α-Glucosidase, α-amylase inhibition kinetics,in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion,and apoptosis inducing abilities of Ficus microcarpa L. f. and Ficus racemosa L. fruit polysaccharides

Food Science and Biotechnology - A rich source of nutrients, figs have a number of clinically validated benefits. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion, and...     

On the Asaithambi-Zuhe-Moore algorithm for computing the range of values

Asaithambi, Zuhe, and Moore (Computing 28, 225–237, 1982) presented an algorithm to find good upper and lower bounds on the range of values of a function of several variables on an n- dimensional rectangle. Unfortunately, the algorithm presented there contains some errors. In this paper, we point out these errors, show how they may be corrected, and suggest improvements of the algorithm.     

Host Plant Constancy in Ovipositing Manduca sexta

Journal of Chemical Ecology - Many pollinating insects exhibit flower constancy, i.e. they target flower species they have already experienced and fed from. While the insects might profit from...     

Prognostics of machine condition using soft computing

This paper presents a system for monitoring and prognostics of machine conditions using soft computing (SC) techniques. The machine condition is assessed through a suitable ‘monitoring index’ extracted from the vibration signals. The progression of the monitoring index is predicted using an SC technique, namely adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Comparison with a machine learning method, namely support vector regression (SVR), is also presented. The proposed prediction procedures have been evaluated through benchmark data sets. The prognostic effectiveness of the techniques has been illustrated through previously published data on several types of faults in machines. The performance of SVR was found to be better than ANFIS for the data sets used. The results are helpful in understanding the relationship of machine conditions, the corresponding indicating features, the level of damage/degradation and their progression.     

Optical detection of CA 15.3 breast cancer antigen using CdS quantum dot

The present study focus on optical sensing of breast cancer antigen 15.3 (CA 15.3) using cadmium sulphide quantum dot (CdS‐QD) in saline and serum samples spiked with antigen. The surface of CdS‐QD was modified by cysteamine capping followed by tagging of CA 15.3 antibody. The samples were characterised using UV‐visible absorption spectroscopy (UV‐VIS Spectroscopy), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) attached with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, phase contrast inverted epi‐fluorescence microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectrophotometry (EDS). The CdS‐QD showed a mean diameter of 3.02 ± 0.6 nm. The complex formed after antigen‐antibody interaction resulted in distinguishable optical and fluorescence intensity with respect to varying concentration of antigen. The PL study revealed that CA 15.3 antibody labelled CdS QD can detect CA 15.3 tumour marker even at very low concentration of 0.002 KU/L with a constant response time of 15 min. This study clearly indicates that detection of CA 15.3 at low concentration is possible using surface modified CdS QD in serum samples and can find immense applications in biosensor development for detection of breast cancer marker similar to various automated detection kits available in market.Inspec keywords: semiconductor quantum dots, cadmium compounds, II‐VI semiconductors, wide band gap semiconductors, cancer, tumours, optical sensors, biosensors, biomedical equipment, visible spectra, ultraviolet spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectra, transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray chemical analysis, fluorescence, optical microscopy, photoluminescence, proteins, molecular biophysics, nanosensors, nanomedicine, nanoparticlesOther keywords: optical detection, CA 15.3 breast cancer antigen, optical sensing, cadmium sulphide quantum dot, saline samples, serum samples, cysteamine capping, CA 15.3 antibody, UV‐visible absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, phase contrast inverted epifluorescence microscopy, photoluminescence spectrophotometry, antigen‐antibody interaction, fluorescence intensity, optical intensity, CA 15.3 tumour marker, surface modified CdS QD, biosensor development, time 15 min, CdS     

Simultaneous automated design of structured QFT controller and prefilter using nonlinear programming

This paper describes a nonlinear programming‐based robust design methodology for controllers and prefilters of a predefined structure for the linear time‐invariant systems involved in the quantitative feedback theory. This controller and prefilter synthesis problem is formulated as a single optimization problem with a given performance optimization objective and constraints enforcing stability and various specifications usually enforced in the quantitative feedback theory. The focus is set on providing constraints expression that can be used in standard nonlinear programming solvers. The nonlinear solver then computes in a single‐step controller and prefilter design parameters that satisfy the prescribed constraints and maximizes the performance optimization objective. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a variety of difficult design cases like resonant plants, open‐loop unstable plants, and plants with variation in the time delay. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antioxidant capacity and phenolic content of different solvent extracts from banana (Musa paradisiaca) and mustai (Rivea hypocrateriformis)

In the present study, chloroform, acetone, and methanol extracts from stem and flower of banana (Musa paradisiaca) and leaves, stem, and flowers of mustai (Rivea hypocrateriformis) were evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant activity using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH^•), 2,2′azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS^•+), iron chelation, and antihemolytic activity. Among the solvents used, methanol gave the maximum yield in banana, whereas in night glory acetone was reported to having higher extractive value. The total phenolic content was also higher in these extracts. The antioxidant potential of the extracts was well established with their DPPH^• and ABTS^•+ radical scavenging activities and ferric reducing antioxidant capacity. The potential of multiple antioxidant activity of samples can be further evidenced by inhibition of reactive oxygen mediated erythrocyte cell lysis and metal ion chelating activity. However, this is the first report on the antioxidant property of mustai and this plant is having excellent antioxidant potential over banana. In conclusion, the results implied that the leaves, stem, and flowers of banana, and mustai could be considered as health supplements and nutraceuticals/functional foods.     

Limit cycle computation for describing function approximable nonlinear systems with box‐constrained parametric uncertainties

We propose an algorithm to compute the limit cycle set of uncertain non‐rational nonlinear systems with nonlinear parametric dependencies. The proposed algorithm computes the limit cycles for a wide class of uncertain nonlinear systems, where the transfer function of the linear element and describing function of the nonlinear element need to be only continuous with respect to the parameters and continuously differentiable with respect to the amplitude and frequency of periodic input signal. The proposed algorithm guarantees that the limit cycles are reliably computed to a prescribed accuracy, and that none of the actual limit cycle point is missed out irrespective of the tightness of the prescribed accuracy. Moreover, for a prescribed accuracy, the proposed algorithm computes all the limit cycles in a finite number of iterations, and an upper bound for this number is also computable. The algorithm is demonstrated on a challenging non‐rational example with nonlinear parametric dependencies. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis of Robustly Stabilizing General Order Compensators for Interval Plants Using Interval Analysis

Interval analysis is applied to synthesize a general order compensator that robustly stabilizes an interval plant. The application procedure gives a systematic way to reduce the design conservatism at each stage of the design process. An illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the procedure.     

Reliable Computation of Frequency Response Plots for Nonrational Transfer Functions to Prescribed Accuracy

We propose algorithms to compute the well known Bode, Nyquist, and Nichols frequency response plots for nonrational transfer functions. The proposed algorithms are very widely applicable—the magnitude and phase functions need to be only bounded and continuous in frequency. The proposed algorithms guarantee that the magnitude and phase plots are reliably computed to a prescribed accuracy, in a finite number of iterations. Through several practical nonrational examples, we demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm over the widely used routines in MATLAB's control system toolbox and over the conventional gridding method.