Analysis of Liquid Crystalline Nanoparticles by Small Angle X-Ray Diffraction: Evaluation of Drug and Pharmaceutical Additives Influence on the Internal Structure

The goal of this work was to study the liquid crystalline structure of a nanodispersion delivery system intended to be used in photodynamic therapy after loading with photosensitizers (PSs) and additives such as preservatives and thickening polymers. Polarized light microscopy and light scattering were performed on a standard nanodispersion in order to determine the anisotropy of the liquid crystalline structure and the mean diameter of the nanoparticles, respectively. Small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD) was used to verify the influence of drug loading and additives on the liquid crystalline structure of the nanodispersions. The samples, before and after the addition of PSs and additives, were stable over 90 days, as verified by dynamic light scattering. SAXRD revealed that despite the alteration observed in some of the samples analyzed in the presence of photosensitizing drugs and additives, the hexagonal phase still remained in the crystalline phase. (C) 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 100: 2849-2857, 2011

Measurement of functional ability following traumatic brain injury using the Clinical Outcomes Variable Scale: A reliability study

This study determined the inter-tester and intra-tester reliability of physiotherapists measuring functional motor ability of traumatic brain injury clients using the Clinical Outcomes Variable Scale (COVS). To test inter-tester reliability, 14 physiotherapists scored the ability of 16 videotaped patients to execute the items that comprise the COVS. Intra-tester reliability was determined by four physiotherapists repeating their assessments after one week, and three months later. The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were very high for both inter-tester reliability (ICC > 0.97 for total COVS scores, ICC > 0.93 for individual COVS items) and intra-tester reliability (ICC > 0.97). This study demonstrates that physiotherapists are reliable in the administration of the COVS.

Hydrothermal Stability Analysis of Carbonised Template Molecular Sieve Silica Membranes

For fuel cell CO clean up application, the presence of water with silica membranes greatly reduces their selectivity to CO. We show results of a new functional carbonised template membrane of around 13nm thickness which offered hydrothermal stability with no compromise to the membrane’s H2/CO permselectivity of 16. Lost permeance was also regenerated.

A matching pursuit-based signal complexity measure for the analysis of newborn EEG

This paper presents a new relative measure of signal complexity, referred to here as relative structural complexity, which is based on the matching pursuit (MP) decomposition. By relative, we refer to the fact that this new measure is highly dependent on the decomposition dictionary used by MP. The structural part of the definition points to the fact that this new measure is related to the structure, or composition, of the signal under analysis. After a formal definition, the proposed relative structural complexity measure is used in the analysis of newborn EEG. To do this, firstly, a time-frequency (TF) decomposition dictionary is specifically designed to compactly represent the newborn EEG seizure state using MP. We then show, through the analysis of synthetic and real newborn EEG data, that the relative structural complexity measure can indicate changes in EEG structure as it transitions between the two EEG states; namely seizure and background (non-seizure).

Reliability and validity of physical fitness field tests for adults aged 55 to 70 years

The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of field tests for assessing physical function in mid-aged and young-old people (55–70 y). Tests were selected that required minimal space and equipment and could be implemented in multiple field settings such as a general practitioner's office. Nineteen participants completed 2 field and 1 laboratory testing sessions. Intra-class correlations showed good reliability for the tests of upper body strength (lift and reach, R= .66), lower body strength (sit to stand, R= .80) and functional capacity (Canadian Step Test, R= .92), but not for leg power (single timed chair rise, R= .28). There was also good reliability for the balance test during 3 stances: parallel (94.7% agreement), semi-tandem (73.7%), and tandem (52.6%). Comparison of field test results with objective laboratory measures found good validity for the sit to stand (cf 1RM leg press, Pearson r= .68, p< .05), and for the step test (cf PWC140, r= −.60, p< .001), but not for the lift and reach (cf 1RM bench press, r= .43, p> .05), balance (r= −.13, −.18, .23) and rate of force development tests (r= −.28). It was concluded that the lower body strength and cardiovascular function tests were appropriate for use in field settings with mid-aged and young-old adults.

Weibull model selection for reliability modelling

A large number of models have been derived from the two-parameter Weibull distribution and are referred to as Weibull models. They exhibit a wide range of shapes for the density and hazard functions, which makes them suitable for modelling complex failure data sets. The WPP and IWPP plot allows one to determine in a systematic manner if one or more of these models are suitable for modelling a given data set. This paper deals with this topic.

Analysis of Wolbachia protein synthesis in Drosophila in vivo

Intracellular Wolbachia infections are extremely common in arthropods and exert profound control over the reproductive biology of the host. However, very little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms which mediate these interactions with the host. We examined protein synthesis by Wolbachia in a Drosophila host in vivo by selective metabolic labelling of prokaryotic proteins and subsequent analysis by 1D and 2D gel electrophoresis. Using this method we could identify the major proteins synthesized by Wolbachia in ovaries and testes of flies. Of these proteins the most abundant was of low molecular weight and showed size variation between Wolbachia strains which correlated with the reproductive phenotype they generated in flies. Using the gel systems we employed it was not possible to identify any proteins of Wolbachia origin in the mature sperm cells of infected flies.

16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis of the bacterial endosymbionts associated with cytoplasmic incompatibility in insects

Bacterial endosymbionts of insects have long been implicated in the phenomenon of cytoplasmic incompatibility, in which certain crosses between symbiont-infected individuals lead to embryonic death or sex ratio distortion. The taxonomic position of these bacteria has, however, not been known with any certainty. Similarly, the relatedness of the bacteria infecting various insect hosts has been unclear. The inability to grow these bacteria on defined cell-free medium has been the major factor underlying these uncertainties. We circumvented this problem by selective PCR amplification and subsequent sequencing of the symbiont 16S rRNA genes directly from infected insect tissue. Maximum parsimony analysis of these sequences indicates that the symbionts belong in the α-subdivision of the Proteobacteria, where they are most closely related to the Rickettsia and their relatives. They are all closely related to each other and are assigned to the type species Wolbachia pipientis. Lack of congruence between the phylogeny of the symbionts and their insect hosts suggests that horizontal transfer of symbionts between insect species may occur. Comparison of the sequences for W. pipientis and for Wolbachia persica, an endosymbiont of ticks, shows that the genus Wolbachia is polyphyletic. A PCR assay based on 16S primers was designed for the detection of W. pipientis in insect tissue, and initial screening of insects indicates that cytoplasmic incompatibility may be a more general phenomenon in insects than is currently recognized.

Algorithms for sequence analysis via mutagenesis

Despite many successes of conventional DNA sequencing methods, some DNAs remain difficult or impossible to sequence. Unsequenceable regions occur in the genomes of many biologically important organisms, including the human genome. Such regions range in length from tens to millions of bases, and may contain valuable information such as the sequences of important genes. The authors have recently developed a technique that renders a wide range of problematic DNAs amenable to sequencing. The technique is known as sequence analysis via mutagenesis (SAM). This paper presents a number of algorithms for analysing and interpreting data generated by this technique.

Equational Reasoning as a Tool for Data Analysis

A combination of deductive reasoning, clustering, and inductive learning is given as an example of a hybrid system for exploratory data analysis. Visualization is replaced by a dialogue with the data.

Design, Science and Conceptual Analysis

Philosophers expend considerable effort on the analysis of concepts, but the value of such work is not widely appreciated. This paper principally analyses some arguments, beliefs, and presuppositions about the nature of design and the relations between design and science common in the literature to illustrate this point, and to contribute to the foundations of design theory.

XSophe-Sophe-XeprView (R). A computer simulation software suite (v. 1.1.3) for the analysis of continuous wave EPR spectra

The XSophe-Sophe-XeprView((R)) computer simulation software suite enables scientists to easily determine spin Hamiltonian parameters from isotropic, randomly oriented and single crystal continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW EPR) spectra from radicals and isolated paramagnetic metal ion centers or clusters found in metalloproteins, chemical systems and materials science. XSophe provides an X-windows graphical user interface to the Sophe programme and allows: creation of multiple input files, local and remote execution of Sophe, the display of sophelog (output from Sophe) and input parameters/files. Sophe is a sophisticated computer simulation software programme employing a number of innovative technologies including; the Sydney OPera HousE (SOPHE) partition and interpolation schemes, a field segmentation algorithm, the mosaic misorientation linewidth model, parallelization and spectral optimisation. In conjunction with the SOPHE partition scheme and the field segmentation algorithm, the SOPHE interpolation scheme and the mosaic misorientation linewidth model greatly increase the speed of simulations for most spin systems. Employing brute force matrix diagonalization in the simulation of an EPR spectrum from a high spin Cr(III) complex with the spin Hamiltonian parameters g(e) = 2.00, D = 0.10 cm(-1), E/D = 0.25, A(x) = 120.0, A(y) = 120.0, A(z) = 240.0 x 10(-4) cm(-1) requires a SOPHE grid size of N = 400 (to produce a good signal to noise ratio) and takes 229.47 s. In contrast the use of either the SOPHE interpolation scheme or the mosaic misorientation linewidth model requires a SOPHE grid size of only N = 18 and takes 44.08 and 0.79 s, respectively. Results from Sophe are transferred via the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) to XSophe and subsequently to XeprView((R)) where the simulated CW EPR spectra (1D and 2D) can be compared to the experimental spectra. Energy level diagrams, transition roadmaps and transition surfaces aid the interpretation of complicated randomly oriented CW EPR spectra and can be viewed with a web browser and an OpenInventor scene graph viewer.

The determination of the design strength of granite used as external cladding for buildings

This chapter is concerned with acquisition and analysis of test data for determining whether or not the flexural strength of granite cladding under extreme conditions is adequate to assure that reliability requirements are satisfied.

Experimental Analysis of Froude Number Effect on Air Entrainment in the Hydraulic Jump

A hydraulic jump is characterized by strong energy dissipation and mixing, large-scale turbulence, air entrainment, waves and spray. Despite recent pertinent studies, the interaction between air bubbles diffusion and momentum transfer is not completely understood. The objective of this paper is to present experimental results from new measurements performed in rectangular horizontal flume with partially-developed inflow conditions. The vertical distributions of void fraction and air bubbles count rate were recorded for inflow Froude number Fr1 in the range from 5.2 to 14.3. Rapid detrainment process was observed near the jump toe, whereas the structure of the air diffusion layer was clearly observed over longer distances. These new data were compared with previous data generally collected at lower Froude numbers. The comparison demonstrated that, at a fixed distance from the jump toe, the maximum void fraction Cmax increases with the increasing Fr1. The vertical locations of the maximum void fraction and bubble count rate were consistent with previous studies. Finally, an empirical correlation between the upper boundary of the air diffusion layer and the distance from the impingement point was provided.