Ganciclovir (GCV) is a drug included in BCS-Class III, having high solubility and low permeability. It is a synthetic acyclic nucleoside analog of 2′-deoxyguanosine, considered a potent inhibitor of herpes viruses and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections are very common and are also considered a major cause of corneal blindness. This study intended to advance a pioneering nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) system for improving the ocular permeability of GCV. Several procedures were used for the preparation. Cold homogenization, solvent injection, and emulsifi cationultrasonication methods. A mixture of palmitic acid (PA) and oleic acid (OA) as a lipid matrix, cremophore EL, and transcutol HP wer

<span>We present the linearization of an ultra-wideband low noise amplifier (UWB-LNA) operating from 2GHz to 11GHz through combining two linearization methods. The used linearization techniques are the combination of post-distortion cancellation and derivative-superposition linearization methods. The linearized UWB-LNA shows an improved linearity (IIP3) of +12dBm, a minimum noise figure (NF_min.) of 3.6dB, input and output insertion losses (S₁₁ and S₂₂)  below -9dB over the entire working bandwidth, midband gain of 6dB at 5.8GHz, and overall circuit power consumption of 24mW supplied from a 1.5V voltage source. Both UWB-LNA and linearized UWB-LNA designs are

It is suitable to use precast steel-concrete composite beams to quickly assemble a bridge or a building, particularly in isolated regions where cast-in-situ concrete is not a practical option. If steel-concrete composite beams are designed to allow demountability, they can also be extremely useful in the aftermath of natural disasters, such as earthquakes or flooding, to replace damaged infrastructure. Furthermore, rapid replacement of slabs is extremely beneficial in case of severe deterioration due to long-term stressors such as fatigue or corrosion. The only way to rapidly assemble and disassemble a steel-concrete composite structure is to use demountable shear connectors to connect/disconnect the steel beams to/from the concrete slab. I

When the guard honey bees, Apis mellifera L., form a clump at the hive entrance or on the flight board, the oriental hornet, Vespa orientails L., either creeps toward the clump or hovers over it in order to take a bee. Once the hornet creeps, only few bees facing the hornet become alert, rock their heads and antennae, open their wings, and take a posture of defense. The rest of the clump stays listless without any signal of concern. However, the clump stays dense and the defending bees do not detach themselves neither from the rest of the clump nor from each other. For this reason, it is very difficult for the hornet to grab a bee unless the latter makes a “mistake” by detaching herself from other adjacent bees. If the hornet grabs s

A linear engine generator with a compact double-acting free piston mechanism allows for full integration of the combustion engine and generator, which provides an alternative chemical-to-electrical energy converter with a higher volumetric power density for the electrification of automobiles, trains, and ships. This paper aims to analyse the performance of the integrated engine with alternative permanent magnet linear tubular electrical machine topologies using a coupled dynamic model in Siemens Simcenter software. Two types of alternative generator configurations are compared, namely long translator-short stator and short translator-long stator linear machines. The dynamic models of the linear engine and linear generator, validated

In earthquake engineering problems, uncertainty exists not only in the seismic excitations but also in the structure's parameters. This study investigates the influence of structural geometry, elastic modulus, mass density, and section dimension uncertainty on the stochastic earthquake response of a multi-story moment resisting frame subjected to random ground motion. The North-south component of the Ali Gharbi earthquake in 2012, Iraq, is selected as ground excitation. Using the power spectral density function (PSD), the two-dimensional finite element model of the moment resisting frame's base motion is modified to account for random ground motion. The probabilistic study of the moment resisting frame structure using stochastic fin

This paper discusses using H2 and H∞ robust control approaches for designing control systems. These approaches are applied to elementary control system designs, and their respective implementation and pros and cons are introduced. The H∞ control synthesis mainly enforces closed-loop stability, covering some physical constraints and limitations. While noise rejection and disturbance attenuation are more naturally expressed in performance optimization, which can represent the H₂ control synthesis problem. The paper also applies these two methodologies to multi-plant systems to study the stability and performance of the designed controllers. Simulation results show that the H2 controller tracks a desirable cl