Micro- and nanocomposite particles of the Cu–TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> system

The micro- and nanocomposite particles of the Cu–TiO₂ system are synthesized using the laser scanning of a heliumlike film. A model of nanostructure formation on a dielectric surface is proposed.     

Evaluation of accuracy of literature gasoline blending models to predict octane numbers of gasoline blends

The gasoline blending prediction models available in the open literature: Linear method, Ethyl method, Stewart method, Zahed method, and Twu method were tested on 25 gasoline blends prepared from 14 components used by LUKOIL Neftohim Burgas (LNB) refinery to produce commercial gasoline grades. The performed tests with these models showed prediction accuracy outside of the acceptable ASTM D 2699 and ASTM D 2700 reproducibility limits. However, the LNB-modified regression model of Zahed method turned out to predict RON and MON of studied gasoline blends with accuracy equivalent to the reproducibility of the standard methods for measurement of RON and MON.     

Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates of poultry, swine, and cattle origin collected from slaughterhouses in Hungary

Campylobacter spp. are the most common cause of bacterial enteritis in Hungary, and the aim of this study was to identify the distribution, genotypes, and antimicrobial susceptibility of Campylobacter species in the most important food-producing animals at the time of slaughter during 2008 and 2009. Of 1,110 samples, 266 were identified as Campylobacter coli (23.9%) and 143 as C. jejuni (12.9%) by real-time PCR. Resistance to enrofloxacin-ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid was significant, especially in C. jejuni (73.3%) and C. coli (77.2%) from broilers. Higher erythromycin (P = 0.043) and tetracycline (P = 1.865e-14) resistance rates were found among C. coli isolates (9.7 and 74.1%, respectively) than among C. jejuni isolates (3.1 and 36.6%, respectively). A total of 47 fla short variable region sequences were identified among 73 selected C. coli and C. jejuni isolates, with 35 fla types detected only once. At the nucleotide level, fla types A66 and A21 were the most common. Using the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis method, 66% of strains exhibited unique profiles after Sma I digestion. Forty-two isolates assigned to 18 Sma I clusters were further typed by Kpn I, and of these, 24 were assigned to 10 Kpn I clusters. For isolates in five Kpn I clusters, epidemiological links were observed. Stable C. jejuni and C. coli clones were detected, indicating that further studies involving broiler and human isolates need to be conducted to elucidate the importance of these stable clones in human infections.     

Effect of catalyst condition on sedimentation and conversion in the ebullated bed vacuum residue H-Oil hydrocracking

This study highlights the importance of the condition of the catalytic system in the ebullated bed vacuum residue hydrocracker on the performance of the unit, proving that not only feedstock quality but also catalytic system quality are the single variables which have the biggest impact on residue hydrocracker performance. During processing the same vacuum residual oil in the LUKOIL Neftohim Burgas H-Oil ebullated bed hydrocracker a variation of conversion between 56.6 and 73.0% was observed. A higher sedimentation and the resulted decreased reaction severity were provoked by a higher vanadium content in the catalyst in the second reactor and a higher arsenic determinant in the whole catalytic system. The reduction of the second reactor catalyst vanadium content along with a decrease of the arsenic determinant in the whole catalytic system allowed recovering the 16.4% loss of conversion during processing the same feedstock. The increase of reaction temperature at constant liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) increases aromaticity of the unconverted vacuum residual oil product, most probably due to dealkylation of the side alkyl groups attached to the aromatic cores. The raise of temperature also had an effect on the increase of asphaltene conversion, a fact that is not always observed during EBRHC of vacuum residual oils from different origin.     

A program for individual and population optimal design for univariate and multivariate response pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic models

The design of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic experiments concerns a number of issues, among which are the number of observations and the times when they are taken. Often a model is used to describe these data and the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic behavior of a drug. Knowledge of the data analysis model at the design stage is beneficial for collecting patient data for parameter estimation. A number of criteria for model-oriented experiments, which maximize the information content of the data, are available. In this paper we present a program, Popdes, to investigate the D-optimal design of individual and population multivariate response models, such as pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic, physiologically based pharmacokinetic, and parent drug and metabolites models. A pre-clinical and clinical pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model describing the concentration-time profile and effect of an oncology compound in development is used for illustration.