Release profile of ibuprofen in β-cyclodextrin complexes from two different solid dosage forms

The objective of this work was to develop solid dosage forms using powders containing inclusion complexes (ibuprofen with β-cyclodextrin) which were used to produce tablets (direct compression without additional excipients) and pellets (extrusion/spheronization) from wet mass containing 40% (w/w) of microcrystalline cellulose. The pellets also demonstrated that during preparation of the wet mass, the inclusion process occurred in a same yield that when pre-complexation was used. The particles characteristics were evaluated after being obtained through different complexation methods. The results showed that the tensile strength and profile dissolution were as expected for both dosage forms. Tablets containing inclusion complexes showed higher solubility when compared with a reference formulation and with two commercial formulations. The ibuprofen released from the two pellets formulations didn’t show relevant differences between them. The drug released was analyzed considering different dissolution parameters. The advantages of these new methodologies can be summarized as: (a) tablets were produced at a lower cost for the total process; and (b) in the pellet´s preparation there was no need of the previous complexation method resulting in a decrease in time and energy required

Experimental assessment of RRM techniques in 5 GHz dense WiFi networks using REMs

“© 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.”The increasing acceptance of WiFi has created unprecedented levels of congestion in the unlicensed frequency bands, especially in densely populated areas. This results mainly because of the unmanaged interference and uncoordinated op- eration between WiFi access points. Radio Environment Maps (REM) have been suggested as a support for coordination strategies that optimize the overall WiFi network performance. In this context, the main objective of this experiment is to assess the benefit of a coordinated management of radio resources in dense WiFi networks at 5 GHz band, using REMs for indoor scenarios. It was shown that REMs can detect the presence of interfering links on the network or coverage holes, and a suitable coordination strategy can use this information to reconfigure Access Points (AP) channel assignment and re-establish the client connection, at a cost of diminishing the aggregate throughput of the network. The technique of AP hand-off was tested to balance the load from one AP to another. Using REMs, the Radio Resource Management (RRM) strategy could reconfigure the network to optimize the client distribution among available APs. Although the aggregate throughput is lower after load balancing, the RRM could increase the throughput of the overloaded AP.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Improved detection for passive radar by illumination matching on reference channel

A novel technique for enhancing the detection of targets of interest is presented for application on the context of passive radar. The methodology is inspired on the well known Matched Illumination technique used in active systems and applies to scenarios where the targets can be modeled as having a few predominant scatterers. Since passive systems have no control over the signals which are transmitted by the illuminators of opportunity, the paper proposes to match the signal received on the reference channel. Results show that the correlation function will be enhanced for the targets of interest, relatively to the remaining targets and the clutter on the target region.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Young people and labour market segmentation in Europe: an institutionalist perspective

JEL classification: B52 institutional; evolutionary J42 monopsony; segmented labour markets J 63 turnover; vacancies; layoffs J71 labour discrimination P16 political economyThis thesis aims to identify the causes that have led to growing labour market segmentation, particularly the one characterized by a precarious labour situation of young people. We begin by claiming that arguments based on a supposed rigidity of the labour market due to high employment protection for insiders or arguments based on a growing dichotomy between the industrial core and the service sector cannot explain why, in some European countries, outsiders are mainly young labour market participants. To address this puzzle, it is argued that high social conflict (due to the existence of an uncoordinated system of industrial relations or liberalization) and a small proportion of primary sector jobs are the driving forces of this process. In addition, we also argue that, even though high employment protection aggravates segmentation because it reinforces the power of those with more political power, high employment protection alone is not sufficient for the process to occur. The empirical part of this study uses two different methodologies: fsQCA and a comparative analysis of two case studies. The fsQCA analysis supports the theoretical argument and hypotheses, and shows that it is in Southern and Anglo- Saxon countries that this process is more present. A comparative analysis of the two sectors shows that while in telecommunications young people have been particularly affected by more precarious working conditions, a similar process did not occur in the vehicle manufacturing industriesA presente tese tem como objetivo identificar as causas que estão na origem de uma crescente segmentação no mercado de trabalho, nomeadamente a que é caracterizada por uma precarização da situação laboral dos jovens. Começa-se por argumentar que as explicações baseadas numa suposta rigidez do mercado de trabalho devido a uma elevada proteção no emprego para os insiders ou as explicações baseadas na existência de uma dicotomia crescente entre o setor industrial e o dos serviços não conseguem explicar porque é que em alguns países europeus são sobretudo os jovens que são os outsiders. Em resposta a esta questão, argumenta-se que uma elevada conflitualidade social (devido à existência de um sistema de relações laborais descoordenado ou ao processo de liberalização) e uma baixa proporção de empregos no setor primário do mercado de trabalho constituem a força motriz deste processo. Adicionalmente, também se defende que, embora a elevada proteção no emprego agrave a segmentação porque reforça o poder dos grupos com mais poder político, a elevada proteção no emprego não constitui isoladamente uma condição suficiente para que o processo ocorra. A parte empírica deste trabalho utiliza duas metodologias distintas: o fsQCA e uma análise comparada de dois estudos de caso. A análise com o fsQCA corrobora o argumento teórico e as hipóteses formuladas, e mostra que é nos países da Europa do Sul e Anglo-Saxónicos que este processo está mais presente. A análise comparada dos dois setores de atividade mostra que enquanto nas telecomunicações os jovens foram especialmente afetados pela precarização das condições de trabalho, uma situação semelhante não ocorreu no setor da fabricação de veículos automóveis

Os deletérios impactos da crise nuclear no Japão

This work reports the severe nuclear incident occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011, due a earthquake followed by tsunami, where three of six existing reactors in Daiichi-Fukushima were damaged. The explosions with releasing of radioactive materials to environment have been discussed. It has shown the harmful effects of radiations to the exposed human being. Besides, the existence of the main impediment of the nuclear electric generation represented by production of non-disposable atomic waste has been discussed.O artigo aborda o acidente nuclear no Japão em 11 de março de 2011. Em decorrência do terremoto seguido de tsunami, foram danificados três dos seis reatores existentes no complexo Daiichi-Fukushima. Ocorreram explosões, seguidas da liberação de materiais radiativos ao meio ambiente. São mostrados os efeitos danosos nos casos da exposição do homem a radiações. Comenta-se a existência do principal nó górdio da geração nucleoelétrica, que é a produção do indescartável lixo atômico