Towards a digital twin of primary drying in lyophilization using coupled 3-D equipment CFD and 1-D vial-scale simulations.

A digital twin of lyophilization units was developed to facilitate the scale-up of the lyophilization process from the laboratory to the commercial scale. Our focus was on ensuring successful technology transfer for manufacture of high-quality drug products. Traditionally, lyophilization models have been specific either to the equipment or to the vial.

Fatigue Behaviour of PA66 GF30 at Different Temperatures.

A comprehensive experimental investigation to understand the mechanical properties and fatigue behaviour of glass-reinforced polyamide (PA66 GF30) at different temperatures is presented in this paper. The specimens for quasi-static and fatigue testing were machined from previously extruded plates, where two orientations were considered: (i) the extrusion direction (ED) and (ii) the direction perpendicular to extrusion (PED). Both the quasi-static and fatigue tests were performed under different temperatures (22 °C and 100 °C).

Cetacean species found stranded along Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea as bioindicators of non-essential trace elements in the environment.

In tissues of toothed whales from the Adriatic Sea (muscle, liver, kidney, lung, spleen, adipose tissue and skin) the concentrations of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) were analysed. In total, 186 dolphins were analysed; 155 bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus), 25 striped (Stenella coeruleoalba) and 6 Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus). Cadmium concentrations in tissue samples ranged from 0.

Clinical Feasibility of Applying Immersive Virtual Reality during Robot-Assisted Gait Training for Individuals with Neurological Diseases: A Pilot Study.

Background: Immersive virtual reality has the potential to motivate and challenge patients who need and want to relearn movements in the process of neurorehabilitation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and user acceptance of an innovative immersive virtual reality system (head-mounted display) used in combination with robot-assisted gait training in subjects suffering from neurological diseases.

Methods: Fifteen participants suffering from cerebrovascular accident or spinal cord injury completed a single session of immersive virtual reality using a head-mounted display during a Lokomat gait session.

Cross-step detection using center-of-pressure based algorithm for real-time applications.

Background: Gait event detection is crucial for assessment, evaluation and provision of biofeedback during rehabilitation of walking. Existing online gait event detection algorithms mostly rely on add-on sensors, limiting their practicality. Instrumented treadmills offer a promising alternative by utilizing the Center of Pressure (CoP) signal for real-time gait event detection.

Vibration Fatigue Analysis of Two Different Variants of Oil Suction Pipes.

In order to reduce the overall mass of the product, an improved variant of the engine oil suction pipe in hybrid design is developed and analysed as part of this paper. The vibration fatigue analysis of a simple all-metal suction pipe and the new hybrid suction pipe variant is derived using computer FEA simulations and vibration measurements on the shaker. The hybrid design of the technical components makes it possible to combine different types of materials in order to achieve the best possible properties and behaviours for the components under the influence of external loads.

Regional distribution and diversity of Aspergillus and Penicillium species on Croatian traditional meat products.

Various factors, such as weather and production practices (e.g., environmental hygiene, process duration, raw material quality, ripening temperature, and relative humidity), in combination with the intrinsic product properties (e.

Recovery Study of Gold Nanoparticle Markers from Lateral Flow Immunoassays.

Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) are a simple diagnostic device used to detect targeted analytes. Wasted and unused rapid antigen lateral flow immunoassays represent mass waste that needs to be broken down and recycled into new material components. The aim of this study was to recover gold nanoparticles that are used as markers in lateral flow immunoassays.

Study of Ni/YO/Polylactic Acid Composite.

This study demonstrates the successful synthesis of Ni/YO nanocomposite particles through the application of ultrasound-assisted precipitation using the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique. They were collected in a water suspension with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the stabiliser. The presence of the YO core and Ni shell was confirmed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and with electron diffraction.

Climate Change-A Global Threat Resulting in Increasing Mycotoxin Occurrence.

During the last decade, scientists have given increasingly frequent warnings about global warming, linking it to mycotoxin-producing moulds in various geographical regions across the world. In the future, more pronounced climate change could alter host resilience and host-pathogen interaction and have a significant impact on the development of toxicogenic moulds and the production of their secondary metabolites, known as mycotoxins. The current climate attracts attention and calls for novel diagnostic tools and notions about the biological features of agricultural cultivars and toxicogenic moulds.

Introduction to new guidelines for validation of methods to examine visually recognisable substances.

Visual examination of visually recognisable substances, including microscopy, focus on targets or contaminants such as particles of animal origin, plant seeds, spore bodies of moulds, sclerotia, packaging material, microplastic and 'Besatz' (everything that differs from the norm). The two principal results are counts (numbers) and weights for macroscopic methods, or presence/absence for microscopic methods. The level of detection equals at least the size of one unit, usually with a weight exceeding 1 mg, which is in the range of parts per million (ppm).

Novel adenoviruses from captive psittacine birds in Slovenia.

To assess the prevalence of adenoviruses in psittacine birds kept in Slovenia, 258 cloacal swabs were collected from different psittacine species and screened by a nested PCR with degenerate, consensus primers targeting the adenoviral DNA polymerase gene. Forty-two samples were found to be positive. By sequencing, 28 samples from 10 different parrot species were identified as the formerly described siadenovirus, psittacine adenovirus 2 (PsAdV-2).

Harnessing Energy of a Treadmill for Push-Off Assistance During Walking: a Proof of Concept study.

Various approaches in ankle exoskeleton design and control have recently been proposed and implemented, but few have been able to produce devices suitable for rehabilitation in clinical environment. In a recent in-silico study, we proposed a novel device: Ankle Exoskeleton using Treadmill Actuation for Push-off assistance (AN-EXTRA-Push). Using a brake and an elastic tendon, it harnesses energy of a moving treadmill during stance phase, then releases it during push-off to aid with plantarflexion torque generation.

Model-Guided Development of a Semi-Continuous Drying Process.

Introduction: With an increased adoption of continuous manufacturing for pharmaceutical production, the ConsiGma® CTL25 wet granulation and tableting line has reached widespread use. In addition to the continuous granulation step, the semi-continuous six-segmented fluid bed dryer is a key unit in the line. The dryer is expected to have an even distribution of the inlet air between the six drying cells.

Solidification of Gelatine Hydrogels by Using a Cryoplatform and Its Validation through CFD Approaches.

In this work, we developed a numerical approach based on an experimental platform to determine the working conditions on a cryoplatform and to predict and evaluate the cryogenic printing of hydrogels. Although hydrogels have good biocompatibility, their material properties make it difficult to print them with high precision and shape fidelity. To overcome these problems, a cryogenic cooling platform was introduced to accelerate the physical stabilisation of each deposited layer during the printing process.

Determination of pressure resistance of a partially stoppered vial by using a coupled CFD-0D model of lyophilization.

Modeling lyophilization in a vial is frequently done on a single vial level. When setting up a numerical model, the main focus is on heat and mass transfer inside the lyophilizate, whereas the vapor dynamics in the headspace of the vial is taken into account simply through imposing the system pressure as a pressure boundary condition. The present paper offers a deeper insight into the interaction of the sublimated vapor flow and the corresponding vapor pressure conditions inside the headspace of a partially stoppered vial.

Mycobiota and Mycotoxin Contamination of Traditional and Industrial Dry-Fermented Sausage .

The aim of this study was to identify and compare surface mycobiota of traditional and industrial Croatian dry-fermented sausage , especially toxicogenic species, and to detect contamination with mycotoxins recognized as the most important for meat products. Identification of mould species was performed by sequence analysis of beta- tubulin and calmodulin gene, while the determination of mycotoxins aflatoxin B (AFB), ochratoxin A (OTA), and cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) was carried out using the LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) method. The results showed a significantly higher number of mould isolates and greater species (including of those mycotoxigenic) diversity in traditional samples in comparison with the industrial ones.

Toward improving the specificity of perturbation-based training through assessment of dynamic balancing responses: a series of N-of-1 studies in subacute stroke.

Perturbation-based balance training (PBT) has been shown to improve reactive balancing abilities in chronic stroke. To inform future investigations in the subacute phase of stroke, the objective of this series of N-of-1 studies was to investigate the range of balancing responses to unexpected mechanical perturbations applied to the pelvis during walking on an instrumented treadmill before and after PBT training. Three subacute stroke subjects were assessed on each occasion with clinical tests and biomechanical measurements following perturbations applied in forward, backward, inward and outward directions.

High-density electromyography biofeedback during robotic wrist exercises for reducing co-activation of antagonist muscles: a case report.

High-density (HD) electrodes have been introduced in research and diagnostic electromyography. Recent advances in technology offer an opportunity for using the HDEMG signal as biofeedback in stroke rehabilitation. The purpose of this case study was to test the feasibility of using two 5 × 13 electrode arrays for providing real-time HDEMG biofeedback and the preliminary outcome of combining HDEMG biofeedback with robotic wrist exercises over 4 weeks in a person who suffered a stroke 26 months earlier.

Experimental and stochastic analysis of lyophilisation.

The development of the freeze-drying processes through the use of a combination of targeted experiments and the application of multidimensional computational models is applied increasingly in pharmaceutical practice, especially for scale-up purposes. This study deals with the analysis of uncertainties in the data on material properties and model parameters, and their influence on the results delivered by advanced computational models of lyophilisation. As a means of uncertainty analysis, the Stochastic Collocation Method is applied, allowing the use of existing reliable deterministic models as black boxes in the stochastic computations.

Centre of Pressure Estimation during Walking Using Only Inertial-Measurement Units and End-To-End Statistical Modelling.

Estimation of the centre of pressure (COP) is an important part of the gait analysis, for example, when evaluating the functional capacity of individuals affected by motor impairment. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) and force sensors are commonly used to measure gait characteristic of healthy and impaired subjects. We present a methodology for estimating the COP solely from raw gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer data from IMUs using statistical modelling.

Movement strategy and EMG activities of the upper extremity at assisted reaching exercise with a 7 DOF collaborative robot.

Recovering of upper extremity functions is important for stroke patients to perform various tasks in daily life. For better rehabilitation outcomes and accurate measurement, robot assisted exercises have been developed. However, there are limited number of studies related to arm muscles activities corresponding to task complexity.

Biomechanics of In-Stance Balancing Responses Following Outward-Directed Perturbation to the Pelvis During Very Slow Treadmill Walking Show Complex and Well-Orchestrated Reaction of Central Nervous System.

Multiple strategies may be used when counteracting loss of balance during walking. Placing the foot onto a new location is not efficient when walking speed is very low. Instead medio-lateral displacement of center-of-pressure, rotation of body segments to produce a lateral ground-reaction-force, and pronounced braking of movement in the plane of progression is used.