Fast Identification Method Research Articles

Analysis of α-keratins in the horns of rhinoceros and buffalo by non-native capillary isoelectric focusing

A capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF) method under denaturing condition has been developed for separation of α-keratins, highly cross-linked biomacromolecules, in horns of rhinoceros and buffalo. The α-keratins were denatured in 8 M urea and separated in the presence of ampholytes with applicable pH ranges of 3–7 or 3–10. In the preliminary results, it was demonstrated that the α-keratins in the horns of buffalo or rhinoceros might have their own unique isoelectric focusing profiles. The analyses of more samples from different rhinoceros and buffalo are presently underway, with the final goal to establish a fast and convenient method for identification of the source (buffalo or rhinoceros) of an unknown powdered sample.

Characterization of Acinetobacter type strains and isolates obtained from wastewater treatment plants by PCR fingerprinting.

Acinetobacter type strains and isolates from wastewater treatment plants were differentiated by PCR fingerprinting. On the first level, PCR fingerprinting with two tRNA-gene specific primers (T5B and T3A) was used for the identification of species (genospecies 1 to 17). On the second level, a single arbitrary primer (DAF 4) was employed for strain differentiation. Upon comparison of Acinetobacter type strains with 28 sewage sludge isolates, 2 could be classified as belonging to A. johnsonii, 8 isolates could be classified as A. lwoffii, 8 could be classified as A. baumannii, and 9 isolates were very closely related to the Acinetobacter species A. junii; only 1 isolate could not be classified as one of the Acinetobacter type strains. The PCR fingerprinting method was found to be a reproducible and fast method for differentiation and identification of Acinetobacter isolates. Because of some resulting discrepancies compared with previously described identification schemes, e.g., DNA-DNA hybridization methods, the original identification experiments should be repeated and the results should be reassessed.

Development of a real time visualization system for the shape of a tokamak plasma cross section

A real time visualization system for the shape of a tokamak plasma cross section has been developed by using Versa Module Europebus (VME)-standardized modules. Digital signal processors (DSPs) are used in parallel for magnetic analysis. A fast and high resolution graphics control processor is adopted for part of the display system. Fast shape identification methods are presented in which tabulated Green’s functions are utilized. The analysis errors are evaluated with Hitachi tokamak 2 (HT-2) experimental data. The plasma shape is visualized in real time with the cycle time of 30 ms. When this system is applied to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the estimated cycle time for visualizing the plasma shape is 40 ms.

Detection of ubiquinone in parasitic and free-living protozoa, including species devoid of mitochondria

Ubiquinone (coenzyme Q, CoQ) was analyzed and individual homologues quantified in 11 species of parasitic and freeliving protozoa by a combination of thin-layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. Fast atom bombardment ionization-mass spectrometry was used for the first time to confirm the identity of the fractionated CoQ homologues and proved to be a fast, gentle and convenient method for ubiquinone identification. Ubiquinone was detected in all organisms including those devoid of identifiable mitochondria. However, significantly lower levels of CoQ were present in those organisms lacking this respiratory organelle (5- to 50-fold lower in Entamoeba histolytica (CoQ 9) and 15- to 350-fold for Giardia lamblia (CoQ 9) and Tritrichomonas foetus (CoQ 10). Coenzyme Q 9 was the predominant homologue in promastigotes of Leishmania donovani and Leishmania major. Lower amounts of CoQ 8 and CoQ 10 were also detected in L. donovani and CoQ 8 in L. major. Comparison of the in vitro cultivated promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania pifanoi and Leishmania amazonensis revealed CoQ 9 to be the sole detectable ubiquinone homologue in the amastigote (macrophage) stage, whereas CoQ 8 and CoQ 10 were also present in the promastigotes (life cycle stage found in the insect gut) of L. pifanoi, and CoQ 7 and CoQ 8 in promastigotes of L. amazonensis. Interestingly, the total amounts of CoQ were similar in both forms of these organisms. The free-living ciliates, Tetrahymena thermophia and Paramecium tetraurelia contained CoQ 8 as the predominant ubiquinone species and this homologue was also present in the isolated cilia from P. tetraurelia. The marine ciliate, Parauronema acutum contained CoQ 7 as well as CoQ 8. Comparison of xenosome-containing P. acutum with organisms lacking the symbiont revealed that twice the level of CoQ 8 was present in cells grown with this cytoplasmic gram-negative bacterium. Results suggest that CoQ is ubiquitous amongst the protozoa, regardless of the presence of mitochondria, and may function in alternative roles to that of mitochondrial electron transport chain component.

Fast failure mode identification for ductile structural system reliability

This paper presents a method for fast plastic hinge imposition and system collapse mode identification in large ductile framed structures. The proposed method follows the general scheme of the truncated enumeration method, but makes use of the statistical correlations between different member limit states to impose groups of hinges at each selection level instead of one plastic hinge at a time as used in the previous studies, thus making the search for significant failure modes very rapid. This results in an efficient and accurate method for system reliability estimation. The proposed method is illustrated with the help of numerical examples.

Local expansion method for fast plasma boundary identification in JET

A local expansion technique for the reconstruction of the plasma boundary is presented. The method is particularly accurate in identifying the separatrix in X-point configurations. It is applied to JET discharges and the results are compared with those of a full equilibrium code and with other independent diagnostics. It is found that the majority of the H-mode discharges at JET have been achieved in marginal limiter configurations. The method is sufficiently reliable and fast for real time shape control

The magnetic immuno polymerase chain reaction assay for direct detection of salmonellae in fecal samples.

Direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection with fecal specimens is hampered by inhibitory compounds, such as bilirubin and bile salts. These fecal compounds showed significant inhibition of PCR at low concentrations (10 to 50 micrograms/ml). For direct PCR analysis, fecal samples must be diluted 500-fold to overcome inhibition. Therefore, the magnetic immuno PCR assay (MIPA), which combines immunomagnetic separation by using specific monoclonal antibodies and PCR, was used to directly detect salmonellae in feces from humans. Immunomagnetically extracted stool samples needed to be diluted only 10-fold when 1 microgram of T4 gene 32 protein was added to the PCR. The MIPA sensitivity obtained was 10(5) CFU/ml of feces. A panel of monoclonal antibodies specific for Salmonella serogroups A to E was used to extract salmonellae from clinical samples. MIPA detection of salmonellae occurred with 11 out of 14 stool samples stored at 4 degrees C for 2 months. MIPA detection of salmonellae in stool samples is a promising, fast method for detection and identification.

Fast and reliable new method for electron-microscopic identification of cytoplasmic tubulo-filaments in muscle biopsies of patients with inclusion-body myositis.

Fast and reliable new method for electron-microscopic identification of cytoplasmic tubulo-filaments in muscle biopsies of patients with inclusion-body myositis.

Identification of fluorescent Pseudomonas species.

Fluorescent pseudomonads may be identified through examination of the fluorescence "profiles" of diffusible pigments released into the growth medium. The profiles are obtained in the form of an emission-excitation matrix, the elements of which correspond to fluorescence intensity as a function of multiple exciting and emitting wavelengths. Use of a rapid scanning fluorometer to acquire these data provides a relatively fast method for identification of the microorganisms after incubation. This procedure can potentially be expanded for the identification of other microorganisms.

A Fast and Efficient Palmprint Identification Method for a Large Database

This paper proposes a fast and efficient palmprint identification method for a large database. The process is accelerated as a result of our efficient palmprint classification and matching scheme. Palmprint classification method is based on principle lines which are life line, head line and heart line. Palmprints’ features are extracted with Log-Gabor filter and matched with Hamming distance in the most potential palmprint group/category, and if necessary, continues orderly to the less potential ones. Experiments are done with 2 hand databases, Visgraph database and CU-CGCI hand database. Experimental results show that the proposed method can greatly reduce the number of template matching from 100% (as in general identification methods) to 33.2-38.2% while maintaining the equivalent EER as the general identification method.

A study of the quality, the design and the economy of concrete

Forty-five thermo-acidophilic, spore-forming bacteria were isolated from a concentrated apple juice-processing environment. All of them were Gram-positive, rod shaped, and strictly aerobic that most likely belong to the genus of Alicyclobacillus. A fast identification method—16S rDNA PCR-RFLP was used to identify them. The results indicated that at the similarity level of 87%, apple juice isolates strains of 1-4 and 1-2-4 clustered with the reference strain of A. acidoterrstris DSM 3922T, and 4-2-1, S-22 and 5-1 with A. cycloheptanicus DSM 4006T, respectively. The other tested strains were different from all the reference strains in this study and may be new species of Alicyclobacillus genus or the other. In order to confirm this conclusion, we selected 7 16S rDNA PCR-RFLP identified strains and 5 type strains of Alicyclobacillus genus, carried on 51 kinds of phenotypic characteristics and analysis the data by unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). The results showed that the similarity degree between every two strains was lower than 80%. It also suggested that they may be different from each other and the unidentified strains may be new species. In addition, spoilage effects of them on 12 Brix apple juice were also studied. The result suggested that all 19 tested bacterial strains caused apple juice to become turbid, form a precipitate and off odor at varying rates when incubated at 37 °C up to 12 days. It suggested that these bacteria are associated with the spoilage of apple juice during storage.