Synthesis and antimicrobial evaluation of fatty chain substituted 2,5-dimethyl pyrrole and 1,3-benzoxazin-4-one derivatives

AbstractFatty acids themselves have a number of biological properties and its easy intake by the human body will focus to the synthesis of many heterocyclic moiety substituted with fatty acid residue, to make more gradual intake of heterocycles in the human body. 2,5-Dimethyl pyrrole 2(a–e) and 1,3-benzoxazin-4-one 4(b–e) derivatives were synthesized, from cyclization of fatty acid hydrazide 1(a–e) with acetonyl acetone and from the reaction of fatty esters 3(b–e) with anthranilic acid in the presence of POCl3, respectively. All these compounds were characterized with the help of IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectra. The synthesized compounds were screened for antimicrobial evaluation against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus SA 22, Bacillus subtilis MTCC 121), gram-negative (Escherichia coli K12, Klebsiella pneumoniae) and fungal strains (Candida albicans IOA-109) and were found to be good antimicrobial agents

Optimization of FPGA-based CNN Accelerators Using Metaheuristics

In recent years, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have demonstrated their ability to solve problems in many fields and with accuracy that was not possible before. However, this comes with extensive computational requirements, which made general CPUs unable to deliver the desired real-time performance. At the same time, FPGAs have seen a surge in interest for accelerating CNN inference. This is due to their ability to create custom designs with different levels of parallelism. Furthermore, FPGAs provide better performance per watt compared to GPUs. The current trend in FPGA-based CNN accelerators is to implement multiple convolutional layer processors (CLPs), each of which is tailored for a subset of layers. However, the growing complexity of CNN architectures makes optimizing the resources available on the target FPGA device to deliver optimal performance more challenging. In this paper, we present a CNN accelerator and an accompanying automated design methodology that employs metaheuristics for partitioning available FPGA resources to design a Multi-CLP accelerator. Specifically, the proposed design tool adopts simulated annealing (SA) and tabu search (TS) algorithms to find the number of CLPs required and their respective configurations to achieve optimal performance on a given target FPGA device. Here, the focus is on the key specifications and hardware resources, including digital signal processors, block RAMs, and off-chip memory bandwidth. Experimental results and comparisons using four well-known benchmark CNNs are presented demonstrating that the proposed acceleration framework is both encouraging and promising. The SA-/TS-based Multi-CLP achieves 1.31x - 2.37x higher throughput than the state-of-the-art Single-/Multi-CLP approaches in accelerating AlexNet, SqueezeNet 1.1, VGGNet, and GoogLeNet architectures on the Xilinx VC707 and VC709 FPGA boards.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 9 tables. in The Journal of Supercomputing, 202

Properties of wood polymer nanocomposites impregnated with ST-co-EDA/nanoclay

Study has been made on manufactured wood polymer nanocomposites (WPNC) from Sesendok wood through impregnation of Styrene (ST), Ethyldimethylamine (EDA) and Montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay. The impregnation process of the wood samples by vacuum-pressure method with in-situ polymerization of prepolymer mixture was used. The wood samples structural properties were investigated with Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) found to be extensively changed upon ST-co-EDA/MMT impregnated. The mechanical properties of the WPNC samples were significantly increased by ST-co-EDA/MMT treatment. Thermal properties of WPNC samples were also evaluated using themogravimetric analysis (TGA) and an improvement in thermal stability was found for WPNC. WPNC has shown excellent resistance against weathering effect while exposed to surrounding. WPNC can be used to replace plastic and synthetice materials for its excellent properties and high market demand of the modern society

Mel-frequency cepstral and spectral flux analysis of the acoustic signal for real-time status monitoring of laser cleaning

Due to the fact that the laser-based cleaning process is quick, efficient, and environmentally friendly, it has been utilized in a various industry, which has increased the number of studies pertaining to this process. In addition to process optimization, the real-time monitoring system was essential in preventing the overexposure of the laser beam to the cleansed surface, which would result in an engraving effect. This article demonstrated the analysis of the acquired sound signal to identify an overexposed laser beam during laser cleaning. In order to accomplish the aim of this work, the corroded boron steel plate was prepared. The laser cleaning procedure involved a four-loop laser scan. Variable scanning speeds between 100 and 1,000 mm/s were configured. Concurrently, the acoustic signal within the frequency range of 20 Hz to 10 kHz was acquired. The results indicate that the process with a scanning speed of 1000 mm/s recorded the clear surface without morphological change on the cleaned area, whereas an unacceptable deep gouge was formed during the second and third loops of the process with speeds of 100 mm/s and 300 mm/s, respectively. According to an analysis of the acquired sound signal, the trend of the Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) was indicative of the existence of the ablated corroded substrate. In addition, the spectral flux can provide important information regarding the formation of a deep groove on a cleansed surface. This research demonstrates the feasibility of using the auditory signal to monitor the laser cleaning process. By characterizing the acoustic signal feature, it is possible to detect the completion of the cleaning process before the morphological change of the cleaned area existed. With further development, it was possible that this method would become the most efficient, resilient, and demanding in the future

Effectiveness of K2 siO3 on growth and physiobiochemical changes of banana seedlings grown under tropical climate as influenced by application frequency

Slow growth rate of tissue-cultured banana seedling's performance and high post-transplanting mortality rate are commonly due to low rate mineral content in the soil, climate change and soil-borne disease. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of potassium silicate (K2SiO3) on growth, physio-biochemical changes on Berangan banana seedlings grown under tropical climate conditions. The experiment was conducted under a rain shelter and all treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block (RCBD) design. The plants were soil drenched with K2SiO3 at constant 0.0901 M by 25 mL/plant after two weeks of transplanting with different frequencies application: 0-day interval (DI) served as control, 7 DI (12×), 15 DI (6×) and 30 DI (3×) throughout three months experimental period. Results showed that K2SiO3 (13% SiO2, 20% K2O) applied on healthy banana seedlings at 15 days interval significantly improved morphological growth trait (plant height, pseudo-stem diameter size, total leaf area, root length, and dry matter biomass) and physiological traits characters, but reduced proline and MDA content in plant tissues of banana. Hence, the results confirmed that each banana seedlings that received K2SiO3 at optimum frequency rate (15DI) had successfully enhanced the growth performance with better quality of Berangan banana seedlings at commercial-scale production

Effect of laser frequency and focal length on copper surface temperature during laser heating

Laser heating is a process that uses laser as a heat source. In this paper, the copper surface temperature during the laser heating process was studied by controlling the laser frequency and focal length. The laser heating experiment was conducted using a fiber laser marking machine and irradiated with a constant 27 W laser power within a duration of 51 s. The laser frequency and focal length were varied from 100 to 300 kHz and −3 cm to +3 cm, respectively. Meanwhile, laser surface modification (LSM) was performed on the copper rod surface to enhance the laser energy absorption. Furthermore, the defocusing modes for laser heating were used to analyze the variation of temperature. The focus point of the focal length for this experiment was set up at 18.4 cm from the focal plane and denoted as 0. Laser frequency and focal length were found to play an important role in increasing the surface temperature during laser heating since it affects the heat input delivered to the materials. It was found that the surface temperature reaches a higher degree, 879.2 °C with the combination of 200 kHz laser frequency at focal length

The Effect of Elevons Deflection to Aerodynamic Coefficients of A Tail-less Blended Wing-Body Planform / Rizal E. M. Nasir ...[et al.]

Control surfaces play a big role in stabilizing and maneuvering an aircraft. This paper investigates the effect of control surface allocations, specifically deflection of four elevons on a BWB planform, on aerodynamic coefficients. Elevon allocations can be in a form of single-elevon deflection, two-elevon deflection in unison or in opposite deflection angles and four-elevon deflections in unison or in opposite deflection angles. Six aerodynamic coefficients which represent three forces and three moments in three axes are measured via wind tunnel experiment at 25 m/s. The wind tunnel model is of a flat, thin plate with planform similar to a typical stealth, flying-wing aircraft. Thirty-one (31) cases of different elevon deflections are tested at a fixed pitch angle of attack and zero angle of sideslip. The results shows that significant changes in drag, sideforce and lift forces are observed at almost all elevon deflection cases. The roll moment and pitch moment change with respect to elevon angle depends on the number of elevons utilized while yaw moment is not much affected by elevon deflections except for some cases

Razvoj i vrednovanje lako topljivih tableta kompleksa meloksikama s β-ciklodekstrinom pripravljenih izravnom kompresijom

The aim of this study was to prepare fast-dissolving tablets of meloxicam after its complexation with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and to investigate the effect of using different superdisintegrants on the disintegration and release of meloxicam from the tablets. A complex of meloxicam with β-CD was prepared by spray drying and then compressed in the form of tablets utilizing the direct compression technique. Three superdisintegrants were employed at various levels sodium starch glycolate, croscarmellose sodium, and crospovidone. Co-spray dried micro-crystalline cellulose and mannitol (Avicel HFE-102) were used as diluents in the tablets. Prior to compression, the pre-compression parameters showed satisfactory flow properties. Post-compression parameters showed that all tablet formulations had acceptable mechanical properties. Wetting and disintegration times were prolonged by increasing the level of sodium starch glycolate in the tablets. This was attributed to the formation of a viscous gel layer around the tablets by sodium starch glycolate whereas this effect was not observed with croscarmellose sodium and crospovidone. Dissolution studies showed fast release of meloxicam except in tablets containing a high level of sodium starch glycolate. Complexation of meloxicam with β-CD significantly improved the solubility of the drug and improved the mechanical properties of tablets produced by direct compression.Cilj rada bio je priprava lako topljivih tableta kompleksa meloksikama s β-ciklodekstrinom (β-CD) te ispitati utjecaj različitih superdezintegratora na raspadljivost tableta i oslobađanje meloksikama. Kompleks meloksikama s β-CD pripravljen je metodom sušenja sprejem, a komprimiran je u tablete metodom izravne kompresije. U pripravi tableta korištene su tri različite količine triju superdezintegratora: natrijev škrobni glikolat, natrijeva sol kroskarmeloze i krospovidon, dok su mikrokristalinična celuloza i manitol (Avicel HFE-102) upotrijebljeni kao punila. Predkompresijski parametri ukazivali su na zadovoljavajuću tečnost. Postkompresijski parametri pokazali su da sve tablete imaju prihvatljiva mehanička svojstva. Vlaženje i vrijeme raspadanja bilo je produljeno kada se povećao udio natrijevog škrobnog glikolata u tabletama. To je pripisano stvaranju viskoznog sloja gela oko tableta, što nije primijećeno u pripravi tableta s natrijevom soli kroskarmeloze i krospovidonom. Oslobađanje meloksikama bilo je brzo iz svih tableta, osim iz tableta s visokim udjelom natrijeve soli škrobnog glikolata. Kompleksiranje meloksikama s β-CD značajno je povećalo topljivost lijeka i poboljšalo mehanička svojstva tableta

The global burden of adolescent and young adult cancer in 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In estimating the global burden of cancer, adolescents and young adults with cancer are often overlooked, despite being a distinct subgroup with unique epidemiology, clinical care needs, and societal impact. Comprehensive estimates of the global cancer burden in adolescents and young adults (aged 15–39 years) are lacking. To address this gap, we analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, with a focus on the outcome of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), to inform global cancer control measures in adolescents and young adults. Methods: Using the GBD 2019 methodology, international mortality data were collected from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, and population-based cancer registry inputs modelled with mortality-to-incidence ratios (MIRs). Incidence was computed with mortality estimates and corresponding MIRs. Prevalence estimates were calculated using modelled survival and multiplied by disability weights to obtain years lived with disability (YLDs). Years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated as age-specific cancer deaths multiplied by the standard life expectancy at the age of death. The main outcome was DALYs (the sum of YLLs and YLDs). Estimates were presented globally and by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintiles (countries ranked and divided into five equal SDI groups), and all estimates were presented with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). For this analysis, we used the age range of 15–39 years to define adolescents and young adults. Findings: There were 1·19 million (95% UI 1·11–1·28) incident cancer cases and 396 000 (370 000–425 000) deaths due to cancer among people aged 15–39 years worldwide in 2019. The highest age-standardised incidence rates occurred in high SDI (59·6 [54·5–65·7] per 100 000 person-years) and high-middle SDI countries (53·2 [48·8–57·9] per 100 000 person-years), while the highest age-standardised mortality rates were in low-middle SDI (14·2 [12·9–15·6] per 100 000 person-years) and middle SDI (13·6 [12·6–14·8] per 100 000 person-years) countries. In 2019, adolescent and young adult cancers contributed 23·5 million (21·9–25·2) DALYs to the global burden of disease, of which 2·7% (1·9–3·6) came from YLDs and 97·3% (96·4–98·1) from YLLs. Cancer was the fourth leading cause of death and tenth leading cause of DALYs in adolescents and young adults globally. Interpretation: Adolescent and young adult cancers contributed substantially to the overall adolescent and young adult disease burden globally in 2019. These results provide new insights into the distribution and magnitude of the adolescent and young adult cancer burden around the world. With notable differences observed across SDI settings, these estimates can inform global and country-level cancer control efforts. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, St Baldrick's Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute