Thermal analysis of biodegradable microparticles containing ciprofloxacin hydrochloride obtained by spray drying technique

Thermal analysis has been extensively used to obtain information about drug-polymer interactions and to perform pre-formulation studies of pharmaceutical dosage forms. In this work, biodegradable microparticles of poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) containing ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CP) in various drug:polymer ratios were obtained by spray drying. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the spray drying process on the drug-polymer interactions and on the stability of microparticles using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) and infrared spectroscopy (IR). The results showed that the high levels of encapsulation efficiency were dependant on drug:polymer ratio. DSC and TG/DTG analyses showed that for physical mixtures of the microparticles components the thermal profiles were different from those signals obtained with the pure substances. Thermal analysis data disclosed that physical interaction between CP and PLGA in high temperatures had occurred. The DSC and TG profiles for drug-loaded microparticles were very similar to the physical mixtures of components and it was possible to characterize the thermal properties of microparticles according to drug content. These data indicated that the spray dryer technique does not affect the physicochemical properties of the microparticles. In addition, the results are in agreement with IR data analysis demonstrating that no significant chemical interaction occurs between CP and PLGA in both physical mixtures and microparticles. In conclusion, we have found that the spray drying procedure used in this work can be a secure methodology to produce CP-loaded microparticles. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Advanced Building Energy Data Visualization

Advanced Building Energy Data Visualization is a way to detect performance problems in commercialbuildings. By placing sensors in a building that collects data from example, air temperature and electricalpower, then makes it possible to calculate the data in Data Visualization software. This softwaregenerates visual diagrams so the building manager or building operator can see if for example thepower consumption is to high.A first step (before sensors are installed in a building) to see how the energy consumption is in abuilding can be to use a Benchmarking Tool. There is a number of Benchmarking Tools that is availablefor free on the Internet. Each tool have a bit different approach, but they all show how much energyconsumption there is in a building compared to other similar buildings.In this study a new web design for the benchmarking tool CalARCH has been developed. CalARCHis developed at the Berkeley Lab in Berkeley, California, USA. CalARCH uses data collected only frombuildings in California, and is only for comparing buildings in California with other similar buildingsin the state.Five different versions of the web site were made. Then a web survey was done to determine whichversion would be the best for CalARCH. The results showed that Version 5 and Version 3 was the best.Then a new version was made, based on these two versions. This study was made at the LawrenceBerkeley Laboratory.

On Occurrence Of Plagiarism In Published Computer Science Thesis Reports At Swedish Universities

In recent years, it has been observed that software clones and plagiarism are becoming an increased threat for one?s creativity. Clones are the results of copying and using other?s work. According to the Merriam – Webster dictionary, “A clone is one that appears to be a copy of an original form”. It is synonym to duplicate. Clones lead to redundancy of codes, but not all redundant code is a clone.On basis of this background knowledge ,in order to safeguard one?s idea and to avoid intentional code duplication for pretending other?s work as if their owns, software clone detection should be emphasized more. The objective of this paper is to review the methods for clone detection and to apply those methods for finding the extent of plagiarism occurrence among the Swedish Universities in Master level computer science department and to analyze the results.The rest part of the paper, discuss about software plagiarism detection which employs data analysis technique and then statistical analysis of the results.Plagiarism is an act of stealing and passing off the idea?s and words of another person?s as one?s own. Using data analysis technique, samples(Master level computer Science thesis report) were taken from various Swedish universities and processed in Ephorus anti plagiarism software detection. Ephorus gives the percentage of plagiarism for each thesis document, from this results statistical analysis were carried out using Minitab Software.The results gives a very low percentage of Plagiarism extent among the Swedish universities, which concludes that Plagiarism is not a threat to Sweden?s standard of education in computer science.This paper is based on data analysis, intelligence techniques, EPHORUS software plagiarism detection tool and MINITAB statistical software analysis.

Improved Road Design for Future Maintenance - Analysis of Road Barrier Repair Costs

The cost of a road construction over its service life is a function of the design, quality of construction, maintenance strategies and maintenance operations. Unfortunately, designers often neglect a very important aspect which is the possibility to perform future maintenance activities. The focus is mainly on other aspects such as investment costs, traffic safety, aesthetic appearance, regional development and environmental effects. This licentiate thesis is a part of a Ph.D. project entitled “Road Design for lower maintenance costs” that aims to examine how the life-cycle costs can be optimized by selection of appropriate geometrical designs for the roads and their components. The result is expected to give a basis for a new method used in the road planning and design process using life-cycle cost analysis with particular emphasis on road maintenance. The project started with a review of literature with the intention to study conditions causing increased needs for road maintenance, the efforts made by the road authorities to satisfy those needs and the improvement potential by consideration of maintenance aspects during planning and design. An investigation was carried out to identify the problems which obstruct due consideration of maintenance aspects during the road planning and design process. This investigation focused mainly on the road planning and design process at the Swedish Road Administration. However, the road planning and design process in Denmark, Finland and Norway were also roughly evaluated to gain a broader knowledge about the research subject. The investigation was carried out in two phases: data collection and data analysis. Data was collected by semi-structured interviews with expert actors involved in planning, design and maintenance and by a review of design-related documents. Data analyses were carried out using a method called “Change Analysis”. This investigation revealed a complex combination of problems which result in inadequate consideration of maintenance aspects. Several urgent needs for changes to eliminate these problems were identified. Another study was carried out to develop a model for calculation of the repair costs for damages of different road barrier types and to analyse how factors such as road type, speed limits, barrier types, barrier placement, type of road section, alignment and seasonal effects affect the barrier damages and the associated repair costs. This study was carried out using a method called the “Case Study Research Method”. Data was collected from 1087 barrier repairs in two regional offices of the Swedish Road Administration, the Central Region and the Western Region. A table was established for both regions containing the repair cost per vehicle kilometre for different combinations of barrier types, road types and speed limits. This table can be used by the designers in the calculation of the life-cycle costs for different road barrier types.

Data based Calibration System for Radar used by Vehicle Activated Signs

The accurate measurement of a vehicle’s velocity is an essential feature in adaptive vehicle activated sign systems. Since the velocities of the vehicles are acquired from a continuous wave Doppler radar, the data collection becomes challenging. Data accuracy is sensitive to the calibration of the radar on the road. However, clear methodologies for in-field calibration have not been carefully established. The signs are often installed by subjective judgment which results in measurement errors. This paper develops a calibration method based on mining the data collected and matching individual vehicles travelling between two radars. The data was cleaned and prepared in two ways: cleaning and reconstructing. The results showed that the proposed correction factor derived from the cleaned data corresponded well with the experimental factor done on site. In addition, this proposed factor showed superior performance to the one derived from the reconstructed data.

Local politico-administrative perspectives on quality improvement based on national registry data in Sweden : a qualitative study using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

Background. Through a national policy agreement, over 167 million Euros will be invested in the Swedish National Quality Registries (NQRs) between 2012 and 2016. One of the policy agreement¿s intentions is to increase the use of NQR data for quality improvement (QI). However, the evidence is fragmented as to how the use of medical registries and the like lead to quality improvement, and little is known about non-clinical use. The aim was therefore to investigate the perspectives of Swedish politicians and administrators on quality improvement based on national registry data. Methods. Politicians and administrators from four county councils were interviewed. A qualitative content analysis guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was performed. Results. The politicians and administrators perspectives on the use of NQR data for quality improvement were mainly assigned to three of the five CFIR domains. In the domain of intervention characteristics, data reliability and access in reasonable time were not considered entirely satisfactory, making it difficult for the politico-administrative leaderships to initiate, monitor, and support timely QI efforts. Still, politicians and administrators trusted the idea of using the NQRs as a base for quality improvement. In the domain of inner setting, the organizational structures were not sufficiently developed to utilize the advantages of the NQRs, and readiness for implementation appeared to be inadequate for two reasons. Firstly, the resources for data analysis and quality improvement were not considered sufficient at politico-administrative or clinical level. Secondly, deficiencies in leadership engagement at multiple levels were described and there was a lack of consensus on the politicians¿ role and level of involvement. Regarding the domain of outer setting, there was a lack of communication and cooperation between the county councils and the national NQR organizations. Conclusions. The Swedish experiences show that a government-supported national system of well-funded, well-managed, and reputable national quality registries needs favorable local politico-administrative conditions to be used for quality improvement; such conditions are not yet in place according to local politicians and administrators.

Using Spatiotemporal Methods to Fill Gaps In Energy Usage Interval Data

Researchers analyzing spatiotemporal or panel data, which varies both in location and over time, often find that their data has holes or gaps. This thesis explores alternative methods for filling those gaps and also suggests a set of techniques for evaluating those gap-filling methods to determine which works best.

PDA, Circulation, and Over-Budget Requests: Harnessing Data to Inform Library Strategies

This article presents the data-rich findings of an experiment with enlisting patron-driven/demand-driven acquisitions (DDA) of ebooks in two ways. The first experiment entailed comparison of DDA eBook usage against newly ordered hardcopy materials’ circulation, both overall and ebook vs. print usage within the same subject areas. Secondly, this study experimented with DDA ebooks as a backup plan for unfunded requests left over at the end of the fiscal year.

PDA, Circulation, and Over-Budget Requests: Harnessing Data to Inform Library Strategies

This article presents the data-rich findings of an experiment with enlisting patron-driven/demand-driven acquisitions (DDA) of ebooks in two ways. The first experiment entailed comparison of DDA eBook usage against newly ordered hardcopy materials’ circulation, both overall and ebook vs. print usage within the same subject areas. Secondly, this study experimented with DDA ebooks as a backup plan for unfunded requests left over at the end of the fiscal year.

An Environmental Analysis Corroborating PDA and the Winthrop Example

Libraries seek active ways to innovate amidst macroeconomic shifts, growing online education to help alleviate ever-growing schedule conflicts as students juggle jobs and course schedules, as well as changing business models in publishing and evolving information technologies. Patron-driven acquisition (PDA), also known as demand-driven acquisition (DDA), offers numerous strengths in supporting university curricula in the context of these significant shifts. PDA is a business model centered on short-term loans and subsequent purchases of ebooks resulting directly from patrons' natural use stemming from their discovery of the ebooks in library catalogs where the ebooks' bibliographic records are loaded at regular intervals established between the library and ebook supplier. Winthrop University's PDA plan went live in October 2011, and this article chronicles the philosophical and operational considerations, the in-library collaboration, and technical preparations in concert with the library system vendor and ebook supplier. Short-term loan is invoked after a threshold is crossed, typically number of pages or time spent in the ebook. After a certain number of short-term loans negotiated between the library and ebook supplier, the next short-term loan becomes an automatic purchase after which the library owns the ebook in perpetuity. Purchasing options include single-user and multi-user licenses. Owing to high levels of need in college and university environments, Winthrop chose the multi-user license as the preferred default purchase. Only where multi-user licenses are unavailable does the automatic purchase occur with single-user title licenses. Data on initial use between October 2011 and February 2013 reveal that of all PDA ebooks viewed, only 30% crossed the threshold into short-term loans. Of all triggered short-term loans, Psychology was the highest-using. Of all ebook views too brief to trigger short-term loans, Business was the highest-using area. Although the data are still too young to draw conclusions after only a few months, thought-provoking usage differences between academic disciplines have begun to emerge. These differences should be considered in library plans for the best possible curricular support for each academic program. As higher education struggles with costs and course-delivery methods libraries have an enduring lead role.

Using Interlibrary Loan Data as a Section Tool: ILL Trails Provide Collection Clues

This article describes analyzing Interlibrary Loan data to help inform collection management decision and offers guidance for formulating policies for discerning borrowed titles indicative of gaps in the library from special-interest pursuits beyond the scope of the university curriculum.

Influência do protocolo agroambiental na gestão ambiental de indústrias do setor sucroenergético da microrregião de Assis/SP: um estudo de múltiplos casos

Tese apresentada ao Programa de Pós-graduação em Administração - Doutorado da Universidade Municipal de São Caetano do Sul

Caracterização do beneficiamento de carvão por jigagem no Brasil

Em função da importância do processo de jigagem no beneficiamento de carvão no Brasil, onde 95% da produção bruta, ROM, é beneficiada em jigues para a obtenção de carvão energético ou carvão pré-lavado, e da inexistência de um trabalho sistemático de caracterização deste processo, esta dissertação apresenta um estudo detalhado do desempenho de jigues no beneficiamento de carvão nacional, através do levantamento dos critérios de avaliação de performance dependentes e independentes derivados das curvas de partição e análises densimétricas dos diversos produtos. São desenvolvidos "softwares" para o processamento dos diversos dados levantados "in situ", com aplicação nas áreas de cálculo de balanços de massas e metalúrgico, processamento de análises densimétricas, cálculo de coeficientes de partição, modelamento matemático de curvas de partição e cálculo dos critérios de avaliação de performance. Conclue-se que, de um modo geral, o processo de jigagem é mal empregado no Brasil, conduzindo obtenção de produtos de baixa recuperação. Isto ocorre basicamente em função das características peculiares do carvão nacional e do fato que, no Brasil, utiliza-se jigues de fabricação estrangeira, dimensionados para outros tipos de carvões de melhor qualidade. Este trabalho pretende alertar aos profissionais da área e oferece algumas sugestões com o objetivo de melhorar a baixa eficiência do beneficiamento de carvão observada em diversos lavadores.

Confiança valor e qualidade do produto como antecedentes da satisfação: um estudo empírico no mercado imobiliário

O conceito de confiança tem sido introduzido em estudos empíricos sobre marketing no Brasil partir do referencial teórico adotado principalmente nos Estados Unidos Europa. presente dissertação examina confiança, tanto no vendedor como na empresa, valor qualidade do produto percebidos pelos clientes como fatores que afetam satisfação em compras de valor, tal como compra de um imóvel residencial na planta. estudo se baseia nos artigos de Santos (2001), sobre o impacto do gerenciamento de reclamações sobre confiança lealdade do consumidor, de Doney Cannon (1997) sobre confiança no relacionamento entre empresas seus vendedores. estudo empírico trata de um levantamento de corte transversal, no qual foram testadas hipóteses específicas para examinar as relações entre as variáveis, em um processo de pesquisa formal estruturado, com uma amostra de 270 clientes. Os dados foram coletados partir da base de clientes de duas empresas brasileiras fortes nos segmentos em que atuam, uma corretora de imóveis outra incorporadora/construtora, ambas sediadas na cidade de São Paulo. análise dos dados foi feita com base no Modelo de Equações Estruturais (SEM), através do software Lisrel 8. Os resultados indicam que há confiança no corretor que está realizando venda do imóvel, sendo que satisfação com corretor influencia esta confiança. No entanto, experiências anteriores com corretores de imóveis características do corretor que realizou venda não têm impacto sobre confiança no corretor. Detectou-se também, que valor do produto confiança na construtora percebidos pelo cliente têm influencia sobre satisfação com compra, mas não qualidade percebida. Este estudo dá subsídios futuras pesquisas sobre confiança em compras de valor. São discutidas as limitações da pesquisa as implicações de seus resultados para gestão de marketing no Brasil.

Confiança como antecedente da escolha de compra na indústria da construção civil

o conceito de confiança como antecedente à decisão de compra tem sido introduzido em estudos empíricos sobre marketing no Brasil a partir do referencial teórico adotado principalmente nos Estados Unidos e Europa. A presente dissertação examina a confiança, tanto no vendedor como na sua empresa, como fator que influencia a decisão de compra em relacionamentos business to business. O estudo se baseia no artigo de Doney e Cannon (1997) sobre a confiança no relacionamento entre empresas e seus vendedores. O estudo empírico trata de um levantamento de corte transversal, no qual foram testadas hipóteses específicas para examinar as relações entre as variáveis, em um processo de pesquisa formal e estruturado, com uma amostra de 170 lojas e revendas de materiais de construção no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Os dados foram coletados a partir da base de clientes de uma indústria siderúrgica sediada no interior do estado do Rio de Janeiro com forte atuação nas regiões sul e sudeste do país. A análise dos dados foi feita com base no Modelo de Equações Estruturais (SEM), através do software Lisrel 8.30. Os resultados não são idênticos aos obtidos no estudo original, mas apontam para a importância de se estabelecerem relacionamentos com os clientes. A pesquisa conclui que as características da empresa fornecedora como também seu relacionamento e o do vendedor, influenciam a decisão de compra de seus clientes. No entanto, as características do vendedor não têm impacto sobre a confiança no mesmo. Este estudo fornece subsídios a futuras pesquisas sobre a confiança como antecedente à decisão de compra. São discutidas as limitações da pesquisa e as implicações de seus resultados para a gestão de marketing no Brasil.