A novel method for mapping assembled epitopes in batches: Identification of three epitopes at the receptor binding region of human chorionic gonadotropin

Identification of conformation-specific epitopes of hCG beta has been done using a simple batch method, Chemically or enzymatically-modified hCG beta has been prepared in a batch and the effect of modifications on the integrity of different epitope regions has been investigated in a quantitative manner using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) immobilized on plastic tubes from culture supernatants. Based on the extent of damage done to different regions by different modifications, three conformation-specific epitopes of hCG beta have been identified. The method has been shown to have important advantages over the existing methods on many considerations, Using this approach, these epitopes have been shown to be at/near the receptor-binding region.

A simple method for the preparation of plasma-sprayable powders based on ZrO2

Plasma-sprayable powders of calcia, magnesia and yttria-stabilized zirconia have been prepared by using polyvinyl alcohol binders. The powders have been characterized for sprayability by spray coating on steer plates previously coated with an NiAl bond coat. The suitability of these coatings for thermal barrier applications have been examined. Thermal barrier and related properties, along with phase stability and mechanical properties, have been found to be good. Failure of the thermal barrier coating has been observed to occur at the interface between the bond coat and the substrate, due to the formation of a pile-up layer consisting of Fe-Zr-Al-O compound.

Lipid conformational nomenclature: a general method

We propose a conformational nomenclature for amphiphilic lipid molecules that is general and compatible with the stereospecific numbering scheme, in contrast to earlier methods in which discrepancies with the sn-scheme lead to contradictory assignments of the absolute configuration of the system. The present method can be rationally extended to different classes of lipids, both natural and synthetic. It is simple and provides a convenient framework for conformational studies on widely varying classes of lipids.

Centrifugal pump transient characteristics and analysis using the method of characteristics

A theoretical and experimental study has been carried out on the transient characteristics of a centrifugal pump during starting and stopping periods. Experiments have been conducted on a volute pump with different valve openings to study the dynamic behaviour of the pump during normal start up and stopping, when a small length of discharge pipe line is connected to discharge flange of the pump. Similar experiments have also been conducted when the test pump was part of a hydraulic system to study the system effect on the transient characteristics. Instantaneous rotational speed, flowrate, and delivery and suction pressures of the pump are recorded and it is observed in ail the tested cases that the change of pump behaviour during the transient period is quasi-steady. The dynamic characteristics of the pump have been analysed by a numerical model using the method of characteristics. The model is presented and the results are compared with the experimental data. As the model contains speed acceleration and unsteady discharge terms, the model can be applied for analyses of purely unsteady cases where the pump dynamic characteristics show considerable departure from their steady-state characteristics.

Characterization of cast irons for optimum performance by overall rating method

An experimental investigation was carried out to Characterise the performance of four types of cast iron under adhesive wear, erosive wear, cavitation erosion and low frequency thermal cycling. Results indicate that vermicular graphite iron has the best rating among the cast irons investigate,based on the overall performance as well as cost consideration.

Multifractal analysis, a method to investigate the morphology of materials

Using the multifractal formalism, we discuss the results obtained to characterized the morphology of polymer alloys and granular discontinuous metallic thin films. In the first case we have found a correlation between the multifractality and the mechanical properties of the alloys. In the second case, we have found that it is possible to measure the differences between the morphology of thin films induced by a growth process on a subtrate and that of percolation clusters of the classical theory of percolation.

Performance analysis of subspace based method for source localization in shallow water

The present paper aims at studying the performance characteristics of a subspace based algorithm for source localization in shallow water such as coastal water. Specifically, we study the performance of Multi Image Subspace Algorithm (MISA). Through first-order perturbation analysis and computer simulation it is shown that MISA is unbiased and statistically efficient. Further, we bring out the role of multipaths (or images) in reducing the error in the localization. It is shown that the presence of multipaths is found to improve the range and depth estimates. This may be attributed to the increased curvature of the wavefront caused by interference from many coherent multipaths.

Computing Fractal Dimension of Signals using Multiresolution Box-counting Method

In this paper, we have developed a method to compute fractal dimension (FD) of discrete time signals, in the time domain, by modifying the box-counting method. The size of the box is dependent on the sampling frequency of the signal. The number of boxes required to completely cover the signal are obtained at multiple time resolutions. The time resolutions are made coarse by decimating the signal. The loglog plot of total number of boxes required to cover the curve versus size of the box used appears to be a straight line, whose slope is taken as an estimate of FD of the signal. The results are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method using parametric fractal signals. The estimation accuracy of the method is compared with that of Katz, Sevcik, and Higuchi methods. In ddition, some properties of the FD are discussed.

WLS method for parameter estimation in water distribution networks

The weighted-least-squares method based on the Gauss-Newton minimization technique is used for parameter estimation in water distribution networks. The parameters considered are: element resistances (single and/or group resistances, Hazen-Williams coefficients, pump specifications) and consumptions (for single or multiple loading conditions). The measurements considered are: nodal pressure heads, pipe flows, head loss in pipes, and consumptions/inflows. An important feature of the study is a detailed consideration of the influence of different choice of weights on parameter estimation, for error-free data, noisy data, and noisy data which include bad data. The method is applied to three different networks including a real-life problem.

The Adomian method applied to some extraordinary differential equations

Several ''extraordinary'' differential equations are considered for their solutions via the decomposition method of Adomian. Verifications are made with the solutions obtained by other methods.

Thomas-Fermi Method For Particles Obeying Generalized Exclusion Statistics

We use the Thomas-Fermi method to examine the thermodynamics of particles obeying Haldane exclusion statistics. Specifically, we study Calogero-Sutherland particles placed in a given external potential in one dimension. For the case of a simple harmonic potential (constant density of states), we obtain the exact one-particle spatial density and a {\it closed} form for the equation of state at finite temperature, which are both new results. We then solve the problem of particles in a $x^{2/3} ~$ potential (linear density of states) and show that Bose-Einstein condensation does not occur for any statistics other than bosons.

Graphical method to determine the parameters of the two-parameter fracture model for concrete

To evaluate the parameters in the two-parameter fracture model, i.e. the critical stress intensity factor and critical crack tip opening displacement for the fracture of plain concrete in Mode 1 for the given test configuration and geometry, considerable computational effort is necessary. A simple graphical method has been proposed using normalized fracture parameters for the three-point bend (3PB) notched specimen and the double-edged notched (DEN) specimen. A similar graphical method is proposed to compute the maximum load carrying capacity of a specimen, using the critical fracture parameters both for 3PB and DEN configurations.

Improving the convergence rate of the inverse iteration method

Solution of generalized eigenproblem, K phi = lambda M phi, by the classical inverse iteration method exhibits slow convergence for some eigenproblems. In this paper, a modified inverse iteration algorithm is presented for improving the convergence rate. At every iteration, an optimal linear combination of the latest and the preceding iteration vectors is used as the input vector for the next iteration. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated for three typical eigenproblems, i.e. eigenproblems with distinct, close and repeated eigenvalues. The algorithm yields 29, 96 and 23% savings in computational time, respectively, for these problems. The algorithm is simple and easy to implement, and this renders the algorithm even more attractive.

Block coherence: a method for measuring the interdependence between two blocks of neurobiological time series

Multisensor recordings are becoming commonplace. When studying functional connectivity between different brain areas using such recordings, one defines regions of interest, and each region of interest is often characterized by a set (block) of time series. Presently, for two such regions, the interdependence is typically computed by estimating the ordinary coherence for each pair of individual time series and then summing or averaging the results over all such pairs of channels (one from block 1 and other from block 2). The aim of this paper is to generalize the concept of coherence so that it can be computed for two blocks of non-overlapping time series. This quantity, called block coherence, is first shown mathematically to have properties similar to that of ordinary coherence, and then applied to analyze local field potential recordings from a monkey performing a visuomotor task. It is found that an increase in block coherence between the channels from V4 region and the channels from prefrontal region in beta band leads to a decrease in response time.

Real-time Computer Simulation of Three Dimensional Elastostatics using the Finite Point Method

Real-time simulation of deformable solids is essential for some applications such as biological organ simulations for surgical simulators. In this work, deformable solids are approximated to be linear elastic, and an easy and straight forward numerical technique, the Finite Point Method (FPM), is used to model three dimensional linear elastostatics. Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is used to accelerate computations. Results show that the Finite Point Method, together with GPU, can compute three dimensional linear elastostatic responses of solids at rates suitable for real-time graphics, for solids represented by reasonable number of points.