Novel strategy for encapsulation and targeted delivery of poorly water-soluble active substances

Carriers for targeted delivery and controlled release of poorly water-soluble active substances (PWSAS) are facing three challenges: (a) the encapsulation issues, (b) limitations of PWSAS water solubility, and (c) burst drug release which can be pharmacologically dangerous and economically inefficient. The present study brings a novel strategy for encapsulation and controlled release of PWSAS—caffeine in concentrations which are higher than its maximal water solubility without the possibility of burst effect. The modification of hydrophilic carrier based on poly(methacylic acid) was done using casein and liposomes. To further increase the maximal caffeine loading inside the carrier nicotinamide was used. The release study of the encapsulated PWSAS was elaborated with respect to morphology of the carriers and interactions that could be established between its structural components. The carriers swelling and the release of caffeine and nicotinamide were also investigated depending on caffeine concentration, the presence of different liposomal formulations and the volume ratio of liposomal formulation, in three media with different pH simulating the path of the carrier through the human gastrointestinal tract. The synthesized carriers are promising candidates for encapsulation of PWSAS in concentrations which are higher than its maximal water solubility and for the targeted delivery of those dosages.     

Reexamination of the Ergothioneine Biosynthetic Methyltransferase EgtD from Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a Protein Kinase Substrate

Ergothioneine has emerged as a crucial cytoprotectant in the pathogenic lifestyle of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Production of this antioxidant from primary metabolites may be regulated by phosphorylation of Thr213 in the active site of the methyltransferase EgtD. The structure of mycobacterial EgtD suggests that this post-translational modification would require a large-scale change in conformation to make the active-site residue accessible to a protein kinase. In this report, we show that, under in vitro conditions, EgtD is not a substrate of protein kinase PknD.     

Optimal weighed Holoentropy for video compression: an advanced HEVC

ABSTRACT

In recent times, the applications of multimedia are rising in a greedy mode and hence the amount of video transactions is also increasing exponentially. This has shouted great demands on effective models on video encoding and also for reducing the transmission channel congestion. This research work introduces a managing technique termed weighted encoding for High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). HEVC, also termed as MPEG-H Part 2 and H.265 is a video compression standard that is widely utilized AVC (H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10). When compared to AVC, HEVC grants double the ratio of data compression at a similar level of quality of the video or considerably enhanced video quality at a similar bit rate. This work intends to optimize the weight that adopted in HEVC for encoding. For this, this paper proposes a new Iterative based propagation update in the water wave Optimization Algorithm (IPU-WWO), which is the improved form of Water wave Optimization (WWO). The performance of proposed IPU-WWO is compared over other conventional methods like Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), Firefly (FF), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) with respect to Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). By doing the encoding process, it minimizes the video size with perceptually better quality video or PSNR.     

Tribological behaviour of a 3Y-TZP/Ta ceramic-metal biocomposite against ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)

This study aims to evaluate the tribological behaviour of 3Y-TZP/Ta (20 vol%) ceramic-metal composites and 3Y-TZP monolithic ceramic prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) against ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). According to the results of pin (UHMWPE)-on-flat wear test under dry conditions, the UHMWPE – 3Y-TZP/Ta system exhibited lower volume loss and friction coefficient than the UHMWPE – monolithic ceramic combination due to the presence of an autolubricating layer that provides sufficient lubrication for reducing the friction. Owing to the lubrication of the liquid media, under wet conditions obtained using simulated body fluid (SBF), similar behaviour is observed in both cases. Additionally, the ceramic and biocomposite materials were subjected to a low temperature degradation (LTD) process (often referred to as “ageing”) to evaluate the changes in the tribological behaviour after this treatment. In this particular case, the wear properties of the UHMWPE-biocomposite system were found to be less influenced by ageing in contrast to the case of the UHMWPE-zirconia monolithic material. In addition to their exceptional mechanical performance, 3Y-TZP/Ta composites also showed high resistance to low temperature degradation and good tribological properties, making them promising candidates for biomedical applications, especially for orthopaedic implants.     

Group sequential crossover trial designs with strong control of the familywise error rate

Crossover designs are an extremely useful tool to investigators, and group sequential methods have proven highly proficient at improving the efficiency of parallel group trials. Yet, group sequential methods and crossover designs have rarely been paired together. One possible explanation for this could be the absence of a formal proof of how to strongly control the familywise error rate in the case when multiple comparisons will be made. Here, we provide this proof, valid for any number of initial experimental treatments and any number of stages, when results are analyzed using a linear mixed model. We then establish formulae for the expected sample size and expected number of observations of such a trial, given any choice of stopping boundaries. Finally, utilizing the four-treatment, four-period TOMADO trial as an example, we demonstrate that group sequential methods in this setting could have reduced the trials expected number of observations under the global null hypothesis by over 33%.     

Reoptimization framework and policy analysis for maritime inventory routing under uncertainty

We study a maritime inventory routing problem, in which shipments between production and consumption nodes are carried out by a fleet of vessels. The vessels have specific capacities and can be chartered under different agreements. The inventory levels of all consumption nodes and some production nodes should be maintained within specified bounds; for the remaining production nodes, orders should be picked up within pre-defined time windows. We propose a discrete-time mixed-integer programming model. In the face of new information and uncertainty, this optimization model has to be re-solved, as the horizon is rolled forward. We discuss how to account for different sources of uncertainty. We present a rolling-horizon reoptimization framework that allows us to study different policies that impact the quality of the implemented solution, so we can identify the optimal set of policies.