Preparation of a new molecularly imprinted polymer based on self‐crosslinkable cellulose acrylate in aqueous solution: A drug delivery system for furosemide

In the present study, a new, green, and biodegradable molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) based on modified cellulose is introduced for the drug furosemide. First, microcrystalline cellulose was converted into cellulose acrylate (CA). Then the prepared CA underwent self‐crosslinking in the drug preassembly solution. The preassembly solution of the drug was also prepared using furosemide as the template molecule and acrylamide as the functional monomer in an aqueous medium. The results obtained from the binding and selectivity studies indicate the successful preparation of the CA‐based MIP (CA‐MIP) in aqueous solution. In the final step, an in vitro release study of furosemide from the synthesized polymers was carried out in a pH = 7.41 phosphate‐buffered saline solution at 37 °C. The drug release profiles showed that the release rate of the CA‐MIP is more controlled than that of the corresponding nonimprinted polymer, especially at the early stages of release. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45581.     

MDCBIR-MF: multimedia data for content-based image retrieval by using multiple features

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Due to recent development in technology, the complexity of multimedia is significantly increased and the retrieval of similar multimedia content is an open...     

Multilayer cluster designing algorithm for lifetime improvement of wireless sensor networks

Cluster-based network is a proven architecture for energy-aware routing, but more attention is required to ameliorate the energy consumption aspect of its cluster designing process. In this research work, we introduce a novel design of clustered network architecture. The proposed design technique is innovative in its idea. The general trend in this scene is either centralized decision at base station for cluster head selection and its members or distributed decision by exchanging information between neighboring nodes until the cluster head and its members are selected. Both the techniques drastically create mess in energy consumption due to too much broadcasting, especially in large networks as well as message exchange until some final decision is made. Our novel layer-based hybrid algorithm for cluster head and cluster member selection comes up to novel communication architecture. Since its substantial constituent is cluster designing, we named it Multilayer Cluster Designing Algorithm (MCDA). The proposed design not only has effect on lessening blind broadcasting, but also on decreasing the message exchange in a passionate way. It also encapsulates the beauty of efficient centralized decision making for cluster designing and energy-aware distributed cluster head selection and cluster member allocation process. Comprehensive experimentations have been performed on the comparative analysis of MCDA with state-of-the-art centralized and distributed cluster designing approaches present in published literature. Calculation of energy consumption in various operational parametric values, number of clusters designed and the number of packets broadcasted during cluster designing are the main performance evaluation parameters. It has been found that MCDA outperforms compared to its three competing algorithms with respect to the aforementioned parameters due to its multilayered synergistic mating approach.     

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 4‐Sulfamoylphenyl/Sulfocoumarin Carboxamides as Selective Inhibitors of Carbonic Anhydrase Isoforms hCA II,IX, and XII

With the aim to develop potent and selective human carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (hCAIs), we synthesized 4‐sulfamoylphenyl/sulfocoumarin benzamides (series 5 a – r and series 7 a – q ) and evaluated their inhibition profiles against five isoforms of the zinc‐containing human carbonic anhydrase (hCA, EC 4.2.1.1): cytosolic hCA I and II, and the transmembrane isozymes hCA IV, IX, and XII. Compounds 5 a – r were found to selectively inhibit hCA II in the nanomolar range, while being less effective against the other hCA isoforms. As noted from the literature, sulfocoumarin (1,2‐benzoxathiine 2,2‐dioxide) acts as a “prodrug” inhibitor and is hydrolyzed by the esterase activity of hCA to form 2‐hydroxyphenylvinylsulfonic acid, which thereafter binds to the enzyme in a manner similar to that of coumarins and sulfoxocoumarins. All these sulfocoumarins (compounds 7 a – q ) were found to be very weak or ineffective as inhibitors of the housekeeping off‐target hCA isoforms I and II, and effectively inhibited the transmembrane tumor‐associated isoforms IX and XII in the high nanomolar to micromolar ranges. Further structural modifications of these molecules could be useful for the development of effective hCA inhibitors used for the treatment of glaucoma, epilepsy, and cancer.     

SAR target recognition using behaviour library of different shapes in different incidence angles and polarisations

Target recognition is one of the most important issues in the interpretation of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. Modelling, analysis, and recognition of the effects of influential parameters in the SAR can provide a better understanding of the SAR imaging systems, and therefore facilitates the interpretation of the produced images. Influential parameters in SAR images can be divided into five general categories of radar, radar platform, channel, imaging region, and processing section, each of which has different physical, structural, hardware, and software sub-parameters with clear roles in the finally formed images. In this paper, for the first time, a behaviour library that includes the effects of polarisation, incidence angle, and shape of targets, as radar and imaging region sub-parameters, in the SAR images are extracted. This library shows that the created pattern for each of cylindrical, conical, and cubic shapes is unique, and due to their unique properties these types of shapes can be recognised in the SAR images. This capability is applied to data acquired with the Canadian RADARSAT1 satellite.     

A potential of ultrasound on minerals,micro‐organisms,phenolic compounds and colouring pigments of grapefruit juice

The grapefruit juice was sonicated in an ultrasonic bath at 28 kHz frequency (amplitude 70%), for 0, 30, 60 and 90 min at 20 °C. This research was focused on the effects of ultrasound treatment on phenolic compounds, minerals, viscosity, lycopene, total anthocyanins, total carotenoids, micro‐organism analysis and sugars. A statistically significant increase was observed in total carotenoids, lycopene, sugar contents (sucrose, glucose and fructose) and phenolic compounds, whereas a decrease in viscosity and micro‐organisms were found in all the grapefruit juice samples sonicated for 30, 60 and 90 min as compared to control. However, maximum improvement was observed in the sonication treatment for 90 min. The results of this study suggest that ultrasound treatment may improve the quality of grapefruit juice.     

Laboratory and field investigation of the effect of geogrid-reinforced ballast on railway track lateral resistance

Continuous welded rail (CWR) tracks have particular advantages over common tracks with jointed rails such as increased ride comfort, reduced noise and vibration and decreased maintenance costs due to the removal of joints in rail connections. Alternatively, some complications associated with CWR tracks, for instance increased lateral forces, are the main reason of track buckling and its subsequent lateral deformation. These problems are usually more severe in curved tracks. In order to overcome the large lateral forces caused by temperature deviations of CWR tracks which results in railway vehicle instability, the ballasted track lateral resistance should be improved. Among the various methods proposed in this area, no specific study has been carried out on the effect of geogrid reinforcement on ballasted track lateral resistance. Thus, the present research was allocated to investigating the effect of geogrid on the lateral resistances of both single tie and track panel via laboratory and field tests. In this regard, at the first stage, the ballast layer was reinforced with various number of geogrid layers, the effect of which was investigated by conducting the single tie push test (STPT) in the lab environment to assess the optimum number of geogrid layers and their installation levels along the ballast layer thickness. Afterwards, a test track was executed in the field including various sections which were reinforced in the same way as the lab tests. Consequently, many STPTs and track panel displacement tests (TPDTs) were accomplished. As a result, the STPTs in the lab and field confirmed more than 31% and 42% increase in single tie lateral resistance for ballast layers reinforced respectively with one and two geogrid layers, while these values were reached to 29% and 40% in the case of TPDT.     

Optimizing the performance of woven protective gloves using grey relational analysis

This study investigates the performance level of different protective gloves produced from woven fabrics, and optimizing their performance using grey relational analysis (GRA). The fabric areal density and poly vinyl chloride (PVC) dotting were the variables used to produce nine different glove samples. The performance of developed gloves was evaluated in terms of abrasion resistance, blade cut resistance, puncture resistance and tear strength. It was concluded that cut and puncture resistance are not affected by dotting type or increase in areal density (GSM). Tear resistance is improved by increasing GSM of the fabric, while abrasion resistance increases with increase in the diameter of dot. The grey relational analysis was performed to optimize the performance of gloves. It was found that the glove produced with 559 GSM fabric and 35 dots/inch² offered best performance against all responses.