Inclusion complexes of atorvastatin calcium (ATV-Ca) and rosuvastatin calcium (ROV-Ca) drugs with α-CD, β-CD, γ-CD,HP-β-CD,M-β-CD,and maltodextrin along with their characterizations through experimental and computational methods

The aim of this research is a comparison of the efficiency of six commercially available cyclodextrins (CDs) to improve the solubility and oral bioavailability of atorvastatin calcium (ATV-Ca) and rosuvastatin calcium (ROV-Ca) drugs in aqueous media. Inclusion complexes of both drugs with non-toxic α-CD, β-CD, γ-CD, HP-β-CD, M-β-CD, and maltodextrin were prepared in a 1:1 stoichiometry via the kneading method. To reach the best CD, various experimental and computational analyses were performed including phase solubility, dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (¹HNMR), carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³CNMR), and molecular docking calculations. The M-β-CD turned out to be the best substrate for the micro-encapsulation of both drugs. Also, ATV showed a higher tendency than ROV to form inclusion complexes with CDs. Molecular docking studies showed that HP–β–CD and M-β-CD are the most suitable substrates for the formation of inclusion complexes, respectively. Our research showed that the β-CD is not necessarily the most efficient substrate for increasing solubility based on previous reports in the literature; meanwhile, the other employed substrates in this study can show acceptable performances in this regard. According to our results, M-β-CD is the best substrate for the micro-encapsulation of both drugs, which increases their solubility in water.     

Thiol-ene Reaction as Reversible Covalent Bond for the Design of Shape-Memory Polymers

Besides a stable phase, shape-memory polymers require an additional switchable moiety. In addition to thermal transitions and supramolecular interactions, these units can also be based on covalent bonds. Herein, the use of the reversible thiol-ene reaction as reversible cross-linker for the design of shape-memory polymers is demonstrated. A facile route to polymer networks with a thiol-ene acceptor and a comonomer (butyl methacrylate or 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate) cross-linked by dithiols is introduced. The thermal and mechanical properties of the resulting polymers are characterized in detail. Hereby, the polymers feature excellent shape-memory behavior with fixity and recovery rates above 90%. This study shows that the thiol-ene cross-linker can function as both, the stable and the switchable structural moiety rendering the usage of a covalent cross-linker unnecessary. This partial reversibility can also be proven by temperature-depending Raman spectroscopy.     

Preparation and colorimetric characterization of polymeric nanophotonic structures

A spin‐casting machine was designed and fabricated for preparation of multilayer polymer films from parent polymer solutions together with a polymeric dispersion of nanoparticles. The dispersion consists of polystyrene (PS)‐based core coated with a poly(methyl methacrylate‐co‐butyl acrylate) shell. Multilayer structure of such films was confirmed using a scanning electron microscope A sandwiched dispersed nanoparticles cast from the spin‐casting machine assumed a near to hexagonal arrangement. This structure affected the optical properties of the cast films. The films were characterized using colorimetric methods such as spectrophotometric and goniospectrophotometric techniques. Moreover, a dispersion of styrene‐based nanoparticles is sandwiched between PS and poly(methyl methacrylate) layers. The multilayer sandwiched films illustrated a greenish color shift attributed to the formation of hexagonal structures. The dispersion of styrene‐based nanoparticles within this sandwich restricts the observation of some wavelengths, which could be attributed to changes in the refractive indices of such samples. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Characterisation of the mixing of non‐newtonian fluids with a scaba 6SRGT impeller through ert and CFD

An attempt has been made to study the mixing of yield‐pseudoplastic fluids with a Scaba 6SRGT impeller using electrical resistance tomography (ERT) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The ERT system with four sensor planes, each containing 16 equispaced stainless steel electrodes, was used to measure the mixing time. The multiple reference frames (MRF) technique and the modified Herschel–Bulkley model were applied to simulate the impeller rotation and the rheological behaviour of the non‐Newtonian fluids, respectively. To validate the model, the CFD results for the power consumption were compared to the experimental data. The validated model was then employed to obtain further information regarding the averaged impeller shear rate, impeller circulation, and pumping capacities. The CFD and ERT data were utilised to investigate the effect of the impeller power, fluid rheology, and impeller size on the mixing time. The mixing time results obtained in this study were in good agreement with those reported in the literature. © 2011 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering     

Development of corresponding states model for estimation of the surface tension of chemical compounds

The gene expression programming (GEP) strategy is applied for presenting two corresponding states models to represent/predict the surface tension of about 1,700 compounds (mostly organic) from 75 chemical families at various temperatures collected from the DIPPR 801 database. The models parameters include critical temperature or temperature/critical volume/acentric factor/critical pressure/reduced temperature/reduced normal boiling point temperature/molecular weight of the compounds. Around 1,300 surface tension data of 118 random compounds are used for developing the first model (a four‐parameter model) and about 20,000 data related to around 1,600 compounds are applied for checking its prediction capability. For the second one (a five‐parameter model), about 10,000 random data are applied for its development, and 11,000 data are used for testing its prediction ability. The statistical parameters including average absolute relative deviations of the results form dataset values (25 and 18% for the first and second models, respectively) demonstrate the accuracy of the presented models. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 613–621, 2013     

Studying the Role of Gelation Agents in Gelcasting Non-porous Si3N4 Bodies by Pressureless Sintering

Silicon - The monomer content in the gelcasting process affects the kinetics of cross-linking reactions which determines the quality of the gel network structure and the final properties of the...     

Effect of heating profile on desorption curve in temperature programmed desorption analysis: case study of acid sites distribution of SAPO-34

Comparison of the traditional linear heating method of TPD with an original stepwise heating scheme was reported for the first time. Stepwise heating TPD was carried out by keeping the temperature constant as soon as ammonia desorption signal rises until the signal returns to the baseline. More ammonia desorption peaks on a SAPO-34 catalyst were identified using TPD with stepwise heating. The effect of temperature ramp on desorption peak broadening in TPD curve was also addressed. The more distinct ammonia desorption peaks in stepwise TPD indicates that ammonia adsorbs in about five or six different ways on SAPO-34, and attribution of different adsorptions may be explained considering some known features of SAPO’s acidity; including adsorption on the bridge hydroxyl groups Brønsted acid sites with different acid strength resulting from different silicon environment of SAPO molecular sieves, adsorption on terminal hydroxyl groups Brønsted acid sites, and by multiple adsorption of ammonia on acid sites.     

Investigation of the ConXL moment connection cyclic behavior in box columns without filling concrete with different arrangement of collar bolts

The aim of this study was to study numerically the seismic behavior of ConXL connection without filler concrete of columns and reduce the number of collar bolts with different arrangement. For this purpose, to verify the modeling and analyzing, we compared the numerical results of specimens (reduced beam section, end plate and Kaiser bolted bracket (KBB) connections) with the experimental results and observed a good agreement. Afterward, 18 specimens of ConXL moment connections in box columns not filled with concrete with axial force in single, planar and bi‐axial loading conditions with different arrangement of bolts were studied, and their performances were evaluated. Results show that seismic behavior of specimens with beam section depth less than W30 series under cyclic loading, even with reduces of number of bolts to 16 numbers, are suitable in the over 0.04 rad rotations. In addition, the use of 16 bolts in W30 series beams connections is suitable provided they are used in the corner connections (with single sided loading) and the material specifications ASTM‐A36 are used for the beams. Moreover, the closer the position of bolts related to the outer side of collar flange, the more axial strain of bolts shank and the lesser slippage. The most optimum of bolt position is the surface middle of the collar flange and collar corner. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A simple quantitative approach for post earthquake damage assessment of flexure dominant reinforced concrete bridges

Conventional methods for displacement based condition assessment of bridges solely rely on the maximum level of displacements experienced by the piers, and do not take into account the accumulated damage that result from cyclic loading. More advanced approaches take this into account by considering the structural damage as a linear combination of the normalized maximum displacements and hysteretic energy. Computation of the dissipated hysteretic energy requires monitoring of the lateral forces during the seismic events, which are not as practical as monitoring bridge pier deformations. This article reports on the development of a simple damage assessment method that considers the effect of cyclic loading on the state of damage and it is merely based on monitoring the bridge pier deformations. A fiber optic displacement serial array was designed for measuring the crack opening displacement reversals at the plastic hinge areas.