43 research outputs found
Immobilization of Polyphenol Oxidase from Princess Tree Leaf and its applications in Dye Decolorization
No full textIn this work, Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme was extracted and partially purified from princess tree leaves (Paulownia tomentosa). Then, it was immobilized on calcium alginate beads. The free and immobilized PPO enzymes were applied for the decolorization of metal complex and acid dyes. The metal complex and acid dyes in water were mixed with free and immobilized princess tree PPO for one hour. The percent of decolorization was determined by using untreated dye mixture. Immobilized PPO from princess tree leaf was considerably more active in decolorzation of the dyes than the free PPO. Our results suggested that the immobilized princess tree PPO could be useful for removing artificial dyes from industrial wastes
Synthesis, characterization and biological studies of radiolabelled metal complexes
No full textIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.A series of monothiosemicarbazone (and dithiosemicarbazone) ligands have been synthesized via a Schiff base condensation reaction. These ligands contain various aromatic groups and were isolated as solids in moderate to good yields. The ligands were characterized using various spectroscopic and analytical techniques..
Members and band outside C .S. P. S. Lodge, Granger, Texas
No full textPhotograph shows unidentified members and band of the Cesko-Slovanska Podporujici Spolecnost (CSPS) Lodge in Granger, Texas. The CSPS was absorbed by the SPJST organization after 1897
Recognizing non-native spoken words in background noise increases interference from the native language
No full textListeners frequently recognize spoken words in the presence of background noise. Previous research has shown that noise reduces phoneme intelligibility and hampers spoken-word recognition—especially for non-native listeners. In the present study, we investigated how noise influences lexical competition in both the non-native and the native language, reflecting the degree to which both languages are co-activated. We recorded the eye movements of native Dutch participants as they listened to English sentences containing a target word while looking at displays containing four objects. On target-present trials, the visual referent depicting the target word was present, along with three unrelated distractors. On target-absent trials, the target object (e.g., wizard) was absent. Instead, the display contained an English competitor, overlapping with the English target in phonological onset (e.g., window), a Dutch competitor, overlapping with the English target in phonological onset (e.g., wimpel, pennant), and two unrelated distractors. Half of the sentences was masked by speech-shaped noise; the other half was presented in quiet. Compared to speech in quiet, noise delayed fixations to the target objects on target-present trials. For target-absent trials, we observed that the likelihood for fixation biases towards the English and Dutch onset competitors (over the unrelated distractors) was larger in noise than in quiet. Our data thus show that the presence of background noise increases lexical competition in the task-relevant non-native (English) and in the task-irrelevant native (Dutch) language. The latter reflects stronger interference of one’s native language during non-native spoken-word recognition under adverse conditions
Inter-lingual competition in noise
No full textListeners frequently recognize spoken words in the presence of background noise. Previous research has shown that noise reduces phoneme intelligibility and hampers spoken-word recognition—especially for non-native listeners. In the present study, we investigated how noise influences lexical competition in both the non-native and the native language, reflecting the degree to which both languages are co-activated
Inter-lingual competition in noise
No full textListeners frequently recognize spoken words in the presence of background noise. Previous research has shown that noise reduces phoneme intelligibility and hampers spoken-word recognition—especially for non-native listeners. In the present study, we investigated how noise influences lexical competition in both the non-native and the native language, reflecting the degree to which both languages are co-activated
Data_Sheet_1_ERP Responses to Regional Accent Reflect Two Distinct Processes of Perceptual Compensation.ZIP
No full textHumans possess a robust speech-perception apparatus that is able to cope with variation in spoken language. However, linguists have often claimed that this coping ability must be limited, since otherwise there is no way for such variation to lead to language change and regional accents. Previous research has shown that the presence or absence of perceptual compensation is indexed by the N400 and P600 components, where the N400 reflects the general awareness of accented speech input, and the P600 responds to phonological-rule violations. The present exploratory paper investigates the hypothesis that these same components are involved in the accommodation to sound change, and that their amplitudes reduce as a sound change becomes accepted by an individual. This is investigated on the basis of a vowel shift in Dutch that has occurred in the Netherlands but not in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). Netherlandic and Flemish participants were presented auditorily with words containing either conservative or novel vowel realizations, plus two control conditions. Exploratory analyses found no significant differences in ERPs to these realizations, but did uncover two systematic differences. Over 9 months, the N400 response became less negative for both groups of participants, but this effect was significantly smaller for the Flemish participants, a finding in line with earlier results on accent processing. Additionally, in one control condition where a “novel” realization was produced based on vowel lengthening, which cannot be achieved by any rule of either Netherlandic or Flemish Dutch and changes the vowel's phonemic identity, a P600 was obtained in the Netherlandic participants, but not in the Flemish participants. This P600 corroborates a small number of other studies which found phonological P600s, and provides ERP validation of earlier behavioral results that adaptation to variation in speech is possible, until the variation crosses a phoneme boundary. The results of this exploratory study thus reveal two types of perceptual-compensation (dys)function: on-line accent processing, visible as N400 amplitude, and failure to recover from an ungrammatical realization that crosses a phoneme boundary, visible as a P600. These results provide further insight on how these two ERPs reflect the processing of variation.</p
Fuel properties and rheological behavior of biodiesel from egusi (Colocynthis citrullus L.) seed kernel oil
No full textIn this study, egusi (Colocynthis citrullus L.) seed kernel oil has been evaluated as a feedstock for biodiesel production. The transesterification of the crude egusi seed kernel oil (CESKO) via methanol in the presence of sodium methoxide was performed and the resulting egusi oil methyl ester (EOME) was tested for its fatty ester composition, fuel properties and rheological behavior (at 25 °C, 40 °C and 55 °C). The fuel properties of EOME measured met both the ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 biodiesel standards, with the exception of lower oxidative stability. The fatty ester composition and fuel properties of EOME were found comparable to those of conventional biodiesels from soybean, sunflower and safflower oils. The viscosity behavior of EOME and its blends with diesel fuel (at 25 °C, 40 °C and 55 °C) was found to be pseudoplastic and Newtonian in nature and this agrees with those of other biodiesels reported in literature. From this study, the kinematic viscosity of EOME (3.91 mm2/s) was found to be slightly lower than that of most biodiesels (≥ 4.0 mm2/s) reported in literature
<i>In vitro</i> treatment with 8-methoxypsoralen and UVA reduces pro-inflammatory effector functions in healthy donor neutrophils.
No full text<p>(A) Neutrophil granulocytes of healthy donors were stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate13-acetate (PMA) for 0, 4, 8 and 24h after treatment with 8-methoxypsoralen and UVA light. Nitric oxide was quantified via flow cytometry by staining with DAF-FM Diacetate after gating on viable cells. Data shown from one representative donor. (B) After 24h of stimulation with LPS, release of CXCL8 and CCL4 into the supernatants was detected by ELISA. Concentrations are shown as x-fold change compared to unstimulated neutrophils. Mean changes of 6 donors ± standard deviation (SD) shown. **p≤0.01. (C) Supernatants of untreated neutrophils and neutrophils treated with 8-MOP and UVA were generated after 24h stimulation with LPS, TNFα and IFNγ (n = 6). Arginase activity was determined enzymatically. Unit definition: 1 unit of arginase converts 1μmol of L-arginine to ornithine and urea per minute at 37°C and pH 9.5. *p = 0.04</p
