Search

Purpose In cataract surgery, viscoelastics protect the corneal endothelium against phacoenergetic and mechanical damage and ensure anterior chamber stability. Vital dyes (trypan blue) are effective aids in anterior segment surgery, especially in challenging cases, but may lead to cytotoxic reactions depending on concentration and dose. A complete removal of the dye is therefore of great importance. Recently, a new viscoelastic colored with Trypan blue (Pe-Ha-Blue®PLUS) was introduced to increase the safety of ophthalmological procedures. The aim of the present work was to determine the residual amount of the dye Trypan Blue that remains on a slide during the routine application of two commercial products (Trypan Blue dye Vision Blue® and Pe-Ha-Blue®PLUS) by Raman spectroscopy. Materials and methods For both products, a test sample (after application of the substance, the slides were flushed according to the clinical procedure) and a reference sample (the substances remained on the slide) were imaged using a Raman spectroscope (LabRam 800 HR spectrometer (Horiba Jobin Yvon GmbH, Bensheim, Germany)) and then analyzed. Results The remaining residues of the reference samples of both substances were clearly detected by the spectroscopy measurement. In the mean spectrum of the Vision Blue® test specimen, the Raman bands of Trypan blue were clearly visible at a Raman shift of 1200-1600 cm-1, indicating residues on the test specimen. The test sample of Pe-Ha-Blue®PLUS did not show any Raman bands in the typical Trypan blue Raman shift. Conclusions The results of our in-silico experiment showed that a drop of a combination of a vital dye with a viscoelastic could be washed-out more easily with BSS compared to a dye itself without viscoelastics. This suggests that at least in an in silico experiment the removal of both, the viscoelastics and the TB is easier compared to the removal of the TB alone. Further in-vitro experiment in pig cadaver eyes are planned to prove this washout effect. If this concept can be demonstrated, this could further increase the safety of dye-assisted ophthalmic procedures.

Lime (Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swing) is one of the types of oranges containing elements of compounds that are beneficial, so widely used as traditional medicine. This research aims to know the antipyretic activity of ethyl acetate fraction peel of lime. Phytochemical screening test result fraction ethyl acetate lemon rind contains flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids and essential oils. Total of 25 mice were divided into 5 groups, group I negative control, group II positive control, group III,IV,V were given ethyl acetate fraction at a dose of 0,07%/gBW,, 0,105%/gBWand 0,14%/gBW. Based on the results of graph average temperatures decrease the dose that the third has antipyretic activity because it can lower the temperature and the largest decreased in temperature at a dose 0,14%/gBW. Based on the test result ANOVA obtained sig. value 0,000. which means there is a temperature difference of meaning between 5 group treatment. And on Independent Test Sample T-test between a positive control with a dose 0,14%/gBW the value of sig. 0,601 (> 0,05) which means there is no meaningful difference.

The present study mainly focuses on the extraction and purification of lecithin from both Gallus gallus and Gallus gallus domesticus. The comparative study shows a great significance in the amount and quality of lecithin extracted from both the sources. The egg lecithin was standardized by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy. TLC analysis was done and calculated for both standard and the samples. It was found to be the same for the test sample and standard soya lecithin. FTIR analysis shows the presence of Methyl group, alkane, carbonyl group, alkenes, hydroxyl alkyl ketone. FTIR helps to compare the in- tensity of functional groups in both lecithin isolated from Gallus gallus and Gallus domesticus.

Objective Many individuals with bladder cancer have undergone a surgical urostomy and often complain of being self-conscious of the unpleasant smell of their own urine. The focus of this study was to test the efficacy of a pouch cover made of a carbon and zeolite containing polyester material to inhibit the smell of urine by comparing two trained dogs' response time in detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urine, with and without the fabric covering the samples. Methods This study used a randomized, blinded experimental design to evaluate the efficacy of a fabric to interfere with two highly trained dogs' ability to detect specific VOCs present in the urine of prostate cancer patient. Ninety urine samples were analyzed in this study. Results Prior to the experiment, both dogs accurately detected VOCs in the uncovered test urine samples of men with prostate cancer with a sensitivity and specificity of nearly 100%. Both dogs recognized the "uncovered" urine samples of men with prostate cancer within two seconds. When the test sample was covered with the study fabric, the test urine samples were detected within 30-40 seconds and in some instances the dogs were not able to identify the covered samples, whatsoever. Conclusion The findings of this study demonstrate that the carbon and zeolite containing polyester fabric did significantly interfere with the ability of the dogs to detect VOCs in urine of men with prostate cancer. The fabric may show promise as a pouch cover in controlling offensive urine odor which many ostomates experience.

The aim of this study is to analyze the mechanical properties of carbon steel medium by quenching in NaOH solution. Heating medium of the carbon steel in a heating furnace is 850°C. The cooling process in NaOH solution was varied in concentration of NaOH (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%), and the sample was allowed to reach room temperature (27°C). The original medium carbon steel hardness value is 9.4 HRC and the tensile strength value is 656.85 MPa, while for materials with heat treatment processes and cooling processes with different concentrations of NaOH (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) resulted in hardness values of 57 HRC, 58.3 HRC, 58.5 HRC, 60 HRC, 57.5 HRC and tensile strength values of 728.50 MPa, 835.99 MPa, 987.26 MPa, 1035 MPa, and 855 MPa for different concentrations of NaOH (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% , 25 %). Analysis of XRD crystalline structure on medium carbon steel with intermediate carbon steel from the three highest peaks of each test sample was found that its orthorhombic crystal structure in which lattice parameters a, b, and c.

A prototype of a wireless charger of inductive type with serial resonance in the circuits of the transmitting and receiving coils has been developed and manufactured, and experimental studies of the efficiency of power transmission from an external source to a storage battery have been carried out. It is shown that the efficiency of the created sample takes values in the range 39% - 78 % and depends on the operating frequency and the distance between the coils. It is also shown that when using coils with an outer diameter of 500 mm, the positioning of these coils in the process of charging the battery at a distance of up to 10 cm does not lead to a significant decrease in efficiency. The experimental values of the efficiency are compared with the calculated ones obtained on a simplified model that takes into account only resistive losses in the coils, and it is shown that the experimental values of the efficiency are 15-20 % less than the calculated ones. References. 8, figures. 5, table 1.

In order to handle the problem of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) target recognition, an improved sparse representation-based classification (SRC) is proposed. According to the sparse coefficient vector resulting from the global dictionary, the largest coefficient in each class is taken as the reference. Then, the surrounding neighborhoods of the sample with the largest coefficient are selected to construct the optimal local dictionary in each training class. Afterwards, the samples in the local dictionary are used to reconstruct the test sample to be identified. Finally, the decision is made according to the comparison of the reconstruction errors from different classes. In the experiments, the proposed method is verified based on the moving and stationary target acquisition and recognition (MSTAR) dataset. The results show that the proposed method has performance advantages over existing methods, which demonstrates its effectiveness and robustness.

Iako je u današnje vrijeme zastupljenja klasična obrada odvajanjem čestica, sve više se počinju koristiti nekonvencionalni postupci obrade odvajanjem čestica. U teoretskom dijelu objašnjeni su osnovni principi rada, obradni sustavi, utjecajni parametri na volumen odnesenog materijala u jedinici vremena, te prednosti i nedostaci dotičnih postupaka. U praktičnom dijelu najprije je bilo potrebno konstruirati testni uzorak na kojem će se vršiti testiranja, mjerenja te izračuni. Nakon konstruiranog testnog uzorka, izvršeno je programiranje u softverskom programu EnRoute za svaki postupak pojedinačno. Na kraju izvršeno je rezanje, izračun zadanih parametara, mjerenje hrapavosti odreza, te određivanje najoptimalnijeg nekonvencionalnog postupka., Although in today's time of representation the classical processing by particle separation is increasingly being used, unconventional processing procedures by particle separation are being used. In the theoretical part, the basic principles of work, processing systems, influencing parameters on the volume of removed material per unit of time, and the advantages and disadvantages of the procedures in question are explained. In the practical part, it was first necessary to construct a test sample on which tests, measurements and calculations will be performed. After the constructed test sample, programming was carried out in the EnRoute software program for each procedure individually. At the end, the cutting was performed, the calculation of the given parameters, the measurement of the roughness of the cut, and the determination of the most optimal nonconventional procedure.

Much attention is currently paid to the study of the antioxidant properties of various objects – individual antioxidants, dietary supplements, medicines, liquid plant extracts. Antioxidant medicines are widely used as the main or additional correction agents in the treatment of a number of diseases. Therefore, the study and development of procedures for determining the antioxidant activity is a prospective task for today. Aim. To determine the contribution of different concentrations of ethanol to the level of the antioxidant activity (AOA) of ascorbic acid solutions by the potentiometric method. Results and discussion. The different ethanol content in the solution had the following percent of the contribution to the value of AOA of ascorbic acid solutions – 1.85, 3.56, 4.89, 6.76, 7.63 % for 20, 40, 60, 80, 96 % ethanol, respectively. The linearity of the procedure was proven in the range from 0.039 to 0.31 mmol/L. Experimental part. The object of the study was solutions of ascorbic acid prepared using ethanol of different concentrations – 20, 40, 60, 80, 96 %. Potentiometric measurements were conducted by a Hanna 2550 pH meter (Germany) with an EZDO 5010 combined platinum electrode. Weighing was carried out using an АN100 digital analytical balance (AXIS, Ukraine) with d = 0.0001 g. Ascorbic acid was purchased from Sigma Aldrich (≥ 99.0 %), K3[Fe(CN)6], K4[Fe(CN)6], NaHPO4, KH2PO4 were of analytical grade. Conclusions. It has been found that ethyl alcohol affects the change of the potential in the electrochemical cell and the level of AOA of ascorbic acid solutions. The percentage of the contribution of different concentrations of ethyl alcohol to the AOA value ranges from 1.85 to 7.63 %. The approach and the formula for calculation that take into account the effect of ethyl alcohol on the final AOA result of the test sample of ascorbic acid in a water-alcohol solutions have been proposed. The results of this study can be used in the pharmaceutical and food industries to determine, assess and control the AOA level of dietary supplements, liquid extracts, tinctures, medicines, and alcoholic beverages.

The use of alternative materials in place of natural aggregate in concrete production has been getting attention all around the globe; this makes concrete a sustainable and environmentally friendly construction material. In this study the use of crushed doum palm shell (CDPS) as partial replacement for coarse aggregate in concrete production was investigated. The concrete grade 30 was used for the research with a water /cement ratio of 0.45. The control sample contained normal concrete ingredient cement, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate. The CDPS replacement by weight was varied at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% respectively for the test sample. The 28-day compressive strength of the concrete using Doum palm shell aggregate was found to be 28.0 and 20.2 MPa at 5 and 10% replacement under full water curing and it satisfies the requirement for structural lightweight concrete which was more than 17MPa. The study recommended replacement of coarse aggregate up to a maximum of 10 % crushed doum palm shell for structural light weight concrete and it encourage the use of agricultural wastes in construction as an environmental protection and cost reduction measure. However, results from laboratory investigations indicated that crushed doum palm shell (CDPS) has good potential as a coarse aggregate for production of structural lightweight concrete, especially for low-cost housing and also for use in earthquake prone areas.

The detection limit of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and ammonium nitrate (AN) in mixtures of Ottawa sand (OS) was studied using a Raman microscope applying conventional calibration curves, Pearson correlation coefficients, and two-sample t-tests. By constructing calibration curves, the conventionally defined detection limits were estimated to be 1.9 ± 0.4% by mass in OS and 1.9 ± 0.3% by mass in OS for TNT and AN. Both TNT and AN were detectable in concentrations as low as 1% by mass when Pearson correlation coefficients were used to compare averaged spectra to a library containing spectra from a range of soil types. AN was detectable in concentrations as low as 1% by mass when a test sample of spectra was compared to the same library using two-sample t-tests. TNT was not detectable at a concentration of 1% by mass when using two-sample t-tests.

The effectiveness of cleaning the air flow from the droplet and dispersed phases of liquids, which are the main medium for transporting most respiratory viruses from the carrier to the infected person, was assessed. Samples of Cribrol, polymer composite with a three-dimensional fractal mesh structure of through and non-through pores from 5 to 150 μm, were examined. The experiments showed high hygroscopic properties of this material, providing moisture absorption of more than 700 % of the dry weight of the test sample. It has been found that Cribrol can undergo thermal decontamination in heating devices and can be used repeatedly. This material has been concluded to be promising for use in PPE, and its structure can easily be adapted to various respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE).

Abtract Many Indonesian people do self-medication as an attempt to treat complaints / pain they experience, the benefit of self-medication is safe when used according to the rules, effective for eliminating complaints, cost efficiency, can play a role in making therapeutic decisions, self-medication is usually done to overcome complaints and minor illnesses that are often experienced by people, such as fever, pain, dizziness, cough, influenza, ulcers, intestinal worms, diarrhea, skin diseases and others. This study aims to determine the level of knowledge and behavior towards the use of influenza drugs and cough by self-medication in Muara Burnai I Village, Ogan Komering Ilir district. The research analyzed was descriptive observational. The sampling technique uses the accindental sampling method. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire. The results of the analysis of the level of knowledge and behavior analysis showed that there was a relationship between the level of knowledge and the behavior of influenza drug use and cough by self-medication was analyzed using the Chi-Square test sample of 100 respondents. The results of this study indicate that 36% have high knowledge and 64% have low knowledge in self-influencing and cough swamedication while 43% have high behavior and 57% have low behavior in influenza and cough swamedication in Muara Burnai I Village, Ogan Komering Ilir District. Based on the Chi-Square test results showed that the value of p = 0,000 (0.05). Shows that there is a relationship between the level of knowledge and swamedication behavior in Muara Burnai I Village, Ogan Komering Ilir district. Keywords : Influenza and cough, drug use behavior, swamedication, knowledge level.

The demand for plywood products for the interior and exterior construction has grown significantly over the years. Therefore, detection of defects present in the plywood is of prime importance to maintain good quality of construction. In this study, qualitative and quantitative analyses of defects in plywood using digital holographic interferometric technique are presented. In this process, thermal and mechanical loads are applied to the test sample of plywood to generate interferometric fringes by comparing the normal and stressed states of the test sample. A portable digital holographic camera developed for non-destructive testing applications is employed for detection of cracks, delamination, edge defects, and layer opening in the plywood. The defects in the plywood sample are identified by observing discontinuities in the interferometric fringes. Quantitative analysis of defects is performed by plotting their 2-D and 3-D phase profiles from the digital holographic interferometric results. The obtained results of defects on plywood are validated by a mechanical profiler.

The paper presents the results of studying the toxicological profile of a new pharmaceutical substance RU891 with antithrombogenic properties. The minimum toxic dose (TDmin) for RU-891 by peroral administration is 230 mg/kg < TDmin ≤ 460 mg/kg. In experiments on the acute toxicity of the compound RU-891, the nature and severity of its damaging effect on the body of experimental animals were established and the safety of its action was evaluated. When studying the toxic effect of the test sample, the tolerated and toxic doses of RU-891 were determined, and the most sensitive organs and systems of the body were identified.

We report the results of a VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards) interlaboratory study on the identification of peptide sample TOF-SIMS spectra by machine learning. More than 1000 time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) spectra of six peptide model samples (one of them was a test sample) were collected using 27 TOF-SIMS instruments from 25 institutes of six countries, the U. S., the U. K., Germany, China, South Korea, and Japan. Because peptides have systematic and simple chemical structures, they were selected as model samples. The intensity of peaks in every TOF-SIMS spectrum was extracted using the same peak list and normalized to the total ion count. The spectra of the test peptide sample were predicted by Random Forest with 20 amino acid labels. The accuracy of the prediction for the test spectra was 0.88. Although the prediction of an unknown peptide was not perfect, it was shown that all of the amino acids in an unknown peptide can be determined by Random Forest prediction and the TOF-SIMS spectra. Moreover, the prediction of peptides, which are included in the training spectra, was almost perfect. Random Forest also suggests specific fragment ions from an amino acid residue Q, whose fragment ions detected by TOF-SIMS have not been reported, in the important features. This study indicated that the analysis using Random Forest, which enables translation of the mathematical relationships to chemical relationships, and the multi labels representing monomer chemical structures, is useful to predict the TOF-SIMS spectra of an unknown peptide.

OBJECTIVE: To perform an improved large-scale SARS-CoV-2 detection on pooled tests of asymptomatic workers. METHODS: qRT-PCR validation of the SARS-CoV-2 detection in salivae samples and saliva pools and working-group saliva pooling and testing for SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: We found a high Cycle threshold (Ct) correlation (r = 0.9099) between swabs and saliva samples. Then, through the pooling strategy, we detected that 18/360 (5%) of individual saliva samples were SARS-CoV-2 positive. Saliva-pooling efficiency (360 of test sample/30 individual PCR) was higher (5.45) than the reported for swabbing group-testing and we spared 82% of the PCR reagents as well as sampling and personal protection equipment. CONCLUSION: Through this simplified and less expensive procedure, we detected in a short time asymptomatic-infected SARS-CoV-2-carriers that were isolated from their co-workers, thus, this methodology can be implemented in different workplaces to ensure consumers that employees are not infectious.

Proses Uji bahan material Gear Sprocket meliputi proses pemotongan material yang digunakan sebagai sampel Uji Bahan yang dilakukan pencampuran maupun tidak dilakukan pencampuran. Dalam sampel yang dilakukan pencampuran yaitu Logam dasar yang sudah dilakukan pemotongan dengan perbandingan nilai 10:2 Ons Material Gear Sprocket 10 dan Material Timah 2 Ons, akan dilakukan peleburan untuk proses pemaduan/mempersatukan kedua jenis material tersebut sebagai bahan material sampel Uji bahan dengan pencampuran tersebut, sedangkan sampel material Gear Sprocket yang tidak dilakukan pencampuran juga diambil nilai beban 10 Ons, untuk sebagai sampel pengujian yang tidak dilakukan pencampuran tersebut. Data hasil pengujian dari Sampel material Gear Sprocket dengan pencampuran Timah dengan empat kali pengujian dari beberapa bagian permukaan yang berbeda didapat nilai 51,5, 55, 50, 53 kgf. Sedangkan Sampel material Gear Sprocket yang tanpa pencampuran Timah didapat hasil nilai 50, 51, 50, 50 kgf. didalam pemaduan Material Timah dengan logam dasar Gear Sprocket dengan perbandingan Material Timah 2 Ons dan Material Gear Sprocket 10 Ons didapat hasil kekerasan yang tidak stabil, sehingga nilai yang didapat dari material yang dilakukan perlakuan tersebut didapat nilai yang kurang memungkinkan, sedangkan nilai uji bahan dari Material Gear Sprocket yang tidak dilakukan pemaduan didapat hasil yang baik dari tiap-tiap permukaanya walaupun nilai kekerasannya sedikit lebih kecil dari hasil material yang dilakukan perlakuan.

The manufacturing process for soft dosage forms is always accompanied by the action of a certain temperature, which violation can lead not only to the deterioration of technological indicators, but also significantly affect the pharmacological activity of the finished drug.Aim. To study the water-soluble protein-polysaccharide complex (WSPPC) of Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) and the ointment composition developed on its basis using thermogravimetry.Materials and methods. The thermogravimetric analysis, which allowed determining the change of the mass of the test sample under the conditions of the controlled temperature rise, was chosen as the research method. Determination of thermogravimetric characteristics was performed using a Q-1500 D derivatograph of the “F. Paulik, J. Paulik, L. Erdey” system with a platinum-platinum-rhodium thermocouple when heating samples 30 to 250 °C.Results and discussion. In the course of the thermogravimetric study it has been determined that WSPPC and the ointment composition developed on its basis have physical transformations at certain temperatures. The presence of thermal effects on the thermogram of the ointment developed coincides with the thermal effects of WSPPC; and it subjectively indicates the absence of the chemical interaction between the active pharmaceutical ingredient and the excipients of the carrier base.Conclusions. Based on the results obtained the optimal conditions of the temperature regime for the manufacturing process have been determined. They will provide the stability of the physicochemical properties and the pharmacological effect of the finished ointment.

U ovom projektu biće objašnjeno na koji način komunikacija utiče na timski rad, što je vrlo važno kako za pojedinca tako i za ceo tim. Biće određene hipoteze istraživanja sa grafičkim prikazom, takođe će biti naznačene i promenjive istraživanja. U ovom radu biće predstavljen i uzorak ispitivanja kao i način na koji će se uraditi obrada podataka. Na samom kraju biće prikazani i očekivani rezultati

Cantang grouper is one of the leading NTB commodities that have high economic value. Cantang grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) has a wide distribution, one of which is in Penyambuan Village, North Lombok Regency. The disease that often attacks grouper fish is VNN (Viral Nervous Necrosis). One of the methods that can be used to detect VNN is the histopathological method. The purpose of this study was to determine the suspected cases and levels of infection with the VNN (Viral Nervous Necrosis) virus in grouper fish (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) cultivated in Penyambuan Hamlet, Tanjung District, North Lombok Regency by using the histopathological method. The research method used is descriptive by explaining the results obtained from the histopathological test of 3 samples taken by looking at the presence or absence of necrosis in the eye and brain organs of the test sample. The results of observations using a microscope on the test sample after the histopathological process showed that the second sample (S2) of cantang grouper from the KJA in Pemambuan was suspected to be positive for VNN infection, as seen from the presence of necrosis in the form of vacuoles in the brain and eye organs in the level of chronic infection. From the results of this study, it is suggested that further research be carried out in the form of confirmation of the results using a more accurate method, namely real-time PCR. This study can serve as a detection guide for samples of suspected VNN.

Background: Permissive parenting is a parenting style in which parents are not involved in their child's life, especially lack of self-control. Usually permissive parenting does not guide children to social behavior patterns and does not use punishment, while authoritarian parenting is one in which parents are central in speech. The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in permissive and oratory parenting patterns on the incidence of free sex in adolescents.Methods: Sampling using a minimum sample, when the study was conducted on June 21, 2020 at SMA Unggul Dharmasraya Regency. The design in this study is an independent sample T Test, the sample taken in this study was 20 people divided into two groups, namely the permissive parenting group and authoritarian parenting. In the bivariate analysis, the normality test uses the Shapiro Wilk, if the data is normally distributed, the bivariate test using the independent test uses the independent T test sample, but the data is not normally distributed, using the Mann Whitney U Test bivariate test using theprogram SPSS.Results of the study / discussion: From the results of the analysis of permissive parenting styles, 8 (80%) respondents were cared for with permissive parenting and authoritarian parenting 6 (60%) of respondents who were cared for by authoritarian parenting, to the incidence of free sex12 (60%) respondents who occur free sex, and the results of differences in permissive parenting and authoritarian parenting on the incidence of free sex, which shows a sig or p-value of 0.144> 0.05, meaning that there is no difference in permissive parenting and authoritarian parenting on the incidence of free sex. Conclusion: So the role of parents for children is to guide and teach children on good things, in accordance with the values ??and norms that apply in society

Substance use disorders are a significant public health issue. Options to dispose of controlled medications are limited, increasing the risk of diversion. Providing an alternative for disposal, a chemical denaturant, SafeMedWaste, was designed to destroy controlled substances irreversibly and safely be placed in non-hazardous landfills. Via HPLC–MS, four formulations of SafeMedWaste were tested with 34 different liquid controlled medications from DEA schedules I–V. Beta testing assessed the efficacy of SafeMedWaste in a clinical setting and on waste generated in a manufacturing setting. Furthermore, a formulation of SafeMedWaste was tested on solid controlled medications. All 34 of the liquid medications tested (e.g., amphetamine, diazepam, fentanyl, ketamine) were fully destroyed in SafeMedWaste within 2–24 h. Analysis of a beta test sample of SafeMedWaste containing fentanyl, midazolam, and morphine waste collected in a hospital showed full denaturation of these drugs in 24 h. Variants of SafeMedWaste were optimized to denature six different controlled substance waste samples from a manufacturing facility. In contrast to side-by-side studies with a charcoal disposal system using the same drugs, SafeMedWaste fully inactivated and destroyed the controlled substances in the waste streams. Another formulation of SafeMedWaste was tested on solid medications, which were fully denatured in 48–72 h. In conclusion, SafeMedWaste irreversibly denatures controlled medications that present a problem in our society.

The AAMI working group ST/WG 93 is finalizing a standard (AAMI ST98) for the cleaning validation of reusable medical devices based on guidance from the technical information report AAMI TIR30:2011/(R)2016. A number of analytical best practices are being considered for this new standard. Test method suitability for processing cleaning validations historically has been established using one positive control and performing an extraction efficiency. The new cleaning validation standard is proposed to require a change from only one replicate test sample to three when performing method suitability. This change will affect manufacturers; therefore, the value of and consideration for performing these additional replicates requires explanation. This article discusses how variation of validation parameters can affect the accuracy and precision during method suitability testing. Multiple replicates are needed to understand the variability of method extraction and impact on cleaning validations of reusable medical devices.

In the present study, the influence of stirring speed on the solid solution hardening of cast aluminium alloy leading to improvement in microhardness values have been reported. Stir casting method was used to prepare percentage compositions of Al-Cu alloys between 0 and 15 wt% Cu. Different stirring speed of 0 rev/min, 10 rev/min, 50 rev/min and 90 rev/min were used to make test sample and materials produced were characterized for hardness. Hardness values of the 0–15 wt% Cu solute addition were observed to independently increase progressively with increase in stirring speed. The increase in microhardness observed is attributed to increase in the dispersion of Cu solute in the Al solution caused by the stirring action which contributed to impeding plastic deformation in the Al lattice. The study further indicates that stirring could be a vital metallurgical processing tool to enhance hardness during alloying.

For fibre flax harvesting, harvesters are used, which have pulling mechanism of different type. Analysis of pulling mechanism designs shows that belt-disc pulling mechanisms with transverse streams have the lowest metal consumption. These pulling mechanisms perform high-quality technological process and they are easy to maintain. The article points out the main shortcomings of the design of a flax puller with transverse belt-disc pulling streams and presents a solution to these problems based on the design of a new flax-pulling machine. A description of the design of the flax puller with transverse pulling streams is given. In which the clamping of the stems of flax occurs between the pulling belt and pulling plate. When pulling flax stems in the barrels are moved together with the belt sliding along the pulling barrels. To ensure a certain force of clamping the flax stems in front of the pulling plates, clamping mechanisms are installed, which support the pulling belt and provide the necessary force of flax stem clamping in the pulling streams. The main element of this mechanism is the spring, which must provide the necessary clamping force. As a result of theoretical studies, the pressure exerted on the stem in the pulling stream will not cause the flax stems to be flattened. Under conditions of minimum and maximum density of flax stems, the required range of forces of the clamping mechanism was determined. In the design of the clamping mechanism, the shaped conical compression spring with a constant pitch turns was proposed. According to the standard method, the spring parameters were calculated and a technical drawing of the spring was developed. Research materials will be used in the manufacture of the test sample of flax puller.

The error in measuring heat capacity owing to heat exchange of the gas during the stage of determining the thermal equivalent of the empty calorimeter is discussed. A correct formula is obtained for estimating the correction to the measured heat capacity of a test sample and the error arising from neglect of the correction for the heat-exchanger gas is evaluated numerically. Numerical estimates of the error are obtained for the KA-S4 standard calorimeter contained in the State Primary Standard GET 60-2019 for the unit of specific heat in solids.

Introduction. Benzalkonium chloride is widely used as a conservation agent in medicines. For quantitative determination, the methods described in the European and American Pharmacopoeias by chromatography using columns with nitrile sorbent are often used. However, in order to unify the methods and simplify the quality control technology in the production process, it is advisable to adapt the existing methods for new goals and objectives.Aim. To develop a method for the quantitative determination of benzalkonium chloride in a nasal spray containing a thermosensitive polymer Poloxamer 407 and validate it.Materials and methods. As an object of research, a naltrexone hydrochloride nasal spray was used. The quantitative determination of naltrexone in the test sample was developed using a Dionex UltiMate 3000 high-performance liquid chromatograph (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) equipped with a diode-matrix detector.Results and discussion. The paper explored the possibility of using an earlier developed method for the quantitative determination of naltrexone hydrochloride for the quantitative determination of benzalkonium chloride in the composition of a nasal spray. Based on the results obtained, changes were made to the quantitative determination method, and the sample preparation of the samples under study was adapted.Conclusion. As a result of the studies carried out, the most acceptable conditions for the preparation of the nasal spray for the quantitative determination of the preservative were selected. The developed technique provides for the chromatographic conditions previously used for the determination of naltrexone hydrochloride, which makes it possible to use the equipment as efficiently as possible in the analysis of the finished drug. The method has been validated and its specificity, linearity, correctness and precision have been proven.

This article deals with the effect of mechanical properties of a rubber compound on tyre wear. For detection purposes, samples of thirteen types of rubber compounds were made, used, and processed in practice. Their hardness was measured with an IRHD (International Rubber Hardness Degree) hardness tester; tensile strength and ductility measurements were carried out at a universal testing facility, Instron 4466. A rapid wear test was conducted on a roller abrasive machine. All measurements were assessed and compared. Selected original results are listed in this article.

In order to determine the potency of the test preparation relative to the standard preparation, it is often important to test parallelism between a pair of dose-response curves of reference standard and test sample. Optimal designs are known to be more powerful in testing parallelism as compared to classical designs. In this study, D-optimal design was implemented to study the parallelism and compare+ its performance with a classical design. We modified D-optimal design to test the parallelism in the four-parameter logistic (4PL) model using Intersection-Union Test (IUT). IUT method is appropriate when the null hypothesis is expressed as a union of sets, and by using this method complicated tests involving several parameters are easily constructed. Since D-optimal design minimizes the variances of model parameters, it can bring more power to the IUT test. A simulation study will be presented to compare the empirical properties of the two different designs.

The composite materials exposed to dynamic loads may suffer damage at strength value, which is under own yield strengths. Also, improper environmental conditions accelerate the damage process. In this study, the effect of heavy chemical environments such as acid and alkaline and retaining time for these environments on flexural strength and fatigue behavior of E-glass/epoxy laminated composites was investigated. In this content, glass/epoxy (G8) having eight layers was produced by using the hand lay-up method. The produced composite materials were retained into acidic and alkali solution having 5%, 15%, and 25% concentration a period of 1, 2, 3, and 4 months. A computer-controlled fixed-end type fatigue test machine capable of tilting 10 test samples at the same time was designed and manufactured to determine the fatigue behavior of composite samples. Fatigue behavior of glass/epoxy was determined under dynamic flexural load which corresponds to 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, and 40% of static three-point bending strength of the test sample. SEM image of damaged specimens was taken to describe the failure mechanism of damage which occurs after fatigue. Also, to better understand environmental condition on the fatigue life, results were compared with results of glass/epoxy laminated composites, which were not retained into any environments (0%).

A simple method to analyze microbiome beta-diversity computes mean beta-diversity distances from a test sample to standard reference samples. We used reference stool and nasal samples from the Human Microbiome Project and regressed an outcome on mean distances (2 degrees-of-freedom (df) test) or additionally on squares and cross-product of mean distances (5-df test). We compared the power of 2-df and 5-df tests with the microbiome regression-based kernel association test (MiRKAT). In simulations, MiRKAT had moderately greater power than the 2-df test for discriminating skin versus saliva and skin versus nasal samples, but differences were negligible for skin versus stool and stool versus nasal samples. The 2-df test had slightly greater power than MiRKAT for Dirichlet multinomial samples. In associating body mass index with beta-diversity in stool samples from the American Gut Project, the 5-df test yielded smaller P values than MiRKAT for most taxonomic levels and beta-diversity measures. Unlike procedures like MiRKAT that are based on the beta-diversity matrix, mean distances to reference samples can be analyzed with standard statistical tools and shared or meta-analyzed without sharing primary DNA data. Our data indicate that standard reference tests have power comparable to MiRKAT’s (and to permutational multivariate analysis of variance), but more simulations and applications are needed to confirm this.

To investigate whether dysarthria syndromes acquired in adulthood can also be observed in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and, if so, whether they align with children's CP subtypes.Twenty-six children with CP participated (mean age 7y 8mo [SD 1y 2mo], 5y 1mo-9y 10mo; 16 males and 10 females). Speech samples were elicited in a computer-based game and were analysed using the auditory perceptual criteria of the Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales (BoDyS). For statistical classification, three comparison groups of adults with standard dysarthria syndromes (i.e. spastic, hyperkinetic, and ataxic) were used. Their BoDyS data were entered into a mixture discriminant analysis, with data from the comparison groups as the training sample and those from the children with CP as the test sample. Results were related to findings in a group of adults with CP.Among the children with CP, most had spastic (n=14), while fewer had ataxic (n=9) or hyperkinetic (n=3), dysarthria. However, syndrome allocations were significantly more ambiguous than in adults with CP. For 11 children, their dysarthria syndromes did not align with their CP subtype.Dysarthria syndromes are less clear cut in children than in adults with CP because of a number of developmental factors.Children with cerebral palsy (CP) show diverse patterns of dysarthric symptoms. Dysarthria syndromes do not seem to manifest fully during childhood. Dysarthria syndrome and CP subtype may not align in children with CP.Investigar si los síndromes de disartria adquiridos en la edad adulta también se pueden observar en niños con parálisis cerebral (PC) y, de ser así, si se alinean con los subtipos de PC de los niños. MÉTODO: Participaron 26 niños con parálisis cerebral (media = 7 años 8 meses [DE 1 año 2 meses], 5 años 1 mes - 9 años 10 meses; 16 varones y 10 mujeres). Las muestras de habla se obtuvieron en un juego basado en computadora y se analizaron utilizando los criterios de percepción auditiva de las Escalas de Disartria de Bogenhausen (BoDyS). Para la clasificación estadística, se utilizaron tres grupos de comparación de adultos con síndromes de disartria estándar (es decir, espástica, hipercinética y atáxica). Sus datos BoDyS se ingresaron en un análisis discriminante de mezcla, con los datos de los grupos de comparación como muestra de entrenamiento y los de los niños CP como muestra de prueba. Los resultados se relacionaron con los hallazgos en un grupo de adultos con parálisis cerebral.Entre los niños con parálisis cerebral, la mayoría tenía disartria espástica (n = 14), mientras que menos tenían disartria atáxica (n = 9) o hipercinética (n = 3). Sin embargo, las asignaciones de síndrome fueron significativamente más ambiguas que en adultos con parálisis cerebral. Para 11 niños, sus síndromes de disartria no se alinearon con su subtipo de PC. INTERPRETACIÓN: Los síndromes de disartria son menos claros en los niños que en los adultos con parálisis cerebral debido a una serie de factores del desarrollo.Investigar se as síndromes de disartria adquiridas na vida adulta podem ser observadas em crianças com paralisia cerebral (PC) e se sim, se elas se alinham com os subtipos de PC. MÉTODO: Vinte e seis crianças com PC participaram (média=7a 8m [DP 1a 2m], 5a 1m-9a 10m; 16 do sexo masculino e 10 do sexo feminino). Amostras de fala foram eliciadas em um jogo baseado em computador e foram analisados usando critérios auditórios perceptuais das Escalas Bogenhausen de Disartria (EBoDi). Para classificação estatística, três grupos de comparação de adultos com síndromes de disartria padrão (ou seja, espástica, hipercinética,e atáxica) foram usados. Os dados de EBoDi foram inseridos em uma análise discriminante mista, com dados dos grupos de comparação como amostra de treino e aqueles das crianças com PC como amostra de teste. Os resultados foram relacionados com achados em um grupo de adultos com PC.Entre as crianças com PC, a maioria tinha disartria espástica (n=14), e menos tinham atáxica (n=9) ou hipercinética (n=3). No entanto, as alocações da síndrome foram significativamente mais ambíguas do que em adultos com PC. Para 11 crianças, suas síndromes de disartria não se alinharam com seu subtipo de PC. INTERPRETAÇÃO: As síndromes de disartria são menos claramente distintas em crianças do que em adultos com PC devido a vários fatores desenvolvimentais.

This paper applied block sparse Bayesian learning (BSBL) to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) target recognition. The traditional sparse representation-based classification (SRC) operates on the global dictionary collaborated by different classes. Afterwards, the similarities between the test sample and various classes are evaluated by the reconstruction errors. This paper reconstructs the test sample based on local dictionaries formed by individual classes. Considering the azimuthal sensitivity of SAR images, the linear coefficients on the local dictionary are sparse ones with block structure. Therefore, to solve the sparse coefficients, the BSBL is employed. The proposed method can better exploit the representation capability of each class, thus benefiting the recognition performance. Based on the experimental results on the moving and stationary target acquisition and recognition (MSTAR) dataset, the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method is confirmed.

PurposeThe authors investigate optical character recognition (OCR) technology and discuss its implementation in the context of digitisation of archival materials.Design/methodology/approachThe typewritten transcripts of the Croatian Writers' Society from the mid-60s of the 20th century are used as the test data. The optimal digitisation setup is investigated in order to obtain the best OCR results. This was done by using the sample of 123 pages digitised at different resolution settings and binarisation levels.FindingsA series of tests showed that different settings produce significantly different results. The best OCR accuracy achieved at the test sample of the typewritten documents was 95.02%. The results show that the resolution is significantly more important than binarisation pre-processing procedure for achieving better OCR results.Originality/valueBased on the research results, the authors give recommendations for achieving optimal digitisation process setup with the aim of increasing the quality of OCR results. Finally, the authors put the research results in the context of digitisation of cultural heritage in general and discuss further investigation possibilities.