AN ITERATIVE FILTERING ALGORITHM FOR NON-FOURIER FREQUENCY ESTIMATION

Abstract. We study an iterative filtering method to estimate frequencies of random Gaussian sinusoids in white noise. The method uses higher order crossings and takes advantage of a fixed point to guide the use of bandpass filtering in an attempt effectively to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. At each iteration the expected zero-crossing rate is estimated from independent time series. Convergence occurs with any prespecified probability less than one.     

Using modified soy protein to enhance foaming of egg white protein

BACKGROUND: It is well known that the foaming properties of egg white protein are significantly reduced when a small amount of yolk is mixed in the white. To improve foaming properties of yolk‐contaminated egg white protein, soy protein isolate (SPI) and egg proteins were modified to make basic proteins, and effects of these modified proteins on egg white foaming were evaluated in a model and an angel cake system. RESULTS: SPI and egg yolk proteins were modified to have an isoelectric point of 10, and sonication was used to increase protein dispersibility after the ethyl esterification reaction. However, only the addition of sonicated and modified SPI (SMSPI) showed improvement of foaming in the 5% egg protein model system with 0.4% yolk addition. SMSPI was then used in making angel food cake to examine whether the cake performance reduction due to yolk contamination of the white would be restored by such alkaline protein. Cake performance was improved when cream of tartar was used together with SMSPI. CONCLUSION: Basic soy protein can be made and used to improve egg white foaming properties and cake performance. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Genetic defects and clinical characteristics of patients with a form of oculocutaneous albinism (Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome)

BACKGROUND: Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome is characterized by oculocutaneous albinism, a storage-pool deficiency, and lysosomal accumulation of ceroid lipofuscin, which causes pulmonary fibrosis and granulomatous colitis in some cases. All identified affected patients in northwest Puerto Rico are homozygous for a 16-bp duplication in exon 15 of a recently cloned gene, HPS. We compared the clinical and laboratory characteristics of these patients with those of patients without the 16-bp duplication. METHODS: Forty-nine patients -- 27 Puerto Ricans and 22 patients from the mainland United States who were not of Puerto Rican descent -- were given a diagnosis on the basis of albinism and the absence of platelet dense bodies. We used the polymerase chain reaction to determine which patients carried the 16-bp duplication. RESULTS: Twenty-five of the Puerto Rican patients were homozygous for the 16-bp duplication, whereas none of the non-Puerto Rican patients carried this mutation. Like the patients without the duplication, the patients with the 16-bp duplication had a broad variation in pigmentation. Nine of 16 adults with the duplication, but none of the 10 without it, had a diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide that was less than 80 percent of the predicted value. High-resolution computed tomography in 12 patients with the 16-bp duplication revealed minimal fibrosis in 8, moderate fibrosis in 1, severe fibrosis in 1, and no fibrosis in 2. Computed tomography in eight patients without the duplication revealed minimal fibrosis in three and no fibrosis in the rest. Inflammatory bowel disease developed in eight patients (four in each group) between 3 and 25 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: The 16-bp duplication in exon 15 of HPS, which we found only in Puerto Rican patients, is associated with a broad range of pigmentation and an increased risk of restrictive lung disease in adults.     

Synthesis,Computational Docking Study,and Biological Evaluation of a Library of Heterocyclic Curcuminoids with Remarkable Antitumor Activity

In a continuing search for curcuminoid (CUR) compounds with antitumor activity, a novel series of heterocyclic CUR–BF₂ adducts and CUR compounds based on indole, benzothiophene, and benzofuran along with their aryl pyrazoles were synthesized. Computational docking studies were performed to compare binding efficiency to target proteins involved in specific cancers, namely HER2, proteasome, VEGFR, BRAF, and Bcl‐2, versus known inhibitor drugs. The majority presented very good binding affinities, similar to, and even more favorable than those of known inhibitors. The indole‐based CUR–BF₂ and CUR compounds and their bis‐thiocyanato derivatives exhibited high anti‐proliferative and apoptotic activity by in vitro bioassays against a panel of 60 cancer cell lines, more specifically against multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines (KMS11, MM1.S, and RPMI‐8226) with significantly lower IC₅₀ values versus healthy PBMC cells; they also exhibited higher anti‐proliferative activity in human colorectal cancer cells (HCT116, HT29, DLD‐1, RKO, SW837, and Caco2) than the parent curcumin, while showing notably lower cytotoxicity in normal colon cells (CCD112CoN and CCD841CoN).     

A comparison of one-sided methods to identify significant individual outcomes in a multiple outcome setting: stepwise tests or global tests with closed testing

We compare two approaches to the identification of individual significant outcomes when a comparison of two groups involves multiple outcome variables. The approaches are all designed to control the familywise error rate (FWE) with any subset of the null hypothesis being true (in the strong sense). The first approach is initially to use a global test of the overall hypothesis that the groups are equivalent for all variables, followed by an application of the closed testing algorithm of Marcus, Peritz and Gabriel. The global tests considered here are ordinary least squares (OLS), generalized least squares (GLS), an approximation to a likelihood ratio test (ALR), and a new test based on an approximation to the most powerful similar test for simple alternatives. The second approach is that of stepwise testing, which tests the univariate hypotheses in a specific order with appropriate adjustment to the univariate p-values for multiplicity. The stepwise tests considered include both step-down and step-up tests of a general type, and likewise permutation tests that incorporate the dependence structure of the data. We illustrate the tests with two examples of birth outcomes: a comparison of cocaine-exposed new-borns to control new-borns on neurobehavioural and physical growth variables, and, in a separate study, a comparison of babies born to diabetic mothers and babies born to non-diabetic mothers on minor malformations. After describing the methods and analysing the birth outcome data, we use simulations on Gaussian data to provide guidelines for the use of these procedures in terms of power and computation.     

Optimally achieving milk bulk tank somatic cell count thresholds

High somatic cell count in milk leads to reduced shelf life in fluid milk and lower processed yields in manufactured dairy products. As a result, farmers are often penalized for high bulk tank somatic cell count or paid a premium for low bulk tank somatic cell count. Many countries also require all milk from a farm to be lower than a specified regulated somatic cell count. Thus, farms often cull cows that have high somatic cell count to meet somatic cell count thresholds. Rather than naïvely cull the highest somatic cell count cows, a mathematical programming model was developed that determines the cows to be culled from the herd by maximizing the net present value of the herd, subject to meeting any specified bulk tank somatic cell count level. The model was applied to test-day cows on 2 New York State dairy farms. Results showed that the net present value of the herd was increased by using the model to meet the somatic cell count restriction compared with naïvely culling the highest somatic cell count cows. Implementation of the model would be straightforward in dairy management decision software.