Integrated System for Control and Monitoring Industrial Wireless Networks for Labour Risk Prevention

The FASyS (Absolutely Safe and Healthy Factory) project, aligned with the European Factories of the Future (FoF) concept, has been set-up to develop a new factory model aimed at minimizing the risks to the worker's health and safety, and guarantee their welfare and comfort in machining, handling and assembly factories. To this aim, ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and wireless communication technologies in particular may represent very valuable tools to implement distributed and mobile sensing applications capable to continuously sense the working environment and the workers' health and safety conditions. The effective deployment of such applications in critical environments, like the industrial one, require the availability of a platform capable to monitor the operation and performance of the heterogeneous wireless networks that will connect the mobile sensors to remote control centers. This paper presents the platform implemented for this purpose in the context of the FASyS project. In addition to monitoring the status of heterogeneous wireless networks, the implemented platform provides the capability to reconfigure remotely the communication settings of wireless nodes based on possible malfunctioning or QoS degradation notifications. These functionalities will help guaranteeing the reliable and robust wireless communications required in industrial environments to implement innovative labor risk prevention applications exploiting ICT technologie

Diclofenac salts, II. Solid dispersions in PEG6000 and Gelucire 50/13.

A number of systems were prepared at five compositions (5, 10, 20, 30 and 40% w/w) of diclofenac/N-(2-hydroxyethyl) pyrrolidine salt and acidic diclofenac in PEG6000 and Gelucire 50/13, as physical mixtures and as solid dispersions. Powder X-ray diffractograms for the systems examined show shifted and normal peaks, suggesting that the drug is present inside the samples in different physical states. Differential scanning calorimetry does not offer important information, since drug solubility into the carriers increases with temperature and thermograms show only the melting point peak of the carriers. Hot-stage microscopy examination explains that, in high concentration samples, the drug is present either dissolved into the carriers, or precipitated as microcrystals, or undissolved crystals of larger size. Gelucire 50/13 allows the formation of larger crystals than PEG, using both the chemical forms of the drug. The release percentage of the drug from PEG6000/acidic diclofenac reaches 50% after few minutes in the most favourable case and appears to be dependent on the composition of the samples: the more diclofenac is present as dissolved in the pre-treated samples, the higher is the release. The optimum composition was found in the range of 5-10% w/w

Preparation and physicochemical characterization of omeprazole:methyl-beta-cyclodextrin inclusion complex in solid state

Abstract In this work, we illustrate the usefulness of cyclodextrins, namely, methyl-ß-cyclodextrin (MßCD), an amorphous, methylated derivative of the natural ß-cyclodextrin (ßCD), as a tool to form an inclusion complex with omeprazole (OME), a poorly water soluble drug. Solid binary systems between OME and MßCD were prepared experimentally in a stoichiometry 1:1 by different techniques (physical mixing, kneading, spray-drying and freeze-drying). Afterward these products were characterized by Fourier transformation-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results obtained suggest that spray-drying and freeze-drying methods yield a higher degree of amorphous entities suggesting the formation of inclusion complexes between OME and MßCD

Crystal forms of piroxicam pivalate: Preparation and characterization of two polymorphs

This study investigates the polymorphism of piroxicam ester with pivalic acid. Two crystal modifications were prepared by recrystallization from toluene (form 1) and ethyl acetate (form 2). Data regarding preparation conditions, solid state properties, and physicochemical characterization of two polymorphs by means of FT/IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry on powder, and thermal analysis are reported. Heat of fusion rule and thermodynamic formulas consistently indicate an enantiotropic stability relationship of forms 1 and 2 with a calculated transition point (32 \ub0C) near the ambient temperature. The phase diagrams of each polymorph with piroxicam were also investigated in order to gain information about the thermal behavior of their solid mixtures. Liquidus curves calculated by the Schroder-Van Laar equation from fusion enthalpies and temperatures were found to agree satisfactorily with experimental results obtained by first heating runs with differential scanning calorimetry

Polymorphism ofrac-5,6-diisobutyryloxy-2-methylamino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-naphthalene hydrochloride (CHF 1035). I. Thermal, spectroscopic, and X-ray diffraction properties

The polymorphism of rac-5,6-diisobutyryloxy-2-methylamino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-naphthalene hydrochloride (CHF 1035) was investigated. Three different crystal forms (Form I, Form II, and Form III) were obtained by recrystallization procedures from common organic solvents. The polymorphs were characterized by Raman and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) spectroscopy, in solution and in solid state (cross polarization-magic angle spinning), powder X-ray diffractometry, and thermal methods (differential scanning calorimetry, hot stage microscopy, and thermogravimetry). Moreover, the diffraction patterns of Form I, collected at controlled temperatures, gave evidence of the presence of two reversible structural rearrangements at 3c60 and 3c75\ub0C. These structural variations were confirmed by the results obtained by differential scanning calorimetry and hot stage microscopy techniques. The analysis of the Raman spectra allowed the identification of peculiar absorption bands for each polymorph. Form III was the stable crystal form at room temperature as determined by the basis of slurry conversion method

Development of digestive enzymes in larvae of Mayancichlid Cichlasoma urophthalmus

The development of digestive enzymes during the early ontogeny of the Mayan cichlid (Cichlasoma urophthalmus) was studied using biochemical and electrophoretic techniques. From yolk absorption (6 days after hatching: dah), larvae were fed Artemia nauplii until 15 dah, afterward they were fed with commercial microparticulated trout food (45% protein and 16% lipids) from 16 to 60 dah. Several samples were collected including yolk-sac larvae (considered as day 1 after hatching) and specimens up to 60 dah. Most digestive enzymes were present from yolk absorption (5–6 dah), except for the specific acid proteases activity (pepsin-like), which increase rapidly from 8 dah up to 20 dah. Three alkaline proteases isoforms (24.0, 24.8, 84.5 kDa) were detected at 8 dah using SDS–PAGE zymogram, corresponding to trypsin, chymotrypsin and probably leucine aminopeptidase enzymes, and only one isoform was detected (relative electromobility, Rf = 0.54) for acid proteases (pepsin-like) from 3 dah onwards using PAGE zymogram. We concluded that C. urophthamus is a precocious fish with a great capacity to digest all kinds of food items, including artificial diets provided from 13 dah