Protoplast from <Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-carotene-producing fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Blakeslea trispora</Emphasis>: Preparation,regeneration and validation

The effects of key parameters on the preparation and regeneration of protoplast from the β-carotene-producing fungus Blakeslea trispora were discussed in this paper, including the combination of various enzymes, mycelial age, digesting time and temperature, pH value, osmotic stabilizers, pretreatment, culture medium and culture method. Under the condition of mixed enzymes in osmotic stabilizer (0.6 M NaCl) combined with 2% lysozyme, 3% cellulase and 3% snailase, the highest protoplast yield, as high as 7.48×106 protoplasts/mL, was obtained when mycelial age was 60 h at pH 5.0–6.0 with digesting for 14–16 h at 28 °C. After purification of the obtained protoplasts, they were regenerated in PDA regenerative medium using bilayer plate culture method. To validate the usability of the protoplasts, a novel plasmid with green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used in transformation for easy visual observation. The results showed that the protoplasts prepared by the optimized method were active and applicable in further gene manipulation experiments. This work was presented at 13 ^th YABEC symposium held at Seoul, Korea, October 20–22, 2007.     

Onset of buoyancy-driven convection in melting from below

When a horizontal homogeneous solid is melted from below, convection can be induced in a thermally unstable melt layer. In this study the onset of buoyancy-driven convection during time-dependent melting is investigated by using similarly transformed disturbance equations. The critical Rayleigh numbers based on the melt-layer thickness are found numerically for various conditions. For small superheats, the present predictions approach the well known results of classical Rayleigh-Bénard problems, that is, critical Rayleigh numbers are located between 1,296 and 1,708, regardless of the Prandtl number. However, for high superheats the critical Rayleigh number increases with an increase in phase change rate but with decrease in Prandtl number.     

Characteristics of Milk Powders Produced by Spray Freeze Drying

Skim and whole milk powders were manufactured at lab scale by spray freeze drying (SFD), using liquid nitrogen as the cryogen. The polydispersity of droplet/particle sizes was limited using an encapsulator nozzle to atomize the feed. Particle morphology was examined using a scanning electron microscope. Samples were compared with equivalent spray-dried powders in tests of wettability and dissolution in water. The spray freeze-dried powders were found to be highly porous, with a uniform structure of pores throughout the entire particles. When tested in water, SFD skim milk powders wetted roughly three times as fast as industrially spray-dried agglomerated skim milk powders and were observed to dissolve rapidly by breaking down into smaller particles.     

To treat or not to treat: comparison of different criteria used to determine whether weight loss is to be recommended

Background  

Excess body fat is a major risk factor for disease primarily due to its endocrine activity. In recent years several criteria have been introduced to evaluate this factor. Nevertheless, treatment need is currently assessed only on the basis of an individual's Body Mass Index (BMI), calculated as body weight (in kg) divided by height in m². The aim of our study was to determine whether application of the BMI, compared to adiposity-based criteria, results in underestimation of the number of subjects needing lifestyle intervention.     

Ionothermal synthesis of a three-dimensional zinc phosphate with DFT topology using unstable deep-eutectic solvent as template-delivery agent

A three-dimensional zinc phosphate compound with DFT topology, designated as ZnPO₄-EU1, has been synthesized by an ionothermal approach from the system HF-ZnO–P₂O₅-choline chloride-imidazolidone. Ethylenediamine, derived from decomposition of the imidazolidone component of the deep-eutectic solvent (DES) itself, is delivered to the synthesis and serves as an appropriate template for ZnPO₄-EU1. Experiments in which the synthesis conditions were varied showed that ZnPO₄-EU1 may be prepared over a wide molar ratio of P/Zn = 0.55–13.0. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns have been obtained at intervals to track the crystallization process of this material. The experimental data show that Zn₃(PO₄)₂ · 4H₂O (a dense phase) was first isolated from the DES after reaction for 1 h. Subsequently, the pure phase of ZnPO₄-EU1 was obtained with increasing crystallization time from 12 h to 72 h. The experimental results show that the nucleation and crystallization take place with relatively low levels of solvent degradation, demonstrating that zinc phosphate with a three-dimensional framework can be synthesized by in situ generation of an appropriate template using an unstable DES at high temperatures (150–200 °C).     

The relationship between bioelectrical impedance phase angle and subjective global assessment in advanced colorectal cancer

Background  

Bioelectrical Impedance (BIA) derived phase angle is increasingly being used as an objective indicator of nutritional status in advanced cancer. Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) is a subjective method of nutritional status. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between BIA derived phase angle and SGA in advanced colorectal cancer.     

Joint Measurements on Qubits and Cloning of Observables

Cloning of observables, unlike standard cloning of states, aims at copying the information encoded in the statistics of a class of observables rather then on quantum states themselves. In such a process the emphasis is on the quantum operation (evolution plus measurement) necessary to retrieve the original information. We analyze, for qubit systems, the cloning of a class generated by two noncommuting observables, elucidating the relationship between such a process and joint measurements. This helps in establishing an optimality criterion for cloning of observables. We see that, even if the cloning machine is designed to act on the whole class generated by two noncommuting observables, the same optimal performances of a joint measurement can be attained. Finally, the connection with state dependent cloning is enlightened.     

Semantische Informationsextraktion in medizinischen Informationssystemen

Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel beschreibt einige Erfahrungen und typische Problemstellungen mit Textmining in der Medizin und gibt einen Einblick in aktuelle und zukünftige Herausforderungen in Forschung & Entwicklung. Interessant ist n?mlich, dass auch im ,,Multimedia-Zeitalter“ die meiste Information immer noch als ,,Text“ vorliegt. Mithilfe von statistischen und linguistischen Verfahren wird mit sogenannter ,,Textmining-Software“ versucht, aus Freitexten Information ,,heraus zu schürfen“ (deshalb ,,Textmining“). Allerdings ist es damit noch nicht genug. Der n?chste Schritt besteht darin, die Information sowohl nutzbar als auch brauchbar zu machen. Die jeweiligen End-Benutzerinnen und End-Benutzer müssen in die Lage versetzt werden, auf der Basis der gewonnenen Information deren Wissen zu erweitern. In unserem konkreten Fall sollen damit Entscheidungen im Rahmen ?rztlichen Handelns unterstützt werden. Probleml?sungen in diesem Bereich erfordern eine holistische Sicht- und Herangehensweise. Daher wird es immer wichtiger, Erkenntnisse aus Informatik und Psychologie zusammenflie?en zu lassen und auf systemischer Ebene technologisch umzusetzen.     

Synthesis and Characterizations of Triphenylamine End-Functionalized Polymers via Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization

A novel reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) reagent bearing triphenylamine (TPA) group, 4-diphenylamino-dithiobenzoic acid benzyl ester (DDABE), was designed and synthesized. It was used in the RAFT polymerizations of styrene (St) and methyl acrylate (MA) to prepare end-functionalized polymers. The results of the polymerization showed that the RAFT polymerizations could be well controlled using DDABE as the RAFT agent. Number-average molecular weight (M_n,GPC) increased linearly with monomer conversion, and molecular weight distributions were relatively narrow (PDI< 1.50). The results of chain-extension reaction, ¹H NMR spectra and UV/Vis spectra confirmed that most of the polymers chains were end-capped by the functional triphenylamine (TPA) groups. The effect of feed molar ratios of St/DDABE/AIBN on polymerization was investigated.     

Efficient allylation of cellulose in dimethyl sulfoxide/tetrabutylammonium fluoride trihydrate

The cellulose solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)/tetrabutylammonium fluoride trihydrate (TBAF) was successfully applied as reaction medium for the synthesis of allyl cellulose by conversion of the polymer with allyl chloride in the presence of solid NaOH. Samples with degree of substitution from 0.50 to 2.98 were accessible by varying the molar ratio anhydroglucose unit:allyl chloride:NaOH and reaction time. DMSO/TBAF was found to be an efficient reaction medium for the preparation of highly functionalized samples from spruce sulfite pulp with degree of polymerization of about 500 even in a scale of 50 g. The allyl cellulose samples were characterized by means of FTIR- and NMR spectroscopy. Size exclusion chromatography revealed negligible polymer degradation during synthesis and purification of the samples.