Fluoroquinolones for Infectious Diseases Treatment

Fluoroquinolones for Infectious Diseases Treatment 1.10 Pharmaceuticals 1.10.2 Fluoroquinolones Fluoroquinolones are extensively used for treatment of various infectious diseases. [[1]]. Because of their extensive Gram negative treatment, quinolone antibiotics were initially used for the treatment urinary tract related diseases. Higher drug concentrations promote their effectiveness in the treatment of urinary infections. lomefloxacin, levofloxacin ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and gatifloxacin have higher renal clearance to analyze the activity of the kidney and urine concentration test measures the ability of the kidneys to excrete water. Fluoroquinolones enter the environment by different routes including municipal and industrial wastewater effluent. The recent studies show that from many parts of the world reported the presence of fluoroquinolones in surface water bodies at concentrations ranging from non-detectable to around 50 ng dm-3 [[2]]. The existence and addition of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in aquatic environments, at very low concentrations, may cause affect to the ecosystem and human health. They require development of the different oxidation methods for the transformation of fluoroquinolones in water during water treatment. Disinfection processes (e.g., chlorination, oxidation, and UV irradiation) appear to result in considerable addition of fluoroquinolone and their transformation during municipal treatment of waste before to release into water stream [[3]]. An added disinfectant may undergo transformation reactions with antibacterial agents during water treatment. Sodium hypochlorite is a commonly intended for chlorination of water during disinfection process, and also potassium permanganate may be also used for disinfection processes[[4][5]]. Considering the occurrence of chlorine in municipal wastewater and drinking water disinfection processes, reactions with aqueous chlorine species likely play a particularly important role in the environmental fate of fluoroquinolones. Levofloxacin Levofloxacin is in a class of antibacterial agent called fluoroquinolones. It is used for the treatment of certain bacterial infections. Levofloxacin is used to treat certain infections such as urinary tract, chronic pneumonia, bronchitis, kidney and skin infections. Levofloxacin may used to prevent anthrax in people who may have been open to anthrax germs in the air. It works by destroying bacteria that causes infections. Antibiotics will not work for viral infections, flu, colds, or other diseases. Lomefloxacin Structure of Lomefloxacin (LMF) Lomefloxacin is also class of fluoroquinolones antibacterial agent.This used to treat a wide range of bacterial infections. It is used to treat bacterial infections including bronchitis and urinary tract infections. Lomefloxacin is associated with photo toxicity and central nervous system adverse effects [[6]]. 1.10.3 Oxazolidinones The oxazolidinones, a new class of synthetic antibacterial agents have a distinctive mechanism of to contorol bacterial protein synthesis. The oxazolidinone to be approved for clinical use, show in-vitro activity against many important resistant harmful organisms. Clinical trials verified the action in the setting of pneumonia soft-tissue, and skin infections, and infections due to vancomycin-resistant. [[7]]. Linezolid Linezolid is an antibacterial agent used to treat certain serious bacterial infections that have not taken action from other antibacterial agents. Linezolid is not only used to treats bacterial infections, but also for viral infections. Unnecessary use or over use of any antibiotic can lead to its reduces effectiveness. Linezolid is a relatively safe drug; it can be used in patients of all ages and in people with poor kidney function or liver disease [[8]]. The current study was undertaken to elucidate reaction products, kinetics, and mechanism between free available chlorine (FAC) or permanganate with fluoroquinolones class of antibacterial agents such as levofloxacin (LFC) Lomefloxacin (LMF) and oxazolidinone class of antibacterial agent linezolid (LNZ). Which are the most popular for disease control and prevention in the recently are used. 1.10.1. Routes of pharmaceuticals entering into the environment The figures 1.4.a. and 1.4.b. and figure 1.5 shows that a large fraction of clinically prescribed antibiotic dose is discharged into municipal waste water systems due to incomplete metabolism of antibiotics within the human body. (Rain) runoff water carries the hospital wastes to rivers and contaminates the river water. In recent years, there has been growing concern about the presence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. Continuous exposure of antibiotics to bacterial communities, promotes the bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance. Possible induction of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is directly related to human health. The action of antibiotics during water treatment process clearly plays a significant role in this regard. Antibacterials and other pharmaceutical are having the tendency to persist contaminants in the water supply is of increasing concern in the field of environmental toxicology. Several national and international bodies have reported the presence of antibacterials in surface water, ground water, drinking water, and waste water [[9]]. Antibacterials were primarily observed as â€Å"wonder medicines† mainly because they were introduced from surgical drains or spontaneous cure were available to treat serious bacterial diseases. Many classes of these antibacterial agents were discovered in the last five to six decades. These include penicillins, sulfonamides, trimethoprim, chloramphenicol, cephalosporins, colimycins, tetracyclines, lincosamides etc, [[10]]. Understanding the fate and transportation of antibacterial agents in the aquatic environment is vital to properly assess the risk associated with these emerging contaminants [[11]]. What happens to these antibacterial agents during municipal water treatment? Municipal water treatment essentially involve following processes; The steps involved in conventional water treatment method are shown in the above flow diagram. The aeration process is carried out to remove the odor from the water. The filtration is the removal of the solids, specially suspended matter, by passing the water through a granular media (sand, coal, diatomaceous earth, granular activated carbon). The colloidal particles pass through the filtration process and removed using coagulants in the flocculation process. The micro contaminants, which are dissolved in water, can easily pass through aeration, filtration and flocculation processes but they may react with the disinfectants in the last process. What are the commonly used disinfectants? Chlorine: Chlorine gas, NaOCl, Bleaching powder, Conventional water treatment Chloramines: Weak disinfectant and low rate of reaction Ozone: Costly UV/H2O2: Costly Not suitable for Municipal water treatment KMnO4: Potassium permanganate is usually applied for waste water treatment 1.11 Disinfection Disinfection is the process of killing pathogenic organisms like bacteria and viruses in the drinking water supply. It is the last step in the treatment and is necessary to supply a â€Å"bacteriologically free† drinking water for the general public usage. Disinfection is the necessary step before the public water supplies. Chlorination is the treatment technique of killing harmful microorganisms in water supplies. 1.11.1 Chlorination An added layer of complexity in this problem lies in the potential bio-transformation antibacterial agents can undergo during drinking water chlorination. Chlorination, in the form of sodium hypochlorite, is a common mechanism of drinking water disinfection. [[12]]. Chlorination has been shown degradation of certain parent drugs in drinking water [[13]]. The effect of chlorination has been studied for several non antibacterials. However, these studies are few in comparison to the variety of pharmaceutical contaminants our environment faces [[14]]. A long-term objective of this research work is to know the fate of antibacterial in the water supply when they are exposed to chlorination and oxidation in the drinking water treatment process. Microorganisms can be found in raw water like rivers, lakes and groundwater. Some microorganisms may cause diseases in human and are called pathogens. These pathogens existing in water can be transmitted through a drinking water distribution system, causes water related diseases. The use of chlorine in the water treatment process was originally directed to the primary function of disinfection. Chlorination is one of the methods that can be used to make germ-free water. This method was first used over a hundred years ago, and is still it is continued. It is a chemical disinfection method that uses various types of chlorine or chlorine-containing substances for the oxidation and disinfection of what will be the potable water source. 1.11.2 Importance and benefits of chlorination of water Many investigations and studies have been carried out to make sure success in new treatment plants using chlorine as a cleaning agent. An important benefit of chlorination is that it has effective against viruses and bacteria. The three most common types of chlorinating agents used in water treatment are: Ca (OCl)2 (calcium hypochlorite), NaOCl (sodium hypochlorite), and Cl2 (chlorine) gas, Any type of chlorinating agent is added to water during the water treatment process will lead to form of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ion (OCl), which are the main disinfecting species. Of the two disinfecting species, hypochlorous acid is the most effective. The amount of each compound present in the water is dependent on the pH level of the water. At lower pH levels, the hypochlorous acid will dominant. The quantity of chlorine that is required to disinfect water is depends on the impurities in the water. The amount of chlorine that is required to satisfy all the impurities is termed the ‘chlorine demand. Once the chlorine demand has been reached is called breakpoint chlorination i.e., the addition of chlorine to water until the chlorine demand has been fulfilled. After the breakpoint, any extra chlorine added will result in free chlorine residual, residual chlorine can react with a number of different contaminants present in raw water The main purpose of chlorination is to disinfect water, but it also has many other benefits. Unlike some of the other disinfection methods like ozonation and ultraviolet radiation, chlorination is able to provide a residual to reduce the chance of growing pathogens in water storage tanks or the water distribution system. 1.11.3 Types of chlorinating agents 1.11.3 .1 Chlorine Gas Chlorine gas is good disinfectant, but it is toxic to more than just waterborne pathogens; it is also toxic to humans. When chlorine gas (Cl2) is added to the water (H2O), it hydrolyzes rapidly to produce hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and the hypochlorous acid will then dissociate into hypochlorite ions (OCl) and hydrogen ions (H+). Because hydrogen ions are produced, the water will become more acidic (the pH of the water will decrease). The amount of dissociation depends on the original pH of the water. If the pH of the water is below a 6.5, nearly no dissociation will occur and the hypochlorous acid will dominate. A pH above 8.5 will see a complete dissociation of chlorine, and hypochlorite ions will dominate. A pH between 6.5 and 8.5 will see both hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ions present in the water. Together, the hypochlorous acid and the hypochlorite ions are referred to as free chlorine. Hypchlorous acid is the more effective disinfectant, and therefore, a lower pH is preferred for disinfection. 1.11.3.2 Calcium hypochlorite Calcium hypochlorite Ca (OCl) 2 is made up of the calcium salts of hypochlorous acid. When treating water, a lesser amount of calcium hypochlorite is needed than if using chlorine gas. When calcium hypochlorite is added to water, hypochlorite and calcium ions are produced. Instead of decreasing the pH like chlorine gas does, calcium hypochlorite increases the pH of the water. However, hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite concentrations are still dependent on the pH of the water; therefore by decreasing the pH of the water, hypochlorous acid will still be present in the water. As a result, calcium hypochlorite and chlorine gas both produce the same type of residuals. 1.11.3 .3 Sodium hypochlorite Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) is made up of the sodium salts of hypochlorous acid and is a chlorine-containing compound that can be used as a disinfectant. It is produced when chlorine gas is dissolved into a sodium hydroxide solution. It is in liquid form, clear with a light yellow color, and has a strong chlorine smell. Sodium hypochlorite is extremely corrosive and must be stored in a cool, dark, and dry place. Sodium hypochlorite will naturally decompose; therefore it cannot be stored for more than one month at a time. Of all the different types of chlorine available for use, this is the easiest to handle. Like calcium hypochlorite, sodium hypochlorite will also produce a hypochlorite ion, but instead of calcium ions, sodium ions are produced. NaOCl will also increase the pH of the water through the formation of hypochlorite ions. To obtain hypochlorous acid, which is a more effective disinfectant, the pH of the water should be decreased. In drinking water, the concentration of chlorine is usually very low and is thus not a concern in acute exposure. More of a concern is the long term risk of cancer due to chronic exposure to chlorinated water. Chlorination is a very conventional method of water disinfection that has been used from several years. It is efficient for destroying viruses and bacteria. 1.12 Aqueous chlorination chemistry In water treatment, gaseous chlorine Cl2 or hypochlorite are commonly used for chlorination processes. Chlorine gas (Cl2) hydrolyzes in water according to the following reaction: Fig.1.5. Relative distribution of main aqueous chlorine species as a function of pH at 25 ËÅ ¡C and for a chloride concentration Where k1 and k-1 values, calculated at  µ=0 M and 25ËÅ ¡C from Wang and Margerum, are 22.3 s-1 and 4.3Ãâ€"104 M-2 s-1, respectively. For temperatures between 0 and 25 1ËÅ ¡C, KCl2 ranges from 1.3Ãâ€"10-4 to 5.1Ãâ€"10-4 [[15]]. Hypochlorous acid resulting from reaction (1), is a weak acid which dissociates in aqueous solution: With KHOCl reported in literature between 1.5Ãâ€"10-8 (pKaHOCl,0ËÅ ¡C = 7.82) and 2.9Ãâ€"10-8 (pKaHOCl,25ËÅ ¡C= 7.54) for temperatures between 0 and 25 ËÅ ¡C [[16]]. Under typical water treatment conditions in the pH range 6–9, hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite are the main chlorine species. Depending on the temperature and pH level, different distributions of aqueous chlorine species are observed. Fig. 1.6. Shows the distribution of HOCl and ClO as a function of the pH at 25ËÅ ¡C and for a chloride concentration of 5Ãâ€"10-3 M (177.5mgL-1). For these high chloride concentrations, Fig. 1 6. shows that Cl2 hydrolysis is almost complete at pH >4. Therefore, Cl2 can usually be neglected under typical drinking water treatment conditions [[17]]. References 1 [1]. P.C.Sharma, A. Jain and S. Jain, Fluoroquinolone antibacterial: a review on chemistry, Microbiology and therapeutic prospects, Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica-Drug Res, Vol. 66 , 2009, pp. 587-604. [2]. P.Wang, Y.L. He and C.H. Huang, Oxidation of fluoroquinolone antibiotics and structurally related amines by chlorine dioxide: Reaction kinetics, product and pathway, Eval. Water res. vol.4 4, 2010, pp.5989-5998. [3]. M.C. Dodd , A.Shah ,U. V.Gunten and C. H.Huang, â€Å" Interactions of Fluoroquinolone Antibacterial Agents with Aqueous Chlorine: Reaction -Kinetics, Mechanisms, and Transformation Pathways† Environ. Sci. Technol. Vol.39, 2005, pp. 7065-7076. [4]. S. D. Richardson and T. A. Ternes, Emerging contaminants and current issues,† â€Å"Water analysis, Analytical Chemistry, vol. 77(12), 2005, pp. 3807–3838. [5] .J. Gibs, P. E. Stackelberg, E. T. Furlong, M. Meyer, S. D. Zaugg, and R. L. Lippincott, â€Å"Persistence of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds in chlorinated drinking water as a function of time,† Science of the Total Environment, vol. 373(1), 2007 ,pp. 240–249. [6]. E.Rubinstein, History of quinolones and their side effects.† Chemotherapy 2001,47 (Suppl 3): 3 [7]. D.J. Diekema and R.N Jones. Oxazolidinone antibiotics. Lancet. 2001, 358 (9297):1975-82. Review. Pub Med PMID: 11747939. [8]. A.E. Barnhill, M.T. Brewer and S.A. Carlson. Adverse effects of antimicrobials via predictable or idiosyncratic inhibition of host mitochondrial components. Antimicrob. Agent. Chemother., 2012,Vol.56 (8):pp. 4046–4051. [9]. T C. Melton and S. D. Brown, Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Vol. 2012, pp.1-6. [10] .S. H. Zinner, Antibiotic use: present and future, New microbiologica, Vol.30, 2007, pp. 321-325. [11] .H.C. Zhang, W. R. Chen and C.H. Huang Kinetic Modeling of Oxidation of Antibacterial Agents by Manganese Oxide, Environ. Sci. Tech., Vol. 42(15), 2008, pp. 5548–5554. [12]. S. D. Richardson and T. A. Ternes, â€Å"Water analysis: emerging contaminants and current issues,† Anal. Chem., Vol.77 (12), 2005, pp. 3807–3838. [13]. J. Gibs, P. E. Stackelberg, E. T. Furlong, M. Meyer, S. D. Zaugg, and R. L. Lippincott, â€Å"Persistence of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds in chlorinated drinking water as a function of time,† Sci. Tot. Environ. Vol. 373(1), 2007, pp. 240–249. [14]. Z. Li, H. Fenet, E. Gomez, and S. Chiron, â€Å"Transformation of the antiepileptic drug oxcarbazepine upon different water disinfection processes,† Water Res., Vol. 45(4), 2011, pp. 1587– 1596. [15]. T.X. Wang and D.W.Margerum,. Kinetics of reversible chlorine hydrolysis: temperature dependence and general-acid/ base-assisted mechanisms. Inorg. Chem. Vol.33, 1994, pp.1050–1055. [16]. J.C.Morris, The acid ionization constant of HOCl from 5 to 351. J. Phys. Chem. Vol.70, 1966, pp.3798–3805. [17]. M. Deborde, U.V. Gunten, Reactions of chlorine with inorganic and organic compounds during water treatment—Kinetics and mechanisms: A critical review, water res., Vol. 42, 2008, pp.13 – 51.

Future of Fashion

Fashion. A word that defines a world in itself. Fashion encloses everything surrounding our environment. There is fashion everywhere. From the pen that a person uses to write to the paper that is used to write on. But more than anything, fashion is about how we dress up and cover our bodies. Fashion is an art, a passion and a science. The art of transforming mere fabrics into clothing and fabulous creations. A passion that drives people to think out of the box and design garments that make our daily if not special occasions more beautiful.A science about how the body works, reacts with and looks in it. But today in 2013, more than ever, Fashion has power. Enough power to make a whole population think and consider. And the future seems brighter for Fashion and it gets stronger and stronger. By 2020 Fashion will†¦ According to sic-if movies, spandex suits will be the norm. Uniformity will be the new trend. Same suit every day. Basically gloomy and no fashion anywhere. But uniformi ty is also boring if repeatedly everyone wears the same outfit and that too everyday. And generally speaking not everyone will look nice in spandex.Fortunately designers such as Guiltier for the Fifth Element painted a different futuristic fashion. This is according to the movies. According to me, it will be the opposite. People will thrive to be different and non-conformity will be respected, if not individuality. Designers will have more respect as consumers will be more conscious about who designed the garment, where it is manufactured and how. People will have more awareness about what they wear and also the impact it implies. Consumers will start having their own vision and will even start creating.Designing will be a highly regarded profession and this will be the only point that will differentiate professionalism. Cut, fabrics and techniques. With this will eventually come a more dignified consumer behavior. The need for something exclusive will grow even more. Things are not going to be made for the masses much longer. They will be made for you, individuals. There is a new obsession with the in-between. The latest ‘squelched' of fashion. If future fashion was to be summed up in a word, that would be androgynous.Anyone, or anything, who pushed the boundaries of sexual identity seemed to click the right notes. What was once seen as freakish, and even taboo, has gone mainstream. The fashion world is obsessed with androgyny. An ability to exude both masculine and feminine traits is like gold to designers and editors. And they do create a buzz and consumers are sure to remember. The vogue for unisex fashion – Oxford shirts, man-style brogues and boat shoes, chinos, military Jackets and skinny shares – has also been touted as one of the reasons for the rise in popularity of transgender style.Ambiguity is something that attracts†¦ As fresh materials become harder to come by and/or less sustainable, the need to recycle existing fabrics becomes more important. Already recycling is gaining a lot of ground and some impasses are making special collections bearing recycling in mind. Some independent designers are already making a big name by converting simple things of daily life into marvelous creations which are actually wearable. This trend will continue on till the forthcoming years and will become bigger as designers really think now that there is a niche for recycling.People will be very much concerned about the environment. This generation will also be more close to the environment. Ethical behavior and moral in terms of production and consumption will be valuable assets. True value and mere cost will be two different things. People will want better quality and the question will be more quality-wise more than ever. The go green concept will be stronger than ever. With the changes in the climate and temperatures reaching phenomenal points, this generation will be most concerned about the environment and fashion will undoubtedly play a big role for the people.This will show their support towards sustainability. Researches about environment friendly materials are also being made and notable breakthrough already is the discovery of bacterial-celluloses fibers to replace fibers from plants or animals. A statement. Already big companies like Inedited have signed the convention for chemical free production starting from 2020. Is that a sign of the rising responsiveness of both consumers and producers? Since a long time ago there were lots of predictions for the year 2000.Spandex suit, end of the world, flying cars, end of the world but ultimately, nothing that drastic has happened. The black little dress will still be the black little dress. Only the shell will change. The environment around us is changing, and our fashion can respond to that in artful or informative ways. Definitely Science and Fashion will be a winning team or 2020. There will be a strong collaboration with technological advan ces and researches. The current dominance of cotton and polyester fibers in the market is unsustainable; together they account for over 80% of the world's clothing output.This lack of diversity has led to growing problems such as excessive water consumption, pollution, loss of soil fertility and biodiversity and an over dependency on oil. Fabrics that offer innovative alternatives are part of a better future – one in which we are able to manage our resources wisely and cost effectively. Changes will occur in the trials used to make the garments. Already the introduction of artificial fibers and improvement in the production of existing fibers such as cotton and wool has already made it easier.Nanotechnology advances will also play a major role for fashioning the future. Already the heat sensitive fabrics, sweat absorbing micrometers have changed a lot in the mindset of people and now we know that there does exist a way where fashion and science can bond. Where a surface meets the sun, solar energy can be captured. Already, brands such as Unique have been dabbling in tech-enhanced looting, such as the retailer's Hatched tops and leggings made from material that turns moisture evaporating from the body into heat.Almost any amount of electronic functionality can be associated with something without necessarily affecting its form. The human body is no different, and plenty of fashion designers have hopped on board this growing technology. More researches are being conducted to make clothing fabrics to become more technologically innovative, responsive and effective. Later on our clothing will become like ‘second-skin' mostly protecting us and making us more comfortable. From room temperature to sounds and even tastes. Not Just this, researches being made are already making it clear that fashion can help to create energy.Scientists are making big steps towards developing a shirt that can help convert our daily energy used to move into electricity to po wer electronic devices. We are the energy. Technological advances in textile research are starting to redefine the boundaries of fashion. There is also the other side of science-fashion mix. The more drastic ones. The ones that will drastically change our habits and even the clothing industry. The ‘Fabric' s as the name suggests, nearly as fabric in a can. How to use it? Simply Just spray it on the body. Manuel Tortes did trials and it worked perfectly.Non woven fabrics will be later used to cover our bodies. The thousands of fibers that are sprayed from the can Just bind together taking the shape of the body to create a nearly tailor made outfit but of a disposable nature. Such researches will surely revolutionize the world of fashion. After the term fast-food', fast-fashion' seems to be on the way. This is the craziest and perhaps most expensive side of Fashion's ongoing progress. Ever heard of the Twitter dress, LED dress or the AD printed dress worn by Data Von These? The Twitter dress and LED was developed by Francesca Rosella.Basically everyone got the message or rather the tweet'. Fashion and Technology are the new couple. But unmistakably, the biggest breakthrough is the AD printed dress, showing that wearable technology is Just around the corner. AD printing technology is still in its infancy, but it has already made its way to the world of fashion. Everything from shoes to bikinis have gone under the lathe off AD printer. AD printers are actually renters that print using resin instead of ink on paper. Obviously this is a work of art and it is so visible to the eye.The process already looks very confusing and the huge amount of work put in it can be felt. Going the different parts, ‘powdered nylon'. Architecturally mind-blowing. The cost is certainly unimaginable but some designers have tried it out and nylon being not so expensive, the design is certainly not cheap but is worth it and for the individuality perk. Research for the near futu re will be to have this kind of a printer that will Just pop out the design as a complete piece. Designers of the mainstream typical futuristic fashion scene such as Iris Van Herpes inspire.She always give a glimpse of her world, the unknown and the unpredictable. These designers are helping to shape the future of fashion by experimenting and helping the industry to take the big leap. Hopefully the AD printing technique will see significant breakthroughs that will help to make it a more accessible and viable way to create clothing. Fashion in the 2020 will be more likely functional as well as creative and environment friendly. Some future designs won't be as functional as they will be visually impacting, but such has always been true about the clothes we wear.And only fashion can make anything beautiful and valuable. Examples are LED dresses with encrusted lights. This is a notable inspiration for other designers and it is very refreshing to get inspiration from other eras of the ti me except from the past. Fashion sometimes needs to change its face, Just to be more inspiring. It is testament to the power of fashion that Google chose the US designer Diane von Frequenter's New York show last year to premiere its Google Glass augmented-technology specs hat feature cameras and use voice recognition and share their videos on Google+.Social media is very anchored in the fashion world now. Using social media in the fashion world comes down to more than Just what designers share on Mainstream and coverage of Fashion Week. It is becoming more and more about consumer directly connecting with the brands as well as with each other. Sites like Power allow its users to check out the latest trends and create style boards for their own inspiration as well as to share with the rest of the fashion community. Change is certainly in the air and there are some concrete evidences.The changing mentality of consumers, producers and designers, the amazing advances in technology and th e continuous enriching history of our world, all are contributing towards a ‘different future'. But I soon realized that the future fashions are only a perception of the future. When I look back fifty years at what the previous generation thought the future (now the present) would be like, it is vastly different from our time. Everything seems a filtered down versions from fantasy, to designer, to high street. Because that does happen and it is a mere shadow of the former design, something hat hardly resembles this aesthetic at all.As I say, the little black dress will remain the little black dress. I'm talking about a drastic change in fashion's aesthetic, something that will inevitably happen, Just as it has over the centuries. Only time will be witness to the changes if any will occur, and drastic as well. Predictions are Just as trends some might Just hit the bull's eyes others are Just brushed aside with a scorn. The most ironic thing is that none of us will ever know wha t the distant future holds and what the progression, even evolution of fashion will bring.

Human Factors in Aviation Essay

A large number of flight accidents occur mostly due to lack of efficient vision of the surrounding environment. Traditional visionary systems rely on synthetic vision or specifically vision of the existing environment devoid of mist, fog and other abnormalities. Real scenarios require the ability to provide reliable vision overcoming natural hindrances. Humans learnt the art of flying when they abandoned the idea of flapping of wings. Similarly, the latest developments of enhanced vision systems have sidestepped the existing traditional vision systems to ensure flight safety. In recent years, Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFID) has posed a significant risk in both civilian and military aviation. One of the aviation’s worst accident occurred in Tenerife, when two Boeing 747’s collided as one aircraft was attempting to take off while the other was to land. The risk of CFID can be greatly reduced with the aid of a suite of Radar and collision avoidance equipment commonly termed as Enhanced Vision systems (EVS). Rationale One of the primary causes for many runway accidents is reduced visibility. One solution to this limitation lies in the use of infrared sensing in aviation operations. All objects on earth emit infrared radiation and their emissions and features can be detected through total darkness as well as intervening mist, rain, haze, smoke and other scenarios, when the objects are invisible to the human eye (Kerr, 2004). The first EVS system was targeted for production in 2001 as standard equipment on Gulf Stream GVSP aircraft. The system was developed in part by Kolesman Inc under the technology license from Advanced Technologies, Inc. utilization of EVS addressed critical areas like CIFT avoidance, general safety enhancements during approach, landing and take off, improved detection of trees, power lines and other obstacles, improved visibility in brown out conditions, improved visibility in haze and rain, identify rugged and sloping terrain and detect runway incursions. Enhanced Vision Systems Enhanced visibility system is an electronic means to provide a display of the forward external scene topology through the use of infrared imaging sensors. They are a combination of near term designs and long term designs. Near term designs present sensor imagery with super-imposed flight symbology on a Head up display (HUD) and may include such enhancements as runway outlines, other display argumentations like obstacles, taxiways and flight corridors. Long term designs include complete replacement of the out-the window scene with a combination of electro optical and sensory information. Infrared Sensors EVS uses Infrared (IR) sensors that detect and measure the levels of infrared radiation emitted continuously by all objects. An object’s radiation level is a function of its temperature with warmer objects emitting more radiation. The infrared sensor measures these emission levels which are then processed to produce a thermal image of the sensor’s forward field of view. EVS IR sensors operate in the Infrared spectrum (Kerr, 2004). The different types of spectrum are Long wave IR, Medium wave IR and Low wave IR. Two variants of this technology are currently in aircraft use. A single sensor unit operating in the long wave, maximum weather penetration band has significant far penetrating capability. Short wave sensors have the ability to enhance the acquisition of runway lighting. A dual sensor variant composed of short and long wave bands used for both light and weather penetration fuses both sensor images for a full spectrum view. Image sensors operating in long wave Infrared spectrum are Cyro-cooled. Models of EVS One of the commonly used EVS systems is EVS 2000. The operation of the model EVS 2000 dual image sensor is given in figure 1. Long Wave Infrared sensor provides best weather penetration, ambient background and terrain features. Similarly, the Short Wave Sensor provides best detection of lighting, runway outline and obstacle lights. The signal processor combines the images of both the sensors to display a fused image picturizing the current environment (Kerr, Luk, Hammerstrom, and Misha, 2003). (Source: Kerr et al, 2003) Boeing Enhanced Vision System Boeing’s EVS enhances situational awareness by providing electronic and real time vision to the pilots. It provides information at low level, night time and moderate to heavy weather operations during all phases of flight. It has a series of imaging sensors, navigational terrain database with a virtual pathway for approach during landings, an EVS image processor and a wide field of view, C-through helmet mounted display integrated with a head tracker. It also consists of a synthetic vision system accompanying the EVS to present a computer generated image of the out-the window view in areas that are not covered by the imaging sensors of the EVS. The EVS image processor performs the following 3 functions. It compares the image scanned by the ground mapping Radar and the MMW sensor with a database to present a computer generated image of the ground terrain conditions. It is accompanied by a Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide a location map during all phases of flight. The IR imaging sensors provide a thermal image of the front line of view of the aircraft. Typical HUD symbology including altitude, air speed, pressure, etc is added without any obscuration of the underlined scene. The SV imagery provides a three dimensional view of a clear window site with reference to the stored on board database. Figure 2 gives the Boeing’s EVS/SV integrated system. The projection of SV data should be confirmed by the EVS data so that the images register accurately. The system provides for three basic views i. e. , flight to view or the normal view, the map views at different altitudes or ranges and the orbiting view or an exocentric/ownership from any orbiting location from the vehicle (Jennings, Alter, Barrow, Bernier and Guell, 2003). (Source: Jennings et al, 2003) EVS Image processing and Integration Association Engine Approach This is a neural net inspired self organizing associating memory approach that can be implemented in FPGA based boards of moderate cost. It constitutes a very efficient implementation of best match association at high real time video rates. It is highly robust in the face of noisy and obscured image inputs. This means of image representation emulates the human visual pathway. A preprocessor performs the feature extraction of edges as well as potentially higher levels of abstraction in order to generate a large, sparse and random binary vector for each image frame. The features are created by looking for 0 crossings after filtering with a laplacian of guassian filter and thereby finding edges. Each edge image is then thresholded by taking the K strongest features setting those to 1 and all others to 0. For multiple images, the feature vectors are strung together to create a composite vector. The operations are performed over a range of multi resolution hyper pixels including those for 3-D images. FPGA provides a complete solution by offering the necessary memory bandwidth, significant parallelism and low precision tolerance. Figure 3 provides an illustration of an association engine operation (Kerr et al, 2003). Fig 3: Association Engine Operation (Source Kerr et al, 2003) DSP Approach One approach to perform multi sensor image enhancement and fusion is the Retinex algorithm evolved at the NASA Langley research center. Digital signal processors from Texas instruments have been used to successfully implement a real-time version of Retinex. C6711, C6713 and DM642 are some of the commercial digital signal processors (DSP) used for image processing. Image processing which is a subset of digital signal processing enables fusion of images from various sensors to aid in efficient navigation. Figure 4: EVS Image Processing (Source: Hines et al, 2005) Image processing architecture and functions of EVS, Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) and Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) processing can be done simultaneously. The multi spectral data streams are registered to remove field of view and spatial resolution differences between the cameras and to correct inaccuracies. Registration of Long Wave IR data to the Short Wave IR is performed by selecting SWIR as the base line and applying affine transform to the LWIR imagery. LaRC patented Retinex algorithm is used to enhance the information content of the captured imagery particularly during poor visibility conditions. The Retinex can also be used as a fusion engine since the algorithm performs nearly symmetrically processing on multi-spectral data and applies multiple scaling operations on each spectral band. The fused video stream contains more information than the individual spectral bands and provides the pilot a single output which can be interpreted easily. Figure 4 illustrates the various processing stages in fusing a multi spectral image (Hines et al, 2005). Design Tradeoffs LWIR based single image system is no panacea for fog, but reduces hardware requirements. It is also a low cost solution with lower resolution. An image fusion system provides active penetration of fog and better resolution but comes at a higher cost. Increasing the bandwidth provides better size and angular resolution and satisfactory atmospheric transmission but costs high. Basic diffraction physics limits the true angular resolution but can be overcome by providing sufficient over sampling. Sensitivity vs. update rate and physical size vs. resolution have traditionally been issues with passive cameras. Fortunately, dual mode sensors overcome these trade offs (Kerr et all, 2003). A successful image capture of landing scenario is given in figure 5. Figure 5. EVS view Vs. Pilots view (source: Yerex, 2006) Human Factors Controlling the aircraft during the entire period of flight is the sole responsibility of the pilot. The pilot seeks guidance from the co-pilot, control tower and inbuilt EVS to successfully steer the aircraft. The pilot controls the aircraft based on a representation of the world displayed in the cockpit given by the inbuilt systems and may not see the actual out-the-window visual scene. Visual information is presented but may not otherwise be visible. Some of the information may be lost due to limitations of resolution, field of view or spectral sensitivities. Therefore, with EVS, the world is not viewed directly but as a representation through sensors and computerized databases. More importantly, the essential data for pilotage should be available on the display. Though EVS systems gives a representation of the exact view of the flight environment, its accuracy plays a significant role in flight safety. Thus human factor are vital for flight control.

How to Create an Effective Classroom Library

The greatest contribution that you as a teacher can make to the educational success of your students is to help them become proficient readers. You can do this by providing them with a classroom library. A classroom library will give them the easy access they need to read. A well-stocked, organized library will show students that you value books as well as value their education. How Your Library Should Function While your first thought of a classroom library may be a cozy little place in the corner of the room where students go to read quietly, you are only partially correct. While it is all of those things, it is also much more. An effectively designed classroom library should support reading inside and outside of school, help students learn about how to select appropriate reading materials, provide a place for students to read independently, as well as serve as a place to talk and discuss books. Lets dive into these functions a little bit further. It Should Support Reading This space should support learning both inside and outside of the classroom. It should include both fiction and nonfiction books that have different reading levels. It should also accommodate the different interests and abilities of all students. These books are going to be books that students can check out and take home with them. Help Children Learn About Literature The classroom library is a place where your students can learn about books. They can experience a variety of book genres and other reading materials like newspapers, comics, and magazines and more in a controlled, small environment. You can use your classroom library to teach students how to select books as well as how to take care of books. Provide Opportunities for Independent Reading The third purpose a classroom library should have is to provide children with the opportunity to read independently. It should be used as a resource to support daily reading where students can self-select books that meet their interest. Building Your Library The first thing that you will want to do when building your classroom library is to get books, a lot of books. You can do this by going to a garage sale, joining a book club like Scholastic, soliciting donations from Donorschose.org, or asking parents to donate. Once you have your books, follow these steps to building your library. 1. Choose an open corner in your classroom where you can fit bookcases, a carpet and a comfy chair or love seat. Choose leather or vinyl over fabric because its easier to keep clean and it doesnt carry too many germs. 2. Combine your books into categories and color code levels books so that they will be easy for students to decipher. Categories can be animals, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, folktales, etc. 3. Label every book that belongs to you. The easiest way to do this is to get a stamp and stamp the inside cover with your name on it. 4. Create a check-out and return system for when students want to bring a book home. Students should sign a book out by writing down the title, author and which bin they got the book from. Then, they should return it by the end of the following week. 5. When students return books you must show them how to put the book back where they found it. You even assign a student the job as book master. This person would collect the returned books from the bin every Friday and place them back in the correct bin. Make sure that you have strict consequences if books are misplaced or mistreated. For example, if someone forgot to return their book by the due date then they may not choose another book the following week to take home. Looking for more book-related information? Here are 20 book activities to try in your classroom.