Hydrogen enriched syngas production via gasification of biofuels pellets/powders blended from olive mill solid wastes and pine sawdust under different water steam/nitrogen atmospheres

International audienceIn this paper we focused on the gasification of biomass charcoal using a macro TG under the CO2 gasifier agent mixed with nitrogen at different mass molar fractions; 40%, 70% and 100% respectively. Moreover, the gasification tests were conducted at different isothermal temperatures; 750°C, 800°C, and 900°C respectively. For this purpose, two densified residues were selected; the exhausted olive mill solid wastes (EOMSW) and the pine sawdust (PS). Then, four different samples were prepared from these residues when investigating the impregnated and the non-impregnated samples using the olive mill waste water (OMWW) as by-product for the impregnation process. A comparison between obtained results during this current study and those obtained during our latest study when using steam as gasifier agent was carried out. We observe that the mass loss profiles meet the usual lingo-cellulosic gasification behaviours. Moreover, the increase of the isothermal temperatures or of the CO2 percentage affects positively the conversion, the gasification rate and the char reactivity. It is worth noting that the CO2 agent acts differently by comparison to the steam. Indeed, the gasification process using steam is found to be faster and more reactive

Deep learning-based classification of eye diseases using Convolutional Neural Network for OCT images

Deep learning shows promising results in extracting useful information from medical images. The proposed work applies a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) on retinal images to extract features that allow early detection of ophthalmic diseases. Early disease diagnosis is critical to retinal treatment. Any damage that occurs to retinal tissues that cannot be recovered can result in permanent degradation or even complete loss of sight. The proposed deep-learning algorithm detects three different diseases from features extracted from Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images. The deep-learning algorithm uses CNN to classify OCT images into four categories. The four categories are Normal retina, Diabetic Macular Edema (DME), Choroidal Neovascular Membranes (CNM), and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The proposed work uses publicly available OCT retinal images as a dataset. The experimental results show significant enhancement in classification accuracy while detecting the features of the three listed diseases

Synthesis, structure characterization and biological evaluation of new 6,8-dichloro-2-methyl-4H-chromen-4-one derivatives

The typical active methyl functionality of 6,8-dichloro-2-methyl-4H-chromen-4-one is utilized to obtain 2-styrylchromones, pyruvate ester and phthalide via reactions with aromatic carboxaldehydes, diethyl oxalate and phthalic anhydride respectively. The phthalide provides illustrative example to convert a heterocyclic compound to an aliphatic one via the effect of alcoholic sodium methoxide. Bromination and cycloaddition reactions of 2-styrylchromones afford vicinal dibromide and adducts respectively. This work presents to the art a typical example of heterocyclic systems transformations through the conversion of the starting chromone to coumarin under the influence of thionyl chloride followed by aqueous potassium hydroxide. Some heterocyclic systems like pyrazole, isoxazol and quinolinone are obtained from the target chromone by treatment with hydrazines, hydroxylamine hydrochloride and ammonium acetate respectively. Thiation of starting chromone interestingly affords a dithiated product instead of the expected monothiated one. Antibacterial and antifungal activities of some synthesized compounds have been screened

Simulation-Based Model for Optimizing Highways Resurfacing Operations

Work zone length in the highways’ resurfacing is an important factor that should be determined before the start of work. This factor influences the time and cost of the project. This paper presents a framework that is dedicated for determining the optimum length of highway resurfacing work zone. The framework estimates the total duration and total cost of resurfacing by conducting simulation analysis to model the resurfacing operations of highways to account associated uncertainties. The framework analyzes resurfacing of highways and divides them into zones. The lengths of these zones depend on minimum total cost and minimum duration. The framework consists of two modules; simulation and optimization. Simulation module is responsible for estimating total duration for each work zone. Whereas, optimization module optimizes the total cost including direct resurfacing operation, indirect/overhead costs, and the impact of work on road users’ costs. The latter costs include queuing delay cost, moving delay cost, accident cost. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the practical use of the framework

Quality of life assessment in patients with duchenne muscular dystrophy

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy is associated with variable physical and psychosocial sequalae, to patients and their caregivers. Aim: This study aimed to assess quality of life in various dimensions in children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and in their caregivers. Patients and methods: This study included all children diagnosed with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) registered in the Pediatric Neurology Clinic of Alexandria University Specialized Children’s Hospital. Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL ™ 3.0) Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Module was applied to the children and their caregivers. Results: In toddler group, the mean score was 34.41 ± 26.84 SD for daily activity, 48.64 ± 21.41 SD for medications, 28.71 ± 20.70 SD for anxiety, 60.15 ± 21.01 SD for communication and 42.98 ± 15.41 SD and for total quality of life. In parents’ group, the mean scores were as following: 45.35 ± 30.66 SD for daily activity, 50.32 ± 18.79 SD for medications, 20.40 ± 19.32 SD for anxiety, 54.59 ± 20.92 SD communication and 42.55 ± 14.86 SD for total quality of life. Conclusion: Duchenne muscular dystrophy causes significant impairment in all aspects of quality of life in patients and their caregivers

Oral Lichen Planus and Lichenoid Lesions in Sjogren’s Syndrome Patients: A Prospective Study

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of oral lichen planus (OLP) and oral lichenoid lesions (OLL) in Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) patients. Patients and Methods. A prospective clinical study was conducted at the Department of Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery in Sahloul Hospital, Sousse, from January 2012 to June 2018. The patients involved in this study were diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome according to the AECG (American-European consensus group) diagnostic criteria. Among these patients, we searched for those affected by OLP or OLL as determined by the WHO (World Health Organisation) classification of 2003. Clinical variables such as age, sex, medical conditions and medications, type of SS (primary or secondary), clinical form of OLP, and treatment were analyzed. The assessment of the results was performed using SPSS software. Results. We evaluated 30 patients (27 females and 3 males) diagnosed with SS (24 had primary SS) with a mean age of 55 years and 11 months (±11,714). Overall, 9 patients had oral lesions (30%). Two patients had OLP associated with secondary SS (25%). Primary Sjogren’s syndrome patients had 6 OLP lesions and one erythematous lichenoid lesion. OLP was erosive in eight patients, among them two had vulvo-vaginal-gingival syndrome. OLP lesions showed improvement in symptoms after topical or general corticosteroids treatment, while OLL showed improvement only under antibiotic treatment. Conclusion. The results of our analysis suggest that patients with SS have 30% prevalence of OLP and OLL. This possible association shows the importance of screening for oral dryness in patients with OLP or OLL. Treatment includes topical or general corticosteroids for erosive forms associated or not with topical antifungal treatment to treat or prevent oral candidiasis

Isoflavonoid Glycosides and Rotenoids from Pongamia pinnata Leaves

Chromatographic separation of a 70% aqueous methanol extract (AME) of Pongamia pinnata (Linn.) Pierre (Leguminosae) leaves has led to the isolation of two new isoflavonoi

Pulsatile Chronotherapeutic Drug Delivery for Controlling Early Morning Surge in Blood Pressure; Effect of Coating on Eplerenone In-vitro, In- vivo Release and Urinary Na/K Ratio

The objective of the present study was to develop time delayed chronotherapeutic formulation of Eplerenone (Ep) to provide rapid drug release after a pre-determined lag time for the treatment of early morning hypertension. Cyclodextrin complexation was used to prepare fast release Ep core tablets. The developed core tablets were then coated with different rate-controlling polymers using compression coating technique. The developed tablets were evaluated for hardness, friability, drug content and swelling index. The in-vitro drug release was carried out to study the effect of different coating materials on drug release and lag time. Tablets selected for stability study were those showing lag time of 5-7 hours followed by complete drug release; F2, F3, F7, F8, and F12. The in-vivo study was carried out on tablets with the highest t90 as compared to commercial tablets after being administered to healthy human volunteers where plasma Ep and urinary Na/K ratio were determined. Results suggested that this approach was able to provide delayed release Ep formulations that will be useful for patients with morning surge in blood pressure

Simulation-based model for optimizing highways resurfacing operations

Work zone length in the highways’ resurfacing is an important factor that should be determined before the start of work. This factor influences the time and cost of the project. This paper presents a framework that is dedicated for determining the optimum length of highway resurfacing work zone. The framework estimates the total duration and total cost of resurfacing by conducting simulation analysis to model the resurfacing operations of highways to account associated uncertainties. The framework analyzes resurfacing of highways and divides them into zones. The lengths of these zones depend on minimum total cost and minimum duration. The framework consists of two modules; simulation and optimization. Simulation module is responsible for estimating total duration for each work zone. Whereas, optimization module optimizes the total cost including direct resurfacing operation, indirect/overhead costs, and the impact of work on road users’ costs. The latter costs include queuing delay cost, moving delay cost, accident cost. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the practical use of the framework