Mining statistically significant associations for exploratory analysis of human sleep data.

We introduce a specialized association rule mining technique that can extract patterns from complex sleep data comprising polysomnographic recordings, clinical summaries, and sleep questionnaire responses. The rules mined can describe associations among temporally annotated events and questionnaire or summary data; e.g., the likelihood that an occurrence of a rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage during the second 100 sleep epochs of the night is associated with moderate caffeine intake. We use chi2 analysis to ensure statistical significance of the mined rules at the level P < 0.05. Our results, obtained by mining sleep-related data from 242 human subjects, reveal clinically interesting associations among the polysomnographic and summary variables. Our experience suggests that association mining may also be useful for selection of variables prior to using logistic regression.     

Liposomal hamycin in the control of experimental aspergillosis in mice: effect of phosphatidic acid with and without cholesterol

Hamycin incorporated into liposomes containing phosphatidylcholine (SPC) and phosphatidic acid (PA) had reduced toxicity and an enhanced antifungal activity in experimental aspergillosis in balb/c mice. Incorporation of cholesterol into liposomes led to a dose dependent decrease in the toxicity of hamycin. The LD50 (mg/kg) of hamycin contained in SPC/cholesterol/PA (molar ratio 4:5:1) liposomes was 2.8 whereas that in SPC/PA liposomes (molar ratio 9:1) was 0.35. Although the free drug had little or no protective effect on the animals, those administered liposomal hamycin at an equivalent dose (0.1 mg/kg) in the absence of cholesterol (SPC/PA; molar ratio 9:1) showed 90% survival after seven days of therapy. On the other hand the presence of cholesterol in the carrier phosphatidic acid liposomes (SPC/cholesterol/PA; molar ratio 4:5:1) at a similar dose (0.1 mg/kg) led to a 60% survival over the same time period. Hamycin incorporation in phosphatidic acid liposomes both in the presence or absence of cholesterol was found to be effective in reducing the fungal load in lung, liver, spleen and kidney. Studies with distribution of hamycin in various tissues by HPLC showed a significant reduction in the concentration of the liposomal drug in circulation as compared to those seem after administration of free drug.     

Editorial for the 30th anniversary special issue

Applied Intelligence -     

Utilization of carbon derived from mustard oil cake (CMOC) for the removal of bivalent metal ions: Effect of anionic surfactant on the removal and recovery

Effect of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the adsorption of Zn(II) and Ni(II) on CMOC was investigated. Addition of SDS favored the adsorption process. Adsorption process was found to be dependent on concentration, pH, dose, contact time and temperature. Thermodynamic studies showed that the process is endothermic and spontaneous. The spontaneity increases with increase in temperature. D–R isotherm suggests that the adsorption is chemical in nature. Kinetics studies showed better applicability of pseudo second order model. Reichenberg equation showed that pore diffusion was not only the rate determining step but some other process like film diffusion was also involved in the adsorption. These metals could be desorbed (75–80%) with 0.1 M HCl as eluent.     

Double hinged articulated tower interaction with wind and waves

Articulated offshore towers are highly flexible against rotation at the hinges and derive their stability by means of inherently large buoyancy forces. The displacement response of such towers is mainly governed by the rigid body mode of vibration which has a very low frequency. Since the fluctuating wind velocity spectrum has high energy content in the low frequency region, therefore, wind induces significant dynamic response of such towers. In this paper, the responses of single and double hinged articulated towers are compared under various ocean environments. A Monte Carlo simulation technique is used to model the random sea environment. The sea state is characterized by Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum while the fluctuating wind has been estimated using Simiu's spectrum for compliant platforms. Iterative time domain solution procedure is adopted to take care of time dependent parameters and nonlinearities. Stochastic response is characterized by statistical quantities and power spectral density functions (PSDF) for various parametric combinations. Studies of wind effects are found to be imperative for double hinged articulated towers to serve and survive in the hostile offshore environment. The response PSDF highlights the wind induced dynamic responses of the towers.     

HEAT TRANSFER IN MULTIPHASE CONTACTORS

A procedure for the prediction of wall-bed heat transfer coefficient for bubble columns and gas-solid fluidized beds is developed on the basis of hydrodynamic behavior of these contactors. A comparison between the predicted and experimental values of heat transfer coefficient over a wide range of design and operating variables is presented. An attempt is made to analyze the occurrence of maxima in heat transfer coefficient with respect to gas velocity in the case of fluidized beds. A procedure for the calculation of the optimum superficial gas velocity is outlined.     

Adsorption of copper from aqueous solution on Brassica cumpestris (mustard oil cake)

The adsorption behavior of various heavy metals on mustard oil cake (MOC) was studied. The maximum adsorption of Cu(II) was observed followed by Zn(II), Cr(VI), Mn(II), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Pb(II). The adsorption of Cu(II) was found to be dependent on initial concentration of solution, pH, adsorbent dose, temperature and contact time. The adsorption followed pseudo-first-order and second-order kinetics but pseudo-second-order kinetic model was better obeyed since experimental data agreed well with theoretical data. Thermodynamic parameters were also evaluated. The adsorption process was found to be endothermic and spontaneous in nature. Attempts were also made to desorb Cu(II) from the adsorbent and regeneration of the spent adsorbent. The breakthrough and exhaustive capacities were found to be 5 and 10 mg g(-1), respectively.     

ADSORPTION OF COBALT ONTO GRAPHITE NANOCARBON–IMPREGNATED ALGINATE BEADS: EQUILIBRIUM,KINETICS, AND THERMODYNAMICS STUDIES

A novel adsorbent was developed impregnating graphite nanocarbon (GNC) into alginate beads (AB) for efficient cobalt (Co(II)) removal from an aqueous solution. Physicochemical and spectroscopic properties of graphite nanocarbon–impregnated alginate beads (ABGNC) were characterized and compared with those of AB. Co(II) adsorption on ABGNC was quantitatively evaluated by determining kinetics and thermodynamics parameters. The Co(II) adsorption capacity onto ABGNC was highest at neutral pH condition. Increasing the temperature from 288 to 318 K resulted in a 2.5-fold higher Co(II) adsorption onto AB, while thermal dependence of Co(II) adsorption on ABGNC was not found. Kinetic studies showed an applicability of the pseudo-second-order kinetic model for both AB and ABGNC. Monolayer adsorption was the dominant mechanism of Co(II) adsorption on both AB and ABGNC. Thermodynamic studies revealed that Co(II) adsorption was an endothermic and spontaneous process. Positive values of entropy indicate randomness in solid/aqueous phases, and mean free energy (E _a ) fits in the range of chemisorption.     

Antimicrobial Ionic Liquid-Based Materials for Biomedical Applications

Excessive and unwarranted administration of antibiotics has invigorated the evolution of multidrug-resistant microbes. There is, therefore, an urgent need for advanced active compounds. Ionic liquids with short-lived ion-pair structures are highly tunable and have diverse applications. Apart from their unique physicochemical features, the newly discovered biological activities of ionic liquids have fascinated biochemists, microbiologists, and medical scientists. In particular, their antimicrobial properties have opened new vistas in overcoming the current challenges associated with combating antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Discussions regarding ionic liquid derivatives in monomeric and polymeric forms with antimicrobial activities are presented here. The antimicrobial mechanism of ionic liquids and parameters that affect their antimicrobial activities, such as chain length, cation/anion type, cation density, and polymerization, are considered. The potential applications of ionic liquids in the biomedical arena, including regenerative medicine, biosensing, and drug/biomolecule delivery, are presented to stimulate the scientific community to further improve the antimicrobial efficacy of ionic liquids.     

Electro‐membrane reactor for the conversion of lysine monohydrochloride to lysine by in situ ion substitution and separation

BACKGROUND: Commercially lysine (Lys) is produced as lysine monohydrochloride (LysCl). The presence of chloride ion (Cl^?) in Lys makes it unfit for use in pharmaceutical and livestock feed industries. Various separation methods are required to achieve Lys from fermentation broths. This paper describes an electro‐membrane reactor with three compartments (EMR‐3) for the conversion of LysCl into Lys by in situ ion substitution and separation. RESULTS: The conversion of LysCl into Lys in EMR‐3 is achieved by in situ ion substitution and separation using organic‐inorganic hybrid anion‐exchange membrane (AEM). It is found that the rate of Lys formation is dependent on applied current densities and LysCl concentration. The 96.2% Lys is recovered and low energy (2.07 kWh kg^?1) is consumed during the conversion of 0.10 mol L^?1 LysCl in EMR‐3 at 10 mA cm^?2. Moreover, high current efficiency (93.02%) is achieved under the similar experimental conditions. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of process parameters (high Lys recovery and CE and low W), it is concluded that the developed electro‐membrane reactor can be efficiently applied for the conversion of LysCl into Lys in an economically viable manner. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry