Pharmacodynamic Comparison of a Nasal Formulation of Verapamil and Intravenous and Oral Dosage Forms

The nasal route has been shown to be effective for the administration of numerous drugs in order to improve drug bioavailability. A nasal gel of verapamil hydrochloride was formulated and evaluated pharmacodynamically in humans, using electrocardiographic results, with comparison to oral and IV routes. Seven volunteers were involved in the study and the pharmacodynamic parameters were evaluated statistically. Experimental nasal gel showed similar pharmacodynamic results with the intravenous route, which is a hint to the reduction in verapamilinduced first-pass metabolism. However, oral route of administration showed a tendency of less efficacy. No reasonable effect of verapamil could be obtained with the placebo group.     

Design and analysis of a social botnet

Online Social Networks (OSNs) have attracted millions of active users and have become an integral part of today’s web ecosystem. Unfortunately, in the wrong hands, OSNs can be used to harvest private user data, distribute malware, control botnets, perform surveillance, spread misinformation, and even influence algorithmic trading. Usually, an adversary starts off by running an infiltration campaign using hijacked or adversary-owned OSN accounts, with an objective to connect with a large number of users in the targeted OSN. In this article, we evaluate how vulnerable OSNs are to a large-scale infiltration campaign run by socialbots: bots that control OSN accounts and mimic the actions of real users. We adopted the design of a traditional web-based botnet and built a prototype of a Socialbot Network (SbN): a group of coordinated programmable socialbots. We operated our prototype on Facebook for 8 weeks, and collected data about user behavior in response to a large-scale infiltration campaign. Our results show that (1) by exploiting known social behaviors of users, OSNs such as Facebook can be infiltrated with a success rate of up to 80%, (2) subject to user profile privacy settings, a successful infiltration can result in privacy breaches where even more private user data are exposed, (3) given the economics of today’s underground markets, running a large-scale infiltration campaign might be profitable but is still not particularly attractive as a sustainable and independent business, (4) the security of socially-aware systems that use or integrate OSN platforms can be at risk, given the infiltration capability of an adversary in OSNs, and (5) defending against malicious socialbots raises a set of challenges that relate to web automation, online-offline identity binding, and usable security.     

Experimental study on conventional solar still integrated with inclined solar still under different water depth

This study primarily focuses on comparative experimental analysis on standalone conventional solar still (CSS), inclined solar still (ISS), and integrated conventional and inclined solar still (CSS‐ISS) for different parameters that affect the freshwater yield. For enhancing the freshwater yield only a few studies are available on still‐still integration. The present novel study provides a greater improvement in improving the freshwater yield by integrating ISS with CSS. This experimental work mainly concentrates on the importance of water depth (d _w) and mass flow rate of water ( m _w) in the solar still. Water depth inside the conventional still varied from 0.02 to 0.06 m whereas, water is constantly flown with a mass flow rate of 8.33 kg/hour in an ISS with baffles. The experimental result shows that the accumulated freshwater yield from CSS‐ISS, ISS, and CSS were 6.2, 5.04, and 4.24 kg, respectively. CSS‐ISS and ISS produced 46.23% and 18.87% higher productivity than the CSS. From the experimental investigation, it is also identified that the water temperature is significantly improved by 20% using integration as compared with CSS without integration under the same water depth of d _w = 0.02 m. The overall improvement in yield was higher in the case of CSS‐ISS. The deviations between experimental and theoretical values of yield from the conventional and modified solar still were in the range of ±7%.     

Thermal and hydraulic characteristics of a triangular duct using an Al2O 3 nanofluid in a turbulent flow regime

This paper presents the computational analysis of convective heat transfer characteristics, pressure drop, and entropy generation characteristics of Al₂O₃/water nanofluids in a noncircular duct (triangular) using a single phase approach under a turbulent flow regime. The thermal and pressure drop characteristics of different concentrations of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (NPs) and the analysis were carried out in Fluent software using a k‐ε approach under constant wall heat flux around the boundary. The results show that there is an increase in pressure drop and thereby an increase in friction by 20% for the smooth condition. The total pressure drop between the entry and exit section of the duct is increased to approximately 84.2% and 85.6% for a higher Reynolds number (Re = 10 000) compared with that of base fluid. Similarly, the entropy generation of water is increased by 40% as compared with 0.05% and 0.1% Al₂O₃ NPs. There is also a decrease in entropy generation identified while there is an increase in the Reynolds number. The convective heat transfer of 0.05% and 0.1% nanofluid has a similar trend with increased Reynolds number. The maximum performance is observed at the Reynolds number (Re = 4000) and found to be 1.29 for 0.1% concentration, whereas, the fluid at 0.05% is observed to be at 1.23. At a higher Reynolds number (Re = 10 000) the performance index decreased to approximately 1.19 and 1.25 for 0.05% and 0.1%, respectively.     

Path Loss Models for Low-Height Mobiles in Forest and Urban

This paper presents path loss measurements at 2.1 GHz in forest and urban areas. Empirical path loss models have been presented for low-height dual-mobility channels. Three test scenarios are considered for the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) placed inside the test vehicle or on a test cart pushed at walking speed. Based on measurements, the in-leaf and single-slope path loss models are presented. The path loss exponents for the dual-mobility channels are found to be between 2.1 and 3.4 in urban and 8.0 in forest, with higher reference when antennas are placed inside the vehicle.     

Room temperature aging behavior of Ti-Nb-Mo-based superelastic alloys

The effect of room temperature (RT) aging on the superelasticity of Ti-Nb-Mo-based superelastic alloys is investigated. The results show that annealing at relatively low temperatures such as 973 K after severe cold rolling results in poor resistance to the effect of RT aging. The transformation stress increases considerably due to the formation of an isothermal ω phase at RT. Addition of Sn is partially effective in suppressing the RT aging effect in the specimens annealed at 973 K. The RT aging effect is suppressed by increasing the annealing temperature, due to the annihilation of lattice defects or non-equilibrium vacancies introduced during cold rolling, which are responsible for accelerating the diffusion process, however, superelasticity is reduced by annealing at higher temperatures, due to a decrease in the critical stress for slip deformation (σ_CSS). The specimen annealed at 1173 K followed by aging at 773 K exhibits stable superelasticity with a high resistance to the effect of RT aging. Annealing at 1173 K causes the annihilation of lattice defects or non-equilibrium vacancies, while aging at 773 K induces precipitation of the α phase, which in turn causes an increase in σ_CSS, and further enhances the resistance to the RT aging effect by enriching the matrix with β-stabilizing elements.     

Energy use in two Italian and Chinese tile manufacturers: A comparison using an enterprise input–output model

It is becoming evident that sustainable development methods are now being considered by governments and corporations from all countries at both local and global level. Firms are increasingly looking to strike a balance between profit, preserving the local environment, and energy savings, rather than just looking for profit. In this paper, an enterprise input–output analysis based on production processes is used to investigate two tile manufacturers, one located in China and the other in Italy. The aim of the paper is to describe their energy/materials use and consequent pollution/waste emissions, and to make a comparison between them. As this industry uses huge quantities of energy, it is useful to monitor these consumption uses along with pollution levels. This accounting can help in planning future local development strategies that would make production cycles more efficient and sustainable.     

Studies on the Microencapsulation of Dextropropoxyphene Hydrochloride. Part 1 . Preparation by Coacervation and the in Vitro Evaluation.

The main purpose of our study is to achieve the release at a slower rate and the prolonged action of dextropropoxyphene hydrochloride through microencapsulation. Besides this, microencaosulation of this active agent can prevent the incomnatibility in the presence of aspirin, and the local anesthetic effecton the tongue.

Microcapsules o f dextropropoxyphene hydrochloride (D-PRX-HCl) were prepared by coacervation method with core-shell ratios of 1:1 and 1:2, and the invitrorelease rate experiments were carried on in 0.1 N hydrochloric acid solution.     

Multiple emulsions

The purpose of this review is to update the information on multiple emulsions known to be promising delivery systems for both pharmaceuticals and cosmetic materials. The possibility of encapsulating active substances within liquid membranes may lead to interesting opportunities in both fields. Thus the formulation, manufacturing, stabilization, analysis and potential application of multiple emulsions seems to be worth surveying, putting a special emphasis on cosmetic applications.