In this paper we describe an experimental system for the recognition of Italian-style car license plates. Images are usually taken from a camera at a toll gate and preprocessed by a fast and robust 1-D DFT scheme to find the plate and character positions. Characters are classified by a multilayer neural network trained by the recently developed BRLS learning algorithm. The same neural network replaces both the traditional feature extractor and the classifier. The percentage of correctly recognized characters reaches the best scores obtained in literature, being highly insensitive to the environment variability, while the architecture appears best suited for parallel implementation on programmable DSP processors

Human angiotensinogen, the specific substrate of renin, is a heterogeneous glycoprotein constitutively secreted by the liver. Different glycosylation levels may be responsible for its heterogeneity. It contains four putative asparagine-linked glycosylation sites (Asn-X-Ser/ Thr). Systematic site-directed mutagenesis (Asn replaced with Gln) of these four sites was undertaken, and 11 (single, double, triple, and quadruple (N-4)) mutants were produced in COS-7 and/or CHO-K1 cells and characterized. All of the sites were N-glycosylated with preferential glycosylation of the Asn 14 and the Asn 271 . The suppression of the Asn 14 glycosylation site led to 5 times lower K m and a 10 times lower k cat . Angiotensinogen heterogeneity was much lower for the N-4 mutant protein, which produced a single form at 48 kDa. Pulsechase experiments showed slight intracellular retention (15%) of the deglycosylated protein after 24 h. Interestingly, the N-4 mutant had a higher catalytic efficiency (k cat /K m ‫؍‬ 5.0 versus 1.6 M ؊1 ⅐ s ؊1 ) than the wild-type protein. The thermal stability of the N-4 protein was unaffected by deglycosylation, suggesting that it was correctly folded. This deglycosylated recombinant human angiotensinogen could be of value for x-ray crystallography studies.

Pathogenicity and host-parasite relationships in root-knot disease of celery ( Apium graveolens ) caused by Meloidogyne incognita race 1 were studied under glasshouse conditions. Naturally and artificially infected celery cv. D'elne plants showed severe yellowing and stunting, with heavily deformed and damaged root systems. Nematode-induced mature galls were spherical and/or ellipsoidal and commonly contained more than one female, males and egg masses with eggs. Feeding sites were characterized by the development of giant cells that contained granular cytoplasm and many hypertrophied nuclei. The cytoplasm of giant cells was aggregated along their thickened cell walls and consequently the vascular tissues within galls appeared disrupted and disorganized. The relationship between initial nematode population density ( Pi ) and growth of celery plants was tested in glasshouse experiments with inoculum levels that varied from 0 to 512 eggs and second-stage juveniles (J 2 ) mL -1 soil. Seinhorst's model y = m + (1 -m ) z P-T was fitted to height and top fresh weight data of the inoculated and control plants. The tolerance limit with respect to plant height and fresh top weight of celery to M. incognita race 1 was estimated as 0·15 eggs and J 2 mL -1 soil. The minimum relative values ( m ) for plant height and top fresh weight were 0·37 and 0·35, respectively, at Pi ≥ 16 eggs and J 2 mL -1 soil. The maximum nematode reproduction rate ( Pf/Pi ) was 407·6 at an initial population density ( Pi ) of 4 eggs and J 2 mL -1 soil.

The d and l amino acid mediated enantioselective intramolecular aldol reaction of 4‐((1‐methyl‐2,6‐dioxo‐cyclohexyl)methyl)‐pent‐4‐enal 1 leading, after dehydration, to (‐)‐(R) and (+)‐(S) 4a‐methyl‐3‐methylene‐5‐oxo‐2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8‐octahydro‐naphthalene‐1‐carbaldehyde 2 was explored. It was found that (‐)‐(R) carbaldehyde 2 is enantioselectively formed in the presence of l‐amino acids while (+)‐(S) carbaldehyde 2 is enantioselectively formed in the presence of d‐amino acids. (‐)‐(R) Carbaldehyde 2 was then transformed into (+)‐22. The absolute configuration and relative stereochemistry of the latter was established by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis of p‐iodobenzoate (+)‐23.

No abstract

SummarySevere infections of parsley plants and soil infestations with Meloidogyne javanica during an autumn surveys for the pathogenic root-knot nematode infestations were found in Monopoli at Bari province in Southern Italy. This unusual severe infection of parsley, considered a winter crop, was possibly instigated by a very warm autumn from the previous year. Nematodes were extracted from soil samples according to the Coolen's method. Morphological analysis (based on stylet length, tail length and shape, adult females perineal pattern, excretory pore position and Ep/stylet ratio) and molecular studies were used for the nematode characterization and identifi cation. In the soil of infested area a severely deformed root systems were observed, showing a galling rate = 2.5 -4 (scale 0-5) and a soil nematode population densities ranging from 350 to 2,730 eggs and J2 per 5 g of fresh root. M. javanica attack on parsley roots is a limiting factor for plant growth. Considering that curly-leaf parsley varieties resistant to the nematodes are not yet available control strategies must be focused on reduction of soil infestation level below tolerance limit of the target nematode species. Due to the higher cost and reduced availability of fumigant and non-fumigant nematicides, soil solarization, organic amendments or biological control approaches should be preferably used as alternatives.

No abstract

(+)-(S) and (−)-(R)-5-methyl-Wieland-Miescher ketone (+)-1 and (−)-1, are important synthons in the diastereo and enantioselective syntheses of biological and/or pharmacological interesting compounds. A key step in these syntheses is the chemoselective C(1)O acetalization to (+)-5 and (−)-5, respectively. Various procedures for this transformation have been described in the literature. Among them, the classical procedure based on the use of 1,2-ethanediol and TsOH in refluxing benzene in the presence of a Dean-Stark apparatus. Within our work on bioactive natural products, it occurred to us to observe the partial racemization of (+)-5 in the course of the acetalization of (+)-1 by means of the latter methodology. Aiming to investigate this drawback, which, to our best knowledge, has no precedents in the literature, we acetalized with 1,2-ethanediol and TsOH in refluxing benzene and in the presence of a Dean–Stark apparatus under various experimental conditions, enantiomerically pure (+)-1. It was found that the extent of racemization depends on the TsOH/(+)-1 and 1,2-ethanediol/(+)-1 ratios. Mechanism hypotheses for this partial and unexpected racemization are provided.