Hydrogel beads-based nanocomposites in novel drug delivery platforms: Recent trends and developments

The present article evaluates the composition and synthesis of hydrogel beads. Hydrogels, owing to their known biocompatibility, are widely used in drug delivery as a host (or drug carrier). Hydrogels, owing to their physical, chemical and biological properties, are popular in many aspects. Hydrogels are crosslinked-hydrophilic polymers and commercialized/synthesized in both natural and synthetic forms. These polymers are compatible with human tissues, therefore can be potentially used for biomedical treatments. Hydrogels in drug delivery offer several points of interest such as sustainability, and sensitivity without any side-effects as compared to traditional methods in this field. Drugs can encapsulate and release continuously into the targets when hydrogels are activated/modified magnetically or by fluorescent materials. It is crucial to develop new crosslinked polymers in terms of �biocompatibility� and �biodegradability� for novel drug delivery platforms. In the event that the accomplishments of the past can be used into the longer terms, it is exceedingly likely that hydrogels with a wide cluster of alluring properties can be synthesized. The current review, offers an updated summary of latest developments in the nanomedicines field as well as nanobased drug delivery systems over broad study of the discovery/ application of nanomaterials in improving both the efficacy of drugs and targeted delivery of them. The challenges/opportunities of nanomedicine in drug delivery also discussed. Scope of the research: Although several reviews have been published in the field of hydrogels, however many of them have just centralized on the general overviews in terms of �synthesis� and �properties�. The utilization of hydrogels and hydrogel-based composites in vital applications have been achieved a great interest. In this review, our aim is to recap of the key points in the field of hydrogels such as; a) hydrogel nanocomposites, b) magnetic beads, c) biomedical applications, and d) drug delivery. In the same vein, these outlines will be expanded with emphasizing on the boon of magnetic beads and recent developments in this area. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

CLASSIFICATION OF URBAN FEATURE FROM UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE IMAGES USING GASVM INTEGRATION AND MULTI-SCALE SEGMENTATION

The use of UAV in the application of photogrammetry to obtain cover images and achieve the main objectives of the photogrammetric mapping has been a boom in the region. The images taken from REGGIOLO region in the province of, Italy Reggio -Emilia by UAV with non-metric camera Canon Ixus and with an average height of 139.42 meters were used to classify urban feature. Using the software provided SURE and cover images of the study area, to produce dense point cloud, DSM and Artvqvtv spatial resolution of 10 cm was prepared. DTM area using Adaptive TIN filtering algorithm was developed. NDSM area was prepared with using the difference between DSM and DTM and a separate features in the image stack. In order to extract features, using simultaneous occurrence matrix features mean, variance, homogeneity, contrast, dissimilarity, entropy, second moment, and correlation for each of the RGB band image was used Orthophoto area. Classes used to classify urban problems, including buildings, trees and tall vegetation, grass and vegetation short, paved road and is impervious surfaces. Class consists of impervious surfaces such as pavement conditions, the cement, the car, the roof is stored. In order to pixel-based classification and selection of optimal features of classification was GASVM pixel basis. In order to achieve the classification results with higher accuracy and spectral composition informations, texture, and shape conceptual image featureOrthophoto area was fencing. The segmentation of multi-scale segmentation method was used.it belonged class. Search results using the proposed classification of urban feature, suggests the suitability of this method of classification complications UAV is a city using images. The overall accuracy and kappa coefficient method proposed in this study, respectively, 47/93% and 84/91% was

High Energy Density Large Particle LiFePO₄

To improve the energy density of LiFePO4 (LFP) cathode materials for Li-ion cells, we have utilized a modified mechanofusion method for preparing micrometer-sized LFP/C composite flake particles. The resulting flake particle morphology resulted in improved packing efficiency, enabling an electrode porosity of 14% to be achieved at high loadings, which represents a volumetric energy density increase of 28% compared to conventional LFP. Furthermore, LFP/C flake composites electrodes were found to have a higher coulombic efficiency, a reduced voltage–polarization, and a greatly reduced charge transfer resistance compared to conventional LFP electrodes. This is believed to be due to the low surface area of the LFP/C flake composite particles coupled to fast Li+ ion grain boundary diffusion. The ability to make highly dense LFP and low surface area electrodes could have profound impacts, allowing for Li-ion cells to be made with low cost and low environmental impact LFP, while high achieving volumetric energy densities and high coulombic efficiencies

Dy3Al2(AlO4)3 ceramic nanogarnets: Sol-gel auto-combustion synthesis, characterization and joint experimental and computational structural analysis for electrochemical hydrogen storage performances

A single crystal Dy3Al2(AlO4)3 rare-earth nanogarnets were grown via a sol-gel combustion method using single fuel. The structure and purity of nanogarnets was confirmed by XRD analysis. The average crystallite sizes and the effective particle sizes were calculated by Scherrer and Hall-Williamson equations. The FTIR results clearly confirmed the formation of metal-oxygen and metal-metal bonds of the product. The morphological studies were affirmed the nanoscale formation of Dy3Al5O12 with approximately narrow distribution of the particles. The direct band gap energy of the nanogarnets was calculated using Tauc equation about 3.33 eV. To complement the experimental data, the structural and electronic properties were calculated using periodic density functional theory. The use of the Hubbard U parameter was used and improved the band gap to experimental values. Experimental and computational observations have rendered the Dy3Al5O12 nanogarnets can be suitable for hydrogen energy sorption. The electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity of Dy3Al5O12 was measured at about 3137 mAh/g after 15 cycles

CFD study on the behaviour and turbulence of the airflow induced by the moving elevator car in elevator shaft using K-epsilon model

Land scarcity in relation to the swift urbanisation causes vertical development of buildings and infrastructures. The increasing importance of the main vertical transport - elevator, urges the elevator aerodynamics study to evaluate its acoustic, ride comfort, aerodynamics performance, and airflow effect. They were carried out experimentally or(and) via modeling and simulation. However, among the very limited published CFD studies on the elevator aerodynamics, there is insufficient detailed method and data been presented. Consequently, there is a very limited open-source established method and preliminary data necessary for the elevator aerodynamic study, restricting the potential improvement in this topic. Therefore, this paper studies the behaviour and turbulence of the airflow induced by the elevator car movement in the elevator shaft using the PIMPLE algorithm and the k-epsilon model. Details on the theories and methods were explained and discussed, which include the computational domain settings, governing principles and equations, numerical methods and mechanisms, and boundary conditions. An unsteady, turbulent, incompressible, and Newtonian airflow was assumed in the OpenFOAM simulation. The airflow was affected mainly by the blockage effect and the Bernoulli’s effect. The simulation result obeys the theories of fluid mechanics and physics, indicating its reliability to be the preliminary data for further study

Heterogenity of Echinococcus canadensis genotype 6 - the main causative agent of cystic echinococcosis in Birjand, Eastern Iran

Little is known about the genotypes of Echinococcus spp. and their life cycles in eastern Iran. We analysed the partial sequences of the nad1 and cox1 genes from 17 isolates from hydatid cyst-infected patients (n=9), camels (n=5) and sheep (n=3) in Birjand, eastern Iran. A new primer pair was also used to amplify the long fragment (1180bp) of the cox1 gene. All camel and eight human isolates were G6 strains of Echinococcus canadensis while one human isolate and the three sheep isolates were G1 genotypes (sheep strain) of E. granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.). Nad1 and cox1 sequence analyses showed high G6 genetic homogeneity, similar to previously reported G6 strains from southeast and central Iran, Sudan and Mauritania. Low nucleotide and haplotype diversity similar to G6 strains from Russia (Altai republic) and Kazakhstan was also found, consistent with a bottleneck effect. In this study, G6 was the most common Echinococcus genotype. Genetic homogeneity of east, southeast and central Iranian G6 and its low genetic diversity may be due limited mobility and contact between humans and camels from other regions because of large, inhospitable deserts

Heterogenity of Echinococcus canadensis genotype 6 - the main causative agent of cystic echinococcosis in Birjand, Eastern Iran

Little is known about the genotypes of Echinococcus spp. and their life cycles in eastern Iran. We analysed the partial sequences of the nad1 and cox1 genes from 17 isolates from hydatid cyst-infected patients (n=9), camels (n=5) and sheep (n=3) in Birjand, eastern Iran. A new primer pair was also used to amplify the long fragment (1180bp) of the cox1 gene. All camel and eight human isolates were G6 strains of Echinococcus canadensis while one human isolate and the three sheep isolates were G1 genotypes (sheep strain) of E. granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.). Nad1 and cox1 sequence analyses showed high G6 genetic homogeneity, similar to previously reported G6 strains from southeast and central Iran, Sudan and Mauritania. Low nucleotide and haplotype diversity similar to G6 strains from Russia (Altai republic) and Kazakhstan was also found, consistent with a bottleneck effect. In this study, G6 was the most common Echinococcus genotype. Genetic homogeneity of east, southeast and central Iranian G6 and its low genetic diversity may be due limited mobility and contact between humans and camels from other regions because of large, inhospitable deserts

A review on kinetic energy harvesting towards innovative technological advances from sustainable sources

High energy demand that is indicated by abundant energy use especially fossil fuels, has led to the depletion of fossil fuels, global warming, and air pollution. Consequently, clean sustainable renewable energy was developed to provide safe, clean, secure and affordable energy. Amongst various forms of harvestable energy, the kinetic energy is easily detected, abundant, and widely available. Moreover, the industrial revolutions brought to the mechanical dominant world, increasing the kinetic energy within the ecosystem. It can be harvested more directly compared to other forms of energy. However, there are many systems with significant kinetic energy do not complement with any kinetic energy harvesting technology. Therefore, this paper reviews the fundamentals and applications of the kinetic energy harvesting from clean sustainable renewable sources via three different transduction mechanisms, besides their pros and cons, opportunity, challenges, and environmental impacts. Similarly, this paper briefs about their carbon performance, and existing policies promoting their use or development. Based on the discussions, suggestions were given on the policy to promote the clean sustainable renewable kinetic energy harvesting. This paper provides understanding and information on the kinetic energy harvesting; besides explore its potential applications and impacts, contributing to sustainable energy harvesting and use

Amplitude of accommodation and add power in an adult population of Tehran, Iran

Purpose: To determine add power (AP) and amplitude of accommodation (AA) in a sample of Iranian population and its relationship with refractive errors Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled people of 35-70 years old by simple random sampling. Exclusion criteria were myopia or hyperopia over 6 diopter (D) and astigmatism more than 0.75 D. Those with a history of eye disorders and taking certain medicines that affect on vision were excluded. After correcting refractive errors, distance and near visual acuity (VA) and APs were determined considering subject's age and AA at a distance of 33 cm. The AA was measured using a Royal Air Force (RAF) rule with push up method. Results: Of 422 participants, 205 (48.6) were males with a mean age of 50.2±8.8 years old, mean AP of 1.57±0.82 D, and average AA of 3.48±2.5 D. For each year of age, AP raised 0.1 D and AA decreased to 0.23 D (p<0.001). The need for AP occurs when AA was less than 6 D. Conclusion: The results of this study showed the distributions of AP and AA in a sample of Iranian population. The AA in this study was mid-range in comparison with other studies. It was found that females became presbyopic earlier than males and hyperopes became presbyopic earlier than emmetropes and myopes. These results pointed out that decreasing in AA less than 6 D requires AP. © 2013 by the Iranian Society of Ophthalmology