scholarly journals Optimization and Validation of HS-GC/MS Method for the Controlled Release Study of Microencapsulated Specific Bioattractants for Target-Plaguicide Production

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 996
Author(s):  
María Luz Alonso ◽  
Oskar González ◽  
Rosa María Alonso

Insect plagues are a problem often hard to solve due to the harmful effects caused by the pesticides used to combat them. Consequently, the pesticide market is increasingly trying to develop new technologies to prevent the unwanted effects that common plague treatments usually bring with them. In this work, four specific bioattractants of Musca domestica, extracted from fungi (β-ocimene, phenol, p-cresol, and indole) were microencapsulated with β-cyclodextrin in order to produce an economically and environmentally sustainable bait containing biocides in the near future. Cyclodextrins will retain these volatile compounds until their use by the consumer when the product comes into contact with water. Then, the bioattractants will be released in the medium in a controlled manner. An analytical methodology based on headspace extraction coupled to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS) has been developed and validated following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and European Commission Directorate General for Health and Food Safety guidelines for the bioattractants controlled release study from the microencapsulated product. The analytical method has been shown to be accurate and precise and has the sensitivity required for controlled release studies of the four bioattractants analyzed. The release of the bioattractants from microencapsulated products achieved the “plateau” after 3 h in all cases.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 551
Author(s):  
Sofia Spyridonidou ◽  
Georgia Sismani ◽  
Eva Loukogeorgaki ◽  
Dimitra G. Vagiona ◽  
Hagit Ulanovsky ◽  
...  

In this work, an innovative sustainable spatial energy planning framework is developed on national scale for identifying and prioritizing appropriate, technically and economically feasible, environmentally sustainable as well as socially acceptable sites for the siting of large-scale onshore Wind Farms (WFs) and Photovoltaic Farms (PVFs) in Israel. The proposed holistic framework consists of distinctive steps allocated in two successive modules (the Planning and the Field Investigation module), and it covers all relevant dimensions of a sustainable siting analysis (economic, social, and environmental). It advances a collaborative and participatory planning approach by combining spatial planning tools (Geographic Information Systems (GIS)) and multi-criteria decision-making methods (e.g., Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)) with versatile participatory planning techniques in order to consider the opinion of three different participatory groups (public, experts, and renewable energy planners) within the site-selection processes. Moreover, it facilitates verification of GIS results by conducting appropriate field observations. Sites of high suitability, accepted by all participatory groups and field verified, form the final outcome of the proposed framework. The results illustrate the existence of high suitable sites for large-scale WFs’ and PVFs’ siting and, thus, the potential deployment of such projects towards the fulfillment of the Israeli energy targets in the near future.


Gels ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Muhammad Suhail ◽  
Chih-Wun Fang ◽  
Arshad Khan ◽  
Muhammad Usman Minhas ◽  
Pao-Chu Wu

The purpose of the current investigation was to develop chondroitin sulfate/carbopol-co-poly(acrylic acid) (CS/CBP-co-PAA) hydrogels for controlled delivery of diclofenac sodium (DS). Different concentrations of polymers chondroitin sulfate (CS), carbopol 934 (CBP), and monomer acrylic acid (AA) were cross-linked by ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EGDMA) in the presence of ammonium peroxodisulfate (APS) (initiator). The fabricated hydrogels were characterized for further experiments. Characterizations such as Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Powder X-ray diffractometry (PXRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were conducted to understand the surface morphology, thermodynamic stability, crystallinity of the drug, ingredients, and developed hydrogels. The swelling and drug release studies were conducted at two different pH mediums (pH 1.2 and 7.4), and pH-dependent swelling and drug release was shown due to the presence of functional groups of both polymers and monomers; hence, greater swelling and drug release was observed at the higher pH (pH 7.4). The percent drug release of the developed system and commercially available product cataflam was compared and high controlled release of the drug from the developed system was observed at both low and high pH. The mechanism of drug release from the hydrogels followed Korsmeyer–Peppas model. Conclusively, the current research work demonstrated that the prepared hydrogel could be considered as a suitable candidate for controlled delivery of diclofenac sodium.


RSC Advances ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (16) ◽  
pp. 12463-12471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roozbeh Javad Kalbasi ◽  
Ali Zirakbash

PHEMA/KIT-5 with various pore sizes was prepared. Efficient encapsulation of drug molecules inside the pores of the hybrid material and controlled release of them in an aqueous medium, suggest the great promise of the composite as a carrier system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 2519-2536
Author(s):  
Pravin S. Karandikar ◽  
Jamatsing D. Rajput ◽  
Suresh D. Bagul ◽  
Vikas V. Gite ◽  
Ratnamala S. Bendre

Author(s):  
Peter Marks

This chapter deals with of recent novels and films that project forward into the near future, suggesting where surveillance might be heading. In Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312, surveillance is figured into a future world of interplanetary environmentalism, in protecting planets and helping to monitor the ‘rewilding’ of an environmentally devastated Earth. Neill Blomkamp’s film Elysium fashions another Earth under environmental stress, patrolled by stringent surveillance operatives and systems that also screen the put-upon inhabitants from the eponymous eutopian space station literally and metaphorically above them. The film concentrates on the utopian urges of that population in their endeavour to overcome oppressive monitoring and receive medical treatment reserved for those on Elysium. Dave Eggers conjures up an apparently eutopian hi-tech company, The Circle, in his novel of the same name, representing how new technologies manipulate data and images for economic, social and political control. Spike Jonze’s film Her explores the relationship between surveillance and intimacy through the interaction between a human and an operating system. As with Eggers’ The Circle, Her investigates how data confuses definitions of identities as it allows for the fusion of surveillance and intimacy. These novels and films suggest some of the ways in which new forms of surveillance promise or threaten to fashion the worlds of the future. As with all such texts, they suggest options and present narratives and characters that enable readers and viewers to think and act so that the future approximates the eutopian rather than the dystopian.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edisson-Mauricio Pacheco-Quito ◽  
Roberto Ruiz-Caro ◽  
Juan Rubio ◽  
Aitana Tamayo ◽  
María-Dolores Veiga

Women are the most affected by genital herpes, which is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, affecting more than 400 million people worldwide. The application of vaginal microbicides could provide a safe method of protection. Acyclovir is a safe and effective medication for vaginal administration, and numerous benefits have been observed in the treatment of primary or recurrent lesions due to genital herpes. Vaginal tablets based on a combination of the polymers iota-carrageenan and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose were developed for the controlled release of acyclovir. Swelling, mucoadhesion and drug release studies were carried out in simulated vaginal fluid. The tablets, containing a combination of iota-carrageenan and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, have an adequate uptake of the medium that allows them to develop the precise consistency and volume of gel for the controlled release of acyclovir. Its high mucoadhesive capacity also allows the formulation to remain in the vaginal area long enough to ensure the complete release of acyclovir. These promising formulations for the prevention of genital herpes deserve further evaluation.


Environmental virtue ethicists recognize the importance of the moral virtues for addressing environmental problems. In addition, I argue that there are at least two important intellectual virtues required in the process of developing and implementing environmentally sustainable systems of living: creativity and open-mindedness. A high degree of creativity is needed in the search for environmentally sustainable solutions, whether that be in developing new technologies, in imagining more efficient economic systems, or in reconsidering our current ways of living. But creativity on its own is not sufficient for implementing these solutions; open-mindedness is also essential. Open-mindedness allows us to appreciate and understand the sustainable solutions developed by others and to consider how those approaches might be implemented in our own context. These two intellectual virtues work in tandem to allow both a wide-ranging search for new ideas and the change in ways of thinking needed to make them a reality.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document