Influence Of Fabrication Condition on the Microstructural and Optical Properties of Lead-Free Ferroelectric Bi0.5_{0.5}Na0.5_{0.5}TiO3_{3} Materials

Lead-free ferroelectric materials have attracted considerable attention due to the increasing potential application in environmental benign materials. Among lead-free ferroelectric materials, the Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (BNT) materials were more studied because it exhibited the good ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties which could be promising candidate materials replacing Pb(Zr,Ti)O3. In this work, the lead-free ferroelectric BNT materials were synthesized by sol-gel method. The effects of fabrication process to microstructural and optical properties were studied which includes Na precursor concentration and calcining temperature. The result indicated that the Na precursor concentration were higher 40 mol.% and the calcining temperature

DEVELOPMENT OF ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM FROM PUERARIA CANDOLLEI VAR. MIRIFICA (AIRY SHAW AND SUVAT.) NIYOMDHAM, KWAO KRUA KAO†FOR MENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Objective: The aim of this study was to incorporate Peraria candollei var. mirifica extract into the cream, to evaluate the physical properties and to conduct the skin tests in participants.Methods: Pueraria candollei var. mirifica was extracted with 95% ethanol to obtain crude pueraria extract (PCM). Crude PCM was developed as an anti-wrinkle PCM cream (B) intended for menopausal women. PCM cream was evaluated for stability of pH and viscosity, primary skin irritation, wrinkle reduction and moisturizing as well as customer satisfaction. Cream base (A) and cream purchased from the market (C) were used for comparison. ANOVA post hoc Turkey was used to analyze the variance (p0.05) of the mean comparisons between groups by cluster analysis. Results: The PCM cream appeared as white color, pH was 6.80, and viscosity was 4.069±0.01 Pa. s, as well as physical characteristic and texture, were acceptable and no irritating reaction. PCM cream exhibited a similar level of moisturizer as cream A and C. The PCM cream revealed an ability to decrease the wrinkle surface and wrinkle volume after applied for 7 and 14 d that shows the activity of this product performed from the PCM extract. Satisfaction of PCM cream showed good acceptance.Conclusion: These results suggest that PCM cream has the ability to reduce skin wrinkles. It is a good product for postmenopausal women and may also be of benefit for the general population for protection skin wrinkle

Enhanced Luminous Efficacy of White LED with Flat Dual-Layer Remote Phosphor Structure

This paper shows the differences in luminous fluxes of two distinguishing dual-layer remote phosphor structures, Flat Dual-Remote Phosphor (FDRP) and Concave Dual-Remote Phosphor (CDRP). The impact of the distance between the two phosphor layers (d_1) and the distance from the phosphor layer to the LED surface (d_2) on the optical properties of the CDRP is also presented. Specifically, when d_1 and d_2 are varied, the scattering and absorption characteristics of the remote phosphor layer change dramatically, which enormously influences the color uniformity and illumination capability of WLEDs. The concentration of YAG:Ce3+ phosphor also needs to be modified so that the correlated color temperature of WLEDs could be maintained at 8500K when d_1 and d_2 are adjusted. In case d_1 = d_2 = 0, the scattering and absorption in the remote phosphor layer are minimal, leading to the infinitesimal color and luminous flux. When d_1 and d_2 get bigger, the scattering surface increases and that the blue and yellow rays are blended becomes more uniform, leading to the minimum white light deviation as well as the lowest luminous flux. According to the studied results, the lumen output can be maximum at 1020lm if d_1 = 0.08mm or d_2 = 0.63mm while the smallest color deviation occurs when d_1 = 0.64mm or d_2 = 1.35mm. Therefore, the researched results will provide further information for choosing the suitable d_1 and d_2 in order to improve the quality of WLEDs

An Aquaculture Water Checker--design and Manufacture

A real-time, mobile aquaculture water checker is presented. The configuration of double integrating spheres is developed for simultaneously measuring backward scattering $R_d$, forward scattering $T_d$  and transmitted light $T_c$. Based on Kubelka-Munk model, a set of optical parameters including absorption coefficient $\mu _a$, scattering coefficient $\mu_s$ and anisotropy  $g$  are calculated. The obtained results for diluted milk standard samples with different milk concentrations and aquaculture water samples with different densities of Psexdo-Nitzschia-delicatissium algae are also reported

A Multi-Center Randomised Controlled Trial of Gatifloxacin versus Azithromycin for the Treatment of Uncomplicated Typhoid Fever in Children and Adults in Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Drug resistant typhoid fever is a major clinical problem globally. Many of the first line antibiotics, including the older generation fluoroquinolones, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin, are failing. OBJECTIVES: We performed a randomised controlled trial to compare the efficacy and safety of gatifloxacin (10 mg/kg/day) versus azithromycin (20 mg/kg/day) as a once daily oral dose for 7 days for the treatment of uncomplicated typhoid fever in children and adults in Vietnam. METHODS: An open-label multi-centre randomised trial with pre-specified per protocol analysis and intention to treat analysis was conducted. The primary outcome was fever clearance time, the secondary outcome was overall treatment failure (clinical or microbiological failure, development of typhoid fever-related complications, relapse or faecal carriage of S. typhi). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We enrolled 358 children and adults with suspected typhoid fever. There was no death in the study. 287 patients had blood culture confirmed typhoid fever, 145 patients received gatifloxacin and 142 patients received azithromycin. The median FCT was 106 hours in both treatment arms (95% Confidence Interval [CI]; 94-118 hours for gatifloxacin versus 88-112 hours for azithromycin), (logrank test p = 0.984, HR [95% CI] = 1.0 [0.80-1.26]). Overall treatment failure occurred in 13/145 (9%) patients in the gatifloxacin group and 13/140 (9.3%) patients in the azithromycin group, (logrank test p = 0.854, HR [95% CI] = 0.93 [0.43-2.0]). 96% (254/263) of the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid and 58% (153/263) were multidrug resistant. CONCLUSIONS: Both antibiotics showed an excellent efficacy and safety profile. Both gatifloxacin and azithromycin can be recommended for the treatment of typhoid fever particularly in regions with high rates of multidrug and nalidixic acid resistance. The cost of a 7-day treatment course of gatifloxacin is approximately one third of the cost of azithromycin in Vietnam. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN67946944

Concomitant Bacteremia in Adults With Severe Falciparum Malaria.

BackgroundApproximately 6% of children hospitalized with severe falciparum malaria in Africa are also bacteremic. It is therefore recommended that all children with severe malaria should receive broad-spectrum antibiotics in addition to parenteral artesunate. Empirical antibiotics are not recommended currently for adults with severe malaria.MethodsBlood cultures were performed on sequential prospectively studied adult patients with strictly defined severe falciparum malaria admitted to a single referral center in Vietnam between 1991 and 2003.ResultsIn 845 Vietnamese adults with severe falciparum malaria admission blood cultures were positive in 9 (1.07%: 95% confidence interval [CI], .37-1.76%); Staphylococcus aureus in 2, Streptococcus pyogenes in 1, Salmonella Typhi in 3, Non-typhoid Salmonella in 1, Klebsiella pneumoniae in 1, and Haemophilus influenzae type b in 1. Bacteremic patients presented usually with a combination of jaundice, acute renal failure, and high malaria parasitemia. Four bacteremic patients died compared with 108 (12.9%) of 836 nonbacteremic severe malaria patients (risk ratio, 3.44; 95% CI, 1.62-7.29). In patients with >20% parasitemia the prevalence of concomitant bacteremia was 5.2% (4/76; 95% CI, .2-10.3%) compared with 0.65% (5/769; 0.08-1.2%) in patients with ConclusionsIn contrast to children, the prevalence of concomitant bacteremia in adults with severe malaria is low. Administration of empirical antibiotics, in addition to artesunate, is warranted in the small subgroup of patients with very high parasitemias, emphasizing the importance of quantitative blood smear microscopy assessment, but it is not indicated in most adults with severe falciparum malaria

An Outbreak of Severe Infections with Community-Acquired MRSA Carrying the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Following Vaccination

Background: Infections with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are emerging worldwide. We investigated an outbreak of severe CA-MRSA infections in children following out-patient vaccination. Methods and Findings: We carried out a field investigation after adverse events following immunization (AEFI) were reported. We reviewed the clinical data from all cases. S. aureus recovered from skin infections and from nasal and throat swabs were analyzed by pulse-field gel electrophoresis, multi locus sequence typing, PCR and microarray. In May 2006, nine children presented with AEFI, ranging from fatal toxic shock syndrome, necrotizing soft tissue infection, purulent abscesses, to fever with rash. All had received a vaccination injection in different health centres in one District of Ho Chi Minh City. Eight children had been vaccinated by the same health care worker (HCW). Deficiencies in vaccine quality, storage practices, or preparation and delivery were not found. Infection control practices were insufficient. CA-MRSA was cultured in four children and from nasal and throat swabs from the HCW. Strains from children and HCW were indistinguishable. All carried the Panton-Valentine leukocidine (PVL), the staphylococcal enterotoxin B gene, the gene complex for staphylococcal-cassette-chromosome mec type V, and were sequence type 59. Strain HCM3A is epidemiologically unrelated to a strain of ST59 prevalent in the USA, althoughthey belong to the same lineage. Conclusions. We describe an outbreak of infections with CA-MRSA in children, transmitted by an asymptomatic colonized HCW during immunization injection. Consistent adherence to injection practice guidelines is needed to prevent CA-MRSA transmission in both in- and outpatient settings

Effect of Zeolite on Shrinkage and Crack Resistance of High-Performance Cement-Based Concrete

This study examined the effectiveness of zeolite addition to reduce the autogenous shrinkage of high-performance cement-based concrete (HPC). The zeolites were replaced up to 15% of the cement content by weight and their mean particle size varied from 5.6 to 16.7 µm. To evaluate the crack resistance of HPC containing zeolites, the ring tests and internal relative humidity measurements were performed at different ages. The compressive strengths were determined at 3, 7, 28 and 90 days of curing. Test results confirmed that the addition of zeolite was promising and favourable in enhancing the compressive strength, crack resistance and reducing the autogenous shrinkage of HPC due to synergistic pozzolanic and internal curing effects. The autogenous shrinkage tended to decrease with the increase in zeolite content and its particle size. In addition, the extent of the autogenous shrinkage development at the early ages decreased with higher zeolite content replaced. Furthermore, to predict the autogenous shrinkage of HPC containing zeolite, an improved model has been proposed, in which the conventional ultimate autogenous shrinkage strain and time function were modified by introducing new parameters accounting for the zeolite content and its particle size. It appeared that the proposed model was able to capture the autogenous shrinkage behaviour of HPC with or without zeolite, while the fib 2010 model underestimated the autogenous shrinkage of HPC containing less than 10% zeolite replacement