Nanoparticles as Antimicrobial Agents and Drug Delivery Systems - A Review

The world is facing major issues related to antibiotic resistance, specific drugs targeting and its side effects. Such obstacles can be rectified by nanotechnology as they have essential characteristics with smaller size, target specificity, easy deliverable with lesser side effects. The prime nature of the nanoparticles are, it can probe into the cell wall of the pathogenic microbes and even have the capacity to intrude into cellular pathways. Nanoparticles themselves are capable of destroying unwanted foreign particles or toxic cells, which enter into our bodies. Nanoparticles can be treated as carriers, in which they combine with specific drugs and deliver to target specific cells with lesser side effects. Nanoparticles are used as a drug delivery agent for various kinds of diseases related to cancer. Nanoparticles with drugs increase the antibiotic release at the different target sites and these nanoparticles have a great tendency to deliver a large number of drugs to a cell. In this current review, we discuss the bright future of NPs as drug delivery agents as it can overcome all conventional problems.

Baited video, but not diver video, detects a greater contrast in the abundance of legal-size target species between no-take and fished zones

Inherent differences between baited remote video versus diver-operated video survey methodologies may influence their ability to detect effects of fishing. Here the ability of no-take zones (NTZs) to provide protection for legal-sized fish from targeted species within the Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP) was assessed using both baited remote underwater stereo-video (stereo-BRUV) and diver operated stereo-video (stereo-DOV). The relative abundance of legal-sized individuals of three recreationally targeted fish species, spangled emperor Lethrinus nebulosus, chinaman cod Epinephelus rivulatus and goldspotted trevally Carangoides fulvoguttatus, were examined using both methodologies inside and outside six NTZs across the NMP. Stereo-BRUVs found positive effects of protection on the relative abundance of legal-size C. fulvoguttatus and L. nebulosus in NTZs. Stereo-DOVs, however, did not detect any differences in relative abundances and sizes of these species between areas opened and closed to fishing. These contrasting results suggest that choice of sampling methodology can influence interpretations of the ability of NTZs to provide adequate levels of protection for target species. Thus it is suggested to further investigate the ability of stereo-BRUVs and stereo-DOVs to observe differences in the abundance of targeted species inside and outside of NTZs for the long-term monitoring of the NMP.

Optimized design for illusion device by genetic algorithm

The illusion device developed from the scattering cancellation employs very simple homogeneous and isotropic materials, but this device is only valid for electrically small objects. In this paper, we prove that the illusion device optimized by genetic algorithm can be applied to large-scale occasions. For an electrically small target, an optimized core–shell illusion device can achieve better illusion effect than the analytical design based on the scattering cancellation. With the increase of the device size, the ability of the single-layered shell to manipulate the scattering is very limited. For a moderate-size target, two optimized multi-layered examples are presented: one is to make a dielectric cylinder appear as another dielectric target, and the other is to make a conducting cylinder behave like a double-negative-material target. The full-wave simulations are carried out to visualize the similar field distributions of the target and the optimized multi-layered design. This optimized design greatly widens the size application range of the illusion device and can also improve the illusion performance with simple material parameters.

Learning Temporal Plan Preferences from Examples: An Empirical Study

Temporal plan preferences are natural and important in a variety of applications. Yet users often find it difficult to formalize their preferences. Here we explore the possibility to learn preferences from example plans. Focusing on one preference at a time, the user is asked to annotate examples as good/bad. We leverage prior work on LTL formula learning to extract a preference from these examples. We conduct an empirical study of this approach in an oversubscription planning context, using hidden target formulas to emulate the user preferences. We explore four different methods for generating example plans, and evaluate performance as a function of domain and formula size. Overall, we find that reasonable-size target formulas can often be learned effectively.

Perfil do Consumidor de Alimentos Industrializados da Cidade de Guanambi – BA

O processamento industrial aumenta a vida útil dos alimentos e confere praticidade aos consumidores. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o perfil e a preferência dos consumidores de alimentos industrializados da cidade de Guanambi/BA, durante o período de março a agosto de 2017. Para o estudo foram realizadas entrevistas com 378 pessoas, usando um questionário de múltipla escolha, conforme tamanho da população, homogeneidade do público-alvo e a quantidade de erro amostral admitida (5%). O consumo de alimentos industrializados foi maior entre o público feminino (75,1%), jovem (33,6%), e em sua maioria, com 2º grau completo (43,7%) e composição familiar entre dois e quatro membros (78,3%). A maioria dos respondentes possuía renda entre um e três salários-mínimos (76,3%). Os consumidores responderam por optar por uma alimentação prática (49,5%), com frequência entre três e cinco dias por semana (32,3%). Os entrevistados disseram consumir alimentos ricos em gorduras, açúcar e sal, entretanto, 80,7% dos respondentes consideraram alimentos industrializados não nutritivos, e a maioria (79,4%) afirmou que deixaria de ingeri-los caso o consumo fosse prejudicial à saúde. Dessa forma, o consumo de alimentos industrializados pode estar associado com fatores culturais, de renda e de disponibilidade de tempos para o preparo das refeições individuais e/ou da família, sendo que o público jovem e feminino apresentou o maior padrão de consumo. Palavras-chave: Hábito Alimentar. Perfil Socioeconômico. Processamento Industrial. Abstract The industrial food processing ncreases shelf life and confers convenience to the consumers. This study aimed to evaluate the profile of processed foods consumers in the city of Guanambi-BA from March to August 2017. 378 consumers were interviewed by choosing a multiple-choice questionnaire taken into account population size, target public homogeneity, and sampling error rate at 5%. In Guanambi, that profile revealed on its majority women (75.1%), youngers (33.6%), with secondary education (43.7%), coming from a family size of two to four members (78.3%). Most interviewees earn one to three minimum wages (76.3%). The reason why they choose this kind of food is due to the practicality (49.5%) with a varying frequency of three to five days a week. Interviewees admit consuming food with a high content of fats, sugar, and salt. However, a little over four-fifths (80.7%) consider processed food non-nutritive. Nearly 80% would consider stopping eating them if it were harmful to health. Thus, such consumption may be related to cultural factors, income, and available time to prepare individual and/or family meals, with notably dietary patterns among young and female interviewees. Keywords: Food Habit. Socioeconomic Profile. Industrial Processing.

MAOP Reconfirmation for a 20 Inch Gas Pipeline Using the ECA Method and Enhanced ILI

In light of the revised Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations, active from July 1, 2020, operators of gas transmission pipelines are faced with the task of reconfirming pipeline MAOP in a prescriptive set of circumstances. This requirement is defined in section 192.624 of 49 CFR 192. Louisville Gas & Electric (LGE) is operating a pipeline with an MAOP established using a combination of partial and full traceable, verifiable and complete (TVC) documentation and the ‘grandfathering’ clause defined by 192.619(a)(3). LGE has developed a plan and embarked on the process of reconfirming the MAOP using Method 3 – Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA). The pipeline is 20 inch diameter and predominately 0.25 inch wall thickness. It was originally constructed from vintage ERW pipe circa. 1960 to 1970 and is 29.86 miles long. There have been no reportable incidents on the line. There are various HCAs, Class 3 and Class 4 locations, and newly defined MCAs (per 192.3) along the line. The approach taken by the operator is to reconfirm the MAOP along the full pipeline length to cover the possibility of class location changes in the future. MAOP Reconfirmation via method 3 is detailed in clause 192.632. A critical element of an ECA per method 3 is the implementation of various ILI technologies to detect, identify, and size target threats. ROSEN provided an enhanced program of ILI including technologies to assess material properties, and crack-like/metal-loss anomalies. A critical aspect of method 3 is the use of appropriate material properties in the ECA. The operator deployed the RoMat PGS ILI system as the foundation for material property verification process to fulfill the requirements of clause 192.607 of 49 CFR 192, a requirement to establish ‘unknown material properties’. This paper describes the comprehensive work performed by the partnership of ROSEN and LGE to establish and fulfill the MAOP reconfirmation process. Such a large ILI program is a significant undertaking considering the associated data-integration, operational and engineering details that have to be addressed. This paper presents the methodologies used for each stage of the ECA process and how the ILI and material verification results were used to determine predicted failure pressures and remaining life. By satisfying the regulations, the operator has established a process to manage pipeline integrity, reduce risk, and reconfirm MAOP.

The Effect Locus of Control and Organizational Culture Toward Employee Performance with Organizational Commitments as Intervening Variable

This study aims to examine the influence of locus of control and organizational culture toward employee performancewith organizational commitment as an intervening variable.The use of organizational commitment as a predictor in evaluating employee performances makes this research different from all other research. The source of data from this study was obtained from primary data by distributing questionnaires with sample size target is 141 employees. The analytical method used in this study is multiple regression analysis and path analysis. The results of this study indicate that there is a direct relationship between locus of control and organizational culture toward organizational commitment and employee performance.Also, there is an indirect effect between locus of control and organizational culturetoward employee performance with organizational commitment as an intervening variable.

KINERJA RUMAH SAKIT TIPE C DENGAN PENDEKATAN BALANCED SCORECARD

This study aims to determine and analyze and evaluate the performance measurement system using Balanced Scorecard approach on Petrokimia Gresik Hospital. This research uses a qualitative approach with several informants and documents which in fact Petrokimia Gresik Hospital has not fully implemented the performance measurement with balanced scorecard approach so that there is unique phenomenon that interesting to be investigated deeper.The results showed that the performance measurement system at Petrokimia Gresik hospital was conducted by reviewing the strategic objectives of the size, target and the initiatives used to achieve the strategic objectives. The implication of the research result shows that the performance measurement system applied in Petrokimia Gresik Hospital is not maximal yet, so it needs additional indicators from the perspective of customer perspective, growth perspective and learning to sharpen the performance measurement system and can implement the performance measurement by using balanced scorecard.