Fabrication and evaluation of electrospun collagen/poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)/chitosan mat as blood-contacting biomaterials for drug delivery

The recent advances in electrospinning have resulted in technologies facilitating easy drug entrapment, obtaining high surface area and thereby higher drug loading and release efficacy, burst control as well as the specific morphology which could be controlled according to the desired requirement. The present study focused on the fabrication of collagen/poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)/chitosan complex with incorporated 5-fluorouracil, an anticancer drug by the method of electrospinning. The effect of chitosan on the fiber morphology and release kinetics was analyzed by varying its concentration. The release kinetics showed that the increase in chitosan concentration delayed the release of the drug from the fiber network. Nano hydroxyapatite was added to the fiber matrix in order to impart bioactivity, which was confirmed by studies in simulated body fluid. The addition of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) increased the blood compatibility of the prepared model. Thus, the model prepared to can find potential application in the field of cancer therapy as a drug-delivery agent in post-surgical treatment of cancer and as blood contacting biomaterial.     

Enhancing the thermal destruction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef patties by trans-cinnamaldehyde

The effect of trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC) on the inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in undercooked ground beef patties was investigated. A five-strain mixture of E. coli O157:H7 was inoculated into ground beef (7.0 log CFU/g), followed by addition of TC (0, 0.15, and 0.3%). The meat was formed into patties and stored at 4 °C for 5 days or at −18 °C for 7 days. The patties were cooked to an internal temperature of 60 or 65 °C, and E. coli O157:H7 was enumerated. The numbers of E. coli O157:H7 did not decline during storage of patties. However, cooking of patties containing TC significantly reduced (P < 0.05) E. coli O157:H7 counts, by >5.0 log CFU/g, relative to the reduction in controls cooked to the same temperatures. The D-values at 60 and 65 °C of E. coli O157:H7 in TC-treated patties (1.85 and 0.08 min, respectively) were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than the corresponding D-values for the organism in control patties (2.70 and 0.29 min, respectively). TC-treated patties were more color stable and showed significantly lower lipid oxidation (P < 0.05) than control samples. TC enhanced the heat sensitivity of E. coli O157:H7 and could potentially be used as an antimicrobial for ensuring pathogen inactivation in undercooked patties. However detailed sensory studies will be necessary to determine the acceptability to consumers of TC in ground beef patties.     

Profiling of phenolic compounds using UPLC–Q-TOF-MS/MS and nephroprotective activity of Indian green leafy vegetable Merremia emarginata (Burm. f.)

The present study aimed at optimization and identification of phenolic compounds from Merremia emarginata (Burm. f.) through RP-HPLC and UPLC–MS/MS. Further, to investigate nephroprotective effect of M. emarginata against gentamicin induced nephrotoxicity in albino Wistar rats phenolic compound identification was carried out using UPLC–MS/MS in both positive and negative modes of ionization. There are about 29 known and 19 unknown phenolic compounds that have been detected in M. emarginata based on MS/MS fragmentation pattern. The nephrotoxicity was induced by gentamicin in albino Wistar rats through i.p. injection (20 mg/kg of b.wt) and the rats were treated orally with ethanol extract of M. emarginata (150, 200 and 250 mg/kg of b.wt) for fifteen days. Serum biochemical parameters were analyzed and histopathological study was carried out to evaluate nephroprotective activity. The histopathology study shows that compared to the control group, the kidney of the diseased group was highly damaged and the plant extract treated group shows regeneration of glomerular and tubular epithelial cells of damaged kidney.     

Architecture compliance checking at run-time

In this paper, we report on our experiences with architecture compliance checking – the process of checking whether the planned or specified software architecture is obeyed by the running system – of an OSGi-based, dynamically evolving application in the office domain. To that end, we first show how to dynamically instrument a running system in the context of OSGi in order to collect run-time traces. Second, we explain how to bridge the abstraction gap between run-time traces and software architectures, through the construction of hierarchical Colored Petri nets (CP-nets). In addition, we demonstrate how to design reusable hierarchical CP-nets. In an industry example, we were able to extract views that helped us to identify a number of architecturally relevant issues (e.g., architectural style violations, behavior violations) that would not have been detected otherwise, and could have caused serious problems like system malfunctioning or unauthorized access to sensitive data. Finally, we package valuable experiences and lessons learned from this endeavor.     

A Distributed Stream Query Optimization Framework through Integrated Planning and Deployment

This paper addresses the problem of optimizing multiple distributed stream queries that are executing simultaneously in distributed data stream systems. We argue that the static query optimization approach of "plan, then deployment” is inadequate for handling distributed queries involving multiple streams and node dynamics faced in distributed data stream systems and applications. Thus, the selection of an optimal execution plan in such dynamic and networked computing systems must consider operator ordering, reuse, network placement, and search space reduction. We propose to use hierarchical network partitions to exploit various opportunities for operator-level reuse while utilizing network characteristics to maintain a manageable search space during query planning and deployment. We develop top-down, bottom-up, and hybrid algorithms for exploiting operator-level reuse through hierarchical network partitions. Formal analysis is presented to establish the bounds on the search space and suboptimality of our algorithms. We have implemented our algorithms in the IFLOW [CHECK END OF SENTENCE] system, an adaptive distributed stream management system. Through simulations and experiments using a prototype deployed on Emulab [CHECK END OF SENTENCE], we demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework and our algorithms.     

Vapour-liquid-solid growth of ternary Bi2Se2Te nanowires

High-density growth of single-crystalline Bi₂Se₂Te nanowires was achieved via the vapour-liquid-solid process. The stoichiometry of samples grown at various substrate temperatures is precisely determined based on energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy on individual nanowires. We discuss the growth mechanism and present insights into the catalyst-precursor interaction.     

Proton conducting composite membranes for fuel cell application

Composites were fabricated by blending SPSEBS (Sulfonated Poly Styrene Ethylene Butylene Poly Styrene) with Boron phosphate (BPO₄) for proton conducting applications in fuel cells. The effects of boron phosphate and its relative loading were analyzed in terms of IEC and proton conductivity. Water and methanol uptake of these membranes were also studied.The membranes were characterized by IR spectroscopy. Thermal stability was studied by TGA and DSC analyses. Surface morphology was done by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The XRD studies indicated the existence of a certain level of crystallinity in the SPSEBS, and the composite membranes. Mechanical strength of the membranes was measured by Universal Testing Machine (UTM). This paper presents the result of recent investigations to develop an optimised in-house membrane electrode assembly (MEA) preparation technique combining catalyst ink spraying and assembly hot pressing. Easy steps were chosen in this preparation technique aiming at simplification and cost reduction.     

Strontium and ciprofloxacin modified hydroxyapatites as functional grafts for bone prostheses

Both strontium and ciprofloxacin are known to be functional materials for the treatment of bone diseases associated to the loss of bone substance. In this work we prepared the strontium (Sr) modified hydroxyapatite (SrHA) and ciprofloxacin (Cip) modified SrHA bone substitutes by one pot facile chemical precipitation route. The calcium release is improved more for SrHA compared with stoichiometric HA owing to the higher solubility of the Sr. Drug release profile exhibited the sustained and prolonged release of Cip up to 45 days. The in-vitro cell responses showed that the Sr addition improved the ALP activity of the osteoblast like MG-63 cells which confirms the enhanced cell viability and functionality of the strontium modified hydroxyapatite ceramics.     

An effective finite element approach for calculation of potential distribution in a multi-dielectric cable

The radial symmetry of the cable results in circular finite elements to evaluate the potential distribution in a multi-dielectric cable. Owing to this, a two dimensional analysis used in conjunction with triangular finite elements is reduced to one-dimensional analysis. This method therefore suggests an alternative proposal to calculate the potential distribution in a multi-dielectric cable with better accuracy.     

Geographic Information System for Coordination of Fast-Track Projects

To meet the increasing demands to deliver projects within a short period of time, many projects are being executed on a fast-track basis. On fast-track projects, the construction begins when the design is between 35% and 65% complete. This poses numerous challenges. One of the key challenges is to ensure that the flow of information and deliverables between the engineering, procurement, and construction is synchronized. This work initially studied the information flow on process plant projects, the disruptions to information flow, and the problems faced due to the disruptions. It was identified that an information system that has the capability to (1) capture the relationships between different deliverables, (2) record the status of deliverables, and (3) process queries from any of the teams regarding status and impact of disruptions will support the decision-making required for rapid development of pragmatic plans. Further, as the information requirements require the representation and querying of both spatial and nonspatial data, the design and implementation of the system using the concepts and features of a geographic information system was explored. The paper discusses the design of the geographic information system and its implementation within the AutoCAD Map environment. The use of the system to retrieve information required for project coordination is illustrated through sample queries.