Generalized self-consistent electroelastic estimation of piezoelectric nanocomposites accounting for fiber section shape under antiplane shear

Amicromechanicsmodel composed of a three-phase confocal elliptical cylinder of the nanocompositeswithinterface effect is proposed.Ageneralized self-consistent method for the piezoelectric nanocompositesaccounting for fiber section shape under far-field mechanical–electrical loads is presented based on the model.By using the theory of Gurtin–Murdoch surface/interface and the conformal mapping technique, a closedformsolution of the effective electroelastic constants is obtained. The present solution can be degenerated intothe existing solution. The results show that the effective electroelastic constants are dramatically size dependentwhen the size of the fiber is on the order of nanometers. The effective electroelastic constants decreasemonotonically with the fiber section aspect ratio \({\gamma}\) increasing from 0 to 1. The elastic constant and dielectricconstant obtained by the present solution are very similar to the results obtained by the classical electroelastictheory, whereas the piezoelectric coupling constant obtained by the present solution is very different from theresults obtained by the classical electroelastic theory.     

One-side value-added service investment and pricing strategies for a two-sided platform

To widen user participation and increase profit, two-sided platforms may invest on value-added services (VASs) for users. Due to the cross-market network externality, the investment for one side would affect the utility of users on two sides, thus affect the demand and profit of the platform. In this paper, we investigate one-side VAS investment and pricing strategies for a two-sided platform. It is revealed that it is optimal to invest at the maximum level for any marginal investing cost below a certain threshold, and to decrease the investment when the marginal investing cost increases above the threshold. We find that compared with the case of no investment, the invested user side will always be priced higher, while the uninvested user side may either be priced higher or lower, depending on the relative magnitude of mutual cross-market network externalities. If both sides are priced higher after the investment, the price increment for uninvested user side could be larger than that for invested user side.     

Modulation of the wettability of excipients by surfactant and its impacts on the disintegration and release of tablets

Objective: To investigate the modulation of the wettability of excipients by different types of surfactants and its impacts on the disintegration of tablets and drug release.

Materials and methods: The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of surfactants, including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB), cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and polysorbate (Tween-20 and Tween-80), was obtained using the platinum ring method. Contact angles of surfactant solutions on the excipient compacts and double-distilled water on the mixture of surfactant and the other excipient (magnesium stearate (MgSt) or sodium alginate (SA)) were measured by the sessile drop technique. Besides, surface free energy of excipients was calculated by the Owens method. Finally, the disintegration of tablets and in vitro dissolution testing were performed according to the method described in USP.

Results and discussion: The wettability of excipients could be enhanced to different extent with low concentration of surfactant solutions and maintained stable basically after CMC. For MgSt (hydrophobic excipient), the shorter the hydrophobic chain (C₁₂, including SDS and DTAB), the better the wettability with the addition of surfactant in the formulation, leading to the shorter disintegration time of tablets and higher drug release rate. In contrast, the wettability of SA (hydrophilic excipient) was reduced by adding surfactant, resulting in the longer disintegration time of tablets and lower release rate.

Conclusion: The modulation of the wetting of pharmaceutical excipients by surfactant had changed the disintegration time of tablets and drug release rate to a greater extent.