Bacteriological effects of functionalized cotton dressings

This study aims to achieve effects of improved hydrophilicity and microorganism inhibition, which are rarely simultaneously present in wound dressings. Cotton gauzes were modified using the grafting of a polymer-based β-cyclodextrin. After optimizing the grafting conditions, the untreated and modified cellulosic samples were principally characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, TGA/DTA analysis, in vitro drug release, and wettability measurements. In light of desired characteristics of wound dressings, the effectiveness of procedures was evaluated. It was found that contact angles for cotton gauzes decreased after functionalization, which means that hydrophilicity was proven to become excellent. A successful Methylene Blue complexation was confirmed through measure of the dyebath exhaustion using UV-spectrophotometry. Then, during Methylen Blue release test, we reported an initial burst release of active ingredient over 7?h, followed by zero-order release. The treatment effect on antimicrobial activity was investigated by growth inhibition, which was proven against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.     

Flavor Release from a Banana Soft Drink Complex Model System: Evaluation of the Efficiency of Different Adsorbents for Trapping the Released Volatiles During Storage

The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the release of aroma compounds from a banana soft drink complex model system in comparison with their release from simple model systems, each contains individual food ingredients. The effect of different food ingredients (sweeteners and thickeners at different concentrations), used in formulation of the soft drinks, on flavor release from simple model systems containing banana flavor was evaluated separately. The optimum release of isoamyl acetate (the most potent odorant of banana aroma) was observed at a concentration of 10% of each investigated sweetener (sucrose, glucose, and corn syrup). Pectin and xanthane showed the highest release at a concentration of 2.5 and 0.8% w/w, respectively. The level of each ingredient that showed the optimum release of isoamyl acetate was selected and used in formulation of a banana soft drink complex model system. The released volatiles were trapped by tenax and activated carbon. The gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis revealed a gradual decrease (p < 0.05) in the volatile compounds release from the complex banana soft drink model system during storage for 90 days. However, the total content of the volatiles adsorbed by activated carbon trap was higher than that trapped by tenax. The percentage of isoamyl acetate to total volatiles (isoamyl acetate/total volatiles %) was calculated for each sample during storage. A distinct linear correlation was found between the calculated values and storage time (r = 0.97 and 0.92 for volatiles trapped by tenax and activated carbon, respectively). Sample stored for 60 days showed the highest value. These findings confirmed the results of aroma sensory evaluation.     

Evaluation of the effects of different remineralizing agents on Streptococcus mutans biofilm adhesion

The aim of the study was to compare the effects of different remineralization methods that are well established in clinical and daily use on S. mutans biofilm adhesion. In this study 72 human third molars were used. From each tooth two pieces of 4?mm x 7?mm enamel blocks were acquired. The samples were divided into 6 groups in which include 10 samples per time period (24h and 48?h) and for each remineralization method; control, flouride, ozone, CPP-ACP, arginine, novamin. After remineralization procedures, enamel surfaces were covered with saliva. 10⁵ CFU/mL of active S. mutans culture were inoculated onto the samples. S. mutans colonies were counted with Plate Count Agar (PCA) decimal dilution method. Micromorphologic effects of different remineralization methods were observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The most S. mutans biofilm formation for both time periods was observed in the control group whereas the less biofilm adhesion was showed in the arginine group. There were no statistically significant differences among remineralization agents (p?>?0.05). In the control group there was statistical difference between 24?h and 48?h (p?<?0.005) but in the other study groups there were no significant difference between the time periods (p?>?0.05). Remineralization agents did not significant differ on S. mutans biofilm adhesion.     

A Chemometric Approach to Assess the Frying Stability of Cottonseed Oil Blends During Deep-Frying Process: I. Polar and Polymeric Compound Analyses

The main goal of the present study was (i) to determine the formation of degradation products in cottonseed oil (CSO) blends during deep frying process by adsorption and high performance size exclusion chromatography techniques and (ii) to evaluate the impacts of food additives on total polar (TPC) and polymeric compound (PTAG) formation using a chemometric approach. In order to prepare the frying CSO blends; ascorbic palmitate, mixed tocopherols, dimethylpolysiloxane, lecithin and sesame oils were used as additives. To determine the real impacts of additives, a quarter-fraction factorial experimental design with two levels and five factors was used. The changes in TPC and PTAG data were carefully evaluated during 10 h of frying at 170 ± 5 °C with normal distribution (ND) graphs and analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey’s Post-hoc test (α = 0.05). The results indicated that the increasing values for TPC and PTAG during the frying processes for all blends, TPC and PTAG contents reached maximum levels of 16.37 and 6.01 % respectively, which are below the limit values stated by official authorities for the quality assessment of frying oils. The ANOVA test results were in good agreement with ND graphs and data indicated that the impact of mixed tocopherols was significant for TPC formation, meanwhile the impact of lecithin and ascorbic palmitate × dimethylpolysiloxane were significant for PTAG formation. Thus, the present study should be considered to be a very useful guide for developing new frying oil formulations based on CSO by using food additives.     

Comparison of an Eigenvector Music Method with Classical FFT and Model Based AR Methods in the Analysis of Mitral Valve Doppler Signals

Abstract

Mitral valve stenosis is an important heart condition that develops when the mitral valve fails to open as wide as it should. In this study, we have performed Eigenvector based Music, FFT based Welch, and AR based Burg methods of Doppler signals real clinical data from patients with mitral valve stenosis and healthy volunteers. Using these methods, we have not only utilized power spectral density distribution graphs, but also facilitated Doppler sonograms and estimation of SBI to obtain medical information about mitral stenosis and determination of spectral broadening in the presence of mitral stenosis. In conclusion, this research has shown that frequency level of maximum power spectral density is distinctive and there is an advantage in using the EIG‐Music over the FFT‐Welch and AR‐Burg for the determination of SBI. Using the Music method among them, the calculation of SBI may help determine mitral valve stenosis.     

TiN and TaN diffusion barriers in copper interconnect technology: Towards a consistent testing methodology

The present status of work on diffussion barriers for copper in multilevel interconnects is surveyed briefly, with particular emphasis on TiN and TaN, and silicon dioxide as the interlayer dielectric. New results are presented for these materials, combining thermal annealing and bias temperature stress testing. With both stress methods, various testing conditions are compared using capacitance-vs-voltage (C-V) and leakage current-vs-voltage (I-V) measurements to characterize the stressed samples. From an evaluation of these data and a comparison with other testing approaches, conditions for a consistent testing methodology of barrier reliability are outlined.     

Novel homo- and hetero-nuclear copper(II) complexes of tetradentate Schiff bases: synthesis, characterization, solvent-extraction and catalase-like activity studies

Twelve homo- and hetero-nuclear copper(II) complexes of tetradentate Schiff base ligands containing N(4) donor sets have been prepared by employing several steps. The characterization and nature of bonding of the complexes have been deduced from elemental analysis, FT-IR, molar conductivity, magnetic moment measurements and thermal analysis. The three Schiff base ligands were further identified using (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra. All copper(II) complexes are 1:2 electrolytes as shown by their molar conductivities (Lambda(M)) in DMF and paramagnetic. The subnormal magnetic moment values of the di- and tri-nuclear complexes explained by a very strong anti-ferromagnetic interaction. The extraction ability of the ligands has been examined by the liquid-liquid extraction of selected transition metal (Mn(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+), Pb(2+), Cd(2+), Hg(2+)) cations. The ligands show strong binding ability toward copper(II) ion. Furthermore the homo- and hetero-nuclear copper(II) complexes were each tested for their ability to catalyse the disproportionation of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of the added base imidazole.     

A MC-CDMA Mobile Communication System Employing Pre-Rake and Transmit Diversity

In this paper, a multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) downlink mobile communication system employing pre-rake and dual transmit diversity is proposed. It combines high spectral efficiency with an immunity to channel dispersion and fading. It also ensures small size, cost and power consumption of the terminal. Theoretical and simulation results for the system under consideration are obtained. Depicted results show appreciable improvements of the proposed system over those previously known.Emad K. Al-Hussaini received his B.Sc degree in Electrical Communication Engineering from Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, in 1964 and his M.Sc and Ph.D. degrees from Cairo University, Giza, Egypt, in 1974 and 1977, respectively. From 1964 to 1970, he was with the General Egyptian Aeroorganization. Since 1970, he has been with the Department of Electronics and Communications, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, and is currently professor there. He was a research fellow at Imperial College, London, UK, and at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA, in the academic years 1976/1977 and 1981/1982, respectively. In 1990, he received the Egyptian national encouragement award for outstanding engineering research. He has written several papers for technical international journals and conferences. His research interests include signal processing, fading channel communication, modulation, and cellular mobile radio systems. Dr Al-Hussaini is a senior member of IEEE. He is listed in Marquis Whos Who in the World and in the IBC (International Biographical Center, Cambridge) for outstanding people of the 20th century.Hebat-Allah M.Mourad received her B.Sc, M.Sc and Ph.D degrees in Electrical Communication Engineering from Cairo University, Egypt, in 1983, 1987 and 1994 respectively. Since 1983 she has been with the Electronics and Communications Department, Faculty of Engineering Cairo University and is currently associate professor there. Her research interests include mobile communications, satellite communications and optical fiber communications.Fatma A. Newagy received her B.Sc and M.Sc degrees in electrical communication engineering from Cairo University, Egypt in 1998 and 2002 respectively. Since 1999, she has been a research assistant with the Department of Electronics and Communications, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. She is pursuing her Ph.D. there. Her research interests include mobile communications and modulation techniques for spread spectrum and wireless communications.     

Inter-plant hydrogen integration with regeneration placement and multi-period consideration

Inter-plant hydrogen integration (IPHI) is getting more attention in recent years, as a result of the increasing demand for hydrogen in refinery processes, such as hydrotreating and hydrocracking. In this work, IPHI with regeneration scheme is analyzed. Indirect integration scheme is adopted, where hydrogen sources from different hydrogen networks are integrated via a centralized purifier, such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) or membrane separation. The introduced model is able to select the optimum interception unit, which minimizes the total annualized cost. Besides, multi-period consideration is included in the analysis to address the effect of changes in operating conditions of the IPHI network on total hydrogen consumption. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of the proposed model.