Synthesis,characterization and,swelling behavior of semi‐IPN nanocomposite hydrogels of alginate with poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) crosslinked by nanoclay

pH and temperature responsive nanocomposite hydrogels were synthesized with sodium alginate (NaAlg), N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPA), and nanoclay. The structure, morphology, thermal behavior, and swelling and deswelling behaviors of the hydrogels were studied. The NaAlgm/PNIPA/Clayn hydrogels revealed a highly porous structure in which the pore sizes decreased and the amount of pores increased with increasing the nanoclay content in the hydrogels. PNIPA retained its own characteristics regardless of the amount of NaAlg and nanoclay. The effect of pH and nanoclay content on the swelling and effect of temperature on the deswelling behavior were investigated. The equilibrium swelling ratios of the nanocomposite hydrogels increased with increasing the pH from 2 to 6. The maximum swelling was attained at pH 6. Deswelling increased with increasing the nanoclay content in the hydrogels. The hydrogels were found to be pH and temperature responsive. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43222.     

Resolvin D2 and Resolvin D1 Differentially Activate Protein Kinases to Counter-Regulate Histamine-Induced [Ca2+]i Increase and Mucin Secretion in Conjunctival Goblet Cells

Resolvin (Rv) D2 and RvD1 are biosynthesized from docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and promote resolution of inflammation in multiple organs and tissues, including the conjunctiva. Histamine is a mediator produced by mast cells in the conjunctiva during the allergic response. We determined the interaction of RvD2 with histamine and its receptor subtypes in cultured conjunctival goblet cells and compared them with RvD1 by measuring intracellular [Ca²⁺] and mucous secretion. Treatment with RvD2 significantly blocked the histamine-induced [Ca²⁺]_i increase as well as secretion. RvD2 and RvD1 counter-regulate different histamine receptor subtypes. RvD2 inhibited the increase in [Ca²⁺]_i induced by the activation of H1, H3, or H4 receptors, whereas RvD1 inhibited H1 and H3 receptors. RvD2 and RvD1 also activate distinct receptor-specific protein kinases to counter-regulate the histamine receptors, probably by phosphorylation. Thus, our data suggest that the counter-regulation of H receptor subtypes by RvD2 and RvD1 to inhibit mucin secretion are separately regulated.     

Determination of sulphonamide residues in cattle meats by the Charm-II system and validation with high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

The purpose of this study was determination of sulphonamide residues (sulphanilamide, sulphadiazine, sulphathiazole, sulphamerazine, sulphamethazine, sulphamethoxazole, and sulphadimethoxine) in cattle meat by the Charm II technique and the validation of sulphonamide levels by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Of 157 meat samples, 9 samples (5.73%) were found positive by the Charm II method. To make quantitative confirmation of sulphonamide content of positive samples, HPLC-FLD was used and four samples were confirmed as positive. In HPLC analysis, the limit of detection (LOD) was in the range 8–15 μg/kg and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 13–25 μg/kg. Average recoveries of sulphonamides ranged from 44.6% to 81% with relative standard deviations below 6% (n = 6). In conclusion, we consider that the results obtained in field screening by only using the Charm II system, as is common practice in Turkey and worldwide, are inadequate and thus the results should be confirmed by sensitive systems like HPLC.     

Adsorption and surface tension analysis of concentrated alkali halide brine solutions

In this study, the equilibrium and dynamic surface tensions of sodium chloride and potassium chloride solutions have been measured as a function of concentration up to saturation (5.2 M for NaCl and 4.1 M for KCl) using sessile bubble tensiometry. The experimental results show that the surface tension of these and other salts significantly increases with increasing concentration due to negative adsorption of ions at the air/brine interface, regardless of their structure maker and breaker nature. Furthermore, the effect of these salts on the surface tension of aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) was also studied. These results show that the salts increased the surface activity of SDS and MIBC. In the case of SDS, KCl increased the surface activity of SDS more significantly than NaCl did. In the case of MIBC, the effect of NaCl on MIBC surface activity was more significant than that of KCl.     

One-step purification of lactoperoxidase from bovine milk by affinity chromatography

Sulphanilamide was determined to be a new inhibitor of lactoperoxidase (LPO) with an IC₅₀ of 0.848.10⁻⁵ M. The K_i for sulphanilamide was determined to be 3.57.10⁻⁵ M and sulphanilamide showed competitive inhibition, which makes it a suitable ligand for constructing a Sepharose 4B-l-tyrosine affinity matrix. The affinity matrix was synthesised by coupling sulphanilamide as the ligand and l-tyrosine as the spacer arm to a cyanogen bromide (CNBr)-activated-Sepharose 4B matrix. Lactoperoxidase was purified 409-fold from the synthesized affinity matrix in a single step, with a yield of 62.3% and a specific activity of 40.9 EU/mg protein. The enzyme activity was measured using ABTS as a chromogenic substrate (pH 6.0). The degree of LPO purification was monitored by SDS–PAGE and its R_z (A₄₁₂/A₂₈₀) value. The R_z value for the purified LPO was found to be 0.7. Maximum binding was achieved and K_m and V_max values were determined.     

Studies of floating dosage forms of furosemide: in vitro and in vivo evaluations of bilayer tablet formulations

For the purpose of enhancement the bioavailability of furosemide (FR), a floating dosage form with controlled release of FR was designed in this study. Because of the lower solubility of active material in the gastric medium, it was first enhanced by preparing an inclusion complex of FR with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) in a 1:1 proportion using the kneading method. Following the design of dosage form, bilayer floating tablets were prepared. After dissolution rate studies were performed using the continuous flow-through cell method, the formulation that provided delivery of active material near the target profile was given to six healthy male volunteer subjects, and in vivo tests were performed. It was determined by radiographs that floating tablets prepared by adding BaSO4 stayed in the stomach for 6 hr. Further, values of the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) obtained with the floating dosage form were about 1.8 times those of the conventional FR tablet in blood analyses; maximum and minimum plasma concentrations were also found to be between the desired limits. In urine analyses, the peak diuretic effect seen in classical preparations was decreased and prolonged in floating dosage forms. Also, a considerably significant correlation was detected between in vivo results and in vitro data of the dissolution rate, and it was concluded that the modified continuous flow-through cell method is usable for in vitro dissolution rate tests of floating dosage forms.     

A compact high-speed (31,5) parallel counter circuit based oncapacitive threshold-logic gates

A novel high-speed circuit implementation of the (31,5)-parallel counter (i.e., population counter) based on capacitive threshold logic (CTL) is presented. The circuit consists of 20 threshold logic gates arranged in two stages, i.e., the parallel counter described here has an effective logic depth of two. The charge-based CTL gates are essentially dynamic circuits which require a periodic refresh or precharge cycle, but unlike conventional dynamic CMOS gates, the circuit can be operated in synchronous as well as in asynchronous mode. The counter circuit is implemented using conventional 1.2 μm double-poly CMOS technology, and it occupies a silicon area of about 0.08 mm². Extensive post-layout simulations indicate that the circuit has a typical input-to-output propagation delay of less than 3 ns, and the test circuit is shown to operate reliably when consecutive 31-b input vectors are applied at a rate of up to 16 Mvectors/s. With its demonstrated data processing capability of about 500 Mb/s, the CTL-based (31,5) parallel counter offers a number of application possibilities, e.g., in high-speed parallel multiplier arrays and data encoding circuits     

Formation of chromium nitride layers on AISI 1010 steel by nitro-chromizing treatment

In this study, chromium nitride coating was realized on AISI 1010 steels by nitro-chromizing treatment. Steel samples were tufftrided at 575 °C for 2 h in the first step of the coating process, and then chromized by pack method in the powder mixture consisting of ferro-chromium, ammonium chloride and alumina at 1000 °C for 1-4 h. Samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and Vickers micro-hardness tests. Coating layer formed on the steel samples is smooth and compact and well bonded to the steel matrix. The thickness of chromium nitride layer formed on the steel samples ranged from 5.16±1.48 to 13.45±1.73 μm, depending on the treatment time. The average micro-hardness value of the layer was 1789±59 HV_0.05. The layer consisted of Cr₂N and (Cr,Fe)₂N_(1−x) phases, according to XRD. EDS results showed that coating layer includes chromium and nitrogen.     

An experimental study on the bond strength between reinforcement bars and concrete as a function of concrete cover,strength and corrosion level

The effect of corrosion on the bond strength between reinforcement bars and concrete was studied in a series of experiments. An accelerated corrosion method was used to corrode the reinforcement bars embedded in concrete specimens. Pullout tests were performed to develop an empirical model for the ultimate bond strength by evaluating bond strengths in two different concrete mixes, three concrete cover depths and different mass losses of reinforcement bars after corrosion. Bond-slip relationships for the different corrosion levels were compared. It was found that the relationship between bond strength and concrete strength in uncorroded specimens differed from that of corroded specimens set in high-strength concrete because of brittleness in the corroded specimens, which caused a sudden loss of bond strength. The results revealed that specimens with higher concrete strength levels and corroded reinforcements showed a higher percentage of bond strength degradation due to concrete cracking during the pullout tests.