Synthesis and characterization of boron and nitrogen co-doped diamond crystals under high pressure and high temperature conditions

In this study, diamond crystals co-doped with boron and nitrogen were synthesized via a temperature gradient method at 5.3–5.8 GPa and 1300–1550 °C by adding B and N dopants to a system of carbon and an Fe-based solvent catalyst.

Multiscale Region Projection Method to Discriminate Between Printed and Handwritten Text on Registration Forms

Techniques to identify printed and handwritten text in scanned documents differ significantly. In this paper, we address the question of how to discriminate between each type of writing on registration forms. Registration-form documents consist of various type zones, such as printed text, handwriting, table, image, noise, etc., so segmenting the various zones is a challenge. We adopt herein an approach called “multiscale-region projection” to identify printed text and handwriting. An important aspect of our approach is the use of multiscale techniques to segment document images. A new set of projection features extracted from each zone is also proposed. The classification rules are mining and are used to discern printed text and table lines from handwritten text. The proposed system was tested on 11[Formula: see text]118 samples in two registration-form-image databases. Some possible measures of efficiency are computed, and in each case the proposed approach performs better than traditional methods.

Cell recognition based on topological sparse coding for microscopy imaging of focused ultrasound treatment

BACKGROUND

Ultrasound is considered a reliable, widely available, non-invasive, and inexpensive imaging technique for assessing and detecting the development phases of cancer; both in vivo and ex vivo, and for understanding the effects on cell cycle and viability after ultrasound treatment.

METHODS

Based on the topological continuity characteristics, and that adjacent points or areas represent similar features, we propose a topological penalized convex objective function of sparse coding, to recognize similar cell phases.

RESULTS

This method introduces new features using a deep learning method of sparse coding with topological continuity characteristics. Large-scale comparison tests demonstrate that the RAW can outperform SIFT GIST and HoG as the input features with this method, achieving higher sensitivity, specificity, F1 score, and accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

Experimental results show that the proposed topological sparse coding technique is valid and effective for extracting new features, and the proposed system was effective for cell recognition of microscopy images of theMDA-MB-231 cell line. This method allows features from sparse coding learning methods to have topological continuity characteristics, and the RAW features are more applicable for the deep learning of the topological sparse coding method than SIFT GIST and HoG.

Determination of 6-thioguanine based on localized surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticle

Gold nanoparticles exhibit the optical properties of localized surface plamon resonance (LSPR) and are widely applied to the biosensors. The application of gold nanoparticles to the determination of anticancer drug 6-thioguanine (6-TG) was discussed. The binding of 6-TG molecule to the surface of gold nanoparticles alters the local refractive index in the vicinity of the nanoparticles and results in a shift of the LSPR spectrum. The experimental conditions were examined and optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the ratios of absorbances at two wavelengths are directly proportional to the concentrations of 6-TG. The developed method is simple, rapid, and sensitive. In addition, this method is particularly attractive because organic cosolvents, light-sensitive dyes, and sophisticated instruments are not required. This method was successfully applied to the determination of 6-TG in real samples and the results were satisfactory.

A sensitive localized surface plasmon resonance sensor for determining mercury(II) ion using noble metal nanoparticles as probe

The noble metal nanoparticles (NPs), including gold nanorods (AuNRs), gold nanospheres (AuNSs) and silver nanoplates (AgNPTs), were synthesized and Tween 20 stabilized NPs (Tween 20-NPs) were used as the probes for determining Hg(2+). Hg(2+) was determined based on the strong affinity between Au (Ag) and Hg. Hg(2+) was reduced to Hg in the presence of sodium borohydride. Hg interacts with the NPs and the diameter of the NPs decreases with the increase of Hg(2+) concentration, which causes the shift in absorption peak of Tween 20-NPs. The peak shifts are linearly related to Hg(2+) concentrations. Compared with AuNSs and AgNPTs, when the AuNRs was used, the sensitivity for determining Hg(2+) was higher. The developed method shows a good selectivity for Hg(2+) and can be applied to the determination of Hg(2+) in water samples.

Determination of DNA based on localized surface plasmon resonance light scattering using unmodified gold bipyramids

The DNA was determined based on resonance light scattering (RLS) spectrometry and the localized surface plasmon resonance. The gold bipyramids were used as the probes and synthesized by a seed-mediated method. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide was used as stabilizing agent. DNA can be bound to the gold bipyramids due to electrostatic interaction and aggregates, which results in a strong enhancement of the RLS intensity. Under the optimal conditions, the intensity of RLS is directly proportional to the concentration of DNA in the range from 0.1 to 2.0 μg mL(-1).

Determination of the sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Based on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sodium 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate (mesna) was determined using unmodified gold colloid as the probe. The Raman scattering intensity was obviously enhanced in the presence of sodium chloride. The influence of experimental parameters, such as incubation time, sodium chloride concentration and pH value on SERS performance was examined. Under the optimum conditions, the SERS intensity is proportional to the concentration of mesna in the range of 9.0×10(-8) to 9.0×10(-7) mol/L and detection limit (S/N=3) is 1.16×10(-8) mol/L. The corresponding correlation coefficient of the linear equation is 0.996, which indicates that there is a good linear relationship between SERS intensity and mesna concentration. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is a viable method for determination of mesna. The real samples were analyzed and the results obtained were satisfactory.

Analysis of immunoreaction with localized surface plasmon resonance biosensor

The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-based optical biosensor was used as a potential tool for label-free detection of immunoreaction. The glass substrate covered with the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of gold colloids was used widely in the sensors. Here, the glass substrate was modified by chemical hydroxylation first, and then gold colloids were immobilized on the substrate by electrostatic adsorption. The LSPR spectra were obtained on UV-vis absorption spectrometer. The specificity was examined by extensive nonspecific binding tests. The resonance condition on the local dielectric environment enables a simple form of molecular sensing. The binding of analyte to the biosensor surface causes a change in the absorbance which was responsive to the concentration of human IgG. So, the LSPR sensing yields similar results to the SPR technique, yet with much simpler instrument.

Robust image watermarking based on multiband wavelets and empirical mode decomposition

In this paper, we propose a blind image watermarking algorithm based on the multiband wavelet transformation and the empirical mode decomposition. Unlike the watermark algorithms based on the traditional two-band wavelet transform, where the watermark bits are embedded directly on the wavelet coefficients, in the proposed scheme, we embed the watermark bits in the mean trend of some middle-frequency subimages in the wavelet domain. We further select appropriate dilation factor and filters in the multiband wavelet transform to achieve better performance in terms of perceptually invisibility and the robustness of the watermark. The experimental results show that the proposed blind watermarking scheme is robust against JPEG compression, Gaussian noise, salt and pepper noise, median filtering, and ConvFilter attacks. The comparison analysis demonstrate that our scheme has better performance than the watermarking schemes reported recently.

[The treatment of intrauterine growth retardation with ant polyrhachis vicina roger]

OBJECTIVE

To study the growth promoting effect of ant Polyrhachis Vicina Roger.

METHODS

Mated rats were divided into 3 groups, group A was non-smoking control group, group B was smoking induced intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) group, group C was smoking induced IUGR rats fed with ant Polyrhachis Vicina Roger, then growth indices of fetal rats in each group were evaluated.

RESULTS

The result showed that, the average birth weight, body length and tail length of fetal rats in treatment group were significantly higher than those of two control groups (P < 0.01); the incidence of IUGR was significantly lower in treatment group than that of two control groups (P < 0.01); the fetal mortality rate was significantly lower in treatment group than that of two control groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Ant Polyrhachis Vicina Roger is rich in amino acids, vitamines and trace elements, which could help the growth of fetal rats. Polyrhachis Vicina Roger is also rich in ecdysterone, that is growth hormone of insects, it has a strong protein anabolic effect, which might contribute to the growth promoting effect of Polyrhachis Vicina Roger.

Enhancement of female esophageal and tracheoesophageal speech

Qi [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 88, 1228-1235 (1990)] has demonstrated that (1) linear predictive (LP) methods can be used to separate vocal tract transfer functions from source functions of vowels produced by alaryngeal talkers and that (2) vowels synthesized with reconstructed transfer functions and totally synthetic voicing excitation sources have improved source-related properties over those present in the original vowels. Here, an extension of this work which is directed to the general goal of developing systems (devices) to enhance the quality of alaryngeal speech is reported. The specific goal of the present project was to determine whether speech, i.e., words spoken by female esophageal and tracheoesophageal talkers, could be enhanced by means of LP-based analysis and synthesis methods. Words spoken by four female alaryngeal talkers were analyzed and synthesized. A perceptual evaluation was completed to permit the quality of the synthetic and the original words to be compared. Listeners generally preferred to listen to the synthesized words, indicating that alaryngeal speech enhancement was accomplished.

[Constituents of the petroleum ether and ethyl acetate extract fractions from Dracaena cochinensis (Lour.) S.C. Chen]

Six constituents have been isolated from the petroleum ether and ethyl acetate extract fractions of Dracaena cochinensis. Their structures have been identified as 1,2,4,5-tetrachloro-3,6- dimethoxy-benzene,docosyl alcohol, octadecyl acetate, eicosyl acetate, resveratrol and 4',7-dihydroxy-flavone on the basis of physical, chemical and spectral deta. Of these compounds 1,2,4,5-tetrachloro-3,6-dimethoxy-benzene is a new one.

Minimizing the effect of period determination on the computation of amplitude perturbation in voice

Current methods of computing amplitude perturbation present in human voices depend upon being able to accurately determine fundamental period. In this paper, two methods of estimating the amplitude perturbation present in human voices, which do not depend on accurate determination of the boundaries between fundamental periods, are described. In both of these methods, amplitude perturbation is computed as the variance of an ensemble of periods calculated after these periods have been aligned in time. In one method, time alignment is accomplished using zero-phase transformation. In the second method, an unconstrained dynamic programming procedure is used. The accuracy of estimating amplitude perturbation by these two methods is evaluated using synthetic and natural voice signals and is also compared with an estimation using zero-padding based time alignment. The unconstrained dynamic programming method is shown to provide accurate estimation of voice amplitude perturbation over a variety of signal conditions.

PMA inhibits the growth of human fibroblasts after the induction of immediate-early genes

WS-1 cells, human fibroblasts derived from embryonic skin, become quiescent in serum-free medium. Addition of serum or thrombin stimulates incorporation of 3H-labeled thymidine 16-40 h later. The tumor promoter phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) inhibited this response in quiescent cells stimulated with serum or thrombin. PMA also inhibited thymidine incorporation in rapidly growing WS-1 cells. Since the inhibition caused by PMA could result from activation of protein kinase C (PKC) or the down-regulation of PKC, the effect of the PKC inhibitor, GF 109203X, was tested. GF 109203X did not affect thymidine incorporation induced by serum. GF 109203X prevented the inhibition caused by PMA, suggesting that the activation of PKC is required for the inhibition of DNA synthesis. A prolonged activation of PKC is probably required, since a single treatment of a synthetic diacylglycerol does not inhibit and addition of GF 109203X 2 to 8 h after PMA reverses the inhibition. One possible target for PMA activity is the induction of immediate-early response genes. Thrombin or serum treatment of quiescent WS-1 cells induced protooncogenes c-fos and c-jun. PMA also induced c-fos and c-jun with a time course similar to that of serum or thrombin. The induction of c-fos by PMA was sensitive to staurosporine or GF 109203X. A time course of PMA addition indicated that maximal inhibition of DNA synthesis occurred when PMA was added 4 h after stimulation with serum. These results suggest that the PMA-induced inhibition of DNA synthesis occurs through an activation of PKC that inhibits DNA synthesis at a point after the induction of c-fos and c-jun.

Multiple forms of intracellular and secreted mucins in a pancreatic cancer cell line

Mucins have been implicated in circumventing the defenses of the body against tumorigenesis. A better understanding of the structures of mucins may assist in the development of new therapeutic approaches. Monoclonal antibody Ea6, developed against mucins purified from xenografts of the pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990, was used to identify a new type of pancreatic cancer mucin. The following characteristics suggest that Ea6 antibody reacts with the core structure of O-linked oligosaccharides, the Tn antigen (N-acetylgalactosamine-serine/threonine): (a) increased reactivity with ovine and bovine submaxillary mucins after desialylation; (b) reactivity was inhibitable by N-acetylgalactosamine; and (c) no reactivity with blood group A oligosaccharides. Ea6 mucins from cultured SW1990 cells had lower buoyant densities (1.36 versus 1.44 g/ml) than mucins identified by another monoclonal antibody directed against SW1990 mucins, SPan-1, and were less acidic. High density and molecular mass (> or = 400 kD) secreted antigens were unaffected by sulfhydryl bond reduction. After partial deglycosylation secreted SPan-1 antigens reacted with MUC1 peptide specific antibodies, SM-3 and HMFG-2, as well as polyclonal antisera directed against deglycosylated xenograft mucins. However, Ea6 antigens did not. SW1990 cytosol also contained SPan-1 antigens with apparent molecular weights of 160,000 and 210,000 and low buoyant densities (< or = 1.22 g/ml). These reacted with monoclonal antibodies specific for the MUC1 apomucin with no prior treatment. No Ea6 reactivity was detected with this fraction. These results suggest that Ea6 antibody identifies a new population of mucins that is distinct from SPan-1 mucins.

Characterization of new pancreatic cancer-reactive monoclonal antibodies directed against purified mucin

Although mucins have been found to be useful in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the carbohydrate and peptide structures of pancreatic mucins are still not well characterized. Monoclonal antibodies were produced using mucins purified from xenografts of a human pancreatic cancer cell line as the immunogen. One of these, Ia3, reacted with almost all pancreatic, gastric, and colorectal carcinomas examined by immunoperoxidase staining, but with few normal tissues. Ia3 antigen was elevated in sera of 50.4% of individuals with gastrointestinal tumors, but its levels did not correlate with those of CA15-3, CA19-9, or DU-PAN-2. Serum Ia3 antigens migrated more slowly in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis than the polymorphic epithelial mucins recognized by DF3 or 115D8. Ia3 reacted only with native, and not with partially deglycosylated, pancreatic cancer xenograft mucins. Periodate or neuraminidase treatment destroyed this reactivity, but protease had little effect. The antigen recognized by another antibody, Nd2, was not detected in normal pancreatic, colonic, or gastric tissues but was present in approximately 60% of the pancreatic and gastric carcinomas examined. Nd2 reactivity with native and partially deglycosylated mucin was lost after pretreatment with protease and beta-mercaptoethanol. We conclude that, while Ia3 reacts with carbohydrates, Nd2 reactivity appears to be dependent on the integrity of the mucin protein core. The antigenic determinants of Ia3 and Nd2 are different from those of B72.3, CA19-9, DU-PAN-2, SPan-1, and several breast cancer mucin-directed antibodies. These results suggest that the malignancy-associated structures identified by Ia3 and Nd2 may provide new information on the carbohydrate and peptide structure of pancreatic cancer mucins.

Mucin-like antigens in a human pancreatic cancer cell line identified by murine monoclonal antibodies SPan-1 and YPan-1

The antigenic determinant recognized by monoclonal antibody SPan-1 is greatly elevated in sera of patients with pancreatic cancer but not in sera of normal individuals. Here we describe the mucin-like characteristics of the SPan-1 antigen isolated from culture medium and xenografts of the human pancreatic cancer cell line SW-1990. YPan-1, another pancreatic cancer associated monoclonal antibody, also reacts with the SPan-1 antigen. The SPan-1/YPan-1 antigens have densities of 1.4-1.5 g/ml and elute in the void volume of Sepharose CL-2B columns. They are resistant to degradation by chondroitinase ABC, nitrous acid, and hyaluronidase but susceptible to protease digestion and reductive beta-elimination. All these characteristics suggest that the SPan-1 and YPan-1 determinants are carried on mucinous antigens. Both SPan-1 and YPan-1 immunoreactivities are unaffected by boiling or by alkylation and reduction of the mucins while they are abolished by mild periodate oxidation or neuraminidase and are markedly decreased by wheat germ agglutinin. Thus, their antigenic determinants are composed principally of carbohydrates with sialic acid, an absolute requirement for reactivity. However, the epitope specificities of SPan-1 and YPan-1 are different since YPan-1 does not compete with SPan-1 for binding to antigen. Moreover, YPan-1 and SPan-1 can be distinguished from several other sialic acid requiring, cancer associated antibodies such as B72.3, CSLEX-1, DU-PAN-2, OC-125, and 19-9 by either their epitope characteristics or their tissue reactivity patterns.