Improving traffic flow conditions for interstate work-zones: evaluation of three traffic control devices

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (July 11, 2006)Includes bibliographical references.Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2005.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Civil engineering.Highway departments, which are responsible for maintenance of different highway facilities, have the continuing responsibility to make the highway as safe and efficient as possible. Traffic control approaching and within a work-zone is a major concern for these departments. The objective of this study was to test three traffic control devices white lane drop arrows, orange rumble strips, and the CB wizard alert system for their effectiveness in improving merging, and reducing speed and speed variance at an interstate highway work-zone in Missouri. Statistical tests were conducted on the speed related data collected along the approach to the work-zone lane closure when the devices were not in place and when they were in place. Results of implementing the white lane drop arrows and the CB wizard alert system indicate decreases in the percentage of vehicles in the closed lane, mean speed and speed variance. It also appears that the CB wizard alert system may be more effective than the white lane drop arrows. The CB wizard alert system in conjunction with the orange rumble strips did show similar reductions, but they were much smaller in comparison to the CB wizard alert system alone

Design, development and in-vitro evaluation of pinaverium colon targeted tablets

In the present research work colon formulation of Pinaverium targeted to colon by using various polymers developed. To achieve pH-independent drug release of Pinaverium, pH modifying agents (buffering agents) were used. Colon targeted tablets were preparedin two steps. Initially core tablets were prepared and then the tablets were coated by using different pH dependent polymers. Ethyl cellulose, Eudragit RLPO and S100 were used as enteric coating polymers. The precompression blend of all formulations was subjected to various flow property tests and all the formulations were passed the tests. The tablets were coated by using polymers and the coated tablets were subjected to various evaluation techniques. The tablets were passed all the tests. Among all the formulations F6 formulation was found to be optimized as it was retarded the drug release up to 18 hours and showed maximum of 98.45% drug release. It followed first order kinetics mechanism

Conceptualization of cross-linking polymers and lipids for better bio adhesion and oral bioavailability

Over the last decades, approaches in designing several lipid carriers have been evolved to deliver the poorly soluble drugs. Lipid based systems can play a vital role in improving the efficacy and safety, thus finally enhancing the therapeutic efficiency. LBDS can be modified in several ways to meet the wide range of product necessities as per the disease condition, product stability and route of administration. Crosslinking of polymers or lipids using modern techniques have greatly helped to modulate the specific release of drugs and as well safe guard the drug from various enzymes produced in the body thereby increasing the bioavailability greatly. The cross-linking will greatly enable to swell and even allow these varieties of polymers to adhere to the natural human tissues, mucosal membranes allowing them to be used for site specific release. The review emphasis on different approaches of crosslinking employed for complementing to prepare novel drug delivery systems like Emulsions, vesicular system and lipid particulate systems

EVALUATION OF PRICE DISPARITY AMONG GENERIC MEDICINES IN INDIA

Objective: Even though the generic medicines are considered to be a cheaper option compared to the branded medicines in India, there is a need to study the price disparity among the generic medicines. Hence, the present study aims to evaluate the price disparity in generic medicines under Government Scheme in India.Methods: It was found that there were 101 generic medicines approved at a fixed price for procurement under the Central Government Health Services scheme. The prices of these medicines were searched for their availability as well as for current price in Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (under Jan Aushadhi scheme) website.Results: The major category of the generic medicine were antibiotics (53.45%) followed by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (10.89%) and cardiovascular (6.93%) drugs. It was evident from the result obtained by comparing the prices across categories that there were both positive and negative deviations.Conclusion: It was very much evident from the results of the mean of differences that even though fixed price contracts being in place, there is a price disparity in the generic drug prices seen under Government Scheme

An investigation of the roles furan versus thiophene π-bridges play in donor–π-acceptor porphyrin based DSSCs

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) continue to attract interest due to their lower cost production compared to silicon based solar cells and their improving power conversion efficiencies. Porphyrin-based sensitizers have become an important sub-class due to their strong absorption characteristics in the visible region, convenient modulation of properties through synthetic manipulation and class-leading power conversion efficiencies. In this article, we report the synthesis and characterization of two porphyrin-based dyes and their application as sensitizers in DSSCs. A thiophene and a furan moiety have been incorporated into the push–pull architecture as a π-bridge, allowing the systematic investigation of how these moieties influence the physical properties of the dyes and the performance of their resulting DSSCs. A significant difference in PCEs has been observed, with the furan containing dye (PorF, PCE = 4.5%) being more efficient than the thiophene-based analogue (PorT, PCE = 3.6%) in conjunction with the iodide/triiodide redox electrolyte

An Enhanced CNN-based ELM Classification for Disease Prediction in the Rice Crop

To meet the demands of a constantly expanding population, intensive farming is becoming more popular in the modern day. This strategy, meanwhile, increases the possibility of a wider range of plant illnesses. By reducing crop productivity in terms of both quantity and quality, these infections represent a threat to food production and ultimately result in a fall in the economy. Fortunately, new opportunities for early diagnosis of such epidemics have emerged because of technological improvements, which are advantageous for society as a whole. The difficulties created by technology and bio-mutations create a potential for additional breakthroughs, notwithstanding the significant contributions made by researchers in the field of agricultural disease diagnosis. The suggested framework comprises three key phases: preprocessing, feature extraction, and the classification of leaf diseases. To optimize computational resources and memory utilization, the input image undergoes pre-processing as a preliminary step. Afterward, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is utilized on an extensive dataset of labeled images to capture pertinent features for the diagnosis of rice leaf diseases. The suggested model utilizes an Efficient Selective Pruning of Hidden Nodes (ELM) classifier based on the RBF kernel to classify the input data

Ga3-Mediated Dormancy Alleviation In The Reputed African Potato, Hypoxis Hemerocallidea

Background: Hypoxis hemerocallidea, arguably the most well-known medicinal species in South Africa, has been the subject of intensive harvesting from the wild leading to recent conservation concerns. The seeds of this species do not propagate easily and can lie dormant for up to twelve months.Materials and Methods: In the in vitro germination experiments water, acid and chemical pre-sowing treatments were performed to determine the germination response of this species in both light and dark conditions. In the ex vitro experiment, intact seeds were sown and left to germinate in a potting soil mix under greenhouse conditions.Results: Highest levels of germination (36.7-60.0% in the light and 36.7-46.7% in the dark) were achieved by treating mechanically scarified seeds with GA3 at various concentrations for 24 h. This was followed by scarified seeds soaked in water (26.7% in the light and 23.3% in the dark). Similar results (23.3 and 26.7%) were obtained in the 1% and 4% KNO3 treatments, respectively, under light conditions only. The fastest time to germinate was two days and was obtained in the 1200 ppm GA3 treatment in both light and dark conditions. Ex vitro germination of H. hemerocallidea seeds under greenhouse conditions was unsuccessful.Conclusion: H. hemerocallidea displays physical and non-deep physiological dormancy where pre-sowing treatments are required before the seeds will germinate.Keywords: medicinal plant; dormancy; GA3; pre-sowin