formulation showing the highest entrapment efficiency was selected for stability, skin permeation and dermal irritability studies. The liposome formulation with the highest entrapment efficiency (83%) and smalôlest particle size (332 mm) was formulated with phosphatidylcholine from soybean (SPC): Tween 80: deoxycholic acid (DA); 84:16:2.5 weight ratio, total lipid of 200 g/mL and 10% w/v Roselle extract in final liposomal preparation. This liposome formulation was found to be stable after storage at 4 degrees C, protected from light, for 2 months. The in vitro skin permeation studies, using freshly excised pig skin and modified Franz-diffusion cells, showed that the liposome formulation was able to considerably increased the rate of permeation of active compounds in Roselle extracts compared to the Roselle extract solution. The in vivo dermal irritability testing on rabbit skin showed that the liposome formulation dramatically decreased skin irritability compared to the unformulated extract. These results showed that the liposomes containing Roselle extracts had good stability, high entrapment efficacy, increased skin permeation and low skin irritation.

Chemical fractionation of heavy metals in urban soils of Guangzhou, China.

PubMed

Lu, Ying; Zhu, Feng; Chen, Jie; Gan, Haihua; Guo, Yanbiao

2007-11-01

Knowledge of the total concentration of heavy metals is not enough to fully assess the environmental impact of urban soils. For this reason, the determination of metal speciation is important to evaluate their environment and the mobilization capacity. Sequential extraction technique proposed by the former European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) was used to speciate Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in urban soils from Guangzhou into four operationally defined fractions: HOAc extractable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual. The Cu, Fe, Ni, and Zn were predominantly located in the residual fraction, Pb in the reducible fraction, and Cd and Mn within the HOAc extractable fraction. The order of Cd in each fraction was generally HOAc extractable > reducible > residual > oxidizable; Cu and Fe were residual > reducible > oxidizable > HOAc extractable; Mn was HOAc extractable > residual > reducible > oxidizable; Ni and Zn were residual > reducible > HOAc extractable > oxidizable; and Pb was reducible > residual > oxidizable > HOAc extractable. Cadmium was identified as being the most mobile of the elements, followed by Mn, Zn, Ni, Cu, Pb and Fe. Iron-Mn oxides can play an important role in binding Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn and in decreasing their proportion associated with the residual fraction in the soils. With total concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Mn increase, these metals more easily release and may produce more negative effects on the urban environment.

Evaluating bis(2-ethylhexyl) methanediphosphonic acid (H 2DEH[MDP]) based polymer ligand film (PLF) for plutonium and uranium extraction

DOE PAGES

Rim, Jung H.; Armenta, Claudine E.; Gonzales, Edward R.; ...

2015-09-12

This paper describes a new analyte extraction medium called polymer ligand film (PLF) that was developed to rapidly extract radionuclides. PLF is a polymer medium with ligands incorporated in its matrix that selectively and quickly extracts analytes. The main focus of the new technique is to shorten and simplify the procedure for chemically isolating radionuclides for determination through alpha spectroscopy. The PLF system was effective for plutonium and uranium extraction. The PLF was capable of co-extracting or selectively extracting plutonium over uranium depending on the PLF composition. As a result, the PLF and electrodeposited samples had similar alpha spectra resolutions.

Comparison of wavelet based denoising schemes for gear condition monitoring: An Artificial Neural Network based Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Rounaq; Srinivasa Pai, P.; Sriram, N. S.; Bhat, Vasudeva

2018-02-01

Vibration Analysis has been extensively used in recent past for gear fault diagnosis. The vibration signals extracted is usually contaminated with noise and may lead to wrong interpretation of results. The denoising of extracted vibration signals helps the fault diagnosis by giving meaningful results. Wavelet Transform (WT) increases signal to noise ratio (SNR), reduces root mean square error (RMSE) and is effective to denoise the gear vibration signals. The extracted signals have to be denoised by selecting a proper denoising scheme in order to prevent the loss of signal information along with noise. An approach has been made in this work to show the effectiveness of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to denoise gear vibration signal. In this regard three selected wavelet based denoising schemes namely PCA, Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), Neighcoeff Coefficient (NC), has been compared with Adaptive Threshold (AT) an extensively used wavelet based denoising scheme for gear vibration signal. The vibration signals acquired from a customized gear test rig were denoised by above mentioned four denoising schemes. The fault identification capability as well as SNR, Kurtosis and RMSE for the four denoising schemes have been compared. Features extracted from the denoised signals have been used to train and test artificial neural network (ANN) models. The performances of the four denoising schemes have been evaluated based on the performance of the ANN models. The best denoising scheme has been identified, based on the classification accuracy results. PCA is effective in all the regards as a best denoising scheme.

Integrating dimension reduction and out-of-sample extension in automated classification of ex vivo human patellar cartilage on phase contrast X-ray computed tomography.

PubMed

Nagarajan, Mahesh B; Coan, Paola; Huber, Markus B; Diemoz, Paul C; Wismüller, Axel

2015-01-01

Phase contrast X-ray computed tomography (PCI-CT) has been demonstrated as a novel imaging technique that can visualize human cartilage with high spatial resolution and soft tissue contrast. Different textural approaches have been previously investigated for characterizing chondrocyte organization on PCI-CT to enable classification of healthy and osteoarthritic cartilage. However, the large size of feature sets extracted in such studies motivates an investigation into algorithmic feature reduction for computing efficient feature representations without compromising their discriminatory power. For this purpose, geometrical feature sets derived from the scaling index method (SIM) were extracted from 1392 volumes of interest (VOI) annotated on PCI-CT images of ex vivo human patellar cartilage specimens. The extracted feature sets were subject to linear and non-linear dimension reduction techniques as well as feature selection based on evaluation of mutual information criteria. The reduced feature set was subsequently used in a machine learning task with support vector regression to classify VOIs as healthy or osteoarthritic; classification performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Our results show that the classification performance achieved by 9-D SIM-derived geometric feature sets (AUC: 0.96 ± 0.02) can be maintained with 2-D representations computed from both dimension reduction and feature selection (AUC values as high as 0.97 ± 0.02). Thus, such feature reduction techniques can offer a high degree of compaction to large feature sets extracted from PCI-CT images while maintaining their ability to characterize the underlying chondrocyte patterns.

Evaluation of methods for the extraction of DNA from drinking water distribution system biofilms.

PubMed

Hwang, Chiachi; Ling, Fangqiong; Andersen, Gary L; LeChevallier, Mark W; Liu, Wen-Tso

2012-01-01

While drinking water biofilms have been characterized in various drinking water distribution systems (DWDS), little is known about the impact of different DNA extraction methods on the subsequent analysis of microbial communities in drinking water biofilms. Since different DNA extraction methods have been shown to affect the outcome of microbial community analysis in other environments, it is necessary to select a DNA extraction method prior to the application of molecular tools to characterize the complex microbial ecology of the DWDS. This study compared the quantity and quality of DNA yields from selected DWDS bacteria with different cell wall properties using five widely used DNA extraction methods. These were further selected and evaluated for their efficiency and reproducibility of DNA extraction from DWDS samples. Terminal restriction fragment length analysis and the 454 pyrosequencing technique were used to interpret the differences in microbial community structure and composition, respectively, from extracted DNA. Such assessments serve as a concrete step towards the determination of an optimal DNA extraction method for drinking water biofilms, which can then provide a reliable comparison of the meta-analysis results obtained in different laboratories.

Computational and experimental investigation of molecular imprinted polymers for selective extraction of dimethoate and its metabolite omethoate from olive oil.

PubMed

Bakas, Idriss; Oujji, Najwa Ben; Moczko, Ewa; Istamboulie, Georges; Piletsky, Sergey; Piletska, Elena; Ait-Addi, Elhabib; Ait-Ichou, Ihya; Noguer, Thierry; Rouillon, Régis

2013-01-25

This work presents the development of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the selective extraction of dimethoate from olive oil. Computational simulations allowed selecting itaconic acid as the monomer showing the highest affinity towards dimethoate. Experimental validation confirmed modelling predictions and showed that the polymer based on IA as functional monomer and omethoate as template molecule displays the highest selectivity for the structurally similar pesticides dimethoate, omethoate and monocrotophos. Molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) method was developed and applied to the clean-up of olive oil extracts. It was found that the most suitable solvents for loading, washing and elution step were respectively hexane, hexane-dichloromethane (85:15%) and methanol. The developed MIPSE was successfully applied to extraction of dimethoate from olive oil, with recovery rates up to 94%. The limits of detection and quantification of the described method were respectively 0.012 and 0.05 μg g(-1). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Comparison on extraction of volatile oils from Lithospermum erythrorhizon by different methods].

PubMed

Yang, Ri-fu; Huang, Ping-ping; Qiu, Tai-qiu; Fan, Xiao-dan

2011-02-01

To extract the volatile oils from Lithospermum erythrorhizon via ultrasound-enhanced sub-critical water extraction (USWE) and compare with ultrasound-enhanced solvent extraction (USE) and steam distillation extraction (SD). The extraction yield of the volatile oils, the containing components of extract, the effect of scanvenging activities on free radical DPPH and reducing activities as well as the inhibitory on escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus were investigated. The extraction yield of volatile oils by USWE, USE and SD were 2.39%, 1.93% and 0.62%, respectively, the extracts by three methods all contained six major components, but the extracts by SD and USE contained more impurities. The inhibitory effect on escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus of the extract by SD and its reducing action were the best,but those by USWE were the worst. the extraction yield of volatile oils by USWE is the highest, and it contains less impurities based on the worst in reducing power and inhibitory effects.

Question analysis for Indonesian comparative question

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saelan, A.; Purwarianti, A.; Widyantoro, D. H.

2017-01-01

Information seeking is one of human needs today. Comparing things using search engine surely take more times than search only one thing. In this paper, we analyzed comparative questions for comparative question answering system. Comparative question is a question that comparing two or more entities. We grouped comparative questions into 5 types: selection between mentioned entities, selection between unmentioned entities, selection between any entity, comparison, and yes or no question. Then we extracted 4 types of information from comparative questions: entity, aspect, comparison, and constraint. We built classifiers for classification task and information extraction task. Features used for classification task are bag of words, whether for information extraction, we used lexical, 2 previous and following words lexical, and previous label as features. We tried 2 scenarios: classification first and extraction first. For classification first, we used classification result as a feature for extraction. Otherwise, for extraction first, we used extraction result as features for classification. We found that the result would be better if we do extraction first before classification. For the extraction task, classification using SMO gave the best result (88.78%), while for classification, it is better to use naïve bayes (82.35%).

Extract of Bauhinia vahlii Shows Antihyperglycemic Activity, Reverses Oxidative Stress, and Protects against Liver Damage in Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats

PubMed Central

Elbanna, Ahmed H.; Nooh, Mohammed M.; Mahrous, Engy A.; Khaleel, Amal E.; Elalfy, Taha S.

2017-01-01

Background: Several studies have affirmed the effectiveness of some Bauhinia plants as antihyperglycemic agents. Objective: We investigated the possible effect of Bauhinia vahlii leaves extract in reducing hyperglycemia and reversing signs of organ damage associated with diabetes in streptozotocin (STZ) rat model. Materials and Methods: Both polar fraction of the B. vahlii leaves (defatted ethanolic extract [DEE]) and nonpolar fraction (n-hexane extract) were evaluated in vitro for α-glucosidase inhibition and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging potential. DEE was selected for further in vivo studies and was administered at two doses, i.e., 150 or 300 mg/kg to STZ-diabetic rats for 4 weeks. Results: Only DEE exhibited in vitro antioxidant and antihyperglycemic activities and its oral administration at both dose levels resulted in significant reduction in fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin. Furthermore, signs of oxidative stress as indicated by hepatic reduced glutathione, nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde levels were completely reversed. In addition, histopathological examination and measurement of serum aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase levels showed that DEE protected the liver from signs of liver pathogenesis when compared to diabetic untreated animals and those treated with metformin. Phytochemical analysis of DEE showed high flavonoids content with quercitrin as the major constituent along with other quercetin glycosides. Conclusion: This study strongly highlights the possible beneficial effect of B. vahlii leaves extract in relieving hyperglycemia and liver damage in STZ-diabetic rats and recommends further investigation of the value of quercetin derivatives in controlling diabetes and ameliorating liver damage associated with it. SUMMARY The polar fraction of the Bauhinia vahlii leaves (defatted ethanolic extract [DEE]) exhibited both in vitro antioxidant activity in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging assay and strong α-glucosidase inhibition while the nonpolar fraction (n-hexane extract) failed to show any activity in both assays. DEE was further investigated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model where oral administration of DEE at 2 doses (150 and 300 mg/kg) for 4 weeks resulted in significant reduction in fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin and reversal of oxidative stress signs as indicated by measurement of hepatic reduced glutathione, nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde levels. In addition, histopathological examination and measurement of serum aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase levels showed that DEE protected the liver from signs of pathogenesis observed in diabetic untreated rats. Phytochemical analysis of DEE showed high flavonoid content with quercitrin as the major constituent (62.9 ± 0.18 mg/mg). Abbreviations used: ALT: Alanine transaminase, AST: Aspartate transaminase, DEE: Defatted ethanol extract, DPPH: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, FBG: Fasting blood glucose, GAE: Gallic acid equivalent, GSH: Reduced glutathione, Hb1Ac: Glycated hemoglobin, HE: Hexane extract MDA: Malondialdehyde, QE: Quercetin equivalent, STZ: Streptozotocin, TAC: Total antioxidant capacity. PMID:29142421

Application of a macrocyclic compound, bambus[6]uril, in tailor-made liquid membranes for highly selective electromembrane extractions of inorganic anions.

PubMed

Šlampová, Andrea; Šindelář, Vladimír; Kubáň, Pavel

2017-01-15

A tailor-made liquid membrane consisting of a resistive organic solvent (nitrobenzene, NB) and a highly selective non-ionic macrocyclic compound (bambus[6]uril, BU6) was employed for electromembrane extraction (EME) of inorganic anions. BU6 facilitates strong host-guest interactions of its internal cavity with selected inorganic anions only and its presence in the liquid membrane ensured excellent selectivity of the EME process. EME transfers were directly related to association constants between BU6 and inorganic anions and nearly absolute selectivity was achieved for EMEs of iodide, bromide and perchlorate. Major inorganic anions (chloride, nitrate, sulphate and carbonate), which exhibit low interactions with BU6 cavity, were efficiently eliminated from the EME transfer. No interferences were observed for EMEs of target analytes from samples containing up to 100.000-fold higher concentrations of the major anions. Addition of species-specific macrocyclic modifiers to free and supported liquid membranes might thus open new directions in fine-tuning of EME selectivity. At optimized EME conditions (polypropylene hollow fiber impregnated with NB + 3% (w/w) BU6, extraction voltage 25 V, extraction time 15 min, deionized water as acceptor solution) perchlorate was selectively extracted from tap water at concentrations below the guideline value recommended by United States Environmental Protection Agency. Excellent selectivity of the tailor-made liquid membrane was further demonstrated by EME of bromide from sea water. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimization of Ionic Liquid-Assisted Extraction of Biflavonoids from Selaginella doederleinii and Evaluation of Its Antioxidant and Antitumor Activity.

PubMed

Li, Dan; Qian, Yan; Tian, Yu-Jia; Yuan, Shi-Meng; Wei, Wei; Wang, Gang

2017-04-07

As new green solvents, ionic liquids (ILs) have been generally applied in the extraction and separation of natural product. In this study, microwave assisted extraction based on IL (IL-MAE) was firstly employed to extract total biflavonoids from Selaginella doederleinii . Based on single-factor experiment, microwave power (300-700 W), extract time (30-50 min) and extract temperature (40-60 °C) on total bioflavonoids and antioxidant activities of the extracts were further investigated by a Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology (RSM) selecting total bioflavonoids yields and IC 50 of radical scavenging as index. Besides antioxidant activity of the extract was evaluated by a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydarzyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate (ABTS) radical scavenging assay, ferric reducing power assay and chelation of ferrous ions assay, and then anticaner activity was also researched against A549 cell line and 7721 cell line. The results illustrated that three factors and their interactions could be well suited for second-order polynomial models ( p < 0.05). Through process parameters, optimization of the extract (460 W, 40 min, and 45 °C) and detection of bioactivity, the yield of total bioflavonoids was 16.83 mg/g and IC 50 value was 56.24 μg/mL, respectively, indicating the extract has better anti-oxidation effect and antitumor activity. Furthermore, IL-MAE was the most efficient extracting method compared with MAE and Soxhlet extraction, which could improve extraction efficiency in a shorter time and at a lower temperature. In general, ILs-MAE was first adopted to establish a novel and green extraction process on the yields of total biflavonoids from S. doederleinii . In addition, the extract of containing biflavones showed potent antioxidant and anticancer capacity as a utilized valuable bioactive source for natural medicine.

Adhesion properties of potentially probiotic Lactobacillus kefiri to gastrointestinal mucus.

PubMed

Carasi, Paula; Ambrosis, Nicolás M; De Antoni, Graciela L; Bressollier, Philippe; Urdaci, María C; Serradell, María de los Angeles

2014-02-01

We investigated the mucus-binding properties of aggregating and non-aggregating potentially probiotic strains of kefir-isolated Lactobacillus kefiri, using different substrates. All the strains were able to adhere to commercial gastric mucin (MUCIN) and extracted mucus from small intestine (SIM) and colon (CM). The extraction of surface proteins from bacteria using LiCl or NaOH significantly reduced the adhesion of three selected strains (CIDCA 8348, CIDCA 83115 and JCM 5818); although a significant proportion (up to 50%) of S-layer proteins were not completely eliminated after treatments. The surface (S-layer) protein extracts from all the strains of Lb. kefiri were capable of binding to MUCIN, SIM or CM, and no differences were observed among them. The addition of their own surface protein extract increased adhesion of CIDCA 8348 and 83115 to MUCIN and SIM, meanwhile no changes in adhesion were observed for JCM 5818. None of the seven sugars tested had the ability to inhibit the adhesion of whole bacteria to the three mucus extracts. Noteworthy, the degree of bacterial adhesion reached in the presence of their own surface protein (S-layer) extract decreased to basal levels in the presence of some sugars, suggesting an interaction between the added sugar and the surface proteins. In conclusion, the ability of these food-isolated bacteria to adhere to gastrointestinal mucus becomes an essential issue regarding the biotechnological potentiality of Lb. kefiri for the food industry.

Chemical Composition and Immuno-Modulatory Effects of Urtica dioica L. (Stinging Nettle) Extracts.

PubMed

Francišković, Marina; Gonzalez-Pérez, Raquel; Orčić, Dejan; Sánchez de Medina, Fermín; Martínez-Augustin, Olga; Svirčev, Emilija; Simin, Nataša; Mimica-Dukić, Neda

2017-08-01

The purpose of this work was to determine the chemical profile of stinging nettle and to provide an insight into the mechanisms by which it ameliorates the immune response. Qualitative and quantitative liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analyses indicated that phenolic acids (5-O-caffeoylquinic acid as dominant) and flavonol glycosides (rutin, isoquercitrin, and kaempferol 3-O-glucoside) are present in the aerial parts, while lignans (secoisolariciresinol, 9,9'-bisacetyl-neo-olivil and their glucosides) were detected in the root. Herb and root extracts expressed selective inhibition toward cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase branches in human platelets: root extracts were better at inhibiting thromboxane production, while herb extracts were more specific toward inhibition of 12-lipoxygenase pathway. Stinging nettle extracts mildly increased monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and growth-related oncogene release from nonstimulated intestinal epithelial cells, stimulating MyD88/NF-κB/p38 signaling, hence preserving the epithelial integrity and enhancing intestinal steady-state defense. Additionally, root extract reduced lipopolysaccharide-induced monocyte chemoattractant protein-1/growth-related oncogene secretion and cyclooxygenase-2 expression in intestinal epithelial cells, thus showing the potential protective effect against tissue damage caused by inflammation processes. These observations suggest that stinging nettle is an interesting candidate for the development of phytopharmaceuticals or dietary supplements for cotreatment of various inflammatory diseases, particularly inflammatory bowel diseases. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dandelion root extract affects colorectal cancer proliferation and survival through the activation of multiple death signalling pathways

PubMed Central

Ovadje, Pamela; Ammar, Saleem; Guerrero, Jose-Antonio; Arnason, John Thor; Pandey, Siyaram

2016-01-01

Dandelion extracts have been studied extensively in recent years for its anti-depressant and anti-inflammatory activity. Recent work from our lab, with in-vitro systems, shows the anti-cancer potential of an aqueous dandelion root extract (DRE) in several cancer cell models, with no toxicity to non-cancer cells. In this study, we examined the cancer cell-killing effectiveness of an aqueous DRE in colon cancer cell models. Aqueous DRE induced programmed cell death (PCD) selectively in > 95% of colon cancer cells, irrespective of their p53 status, by 48 hours of treatment. The anti-cancer efficacy of this extract was confirmed in in-vivo studies, as the oral administration of DRE retarded the growth of human colon xenograft models by more than 90%. We found the activation of multiple death pathways in cancer cells by DRE treatment, as revealed by gene expression analyses showing the expression of genes implicated in programmed cell death. Phytochemical analyses of the extract showed complex multi-component composition of the DRE, including some known bioactive phytochemicals such as α-amyrin, β-amyrin, lupeol and taraxasterol. This suggested that this natural extract could engage and effectively target multiple vulnerabilities of cancer cells. Therefore, DRE could be a non-toxic and effective anti-cancer alternative, instrumental for reducing the occurrence of cancer cells drug-resistance. PMID:27564258

Multispectra CWT-based algorithm (MCWT) in mass spectra for peak extraction.

PubMed

Hsueh, Huey-Miin; Kuo, Hsun-Chih; Tsai, Chen-An

2008-01-01

An important objective in mass spectrometry (MS) is to identify a set of biomarkers that can be used to potentially distinguish patients between distinct treatments (or conditions) from tens or hundreds of spectra. A common two-step approach involving peak extraction and quantification is employed to identify the features of scientific interest. The selected features are then used for further investigation to understand underlying biological mechanism of individual protein or for development of genomic biomarkers to early diagnosis. However, the use of inadequate or ineffective peak detection and peak alignment algorithms in peak extraction step may lead to a high rate of false positives. Also, it is crucial to reduce the false positive rate in detecting biomarkers from ten or hundreds of spectra. Here a new procedure is introduced for feature extraction in mass spectrometry data that extends the continuous wavelet transform-based (CWT-based) algorithm to multiple spectra. The proposed multispectra CWT-based algorithm (MCWT) not only can perform peak detection for multiple spectra but also carry out peak alignment at the same time. The author' MCWT algorithm constructs a reference, which integrates information of multiple raw spectra, for feature extraction. The algorithm is applied to a SELDI-TOF mass spectra data set provided by CAMDA 2006 with known polypeptide m/z positions. This new approach is easy to implement and it outperforms the existing peak extraction method from the Bioconductor PROcess package.

Low-Dimensional Feature Representation for Instrument Identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ihara, Mizuki; Maeda, Shin-Ichi; Ikeda, Kazushi; Ishii, Shin

For monophonic music instrument identification, various feature extraction and selection methods have been proposed. One of the issues toward instrument identification is that the same spectrum is not always observed even in the same instrument due to the difference of the recording condition. Therefore, it is important to find non-redundant instrument-specific features that maintain information essential for high-quality instrument identification to apply them to various instrumental music analyses. For such a dimensionality reduction method, the authors propose the utilization of linear projection methods: local Fisher discriminant analysis (LFDA) and LFDA combined with principal component analysis (PCA). After experimentally clarifying that raw power spectra are actually good for instrument classification, the authors reduced the feature dimensionality by LFDA or by PCA followed by LFDA (PCA-LFDA). The reduced features achieved reasonably high identification performance that was comparable or higher than those by the power spectra and those achieved by other existing studies. These results demonstrated that our LFDA and PCA-LFDA can successfully extract low-dimensional instrument features that maintain the characteristic information of the instruments.

Design Challenges of a Rapid Cycling Synchrotron for Carbon/Proton Therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, Nathan

2012-03-01

The growing interest in radiation therapy with protons and light ions has driven demand for new methods of ion acceleration and the delivery of ion beams. One exciting new platform for ion beam acceleration and delivery is the rapid cycling synchrotron. Operating at 15Hz, rapid cycling achieves faster treatment times by making beam extraction possible at any energy during the cycle. Moreover, risk to the patient is reduced by requiring fewer particles in the beam line at a given time, thus eliminating the need for passive filtering and reducing the consequences of a malfunction. Lastly, the ability to switch between carbon ion and proton beam therapy provides the machine with an unmatched flexibility. However, these features do stipulate challenges in accelerator design. Maintaining a compact lattice requires careful tuning of lattice functions, tight focusing combined function magnets, and fast injection and extraction systems. Providing the necessary acceleration over a short cycle time also necessitates a five-fold frequency swing for carbon ions, further burdening the design requirements of ferrite-driven radiofrequency cavities. We will consider these challenges as well as some solutions selected for our current design.

HPLC PROFILING OF PHENOLIC ACIDS AND FLAVONOIDS AND EVALUATION OF ANTI-LIPOXYGENASE AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF AQUATIC VEGETABLE LIMNOCHARIS FLAVA.

PubMed

Ooh, Keng-fei; Ong, Hean-Chooi; Wong, Fai-Chu; Chai, Tsun-Thai

2015-01-01

Limnocharis flava is an edible wetland plant, whose phenolic acid and flavonoid compositions as well as bioactivities were underexplored. This study analyzed the profiles of selected hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids in the aqueous extracts of L. flava leaf, rhizome and root by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Anti-lipoxygenase and antioxidant (iron chelating, 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging) activities of the extracts were also evaluated. Leaf extract had the highest phenolic contents, being most abundant in p-hydroxybenzoic acid (3861.2 nmol/g dry matter), ferulic acid (648.8 nmol/g dry matter), and rutin (4110.7 nmol/g dry matter). Leaf extract exhibited the strongest anti-lipoxygenase (EC50 6.47 mg/mL), iron chelating (EC50 6.65 mg/mL), DPPH scavenging (EC50 15.82 mg/mL) and NO scavenging (EC50 3.80 mg/mL) activities. Leaf extract also had the highest ferric reducing ability. This is the most extensive HPLC profiling of phenolic acids and flavonoids in L.flava to date. In conclusion, L. flava leaf is a source of health-promoting phenolics, anti-lipoxygenase agents and antioxidants.

MALDI MS analysis of oligonucleotides: desalting by functional magnetite beads using microwave-assisted extraction.

PubMed

Chen, Wei-Yu; Chen, Yu-Chie

2007-11-01

The presence of alkali cation adductions of oligonucleotides commonly deteriorates matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectra. Thus, desalting is required for oligonucleotide samples prior to MALDI MS analysis in order to prevent the mass spectra from developing poor quality. In this paper, we demonstrate a new approach to extract traces of oligonucleotides from aqueous solutions containing high concentrations of salts using microwave-assisted extraction. The C18-presenting magnetite beads, capable of absorbing microwave irradiation, are used as affinity probes for oligonucleotides with the addition of triethylammonium acetate as the counterions. This new microwave-assisted extraction approach using magnetite beads as the trapping agents and as microwave-absorbers has been demonstrated to be very effective in the selective binding of oligonucleotides from aqueous solutions. The extraction of oligonucleotides from solutions onto the C18-presenting magnetite beads takes only 30 s to enrich oligonucleotides in sufficient quantities for MALDI MS analysis. After using this desalting approach, alkali cation adductions of oligonucleotides are dramatically reduced in the MALDI mass spectra. The presence of saturated NaCl (approximately 6 M) in the oligonucleotide sample is tolerated without degrading the mass spectra. The detection limit for d(A)6 is approximately 2.8 fmol.

Italian Opuntia ficus-indica Cladodes as Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds with Health-Promoting Properties

PubMed Central

Pellizzoni, Marco; Lucini, Luigi

2018-01-01

Natural by-products, especially phenolic compounds, are in great demand by the nutra-pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. An analytical study was performed to investigate, for the first time, the presence of antioxidant constituents and the corresponding in vitro antioxidant activity in the extract of cladodes from Ficodindia di San Cono (Opuntia ficus-indica) protected designation of origin (PDO). The cladode extracts were analysed for target determination of selected constituents, i.e., β-polysaccharides and total phenolic content. Moreover, the antioxidant activity of hydro-alcoholic extracts was assessed by means of two different methods: α, α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging method and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. An untargeted UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS profiling approach was used to depict the phenolic profile of hydro-alcoholic cladode extracts. Interestingly, over 2 g/kg of polyphenols were detected in this matrix, and these compounds were mainly responsible for the antioxidant properties, as shown by the strong correlation between phenolic classes and antioxidant scores. Finally, this study provides basic information on the presence of bioactive compounds and in vitro antioxidant activities in cladode extracts from cactus that might recommend their novel applications at the industrial level in the field of nutraceutical products. PMID:29463028

Italian Opuntia ficus-indica Cladodes as Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds with Health-Promoting Properties.

PubMed

Rocchetti, Gabriele; Pellizzoni, Marco; Montesano, Domenico; Lucini, Luigi

2018-02-18

Natural by-products, especially phenolic compounds, are in great demand by the nutra-pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. An analytical study was performed to investigate, for the first time, the presence of antioxidant constituents and the corresponding in vitro antioxidant activity in the extract of cladodes from Ficodindia di San Cono ( Opuntia ficus-indica ) protected designation of origin (PDO). The cladode extracts were analysed for target determination of selected constituents, i.e. β-polysaccharides and total phenolic content. Moreover, the antioxidant activity of hydro-alcoholic extracts was assessed by means of two different methods: α, α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging method and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. An untargeted UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS profiling approach was used to depict the phenolic profile of hydro-alcoholic cladode extracts. Interestingly, over 2 g/kg of polyphenols were detected in this matrix, and these compounds were mainly responsible for the antioxidant properties, as shown by the strong correlation between phenolic classes and antioxidant scores. Finally, this study provides basic information on the presence of bioactive compounds and in vitro antioxidant activities in cladode extracts from cactus that might recommend their novel applications at the industrial level in the field of nutraceutical products.

A Hybrid Method for Pancreas Extraction from CT Image Based on Level Set Methods

PubMed Central

Tan, Hanqing; Fujita, Hiroshi

2013-01-01

This paper proposes a novel semiautomatic method to extract the pancreas from abdominal CT images. Traditional level set and region growing methods that request locating initial contour near the final boundary of object have problem of leakage to nearby tissues of pancreas region. The proposed method consists of a customized fast-marching level set method which generates an optimal initial pancreas region to solve the problem that the level set method is sensitive to the initial contour location and a modified distance regularized level set method which extracts accurate pancreas. The novelty in our method is the proper selection and combination of level set methods, furthermore an energy-decrement algorithm and an energy-tune algorithm are proposed to reduce the negative impact of bonding force caused by connected tissue whose intensity is similar with pancreas. As a result, our method overcomes the shortages of oversegmentation at weak boundary and can accurately extract pancreas from CT images. The proposed method is compared to other five state-of-the-art medical image segmentation methods based on a CT image dataset which contains abdominal images from 10 patients. The evaluated results demonstrate that our method outperforms other methods by achieving higher accuracy and making less false segmentation in pancreas extraction. PMID:24066016

Prospective neurobiological effects of the aerial and root extracts and some pure compounds of randomly selected Scorzonera species.

PubMed

Senol, F Sezer; Acikara, Ozlem Bahadir; Citoglu, Gulcin Saltan; Orhan, Ilkay Erdogan; Dall' Acqua, Stefano; Ozgökce, Fevzi

2014-07-01

Scorzonera L. species (Asteraceae) are edible and as medicinal plants are used for various purposed in folk medicine. The methanol extracts of the aerial parts and roots from 27 Scorzonera taxa were investigated for their possible neurobiological effects. Inhibitory potential of the Scorzonera species was tested against acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and tyrosinase (TYRO) at 100 µg mL(-1) using ELISA microtiter assay. Antioxidant activity of the extracts was tested with radical scavenging activity, metal-chelation capacity, ferric- (FRAP), and phosphomolibdenum-reducing antioxidant power (PRAP) assays. Chlorogenic acid, hyperoside, rutin, and scorzotomentosin-4-O-β-glucoside were also screened in the same manner. Total phenol and flavonoid quantification in the extracts were determined spectrophotometrically. The aerial parts of Scorzonera pisidica (40.25 ± 0.74%) and chlorogenic acid (46.97 ± 0.82%) displayed the highest TYRO inhibition, while the remaining samples showed only trivial inhibition against cholinesterases (2.08 ± 1.35%-25.32 ± 1.37%). The same extract of S. pisidica was revealed to be the most potent in scavenging of all three radicals and FRAP assay. Out of 27 taxa, S. pisidica, in particular, may deserve further investigation for its neuroprotective potential.

Two-dimensional thermal video analysis of offshore bird and bat flight

DOE PAGES

Matzner, Shari; Cullinan, Valerie I.; Duberstein, Corey A.

2015-09-11

Thermal infrared video can provide essential information about bird and bat presence and activity for risk assessment studies, but the analysis of recorded video can be time-consuming and may not extract all of the available information. Automated processing makes continuous monitoring over extended periods of time feasible, and maximizes the information provided by video. This is especially important for collecting data in remote locations that are difficult for human observers to access, such as proposed offshore wind turbine sites. We present guidelines for selecting an appropriate thermal camera based on environmental conditions and the physical characteristics of the target animals.more » We developed new video image processing algorithms that automate the extraction of bird and bat flight tracks from thermal video, and that characterize the extracted tracks to support animal identification and behavior inference. The algorithms use a video peak store process followed by background masking and perceptual grouping to extract flight tracks. The extracted tracks are automatically quantified in terms that could then be used to infer animal type and possibly behavior. The developed automated processing generates results that are reproducible and verifiable, and reduces the total amount of video data that must be retained and reviewed by human experts. Finally, we suggest models for interpreting thermal imaging information.« less

Two-dimensional thermal video analysis of offshore bird and bat flight

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matzner, Shari; Cullinan, Valerie I.; Duberstein, Corey A.

Thermal infrared video can provide essential information about bird and bat presence and activity for risk assessment studies, but the analysis of recorded video can be time-consuming and may not extract all of the available information. Automated processing makes continuous monitoring over extended periods of time feasible, and maximizes the information provided by video. This is especially important for collecting data in remote locations that are difficult for human observers to access, such as proposed offshore wind turbine sites. We present guidelines for selecting an appropriate thermal camera based on environmental conditions and the physical characteristics of the target animals.more » We developed new video image processing algorithms that automate the extraction of bird and bat flight tracks from thermal video, and that characterize the extracted tracks to support animal identification and behavior inference. The algorithms use a video peak store process followed by background masking and perceptual grouping to extract flight tracks. The extracted tracks are automatically quantified in terms that could then be used to infer animal type and possibly behavior. The developed automated processing generates results that are reproducible and verifiable, and reduces the total amount of video data that must be retained and reviewed by human experts. Finally, we suggest models for interpreting thermal imaging information.« less

An improved discriminative filter bank selection approach for motor imagery EEG signal classification using mutual information.

PubMed

Kumar, Shiu; Sharma, Alok; Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko

2017-12-28

Common spatial pattern (CSP) has been an effective technique for feature extraction in electroencephalography (EEG) based brain computer interfaces (BCIs). However, motor imagery EEG signal feature extraction using CSP generally depends on the selection of the frequency bands to a great extent. In this study, we propose a mutual information based frequency band selection approach. The idea of the proposed method is to utilize the information from all the available channels for effectively selecting the most discriminative filter banks. CSP features are extracted from multiple overlapping sub-bands. An additional sub-band has been introduced that cover the wide frequency band (7-30 Hz) and two different types of features are extracted using CSP and common spatio-spectral pattern techniques, respectively. Mutual information is then computed from the extracted features of each of these bands and the top filter banks are selected for further processing. Linear discriminant analysis is applied to the features extracted from each of the filter banks. The scores are fused together, and classification is done using support vector machine. The proposed method is evaluated using BCI Competition III dataset IVa, BCI Competition IV dataset I and BCI Competition IV dataset IIb, and it outperformed all other competing methods achieving the lowest misclassification rate and the highest kappa coefficient on all three datasets. Introducing a wide sub-band and using mutual information for selecting the most discriminative sub-bands, the proposed method shows improvement in motor imagery EEG signal classification.

High-throughput and selective solid-phase extraction of urinary catecholamines by crown ether-modified resin composite fiber.

PubMed

Chen, LiQin; Wang, Hui; Xu, Zhen; Zhang, QiuYue; Liu, Jia; Shen, Jun; Zhang, WanQi

2018-08-03

In the present study, we developed a simple and high-throughput solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure for selective extraction of catecholamines (CAs) in urine samples. The SPE adsorbents were electrospun composite fibers functionalized with 4-carboxybenzo-18-crown-6 ether modified XAD resin and polystyrene, which were packed into 96-well columns and used for high-throughput selective extraction of CAs in healthy human urine samples. Moreover, the extraction efficiency of packed-fiber SPE (PFSPE) was examined by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detector. The parameters affecting the extraction efficiency and impurity removal efficiency were optimized, and good linearity ranging from 0.5 to 400 ng/mL was obtained with a low limit of detection (LOD, 0.2-0.5 ng/mL) and a good repeatability (2.7%-3.7%, n = 6). The extraction recoveries of three CAs ranged from 70.5% to 119.5%. Furthermore, stable and reliable results obtained by the fluorescence detector were superior to those obtained by the electrochemical detector. Collectively, PFSPE coupled with 96-well columns was a simple, rapid, selective, high-throughput and cost-efficient method, and the proposed method could be applied in clinical chemistry. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Feature extraction for breast cancer data based on geometric algebra theory and feature selection using differential evolution].

PubMed

Li, Jing; Hong, Wenxue

2014-12-01

The feature extraction and feature selection are the important issues in pattern recognition. Based on the geometric algebra representation of vector, a new feature extraction method using blade coefficient of geometric algebra was proposed in this study. At the same time, an improved differential evolution (DE) feature selection method was proposed to solve the elevated high dimension issue. The simple linear discriminant analysis was used as the classifier. The result of the 10-fold cross-validation (10 CV) classification of public breast cancer biomedical dataset was more than 96% and proved superior to that of the original features and traditional feature extraction method.

Simultaneous analysis of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in air samples by using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography dual electron capture detection.

PubMed

Mokbel, Haifaa; Al Dine, Enaam Jamal; Elmoll, Ahmad; Liaud, Céline; Millet, Maurice

2016-04-01

An analytical method associating accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) in immersion mode combined with gas chromatography dual electrons capture detectors (SPME-GC-2ECD) has been developed and studied for the simultaneous determination of 19 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and 22 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in air samples (active and XAD-2 passive samplers). Samples were extracted with ASE with acetonitrile using the following conditions: temperature, 150 °C; pressure, 1500 psi; static, 15 min; cycles, 3; purge, 300 s; flush, 100 %. Extracts were reduced to 1 mL, and 500 μL of this extract, filled with deionised water, was subject to SPME extraction. Experimental results indicated that the proposed method attained the best extraction efficiency under the optimised conditions: extraction of PCB-OCP mixture using 100-μm PDMS fibre at 80 °C for 40 min with no addition of salt. The performance of the proposed ASE-SPME-GC-2ECD methodology with respect to linearity, limit of quantification and detection was evaluated by spiking of XAD-2 resin with target compounds. The regression coefficient (R (2)) of most compounds was found to be high of 0.99. limits of detection (LODs) are between 0.02 and 4.90 ng m(-3), and limits of quantification (LOQs) are between 0.05 and 9.12 ng m(-3) and between 0.2 and 49 ng/sampler and 0.52 and 91 ng/sampler, respectively, for XAD-2 passive samplers. Finally, a developed procedure was applied to determine selected PCBs and OCPs in the atmosphere.

Mixed monofunctional extractants for trivalent actinide/lanthanide separations: TALSPEAK-MME

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Aaron T.; Nash, Kenneth L.

The basic features of an f-element extraction process based on a solvent composed of equimolar mixtures of Cyanex-923 (a mixed trialkyl phosphine oxide) and 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (HEH[EHP]) extractants in n-dodecane are investigated in this report. This system, which combines features of the TRPO and TALSPEAK processes, is based on co-extraction of trivalent lanthanides and actinides from 0.1 to 1.0 M HNO 3 followed by application of a buffered aminopolycarboxylate solution strip to accomplish a Reverse TALSPEAK selective removal of actinides. This mixed-extractant medium could enable a simplified approach to selective trivalent f-element extraction and actinide partitioning in amore » single process. As compared with other combined process applications in development for more compact actinide partitioning processes (DIAMEX-SANEX, GANEX, TRUSPEAK, ALSEP), this combination features only monofunctional extractants with high solubility limits and comparatively low molar mass. Selective actinide stripping from the loaded extractant phase is done using a glycine-buffered solution containing N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA) or triethylenetetramine-N,N,N',N'',N''',N'''-hexaacetic acid (TTHA). Lastly, the results reported provide evidence for simplified interactions between the two extractants and demonstrate a pathway toward using mixed monofunctional extractants to separate trivalent actinides (An) from fission product lanthanides (Ln).« less

Mixed monofunctional extractants for trivalent actinide/lanthanide separations: TALSPEAK-MME

DOE PAGES

Johnson, Aaron T.; Nash, Kenneth L.

2015-08-20

The basic features of an f-element extraction process based on a solvent composed of equimolar mixtures of Cyanex-923 (a mixed trialkyl phosphine oxide) and 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (HEH[EHP]) extractants in n-dodecane are investigated in this report. This system, which combines features of the TRPO and TALSPEAK processes, is based on co-extraction of trivalent lanthanides and actinides from 0.1 to 1.0 M HNO 3 followed by application of a buffered aminopolycarboxylate solution strip to accomplish a Reverse TALSPEAK selective removal of actinides. This mixed-extractant medium could enable a simplified approach to selective trivalent f-element extraction and actinide partitioning in amore » single process. As compared with other combined process applications in development for more compact actinide partitioning processes (DIAMEX-SANEX, GANEX, TRUSPEAK, ALSEP), this combination features only monofunctional extractants with high solubility limits and comparatively low molar mass. Selective actinide stripping from the loaded extractant phase is done using a glycine-buffered solution containing N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA) or triethylenetetramine-N,N,N',N'',N''',N'''-hexaacetic acid (TTHA). Lastly, the results reported provide evidence for simplified interactions between the two extractants and demonstrate a pathway toward using mixed monofunctional extractants to separate trivalent actinides (An) from fission product lanthanides (Ln).« less

Superoxide Anion Radical Scavenging Activities of Herbs and Pastures in Northern Japan Determined Using Electron Spin Resonance Spectrometry

PubMed Central

Al-Mamun, Mohammad; Yamaki, Koji; Masumizu, Toshiki; Nakai, Yumi; Saito, Katsumi; Sano, Hiroaki; Tamura, Yoshifumi

2007-01-01

Free radicals are not only destructive to the living cells but also reduce the quality of animal products through oxidation. As a result the superoxide anion radical (O2・-), one of the most destructive reactive oxygen species, is a matter of concern for the animal scientists as well as feed manufacturers to ensure the quality of product to reach consumers demand. The superoxide anion radical scavenging activities (SOSA) of water and MeOH extracts of 2 herbs and 9 pasture samples collected from lowland and highland swards were determined against a 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyroline-N-oxide-O2・-spin adduct based on a hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase reaction using electron spin resonance spectrometry. Both the water and MeOH extracted SOSA differed among the herbs and pastures. Species and altitudinal variations were observed between extraction methods. The herbs were higher in both water and MeOH extracted SOSA than the pastures except for water extracts of one pasture, white clover (Trifolium repens L.). Among the pastures, quackgrass (Agrophyron repens L.) showed higher SOSA in both the MeOH and water extracts, and timothy (Phleum pretense L.) showed higher MeOH extracted SOSA. It is apparent that the kind and amount of antioxidants differ among herbs and pastures. Animal health and quality of animal products could be improved by adequate selection and combining of herbs and pastures having higher SOSA. PMID:17713599

Channels selection using independent component analysis and scalp map projection for EEG-based driver fatigue classification.

PubMed

Rifai Chai; Naik, Ganesh R; Sai Ho Ling; Tran, Yvonne; Craig, Ashley; Nguyen, Hung T

2017-07-01

This paper presents a classification of driver fatigue with electroencephalography (EEG) channels selection analysis. The system employs independent component analysis (ICA) with scalp map back projection to select the dominant of EEG channels. After channel selection, the features of the selected EEG channels were extracted based on power spectral density (PSD), and then classified using a Bayesian neural network. The results of the ICA decomposition with the back-projected scalp map and a threshold showed that the EEG channels can be reduced from 32 channels into 16 dominants channels involved in fatigue assessment as chosen channels, which included AF3, F3, FC1, FC5, T7, CP5, P3, O1, P4, P8, CP6, T8, FC2, F8, AF4, FP2. The result of fatigue vs. alert classification of the selected 16 channels yielded a sensitivity of 76.8%, specificity of 74.3% and an accuracy of 75.5%. Also, the classification results of the selected 16 channels are comparable to those using the original 32 channels. So, the selected 16 channels is preferable for ergonomics improvement of EEG-based fatigue classification system.

Improving the quality of extracting dynamics from interspike intervals via a resampling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlova, O. N.; Pavlov, A. N.

2018-04-01

We address the problem of improving the quality of characterizing chaotic dynamics based on point processes produced by different types of neuron models. Despite the presence of embedding theorems for non-uniformly sampled dynamical systems, the case of short data analysis requires additional attention because the selection of algorithmic parameters may have an essential influence on estimated measures. We consider how the preliminary processing of interspike intervals (ISIs) can increase the precision of computing the largest Lyapunov exponent (LE). We report general features of characterizing chaotic dynamics from point processes and show that independently of the selected mechanism for spike generation, the performed preprocessing reduces computation errors when dealing with a limited amount of data.

Remediation of uranium contaminated soils with bicarbonate extraction and microbial U(VI) reduction

USGS Publications Warehouse

Philips , Elizabeth J.P.; Landa, Edward R.; Lovely, Derek R.

1995-01-01

A process for concentrating uranium from contaminated soils in which the uranium is first extracted with bicarbonate and then the extracted uranium is precipitated with U(VI)-reducing microorganisms was evaluated for a variety of uranuum-contaminated soils. Bicarbonate (100 mM) extracted 20–94% of the uranium that was extracted with nitric acid. The U(VI)-reducing microorganism,Desulfovibrio desulfuricans reduced the U(VI) to U(IV) in the bicarbonate extracts. In some instances unidentified dissolved extracted components, presumably organics, gave the extract a yellow color and inhibited U(VI) reduction and/or the precipitation of U(IV). Removal of the dissolved yellow material with the addition of hydrogen peroxide alleviated this inhibition. These results demonstrate that bicarbonate extraction of uranium from soil followed by microbial U(VI) reduction might be an effective mechanism for concentrating uranium from some contaminated soils.

Determination of Ethyl Carbamate in Chinese Yellow Rice Wine by Diatomaceous Earth Extraction and GC/MS Method.

PubMed

Wu, Pinggu; Zhang, Liqun; Shen, Xianghong; Wang, Liyuan; Zou, Yan; Zhang, Jing; Tan, Ying; Tang, Jun; Ma, Bingjie; Pan, Xiaodong; Jiang, Wei

2015-01-01

A sensitive and rapid analytical method based on alkaline diatomaceous earth extraction followed by GC/MS was developed for the quantitative determination of the toxic contaminant ethyl carbamate (EC) in yellow rice wines. The optimal extraction conditions were investigated. With the application of diatomaceous earth extraction, the damage of organic acids to the capillary column was greatly reduced. By using d5-EC as an internal standard for quantitative analysis of EC, the linearity of the calibration curves was good between 10 and 1000 ng/mL. The LOD and LOQ were 1.7 and 5.0 μg/kg, respectively. The spiked level of EC was 5.0-300 μg/kg, and the average recovery of the spikes was between 78.4 and 98.2%, with an RSD between 4.3 and 8.3%. Upon validation by five laboratories when spiked with 50, 100, and 300 μg/kg, the average respective recoveries were 102.9, 102.2, and 98.7% with a RSD between 0.7 and 8.1%. The validation results demonstrated that the method is fast, simple, selective, and suitable for the determination of EC in yellow rice wines.

The effect of Piper betle and Psidium guajava extracts on the cell-surface hydrophobicity of selected early settlers of dental plaque.

PubMed

Razak, Fathilah Abdul; Othman, Rofina Yasmin; Rahim, Zubaidah Haji Abd

2006-06-01

The adhesion of early settlers of dental plaque to the tooth surface has a role in the initiation of the development of dental plaque. The hydrophobic surface properties of the bacteria cell wall are indirectly responsible for the adhesion of the bacteria cell to the acquired pellicle on the tooth surfaces. In this study, the effect of aqueous extract of two plants (Psidium guajava and Piper betle) on the cell-surface hydro-phobicity of early settlers of dental plaque was determined in vitro. Hexadecane, a hydrocarbon was used to represent the hydrophobic surface of the teeth in the oral cavity. It was found that treatment of the early plaque settlers with 1 mg/ml extract of Psidium guajava reduced the cell-surface hydrophobicity of Strep. sanguinis, Strep. mitis and Actinomyces sp. by 54.1%, 49.9% and 40.6%, respectively. Treatment of these bacteria with the same concentration of Piper betle however, showed a comparatively lesser effect (< 10%). It was also observed that the anti-adhesive effect of the two extracts on the binding of the early plaque settlers to hexadecane is concentration dependent.

Toward On-Demand Deep Brain Stimulation Using Online Parkinson's Disease Prediction Driven by Dynamic Detection.

PubMed

Mohammed, Ameer; Zamani, Majid; Bayford, Richard; Demosthenous, Andreas

2017-12-01

In Parkinson's disease (PD), on-demand deep brain stimulation is required so that stimulation is regulated to reduce side effects resulting from continuous stimulation and PD exacerbation due to untimely stimulation. Also, the progressive nature of PD necessitates the use of dynamic detection schemes that can track the nonlinearities in PD. This paper proposes the use of dynamic feature extraction and dynamic pattern classification to achieve dynamic PD detection taking into account the demand for high accuracy, low computation, and real-time detection. The dynamic feature extraction and dynamic pattern classification are selected by evaluating a subset of feature extraction, dimensionality reduction, and classification algorithms that have been used in brain-machine interfaces. A novel dimensionality reduction technique, the maximum ratio method (MRM) is proposed, which provides the most efficient performance. In terms of accuracy and complexity for hardware implementation, a combination having discrete wavelet transform for feature extraction, MRM for dimensionality reduction, and dynamic k-nearest neighbor for classification was chosen as the most efficient. It achieves a classification accuracy of 99.29%, an F1-score of 97.90%, and a choice probability of 99.86%.

Potential application of Northern Argentine propolis to control some phytopathogenic bacteria.

PubMed

Ordóñez, R M; Zampini, I C; Moreno, M I Nieva; Isla, M I

2011-10-20

The antimicrobial activity of samples of Northern Argentine propolis (Tucumán, Santiago del Estero and Chaco) against phytopathogenic bacteria was assessed and the most active samples were identified. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were determined by agar macrodilution and broth microdilution assays. Strong antibacterial activity was detected against Erwinia carotovora spp carotovora CECT 225, Pseudomonas syringae pvar tomato CECT 126, Pseudomonas corrugata CECT 124 and Xanthomonas campestris pvar vesicatoria CECT 792. The most active propolis extract (Tucumán, T1) was selected to bioguide isolation and identified for antimicrobial compound (2',4'-dihydroxychalcone). The antibacterial chalcone was more active than the propolis ethanolic extract (MIC values of 0.5-1 μg ml(-1) and 9.5-15 μg ml(-1), respectively). Phytotoxicity assays were realized and the propolis extracts did not retard germination of lettuce seeds or the growth of onion roots. Propolis solutions applied as sprays on tomato fruits infected with P. syringae reduced the severity of disease. Application of the Argentine propolis extracts diluted with water may be promising for the management of post harvest diseases of fruits. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Contrasting effects of cord injury on intravenous and oral pharmacokinetics of diclofenac: a drug with intermediate hepatic extraction.

PubMed

Cruz-Antonio, L; Arauz, J; Franco-Bourland, R E; Guízar-Sahagún, G; Castañeda-Hernández, G

2012-08-01

Laboratory investigation in rats submitted to experimental spinal cord injury (SCI). To determine the effect of acute SCI on the pharmacokinetics of diclofenac, a marker drug of intermediate hepatic extraction, administered by the intravenous and the oral routes. Female Wistar rats were submitted to complete section of the spinal cord at the T8 level. SCI and sham-injured rats received 3.2 mg kg(-1) of diclofenac sodium either intravenously or orally, diclofenac concentration was measured in whole blood samples and pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated. Diclofenac was not selected as test drug because of its therapeutic properties, but because to its biopharmaceutical properties, that is, intermediate hepatic extraction. Diclofenac bioavailability after intravenous administration was increased in injured rats compared with controls due to a reduced clearance. In contrast, oral diclofenac bioavailability was diminished in SCI animals due to a reduction in drug absorption, which overrides the effect on clearance. Acute SCI induces significant pharmacokinetic changes for diclofenac, a marker drug with intermediate hepatic extraction. SCI-induced pharmacokinetic changes are not only determined by injury characteristics, but also by the route of administration and the biopharmaceutical properties of the studied drug.

Naive Bayes Bearing Fault Diagnosis Based on Enhanced Independence of Data

PubMed Central

Zhang, Nannan; Wu, Lifeng; Yang, Jing; Guan, Yong

2018-01-01

The bearing is the key component of rotating machinery, and its performance directly determines the reliability and safety of the system. Data-based bearing fault diagnosis has become a research hotspot. Naive Bayes (NB), which is based on independent presumption, is widely used in fault diagnosis. However, the bearing data are not completely independent, which reduces the performance of NB algorithms. In order to solve this problem, we propose a NB bearing fault diagnosis method based on enhanced independence of data. The method deals with data vector from two aspects: the attribute feature and the sample dimension. After processing, the classification limitation of NB is reduced by the independence hypothesis. First, we extract the statistical characteristics of the original signal of the bearings effectively. Then, the Decision Tree algorithm is used to select the important features of the time domain signal, and the low correlation features is selected. Next, the Selective Support Vector Machine (SSVM) is used to prune the dimension data and remove redundant vectors. Finally, we use NB to diagnose the fault with the low correlation data. The experimental results show that the independent enhancement of data is effective for bearing fault diagnosis. PMID:29401730

[Study on extraction process of available components of tea].

PubMed

Bai, Qing-Qing; Liu, Yong-Feng; Guo, Mei; Zhao, Jian-Xi; Zhang, Tian-Cai; Di, Duo-Long

2011-09-01

To investigate the optimum ethanol extraction process conditions for the available components in the tea - Catechines (CT) including Epigallo catechin gallate (EGCG) and Caffeine (CF). The content of EGCG, CT and CF, extraction rate, DPPH * Free radical scavenging capacity were chosen as the assessment indexes. With the alcohol ratio (A), solid-liquid ratio (B) and reflux time (C) as investigation factors, the optimum ethanol extraction process of the available components from tea was determined by L9 (3(4)) orthogonal experimental design. It would obtain different extraction conditions to analyze the assessment indexes depending on the different extraction purposes. For the purpose of CT, the contents of EGCG and CT, extraction rate and DPPH * Free radical scavenging capacity were chosen as the assessment indexes, the optimum extraction conditions were selected as follows: the ratio of raw material to 75% alcohol was 1: 12, the reflux time was 30 minutes and extraction times were three; For the purpose of CF, the content of CF and extraction rate were chosen as the assessment indexes, the optimum extraction conditions were selected as follows: the ratio of raw material to 60% alcohol was 1: 12, the reflux time was 30 minutes and extraction times were three; For the purpose of integrated extraction, the contents of CT and CF, extraction rate and DPPH * Free radical scavenging capacity were chosen as the assessment indexes, the optimum extraction conditions were selected as follows: the ratio of raw material to 60% alcohol was 1: 8, the reflux time was 30 minutes and extraction times were three. The optimum extraction process in order to attain different purposes can give a reference to the research of a new medicine and industry production.

Selective extraction of bisphenol A from water by one-monomer molecularly imprinted magnetic nanoparticles.

PubMed

Lin, Zhenkun; Zhang, Yanfang; Su, Yu; Qi, Jinxia; Jia, Yinhang; Huang, Changjiang; Dong, Qiaoxiang

2018-01-15

One-monomer molecularly imprinted magnetic nanoparticles were prepared as adsorbents for selective extraction of bisphenol A from water in this study. A single bi-functional monomer was adopted for preparation of the molecularly imprinted polymer, avoiding the tedious trial-and-error optimizations as traditional strategy. Moreover, bisphenol F was used as the dummy template for bisphenol A to avoid the interference from residual template molecules. These nanoparticles showed not only large adsorption capacity and good selectivity to the bisphenol A but also outstanding magnetic response performance. Furthermore, they were successfully used as magnetic solid-phase extraction adsorbents of bisphenol A from various water samples, including tap water, river water, and seawater. The developed method was found to be much more efficient, convenient, and economical for selective extraction of bisphenol A compared with the traditional solid-phase extraction. Separation of these nanoparticles can be easily achieved with an external magnetic field, and the optimized adsorption time was only 15 min. The recoveries of bisphenol A in different water samples ranged from 85.38 to 93.75%, with relative standard deviation lower than 7.47%. These results showed that one-monomer molecularly imprinted magnetic nanoparticles had the potential to be popular adsorbents for selective extraction of pollutants from water. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Analysis of trimethoprim, lincomycin, sulfadoxin and tylosin in swine manure using laser diode thermal desorption-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-tandem mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Solliec, Morgan; Massé, Daniel; Sauvé, Sébastien

2014-10-01

A new extraction method coupled to a high throughput sample analysis technique was developed for the determination of four veterinary antibiotics. The analytes belong to different groups of antibiotics such as chemotherapeutics, sulfonamides, lincosamides and macrolides. Trimethoprim (TMP), sulfadoxin (SFX), lincomycin (LCM) and tylosin (TYL) were extracted from lyophilized manure using a sonication extraction. McIlvaine buffer and methanol (MeOH) were used as extraction buffers, followed by cation-exchange solid phase extraction (SPE) for clean-up. Analysis was performed by laser diode thermal desorption-atmospheric pressure chemical-ionization (LDTD-APCI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) with selected reaction monitoring (SRM) detection. The LDTD is a high throughput sample introduction method that reduces total analysis time to less than 15s per sample, compared to minutes when using traditional liquid chromatography (LC). Various SPE parameters were optimized after sample extraction: the stationary phase, the extraction solvent composition, the quantity of sample extracted and sample pH. LDTD parameters were also optimized: solvent deposition, carrier gas, laser power and corona discharge. The method limit of detection (MLD) ranged from 2.5 to 8.3 µg kg(-1) while the method limit of quantification (MLQ) ranged from 8.3 to 28µgkg(-1). Calibration curves in the manure matrix showed good linearity (R(2)≥ 0.996) for all analytes and the interday and intraday coefficients of variation were below 14%. Recoveries of analytes from manure ranged from 53% to 69%. The method was successfully applied to real manure samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Proton-Detected 15N NMR-Spectroscopy and Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freeman, D.; Sailasuta, N.; Sukumar, S.; Hurd, R. E.

1993-10-01

Proton detection of nitrogen-15, using gradients for coherence selection, was determined to be an effective method for obtaining spectra of 15N-labeled metabolites from extracts and biopsies of tissue infused with [15N] ammonium chloride. The advantage of gradient selection of coherence was best demonstrated by the almost complete single-shot elimination of solvent water in extracts and tissue water in biopsies. As a single-acquisition editing method in which only protons attached to 15N are detected, the potential limitations of dynamic range and motion are also reduced. Gradient-enhanced heteronuclear multiple-quantum coherence (1H[15N] HMQC) was compared with conventional HMQC, and despite selection of only one of the two heteronuclear pathways, GE-HMQC was found to be more effective for resolving the desired signal for dilute solutions; and with a single scan. In addition, effective water elimination made it possible to use the resolution advantage of a frequency-encoding dimension in proton-detected 15N imaging experiments. The limit of detection of the method at 500 MHz was 0.7 mM in 16 scans from a total volume of 400 μl. Signals from tissue extracts were observable in less than one minute for kidney, heart, brain, and muscle. Proton-detected 15N GE-HMQC images with a voxel size of 39 × 78 × 625 μm were obtained at 600 MHz from a 4 mM (1.6 μmol) 15N urea sample in less than four hours. Distribution of [15N] urea in the kidney was observed in a 600 MHz GE-HMQC image of the papilla and some cortical structures.

Selective Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from Permanent Magnet Scraps with Membrane Solvent Extraction.

PubMed

Kim, Daejin; Powell, Lawrence E; Delmau, Lætitia H; Peterson, Eric S; Herchenroeder, Jim; Bhave, Ramesh R

2015-08-18

The rare earth elements (REEs) such as neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium were successfully recovered from commercial NdFeB magnets and industrial scrap magnets via membrane assisted solvent extraction (MSX). A hollow fiber membrane system was evaluated to extract REEs in a single step with the feed and strip solutions circulating continuously through the MSX system. The effects of several experimental variables on REE extraction such as flow rate, concentration of REEs in the feed solution, membrane configuration, and composition of acids were investigated with the MSX system. A multimembrane module configuration with REEs dissolved in aqueous nitric acid solutions showed high selectivity for REE extraction with no coextraction of non-REEs, whereas the use of aqueous hydrochloric acid solution resulted in coextraction of non-REEs due to the formation of chloroanions of non-REEs. The REE oxides were recovered from the strip solution through precipitation, drying, and annealing steps. The resulting REE oxides were characterized with XRD, SEM-EDX, and ICP-OES, demonstrating that the membrane assisted solvent extraction is capable of selectively recovering pure REEs from the industrial scrap magnets.

Tilted seat position for non-ambulant individuals with neurological and neuromuscular impairment: a systematic review.

PubMed

Michael, S M; Porter, D; Pountney, T E

2007-12-01

To determine the effects of tilt-in-space seating on outcomes for people with neurological or neuromuscular impairment who cannot walk. Search through electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, AMED). Discussions with researchers who are active in field. Selection criteria included interventional studies that investigated the effects of seat tilt on outcome or observational studies that identified outcomes for those who had used tilt-in-space seating in populations with neurological or neuromuscular impairments. Two reviewers independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed quality and extracted data. Nineteen studies were identified which fulfilled the selection criteria. Seventeen of these were essentially before-after studies investigating the immediate effects of tilting the seating. All studies looked at populations with neurological impairment, and most were on children with cerebral palsy (n=8) or adults with spinal cord injury (n=8). REVIEWER'S CONCLUSION: Posterior tilt can reduce pressures at the interface under the pelvis.

Chemical composition and in vitro cytotoxic and antileishmanial activities of extract and essential oil from leaves of Piper cernuum.

PubMed

Capello, Tabata M; Martins, Euder G A; de Farias, Camyla F; Figueiredo, Carlos R; Matsuo, Alisson L; Passero, Luiz Felipe D; Oliveira-Silva, Diogo; Sartorelli, Patricia; Lago, João Henrique G

2015-02-01

Fractionation of the MeOH extract from leaves of Piper cernuum Vell. (Piperaceae) afforded six phenylpropanoid derivatives: 3',4'-dimethoxydihydrocinnamic acid (1), piplaroxide (2), methyl 4'-hydroxy-3',5'-dimethoxy cinnamate (3), 3',4',5'-trimethoxydihydrocinnamic acid (3), dihydropiplartine (5), and piplartine (6). The structures of isolated metabolites were characterized by NMR and MS spectral data analysis. The chemical composition of essential oil from the leaves was determined using GC/LREIMS followed by the determination of Kovats indexes. This procedure allowed the identification of nineteen terpenoids, with β-elemene (7), bicyclogermacrene (8), germacrene D (9), and (E)-caryophyllene (10) as the main compounds. Compounds 1 and 3-6 displayed no in vitro cytotoxicity against cancer cell lineages B16F10-Nex2, U87, HeLa, HL-60, HCT, and A2058 while 2 showed moderate activity against B16F10-Nex2 and HL-60 lines. Otherwise, compounds 7-10 displayed high cytotoxic activity. Evaluation against non-tumorigenic HFF cells indicated a reduced selectivity of compounds 7-10 to tumoral cells. No antileishmanial activity on macrophages infected with L. (L.) amnazonensis was found for the crude MeOH extract and compounds 1-6. The crude essential oil and compounds 7-10 reduced parasitism and eliminated the majority of infected and non-infected cells at 50 μg/mL.

Sequential Extractions and Toxicity Potential of Trace Metals Absorbed into Airborne Particles in an Urban Atmosphere of Southwestern Nigeria

PubMed Central

Ediagbonya, Thompson Faraday

2018-01-01

The paper investigates the hypothesis that biotoxicities of trace metals depend not only on the concentration as expressed by the total amount, but also on their geochemical fractions and bioavailability. Airborne particles were collected using SKC Air Check XR 5000 high volume Sampler at a human breathing height of 1.5–2.0 meters, during the dry season months from November 2014 to March 2015 at different locations in Akure (7°10′N and 5°15′E). The geochemical-based sequential extractions were performed on the particles using a series of increasingly stringent solutions selected to extract metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Mn) into four operational geochemical phases—exchangeable, reducible, organic, and residual—and then quantified using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results showed metals concentration of order Pb > Cr > Cd > Zn > Ni > Cu > Mn. However, most metals in the samples exist in nonmobile fractions: exchangeable (6.43–16.2%), reducible (32.58–47.39%), organic (4.73–9.88%), and residual (18.28–27.53%). The pollution indices show ingestion as the leading route of metal exposure, with noncarcinogenic (HQ) and cancer risk (HI) for humans in the area being higher than 1.0 × 10−4, indicating a health threat. PMID:29686588

Evaluation of Phenolic Content Variability along with Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Cytotoxic Potential of Selected Traditional Medicinal Plants from India.

PubMed

Singh, Garima; Passsari, Ajit K; Leo, Vincent V; Mishra, Vineet K; Subbarayan, Sarathbabu; Singh, Bhim P; Kumar, Brijesh; Kumar, Sunil; Gupta, Vijai K; Lalhlenmawia, Hauzel; Nachimuthu, Senthil K

2016-01-01

Plants have been used since ancient times as an important source of biologically active substances. The aim of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical constituents (flavonoids and phenolics), antioxidant potential, cytotoxicity against HepG2 (human hepato carcinoma) cancer cell lines, and the antimicrobial activity of the methanol extract of selected traditional medicinal plants collected from Mizoram, India. A number of phenolic compounds were detected using HPLC-DAD-ESI-TOF-MS, mainly Luteolin, Kaempferol, Myricetin, Gallic Acid, Quercetin and Rutin, some of which have been described for the first time in the selected plants. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents showed high variation ranging from 4.44 to 181.91 μg of Gallic Acid equivalent per milligram DW (GAE/mg DW) and 3.17 to 102.2 μg of Quercetin/mg, respectively. The antioxidant capacity was determined by DPPH (IC50 values ranges from 34.22 to 131.4 μg/mL), ABTS (IC50 values ranges from 24.08 to 513.4 μg/mL), and reducing power assays. Antimicrobial activity was assayed against gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus), gram negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and yeast (Candida albicans) demonstrating that the methanol extracts of some plants were efficacious antimicrobial agents. Additionally, cytotoxicity was assessed on human hepato carcinoma (HepG2) cancer cell lines and found that the extracts of Albizia lebbeck, Dillenia indica, and Bombax ceiba significantly decreased the cell viability at low concentrations with IC50 values of 24.03, 25.09, and 29.66 μg/mL, respectively. This is the first report of detection of phenolic compounds along with antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic potential of selected medicinal plants from India, which indicates that these plants might be valuable source for human and animal health.

Evaluation of Phenolic Content Variability along with Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Cytotoxic Potential of Selected Traditional Medicinal Plants from India

PubMed Central

Singh, Garima; Passsari, Ajit K.; Leo, Vincent V.; Mishra, Vineet K.; Subbarayan, Sarathbabu; Singh, Bhim P.; Kumar, Brijesh; Kumar, Sunil; Gupta, Vijai K.; Lalhlenmawia, Hauzel; Nachimuthu, Senthil K.

2016-01-01

Plants have been used since ancient times as an important source of biologically active substances. The aim of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical constituents (flavonoids and phenolics), antioxidant potential, cytotoxicity against HepG2 (human hepato carcinoma) cancer cell lines, and the antimicrobial activity of the methanol extract of selected traditional medicinal plants collected from Mizoram, India. A number of phenolic compounds were detected using HPLC-DAD-ESI-TOF-MS, mainly Luteolin, Kaempferol, Myricetin, Gallic Acid, Quercetin and Rutin, some of which have been described for the first time in the selected plants. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents showed high variation ranging from 4.44 to 181.91 μg of Gallic Acid equivalent per milligram DW (GAE/mg DW) and 3.17 to 102.2 μg of Quercetin/mg, respectively. The antioxidant capacity was determined by DPPH (IC50 values ranges from 34.22 to 131.4 μg/mL), ABTS (IC50 values ranges from 24.08 to 513.4 μg/mL), and reducing power assays. Antimicrobial activity was assayed against gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus), gram negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and yeast (Candida albicans) demonstrating that the methanol extracts of some plants were efficacious antimicrobial agents. Additionally, cytotoxicity was assessed on human hepato carcinoma (HepG2) cancer cell lines and found that the extracts of Albizia lebbeck, Dillenia indica, and Bombax ceiba significantly decreased the cell viability at low concentrations with IC50 values of 24.03, 25.09, and 29.66 μg/mL, respectively. This is the first report of detection of phenolic compounds along with antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic potential of selected medicinal plants from India, which indicates that these plants might be valuable source for human and animal health. PMID:27066046

Strategy to improve the quantitative LC-MS analysis of molecular ions resistant to gas-phase collision induced dissociation: application to disulfide-rich cyclic peptides.

PubMed

Ciccimaro, Eugene; Ranasinghe, Asoka; D'Arienzo, Celia; Xu, Carrie; Onorato, Joelle; Drexler, Dieter M; Josephs, Jonathan L; Poss, Michael; Olah, Timothy

2014-12-02

Due to observed collision induced dissociation (CID) fragmentation inefficiency, developing sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays for CID resistant compounds is especially challenging. As an alternative to traditional LC-MS/MS, we present here a methodology that preserves the intact analyte ion for quantification by selectively filtering ions while reducing chemical noise. Utilizing a quadrupole-Orbitrap MS, the target ion is selectively isolated while interfering matrix components undergo MS/MS fragmentation by CID, allowing noise-free detection of the analyte's surviving molecular ion. In this manner, CID affords additional selectivity during high resolution accurate mass analysis by elimination of isobaric interferences, a fundamentally different concept than the traditional approach of monitoring a target analyte's unique fragment following CID. This survivor-selected ion monitoring (survivor-SIM) approach has allowed sensitive and specific detection of disulfide-rich cyclic peptides extracted from plasma.

Evaluation of Methods for the Extraction of DNA from Drinking Water Distribution System Biofilms

PubMed Central

Hwang, Chiachi; Ling, Fangqiong; Andersen, Gary L.; LeChevallier, Mark W.; Liu, Wen-Tso

2012-01-01

While drinking water biofilms have been characterized in various drinking water distribution systems (DWDS), little is known about the impact of different DNA extraction methods on the subsequent analysis of microbial communities in drinking water biofilms. Since different DNA extraction methods have been shown to affect the outcome of microbial community analysis in other environments, it is necessary to select a DNA extraction method prior to the application of molecular tools to characterize the complex microbial ecology of the DWDS. This study compared the quantity and quality of DNA yields from selected DWDS bacteria with different cell wall properties using five widely used DNA extraction methods. These were further selected and evaluated for their efficiency and reproducibility of DNA extraction from DWDS samples. Terminal restriction fragment length analysis and the 454 pyrosequencing technique were used to interpret the differences in microbial community structure and composition, respectively, from extracted DNA. Such assessments serve as a concrete step towards the determination of an optimal DNA extraction method for drinking water biofilms, which can then provide a reliable comparison of the meta-analysis results obtained in different laboratories. PMID:22075624

Acetone leaf extracts of some South African trees with high activity against Escherichia coli also have good antimycobacterial activity and selectivity index.

PubMed

Elisha, Ishaku L; Botha, Francien S; Madikizela, Balungile; McGaw, Lyndy J; Eloff, Jacobus N

2017-06-19

Tuberculosis is a world-wide problem affecting humans and animals. There is increasing development of resistance of the pathogens to current antimycobacterial agents. Many authors have investigated activities of extracts and isolated compounds from plants. The traditional uses of plants have frequently been the criterion to select plants investigated. In this contribution, we investigate whether plant extracts with very good activity against Escherichia coli may also be active against mycobacteria. The antimycobacterial activity of eight South African tree leaf extracts with high activity against Escherichia coli were determined in vitro against Mycobacterium smegmatis, M. fortuitum and M. aurum, using a serial microdilution method. The cellular cytotoxicity was also determined by the MTT assay using Vero monkey kidney cells. The selectivity index was determined by dividing the cytotoxicity of extracts by MIC. The antimycobacterial activity of the extracts ranged from 0.02 to 2.5 mg/ml. Mycobacterium smegmatis was more sensitive to the extracts (Average MIC = 0.96 mg/ml) and Mycobacterium aurum was comparatively resistant (Average MIC = 2.04 mg/ml). The extracts of Cremaspora triflora had strong antimycobacterial activity with a MIC of 0.05 mg/ml that compared reasonably well with that of streptomycin (0.01 mg/ml) and rifampicin (0.03 mg/ml), p > 0.05. Cremaspora triflora had the best selectivity index of 2.87 against Mycobacterium fortuitum. The high activity of C. triflora extracts against the fast-growing mycobacteria and good cellular safety is promising. It may be interesting to investigate extracts against pathogenic M. tuberculosis, M. bovis and M. avium cultures and to isolate active antimycobacterial compounds.

Metabolite and transcript markers for the prediction of potato drought tolerance.

PubMed

Sprenger, Heike; Erban, Alexander; Seddig, Sylvia; Rudack, Katharina; Thalhammer, Anja; Le, Mai Q; Walther, Dirk; Zuther, Ellen; Köhl, Karin I; Kopka, Joachim; Hincha, Dirk K

2018-04-01

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important food crops worldwide. Current potato varieties are highly susceptible to drought stress. In view of global climate change, selection of cultivars with improved drought tolerance and high yield potential is of paramount importance. Drought tolerance breeding of potato is currently based on direct selection according to yield and phenotypic traits and requires multiple trials under drought conditions. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) is cheaper, faster and reduces classification errors caused by noncontrolled environmental effects. We analysed 31 potato cultivars grown under optimal and reduced water supply in six independent field trials. Drought tolerance was determined as tuber starch yield. Leaf samples from young plants were screened for preselected transcript and nontargeted metabolite abundance using qRT-PCR and GC-MS profiling, respectively. Transcript marker candidates were selected from a published RNA-Seq data set. A Random Forest machine learning approach extracted metabolite and transcript markers for drought tolerance prediction with low error rates of 6% and 9%, respectively. Moreover, by combining transcript and metabolite markers, the prediction error was reduced to 4.3%. Feature selection from Random Forest models allowed model minimization, yielding a minimal combination of only 20 metabolite and transcript markers that were successfully tested for their reproducibility in 16 independent agronomic field trials. We demonstrate that a minimum combination of transcript and metabolite markers sampled at early cultivation stages predicts potato yield stability under drought largely independent of seasonal and regional agronomic conditions. © 2017 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PEGylation of magnetic multi-walled carbon nanotubes for enhanced selectivity of dispersive solid phase extraction.

PubMed

Zeng, Qiong; Liu, Yi-Ming; Jia, Yan-Wei; Wan, Li-Hong; Liao, Xun

2017-02-01

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess large potential as extraction absorbents in solid phase extraction. They have been widely applied in biomedicine research, while very rare application in natural product chemistry has been reported. In this work, methoxypolyethylene glycol amine (mPEG-NH 2 ) is covalently coupled to CNTs-magnetic nanoparticles (CNTs-MNP) to prepare a novel magnetic nanocomposite (PEG-CNTs-MNP) for use as dispersive solid-phase extraction (DSPE) absorbent. The average particle size was 86nm, and the saturation magnetization was 52.30emu/g. This nanocomposite exhibits excellent dispersibility in aqueous systems, high selectivity and fast binding kinetics when used for extraction of Z-ligustilide, the characteristic bioactive compound from two popular Asian herbal plants, R. chuanxiong and R. ligusticum. HPLC quantification of Z-ligustilide extracted from the standard sample solution showed a high recovery of 98.9%, and the extraction rate from the extracts of the above two herbs are both around 70.0%. To our knowledge, this is the first report on using PEG-CNTs-MNP as DSPE nanosorbents for selective extraction of natural products. This nano-material has promising application in isolation and enrichment of targeted components from complex matrices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Curcuma DMSO extracts and curcumin exhibit an anti-inflammatory and anti-catabolic effect on human intervertebral disc cells, possibly by influencing TLR2 expression and JNK activity

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background As proinflammatory cytokines seem to play a role in discogenic back pain, substances exhibiting anti-inflammatory effects on intervertebral disc cells may be used as minimal-invasive therapeutics for intradiscal/epidural injection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory and anti-catabolic potential of curcuma, which has been used in the Indian Ayurvedic medicine to treat multiple ailments for a long time. Methods Human disc cells were treated with IL-1β to induce an inflammatory/catabolic cascade. Different extracts of curcuma as well as curcumin (= a component selected based on results with curcuma extracts and HPLC/MS analysis) were tested for their ability to reduce mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines and matrix degrading enzymes after 6 hours (real-time RT-PCR), followed by analysis of typical inflammatory signaling mechanisms such as NF-κB (Western Blot, Transcription Factor Assay), MAP kinases (Western Blot) and Toll-like receptors (real-time RT-PCR). Quantitative data was statistically analyzed using a Mann Whitney U test with a significance level of p < 0.05 (two-tailed). Results Results indicate that the curcuma DMSO extract significantly reduced levels of IL-6, MMP1, MMP3 and MMP13. The DMSO-soluble component curcumin, whose occurrence within the DMSO extract was verified by HPLC/MS, reduced levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, MMP1, MMP3 and MMP13 and both caused an up-regulation of TNF-α. Pathway analysis indicated that curcumin did not show involvement of NF-κB, but down-regulated TLR2 expression and inhibited the MAP kinase JNK while activating p38 and ERK. Conclusions Based on its anti-inflammatory and anti-catabolic effects, intradiscal injection of curcumin may be an attractive treatment alternative. However, whether the anti-inflammatory properties in vitro lead to analgesia in vivo will need to be confirmed in an appropriate animal model. PMID:22909087

Particle Swarm Optimization approach to defect detection in armour ceramics.

PubMed

Kesharaju, Manasa; Nagarajah, Romesh

2017-03-01

In this research, various extracted features were used in the development of an automated ultrasonic sensor based inspection system that enables defect classification in each ceramic component prior to despatch to the field. Classification is an important task and large number of irrelevant, redundant features commonly introduced to a dataset reduces the classifiers performance. Feature selection aims to reduce the dimensionality of the dataset while improving the performance of a classification system. In the context of a multi-criteria optimization problem (i.e. to minimize classification error rate and reduce number of features) such as one discussed in this research, the literature suggests that evolutionary algorithms offer good results. Besides, it is noted that Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has not been explored especially in the field of classification of high frequency ultrasonic signals. Hence, a binary coded Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO) technique is investigated in the implementation of feature subset selection and to optimize the classification error rate. In the proposed method, the population data is used as input to an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based classification system to obtain the error rate, as ANN serves as an evaluator of PSO fitness function. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Modulation of cell surface hydrophobicity and attachment of bacteria to abiotic surfaces and shrimp by Malaysian herb extracts.

PubMed

Hui, Yew Woh; Dykes, Gary A

2012-08-01

The use of simple crude water extracts of common herbs to reduce bacterial attachment may be a cost-effective way to control bacterial foodborne pathogens, particularly in developing countries. The ability of water extracts of three common Malaysian herbs (Andrographis paniculata, Eurycoma longifolia, and Garcinia atroviridis) to modulate hydrophobicity and attachment to surfaces of five food-related bacterial strains (Bacillus cereus ATCC 14576, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145, Salmonella Enteritidis ATCC 13076, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923) were determined. The bacterial attachment to hydrocarbon assay was used to determine bacterial hydrophobicity. Staining and direct microscopic counts were used to determine attachment of bacteria to glass and stainless steel. Plating on selective media was used to determine attachment of bacteria to shrimp. All extracts were capable of either significantly ( P < 0.05) increasing or decreasing bacterial surface hydrophobicity, depending on the herb extract and bacteria combination. Bacterial attachment to all surfaces was either significantly (P < 0.05) increased or decreased, depending on the herb extract and bacteria combination. Overall, hydrophobicity did not show a significant correlation (P > 0.05) to bacterial attachment. For specific combinations of bacteria, surface material, and plant extract, significant correlations (R > 0.80) between hydrophobicity and attachment were observed. The highest of these was observed for S. aureus attachment to stainless steel and glass after treatment with the E. longifolia extract (R = 0.99, P < 0.01). The crude water herb extracts in this study were shown to have the potential to modulate specific bacterial and surface interactions and may, with further work, be useful for the simple and practical control of foodborne pathogens.

Depigmented-polymerised allergoids favour regulatory over effector T cells: enhancement by 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

PubMed

Urry, Zoe L; Richards, David F; Black, Cheryl; Morales, Maria; Carnés, Jerónimo; Hawrylowicz, Catherine M; Robinson, Douglas S

2014-05-29

Allergen immunotherapy (SIT) is the only treatment for allergic disease capable of modifying disease long term. To reduce the risk of anaphylaxis from SIT, allergen-extracts have been modified by polymerisation with glutaraldehyde to reduce IgE binding. It is suggested that these allergoid extracts also have reduced T cell activity, which could compromise clinical efficacy. Effective SIT is thought to act through regulatory T cells (Tregs) rather than activation of effector T cells. There is no published data on the activity of modified extracts on Tregs. We compared the capacity of modified (depigmented-polymerised) versus unmodified (native) allergen extracts of grass pollen and house dust mite to stimulate proliferation/cytokine production and to modulate Treg/effector T cell frequency in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), from volunteers sensitised to both allergens in vitro. Depigmented-polymerised allergen extracts stimulated less proliferation of PBMC, and reduced effector cell numbers after 7 days in culture than did native extracts. However, the frequency of Foxp3+ Tregs in cultures were similar to those seen with native extract so that ratios of regulatory to effector T cells were significantly increased in cultures stimulated with depigmented-polymerised extracts. Addition of 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 further favoured Treg, and reduced effector cytokine production, but not interleukin-10. Depigmented-polymerised allergen extracts appear to favour Treg expansion over activation of effector T cells and this may relate to their demonstrated efficacy and safety in SIT. 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 further reduces effector T cell activation by allergen extracts and may be a useful adjuvant for SIT.

Depigmented-polymerised allergoids favour regulatory over effector T cells: enhancement by 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Allergen immunotherapy (SIT) is the only treatment for allergic disease capable of modifying disease long term. To reduce the risk of anaphylaxis from SIT, allergen-extracts have been modified by polymerisation with glutaraldehyde to reduce IgE binding. It is suggested that these allergoid extracts also have reduced T cell activity, which could compromise clinical efficacy. Effective SIT is thought to act through regulatory T cells (Tregs) rather than activation of effector T cells. There is no published data on the activity of modified extracts on Tregs. Results We compared the capacity of modified (depigmented-polymerised) versus unmodified (native) allergen extracts of grass pollen and house dust mite to stimulate proliferation/cytokine production and to modulate Treg/effector T cell frequency in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), from volunteers sensitised to both allergens in vitro. Depigmented-polymerised allergen extracts stimulated less proliferation of PBMC, and reduced effector cell numbers after 7 days in culture than did native extracts. However, the frequency of Foxp3+ Tregs in cultures were similar to those seen with native extract so that ratios of regulatory to effector T cells were significantly increased in cultures stimulated with depigmented-polymerised extracts. Addition of 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 further favoured Treg, and reduced effector cytokine production, but not interleukin-10. Conclusions Depigmented-polymerised allergen extracts appear to favour Treg expansion over activation of effector T cells and this may relate to their demonstrated efficacy and safety in SIT. 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 further reduces effector T cell activation by allergen extracts and may be a useful adjuvant for SIT. PMID:24884430

Characterization and Testing of Amidoxime-Based Adsorbent Materials to Extract Uranium from Natural Seawater

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuo, Li-Jung; Janke, Christopher J.; Wood, Jordana R.

Extraction of uranium (U) from seawater for use as a nuclear fuel is a significant challenge due to the low concentration of U in seawater (~3.3 ppb) and difficulties to selectively extract U from the background of major and trace elements in seawater. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)’s Marine Sciences Laboratory (MSL) has been serving as a marine test site for determining performance characteristics (adsorption capacity, adsorption kinetics, and selectivity) of novel amidoxime-based polymeric adsorbents developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) under natural seawater exposure conditions. This manuscript describes the performance of three formulations (38H, AF1, AI8) ofmore » amidoxime-based polymeric adsorbents produced at ORNL in MSL’s ambient seawater testing facility. The adsorbents were produced in two forms, fibrous material (40-100 mg samples) and braided material (5-10 g samples), and exposed to natural seawater using flow-through columns and recirculating flumes. All three formulations demonstrated high 56 day uranium adsorption capacity (>3 g U/kg adsorbent). The AF1 formulation had the best uranium adsorption performance, with a 56 day capacity of 3.9 g U/ kg adsorbent, a saturation capacity of 5.4 g U/kg adsorbent, and ~25 days half-saturation time. The two exposure methods, flowthrough columns and flumes, were demonstrated to produce similar performance results, providing confidence that the test methods were reliable, that scaling up from 10’s of mg quantities of exposure in flow-through columns to gram quantities in flumes produced similar results, and confirm that the manufacturing process produces a homogeneous adsorbent. Adsorption kinetics appear to be element specific, with half-saturation times ranging from minutes for the major cations in seawater, to 8-10 weeks for V and Fe. Reducing the exposure time provides a potential pathway to improve the adsorption capacity of U by reducing the V/U ratio on the adsorbent.« less

Characterization and testing of amidoxime-based adsorbent materials to extract uranium from natural seawater

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuo, Li-Jung; Janke, Christopher James; Wood, Jordana

Extraction of uranium (U) from seawater for use as a nuclear fuel is a significant challenge due to the low concentration of U in seawater (~3.3 ppb) and difficulties to selectively extract U from the background of major and trace elements in seawater. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) s Marine Sciences Laboratory (MSL) has been serving as a marine test site for determining performance characteristics (adsorption capacity, adsorption kinetics, and selectivity) of novel amidoxime-based polymeric adsorbents developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) under natural seawater exposure conditions. This report describes the performance of three formulations (38H, AF1, AI8)more » of amidoxime-based polymeric adsorbent produced at ORNL in MSL s ambient seawater testing facility. The adsorbents were produced in two forms, fibrous material (40-100 mg samples) and braided material (5-10 g samples), exposed to natural seawater using flow-through columns and recirculating flumes. All three formulations demonstrated high 56 day uranium adsorption capacity (>3 gU/kg adsorbent). The AF1 formulation had the best uranium adsorption performance, with 56-day capacity of 3.9 g U/kg adsorbent, saturation capacity of 5.4 g U/kg adsorbent, and ~25 days half-saturation time. The two exposure methods, flow-through columns and flumes were demonstrated to produce similar performance results, providing confidence that the test methods were reliable, that scaling up from 10 s of mg quantities of exposure in flow-through columns to gram quantities in flumes produced similar results, and that the manufacturing process produces a homogenous adsorbent. Adsorption kinetics appear to be element specific, with half-saturation times ranging from minutes for the major cations in seawater to 8-10weeks for V and Fe. Reducing the exposure time provides a potential pathway to improve the adsorption capacity of U by reducing the V/U ratio on the adsorbent.« less

Characterization and testing of amidoxime-based adsorbent materials to extract uranium from natural seawater

DOE PAGES

Kuo, Li-Jung; Janke, Christopher James; Wood, Jordana; ...

2015-11-19

Extraction of uranium (U) from seawater for use as a nuclear fuel is a significant challenge due to the low concentration of U in seawater (~3.3 ppb) and difficulties to selectively extract U from the background of major and trace elements in seawater. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) s Marine Sciences Laboratory (MSL) has been serving as a marine test site for determining performance characteristics (adsorption capacity, adsorption kinetics, and selectivity) of novel amidoxime-based polymeric adsorbents developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) under natural seawater exposure conditions. This report describes the performance of three formulations (38H, AF1, AI8)more » of amidoxime-based polymeric adsorbent produced at ORNL in MSL s ambient seawater testing facility. The adsorbents were produced in two forms, fibrous material (40-100 mg samples) and braided material (5-10 g samples), exposed to natural seawater using flow-through columns and recirculating flumes. All three formulations demonstrated high 56 day uranium adsorption capacity (>3 gU/kg adsorbent). The AF1 formulation had the best uranium adsorption performance, with 56-day capacity of 3.9 g U/kg adsorbent, saturation capacity of 5.4 g U/kg adsorbent, and ~25 days half-saturation time. The two exposure methods, flow-through columns and flumes were demonstrated to produce similar performance results, providing confidence that the test methods were reliable, that scaling up from 10 s of mg quantities of exposure in flow-through columns to gram quantities in flumes produced similar results, and that the manufacturing process produces a homogenous adsorbent. Adsorption kinetics appear to be element specific, with half-saturation times ranging from minutes for the major cations in seawater to 8-10weeks for V and Fe. Reducing the exposure time provides a potential pathway to improve the adsorption capacity of U by reducing the V/U ratio on the adsorbent.« less

Megasessions for Robotic Hair Restoration.

PubMed

Pereira, Joa O Carlos; Pereira Filho, Joa O Carlos; Cabrera Pereira, Joa O Pedro

2016-11-01

A robotic system can select and remove individual hair follicles from the donor area with great precision and without fatigue. This report describes the use of the robotic system in a megasession for hair restoration. Patients were instructed to cut their hair to 1.0 to 1.2 mm before surgery. The robot selected and removed 600 to 800 grafts per hour so the follicular units (FU)s could be transplanted manually to recipient sites. The robot arm consists of a sharp inner punch and a blunt outer punch which together separate FUs from the sur- rounding tissue. Stereoscopic cameras controlled by image processing software allow the system to identify the angle and direction of hair growth. The physician and one assistant control the harvesting with a hand-held remote control and computer monitor while the patient is positioned in an adjustable chair. When the robot has harvested all the FUs they are removed by technicians with small forceps. Hairline design, creation of recipient sites, and graft placement are performed manually by the physician. Clinical photographs before and after surgery show that patients experience excellent outcomes with the robotic megasession. Phy- sician fatigue during graft extraction is reduced because the robot performs the repetitive movements without fatigue. Variability of graft extraction is minimized because the robot's optical system can be programmed to choose the best FUs. The transection rate is reduced because the robot's graft extraction system uses two needles, a sharp one to piece the skin and a blunt needle to dissect the root without trauma. A robotic megasession for hair restoration is minimally invasive, does not result in linear scars in the donor area, and is associated with minimal fatigue and discomfort for both patient and physician. Healing is rapid and patients experience a high level of satisfaction with the results. J Drugs Dermatol. 2016;15(11):1407-1412..

Bypassing bacterial infection in phage display by sequencing DNA released from phage particles.

PubMed

Villequey, Camille; Kong, Xu-Dong; Heinis, Christian

2017-11-01

Phage display relies on a bacterial infection step in which the phage particles are replicated to perform multiple affinity selection rounds and to enable the identification of isolated clones by DNA sequencing. While this process is efficient for wild-type phage, the bacterial infection rate of phage with mutant or chemically modified coat proteins can be low. For example, a phage mutant with a disulfide-free p3 coat protein, used for the selection of bicyclic peptides, has a more than 100-fold reduced infection rate compared to the wild-type. A potential strategy for bypassing the bacterial infection step is to directly sequence DNA extracted from phage particles after a single round of phage panning using high-throughput sequencing. In this work, we have quantified the fraction of phage clones that can be identified by directly sequencing DNA from phage particles. The results show that the DNA of essentially all of the phage particles can be 'decoded', and that the sequence coverage for mutants equals that of amplified DNA extracted from cells infected with wild-type phage. This procedure is particularly attractive for selections with phage that have a compromised infection capacity, and it may allow phage display to be performed with particles that are not infective at all. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Economic evaluations of single- versus double-embryo transfer in IVF.

PubMed

Fiddelers, A A A; Severens, J L; Dirksen, C D; Dumoulin, J C M; Land, J A; Evers, J L H

2007-01-01

Multiple pregnancies lead to complications and induce high costs. The most successful way to decrease multiple pregnancies in IVF is to transfer only one embryo, which might reduce the efficacy of treatment. The objective of this review is to determine which embryo-transfer policy is most cost-effective: elective single-embryo transfer (eSET) or double-embryo transfer (DET). Several databases were searched for (cost* or econ*) and (single embryo* or double embryo* or one embryo* or two embryo* or elect* embryo or multip* embryo*). On the basis of five exclusion criteria, titles and abstracts were screened by two individual reviewers. The remaining papers were read for further selection, and data were extracted from the selected studies. A total of 496 titles were identified through the searches and resulted in the selection of one observational study and three randomized studies. Study characteristics, total costs and probability of live births were extracted. Besides this, cost-effectiveness and incremental cost-effectiveness were derived. It can be concluded that DET is the most expensive strategy. DET is also most effective if performed in one fresh cycle. eSET is only preferred from a cost-effectiveness point of view when performed in good prognosis patients and when frozen/thawed cycles are included. If frozen/thawed cycles are excluded, the choice between eSET and DET depends on how much society is willing to pay for one extra successful pregnancy.

Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Hydroethanolic Leaf Extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum Lam. Kurtz (Crassulaceae).

PubMed

Adeyemi, Olufunmilayo O; Ishola, Ismail O; Okoro, Uzodinma

2013-01-01

Bryophyllum pinnatum Lam. Kurtz (Crassulaceae) is used in traditional African medicine in the treatment of diarrhoea. To investigate the antidiarrhoeal action of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum (BP). Normal intestinal transit, castor oil-induced intestinal transit, castor oil-induced diarrhoea, gastric emptying and enteropooling models in rodents were used to investigate antidiarrhoeal effect. The possible mechanism of antidiarrhoeal activity was investigated using prazosin (1 mg/kg, s.c; α1, adrenoceptor antagonist), yohimbine (1 mg/kg, s.c; α2 adrenoceptor antagonist), propranolol (1 mg/kg, i.p; α- adrenoceptor non-selective antagonist), atropine (1 mg/kg, s.c; muscarinic cholinergic antagonist), pilocarpine (1 mg/kg, s.c; muscarinic cholinergic agonist), and isosorbide dinitrate (IDN) (150 mg/kg, p.o; nitric oxide donor). BP (25-100 mg/kg, p.o) produced dose-dependent and significant (P < 0.001) decrease in intestinal propulsion in normal and castor oil-induced intestinal transit models in comparison to distilled water (10 ml/kg, p.o.) treated control. This antidiarrhoeal effect was inhibited by propranolol pretreatment but yohimbine, prazosin, or atropine pretreatment failed to block this effect. BP treatment reduced the increased peristaltic activity induced by pilocarpine, however, co-treatment with IDN significantly (P < 0.001) enhanced the antidiarrhoeal effect of the extract. In castor oil-induced diarrhoea test, the extract produced a dose-dependent and significant (P < 0.001) increase in onset of diarrhoea, decreased diarrhoea score, the number and weight of wet stools when compared to control. The in vivo antidiarrhoeal index (ADI(in) vivo)) of 53.52 produced by the extract (50 mg/kg, p.o.) was similar to 76.28 ADI(in vivo) produced by morphine (10 mg/kg, s.c.). The extract produced dose- dependent and significant (P < 0.05; P < 0.001) decrease in the weight and volume of intestinal content in the intestinal fluid accumulation model. In gastric emptying test, BP treatment reduced the quantity of test meal emptied in 1 h but not significant. The results showed that the hydroethanolic leaf extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum possesses antidiarrhoeal activity possibly mediated by interaction with β adrenoceptor, muscarinic cholinergic receptor and nitric oxide pathway.

Antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of condensed tannins in acetonic extract of selected raw and processed indigenous food ingredients from Kenya.

PubMed

Kunyanga, Catherine Nkirote; Imungi, Jasper Kathenya; Okoth, Michael; Momanyi, Clare; Biesalski, Han Konrad; Vadivel, Vellingiri

2011-05-01

Recently, tannins have received considerable attention as health-promoting component in various plant foods and several studies have reported on its nutraceutical properties. However, no study has established the role of condensed tannins in indigenous foods of Kenya. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the antioxidant activity (DPPH and FRAP) and antidiabetic effects (α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition activities) of condensed tannins in some selected raw and traditionally processed indigenous cereals, legumes, oil seeds, and vegetables. The condensed tannin content of the grains and vegetables ranged between 2.55 and 4.35 g/100 g DM and 1.53 and 5.73 g/100 g DM, respectively. The scavenging effect of acetonic extract on DPPH radical ranged from 77% to 90% while the reducing power was found to be 31 to 574 mmol Fe(II)/g DM in all the investigated food ingredients. The condensed tannin extracts of the analyzed samples showed promising antidiabetic effects with potential α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition activities of 23% to 44% and 58% to 88%, respectively. Condensed tannins extracted from the amaranth grain, finger millet, field bean, sunflower seeds, drumstick, and amaranth leaves exerted significantly higher antioxidant and antidiabetic activities than other food ingredients. Among the traditional processing methods, roasting of grains and cooking of vegetables were found to be more suitable mild treatments for preserving the tannin compound and its functional properties as opposed to soaking + cooking and blanching treatments. The identified elite sources of optimally processed indigenous food ingredients with promising results could be used as health-promoting ingredients through formulation of therapeutic diets. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

Integrating Dimension Reduction and Out-of-Sample Extension in Automated Classification of Ex Vivo Human Patellar Cartilage on Phase Contrast X-Ray Computed Tomography

PubMed Central

Nagarajan, Mahesh B.; Coan, Paola; Huber, Markus B.; Diemoz, Paul C.; Wismüller, Axel

2015-01-01

Phase contrast X-ray computed tomography (PCI-CT) has been demonstrated as a novel imaging technique that can visualize human cartilage with high spatial resolution and soft tissue contrast. Different textural approaches have been previously investigated for characterizing chondrocyte organization on PCI-CT to enable classification of healthy and osteoarthritic cartilage. However, the large size of feature sets extracted in such studies motivates an investigation into algorithmic feature reduction for computing efficient feature representations without compromising their discriminatory power. For this purpose, geometrical feature sets derived from the scaling index method (SIM) were extracted from 1392 volumes of interest (VOI) annotated on PCI-CT images of ex vivo human patellar cartilage specimens. The extracted feature sets were subject to linear and non-linear dimension reduction techniques as well as feature selection based on evaluation of mutual information criteria. The reduced feature set was subsequently used in a machine learning task with support vector regression to classify VOIs as healthy or osteoarthritic; classification performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Our results show that the classification performance achieved by 9-D SIM-derived geometric feature sets (AUC: 0.96 ± 0.02) can be maintained with 2-D representations computed from both dimension reduction and feature selection (AUC values as high as 0.97 ± 0.02). Thus, such feature reduction techniques can offer a high degree of compaction to large feature sets extracted from PCI-CT images while maintaining their ability to characterize the underlying chondrocyte patterns. PMID:25710875

Evaluation of essential oils in beef cattle manure slurries and applications of select compounds to beef feedlot surfaces to control zoonotic pathogens.

PubMed

Wells, J E; Berry, E D; Guerini, M N; Varel, V H

2015-02-01

To evaluate natural terpene compounds for antimicrobial activities and determine whether these compounds could be used to control microbial activities and pathogens in production animal facilities. Thymol, geraniol, glydox, linalool, pine oil, plinol and terpineol were tested in laboratory studies for ability to control the production of odorous volatile fatty acid compounds and reduce pathogen levels in manure slurry preparations. Thymol is a terpene phenolic compound and was most effective for reducing fermentation products and pathogen levels (P < 0.05), followed by the extracts linalool, pine oil and terpineol, which are terpene alcohols. Select compounds thymol, linalool and pine oil were further evaluated in two separate studies by applying the agents to feedlot surfaces in cattle pens. Feedlot surface material (FSM; manure and soil) was collected and analysed for fermentation products, levels of coliforms and total Escherichia coli, and the presence of E. coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria and L. monocytogenes. The reduction in fermentation products but not pathogens was dependent on the moisture present in the FSM. Treatment with 2000 ppm thymol reduced the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 but not Listeria. In a separate study, treatment with 4000 ppm pine oil reduced E. coli O157:H7, Listeria and Campylobacter (P < 0.05). Linalool was tested at two levels (2000 and 4000 ppm) and did not affect pathogen levels at either concentration. Natural compounds bearing terpenes can control pathogenic bacteria in treated manures and when applied to the feedlot surface in production cattle systems. Pine oil is a cheaper alternative to thymol and may be a useful treatment for controlling pathogens. The control of bacterial pathogens in animal productions systems is an important step in preharvest food safety. Waste products, such as pine oil extract, from the pulp wood industry may have application for treating feedlot pens and manures to reduce the pathogen load. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Assessment of DNA extracted from FTA® cards for use on the Illumina iSelect BeadChip

PubMed Central

McClure, Matthew C; McKay, Stephanie D; Schnabel, Robert D; Taylor, Jeremy F

2009-01-01

Background As FTA® cards provide an ideal medium for the field collection of DNA we sought to assess the quality of genomic DNA extracted from this source for use on the Illumina BovineSNP50 iSelect BeadChip which requires unbound, relatively intact (fragment sizes ≥ 2 kb), and high-quality DNA. Bovine blood and nasal swab samples collected on FTA cards were extracted using the commercially available GenSolve kit with a minor modification. The call rate and concordance of genotypes from each sample were compared to those obtained from whole blood samples extracted by standard PCI extraction. Findings An ANOVA analysis indicated no significant difference (P > 0.72) in BovineSNP50 genotype call rate between DNA extracted from FTA cards by the GenSolve kit or extracted from whole blood by PCI. Two sample t-tests demonstrated that the DNA extracted from the FTA cards produced genotype call and concordance rates that were not different to those produced by assaying DNA samples extracted by PCI from whole blood. Conclusion We conclude that DNA extracted from FTA cards by the GenSolve kit is of sufficiently high quality to produce results comparable to those obtained from DNA extracted from whole blood when assayed by the Illumina iSelect technology. Additionally, we validate the use of nasal swabs as an alternative to venous blood or buccal samples from animal subjects for reliably producing high quality genotypes on this platform. PMID:19531223

Assessment of DNA extracted from FTA cards for use on the Illumina iSelect BeadChip.

PubMed

McClure, Matthew C; McKay, Stephanie D; Schnabel, Robert D; Taylor, Jeremy F

2009-06-16

As FTA cards provide an ideal medium for the field collection of DNA we sought to assess the quality of genomic DNA extracted from this source for use on the Illumina BovineSNP50 iSelect BeadChip which requires unbound, relatively intact (fragment sizes >or= 2 kb), and high-quality DNA. Bovine blood and nasal swab samples collected on FTA cards were extracted using the commercially available GenSolve kit with a minor modification. The call rate and concordance of genotypes from each sample were compared to those obtained from whole blood samples extracted by standard PCI extraction. An ANOVA analysis indicated no significant difference (P > 0.72) in BovineSNP50 genotype call rate between DNA extracted from FTA cards by the GenSolve kit or extracted from whole blood by PCI. Two sample t-tests demonstrated that the DNA extracted from the FTA cards produced genotype call and concordance rates that were not different to those produced by assaying DNA samples extracted by PCI from whole blood. We conclude that DNA extracted from FTA cards by the GenSolve kit is of sufficiently high quality to produce results comparable to those obtained from DNA extracted from whole blood when assayed by the Illumina iSelect technology. Additionally, we validate the use of nasal swabs as an alternative to venous blood or buccal samples from animal subjects for reliably producing high quality genotypes on this platform.

Food allergen extracts to diagnose food-induced allergic diseases: How they are made.

PubMed

David, Natalie A; Penumarti, Anusha; Burks, A Wesley; Slater, Jay E

2017-08-01

To review the manufacturing procedures of food allergen extracts and applicable regulatory requirements from government agencies, potential approaches to standardization, and clinical application of these products. The effects of thermal processing on allergenicity of common food allergens are also considered. A broad literature review was conducted on the natural history of food allergy, the manufacture of allergen extracts, and the allergenicity of heated food. Regulations, guidance documents, and pharmacopoeias related to food allergen extracts from the United States and Europe were also reviewed. Authoritative and peer-reviewed research articles relevant to the topic were chosen for review. Selected regulations and guidance documents are current and relevant to food allergen extracts. Preparation of a food allergen extract may require careful selection and identification of source materials, grinding, defatting, extraction, clarification, sterilization, and product testing. Although extractions for all products licensed in the United States are performed using raw source materials, many foods are not consumed in their raw form. Heating foods may change their allergenicity, and doing so before extraction may change their allergenicity and the composition of the final product. The manufacture of food allergen extracts requires many considerations to achieve the maximal quality of the final product. Allergen extracts for a select number of foods may be inconsistent between manufacturers or unreliable in a clinical setting, indicating a potential area for future improvement. Copyright © 2016 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Extraction and characterization of holocellulose fibers by microwave-assisted selective liquefaction of bamboo

Treesearch

Jiulong Xie; Chung Hse; Todd F. Shupe; Hui Pan; Tingxing Hu

2016-01-01

Microwave-assisted selective liquefaction was proposed and used as a novel method for the isolation of holocellulose fibers. The results showed that the bamboo lignin component and extractives were almost completely removed by using a liquefaction process at 120 8C for 9 min, and the residual lignin and extractives in the solid residue were as low as 0.65% and 0.49%,...

SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF RUTHENIUM

DOEpatents

Hyman, H.H.; Leader, G.R.

1959-07-14

The separation of rathenium from aqueous solutions by solvent extraction is described. According to the invention, a nitrite selected from the group consisting of alkali nitrite and alkaline earth nitrite in an equimolecular quantity with regard to the quantity of rathenium present is added to an aqueous solution containing ruthenium tetrantrate to form a ruthenium complex. Adding an organic solvent such as ethyl ether to the resulting mixture selectively extracts the rathenium complex.

Analysis of factors affecting volatile compound formation in roasted pumpkin seeds with selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) and sensory analysis.

PubMed

Bowman, T; Barringer, S

2012-01-01

Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo and maxima) seeds are uniquely flavored and commonly consumed as a healthy roasted snack. The objective was to determine dominant volatiles in raw and roasted pumpkin seeds, and the effect of seed coat, moisture content, fatty acid ratio, total lipids, reducing sugars, and harvest year on volatile formation. Sensory was conducted to evaluate overall liking of seed variety and texture. Seed processing included extraction from the fruit, dehydration, and roasting (150 °C). Oil extraction was done using soxhlet, fatty acid profile using Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detector, and reducing sugars using 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid and UV-spectroscopy. Headspace analysis of seeds was performed by selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). Volatiles dominating in raw pumpkin seeds were lipid aldehydes, ethyl acetate, 2,3-butandione, and dimethylsulfide. Compounds contributing to roasted aroma include alkylpyrazines and Strecker and lipid aldehydes. Overall, hull-less seeds had higher volatile lipid aldehydes and Strecker aldehydes. Seeds dehydrated to a moisture content of 6.5% before roasting had higher initial and final volatile concentrations than seeds starting at 50% moisture. Higher oil content resulted in higher lipid aldehyde formation during roasting with a moderate correlation between free fatty acid ratio and corresponding lipid aldehyde. Harvest year (2009 compared with 2010) had a significant impact on volatile formation in hull-less seeds, but not as much as variety differences. No significant correlation was found between reducing sugars and volatile formation. Sensory showed that hull-less seeds were liked significantly more than hulled seeds. Elucidation of aromatic flavor development during roasting with SIFT-MS provides information on flavor release and offers better control during processing. Knowledge of volatiles in raw and roasted pumpkin seeds and effects of seed coat, moisture content, seed composition, and harvest date will allow for better control over the production/storage/transportation process and a more educated decision during selection of a variety for production of pumpkin seeds in the snack food industry. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

Evaluation of the mobility and pollution index of selected essential/toxic metals in paddy soil by sequential extraction method.

PubMed

Hasan, Maria; Kausar, Dilshad; Akhter, Gulraiz; Shah, Munir H

2018-01-01

Comparative distribution and mobility of selected essential and toxic metals in the paddy soil from district Sargodha, Pakistan was evaluated by the modified Community Bureau of Reference (mBCR) sequential extraction procedure. Most of the soil samples showed slightly alkaline nature while the soil texture was predominantly silty loam in nature. The metal contents were quantified in the exchangeable, reducible, oxidisable and residual fractions of the soil by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry and the metal data were subjected to the statistical analyses in order to evaluate the mutual relationships among the metals in each fraction. Among the metals, Ca, Sr and Mn were found to be more mobile in the soil. A number of significant correlations between different metal pairs were noted in various fractions. Contamination factor, geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor revealed extremely severe enrichment/contamination for Cd; moderate to significant enrichment/contamination for Ni, Zn, Co and Pb while Cr, Sr, Cu and Mn revealed minimal to moderate contamination and accumulation in the soil. Multivariate cluster analysis showed significant anthropogenic intrusions of the metals in various fractions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A data driven approach for condition monitoring of wind turbine blade using vibration signals through best-first tree algorithm and functional trees algorithm: A comparative study.

PubMed

Joshuva, A; Sugumaran, V

2017-03-01

Wind energy is one of the important renewable energy resources available in nature. It is one of the major resources for production of energy because of its dependability due to the development of the technology and relatively low cost. Wind energy is converted into electrical energy using rotating blades. Due to environmental conditions and large structure, the blades are subjected to various vibration forces that may cause damage to the blades. This leads to a liability in energy production and turbine shutdown. The downtime can be reduced when the blades are diagnosed continuously using structural health condition monitoring. These are considered as a pattern recognition problem which consists of three phases namely, feature extraction, feature selection, and feature classification. In this study, statistical features were extracted from vibration signals, feature selection was carried out using a J48 decision tree algorithm and feature classification was performed using best-first tree algorithm and functional trees algorithm. The better algorithm is suggested for fault diagnosis of wind turbine blade. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

You had me at "Hello": Rapid extraction of dialect information from spoken words.

PubMed

Scharinger, Mathias; Monahan, Philip J; Idsardi, William J

2011-06-15

Research on the neuronal underpinnings of speaker identity recognition has identified voice-selective areas in the human brain with evolutionary homologues in non-human primates who have comparable areas for processing species-specific calls. Most studies have focused on estimating the extent and location of these areas. In contrast, relatively few experiments have investigated the time-course of speaker identity, and in particular, dialect processing and identification by electro- or neuromagnetic means. We show here that dialect extraction occurs speaker-independently, pre-attentively and categorically. We used Standard American English and African-American English exemplars of 'Hello' in a magnetoencephalographic (MEG) Mismatch Negativity (MMN) experiment. The MMN as an automatic change detection response of the brain reflected dialect differences that were not entirely reducible to acoustic differences between the pronunciations of 'Hello'. Source analyses of the M100, an auditory evoked response to the vowels suggested additional processing in voice-selective areas whenever a dialect change was detected. These findings are not only relevant for the cognitive neuroscience of language, but also for the social sciences concerned with dialect and race perception. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Operable Unit 7-13/14 in situ thermal desorption treatability study work plan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shaw, P.; Nickelson, D.; Hyde, R.

1999-05-01

This Work Plan provides technical details for conducting a treatability study that will evaluate the application of in situ thermal desorption (ISTD) to landfill waste at the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA) at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). ISTD is a form of thermally enhanced vapor vacuum extraction that heats contaminated soil and waste underground to raise its temperature and thereby vaporize and destroy most organics. An aboveground vapor vacuum collection and treatment system then destroys or absorbs the remaining organics and vents carbon dioxide and water to the atmosphere. The technology is a byproduct of an advancedmore » oil-well thermal extraction program. The purpose of the ISTD treatability study is to fill performance-based data gaps relative to off-gas system performance, administrative feasibility, effects of the treatment on radioactive contaminants, worker safety during mobilization and demobilization, and effects of landfill type waste on the process (time to remediate, subsidence potential, underground fires, etc.). By performing this treatability study, uncertainties associated with ISTD as a selected remedy will be reduced, providing a better foundation of remedial recommendations and ultimate selection of remedial actions for the SDA.« less

[CONTENT OF OXIDATIVE STRESS MARKERS IN BLOOD PLASMA UNDER THE ACTION OF EXTRACTS OF GRATIOLA OFFICINALIS L., HELICHRYSUM ARENARIUM (L.) MOENCH, AND ANTHOCYANIN FORMS OF ZEA MAYS L].

PubMed

Durnova, N A; Afanas'eva, G A; Kurchatova, M N; Zaraeva, N V; Golikov, A G; Bucharskaya, A B; Golikov, A G; Bucharskaya, A B; Plastun, V O; Andreeva, N V

2015-01-01

The effect of aqueous solutions of dry ethanol extracts of Gratiola officinalis L., Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench, and anthocyanin forms of Zea mays L. on the dioxidin-induced lipid peroxidation in blood has been studied on rats. It is established that all these extracts are capable of reducing the amount of avera- ge-mass (AM) molecules and malonic dialdehyde (MDA) in rat blood plasma. The extract of Gratiola officinalis L. reduces the concentration of AM and MDA moleules by 43%. The extract of Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench reduces the concentration of AM molecules on the average by 18.66% (within 9.22 -34.81%) and MDA by 49.36% (within 34.12-79.75%). The Extract of anthocyanin forms of Zea mays L. does not reduce the concentration of AM mo- lecules, but reduces the amount of MDA in the blood of rats on average by 27.88% (within 21.58-37.82%) (p < 0.01).

Review of the harvesting and extraction program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts

DOE PAGES

Marrone, Babetta L.; Lacey, Ronald E.; Anderson, Daniel B.; ...

2017-08-07

Energy-efficient and scalable harvesting and lipid extraction processes must be developed in order for the algal biofuels and bioproducts industry to thrive. The major challenge for harvesting is the handling of large volumes of cultivation water to concentrate low amounts of biomass. For lipid extraction, the major energy and cost drivers are associated with disrupting the algae cell wall and drying the biomass before solvent extraction of the lipids. Here we review the research and development conducted by the Harvesting and Extraction Team during the 3-year National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) algal consortium project. The harvesting andmore » extraction team investigated five harvesting and three wet extraction technologies at lab bench scale for effectiveness, and conducted a techoeconomic study to evaluate their costs and energy efficiency compared to available baseline technologies. Based on this study, three harvesting technologies were selected for further study at larger scale. We evaluated the selected harvesting technologies: electrocoagulation, membrane filtration, and ultrasonic harvesting, in a field study at minimum scale of 100 L/h. None of the extraction technologies were determined to be ready for scale-up; therefore, an emerging extraction technology (wet solvent extraction) was selected from industry to provide scale-up data and capabilities to produce lipid and lipid-extracted materials for the NAABB program. One specialized extraction/adsorption technology was developed that showed promise for recovering high value co-products from lipid extracts. Overall, the NAABB Harvesting and Extraction Team improved the readiness level of several innovative, energy efficient technologies to integrate with algae production processes and captured valuable lessons learned about scale-up challenges.« less

Review of the harvesting and extraction program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marrone, Babetta L.; Lacey, Ronald E.; Anderson, Daniel B.

Energy-efficient and scalable harvesting and lipid extraction processes must be developed in order for the algal biofuels and bioproducts industry to thrive. The major challenge for harvesting is the handling of large volumes of cultivation water to concentrate low amounts of biomass. For lipid extraction, the major energy and cost drivers are associated with disrupting the algae cell wall and drying the biomass before solvent extraction of the lipids. Here we review the research and development conducted by the Harvesting and Extraction Team during the 3-year National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) algal consortium project. The harvesting andmore » extraction team investigated five harvesting and three wet extraction technologies at lab bench scale for effectiveness, and conducted a techoeconomic study to evaluate their costs and energy efficiency compared to available baseline technologies. Based on this study, three harvesting technologies were selected for further study at larger scale. We evaluated the selected harvesting technologies: electrocoagulation, membrane filtration, and ultrasonic harvesting, in a field study at minimum scale of 100 L/h. None of the extraction technologies were determined to be ready for scale-up; therefore, an emerging extraction technology (wet solvent extraction) was selected from industry to provide scale-up data and capabilities to produce lipid and lipid-extracted materials for the NAABB program. One specialized extraction/adsorption technology was developed that showed promise for recovering high value co-products from lipid extracts. Overall, the NAABB Harvesting and Extraction Team improved the readiness level of several innovative, energy efficient technologies to integrate with algae production processes and captured valuable lessons learned about scale-up challenges.« less

Selective pressurized liquid extraction of replacement and legacy brominated flame retardants from soil.

PubMed

McGrath, Thomas J; Morrison, Paul D; Ball, Andrew S; Clarke, Bradley O

2016-08-05

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of flame retardant registered as UN POPs due to their persistence in the environment, bioaccumulation potential and toxicity. Replacement novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) have exhibited similar health hazards and environmental distribution, becoming recognized as significant contaminants. This work describes the development and validation of a sensitive and reliable method for the simultaneous quantitation of PBDEs and NBFRs in environmental soil samples using selective pressurized liquid extraction (S-PLE) and gas chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-(EI)-MS/MS). Under optimal conditions, extraction of eight PBDEs (-28, -47, -99, -100, -153, -154, -183 and -209) and five NBFRs; pentabromotoluene (PBT), pentabromoethylbenzene (PBEB), hexabromobenzene (HBB), 2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (EH-TBB) and bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE) was performed at 100°C and 1500psi using a 1:1 mixture of hexane and dichloromethane. The method utilized 33mL capacity PLE cells containing, from bottom to top, a single cellulose filter, 3g activated Florisil, 6g acid silica (10% w/w), 3g Na2SO4, another cellulose filter, 2g activated copper powder and 3g soil sample dispersed in 2g Na2SO4 and 1g of Hydromatrix. The method was evaluated by repeated extraction and analysis of all analytes from 3g soil at three spike concentrations. Good recoveries were observed for most analytes at each of the spiking levels with RSD values generally below 20%. MDLs ranged from 0.01 to 4.8ng/g dw for PBDEs and 0.01-0.55ng/g dw for NBFRs. The described one-step combined extraction and cleanup method reduces sample processing times compared with traditional procedures, while delivering comparable analytical performance. The method was successfully applied to environmental soil samples (n=5), detecting PBDEs in each sample and providing the first account of NBFR contamination in Australian soils. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sensor feature fusion for detecting buried objects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clark, G.A.; Sengupta, S.K.; Sherwood, R.J.

1993-04-01

Given multiple registered images of the earth`s surface from dual-band sensors, our system fuses information from the sensors to reduce the effects of clutter and improve the ability to detect buried or surface target sites. The sensor suite currently includes two sensors (5 micron and 10 micron wavelengths) and one ground penetrating radar (GPR) of the wide-band pulsed synthetic aperture type. We use a supervised teaming pattern recognition approach to detect metal and plastic land mines buried in soil. The overall process consists of four main parts: Preprocessing, feature extraction, feature selection, and classification. These parts are used in amore » two step process to classify a subimage. Thee first step, referred to as feature selection, determines the features of sub-images which result in the greatest separability among the classes. The second step, image labeling, uses the selected features and the decisions from a pattern classifier to label the regions in the image which are likely to correspond to buried mines. We extract features from the images, and use feature selection algorithms to select only the most important features according to their contribution to correct detections. This allows us to save computational complexity and determine which of the sensors add value to the detection system. The most important features from the various sensors are fused using supervised teaming pattern classifiers (including neural networks). We present results of experiments to detect buried land mines from real data, and evaluate the usefulness of fusing feature information from multiple sensor types, including dual-band infrared and ground penetrating radar. The novelty of the work lies mostly in the combination of the algorithms and their application to the very important and currently unsolved operational problem of detecting buried land mines from an airborne standoff platform.« less

High individual variation in pheromone production by tree-killing bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pureswaran, Deepa S.; Sullivan, Brian T.; Ayres, Matthew P.

2008-01-01

Aggregation via pheromone signalling is essential for tree-killing bark beetles to overcome tree defenses and reproduce within hosts. Pheromone production is a trait that is linked to fitness, so high individual variation is paradoxical. One explanation is that the technique of measuring static pheromone pools overestimates true variation among individuals. An alternative hypothesis is that aggregation behaviour dilutes the contribution of individuals to the trait under selection and reduces the efficacy of natural selection on pheromone production by individuals. We compared pheromone measurements from traditional hindgut extractions of female southern pine beetles with those obtained by aerating individuals till they died. Aerations showed greater total pheromone production than hindgut extractions, but coefficients of variation (CV) remained high (60-182%) regardless of collection technique. This leaves the puzzle of high variation unresolved. A novel but simple explanation emerges from considering bark beetle aggregation behaviour. The phenotype visible to natural selection is the collective pheromone plume from hundreds of colonisers. The influence of a single beetle on this plume is enhanced by high variation among individuals but constrained by large group sizes. We estimated the average contribution of an individual to the pheromone plume across a range of aggregation sizes and showed that large aggregation sizes typical in mass attacks limit the potential of natural selection because each individual has so little effect on the overall plume. Genetic variation in pheromone production could accumulate via mutation and recombination, despite strong effects of the pheromone plume on the fitness of individuals within the aggregation. Thus, aggregation behaviour, by limiting the efficacy of natural selection, can allow the persistence of extreme phenotypes in nature.

Optimization of in vitro inhibition of HT-29 colon cancer cell cultures by Solanum tuberosum L. extracts.

PubMed

Zuber, T; Holm, D; Byrne, P; Ducreux, L; Taylor, M; Kaiser, M; Stushnoff, C

2015-01-01

Secondary metabolites in potato have been reported to possess bioactive properties, including growth inhibition of cancer cells. Because potatoes are widely consumed globally, potential health benefits may have broad application. Thus we investigated growth inhibition of HT-29 colon cancer cell cultures by extracts from 13 diverse genetic breeding clones. Extracts from three pigmented selections (CO97226-2R/R, CO97216-1P/P, CO04058-3RW/RW) inhibited growth of in vitro HT-29 cell cultures more effectively than other clones tested. While inhibition was highest from pigmented selections and pigmented tuber tissue sectors, not all pigmented breeding lines tested had appreciable inhibitory properties. Thus, inhibition was not uniquely linked to pigmentation. Immature tubers had the highest inhibitory properties, and in most cases mature tubers retained very low inhibition properties. Flowers and skins inhibited strongly at lower extract concentrations. An extract consisting of 7.2 mg mL⁻¹ cell culture medium was the lowest effective concentration. While raw tuber extracts inhibited most effectively, a few clones at higher concentrations retained inhibition after cooking. Heated whole tubers retained higher inhibition than heated aqueous extracts. While all aqueous extracts from the two tuber selections (CO97216-1P/P and CO97226-2R/R) inhibited HT-29 cell cultures, inhibition was significantly enhanced in purple pigmented tubers of CO97216-1P/P prepared cryogenically as liquid nitrogen powders compared to extracts from freeze dried samples. Upregulation of caspase-3 protease activity, indicative of apoptosis, was highest among the most inhibitory clone samples. The unique sectorial red pigment expressing selection (CO04058-3RW/RW) provided a model system that isolated expression in pigmented sectors, and thus eliminated developmental, environmental and genetic confounding.

Evaluation of the effect of green tea extract on mouth bacterial activity in the presence of propylene glycol.

PubMed

Moghbel, Abdolhossein; Farjzadeh, Ahmad; Aghel, Nasrin; Agheli, Homaun; Raisi, Nafiseh

2012-01-01

Compounds present in green tea have proved to inhibit the growth and activity of bacteria associated with infections. To assess the effects of green tea leaves extract in presence of propylene glycol on the aerobic mouth bacteria load. Saliva of 25 volunteer girl students aging 20-25 years were selected and evaluated by a mouthwash sample containing 1% tannin, as the most effective antibacterial complex in green tea. Comparative studies were also conducted between green tea mouthwashes containing 1% tannin and a similar sample with 10% propylene glycol added during extraction. This comparison was applied for a chlorhexidine 0.2% sample as a chemical mouthwash brand, too. There was a meaningful difference between the green tea mouthwashes containing 10% propylene glycol and the simple green tea extract (P < 0.05). Significant difference was also seen between the herbal and chemical mouthwashes (P < 0.05). The extract 1% tannin containing 10% propylene glycol reduced the aerobic mouth bacterial load of the student salvia about 64 percent. The pH monotonousness in different days and temperatures approved the stability of tannin in liquid water medium. Using green tea extract as a herbal mouthwash is safe and harmless specially for children and pregnant women. This result led us to suppose that green tea may prevent plaque formation on teeth, coming over halitosis due to mouth infection, too. These effects need to be approved in an in vivo trial as a second study.

Molluscicidal and ovicidal activities of plant extracts of the Piperaceae on Biomphalaria glabrata (Say, 1818).

PubMed

Rapado, L N; Nakano, E; Ohlweiler, F P; Kato, M J; Yamaguchi, L F; Pereira, C A B; Kawano, T

2011-03-01

Schistosomiasis is a tropical disease caused by Schistosoma and occurs in 54 countries, mainly in South America, the Caribbean region, Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Currently, 5 to 6 million Brazilian people are infected and 30,000 are under infection risk. Typical of poor regions, this disease is associated with the lack of basic sanitation and very frequently to the use of contaminated water in agriculture, housework and leisure. One of the most efficient methods of controlling the disease is application of molluscicides to eliminate or to reduce the population of the intermediate host snail Biomphalaria glabrata. Studies on molluscicidal activity of plant extracts have been stimulated by issues such as environmental preservation, high cost and recurrent resistance of snails to synthetic molluscicides. The aim of this study was to determine the molluscicide action of extracts from Piperaceae species on adult and embryonic stages of B. glabrata. Fifteen extracts from 13 Piperaceae species were obtained from stems, leaves and roots. Toxicity of extracts was evaluated against snails at two different concentrations (500 and 100 ppm) and those causing 100% mortality at 100 ppm concentration were selected to obtain the LC₉₀ (lethal concentration of 90% mortality). Piper aduncum, P. crassinervium, P. cuyabanum, P. diospyrifolium and P. hostmannianum gave 100% mortality of adult snails at concentrations ranging from 10 to 60 ppm. These extracts were also assayed on embryonic stages of B. glabrata and those from P. cuyabanum and P. hostmannianum showed 100% ovicidal action at 20 ppm.

Improved classification accuracy of powdery mildew infection levels of wine grapes by spatial-spectral analysis of hyperspectral images.

PubMed

Knauer, Uwe; Matros, Andrea; Petrovic, Tijana; Zanker, Timothy; Scott, Eileen S; Seiffert, Udo

2017-01-01

Hyperspectral imaging is an emerging means of assessing plant vitality, stress parameters, nutrition status, and diseases. Extraction of target values from the high-dimensional datasets either relies on pixel-wise processing of the full spectral information, appropriate selection of individual bands, or calculation of spectral indices. Limitations of such approaches are reduced classification accuracy, reduced robustness due to spatial variation of the spectral information across the surface of the objects measured as well as a loss of information intrinsic to band selection and use of spectral indices. In this paper we present an improved spatial-spectral segmentation approach for the analysis of hyperspectral imaging data and its application for the prediction of powdery mildew infection levels (disease severity) of intact Chardonnay grape bunches shortly before veraison. Instead of calculating texture features (spatial features) for the huge number of spectral bands independently, dimensionality reduction by means of Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) was applied first to derive a few descriptive image bands. Subsequent classification was based on modified Random Forest classifiers and selective extraction of texture parameters from the integral image representation of the image bands generated. Dimensionality reduction, integral images, and the selective feature extraction led to improved classification accuracies of up to [Formula: see text] for detached berries used as a reference sample (training dataset). Our approach was validated by predicting infection levels for a sample of 30 intact bunches. Classification accuracy improved with the number of decision trees of the Random Forest classifier. These results corresponded with qPCR results. An accuracy of 0.87 was achieved in classification of healthy, infected, and severely diseased bunches. However, discrimination between visually healthy and infected bunches proved to be challenging for a few samples, perhaps due to colonized berries or sparse mycelia hidden within the bunch or airborne conidia on the berries that were detected by qPCR. An advanced approach to hyperspectral image classification based on combined spatial and spectral image features, potentially applicable to many available hyperspectral sensor technologies, has been developed and validated to improve the detection of powdery mildew infection levels of Chardonnay grape bunches. The spatial-spectral approach improved especially the detection of light infection levels compared with pixel-wise spectral data analysis. This approach is expected to improve the speed and accuracy of disease detection once the thresholds for fungal biomass detected by hyperspectral imaging are established; it can also facilitate monitoring in plant phenotyping of grapevine and additional crops.

Cloud point extraction: an alternative to traditional liquid-liquid extraction for lanthanides(III) separation.

PubMed

Favre-Réguillon, Alain; Draye, Micheline; Lebuzit, Gérard; Thomas, Sylvie; Foos, Jacques; Cote, Gérard; Guy, Alain

2004-06-17

Cloud point extraction (CPE) was used to extract and separate lanthanum(III) and gadolinium(III) nitrate from an aqueous solution. The methodology used is based on the formation of lanthanide(III)-8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) complexes soluble in a micellar phase of non-ionic surfactant. The lanthanide(III) complexes are then extracted into the surfactant-rich phase at a temperature above the cloud point temperature (CPT). The structure of the non-ionic surfactant, and the chelating agent-metal molar ratio are identified as factors determining the extraction efficiency and selectivity. In an aqueous solution containing equimolar concentrations of La(III) and Gd(III), extraction efficiency for Gd(III) can reach 96% with a Gd(III)/La(III) selectivity higher than 30 using Triton X-114. Under those conditions, a Gd(III) decontamination factor of 50 is obtained.

Protective effect of Pterocarpus marsupium bark extracts against cataract through the inhibition of aldose reductase activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male albino rats.

PubMed

Xu, YanLi; Zhao, Yongxia; Sui, YaNan; Lei, XiaoJun

2018-04-01

The present study was aimed to investigate the protective effect of Pterocarpus marsupium bark extracts against cataract in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male albino rats. Aldose reductase is a key enzyme in the intracellular polyol pathway, which plays a major role in the development of diabetic cataract. Rats were divided into five groups as normal control, diabetic control, and diabetic control treated with different concentrations of Pterocarpus marsupium bark extracts. Presence of major constituents in Pterocarpus marsupium bark extract was performed by qualitative analysis. Body weight changes, blood glucose, blood insulin, and reduced glutathione (GSH) and aldose reductase mRNA and protein expression were determined. Rat body weight gain was noted following treatment with bark extracts. The blood glucose was reduced up to 36% following treatment with bark extracts. The blood insulin and tissue GSH contents were substantially increased more than 100% in diabetic rats following treatment with extracts. Aldose reductase activity was reduced up to 79.3% in diabetic rats following treatment with extracts. V max , K m , and K i of aldose reductase were reduced in the lens tissue homogenate compared to the diabetic control. Aldose reductase mRNA and protein expression were reduced more than 50% following treatment with extracts. Treatment with Pterocarpus marsupium bark was able to normalize these levels. Taking all these data together, it is concluded that the use of Pterocarpus marsupium bark extracts could be the potential therapeutic approach for the reduction of aldose reductase against diabetic cataract.

COMPARISONS OF SOXHLET EXTRACTION, PRESSURIZED LIQUID EXTRACTION, SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION, AND SUBCRITICAL WATER EXTRACTION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SOLIDS: RECOVERY, SELECTIVITY, AND EFFECTS ON SAMPLE MATRIX. (R825394)

EPA Science Inventory

Extractions of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated soil from a former manufactured gas plant site were performed with a Soxhlet apparatus (18 h), by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) (50 min at 100°C), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) (1 h at 150°...

Microfluidic solvent extraction of poly(vinyl alcohol) droplets: effect of polymer structure on particle and capsule formation.

PubMed

Sharratt, W N; Brooker, A; Robles, E S J; Cabral, J T

2018-04-26

We investigate the formation of poly(vinyl alcohol) microparticles by the selective extraction of aqueous polymer solution droplets, templated by microfluidics and subsequently immersed in a non-solvent bath. The role of polymer molecular mass (18-105 kg mol-1), degree of hydrolysis (88-99%) and thus solubility, and initial solution concentration (0.01-10% w/w) are quantified. Monodisperse droplets with radii ranging from 50 to 500 μm were produced at a flow-focusing junction with carrier phase hexadecane and extracted into ethyl acetate. Solvent exchange and extraction result in droplet shrinkage, demixing, coarsening and phase-inversion, yielding polymer microparticles with well-defined dimensions and internal microstructure. Polymer concentration, varied from below the overlap concentration c* to above the concentrated crossover c**, as estimated by viscosity measurements, was found to have the largest impact on the final particle size and extraction timescale, while polymer mass and hydrolysis played a secondary role. These results are consistent with the observation that the average polymer concentration upon solidification greatly exceeds c**, and that the internal microparticle porosity is largely unchanged. However, reducing the initial polymer concentration to well below c* (approximately 100×) and increasing droplet size yields thin-walled (100's of nm) capsules which controllably crumple upon extraction. The symmetry of the process can be readily broken by imposing extraction conditions at an impermeable surface, yielding large, buckled, cavity morphologies. Based on these results, we establish robust design criteria for polymer capsules and particles, demonstrated here for poly(vinyl alcohol), with well-defined shape, dimensions and internal microstructure.

Nanostructured lipid system as a strategy to improve the anti-Candida albicans activity of Astronium sp.

PubMed Central

Bonifácio, Bruna Vidal; Ramos, Matheus Aparecido dos Santos; da Silva, Patrícia Bento; Negri, Kamila Maria Silveira; de Oliveira Lopes, Érica; de Souza, Leonardo Perez; Vilegas, Wagner; Pavan, Fernando Rogério; Chorilli, Marlus; Bauab, Taís Maria

2015-01-01

The genus Astronium (Anacardiaceae) includes species, such as Astronium fraxinifolium, Astronium graveolens, and Astronium urundeuva, which possess anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcerogenic, healing, and antimicrobial properties. Nanostructured lipid systems are able to potentiate the action of plant extracts, reducing the required dose and side effects and improving antimicrobial activity. This work aims to evaluate a nanostructured lipid system that was developed as a strategy to improve the anti-Candida albicans activity of hydroethanolic extracts of stems and leaves from Astronium sp. The antifungal activity against C. albicans (ATCC 18804) was evaluated in vitro by a microdilution technique. In addition to the in vitro assays, the Astronium sp. that showed the best antifungal activity and selectivity index was submitted to an in vivo assay using a model of vulvovaginal candidiasis infection. In these assays, the extracts were either used alone or were incorporated into the nanostructured lipid system (comprising 10% oil phase, 10% surfactant, and 80% aqueous phase). The results indicated a minimal inhibitory concentration of 125.00 µg/mL before incorporation into the nanostructured system; this activity was even more enhanced when this extract presented a minimal inhibitory concentration of 15.62 µg/mL after its incorporation. In vivo assay dates showed that the nanostructure-incorporated extract of A. urundeuva leaves was more effective than both the unincorporated extract and the antifungal positive control (amphotericin B). These results suggest that this nanostructured lipid system can be used in a strategy to improve the in vitro and in vivo anti-C. albicans activity of hydroethanolic extracts of Astronium sp. PMID:26300640

A selective electromembrane extraction of uranium (VI) prior to its fluorometric determination in water.

PubMed

Davarani, Saied Saeed Hosseiny; Moazami, Hamid Reza; Keshtkar, Ali Reza; Banitaba, Mohammad Hossein; Nojavan, Saeed

2013-06-14

A novel method for the selective electromembrane extraction (EME) of U(6+) prior to fluorometric determination has been proposed. The effect of extraction conditions including supported liquid membrane (SLM) composition, extraction time and extraction voltage were investigated. An SLM composition of 1% di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphonic acid in nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE) showed good selectivity, recovery and enrichment factor. The best performance was achieved at an extraction potential of 80 volts and an extraction time of 14 minutes Under the optimized conditions, a linear range from 1 to 1000 ng mL(-1) and LOD of 0.1 ng mL(-1) were obtained for the determination of U(6+). The EME method showed good performance in sample cleanup and the reduction of the interfering effects of Mn(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+), Ni(2+), Fe(3+), Co(2+), Cu(2+), Cl(-) and PO4(3-) ions during fluorometric determination of uranium in real water samples. The recoveries above 54% and enrichment factors above 64.7 were obtained by the proposed method for real sample analysis. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Highly efficient electrochemical determination of propylthiouracil in urine samples after selective electromembrane extraction by copper nanoparticles-decorated hollow fibers.

PubMed

Tahmasebi, Zeinab; Davarani, Saied Saeed Hosseiny; Asgharinezhad, Ali Akbar

2018-05-09

In this work, a novel, inexpensive and fast strategy was described for selective and effective extraction and determination of propylthiouracil (PTU) with a high polarity (log P = 1.2) based on electromembrane extraction (EME) followed by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). For this purpose, copper nanoparticles (CuNPs)-decorated hollow fiber was used as the selective membrane for EME of PTU in urine samples. The influential parameters on extraction such as extraction solvent, pH, agitation speed, applied potential and extraction time were systematically investigated. In optimized conditions, acceptable linearity was attained between 0.05 and 5 µg mL -1 (R 2 value = 0.9994); moreover, superb enrichment factor (200) and repeatability (RSD%, n = 4, 5.7%) for 0.1 µg mL -1 of PTU solution were in desirable range. In addition, extraction recovery of 80.0% was achieved in this condition and the limit of detection (S/N ratio of 3:1) was 0.02 µg mL -1 . Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to determine PTU concentration in urine samples. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selective Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from Permanent Magnet Scraps with Membrane Solvent Extraction

DOE PAGES

Kim, Daejin; Powell, Lawrence E.; Delmau, Lætitia H.; ...

2015-06-24

In this paper, the rare earth elements (REEs) such as neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium were successfully recovered from commercial NdFeB magnets and industrial scrap magnets via membrane assisted solvent extraction (MSX). A hollow fiber membrane system was evaluated to extract REEs in a single step with the feed and strip solutions circulating continuously through the MSX system. The effects of several experimental variables on REE extraction such as flow rate, concentration of REEs in the feed solution, membrane configuration, and composition of acids were investigated with the MSX system. A multimembrane module configuration with REEs dissolved in aqueous nitric acidmore » solutions showed high selectivity for REE extraction with no coextraction of non-REEs, whereas the use of aqueous hydrochloric acid solution resulted in coextraction of non-REEs due to the formation of chloroanions of non-REEs. The REE oxides were recovered from the strip solution through precipitation, drying, and annealing steps. Finally, the resulting REE oxides were characterized with XRD, SEM-EDX, and ICP-OES, demonstrating that the membrane assisted solvent extraction is capable of selectively recovering pure REEs from the industrial scrap magnets.« less

Solvent Extraction Separation of Trivalent Americium from Curium and the Lanthanides

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jensen, Mark P.; Chiarizia, Renato; Ulicki, Joseph S.

2015-02-27

The sterically constrained, macrocyclic, aqueous soluble ligand N,N'-bis[(6-carboxy-2-pyridyl)methyl]-1,10-diaza-18-crown-6 (H2BP18C6) was investigated for separating americium from curium and all the lanthanides by solvent extraction. Pairing H2BP18C6, which favors complexation of larger f-element cations, with acidic organophosphorus extractants that favor extraction of smaller f-element cations, such as bis-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP) or (2-ethylhexyl)phosphonic acid mono(2-ethylhexyl) ester (HEH[EHP]), created solvent extraction systems with good Cm/Am selectivity, excellent trans-lanthanide selectivity (Kex,Lu/Kex,La = 108), but poor selectivity for Am against the lightest lanthanides. However, using an organic phase containing both a neutral extractant, N,N,N’,N’-tetra(2-ethylhexyl)diglycolamide (TEHDGA), and HEH[EHP] enabled rejection of the lightest lanthanides during loading ofmore » the organic phase from aqueous nitric acid, eliminating their interference in the americium stripping stages. In addition, although it is a macrocyclic ligand, H2BP18C6 does not significantly impede the mass transfer kinetics of the HDEHP solvent extraction system« less

Avocado fruit (Persea americana Mill) exhibits chemo-protective potentiality against cyclophosphamide induced genotoxicity in human lymphocyte culture.

PubMed

Paul, Rajkumar; Kulkarni, Paresh; Ganesh, Narayan

2011-01-01

Diets rich in fruits and vegetables have been associated with reduced risks for many types of cancers. Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is a widely consumed fruit containing many cancer preventing nutrients, vitamins and phytochemicals. Studies have shown that phytochemicals extracted from the avocado fruit selectively induce cell cycle arrest, inhibit growth, and induce apoptosis in precancerous and cancer cell lines. Our recent studies indicate that phytochemicals extracted with 50% Methanol from avocado fruits help in proliferation of human lymphocyte cells and decrease chromosomal aberrations induced by cyclophosphamide. Among three concentrations (100 mg, 150 mg and 200 mg per Kg Body Weight), the most effective conc. of extract was 200 mg/Kg Body Wt. It decreased significant level of numerical and structural aberrations (breaks, premature centromeric division etc. up to 88%, p < 0.0001)), and accrocentric associtation within D & G group (up to 78%, p = 0.0008). These studies suggest that phytochemicals from the avocado fruit can be utilized for making active chemoprotective ingredient for lowering the side effect of chemotherapy like cyclophosphamide in cancer therapy.

Quantification of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans by direct injection of sample extract into the comprehensive multidimensional gas chromatograph/high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer.

PubMed

Shunji, Hashimoto; Yoshikatsu, Takazawa; Akihiro, Fushimi; Hiroyasu, Ito; Kiyoshi, Tanabe; Yasuyuki, Shibata; Masa-aki, Ubukata; Akihiko, Kusai; Kazuo, Tanaka; Hideyuki, Otsuka; Katsunori, Anezaki

2008-01-18

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in crude extracts of fly ash and flue gas from municipal waste incinerators were quantified using a comprehensive multidimensional gas chromatograph (GC x GC) coupled to a high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer (HR-TOFMS). For identification and quantification, we developed our own program to prepare 3D chromatograms of selected mass numbers from the data of the GC x GC/HR-TOFMS. Isolation of all congeners with a TCDD toxic equivalency factor from the other isomers by only one injection was confirmed. The instrumental detection limit of TCDD on the GC x GC/HR-TOFMS was 0.9 pg by the relative calibration method. Quantification of these substances in the crude extracts was achieved by direct injection to the GC x GC/HR-TOFMS. The results agree with the values obtained using a generic gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC/HRMS) system. It was confirmed that measurement by high-resolution TOFMS and GC x GC effectively reduces interference from other chemicals.

Influence of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion of fruit juices enriched with pine bark extract on intestinal microflora.

PubMed

López-Nicolás, Rubén; González-Bermúdez, Carlos A; Ros-Berruezo, Gaspar; Frontela-Saseta, Carmen

2014-08-15

The selective antimicrobial effect of fruit juices enriched with pine bark extract (PBE) (0.5 g/L) has been studied before and after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. PBE (a concentrate of water-soluble bioflavonoids, mainly including phenolic compounds) has been proven to have high stability to the digestion process. Pure phenolic compounds such as gallic acid had a high antimicrobial effect on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, maintaining the lactic acid bacteria population (≈100%). Otherwise, E. coli O157:H7 only growth 50% when PBE was added to the culture media, while a slight increase on the growth of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria was observed after exposition to the bark extract. Fresh fruit juices enriched with PBE showed the highest inhibitory effect on pathogenic intestinal bacterial growth, mainly E. coli and Enterococcus faecalis. The in vitro digestion process reduced the antibacterial effect of juices against most pathogenic bacteria in approximately 10%. However, the beneficial effect of fruit juices enriched with PBE (0.5 g/L) on gut microbiota is still considerable after digestion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Depth estimation of features in video frames with improved feature matching technique using Kinect sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Kajal; Moon, Inkyu; Kim, Sung Gaun

2012-10-01

Estimating depth has long been a major issue in the field of computer vision and robotics. The Kinect sensor's active sensing strategy provides high-frame-rate depth maps and can recognize user gestures and human pose. This paper presents a technique to estimate the depth of features extracted from video frames, along with an improved feature-matching method. In this paper, we used the Kinect camera developed by Microsoft, which captured color and depth images for further processing. Feature detection and selection is an important task for robot navigation. Many feature-matching techniques have been proposed earlier, and this paper proposes an improved feature matching between successive video frames with the use of neural network methodology in order to reduce the computation time of feature matching. The features extracted are invariant to image scale and rotation, and different experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of feature matching between successive video frames. The extracted features are assigned distance based on the Kinect technology that can be used by the robot in order to determine the path of navigation, along with obstacle detection applications.

Antifibrinolytic agents and desmopressin as hemostatic agents in cardiac surgery.

PubMed

Erstad, B L

2001-09-01

To review the use of systemic hemostatic medications for reducing bleeding and transfusion requirements with cardiac surgery. Articles were obtained through computerized searches involving MEDLINE (from 1966 to September 2000). Additionally, several textbooks containing information on the diagnosis and management of bleeding associated with cardiac surgery were reviewed. The bibliographies of retrieved publications and textbooks were reviewed for additional references. Due to the large number of randomized investigations involving systemic hemostatic medications for reducing bleeding associated with cardiac surgery, the article selection process focused on recent randomized controlled trials, metaanalyses and pharmacoeconomic evaluations. The primary outcomes extracted from the literature were blood loss and associated transfusion requirements, although other outcome measures such as mortality were extracted when available. Although the majority of investigations for reducing cardiac bleeding and transfusion requirements have involved aprotinin, evidence from recent meta-analyses and randomized trials indicates that the synthetic antifibrinolytic agents, aminocaproic acid and tranexamic acid, have similar clinical efficacy. Additionally, aminocaproic acid (and to a lesser extent tranexamic acid) is much less costly. More comparative information of hemostatic agents is needed retative to other outcomes (eg., reoperation rates, myocardial infarction, stroke). There is insufficient evidence to recommend the use of desmopressin for reducing bleeding and transfusion requirements in cardiac surgery, although certain subsets of patients may benefit from its use. Of the medications that have been used to reduce bleeding and transfusion requirements with cardiac surgery, the antifibrinolytic agents have the best evidence supporting their use. Aminocaproic acid is the least costly therapy based on medication costs and transfusion requirements.

A rapid assay for the simultaneous determination of nicotine, cocaine and metabolites in meconium using disposable pipette extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

PubMed

Mozaner Bordin, Dayanne C; Alves, Marcela N R; Cabrices, Oscar G; de Campos, Eduardo G; De Martinis, Bruno Spinosa

2014-01-01

Drug abuse by pregnant women is considered a serious public health problem worldwide. Meconium is the first excretion in newborns and has been used as an alternative matrix to evaluate in utero drug exposure. Solid phase extraction (SPE) is widely employed to prepare and clean up samples in the field of forensic analysis. Most SPE products require large volumes of solvent, which culminates in longer sample processing times and increased cost per sample. Disposable pipette extraction (DPX) tips have been used as an alternative to traditional SPE cartridges. They combine efficient and rapid extraction with reduced solvent consumption. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a method to determine nicotine, cotinine, cocaine, benzoylecgonine, cocaethylene and methyl ester anhydroecgonine in meconium using DPX and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Validation results indicated that extraction efficiency ranged 50-98%, accuracy 92-106%, intra-assay precision 4-12% and inter-assay precision 6-12%. Linear calibration curves resulted in R(2) values >0.99, limits of detection ranged from 2.5 to 15 ng/g and the limit of quantitation from 10 to 20 ng/g. The DPX-GC-MS method was shown to selectively analyze trace concentrations of drugs in meconium samples. Finally, the developed and validated method was applied to 50 meconium samples.

TOXICITY OF NATURAL DEEP EUTECTIC SOLVENT (NaDES) BETAINE:GLYCEROL IN RATS.

PubMed

Benlebna, Melha; Ruesgas-Ramon, Mariana; Bonafos, Beatrice; Fouret, Gilles; Casas, Françcois; Coudray, Charles; Durand, Erwann; Figueroa, Maria-Cruz; Feillet-Coudray, Christine

2018-05-28

The natural deep eutectic solvents (NaDES) are new natural solvents in green chemistry that in some cases have been shown to allow better extraction of plant bioactive molecules compared to conventional solvents and higher phenolic compounds absorption in rodents. However, there is a serious lack of information regarding their in vivo safety. The purpose of this study was to verify the safety of a NaDES (glycerol:betaine (mole ratio 2:1) + 10 % (v/v) of water) extract from green coffee beans, rich in polyphenols. Twelve 6-weeks-old male Wistar rats were randomized into two groups of 6 animals each and twice daily gavaged for 14 days either with 3 ml water or with 3 ml phenolic NaDES extract. Oral administration of phenolic NaDES extract induced mortality in 2 rats. In addition, it induced excessive water consumption, reduced dietary intake and weight loss, hepatomegaly, plasma oxidative stress associated with high blood lipid levels. In conclusion, this work demonstrated the toxicity of oral administration of the selected NaDES, under a short-term condition. This occurs despite the fact that this NaDES extract contains polyphenols, whose beneficial effects have been shown. Therefore, complementary work is needed to find the best dose and formulation of NaDES that are safe for the environment, animals and ultimately for humans.

Recent developments and future trends in solid phase microextraction techniques towards green analytical chemistry.

PubMed

Spietelun, Agata; Marcinkowski, Łukasz; de la Guardia, Miguel; Namieśnik, Jacek

2013-12-20

Solid phase microextraction find increasing applications in the sample preparation step before chromatographic determination of analytes in samples with a complex composition. These techniques allow for integrating several operations, such as sample collection, extraction, analyte enrichment above the detection limit of a given measuring instrument and the isolation of analytes from sample matrix. In this work the information about novel methodological and instrumental solutions in relation to different variants of solid phase extraction techniques, solid-phase microextraction (SPME), stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) is presented, including practical applications of these techniques and a critical discussion about their advantages and disadvantages. The proposed solutions fulfill the requirements resulting from the concept of sustainable development, and specifically from the implementation of green chemistry principles in analytical laboratories. Therefore, particular attention was paid to the description of possible uses of novel, selective stationary phases in extraction techniques, inter alia, polymeric ionic liquids, carbon nanotubes, and silica- and carbon-based sorbents. The methodological solutions, together with properly matched sampling devices for collecting analytes from samples with varying matrix composition, enable us to reduce the number of errors during the sample preparation prior to chromatographic analysis as well as to limit the negative impact of this analytical step on the natural environment and the health of laboratory employees. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Acoustic⁻Seismic Mixed Feature Extraction Based on Wavelet Transform for Vehicle Classification in Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Zhang, Heng; Pan, Zhongming; Zhang, Wenna

2018-06-07

An acoustic⁻seismic mixed feature extraction method based on the wavelet coefficient energy ratio (WCER) of the target signal is proposed in this study for classifying vehicle targets in wireless sensor networks. The signal was decomposed into a set of wavelet coefficients using the à trous algorithm, which is a concise method used to implement the wavelet transform of a discrete signal sequence. After the wavelet coefficients of the target acoustic and seismic signals were obtained, the energy ratio of each layer coefficient was calculated as the feature vector of the target signals. Subsequently, the acoustic and seismic features were merged into an acoustic⁻seismic mixed feature to improve the target classification accuracy after the acoustic and seismic WCER features of the target signal were simplified using the hierarchical clustering method. We selected the support vector machine method for classification and utilized the data acquired from a real-world experiment to validate the proposed method. The calculated results show that the WCER feature extraction method can effectively extract the target features from target signals. Feature simplification can reduce the time consumption of feature extraction and classification, with no effect on the target classification accuracy. The use of acoustic⁻seismic mixed features effectively improved target classification accuracy by approximately 12% compared with either acoustic signal or seismic signal alone.

Effectiveness of behavioral interventions to reduce the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Abdel Rahman, Abir; Jomaa, Lamis; Kahale, Lara A; Adair, Pauline; Pine, Cynthia

2018-01-01

Abstract Context Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) among children has been associated with adverse health outcomes. Numerous behavioral interventions aimed at reducing the intake of SSBs among children have been reported, yet evidence of their effectiveness is lacking. Objective This systematic review explored the effectiveness of educational and behavioral interventions to reduce SSB intake and to influence health outcomes among children aged 4 to 16 years. Data Sources Seven databases were searched for randomized controlled trials published prior to September 2016. Studies identified were screened for eligibility. Study Selection Trials were included in the review if they met the PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Study design) criteria for inclusion of studies. Data Extraction Data were extracted by 2 reviewers following Cochrane guidelines and using Review Manager software. Results Of the 16 trials included, 12 were school based and 4 were community or home based. Only 3 trials provided data that could be pooled into a meta-analysis for evaluating change in SSB intake. Subgroup analyses showed a trend toward a significant reduction in SSB intake in participants in school-based interventions compared with control groups. Change in body mass index z scores was not statistically significant between groups. Conclusions The quality of evidence from included trials was considered moderate, and the effectiveness of educational and behavioral interventions in reducing SSB intake was modest. Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO registration number CRD42014004432. PMID:29281069

Acoustic Biometric System Based on Preprocessing Techniques and Linear Support Vector Machines

PubMed Central

del Val, Lara; Izquierdo-Fuente, Alberto; Villacorta, Juan J.; Raboso, Mariano

2015-01-01

Drawing on the results of an acoustic biometric system based on a MSE classifier, a new biometric system has been implemented. This new system preprocesses acoustic images, extracts several parameters and finally classifies them, based on Support Vector Machine (SVM). The preprocessing techniques used are spatial filtering, segmentation—based on a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to separate the person from the background, masking—to reduce the dimensions of images—and binarization—to reduce the size of each image. An analysis of classification error and a study of the sensitivity of the error versus the computational burden of each implemented algorithm are presented. This allows the selection of the most relevant algorithms, according to the benefits required by the system. A significant improvement of the biometric system has been achieved by reducing the classification error, the computational burden and the storage requirements. PMID:26091392

Acoustic Biometric System Based on Preprocessing Techniques and Linear Support Vector Machines.

PubMed

del Val, Lara; Izquierdo-Fuente, Alberto; Villacorta, Juan J; Raboso, Mariano

2015-06-17

Drawing on the results of an acoustic biometric system based on a MSE classifier, a new biometric system has been implemented. This new system preprocesses acoustic images, extracts several parameters and finally classifies them, based on Support Vector Machine (SVM). The preprocessing techniques used are spatial filtering, segmentation-based on a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to separate the person from the background, masking-to reduce the dimensions of images-and binarization-to reduce the size of each image. An analysis of classification error and a study of the sensitivity of the error versus the computational burden of each implemented algorithm are presented. This allows the selection of the most relevant algorithms, according to the benefits required by the system. A significant improvement of the biometric system has been achieved by reducing the classification error, the computational burden and the storage requirements.

Effect of three fatty acids from the leaf extract of Tiliacora triandra on P-glycoprotein function in multidrug-resistant A549RT-eto cell line

PubMed Central

Kaewpiboon, Chutima; Winayanuwattikun, Pakorn; Yongvanich, Tikamporn; Phuwapraisirisan, Preecha; Assavalapsakul, Wanchai

2014-01-01

Background: Cancer cells have the ability to develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs, which then leads to a reduced effectiveness and success of the treatment. Multidrug resistance (MDR) involves the resistance in the same cell/tissue to a diverse range of drugs of different structures. One of the characteristics of MDR is an overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which causes the efflux of the accumulated drug out of the cell. The MDR human non-small cell lung carcinoma cell line with a high P-gp expression level (A549RT-eto) was used to investigate the bioactive compounds capable of reversing the etoposide resistance in this cell line. Materials and Methods: The leaves of Tiliacora triandra were sequentially extracted with hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water. Only the hexane extract reduced the etoposide resistance of the A549RT-eto cell line, and was further fractionated by column chromatography using the TLC-pattern and the restoration of etoposide sensitivity as the selection criteria. Results: The obtained active fraction (F22) was found by nuclear magnetic resonance and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy analyses to be comprised of a 49.5:19.6:30.9 (w/w/w) mixture of hexadecanoic: octadecanoic acid: (Z)-6-octadecenoic acids. This stoichiometric mixture was recreated using pure fatty acids (MSFA) and gave a similar sensitization to etoposide and enhanced the relative rate of rhodamine-123 accumulation to a similar extent as F22, supporting the action via reducing P-gp activity. In contrast, the fatty acids alone did not show this effect. Conclusion: This is the first report of the biological activity from the leaves of T. triandra as a potential source of a novel chemosensitizer. PMID:25298673

Effect of three fatty acids from the leaf extract of Tiliacora triandra on P-glycoprotein function in multidrug-resistant A549RT-eto cell line.

PubMed

Kaewpiboon, Chutima; Winayanuwattikun, Pakorn; Yongvanich, Tikamporn; Phuwapraisirisan, Preecha; Assavalapsakul, Wanchai

2014-08-01

Cancer cells have the ability to develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs, which then leads to a reduced effectiveness and success of the treatment. Multidrug resistance (MDR) involves the resistance in the same cell/tissue to a diverse range of drugs of different structures. One of the characteristics of MDR is an overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which causes the efflux of the accumulated drug out of the cell. The MDR human non-small cell lung carcinoma cell line with a high P-gp expression level (A549RT-eto) was used to investigate the bioactive compounds capable of reversing the etoposide resistance in this cell line. The leaves of Tiliacora triandra were sequentially extracted with hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water. Only the hexane extract reduced the etoposide resistance of the A549RT-eto cell line, and was further fractionated by column chromatography using the TLC-pattern and the restoration of etoposide sensitivity as the selection criteria. The obtained active fraction (F22) was found by nuclear magnetic resonance and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy analyses to be comprised of a 49.5:19.6:30.9 (w/w/w) mixture of hexadecanoic: octadecanoic acid: (Z)-6-octadecenoic acids. This stoichiometric mixture was recreated using pure fatty acids (MSFA) and gave a similar sensitization to etoposide and enhanced the relative rate of rhodamine-123 accumulation to a similar extent as F22, supporting the action via reducing P-gp activity. In contrast, the fatty acids alone did not show this effect. This is the first report of the biological activity from the leaves of T. triandra as a potential source of a novel chemosensitizer.

Fault Diagnosis for Rotating Machinery: A Method based on Image Processing

PubMed Central

Lu, Chen; Wang, Yang; Ragulskis, Minvydas; Cheng, Yujie

2016-01-01

Rotating machinery is one of the most typical types of mechanical equipment and plays a significant role in industrial applications. Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rotating machinery has gained wide attention for its significance in preventing catastrophic accident and guaranteeing sufficient maintenance. With the development of science and technology, fault diagnosis methods based on multi-disciplines are becoming the focus in the field of fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. This paper presents a multi-discipline method based on image-processing for fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. Different from traditional analysis method in one-dimensional space, this study employs computing method in the field of image processing to realize automatic feature extraction and fault diagnosis in a two-dimensional space. The proposed method mainly includes the following steps. First, the vibration signal is transformed into a bi-spectrum contour map utilizing bi-spectrum technology, which provides a basis for the following image-based feature extraction. Then, an emerging approach in the field of image processing for feature extraction, speeded-up robust features, is employed to automatically exact fault features from the transformed bi-spectrum contour map and finally form a high-dimensional feature vector. To reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector, thus highlighting main fault features and reducing subsequent computing resources, t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding is adopt to reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector. At last, probabilistic neural network is introduced for fault identification. Two typical rotating machinery, axial piston hydraulic pump and self-priming centrifugal pumps, are selected to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results show that the proposed method based on image-processing achieves a high accuracy, thus providing a highly effective means to fault diagnosis for rotating machinery. PMID:27711246

Fault Diagnosis for Rotating Machinery: A Method based on Image Processing.

PubMed

Lu, Chen; Wang, Yang; Ragulskis, Minvydas; Cheng, Yujie

2016-01-01

Rotating machinery is one of the most typical types of mechanical equipment and plays a significant role in industrial applications. Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rotating machinery has gained wide attention for its significance in preventing catastrophic accident and guaranteeing sufficient maintenance. With the development of science and technology, fault diagnosis methods based on multi-disciplines are becoming the focus in the field of fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. This paper presents a multi-discipline method based on image-processing for fault diagnosis of rotating machinery. Different from traditional analysis method in one-dimensional space, this study employs computing method in the field of image processing to realize automatic feature extraction and fault diagnosis in a two-dimensional space. The proposed method mainly includes the following steps. First, the vibration signal is transformed into a bi-spectrum contour map utilizing bi-spectrum technology, which provides a basis for the following image-based feature extraction. Then, an emerging approach in the field of image processing for feature extraction, speeded-up robust features, is employed to automatically exact fault features from the transformed bi-spectrum contour map and finally form a high-dimensional feature vector. To reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector, thus highlighting main fault features and reducing subsequent computing resources, t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding is adopt to reduce the dimensionality of the feature vector. At last, probabilistic neural network is introduced for fault identification. Two typical rotating machinery, axial piston hydraulic pump and self-priming centrifugal pumps, are selected to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results show that the proposed method based on image-processing achieves a high accuracy, thus providing a highly effective means to fault diagnosis for rotating machinery.

Design and development of molecularly imprinted polymers for the selective extraction of deltamethrin in olive oil: An integrated computational-assisted approach.

PubMed

Martins, Nuno; Carreiro, Elisabete P; Locati, Abel; Ramalho, João P Prates; Cabrita, Maria João; Burke, Anthony J; Garcia, Raquel

2015-08-28

This work firstly addresses the design and development of molecularly imprinted systems selective for deltamethrin aiming to provide a suitable sorbent for solid phase (SPE) extraction that will be further used for the implementation of an analytical methodology for the trace analysis of the target pesticide in spiked olive oil samples. To achieve this goal, a preliminary evaluation of the molecular recognition and selectivity of the molecularly imprinted polymers has been performed. In order to investigate the complexity of the mechanistic basis for template selective recognition in these polymeric matrices, the use of a quantum chemical approach has been attempted providing new insights about the mechanisms underlying template recognition, and in particular the crucial role of the crosslinker agent and the solvent used. Thus, DFT calculations corroborate the results obtained by experimental molecular recognition assays enabling one to select the most suitable imprinting system for MISPE extraction technique which encompasses acrylamide as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker. Furthermore, an analytical methodology comprising a sample preparation step based on solid phase extraction has been implemented using this "tailor made" imprinting system as sorbent, for the selective isolation/pre-concentration of deltamethrin from olive oil samples. Molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) methodology was successfully applied for the clean-up of spiked olive oil samples, with recovery rates up to 94%. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Antinociceptive activity of methanolic extract of Muntingia calabura leaves: further elucidation of the possible mechanisms.

PubMed

Zakaria, Zainul Amiruddin; Mohd Sani, Mohd Hijaz; Cheema, Manraj Singh; Kader, Arifah Abdul; Kek, Teh Lay; Salleh, Mohd Zaki

2014-02-20

Muntingia calabura (Elaecoparceae) is a medicinal plant traditionally used, particularly, by the Peruvian people to alleviate headache and cold, pain associated with gastric ulcers or to reduce the prostate gland swelling. Following the recent establishment of antinociceptive activity of M. calabura leaf, the present study was performed to further elucidate on the possible mechanisms of antinociception involved. The methanol extract of M. calabura (MEMC) was prepared in the doses of 100, 250 and 500 mg/kg. The role of bradykinin, protein kinase C, pottasium channels, and various opioid and non-opioid receptors in modulating the extract's antinociceptive activity was determined using several antinociceptive assays. Results are presented as Mean ± standard error of mean (SEM). The one-way ANOVA test with Dunnett's multiple comparison was used to analyze and compare the data, with P < 0.05 as the limit of significance. The MEMC, at all doses, demonstrated a significant (p < 0.05) dose-dependent antinociceptive activity in both the bradykinin- and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced nociception. Pretreatment of the 500 mg/kg MEMC with 10 mg/kg glibenclamide (an ATP-sensitive K+ channel inhibitor), the antagonist of μ-, δ- and κ-opioid receptors (namely 10 mg/kg β-funaltrexamine, 1 mg/kg naltrindole and 1 mg/kg nor-binaltorphimine), and the non-opioid receptor antagonists (namely 3 mg/kg caffeine (a non-selective adenosinergic receptor antagonist), 0.15 mg/kg yohimbine (an α2-noradrenergic antagonist), and 1 mg/kg pindolol (a β-adrenoceptor antagonist)) significantly (p < 0.05) reversed the MEMC antinociception. However, 10 mg/kg atropine (a non-selective cholinergic receptor antagonist), 0.15 mg/kg prazosin (an α1-noradrenergic antagonist) and 20 mg/kg haloperidol (a non-selective dopaminergic antagonist) did not affect the extract's antinociception. The phytochemicals screening revealed the presence of saponins, flavonoids, tannins and triterpenes while the HPLC analysis showed the presence of flavonoid-based compounds. The antinociceptive activity of MEMC involved activation of the non-selective opioid (particularly the μ-, δ- and κ-opioid) and non-opioid (particularly adenosinergic, α2-noradrenergic, and β-adrenergic) receptors, modulation of the ATP-sensitive K+ channel, and inhibition of bradikinin and protein kinase C actions. The discrepancies in MEMC antinociception could be due to the presence of various phytochemicals.

Hepatoprotective Effect and Chemical Assessment of a Selected Egyptian Chickpea Cultivar

PubMed Central

Mekky, Reham H.; Fayed, Mostafa R.; El-Gindi, Mohamed R.; Abdel-Monem, Azza R.; Contreras, María del Mar; Segura-Carretero, Antonio; Abdel-Sattar, Essam

2016-01-01

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. In Egypt, chickpea seeds are usually consumed at raw green and tender stage, or in the form of mature dry seeds. In our previous study, ‘Giza 1’ seeds exhibited stronger antioxidant activity and higher total phenol content than those from other Egyptian cultivars. In order to assess the biological potential of ‘Giza 1’ seeds in vivo, the extraction procedure was reproduced here. The extract was standardized using liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to evaluate their hepatoprotective effect on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity in rats and acute toxicity. Administration of the extract to rats in doses up to 2 g/Kg) did not cause any mortalities or observable signs of toxicity. Further, the plant extract showed a strong hepatoprotective activity based on assessing serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase and levels of albumen, globulin, total protein, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and low density lipoprotein. The antioxidative activity was evaluated by assessing hepatic catalase and superoxide dismutase activity as well as reduced glutathione, and malondialdehyde levels. Additionally, anti-inflammatory activity was observed as the extract significantly lowered the hepatic tumor necrosis factor α content. Histopathological examination of liver tissues indicated that the extract-treated animals showed almost normal hepatic architecture with fewer pathological changes. In conclusion, the current results suggest that the chickpea extract possesses an excellent safety profile with very low acute toxicity. Also, it exhibits a significant hepatoprotective effect against CCl4-induced liver injury in rats. This can be attributed, at least partly, to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of the isoflavones and phenolic acids content of the extract. PMID:27733831

Hepatoprotective Effect and Chemical Assessment of a Selected Egyptian Chickpea Cultivar.

PubMed

Mekky, Reham H; Fayed, Mostafa R; El-Gindi, Mohamed R; Abdel-Monem, Azza R; Contreras, María Del Mar; Segura-Carretero, Antonio; Abdel-Sattar, Essam

2016-01-01

Chickpea ( Cicer arietinum ) is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. In Egypt, chickpea seeds are usually consumed at raw green and tender stage, or in the form of mature dry seeds. In our previous study, 'Giza 1' seeds exhibited stronger antioxidant activity and higher total phenol content than those from other Egyptian cultivars. In order to assess the biological potential of 'Giza 1' seeds in vivo , the extraction procedure was reproduced here. The extract was standardized using liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to evaluate their hepatoprotective effect on carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )-induced hepatotoxicity in rats and acute toxicity. Administration of the extract to rats in doses up to 2 g/Kg) did not cause any mortalities or observable signs of toxicity. Further, the plant extract showed a strong hepatoprotective activity based on assessing serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase and levels of albumen, globulin, total protein, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and low density lipoprotein. The antioxidative activity was evaluated by assessing hepatic catalase and superoxide dismutase activity as well as reduced glutathione, and malondialdehyde levels. Additionally, anti-inflammatory activity was observed as the extract significantly lowered the hepatic tumor necrosis factor α content. Histopathological examination of liver tissues indicated that the extract-treated animals showed almost normal hepatic architecture with fewer pathological changes. In conclusion, the current results suggest that the chickpea extract possesses an excellent safety profile with very low acute toxicity. Also, it exhibits a significant hepatoprotective effect against CCl 4 -induced liver injury in rats. This can be attributed, at least partly, to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of the isoflavones and phenolic acids content of the extract.

In-vitro antibacterial and antioxidant potential of winged prickly ash, green tea and thyme.

PubMed

Hafiz, I; Bhatti, H N; Hanif, M A; Shahid, M

2018-01-01

Herbs and plants are mostly used as antimicrobials and antioxidants owing to the harmfulness and linked side-effects of synthetic chemical constituents. Plants and spices produce various metabolites with antibacterial and antioxidant potential. These metabolites are principally revealed as encouraging healing components or mediators which control ailments in human beings. The present study was aimed to characterize the extracts from selected medicinal plants through in-vitro activities. Winged prickly ash, green tea and thyme were selected and extracted through ethanol and methanol solutions. The extracts were assessed for antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The antibacterial potential of extracts showed the significant extent of the activity against Bacillus subtilis and E. coli. The maximum activity was noted in 80% methanolic fraction of Thymus vulgaris (15.20±0.64 mm) against Bacillus subtilis. Antioxidant potential exhibited the highest phenolic and flavonoid content in Camellia sinensis . The total phenolic content was significantly higher (1456.26±12.05 mg gallic acid) in 80% ethanolic fraction of Camellia sinensis. The flavonoid content in different plant extracts ranged from 8.17±2.02 to 376.29±7.11 mg/g. The radical scavenging DPPH assay also showed the significant antioxidant capacity of selected plants with the methanolic (50%) extract of Camellia sinensis found to be the most potent (78.95±7.12%). It was concluded that the alcoholic extracts of selected medicinal plants revealed the effective antibacterial and antioxidant activity, showing protective prospective against oxidative injury.

Anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of Bursera copallifera

PubMed Central

Columba-Palomares, M. F. María C.; Villareal, Dra. María L.; Acevedo Quiroz, M. C. Macdiel E.; Marquina Bahena, M. C. Silvia; Álvarez Berber, Dra. Laura P.; Rodríguez-López, Dra. Verónica

2015-01-01

Background: The plant species Bursera copallifera (DC) bullock is used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation. The leaves of this plant can be prepared as an infusion to treat migraines, bronchitis, and dental pain Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of organic extracts from the stems, stem bark, and leaves of B. copallifera, which was selected based on the knowledge of its traditional use. Materials and Methods: We evaluated the ability of extracts to inhibit mouse ear inflammation in response to topical application of 12-O tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. The extracts with anti-inflammatory activity were evaluated for their inhibition of pro-inflammatory enzymes. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxic activities of the organic extracts were evaluated using the sulforhodamine B assay. Results: The hydroalcoholic extract of the stems (HAS) exhibited an anti-inflammatory activity of 54.3% (0.5 mg/ear), whereas the anti-inflammatory activity of the dichloromethane-methanol extract from the leaves (DMeL) was 55.4% at a dose of 0.1 mg/ear. Methanol extract from the leaves (MeL) showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 = 4.4 μg/mL), hydroalcoholic extract of leaves, and DMeL also reduce the enzyme activity, (IC50 = 6.5 μg/mL, IC50 = 5.7 μg/mL), respectively, from stems HAS exhibit activity at the evaluated concentrations (IC50 =6.4 μg/mL). The hydroalcoholic extract of the stems exhibited the highest cytotoxic activity against a breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF7, IC50 = 0.90 μg/mL), whereas DMeL exhibited an IC50 value of 19.9 μg/mL. Conclusion: In conclusion, extracts from leaves and stems inhibited cyclooxygenase-1, which is the target enzyme for nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs, and some of these extracts demonstrated substantial antiproliferative effects against the MCF7 cell line. These results validate the traditional use of B. copallifera. PMID:26664022

Anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of Bursera copallifera.

PubMed

Columba-Palomares, M F María C; Villareal, Dra María L; Acevedo Quiroz, M C Macdiel E; Marquina Bahena, M C Silvia; Álvarez Berber, Dra Laura P; Rodríguez-López, Dra Verónica

2015-10-01

The plant species Bursera copallifera (DC) bullock is used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation. The leaves of this plant can be prepared as an infusion to treat migraines, bronchitis, and dental pain. The purpose of this study was to determine the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of organic extracts from the stems, stem bark, and leaves of B. copallifera, which was selected based on the knowledge of its traditional use. We evaluated the ability of extracts to inhibit mouse ear inflammation in response to topical application of 12-O tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. The extracts with anti-inflammatory activity were evaluated for their inhibition of pro-inflammatory enzymes. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxic activities of the organic extracts were evaluated using the sulforhodamine B assay. The hydroalcoholic extract of the stems (HAS) exhibited an anti-inflammatory activity of 54.3% (0.5 mg/ear), whereas the anti-inflammatory activity of the dichloromethane-methanol extract from the leaves (DMeL) was 55.4% at a dose of 0.1 mg/ear. Methanol extract from the leaves (MeL) showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 = 4.4 μg/mL), hydroalcoholic extract of leaves, and DMeL also reduce the enzyme activity, (IC50 = 6.5 μg/mL, IC50 = 5.7 μg/mL), respectively, from stems HAS exhibit activity at the evaluated concentrations (IC50 =6.4 μg/mL). The hydroalcoholic extract of the stems exhibited the highest cytotoxic activity against a breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF7, IC50 = 0.90 μg/mL), whereas DMeL exhibited an IC50 value of 19.9 μg/mL. In conclusion, extracts from leaves and stems inhibited cyclooxygenase-1, which is the target enzyme for nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs, and some of these extracts demonstrated substantial antiproliferative effects against the MCF7 cell line. These results validate the traditional use of B. copallifera.

Spatiotemporal modelling of groundwater extraction in semi-arid central Queensland, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keir, Greg; Bulovic, Nevenka; McIntyre, Neil

2016-04-01

The semi-arid Surat Basin in central Queensland, Australia, forms part of the Great Artesian Basin, a groundwater resource of national significance. While this area relies heavily on groundwater supply bores to sustain agricultural industries and rural life in general, measurement of groundwater extraction rates is very limited. Consequently, regional groundwater extraction rates are not well known, which may have implications for regional numerical groundwater modelling. However, flows from a small number of bores are metered, and less precise anecdotal estimates of extraction are increasingly available. There is also an increasing number of other spatiotemporal datasets which may help predict extraction rates (e.g. rainfall, temperature, soils, stocking rates etc.). These can be used to construct spatial multivariate regression models to estimate extraction. The data exhibit complicated statistical features, such as zero-valued observations, non-Gaussianity, and non-stationarity, which limit the use of many classical estimation techniques, such as kriging. As well, water extraction histories may exhibit temporal autocorrelation. To account for these features, we employ a separable space-time model to predict bore extraction rates using the R-INLA package for computationally efficient Bayesian inference. A joint approach is used to model both the probability (using a binomial likelihood) and magnitude (using a gamma likelihood) of extraction. The correlation between extraction rates in space and time is modelled using a Gaussian Markov Random Field (GMRF) with a Matérn spatial covariance function which can evolve over time according to an autoregressive model. To reduce computational burden, we allow the GMRF to be evaluated at a relatively coarse temporal resolution, while still allowing predictions to be made at arbitrarily small time scales. We describe the process of model selection and inference using an information criterion approach, and present some preliminary results from the study area. We conclude by discussing issues related with upscaling of the modelling approach to the entire basin, including merging of extraction rate observations with different precision, temporal resolution, and even potentially different likelihoods.

Semantic point cloud interpretation based on optimal neighborhoods, relevant features and efficient classifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weinmann, Martin; Jutzi, Boris; Hinz, Stefan; Mallet, Clément

2015-07-01

3D scene analysis in terms of automatically assigning 3D points a respective semantic label has become a topic of great importance in photogrammetry, remote sensing, computer vision and robotics. In this paper, we address the issue of how to increase the distinctiveness of geometric features and select the most relevant ones among these for 3D scene analysis. We present a new, fully automated and versatile framework composed of four components: (i) neighborhood selection, (ii) feature extraction, (iii) feature selection and (iv) classification. For each component, we consider a variety of approaches which allow applicability in terms of simplicity, efficiency and reproducibility, so that end-users can easily apply the different components and do not require expert knowledge in the respective domains. In a detailed evaluation involving 7 neighborhood definitions, 21 geometric features, 7 approaches for feature selection, 10 classifiers and 2 benchmark datasets, we demonstrate that the selection of optimal neighborhoods for individual 3D points significantly improves the results of 3D scene analysis. Additionally, we show that the selection of adequate feature subsets may even further increase the quality of the derived results while significantly reducing both processing time and memory consumption.

Hydrophilic 2,9-bis-triazolyl-1,10-phenanthroline ligands enable selective Am(iii) separation: a step further towards sustainable nuclear energy.

PubMed

Edwards, Alyn C; Mocilac, Pavle; Geist, Andreas; Harwood, Laurence M; Sharrad, Clint A; Burton, Neil A; Whitehead, Roger C; Denecke, Melissa A

2017-05-02

The first hydrophilic, 1,10-phenanthroline derived ligands consisting of only C, H, O and N atoms for the selective extraction of Am(iii) from spent nuclear fuel are reported herein. One of these 2,9-bis-triazolyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BTrzPhen) ligands combined with a non-selective extracting agent, was found to exhibit process-suitable selectivity for Am(iii) over Eu(iii) and Cm(iii), providing a clear step forward.

Influence of conventional and ultrasonic-assisted extraction on phenolic contents, betacyanin contents, and antioxidant capacity of red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus).

PubMed

Ramli, Nurul Shazini; Ismail, Patimah; Rahmat, Asmah

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of extraction methods on antioxidant capacities of red dragon fruit peel and flesh. Antioxidant capacities were measured using ethylenebenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical cation assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP). Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent while quantitative determination of total flavonoid content (TFC) was conducted using aluminium trichloride colorimetric method. Betacyanin content (BC) was measured by spectrophotometer. Red dragon fruit was extracted using conventional (CV) and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UE) technique to determine the most efficient way of extracting its antioxidant components. Results indicated that UE increased TFC, reduced the extraction yield, BC, and TPC, but exhibited the strongest scavenging activity for the peel of red dragon fruit. In contrast, UE reduced BC, TFC, and scavenging activity but increased the yield for the flesh. Nonetheless, UE slightly increases TPC in flesh. Scavenging activity and reducing power were highly correlated with phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Conversely, the scavenging activity and reducing power were weakly correlated with betacyanin content. This work gives scientific evidences for the consideration of the type of extraction techniques for the peel and flesh of red dragon fruit in applied research and food industry.

Influence of Conventional and Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction on Phenolic Contents, Betacyanin Contents, and Antioxidant Capacity of Red Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus)

PubMed Central

Ramli, Nurul Shazini; Ismail, Patimah; Rahmat, Asmah

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of extraction methods on antioxidant capacities of red dragon fruit peel and flesh. Antioxidant capacities were measured using ethylenebenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical cation assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP). Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent while quantitative determination of total flavonoid content (TFC) was conducted using aluminium trichloride colorimetric method. Betacyanin content (BC) was measured by spectrophotometer. Red dragon fruit was extracted using conventional (CV) and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UE) technique to determine the most efficient way of extracting its antioxidant components. Results indicated that UE increased TFC, reduced the extraction yield, BC, and TPC, but exhibited the strongest scavenging activity for the peel of red dragon fruit. In contrast, UE reduced BC, TFC, and scavenging activity but increased the yield for the flesh. Nonetheless, UE slightly increases TPC in flesh. Scavenging activity and reducing power were highly correlated with phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Conversely, the scavenging activity and reducing power were weakly correlated with betacyanin content. This work gives scientific evidences for the consideration of the type of extraction techniques for the peel and flesh of red dragon fruit in applied research and food industry. PMID:25379555

Extract of Lycopus europaeus L. reduces cardiac signs of hyperthyroidism in rats.

PubMed

Vonhoff, Christian; Baumgartner, Andreas; Hegger, Mirjam; Korte, Brigitte; Biller, Andreas; Winterhoff, Hilke

2006-02-02

Extracts from the plant Lycopus europaeus L. are traditionally used in mild forms of hyperthyroidism. High doses caused a reduction of TSH or thyroid hormone levels in animal experiments, whereas in hyperthyroid patients treated with low doses of Lycopus an improvement of cardiac symptoms was reported without major changes in TSH or thyroid hormone concentrations. Lycopus extract was tested in thyroxine treated hyperthyroid rats (0.7 mg/kg BW i.p.). Co-treatment with an hydroethanolic extract from L. europaeus L. started one week later than T4-application and lasted 5.5 weeks. As reference substance atenolol was used. The raised body temperature was reduced very effectively even by the low dose of the plant extract, whereas the reduced gain of body weight and the increased food intake remained unaffected by any treatment. No significant changes of thyroid hormone concentrations or TSH levels were observed. Lycopus extract and atenolol reduced the increased heart rate and blood pressure. The cardiac hypertrophy was alleviated significantly by both treatment regimes. beta-Adrenoceptor density in heart tissue was significantly reduced by the Lycopus extract or the beta-blocking agent showing an almost equal efficacy. Although the mode of action remains unclear, these organo-specific anti-T4-effects seem to be of practical interest, for example in patients with latent hyperthyroidism.

SELECTIVE EXTRACTION OF OXYGENATES FROM SAVORY AND PEPPERMINT USING SUBCRITICAL WATER. (R825394)

EPA Science Inventory

The yields of oxygenated and non-oxygenated flavour and fragrance compounds from savory (Satureja hortensis) and peppermint (Mentha piperita) were compared using subcritical water extraction, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SFE) and hydrodistillation. Extraction rates wi...

Ramalina capitata (Ach.) Nyl. acetone extract: HPLC analysis, genotoxicity, cholinesterase, antioxidant and antibacterial activity.

PubMed

Zrnzevic, Ivana; Stankovic, Miroslava; Stankov Jovanovic, Vesna; Mitic, Violeta; Dordevic, Aleksandra; Zlatanovic, Ivana; Stojanovic, Gordana

2017-01-01

In the present investigation, effects of Ramalina capitata acetone extract on micronucleus distribution on human lymphocytes, on cholinesterase activity and antioxidant activity (by the CUPRAC method) were examined, for the first time as well as its HPLC profile. Additionally, total phenolic compounds (TPC), antioxidant properties (estimated via DPPH, ABTS and TRP assays) and antibacterial activity were determined. The predominant phenolic compounds in this extract were evernic, everninic and obtusatic acids. Acetone extract of R. capitata at concentration of 2 μg mL -1 decreased a frequency of micronuclei (MN) for 14.8 %. The extract reduces the concentration of DPPH and ABTS radicals for 21.2 and 36.1 % (respectively). Values for total reducing power (TRP) and cupric reducing capacity (CUPRAC) were 0.4624 ± 0.1064 μg ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE) per mg of dry extract, and 6.1176 ± 0.2964 μg Trolox equivalents (TE) per mg of dry extract, respectively. The total phenol content was 670.6376 ± 66.554 μg galic acid equivalents (GAE) per mg of dry extract. Tested extract at concentration of 2 mg mL -1 exhibited inhibition effect (5.2 %) on pooled human serum cholinesterase. The antimicrobial assay showed that acetone extract had inhibition effect towards Gram-positive strains. The results of manifested antioxidant activity, reducing the number of micronuclei in human lymphocytes, and antibacterial activity recommends R. capitata extract for further in vivo studies.

Risk Selection into Consumer-Directed Health Plans: An Analysis of Family Choices within Large Employers

PubMed Central

McDevitt, Roland D; Haviland, Amelia M; Lore, Ryan; Laudenberger, Laura; Eisenberg, Matthew; Sood, Neeraj

2014-01-01

Objective To identify the degree of selection into consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) versus traditional plans over time, and factors that influence choice and temper risk selection. Data Sources/Study Setting Sixteen large employers offering both CDHP and traditional plans during the 2004–2007 period, more than 200,000 families. Study Design We model CDHP choice with logistic regression; predictors include risk scores, in addition to family, choice setting, and plan characteristics. Additional models stratify by account type or single enrollee versus family. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Risk scores, family characteristics, and enrollment decisions are derived from medical claims and enrollment files. Interviews with human resources executives provide additional data. Principal Findings CDHP risk scores were 74 percent of traditional plan scores in the first year, and this difference declined over time. Employer contributions to accounts and employee premium savings fostered CDHP enrollment and reduced risk selection. Having to make an active choice of plan increased CDHP enrollment but also increased risk selection. Risk selection was greater for singles than families and did not differ between HRA and HSA-based CDHPs. Conclusions Risk selection was not severe and it was well managed. Employers have effective methods to encourage CDHP enrollment and temper selection against traditional plans. PMID:24800305

Ciprofloxacin Residues in Municipal Biosolid Compost Do Not Selectively Enrich Populations of Resistant Bacteria

PubMed Central

Youngquist, Caitlin P.; Liu, Jinxin; Orfe, Lisa H.; Jones, Stephen S.

2014-01-01

Biosolids and livestock manure are valuable high-carbon soil amendments, but they commonly contain antibiotic residues that might persist after land application. While composting reduces the concentration of extractable antibiotics in these materials, if the starting concentration is sufficiently high then remaining residues could impact microbial communities in the compost and soil to which these materials are applied. To examine this issue, ciprofloxacin was added to biosolid compost feedstock to achieve a total concentration of 19 ppm, approximately 5-fold higher than that normally detected by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) (1 to 3.5 ppm). This feedstock was placed into mesh bags that were buried in aerated compost bays. Once a week, a set of bags was removed and analyzed (treated and untreated, three replicates of each; 4 weeks). Addition of ciprofloxacin had no effect on the recovery of resistant bacteria at any time point (P = 0.86), and a separate bioassay showed that aqueous extractions from materials with an estimated 59 ppm ciprofloxacin had no effect on the growth of a susceptible strain of Escherichia coli (P = 0.28). Regression analysis showed that growth of the susceptible strain of E. coli can be reduced given a sufficiently high concentration of ciprofloxacin (P < 0.007), a result that is consistent with adsorption being the primary mechanism of sequestration. While analytical methods detected biologically significant concentrations of ciprofloxacin in the materials tested here, the culture-based methods were consistent with the materials having sufficient adsorptive capacity to prevent typical concentrations of ciprofloxacin residues from selectively enriching populations of resistant bacteria. PMID:25261519

Cigarette smoke extract induces select matrix metalloproteinases and integrin expression in periodontal ligament fibroblasts.

PubMed

Bulmanski, Zachary; Brady, Matthew; Stoute, Diana; Lallier, Thomas E

2012-06-01

The periodontal ligament (PDL) is the connective tissue that anchors the cementum of the teeth to the alveolar bone. PDL fibroblasts are responsible for the production of collagen and remodeling of the PDL. Periodontal disease is increased among smokers in both incidence and severity. This study examines the direct effect of smoking on PDL fibroblasts and their production of various matrix components and remodeling enzymes. PDL cells were plated for 1 day and then treated with various concentrations of cigarette smoke extract (CSE). Survival of PDL cells was quantified after exposure to CSE, and their ability to contract three-dimensional collagen gels was examined. Changes in transcript expression after CSE treatment was compared using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis for matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), collagens, and integrins. Treatment with CSE-induced cell death at concentrations of ≥5%. PDL-cell-induced collagen gel contraction was reduced at concentrations of 1.5% CSE. Treatment with CSE selectively increased the expression of collagen Vα3 and decreased collagen XIα1. CSE increased the expression of MMP1 and MMP3 and, to a lesser extent, MMP2 and MMP8. CSE also increased the expression of integrins α1, α2, and α10 (collagen receptors) and α9 (a tenascin receptor). This study shows that cigarette smoking has local effects on the cells of the PDL. CSE reduced survival of PDL cells and their ability to contract collagen matrices. CSE also altered the expression of molecules known to provide the structural integrity of the ligament by altering collagen synthesis and remodeling as well as cell adhesion.

Antioxidant activity of spice extracts in a liposome system and in cooked pork patties and the possible mode of action.

PubMed

Kong, Baohua; Zhang, Huiyun; Xiong, Youling L

2010-08-01

Three experiments were conducted to assess the antioxidant efficacy of spice extracts in cooked meat. In experiment 1, antioxidant activity of 13 common spice extracts was screened in a liposome system. Six of the extracts (clove, rosemary, cassia bark, liquorice, nutmeg, and round cardamom), identified to have the greatest total phenolic contents, were strongly inhibitory of TBARS formation. In experiment 2, 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, ferric-reducing power, and metal chelation of these six spice extracts were evaluated. Clove exhibited the greatest reducing power, and all had strong DPPH scavenging activity. In experiment 3, clove, rosemary, and cassia bark extracts were further tested for in situ antioxidant efficacy. Cooked pork patties containing these spice extracts had markedly reduced TBARS formation and off-flavour scores but a more stable red colour, during storage. The results demonstrated strong potential of spice extracts as natural antioxidants in cooked pork products. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spectroscopic and microscopic characterization of silver nanoparticles synthesized using Justicia adhatoda flower

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Tej; Shekhawat, Dharmender Singh; Jyoti, Kumari

2018-05-01

The synthesis of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) by chemical and physical methods produce harmful products which may cause various environmental problems, thus, there is an increasing demand to use ecofriendly methods. Therefore, biosynthesis of SNPs using Justicia adhatoda flower extract is demonstrated in the present study. The biosynthesized SNPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. The result of UV-visible spectroscopy peaked at 417 nm corresponding to the plasmon absorbance of SNPs. The TEM and SAED result reveals the crystalline nature of SNPs. FTIR spectroscopy used to identify the possible biomolecules responsible for the conversion of silver ions to SNPs. The study concluded that Justicia adhatoda flower extract act as an excellent reducing agent and the green synthesized SNPs are safer to the environment.

Biosynthesis of Cu, ZVI, and Ag nanoparticles using Dodonaea viscosa extract for antibacterial activity against human pathogens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiruba Daniel, S. C. G.; Vinothini, G.; Subramanian, N.; Nehru, K.; Sivakumar, M.

2013-01-01

Biosynthesis of copper, zero-valent iron (ZVI), and silver nanoparticles using leaf extract of Dodonaea viscosa has been investigated in this report. There are no additional surfactants/polymers used as capping or reducing agents for these syntheses. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The phase analysis was performed using selected area electron diffraction. The pH dependence of surface plasmon resonance and subsequent size variation has been determined. The synthesized nanoparticles showed spherical morphology and the average size of 29, 27, and 16 nm for Cu, ZVI, and Ag nanoparticles, respectively. Finally, biosynthesized Cu, ZVI, and Ag nanoparticles were tested against human pathogens viz. Gram-negative Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, and showed good antimicrobial activity.

Development of Methods of Characterizing Coal in Its Plastic State

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lloyd, W. G.

1978-01-01

Coal in its plastic state (typically 400-460 C) was examined by the isothermal Gieseler plastometry of seven selected coals of widely varying plastic properties. Kinetic models were proposed for the isothermal plastometric curves. Plastic behavior was compared with a variety of laboratory analyses and characterizations of these coals, including classical coal analysis; mineral analysis; microstructural analysis (extractable fractions, surface area measurement, and petrographic analysis); and thermal analysis (thermogravimetric analysis, thermomechanical analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry). The phenomenon of a sharp, large, poorly reproducible exotherm in the differential scanning calorimetric analysis of coking coals was examined. Several coal extrudates show mineral distribution, organic maceral composition and overall calorific value to be little affected by 800 F extrusion. Volatile matter and plastic properties are moderately reduced, and the network structure (as gauged by extractables) appears to be slightly degraded in the extrusion process.

Non-negative matrix factorization in texture feature for classification of dementia with MRI data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarwinda, D.; Bustamam, A.; Ardaneswari, G.

2017-07-01

This paper investigates applications of non-negative matrix factorization as feature selection method to select the features from gray level co-occurrence matrix. The proposed approach is used to classify dementia using MRI data. In this study, texture analysis using gray level co-occurrence matrix is done to feature extraction. In the feature extraction process of MRI data, we found seven features from gray level co-occurrence matrix. Non-negative matrix factorization selected three features that influence of all features produced by feature extractions. A Naïve Bayes classifier is adapted to classify dementia, i.e. Alzheimer's disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and normal control. The experimental results show that non-negative factorization as feature selection method able to achieve an accuracy of 96.4% for classification of Alzheimer's and normal control. The proposed method also compared with other features selection methods i.e. Principal Component Analysis (PCA).

Improved classification accuracy by feature extraction using genetic algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patriarche, Julia; Manduca, Armando; Erickson, Bradley J.

2003-05-01

A feature extraction algorithm has been developed for the purposes of improving classification accuracy. The algorithm uses a genetic algorithm / hill-climber hybrid to generate a set of linearly recombined features, which may be of reduced dimensionality compared with the original set. The genetic algorithm performs the global exploration, and a hill climber explores local neighborhoods. Hybridizing the genetic algorithm with a hill climber improves both the rate of convergence, and the final overall cost function value; it also reduces the sensitivity of the genetic algorithm to parameter selection. The genetic algorithm includes the operators: crossover, mutation, and deletion / reactivation - the last of these effects dimensionality reduction. The feature extractor is supervised, and is capable of deriving a separate feature space for each tissue (which are reintegrated during classification). A non-anatomical digital phantom was developed as a gold standard for testing purposes. In tests with the phantom, and with images of multiple sclerosis patients, classification with feature extractor derived features yielded lower error rates than using standard pulse sequences, and with features derived using principal components analysis. Using the multiple sclerosis patient data, the algorithm resulted in a mean 31% reduction in classification error of pure tissues.

Selective isolation of gonyautoxins 1,4 from the dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum based on molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction.

PubMed

Lian, Ziru; Wang, Jiangtao

2017-09-15

Gonyautoxins 1,4 (GTX1,4) from Alexandrium minutum samples were isolated selectively and recognized specifically by an innovative and effective extraction procedure based on molecular imprinting technology. Novel molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres (MIPMs) were prepared by double-templated imprinting strategy using caffeine and pentoxifylline as dummy templates. The synthesized polymers displayed good affinity to GTX1,4 and were applied as sorbents. Further, an off-line molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) protocol was optimized and an effective approach based on the MISPE coupled with HPLC-FLD was developed for selective isolation of GTX1,4 from the cultured A. minutum samples. The separation method showed good extraction efficiency (73.2-81.5%) for GTX1,4 and efficient removal of interferences matrices was also achieved after the MISPE process for the microalgal samples. The outcome demonstrated the superiority and great potential of the MISPE procedure for direct separation of GTX1,4 from marine microalgal extracts. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Determination of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Soil and Sediment by Selective Pressurized Liquid Extraction with Immunochemical Detection

EPA Science Inventory

A selective liquid pressurized extraction (SPLE) method was developed as a streamlined sample preparation/cleanup procedure for determining Aroclors and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil and sediment matrices. The SPLE method was coupled with an enzyme-linked imm...

Nanodiamond in Colloidal Suspension: Electrophoresis; Other Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meshik, A. P.; Pravdivtseva, O. V.; Hohenberg, C. M.

2002-01-01

Selective laser extraction has demonstrated that meteoritic diamonds may consist of subpopulations with different optical absorption properties, but it is not clear what makes them optically different. More work is needed to understand the mechanism for selective laser extraction. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Anticancer Activity of Chloroform Extract and Sub-fractions of Nepeta deflersiana on Human Breast and Lung Cancer Cells: An In vitro Cytotoxicity Assessment.

PubMed

Al-Oqail, Mai M; Al-Sheddi, Ebtesam S; Siddiqui, Maqsood A; Musarrat, Javed; Al-Khedhairy, Abdulaziz A; Farshori, Nida N

2015-10-01

Cancer is one of the major causes of death worldwide. The plant-derived natural products have received considerable attention in recent years due to their diverse pharmacological properties including anticancer effects. Nepeta deflersiana (ND) is used in the folk medicine as antiseptic, carminative, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and for treating rheumatic disorders. However, the anticancer activity of ND chloroform extract has not been explored so far. The present study was aimed to investigate the anticancer activities of chloroform Nepeta deflersiana extract and various sub-fractions (ND-1-ND-15) of ND against human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and human lung cancer cells (A-549). The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide and neutral red uptake assays, and cellular morphological alterations using phase contrast light microscope were studied. Cells were exposed with 10-1000 μg/ml of sub-fractions of ND for 24 h. Results showed that selected sub-fractions of the chloroform extract significantly reduced the cell viability of MCF-7 and A-549 cells, and altered the cellular morphology in a concentration-dependent manner. Among the sub-fractions, ND-10 fraction showed relatively higher cytotoxicity compared to other fractions whereas, ND-1 did not cause any cytotoxicity even at higher concentrations. The A-549 cells were found to be more sensitive to growth inhibition by all the extracts as compared to the MCF-7 cells. The present study provides preliminary screening of anticancer activities of chloroform extract and sub-fractions of ND, which can be further used for the development of a potential therapeutic anticancer agent. Nepeta deflersiana extract exhibit cytotoxicity and altered the cellular morphology. Sub-fractions of the chloroform extract of Nepeta deflersiana reduced the cell viability of MCF-7 and A-549 cells. Among the sub-fractions, ND-10 fraction showed relatively higher cytotoxicity. The A-549 cells were found to be more sensitive as compared to the MCF-7 cells. Abbreviations used: MTT: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide; NRU: Neutral red uptake; DMEM: Dulbecco's modified eagle medium; FBS: Fetal bovine serum; PBS: Phosphate buffer saline; DMSO: Dimethyl sulfoxide.

FIELD IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR A WILLISTON BASIN BRINE EXTRACTION AND STORAGE TEST

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamling, John; Klapperich, Ryan; Stepan, Daniel

2016-03-31

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) successfully completed all technical work of Phase I, including development of a field implementation plan (FIP) for a brine extraction and storage test (BEST) in the North Dakota portion of the Williston Basin. This implementation plan was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) as a proxy for managing formation pressure plumes and measuring/monitoring the movement of differential pressure and CO2 plumes in the subsurface for future saline CO2 storage projects. BEST comprises the demonstration and validation of active reservoir management (ARM) strategies and extracted brine treatmentmore » technologies. Two prospective commercial brine injection sites were evaluated for BEST to satisfy DOE’s goals. Ultimately, an active saltwater disposal (SWD) site, Johnsons Corner, was selected because it possesses an ideal combination of key factors making it uniquely suited to host BEST. This site is located in western North Dakota and operated by Nuverra Environmental Solutions (Nuverra), a national leader in brine handling, treatment, and injection. An integrated management approach was used to incorporate local and regional geologic characterization activities with geologic and simulation models, inform a monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) plan, and to conduct a risk assessment. This approach was used to design a FIP for an ARM schema and an extracted brine treatment technology test bed facility. The FIP leverages an existing pressure plume generated by two commercial SWD wells. These wells, in conjunction with a new brine extraction well, will be used to conduct the ARM schema. Results of these tests will be quantified based on their impact on the performance of the existing SWD wells and the surrounding reservoir system. Extracted brine will be injected into an underlying deep saline formation through a new injection well. The locations of proposed extraction and injection wells were selected during the Phase I efforts. These wells will be permitted as North Dakota Administrative Code Underground Injection Control Class II wells and will yield additional characterization data which will further refine the FIP in Phase II. An array of surface and downhole monitoring techniques will validate ARM performance against predictive simulation results. Infrastructure will be constructed to manage extracted fluids at the surface and provide brine to a treatment test bed facility. Treatment of extracted brine can provide a means of reducing extracted brine disposal volumes, an alternate source of water, and/or salable products for beneficial use. A test bed facility will be constructed to provide a means of demonstrating these technologies on a wide range of brine concentrations. Screening criteria based on a techno-economic and life cycle assessment were developed to select high-salinity brine treatment technologies for extended duration treatment (30–60 days) in Phase II. A detailed cost assessment determined total implementation costs for BEST of $19,901,065 million (DOE share $15,680,505). These costs are inclusive of all necessary equipment, infrastructure construction, operations and project closeout costs required to implement BEST. An ideal combination of key factors makes the Johnsons Corner site uniquely suited to be the BEST demonstration.« less

Caffeine adsorption of montmorillonite in coffee extracts.

PubMed

Shiono, Takashi; Yamamoto, Kenichiro; Yotsumoto, Yuko; Yoshida, Aruto

2017-08-01

The growth in health-conscious consumers continues to drive the demand for a wide variety of decaffeinated beverages. We previously developed a new technology using montmorillonite (MMT) in selective decaffeination of tea extract. This study evaluated and compared decaffeination of coffee extract using MMT and activated carbon (AC). MMT adsorbed caffeine without significant adsorption of caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs), feruloylquinic acids (FQAs), dicaffeoylquinic acids (di-CQAs), or caffeoylquinic lactones (CQLs). AC adsorbed caffeine, chlorogenic acids (CGAs) and CQLs simultaneously. The results suggested that the adsorption selectivity for caffeine in coffee extract is higher in MMT than AC. The caffeine adsorption isotherms of MMT in coffee extract fitted well to the Langmuir adsorption model. The adsorption properties in coffee extracts from the same species were comparable, regardless of roasting level and locality of growth. Our findings suggest that MMT is a useful adsorbent in the decaffeination of a wide range of coffee extracts.

Selective extraction and determination of chlorogenic acids as combined quality markers in herbal medicines using molecularly imprinted polymers based on a mimic template.

PubMed

Ji, Wenhua; Zhang, Mingming; Yan, Huijiao; Zhao, Hengqiang; Mu, Yan; Guo, Lanping; Wang, Xiao

2017-12-01

We describe a solid-phase extraction adsorbent based on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), prepared with use of a mimic template. The MIPs were used for the selective extraction and determination of three chlorogenic acids as combined quality markers for Lonicera japonica and Lianhua qingwen granules. The morphologies and surface groups of the MIPs were assessed by scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and selectivity of the MIPs were systematically compared with those of non-molecularly imprinted polymers. The MIPs showed high selectivity toward three structurally similar chlorogenic acids (chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, and neochlorogenic acid). A procedure using molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography was established for the determination of three chlorogenic acids from Lonicera japonica and Lianhua qingwen granules. The recoveries of the chlorogenic acids ranged from 93.1% to 101.4%. The limits of detection and limits of quantification for the three chlorogenic acids were 0.003 mg g -1 and 0.01 mg g -1 , respectively. The newly developed method is thus a promising technique for the enrichment and determination of chlorogenic acids from herbal medicines. Graphical Abstract Mimic molecularly imprinted polymers for the selective extraction of chlorogenic acids.

Combined rule extraction and feature elimination in supervised classification.

PubMed

Liu, Sheng; Patel, Ronak Y; Daga, Pankaj R; Liu, Haining; Fu, Gang; Doerksen, Robert J; Chen, Yixin; Wilkins, Dawn E

2012-09-01

There are a vast number of biology related research problems involving a combination of multiple sources of data to achieve a better understanding of the underlying problems. It is important to select and interpret the most important information from these sources. Thus it will be beneficial to have a good algorithm to simultaneously extract rules and select features for better interpretation of the predictive model. We propose an efficient algorithm, Combined Rule Extraction and Feature Elimination (CRF), based on 1-norm regularized random forests. CRF simultaneously extracts a small number of rules generated by random forests and selects important features. We applied CRF to several drug activity prediction and microarray data sets. CRF is capable of producing performance comparable with state-of-the-art prediction algorithms using a small number of decision rules. Some of the decision rules are biologically significant.

Production of Oxygen from Lunar Regolith by Molten Oxide Electrolysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curreri, Peter A.

2009-01-01

This paper describes the use of the molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) process for the extraction of oxygen for life support and propellant, and silicon and metallic elements for use in fabrication on the Moon. The Moon is rich in mineral resources, but it is almost devoid of chemical reducing agents, therefore, molten oxide electrolysis is ideal for extraction, since the electron is the only practical reducing agent. MOE has several advantages over other extraction methods. First, electrolytic processing offers uncommon versatility in its insensitivity to feedstock composition. Secondly, oxide melts boast the twin key attributes of highest solubilizing capacity for regolith and lowest volatility of any candidate electrolytes. The former is critical in ensuring high productivity since cell current is limited by reactant solubility, while the latter simplifies cell design by obviating the need for a gas-tight reactor to contain evaporation losses as would be the case with a gas or liquid phase fluoride reagent operating at such high temperatures. Alternatively, MOE requires no import of consumable reagents (e.g. fluorine and carbon) as other processes do, and does not rely on interfacing multiple processes to obtain refined products. Electrolytic processing has the advantage of selectivity of reaction in the presence of a multi-component feed. Products from lunar regolith can be extracted in sequence according to the stabilities of their oxides as expressed by the values of the free energy of oxide formation (e.g. chromium, manganese, Fe, Si, Ti, Al, magnesium, and calcium). Previous work has demonstrated the viability of producing Fe and oxygen from oxide mixtures similar in composition to lunar regolith by molten oxide electrolysis (electrowinning), also called magma electrolysis having shown electrolytic extraction of Si from regolith simulant. This paper describes recent advances in demonstrating the MOE process by a joint project with participation by NASA KSC and MSFC, and Ohio State University and MIT. Progress in measuring cell efficiency for oxygen production, development of non reacting electrodes, and cell feeding and withdrawal will be discussed.

Competitive binding experiments can reduce the false positive results of affinity-based ultrafiltration-HPLC: A case study for identification of potent xanthine oxidase inhibitors from Perilla frutescens extract.

PubMed

Wang, Zhiqiang; Kwon, Shin Hwa; Hwang, Seung Hwan; Kang, Young-Hee; Lee, Jae-Yong; Lim, Soon Sung

2017-03-24

The purpose of this study was to assess the possibility of using competitive binding experiments with ultrafiltration-HPLC analysis to identify potent xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitors from the Perilla frutescens extract as an attempt to reduce the number of false positive results. To isolate the enzyme-ligand complex from unbound compounds, the P. frutescens extract was either incubated in the absence of XO, in the presence of XO, or with the active site blocked XO before the ultrafiltration was performed. Allopurinaol was used as the XO active site blocker. The unbound compounds were subjected to HPLC analysis. The degree of total binding (TBD) and degree of specific binding (SBD) of each compound were calculated using the peak areas. TBD represents the binding affinities of compounds from the P. frutescens extract for the XO binding site. SBD represents the XO competitive binding between allopurinol and ligands from the extract samples. Two criteria were applied to select putative targets that could help avoid false positives. These include TBD>30% and SBD>10%. Using that approach, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, rosmarinic acid, methyl-rosmarinic acid, apigenin, and 4',5,7-trimethoxyflavone were identified, from total 11 compounds, as potent XO inhibitors. Finally, apigenin, 4',5,7-trimethoxyflavone, and luteolin were XO inhibitors verified through an XO inhibition assay and structural simulation of the complex. These results showed that the newly developed strategy has the advantage that the number of targets identified via ultrafiltration-HPLC can be narrowed from many false positives. However, not all false positives can be eliminated with this approach. Some potent inhibitors might also be excluded with the use of this method. The limitations of this method are also discussed herein. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Plant extracts affect in vitro rumen microbial fermentation.

PubMed

Busquet, M; Calsamiglia, S; Ferret, A; Kamel, C

2006-02-01

Different doses of 12 plant extracts and 6 secondary plant metabolites were incubated for 24 h in diluted ruminal fluid with a 50:50 forage:concentrate diet. Treatments were: control (no additive), plant extracts (anise oil, cade oil, capsicum oil, cinnamon oil, clove bud oil, dill oil, fenugreek, garlic oil, ginger oil, oregano oil, tea tree oil, and yucca), and secondary plant metabolites (anethol, benzyl salicylate, carvacrol, carvone, cinnamaldehyde, and eugenol). Each treatment was supplied at 3, 30, 300, and 3,000 mg/L of culture fluid. At 3,000 mg/L, most treatments decreased total volatile fatty acid concentration, but cade oil, capsicum oil, dill oil, fenugreek, ginger oil, and yucca had no effect. Different doses of anethol, anise oil, carvone, and tea tree oil decreased the proportion of acetate and propionate, which suggests that these compounds may not be nutritionally beneficial to dairy cattle. Garlic oil (300 and 3,000 mg/L) and benzyl salicylate (300 and 3,000 mg/L) reduced acetate and increased propionate and butyrate proportions, suggesting that methane production was inhibited. At 3,000 mg/L, capsicum oil, carvacrol, carvone, cinnamaldehyde, cinnamon oil, clove bud oil, eugenol, fenugreek, and oregano oil resulted in a 30 to 50% reduction in ammonia N concentration. Careful selection and combination of these extracts may allow the manipulation of rumen microbial fermentation.

Evaluation of phytochemicals from medicinal plants of Myrtaceae family on virulence factor production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

PubMed

Musthafa, Khadar Syed; Sianglum, Wipawadee; Saising, Jongkon; Lethongkam, Sakkarin; Voravuthikunchai, Supayang Piyawan

2017-05-01

Virulence factors regulated by quorum sensing (QS) play a critical role in the pathogenesis of an opportunistic human pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa in causing infections to the host. Hence, in the present work, the anti-virulence potential of the medicinal plant extracts and their derived phytochemicals from Myrtaceae family was evaluated against P. aeruginosa. In the preliminary screening of the tested medicinal plant extracts, Syzygium jambos and Syzygium antisepticum demonstrated a maximum inhibition in QS-dependent violacein pigment production by Chromobacterium violaceum DMST 21761. These extracts demonstrated an inhibitory activity over a virulence factor, pyoverdin, production by P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis revealed the presence of 23 and 12 phytochemicals from the extracts of S. jambos and S. antisepticum respectively. Three top-ranking phytochemicals, including phytol, ethyl linoleate and methyl linolenate, selected on the basis of docking score in molecular docking studies lowered virulence factors such as pyoverdin production, protease and haemolytic activities of P. aeruginosa to a significant level. In addition, the phytochemicals reduced rhamnolipid production by the organism. The work demonstrated an importance of plant-derived compounds as anti-virulence drugs to conquer P. aeruginosa virulence towards the host. © 2017 APMIS. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Enteromorpha compressa Exhibits Potent Antioxidant Activity

PubMed Central

Shanab, Sanaa M. M.; Shalaby, Emad A.; El-Fayoumy, Eman A.

2011-01-01

The green macroalgae, Enteromorpha compressa (Linnaeus) Nees, Ulva lactuca, and E. linza, were seasonally collected from Abu Qir bay at Alexandria (Mediterranean Sea) This work aimed to investigate the seasonal environmental conditions, controlling the green algal growth, predominance, or disappearance and determining antioxidant activity. The freshly collected selected alga (E. compressa) was subjected to pigment analysis (chlorophyll and carotenoids) essential oil and antioxidant enzyme determination (ascorbate oxidase and catalase). The air-dried ground alga was extracted with ethanol (crude extract) then sequentially fractionated by organic solvents of increasing polarity (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and water). Antioxidant activity of all extracts was assayed using different methods (total antioxidant, DPPH [2, 2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl], ABTS [2, 2 azino-bis ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid], and reducing power, and β-carotene linoleic acid bleaching methods). The results indicated that the antioxidant activity was concentration and time dependent. Ethyl acetate fraction demonstrated higher antioxidant activity against DPPH method (82.80%) compared to the synthetic standard butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT, 88.5%). However, the crude ethanolic extract, pet ether, chloroform fractions recorded lower to moderate antioxidant activities (49.0, 66.0, and 78.0%, resp.). Using chromatographic and spectroscopic analyses, an active compound was separated and identified from the promising ethyl acetate fraction. PMID:21869863

Screening of extraction methods for glycoproteins from jellyfish ( Rhopilema esculentum) oral-arms by high performance liquid chromatography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Guoyan; Li, Bafang; Zhao, Xue; Zhuang, Yongliang; Yan, Mingyan; Hou, Hu; Zhang, Xiukun; Chen, Li

2009-03-01

In order to select an optimum extraction method for the target glycoprotein (TGP) from jellyfish ( Rhopilema esculentum) oral-arms, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-assay for the determination of the TGP was developed. Purified target glycoprotein was taken as a standard glycoprotein. The results showed that the calibration curves for peak area plotted against concentration for TGP were linear ( r = 0.9984, y = 4.5895 x+47.601) over concentrations ranging from 50 to 400 mgL-1. The mean extraction recovery was 97.84% (CV2.60%). The fractions containing TGP were isolated from jellyfish ( R. esculentum) oral-arms by four extraction methods: 1) water extraction (WE), 2) phosphate buffer solution (PBS) extraction (PE), 3) ultrasound-assisted water extraction (UA-WE), 4) ultrasound-assisted PBS extraction (UA-PE). The lyophilized extract was dissolved in Milli-Q water and analyzed directly on a short TSK-GEL G4000PWXL (7.8 mm×300 mm) column. Our results indicated that the UA-PE method was the optimum extraction method selected by HPLC.

Reducing effect of a combination of Phaseolus vulgaris and Cynara scolymus extracts on operant self-administration of a chocolate-flavoured beverage in rats.

PubMed

Zaru, Alessandro; Maccioni, Paola; Riva, Antonella; Morazzoni, Paolo; Bombardelli, Ezio; Gessa, Gian Luigi; Carai, Mauro A M; Colombo, Giancarlo

2013-06-01

Treatment with a rational combination of standardized extracts of Phaseolus vulgaris and Cynara scolymus reduced food intake and glycemia in rats. The present study was designed to assess the effect of this extract combination and of each single extract in an experimental model of food craving, made up of rats displaying exaggerated seeking and taking behaviors for a chocolate-flavoured beverage. After training to lever-respond for the chocolate-flavoured beverage, rats were treated with vehicle, Phaseolus vulgaris extract alone (200 mg/kg), Cynara scolymus extract alone (400 mg/kg), or combination of Phaseolus vulgaris (200 mg/kg) and Cynara scolymus (400 mg/kg) extracts. The Phaseolus vulgaris extract and the extract combination exerted similar and substantial decrements in the number of lever-responses and amount of self-administered chocolate-flavoured beverage; conversely, the Cynara scolymus extract was totally ineffective. These results suggest that (i) the capacity of the extract combination to reduce the self-administration of the chocolate-flavoured beverage entirely relied on the Phaseolus vulgaris extract, (ii) Phaseolus vulgaris extract may interfere with the mechanisms regulating food-related addictive-like behaviors, and (iii) combinations of Phaseolus vulgaris and Cynara scolymus extracts may possess a broad spectrum of activities, from treatment of metabolic syndrome to overweight, obesity, and possibly food-related addictive disorders. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Female mating receptivity after injection of male-derived extracts in Callosobruchus maculatus.

PubMed

Yamane, Takashi; Miyatake, Takahisa; Kimura, Yoshinobu

2008-12-01

The effects of male-derived extracts on female receptivity were investigated in Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). Injection of aqueous extracts of the male reproductive tract into the abdomen of females reduced receptivity. Aqueous extracts of male reproductive tracts were divided to three molecular weight (MW) fractions by ultrafiltration: Fractions: (I) MW<3 kDa, (II) 3-14 kDa, and (III)>14 kDa. Fraction II reduced female receptivity from 3h after injection, and Fraction III reduced female receptivity from 2 days after injection. On the other hand, no effect on receptivity was found for Fraction I. Furthermore, male reproductive tract organs were divided into accessory gland, testis, and seminal vesicle including the ejaculatory duct. Aqueous extracts of the seminal vesicle reduced receptivity of females immediately following injection, while aqueous extracts of the accessory gland reduced receptivity at the second day. The results suggest that the components of Fraction II existed in the seminal vesicle, and those of Fraction III in the accessory gland. The results of the present and the previous studies in Callosobruchus chinensis, a species closely related to C. maculatus, were compared and are discussed from the viewpoint of the significance of ejaculation in the two species.

Two-Stage Separation of V(IV) and Al(III) by Crystallization and Solvent Extraction from Aluminum-Rich Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solution of Stone Coal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Qihua; Zhang, Yimin; Liu, Tao; Huang, Jing; Liu, Hong

2017-10-01

To improve separation of V(IV) and Al(III) from aluminum-rich sulfuric acid leaching solution of stone coal, the two-stage separation by crystallization and solvent extraction methods have been developed. A co-extraction coefficient ( k) was put forward to evaluate comprehensively co-extraction extent in different solutions. In the crystallization stage, 68.2% of aluminum can be removed from the solution. In the solvent extraction stage, vanadium was selectively extracted using di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid/tri-n-butyl phosphate from the crystalline mother solution, followed by H2SO4 stripped efficiently. A V2O5 product with purity of 98.39% and only 0.10% Al was obtained after oxidation, precipitation, and calcination. Compared with vanadium extraction from solution without crystallization, the counter-current extraction stage of vanadium can be decreased from 6 to 3 and co-extraction coefficient ( k) decreased from 2.51 to 0.58 with two-stage separation. It is suggested that the aluminum removal by crystallization can evidently weaken the influence of aluminum co-extraction on vanadium extraction and improve the selectivity of solvent extraction for vanadium.

A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Behavioral Interventions to Reduce Risky Sexual Behavior and Decrease Sexually Transmitted Infections in Latinas Living in the United States.

PubMed

Althoff, Meghan D; Grayson, Cary T; Witt, Lucy; Holden, Julie; Reid, Daniel; Kissinger, Patricia

2015-12-01

The objective of this meta-analysis was to determine the effect of behavioral interventions in reducing risky sexual behavior and incident sexually transmitted infections (STI) among Latina women living in the United States. Studies were found by systematically searching the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychInfo databases without language restriction. Two independent reviewers screened abstracts and full texts of articles to find randomized control trials testing the effects of behavioral interventions aimed at changing risky sexual behavior among Latinas. Articles were selected using prespecified inclusion criteria. Two independent reviewers extracted data from the included trials in duplicate using a standardized data extraction form. Six randomized control trials met the inclusion criteria for a total of 2,909 participants. Using random effects models with inverse variance weighting, we found a protective effect of the behavioral intervention on reported risky sexual behavior (odds ratio = 0.52; 95% confidence interval = 0.42, 0.64) and on incident nonviral STI (odds ratio = 0.65; 95% confidence interval = 0.46, 0.93). Behavioral interventions targeted toward Latina populations are effective in reducing risky sexual behaviors and incident STI and should be considered by policymakers as a potential tool for HIV/STI prevention in this population. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

Reducing effect of a combination of Phaseolus vulgaris and Cynara scolymus extracts on food intake and glycemia in rats.

PubMed

Loi, Barbara; Fantini, Noemi; Colombo, Giancarlo; Gessa, Gian Luigi; Riva, Antonella; Bombardelli, Ezio; Morazzoni, Paolo; Carai, Mauro A M

2013-02-01

Extracts from Phaseolus vulgaris and Cynara scolymus may reduce food intake and/or postprandial glycemia. This study investigated the effect of standardized extracts of P. vulgaris and C. scolymus and their combination on food intake and glycemia in rats. P. vulgaris and C. scolymus extracts, and their 1:2 combination, were administered acutely to rats (a) given access to regular food and water, (b) given access to regular food, water, and a chocolate-flavored beverage, or (c) infused with a starch bolus. P. vulgaris extract and the combination produced comparable reductions in intake of regular food and chocolate-flavored beverage; conversely, C. scolymus extract was ineffective on both parameters. P. vulgaris and C. scolymus extracts additively contributed to the reducing effect of the combination on glycemic rise. These results suggest that a mixture of P. vulgaris and C. scolymus extracts is preferable over each single extract, as it combines the anorectic effect of the P. vulgaris extract with the hypoglycemic effect of both extracts. These data support the recent clinical use of the combination of P. vulgaris and C. scolymus extracts in the control of appetite, food intake, and postprandial glycemia and represent a successful example of translational research in the nutraceutical field. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Efficient Feature Selection and Classification of Protein Sequence Data in Bioinformatics

PubMed Central

Faye, Ibrahima; Samir, Brahim Belhaouari; Md Said, Abas

2014-01-01

Bioinformatics has been an emerging area of research for the last three decades. The ultimate aims of bioinformatics were to store and manage the biological data, and develop and analyze computational tools to enhance their understanding. The size of data accumulated under various sequencing projects is increasing exponentially, which presents difficulties for the experimental methods. To reduce the gap between newly sequenced protein and proteins with known functions, many computational techniques involving classification and clustering algorithms were proposed in the past. The classification of protein sequences into existing superfamilies is helpful in predicting the structure and function of large amount of newly discovered proteins. The existing classification results are unsatisfactory due to a huge size of features obtained through various feature encoding methods. In this work, a statistical metric-based feature selection technique has been proposed in order to reduce the size of the extracted feature vector. The proposed method of protein classification shows significant improvement in terms of performance measure metrics: accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, recall, F-measure, and so forth. PMID:25045727

Joint action of ultrasonic and Fe³⁺ to improve selectivity of acid hydrolysis for microcrystalline cellulose.

PubMed

Li, Jinbao; Qiang, Dandan; Zhang, Meiyun; Xiu, Huijuan; Zhang, Xiangrong

2015-09-20

In this study, the combination of Fe(3+)/HCl and ultrasonic treatment was applied to selectively hydrolyze cellulose for the preparation of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). It was found that the crystallinity and specific surface area of hydrocellulose samples were higher (78.92% and 2.23581 m(2)g(-1), respectively), compared with the method that only used Fe(3+)/HCl catalyst without ultrasonic treatment. Meanwhile, the hydrolysate can be extracted and reused for cellulose hydrolysis for three runs, which was effective in saving the dosage of chemicals and reducing the pollution of the environment without affecting the properties of hydrocellulose. Moreover, the increased concentration of total reducing sugar (TRS) after three runs may be used as a valuable source in biofuels production. The technology of cellulose hydrolysis, by retaining the crystalline region for MCC products while promoting hydrolysis of amorphous region for further utilization is of great novelty, which may prove valuable in converting biomass into chemicals and biofuels, environmentally and economically. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of a reactive barrier and aquifer geology on metal distribution and mobility in a mine drainage impacted aquifer.

PubMed

Doerr, Nora A; Ptacek, Carol J; Blowes, David W

2005-06-01

The Nickel Rim aquifer has been impacted for five decades by a metal-rich plume generated from the Nickel Rim mine tailings impoundment. Metals released by the oxidation of pyrrhotite in the unsaturated zone of the tailings migrate into the downgradient aquifer, affecting both the groundwater and the aquifer solids. A reactive barrier has been installed in the aquifer to remove sulfate and metals from the groundwater. The effect of the reactive barrier on metal concentrations in the aquifer solids has not previously been studied. In this study, a series of selective extraction procedures was applied to cores of aquifer sediment, to ascertain the distribution of metals among various solid phases present in the aquifer. Extraction results were combined with groundwater chemistry, geochemical modelling and solid-phase microanalyses, to assess the potential mobility of metals under changing geochemical conditions. Reactions within the reactive barrier caused an increase in the solid-phase carbonate content downgradient from the barrier. The concentrations of poorly crystalline, oxidized phases of Mn and Fe, as well as concentrations of Cr(III) associated with oxidized Fe, and poorly crystalline Zn, are lower downgradient from the barrier, whereas total solid-phase metal concentrations remain constant. Iron and Mn accumulate as oxidized, easily extractable forms in a peat layer overlying the aquifer. Although these oxides may buffer reducing plumes, they also have the potential to release metals to the groundwater, should a reduced condition be imposed on the aquifer by remedial actions.

Present and potential applications of cellulases in agriculture, biotechnology, and bioenergy.

PubMed

Phitsuwan, Paripok; Laohakunjit, Natta; Kerdchoechuen, Orapin; Kyu, Khin Lay; Ratanakhanokchai, Khanok

2013-03-01

Cellulase (CEL) presently constitutes a major group of industrial enzyme based on its diverse ranges of utilization. Apart from such current and well-established applications-as in cotton processing, paper recycling, detergent formulation, juice extraction, and animal feed additives-their uses in agricultural biotechnology and bioenergy have been exploited. Supplementation of CELs to accelerate decomposition of plant residues in soil results in improved soil fertility. So far, applying CELs/antagonistic cellulolytic fungi to crops has shown to promote plant growth performance, including enhanced seed germination and protective effects. Their actions are believed mainly to trigger plant defense mechanisms and/or to act as biocontrol agents that mediate disease suppression. However, the exact interaction between the enzymes/fungi and plants has not been clearly elucidated. Under mild conditions, removal of plant cell wall polysaccharides by CELs for protoplast preparation results in reduced protoplast damage and increased viability and yields. CELs have recently shown great potential in enzyme aid extraction of bioactive compounds from plant materials before selective extraction through enhancing release of target molecules, especially those associated with the wall matrix. To date, attempts have been made to formulate CEL preparation for cellulosic-based bioethanol production. The high cost of CELs has created a bottleneck, resulting in an uneconomic production process. The utilization of low-cost carbohydrates, strain improvement, and gene manipulations has been alternatively aimed at reducing the cost of CEL production. In this review, we focus on and discuss current knowledge of CELs and their applications in agriculture, biotechnology, and bioenergy.

Differential diagnosis of CT focal liver lesions using texture features, feature selection and ensemble driven classifiers.

PubMed

Mougiakakou, Stavroula G; Valavanis, Ioannis K; Nikita, Alexandra; Nikita, Konstantina S

2007-09-01

The aim of the present study is to define an optimally performing computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) architecture for the classification of liver tissue from non-enhanced computed tomography (CT) images into normal liver (C1), hepatic cyst (C2), hemangioma (C3), and hepatocellular carcinoma (C4). To this end, various CAD architectures, based on texture features and ensembles of classifiers (ECs), are comparatively assessed. Number of regions of interests (ROIs) corresponding to C1-C4 have been defined by experienced radiologists in non-enhanced liver CT images. For each ROI, five distinct sets of texture features were extracted using first order statistics, spatial gray level dependence matrix, gray level difference method, Laws' texture energy measures, and fractal dimension measurements. Two different ECs were constructed and compared. The first one consists of five multilayer perceptron neural networks (NNs), each using as input one of the computed texture feature sets or its reduced version after genetic algorithm-based feature selection. The second EC comprised five different primary classifiers, namely one multilayer perceptron NN, one probabilistic NN, and three k-nearest neighbor classifiers, each fed with the combination of the five texture feature sets or their reduced versions. The final decision of each EC was extracted by using appropriate voting schemes, while bootstrap re-sampling was utilized in order to estimate the generalization ability of the CAD architectures based on the available relatively small-sized data set. The best mean classification accuracy (84.96%) is achieved by the second EC using a fused feature set, and the weighted voting scheme. The fused feature set was obtained after appropriate feature selection applied to specific subsets of the original feature set. The comparative assessment of the various CAD architectures shows that combining three types of classifiers with a voting scheme, fed with identical feature sets obtained after appropriate feature selection and fusion, may result in an accurate system able to assist differential diagnosis of focal liver lesions from non-enhanced CT images.

Quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe sample preparation approach for pesticide residue analysis using traditional detectors in chromatography: A review.

PubMed

Rahman, Md Musfiqur; Abd El-Aty, A M; Kim, Sung-Woo; Shin, Sung Chul; Shin, Ho-Chul; Shim, Jae-Han

2017-01-01

In pesticide residue analysis, relatively low-sensitivity traditional detectors, such as UV, diode array, electron-capture, flame photometric, and nitrogen-phosphorus detectors, have been used following classical sample preparation (liquid-liquid extraction and open glass column cleanup); however, the extraction method is laborious, time-consuming, and requires large volumes of toxic organic solvents. A quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method was introduced in 2003 and coupled with selective and sensitive mass detectors to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks. Compared to traditional detectors, mass spectrometers are still far more expensive and not available in most modestly equipped laboratories, owing to maintenance and cost-related issues. Even available, traditional detectors are still being used for analysis of residues in agricultural commodities. It is widely known that the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method is incompatible with conventional detectors owing to matrix complexity and low sensitivity. Therefore, modifications using column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction instead of dispersive solid-phase extraction for cleanup have been applied in most cases to compensate and enable the adaptation of the extraction method to conventional detectors. In gas chromatography, the matrix enhancement effect of some analytes has been observed, which lowers the limit of detection and, therefore, enables gas chromatography to be compatible with the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction method. For liquid chromatography with a UV detector, a combination of column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction and dispersive solid-phase extraction was found to reduce the matrix interference and increase the sensitivity. A suitable double-layer column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction might be the perfect solution, instead of a time-consuming combination of column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction and dispersive solid-phase extraction. Therefore, replacing dispersive solid-phase extraction with column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction in the cleanup step can make the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction method compatible with traditional detectors for more sensitive, effective, and green analysis. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A novel approach for dimension reduction of microarray.

PubMed

Aziz, Rabia; Verma, C K; Srivastava, Namita

2017-12-01

This paper proposes a new hybrid search technique for feature (gene) selection (FS) using Independent component analysis (ICA) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) called ICA+ABC, to select informative genes based on a Naïve Bayes (NB) algorithm. An important trait of this technique is the optimization of ICA feature vector using ABC. ICA+ABC is a hybrid search algorithm that combines the benefits of extraction approach, to reduce the size of data and wrapper approach, to optimize the reduced feature vectors. This hybrid search technique is facilitated by evaluating the performance of ICA+ABC on six standard gene expression datasets of classification. Extensive experiments were conducted to compare the performance of ICA+ABC with the results obtained from recently published Minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance (mRMR) +ABC algorithm for NB classifier. Also to check the performance that how ICA+ABC works as feature selection with NB classifier, compared the combination of ICA with popular filter techniques and with other similar bio inspired algorithm such as Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The result shows that ICA+ABC has a significant ability to generate small subsets of genes from the ICA feature vector, that significantly improve the classification accuracy of NB classifier compared to other previously suggested methods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of ecologically relevant pharmaceuticals in wastewater and surface water using selective solid phase extraction and UPLC/MS/MS

EPA Science Inventory

A rapid and sensitive method has been developed for the analysis of 48 human prescription active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and 6 metabolites of interest, utilizing selective solid-phase extraction (SPE) and ultra performance liquid chromatography in combination with tripl...

Development of a Simultaneous Extraction and Cleanup Method for Pyrethroid Pesticides from Indoor House Dust Samples

EPA Science Inventory

An efficient and reliable analytical method was developed for the sensitive and selective quantification of pyrethroid pesticides (PYRs) in house dust samples. The method is based on selective pressurized liquid extraction (SPLE) of the dust-bound PYRs into dichloromethane (DCM) wi...

[My humble opinion on teaching of acupoints: discussion on The Channels, Collaterals and Acupoints Science, a national plan teaching material of "the tenth five-year plan"].

PubMed

Hou, Shu-Wei

2008-10-01

Analyze and probe a part of contents in The Channels, Collaterals and Acupoints Science, a national plan teaching material of "the tenth five-year plan", and put forward own opinion on compilation of the teaching materials. Various concepts of acupoints should strive to be strict and terse; location of acupoints should be accurate and conform to clinical practice and reduce errors; the new edition The Channels, Collaterals and Acupoints Science should reasonably select and supplement for extra-ordinary points; increase explanation of the point name, function of acupoints, and association of acupoints; enrich the contents of acupuncture manipulation; reasonably increase and reduce extracts of ancient and modern reports to conform to development of the new age.

Extraction of benzene and cyclohexane using [BMIM][N(CN)2] and their equilibrium modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ismail, Marhaina; Bustam, M. Azmi; Man, Zakaria

2017-12-01

The separation of aromatic compound from aliphatic mixture is one of the essential industrial processes for an economically green process. In order to determine the separation efficiency of ionic liquid (IL) as a solvent in the separation, the ternary diagram of liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide [BMIM][N(CN)2] with benzene and cyclohexane was studied at T=298.15 K and atmospheric pressure. The solute distribution coefficient and solvent selectivity derived from the equilibrium data were used to evaluate if the selected ionic liquid can be considered as potential solvent for the separation of benzene from cyclohexane. The experimental tie line data was correlated using non-random two liquid model (NRTL) and Margules model. It was found that the solute distribution coefficient is (0.4430-0.0776) and selectivity of [BMIM][N(CN)2] for benzene is (53.6-13.9). The ternary diagram showed that the selected IL can perform the separation of benzene and cyclohexane as it has extractive capacity and selectivity. Therefore, [BMIM][N(CN)2] can be considered as a potential extracting solvent for the LLE of benzene and cyclohexane.

[Selective removal of tannins from Polygonum cuspidatum extracts using collagen fiber adsorbent].

PubMed

Li, Juan; Liao, Xuepin; Shu, Xingxu; Shi, Bi

2010-03-01

To investigate the selective removal of tannins from Polygonum cuspidatum extracts by using collagen fiber adsorbent, and to evaluate the adsorption and desorption performances of collagen fiber adsorbent to tannins. The adsorbent was prepared from bovine skin collagen fiber through crosslinking reaction of glutaraldehyde, and then used for the selective removal of tannins from P. cuspidatum extracts. Gelatin-turbidity method, gelatin-ultraviolet spectrometry method and HPLC were used for detection of tannins in the solutions. Ethanol-water solutions with varying concentration were used to test their desorption ability of tannins in order to choose proper desorption solution. On the basis of batch experimental results, the column adsorption and desorption tests were carried out, by using gelatin-turbidity method for detection of tannins. The collagen fiber adsorbent exhibited excellent adsorption selectivity to tannins. It was found that tannins of P. cuspidatum were completely removed, while nearly no adsorption of active components (resveratrol as representative) was found. Moreover, the collagen fiber adsorbent could be regenerated by using 30% ethanol-water solution and then reused. The collagen fiber adsorbent can be considered as a promising material for selective removal of tannins from P. cuspidatum extracts.

Cocoa extracts reduce oligomerization of amyloid-β: implications for cognitive improvement in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Wang, Jun; Varghese, Merina; Ono, Kenjiro; Yamada, Masahito; Levine, Samara; Tzavaras, Nikos; Gong, Bing; Hurst, William J; Blitzer, Robert D; Pasinetti, Giulio Maria

2014-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by pathological aggregates of amyloid peptide-β (Aβ) and tau protein. Currently available therapies mediate AD symptoms without modifying disease progression. Polyphenol-rich diets are reported to reduce the risk for AD. In the present study, we investigated the AD disease-modifying effects of cocoa, a rich source of flavanols, which are a class of polyphenols. We hypothesized that cocoa extracts interfere with amyloid-β oligomerization to prevent synaptic deficits. We tested the effects of three different cocoa extracts, viz. Natural, Dutched, and Lavado extracts, on Aβ42 and Aβ40 oligomerization, using photo-induced cross-linking of unmodified proteins technique. To assess the effects of cocoa extracts on synaptic function, we measured long term potentiation in mouse brain hippocampal slices exposed to oligomeric Aβ. Our results indicate that cocoa extracts are effective in preventing the oligomerization of Aβ, with Lavado extract being most effective. Lavado extract, but not Dutched extract, was effective in restoring the long term potentiation response reduced by oligomeric Aβ. Our findings indicate that cocoa extracts have multiple disease-modifying properties in AD and present a promising route of therapeutic and/or preventative initiatives.

Comparative evaluation of different extracts of leaves of Psidium guajava Linn. for hepatoprotective activity.

PubMed

Roy, Chanchal K; Das, Amit Kumar

2010-01-01

The study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of different extracts (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and aqueous) of P. guajava in acute experimental liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride and paracetamol. The effects observed were compared with a known hepatoprotective agent, silymarin (100 mg/kg p.o.). In the acute liver damage induced by different hepatotoxins, P. guajava methanolic leaf extract (200 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly reduced the elevated serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin in carbon tetrachloride and paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity. P. guajava ethyl acetate leaf extract (200 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly reduced the elevated serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and bilirubin in carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity whereas P. guajava aqueous leaf extract (200 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly reduced the elevated serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase and bilirubin in carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity. P. guajava ethyl acetate and aqueous leaf extracts (200 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly reduced the elevated serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase in paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity. Histological examination of the liver tissues supported the hepatoprotection. It is concluded that the methanolic extract of leaves of Psidium guajava plant possesses better hepatoprotective activity compared to other extracts.