Electroanalytical Determination of Gemifloxacin Mesylate in Bulk, Tablets and Human Urine Using Gold Nanoparticles Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

A simple, precise, inexpensive and sensitive voltammetric method has been developed for the determination of gemifloxacin mesylate (GEM) in the presence of tween 80 in the bulk, farmaceutical dosage forms and human urine at gold nanoparticles modified carbon paste electrode (GNCPE). The electrochemical behavior of GEM has been investigated by using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) techniques. The electrochemical oxidation of GEM was an irreversible process which exhibited adsorption-diffusion controlled process behavior in Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer over the entire pH range of values from 2 to 9. The adsorptive stripping response was evaluated as a function of some variables such as pH, type of surfactant, scan rate and accumulation time. The anodic peak current varied linearly over the range from 8.0 × 10 -7 to 2.8 × 10 -5 M. The limits of detection and quantification were 7.32 × 10 M and 2.44 × 10 -7 M, respectively. The relative standard deviations and the percentage recoveries were found in the following ranges: 0.58-1.35% and 99.37-101.76%, respectively

A Portable Active Photovoltaic Solar Energy System in Treating Wastewaters by Electrocoagulation

This study presents the effects of adding some provisions to a portable photovoltaic (PV) solar energy system to obtain both DC and ac sources. An efficient ac high-speed fan was powered from this system to cool the PV module for reducing its power loss because of a temperature rise. A DC electrocoagulation (EC) cell was powered from the active PV system to treat real dairy wastewater. The results revealed that about 5 % loss in maximum power output of the PV module at 25 C was avoided by the added provisions while the EC cell efficiently treated the tested wastewater. For this wastewater, the maximum removal efficiencies of turbidity, suspended pollutants, and chemical oxygen demand were 97, 62, and 72.5 %, respectively. The cell effluent complied with the Egyptian requirements for discharge on public sewer system. This work indicates the technical feasibility of raising the efficiency of PV modules while producing both ac and DC sources. ? 2021 ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959.Scopu

Immediate versus delayed shockwave lithotripsy for inaccessible stones after uncomplicated percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of immediate versus delayed shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) for inaccessible stones after uncomplicated percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). Patients and methods: Between December 2011 and June 2014, patients with residual inaccessible stones after uncomplicated PCNL were prospectively randomised into two treatment groups; Group I, immediate SWL and Group II, delayed SWL at 1 week after PCNL. Patients with residual stones of ⩾1.5 cm, a stone density of >1000 Hounsfield units and body mass index of >40 kg/m2 were excluded from the study. The following data were reported: patients’ demographics, stone characteristics after PCNL, hospital stay, perioperative complications, stent duration, and stone-free rate (SFR). Results: In all, 84 patients (51 males and 33 females) with mean (SD) age of 39 (8.5) years were included in the study. Group I included 44 patients, whilst Group II included 40 patients. There was no statistically significant difference amongst the groups for patients’ demographics, stone characteristics, and perioperative complications. The hospital stay was significantly shorter in Group I, at a mean (SD) of 34 (3.7) vs 45 (2.9) h (P < 0.001). The duration of ureteric stenting was significantly lower in Group I as compared to Group II, at a mean (SD) of 12 (4.2) vs 25 (3.5) days (P < 0.001). The SFR was 93.2% and 95% in Groups I and II, respectively (P = 0.9). Conclusions: Immediate SWL after PCNL is as effective and safe as delayed SWL with a lesser hospital stay and duration of ureteric stenting

FORMAT: A Reconfigurable Tile-Based Antenna Array System for 5G and 6G Millimeter-Wave Testbeds

This article introduces the FORMAT array, a reconfigurable millimeter-wave antenna array platform based on antenna tiles. FORMAT stands for Flexible Organization and Reconfiguration of Millimeter-wave Antenna Tiles, which is a unique hardware solution aiming to implement and demonstrate a variety of antenna array concepts, as well as different array architectures and configurations from the same basic module, providing even benchmark between different solutions and thus valuable insights into fifth-generation (5G) and beyond-5G antenna systems. The combination of a minimum-sized tile with 3D-printed frame parts enables antenna arrays of a variety of sizes, allows multiple beamforming architectures, and a range of different antenna element positioning in the array. The hardware implementation is thoroughly described, with a few different array assemblies being manufactured and measured, validating their antenna performance with over-the-air measurements. Finally, using FORMAT hardware as both base station and user equipment, a 5-m wireless communication link was set up, achieving 4.8 Gbps downlink speed with QAM64 modulation