The simultaneous separation and quantification of two casein peptides (IPP, VPP) presenting potent inhibitory activity of angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) and casein in fermented milks was developed. Gradient elution was carried out at a flow-rate of 1 mL/min, using a mixture of two solvents. Solvent A was 0.1% TFA in water and solvent B was acetonitrile-water-trifluoracetic acid 95:5:0.1. The effluent was monitored by UV detector at 214 nm. Calibration curves were constructed in the interval of 0.01-1.0 mg/mL for VPP, 0.005-1.0 mg/mL for IPP, and 0.05-3.0 mg/mL for casein. R 2 invariably exceeded 0.999. The detection limits were 0.004 for VPP, 0.002 mg/mL for IPP, and 0.02 mg/mL for casein. Repeatability of the method was evaluated by six consecutive injections of two standard solutions containing VPP, IPP, and casein. The RSD values for concentration were all below 5.08%. Recovery studies were carried out to determine the accuracy of the method. Recoveries ranged between 88 and 98.2%. The methodology was applied, not only, for the monitorization of VPP, IPP, and casein in commercial fermented milks labeled as presenting anti hypertensive properties, but also, in milk with different degrees of fermentation by L Helveticus, and in other commercial functional fermented milks, such as, those presenting cholesterol lowering properties.

Based on two methods recently proposed - the Ranging Criterion (RC) and the Generators Ranging Criterion (GRC) - new (quasi-orthogonal) even BCH-derived sequences are generated which are very attractive for synchronous or quasi-synchronous Code Division Multiple-Access (CDMA) systems. Numerical results show that the new family of BCH-derived sequences can contain a higher number of quasi-orthogonal sequences with lower correlation values and higher processing gains (PGs) than the spreading sequences typically used in the third generation of mobile communications system, UMTS or in the recent large area synchronised CDMA (LAS-CDMA) technology. It is shown that the even BCH-derived sequences are easily generated by a linear shift register generator, allowing the construction of systems with receiver structures of low complexity as compared with those of quasi-synchronous systems using low correlation zone sequences, as for instance the LAS-CDMA system.

The time-varying microstructure of sleep EEG spindles may have clinical significance in dementia studies. In this work, the sleep spindle is modeled as an AM-FM signal and parameterized in terms of six parameters, three quantifying the instantaneous envelope (IE) and three quantifying the instantaneous frequency (IF) of the spindle model. The IE and IF waveforms of sleep spindles from patients with dementia and normal controls were estimated using the time-frequency technique of complex demodulation (CD). Sinusoidal curve-fitting using a matching pursuit (MP) approach was applied to the IE and IF waveforms for the estimation of the six model parameters. Specific differences were found in sleep spindle instantaneous frequency dynamics between spindles from dementia subjects and spindles from controls.

The modelling of fractional linear systems through ARMA models is addressed. To perform this study, a new recursive algorithm for impulse response ARMA modelling is presented. This is a general algorithm that allows the recursive construction of ARMA models from the impulse response sequence. This algorithm does not need an exact order specification, as it gives some insights into the correct orders. It is applied to modelling fractional linear systems described by fractional powers of the backward difference and the bilinear transformations. The analysis of the results leads to propose suitable models for those systems.

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Generalised fractional centred differences and derivatives are studied in this Chapter. These generalise to real orders the existing ones valid for even and odd positive integer orders. For each one, suitable integral formulations are presented. The limit computation inside the integrals leads to generalisations of the Cauchy derivative. Their computations using a special path lead to the well known Riesz potentials. A study for coherence is done by applying the definitions to functions with Fourier transform. The existence of inverse Riesz potentials is also studied.

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