In silico methods in stability testing of hydrocortisone, powder for injections: Multiple regression analysis versus dynamic neural network

This article presents the possibility of using of multiple regression analysis (MRA) and dynamic neural network (DNN) for prediction of stability of Hydrocortisone 100 mg (in a form of hydrocortisone sodium succinate) freeze-dried powder for injection packed into a dual chamber container. Degradation products of hydrocortisone sodium succinate: free hydrocortisone and related substances (impurities A, B, C, D and E; unspecified impurities and total impurities) were followed during stress and formal stability studies. All data obtained during stability studies were used for in silico modeling; multiple regression models and dynamic neural networks as well, in order to compare predicted and observed results. High values of coefficient of determination (0.950.99) were gained using MRA and DNN, so both methods are powerful tools for in silico stability studies, but superiority of DNN over mathematical modeling of degradation was also confirmed

Regional dust storm modeling for health services: The case of valley fever

On 5 July 2011, a massive dust storm struck Phoenix, Arizona (USA), raising concerns for increased cases of valley fever (coccidioidomycosis, or, cocci). A quasi-operational experimental airborne dust forecast system predicted the event and provides model output for continuing analysis in collaboration with public health and air quality communities. An objective of this collaboration was to see if a signal in cases of valley fever in the region could be detected and traced to the storm - an American haboob. To better understand the atmospheric life cycle of cocci spores, the DREAM dust model (also herein, NMME-DREAM) was modified to simulate spore emission, transport and deposition. Inexact knowledge of where cocci-causing fungus grows, the low resolution of cocci surveillance and an overall active period for significant dust events complicate analysis of the effect of the 5 July 2011 storm. In the larger context of monthly to annual disease surveillance, valley fever statistics, when compared against PM10 observation networks and modeled airborne dust concentrations, may reveal a likely cause and effect. Details provided by models and satellites fill time and space voids in conventional approaches to air quality and disease surveillance, leading to land-atmosphere modeling and remote sensing that clearly mark a path to advance valley fever epidemiology, surveillance and risk avoidance

A methodology for investigating dust model performance using synergistic EARLINET/AERONET dust concentration retrievals

Systematic measurements of dust concentration profiles at a continental scale were recently made possible by the development of synergistic retrieval algorithms using combined lidar and sun photometer data and the establishment of robust remote-sensing networks in the framework of Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research Infra-Structure Network (ACTRIS)/European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET). We present a methodology for using these capabilities as a tool for examining the performance of dust transport models. The methodology includes considerations for the selection of a suitable data set and appropriate metrics for the exploration of the results. The approach is demonstrated for four regional dust transport models (BSC-DREAM8b v2, NMMB/BSC-DUST, DREAM-ABOL, DREAM8-NMME-MACC) using dust observations performed at 10 ACTRIS/EARLINET stations. The observations, which include coincident multi-wavelength lidar and sun photometer measurements, were processed with the Lidar-Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) to retrieve aerosol concentration profiles. The methodology proposed here shows advantages when compared to traditional evaluation techniques that utilize separately the available measurements such as separating the contribution of dust from other aerosol types on the lidar profiles and avoiding model assumptions related to the conversion of concentration fields to aerosol extinction values. When compared to LIRIC retrievals, the simulated dust vertical structures were found to be in good agreement for all models with correlation values between 0.5 and 0.7 in the 1-6 km range, where most dust is typically observed. The absolute dust concentration was typically underestimated with mean bias values of -40 to -20 mu g m(-3) at 2 km, the altitude of maximum mean concentration. The reported differences among the models found in this comparison indicate the benefit of the systematic use of the proposed approach in future dust model evaluation studies

Using Open Standards Based Building Information Modelling to Simulate Actual Design and Construction Processes

The paper describes pilot project conducted to achieve first understanding of the IFC standard and BIM process in Serbia. During the project a research team have developed information model of the actual building using IFC standard and BIM technology and used that model to simulate an actual construction processes. The experience from this project shows that BIM principles and the way IFC standard is incorporated in applications are still a set of recommendations that each software developer interprets separately. At the end of the paper a possibility of further development that would bring BIM and related ICT standards to expected functionality is discussed

Synthesis of some D-homo-D-aza estratriene derivatives

In this paper two synthetic routes for obtaining D-homo-D-aza estratriene derivatives were described. Namely, starting from 3-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-16-oximino-17-one (1) 3-methoxy-17-aza-D-homoestra-1,3,5(10)-triene (5) was synthesized in two step. Another D-aza derivative was synthesize, starting from 3-methoxy-17-oxo-16,17-secoestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-16-nitrile (6). For that purpose, the seco-cyanoaldehyde was converted into its 17-ethylenacetal 7 followed by subsequent reduction of the nitrile function with sodium borohydride in the presence of cobalt chloride hexahydrate. Finally, under acidic conditions the obtained 16-amino-17-ethylenacetal 8 was transformed into 3-metoxy-17-aza-D-homoestra-1,3,5(10),17(17a)-tetraene (9)

Experimental study on the ozone absorption accompanied by instantaneous chemical reaction

This work deals with gas absorption accompanied by chemical reaction in a liquid phase. Ozone absorption in potassium indigotrisulfonate solution was investigated in a batch bubble column. Enhancement factor for absorption accompanied by instantaneous chemical reaction in the liquid phase was experimentally determined, as a ratio of the volumetric mass transfer coefficient for the absorption accompanied by reaction to that for pure physical absorption. The influence of (a) the initial concentration of the solute from liquid phase and (b) the ozone concentration in gas phase on the enhancement factor were experimentally examined. The absorption accompanied by instantaneous chemical reaction is a diffusion-controlled process, whose rate depends upon the diffusivities of the absorbing gas and the solute in liquid phase. The influence of these diffusivities was found to be more significant for lower values of the enhancement factor. The rate of ozone absorption was followed by the time change of the solution color, using new method based on the computer program SigmaScan Pro 5 (Systat Software, Inc., San Jose, CA, USA). This investigation is a contribution to the prediction of the ozone consumption in wastewater treatment, in cases when ozone instantaneously reacts with substances present in water

When non-nationalist voters support ethno-nationalist parties: the 1990 elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a prisoner’s dilemma game

In 1990, according to polls, 7 out of 10 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina were against ethnic parties. Yet, 75% of voters ended up voting for one of the three main ethno-nationalist parties. In no other post-communist country, including other former Yugoslav republics, did ethnic parties receive such large support in the first democratic elections. In Croatia, for example, in the 1990 elections the Croatian ethnic party Hrvatska demokratska zajednica gathered 42% and the Serb ethnic party Srpska demokratska stranka gathered only 2% of the vote. Were Bosnians and Herzegovinians already that much ethno-nationalistically oriented in 1990? The article rejects this thesis and purports to explain the voting behaviour of the Bosnian electorate by using the prisoner’s dilemma theoretical framework. It concludes by arguing that the problem of collective action could have been addressed via a pre-electoral referendum on a ban of ethnic parties–a ban which had been actually adopted by the then-ruling Communist party, but was eventually overturned by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina