GDME-based methodology for the determination of free formaldehyde in cosmetics and hygiene products containing formaldehyde releasers

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry - Formaldehyde is often applied in the industrial production of different products, such as textiles, insulation materials, or cosmetics, due to its...     

A plasma-fluid model for EHD flow in DBD actuators and experimental validation

A numerical method to simulate plasma induced electrohydrodynamic flow is proposed in this study. The numerical model consists of three components. Firstly, a potential module to simulate temporal potential and electric field generated in the ionized fluid. Secondly, a plasma module to simulate plasma development and charge particle densities. Finally, a fluid module to simulate the flow affected by the body forces induced by the movement of the charged particles. Fluid flow is modeled using modified predictor-corrector strategy as proposed in the marker and cell method. The velocity field was corrected to achieve incompressible flow by calculating pressure correction factors, considered in all cells. Numerical convergence and time sensitivity analysis were carried to confirm grid independence and determine an efficient time step for simulations. Numerical computations are validated by comparing with experimental results of discharge currents and current densities. They were found to be in very good agreement thus providing an extensive validation. Furthermore, quiescent flow over a dielectric barrier discharge actuator is simulated in the this study, using the proposed plasma-fluid model, to model flow evolution and resolve temporal flow features for detailed analysis. The streamline and vorticity plots were analyzed and compared with experimental results, and flow results were found to be in-line with the experiments.     

Comparative bioavailability of two zolpidem hemitartrate formulations in healthy human Brazilian volunteers using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

To assess the bioequivalence of two zolpidem hemitartrate formulations in 30 healthy volunteers. Plasma samples were obtained over a 24 h period. Plasma concentrations of zolpidem were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry with positive ion electrospray ionization using multiple reaction monitoring. Values of peak concentration (C_max), area under curve (AUC), half-life, elimination constant, volume of distribution and clearance showed statistically significant differences when comparing women (604.34 ng h/ml, 127.36 ng/ml, 4.4 h, 0.18 1/h, 50.56 L and 8.55 L/h, respectively) and men (276.1 ng h/ml, 70.9 ng/ml, 3.3 h, 0.26 1/h, 91.42 L and 24.34 L/h, respectively), receiving the same dose (5 mg), respectively. The geometric means with corresponding 90% confidence interval for Test/Reference percentage ratios were 99.73% (CI 93.69–106.16) for C_max, 97.44% (90% CI = 91.85–103.37%) for area under curve of plasma concentration until the last concentration observed (AUC_last) and 98.30% (90% CI = 92.48–104.49) for the area under curve between the first sample (pre-dosage) and infinity (AUC_0–inf). Since the 90% CI for AUC_last, AUC_0–inf and C_max ratios were within the 80–125% interval proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration, it was concluded that zolpidem hemitartrate formulation (5 mg orodispersible tablet) is bioequivalent to the zolpidem hemitartrate formulation (Patz SL 5 mg sublingual tablet) with regard to both the rate and the extent of absorption. A new formulation of zolpidem 2.5 mg may be useful in women for the same clinical benefits as the 5 mg formulation in men.     

Development of Fish Immunity and the Role of β-Glucan in Immune Responses

Administration of β-glucans through various routes, including immersion, dietary inclusion, or injection, have been found to stimulate various facets of immune responses, such as resistance to infections and resistance to environmental stress. β-Glucans used as an immunomodulatory food supplement have been found beneficial in eliciting immunity in commercial aquaculture. Despite extensive research involving more than 3000 published studies, knowledge of the receptors involved in recognition of β-glucans, their downstream signaling, and overall mechanisms of action is still lacking. The aim of this review is to summarize and discuss what is currently known about of the use of β-glucans in fish.     

Crossdocking—JIT scheduling with time windows

In this paper, we study a problem central to crossdocking that aims to eliminate or minimize storage and order picking activity using JIT scheduling. The problem is modelled naturally as a machine scheduling problem. As the problem is NP-hard, and for real-time applications, we designed and implemented two heuristics. The first uses Squeaky Wheel Optimization embedded in a Genetic Algorithm and the second uses Linear Programming within a Genetic Algorithm. Both heuristics offer good solutions in experiments where comparisons are made with the CPLEX solver.     

Linearization of class C for contractions on Banach spaces

In this work we prove a C¹-linearization result for contraction diffeomorphisms, near a fixed point, valid in infinite-dimensional Banach spaces. As an intermediate step, we prove a specific result of existence of invariant manifolds, which can be interesting by itself and that was needed on the proof of our main theorem. Our results essentially generalize some classical results by P. Hartman in finite dimensions, and a result of Mora-Sola-Morales in the infinite-dimensional case. It is shown that the result can be applied to some abstract systems of semilinear damped wave equations.     

Real

The famous problem involves applying two maps: and to positive integers. If is even, one applies , if it is odd, one applies . The conjecture states that each trajectory of the system arrives to the periodic orbit . In this paper, instead of choosing each time which map to apply, we allow ourselves more freedom and apply both and independently of . That is, we consider the action of the free semigroup with generators and on the space of positive real numbers. We prove that this action is minimal (each trajectory is dense) and that the periodic points are dense. Moreover, we give a full characterization of the group of transformations of the real line generated by and .