In vivo performance of wax matrix granules prepared by a twin-screw compounding extruder

The in vivo performance of wax matrix granules (WMGs) prepared by a twin-screw compounding extruder was evaluated in fasted beagle dogs. In vitro dissolution behavior of the model drug, diclofenac sodium (DS), from WMGs was strongly influenced by pH in a dissolution medium due to its solubility (DS is soluble in pH 6.8 and insoluble in pH 1.2 and 4.0) and was independent of paddle rotation rate (50, 100, and 200 rpm) of the dissolution apparatus. Pharmacokinetics parameters such as mean residence time (MRT) showed a sustained action of WMGs in beagle dogs; however, the transit time of WMGs in the small intestine is found to control total drug absorption. Furthermore, the values of the area under the curve (AUC) of the plasma concentration-time curve and the maximum concentration Cmax significantly decreased with decreases in hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) content in WMGs. Good correlation between one in vitro dissolution parameter (mean dissolution time, MDT) and two in vivo parameters (AUC12 and MRT) suggested that it would be possible to design WMGs with a desired in vivo performance by controlling HPC content.     

Stacked I2L circuit

A new integrated-injection-logic circuit which consists of multiple (m) layers of I2L circuit blocks and operates with an extremely low power dissipation is discussed. The same logic function is realised with m-times less power than a conventional I2L circuit.     

Semisupervised Query Expansion with Minimal Feedback

Query expansion is an information retrieval technique in which new query terms are selected to improve search performance. Although useful terms can be extracted from documents whose relevance is already known, it is difficult to get enough of such feedback from a user in actual use. We propose a query expansion method that performs well even if a user makes practically minimum effort, that is, chooses only a single relevant document. To improve searches in these conditions, we made two refinements to a well-known query expansion method. One uses transductive learning to obtain pseudorelevant documents, thereby increasing the total number of source documents from which expansion terms can be extracted. The other is a modified parameter estimation method that aggregates the predictions of multiple learning trials to sort candidate terms for expansion by importance. Experimental results show that our method outperforms traditional methods and is comparable to a state-of-the-art method.     

“Segment-wise model” for theoretical simulation of barely visible indentation damage in composite sandwich beams: Part II – Experimental verification and discussion

When localized transverse loading is applied to a sandwich structure, the facesheet locally deflects and the core crushes. A residual dent induced by the core crushing significantly degrades the mechanical properties of the sandwich structure. In a previous paper, the authors established a “segment-wise model” for theoretical simulation of barely visible indentation damage in honeycomb sandwich beams with composite facesheets. Honeycomb sandwich beam was divided into many segments based on the periodic shape of the honeycomb and complicated through-thickness characteristics of the core were integrated into each segment. In this paper, the new model is validated by experiments using specimens with different types of honeycomb cores. In addition, the damage growth mechanism under indentation load was clarified from the viewpoint of the reaction force from the core to the facesheet. The applicability of the model to other types of core materials is also discussed.     

Effect of Pd and In on mercury evaporation from amalgams

The aim of work was evaluation of voice pathology in patients with allergic rhinitis. Larynx organic pathology were found in 75% patients with coexisting allergic rhinitis in the form of Reinke's oedema, chronic hypertrophic laryngitis, larynx polyp and vocal nodules. It caused serious voice pathology (dysphonia) which was confirmed by an objective spectrographic method. Larynx organic pathology was not in 15% patients. In these cases rhinophonia was found in consequence of resonance nasal defect.     

Theoretical model of the two-chamber pressure casting process

This article develops a theoretical model of the two-chamber pressure casting process. In this process, a molten metal drop, formed by arc melting a solid ingot, falls into a conical crucible attached to a gas-filled, porous cast mold. An energy-based formulation of the mold-filling process is developed which focuses on the drop’s motion within the crucible and mold cavity and on pressure evolution within the mold cavity. The model shows that drop acceleration into the mold depends on three dimensionless parameters, the Euler number, Eu, the Froude number, Fr, and the pressure loss coefficient, K, across the crucible exit. These parameters are in turn determined by the mold’s permeability to the process gas, the characteristic initial pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the mold, the mold thickness, the process gas viscosity, and the metal density. Drop acceleration into the mold compresses trapped gas within the mold cavity; under most conditions, pressure decay due to leakage of the trapped gas through the mold occurs at a faster rate than inertial compression. Under these circumstances, a downward acting pressure force, having a magnitude determined by the Euler number, acts on the drop. At low Froude numbers, however, gas compression occurs at a faster rate than leakage-induced decay and the pressure force acts upward, again with a magnitude determined by Eu. Scaling arguments show that friction and evaporation recoil forces are negligible in determining drop motion, while surface tension, pressure, drop inertia, and gravity are dominant. In addition, solidification effects are shown to be negligible.     

Effect of carbonization temperature on the basic properties of woodceramics impregnated with liquefied wood

In this paper, a new woodceramics impregnated with liquefied wood is developed and the effect of carbonization temperature on the dimension shrinkage, weight loss, density, compressive strength, and volume electrical resistivity is investigated. The results show that, the higher the carbonization temperature is, the higher the dimension shrinkage is, the higher the compressive strength is, and the lower the electrical resistivity is.     

Morphology and damping characteristics of woodceramics

Woodceramics has attracted more and more attention as ecomaterial at low cost in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to investigate morphology, damping characteristics of woodceramics and relationship between them. The experimental results reveal that pores in woodceramics can be divided into macropores, micropores and nanopores according to their dimensional size. Macropores are the majority of interconnected pores while most micropores are closed pores. Based on formation process, nanopores are supposed to consist of isolated nanopores and dendritic nanopores. Woodceramics exhibits significant damping gains, especially at room temperature, higher strain amplitude and higher vibration frequency. The values of damping capacity increase with vibration frequency and strain amplitude, decrease with testing temperature. Macropores and some nanopores have little but micropores and some other nanopores have much contribution to damping properties of woodceramics. The possible damping mechanisms of woodceramics at normal temperature are defect damping and thermoelastic damping; at high temperatures, interface damping is likely to responsible for the majority of the damping of woodceramics.     

Solving the master equation for extremely long time scale calculations

The dynamics of magnetic reversal process plays an important role in the design of the magnetic recording devices in the long time scale limit. In addition to long time scale, microscopic effects such as the entropic effect become important in magnetic nano-scale systems. Many advanced simulation methods have been developed, but few have the ability to simulate the long time scale limit and to accurately model the microscopic effects of nano-scale systems at the same time. We develop a new Monte Carlo method for calculating the dynamics of magnetic reversal at arbitrary long time. For example, actual calculations were performed up to 10⁵⁰ Monte Carlo steps. This method is based on microscopic interactions of many constituents and the master equation for magnetic probability distribution function is solved symbolically.