Nanoparticle-Aided Detection of Colorectal Cancer-Associated Glycoconjugates of Extracellular Vesicles in Human Serum

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are found in all biological fluids, providing potential for the identification of disease biomarkers such as colorectal cancer (CRC). EVs are heavily glycosylated with specific glycoconjugates such as tetraspanins, integrins, and mucins, reflecting the characteristics of the original cell offering valuable targets for detection of CRC. We report here on europium-nanoparticle (EuNP)-based assay to detect and characterize different surface glycoconjugates of EVs without extensive purification steps from five different CRC and the HEK 293 cell lines. The promising EVs candidates from cell culture were clinically evaluated on small panel of serum samples including early-stage (n = 11) and late-stage (n = 11) CRC patients, benign condition (n = 11), and healthy control (n = 10). The majority of CRC cell lines expressed tetraspanin sub-population and glycovariants of integrins and conventional tumor markers. The subpopulation of CD151 having CD63 expression (CD151^CD63) was significantly (p = 0.001) elevated in early-stage CRC (8 out of 11) without detecting any benign and late-stage samples, while conventional CEA detected mostly late-stage CRC (p = 0.045) and with only four early-stage cases. The other glycovariant assays such as CEA^Con-A, CA125^WGA, CA 19.9^Ma696, and CA 19.9^Con-A further provided some complementation to the CD151^CD63 assay. These results indicate the potential application of CD151^CD63 assay for early detection of CRC patients in human serum.     

Fuel economy of multigrade gear lubricants

A light‐duty axle efficiency test for evaluating gear lubricants for their fuel economy performance is described. Data collected for an internal reference oil highlight the repeatability of the test with different axles. Comparisons between single‐grade SAE 90 and multigrade gear lubricants were made under a variety of pinion torques and speeds to simulate highway and city driving conditions. Lubricant rheology and its importance in maintaining film strength for adequate bearing and gear lubrication for optimum torque efficiency and axle temperature are discussed.     

Glass fiber‐reinforced composites of diglycidyl ether of 2,7‐dihydroxy naphthalene

The curing reactions of epoxy resin diglycidyl ether of 2,7‐dihydroxy naphthalene (DGEDHN) with different aliphatic and aromatic amines have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The thermal stability of the cured products was also studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Using these data, different glass fiber‐reinforced composites were fabricated, and their mechanical, electrical properties and resistance to chemicals were studied. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 75: 1345–1349, 2000     

Comparative Analysis of Coding and Non-Coding Features within Insect Tolerance Loci in Wheat with Their Homologs in Cereal Genomes

Food insecurity and malnutrition have reached critical levels with increased human population, climate fluctuations, water shortage; therefore, higher-yielding crops are in the spotlight of numerous studies. Abiotic factors affect the yield of staple food crops; among all, wheat stem sawfly (Cephus cinctus Norton) and orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana) are two of the most economically and agronomically harmful insect pests which cause yield loss in cereals, especially in wheat in North America. There is no effective strategy for suppressing this pest damage yet, and only the plants with intrinsic tolerance mechanisms such as solid stem phenotypes for WSS and antixenosis and/or antibiosis mechanisms for OWBM can limit damage. A major QTL and a causal gene for WSS resistance were previously identified in wheat, and 3 major QTLs and a causal gene for OWBM resistance. Here, we present a comparative analysis of coding and non-coding features of these loci of wheat across important cereal crops, barley, rye, oat, and rice. This research paves the way for our cloning and editing of additional WSS and OWBM tolerance gene(s), proteins, and metabolites.     

Multi‐carrier platform for wireless communications. Part 2: OFDM and MC‐CDMA systems with high‐performance,high‐throughput via innovations in spreading

Multi‐carrier technologies in general, and OFDM and MC‐CDMA in particular, are an integral part of the wireless landscape. In this second part of a two‐part survey, the authors present an innovative set of spreading codes known as CI codes, and demonstrate how these significantly increase performance and capacity in OFDM and MC‐CDMA systems, all the while eliminating PAPR concerns. Regarding OFDM: the spreading of each symbol over all N carriers using CI spreading codes (replacing the current one symbol per carrier strategy) are presented. CI codes are ideally suited for spreading OFDM since, when compared to traditional OFDM, CI‐based OFDM systems achieve the performance of coded OFDM (COFDM) while maintaining the throughput of uncoded OFDM, and, at the same time, eliminate PAPR concerns. When applied to MC‐CDMA, CI codes provide a simple means of supporting 2N users on N carriers while maintaining the performance of an N‐user Hadamard Walsh code MC‐CDMA system, i.e., CI codes double MC‐CDMA network capacity without loss in performance. The CI codes used in OFDM and MC‐CDMA systems are directly related to the CI pulse (chip) shapes used to enhance TDMA and DS‐CDMA (see part 1): hence, the CI approach provides a common hardware platform for today's multi‐carrier/multiple‐access technologies, enabling software radio applications. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studies on the curing kinetics and thermal stability of the novel tetrafunctional epoxy resin N,N,N′N′-tetrakis(2,3-epoxypropyl)-4,4′-(1,4-phenylenedioxy)dianiline

A novel tetrafunctional epoxy resin, namely N,N,N′N′-tetrakis(2,3-epoxypropyl)-4,4′-(1,4-phenylenedioxy)dianiline, has been synthesized. The curing kinetics has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) using various amine curing agents. Thermal stabilities of the cured products have been investigated by thermogravimetric (TG) analyses. The overall activation energies for the curing reactions are observed to be in the range 63.6–196.7 kJ·mol^–1. The cured products have good thermal stability.     

Run-to-run control of blood glucose concentrations for people with Type 1 diabetes mellitus

Run-to-run control has been applied to several traditional batch processes in the chemical industry. The 24-h cycle of eating meals, measuring blood glucose concentrations, and delivering the correct insulin bolus, with the goal of achieving the optimal blood glucose profile, can be viewed in the same spirit as traditional batch processes such as emulsion polymerization. In this paper, we aim to exploit the "repetitive" nature of the insulin therapy of people with Type 1 diabetes. A run-to-run algorithm is used on a virtual diabetic patient model to control blood glucose concentrations. The insulin input is parameterized into the timing and amount of the dose while the glucose output is parameterized into the maximum and minimum glucose concentrations. Robustness of the algorithm to variations in the meal amount, meal timing, and insulin sensitivity parameter is addressed. In general, the algorithm is able to converge when the meal timing is varied within +/- 40 min. If the meal size is underestimated by approximately 10 grams (g), the algorithm is able to converge within a reasonable time frame for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If the meal size is overestimated by 20-25 g, the algorithm is able to converge. When random variations in the meal timing and the meal amount are introduced, the variation on the output variables, Gmax and Gmin, scales according to the amount of variation allowed. Along with this, the insulin sensitivity of the virtual patient model is varied. The algorithm is robust for differences in insulin sensitivity less than +/- 50% of the nominal value.     

Investigations on the Behavior of HVOF and Cold Sprayed Ni-20Cr Coating on T22 Boiler Steel in Actual Boiler Environment

High temperature corrosion accompanied by erosion is a severe problem, which may result in premature failure of the boiler tubes. One countermeasure to overcome this problem is the use of thermal spray protective coatings. In the current investigation high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) and cold spray processes have been used to deposit commercial Ni-20Cr powder on T22 boiler steel. To evaluate the performance of the coatings in actual conditions the bare as well as the coated steels were subjected to cyclic exposures, in the superheater zone of a coal fired boiler for 15 cycles. The weight change and thickness loss data were used to establish kinetics of the erosion-corrosion. X-ray diffraction, surface and cross-sectional field emission scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive spectroscopy (FE-SEM/EDS) and x-ray mapping techniques were used to analyse the as-sprayed and corroded specimens. The HVOF sprayed coating performed better than its cold sprayed counterpart in actual boiler environment.     

Magnetic and Charge-Ordering Properties of Bi0.2?x Pr x Ca0.8MnO3 (0.0=x=0.20) Perovskite Manganite

We have studied structure, magnetic and transport properties of polycrystalline samples synthesized with nominal compositions Bi_0.2?x Pr _x Ca_0.8MnO₃ (x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12, 0.16 and 0.20) via a solid-state reaction route. Magnetic measurements show that substitution of Pr at Bi site strongly affect the magnetic and charge-ordering properties. It has been found that the charge-ordering temperature (T _CO) decreases with increasing x up to x=0.12 and then after it increases with x up to x=0.20. A spin glass (SG) state has been observed at ??105 K in all the samples. Pr doping also leads to enhancement in the magnetic moment up to x=0.12 and then after a decrease in magnetic moment up to x=0.20. A concomitant increase in resistivity up to x=0.04 and then decrease in resistivity up to x=0.20 is also observed. We propose that the local lattice distortion induced by the size mismatch between the A-site cations and 6s² character of Bi³⁺ lone pair electron are responsible for the observed variation in the physical properties with doping content of Pr.     

Performance projection of graphene nanomesh and nanoroad transistors

We examine the performance limits of field-effect transistors (FETs) with chemically modified graphene as the channel materials. Graphene nanoroad (XNR) and graphene nanomesh (XNM) can be created through selective chemical modification by an X adsorbate (either H or F) on graphene, which generates a bandgap while conserving the continuous two-dimensional (2D) atomistic layer. We adopt a ballistic transistor model, where the band structures were calculated using ab initio simulations to assess the performance of graphene nanoroad and nanomesh transistors. It is shown that arrays of graphene nanoroads, defined by hydrogenation or fluorination of atomically narrow dimer lines in a 2D graphene, are most ideal for transistor channel materials in terms of delivering a large ON-current, and significantly outperform Si metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). Alternatively, comparable performance to silicon can be achieved by careful design of a graphene nanomesh through patterned hydrogenation or fluorination. Both hydrogenation and fluorination lead to similar transistor performance, with fluorination more preferred in terms of chemical energetics.