Acrylamide‐grafted‐acacia gum polymer matrix tablets as erosion‐controlled drug delivery systems

Acrylamide was grafted onto acacia gum in different ratios (1 : 1, 1 : 3, and 1 : 5). The graft copolymers formed were characterized by FTIR, rheological measurements, and differential thermal analysis. Tablets were prepared from these polymers loaded with two antihypertensive drugs, viz., diltiazem hydrochloride and nifedipine. The in vitro release experiments were carried out in simulated gastric and intestinal conditions. The graft copolymer prepared in the ratio 1 : 5 of acacia gum : acrylamide matrix was found to be a suitable matrix to investigate the controlled release of diltiazem hydrochloride and nifedipine. The drug release continued up to 6 and 14 h, respectively, for diltiazem hydrochloride and nifedipine. The release mechanism was investigated by using the mathematical equations proposed by Higuchi, Hixson‐Crowell, and Kopcha. Based on the release kinetics data, a correlation was attempted between the erosion‐controlled release and the dissolution‐controlled release. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 2245–2253, 2004     

Significance of thermal radiation on dusty fluid flow over a stretching rotating disk with convective boundary condition

This paper explores the flow of dusty fluid over a stretching rotating disk with thermal radiation. Further, the convective boundary condition is considered in this modeling. The described governing equations are reduced to ordinary differential equations by using apt similarity transformations and then they are numerically solved using Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg-45 scheme. To gain a clear understanding of the current boundary layer flow problem, the graphical results of the velocity and thermal profiles, shear stresses at the disk, and Nusselt number are drawn. Results reveal that the increase in the value of the porosity parameter reduces the velocity of both particle and fluid phases. The increase in the value of the Biot number improves the temperature gradient of both particle and fluid phases. The rise in the value of the radiation parameter advances the heat transference of both phases. The rise in the value of the Biot number improves the rate of heat transfer. Finally, increasing the value of the radiation parameter improves the rate of heat transfer.     

Free vibration of symmetrically laminated plates using a higher-order theory with finite element technique

A C⁰ finite element formulation of the higher-order theory is used to determine the natural frequencies of isotropic, orthotropic and layered anisotropic composite and sandwich plates. The material properties that are typical of high modulus fibre reinforced composites are used to show the parametric effects of plate aspect ratio, length-to-thickness ratio, degree of orthotropy, number of layers and lamination angle/scheme. The present theory is based on a higher-order displacement model and the three-dimensional Hooke's laws for plate material. The theory represents a more realistic quadratic variation of the transverse shearing strains and linear variation of the transverse normal strains through the plate thickness. A special mass matrix diagonalization scheme is adopted which conserves the total mass of the element and includes the effects due to rotary inertia terms. The results presented should be useful in obtaining better correlation between theory and experiment, and to numerical analysts in verifying their results.     

Alginate-coated alginate-polyethyleneimine beads for prolonged release of furosemide in simulated intestinal fluid

Furosemide-loaded calcium alginate (ALG), calcium alginate-polyethyleneimine (ALG-PEI) and alginate-coated ALG-PEI (ALG-PEI-ALG) beads were prepared by ionotropic/polyelectrolyte complexation method to achieve controlled release of the drug. Effects of several formulation factors on the characteristics of the beads were investigated. Although variation in formulation factors did not influence the drug-loading efficiency (DLE) of ALG beads, rapid release of the drug in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) could not be prevented. PEI treatment of ALG beads, however, prolonged the drug release considerably. Ionic interaction, as appeared from FTIR studies, between alginate and PEI led to the formation of polyelectrolyte complex membrane, the thickness of which was dependent on the conditions of PEI treatment as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The membrane acted as a physical barrier to drug release from ALG-PEI beads. Alginate coating of ALG-PEI beads further prolonged the release of the drug by increasing membrane thickness and reducing swelling of the beads possibly by blocking the surface pores. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study indicated that drug was not degraded by PEI treatment. The release data from ALG-PEI beads showed a good fit in power law expression, whereas the release data from ALG-PEI-ALG beads were found to fit in modified power law expression, and the mechanism of drug release changed from super case II transport to nearly Fickian transport, depending on the degree of gelation and formation of polyelectrolyte complex membrane.     

Optimisation of operations sequence in CAPP using an ant colony algorithm

Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) forms an important interface between Computer-aided design (CAD) and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). It is concerned with determining the sequence of individual manufacturing operations required to produce a product as per technical specifications given in the part drawing. Any sequence of manufacturing operations that is generated in a process plan cannot be the best possible sequence every time in a changing production environment. As the complexity of the product increases, the number of feasible sequences increases exponentially, and there is a need to choose the best among them. This paper presents an application of a newly developed metaheuristic called the ant colony algorithm as a global search technique for the quick identification of the optimal operations sequence by considering various feasibility constrains. A couple of case studies are taken from the literature to comparing the results obtained by the proposed method.     

One‐pot synthesis of cobalt‐incorporated polyglycerol ester as an antimicrobial agent for polyurethane coatings

Cobalt‐incorporated poly(glycerol ester) (Co–PGE) was synthesized by the polycondensation of glycerol and adipic acid followed by the reaction with cobalt(II) hydroxide under solvent‐free and noncatalyzed one‐pot synthesis conditions. The reaction was monitored through the acid value and hydroxyl value determination. The chemical structure and molecular weight of the poly(glycerol ester) (PGE) and Co–PGE were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹³C‐NMR, gel permeation chromatography, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Co–PGE with a 59.3% degree of branching was incorporated with up to 5.0% w/w cobalt, and it exhibited antimicrobial inhibition against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans in a broth microdilution study. Polyurethane (PU) coatings were prepared by the blending of 0.5–35% w/w Co‐PGE containing with 5% w/w of cobalt with blank PGE, poly(ethylene glycol) with a molecular weight of 6000, poly(caprolactone diol) with a molecular weight of 2000, and additives to react with isophorone diisocyanate. The prepared PUs demonstrated mild to high antimicrobial activities against E. coli, S. aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and C. albicans strains in a disc diffusion test. PU prepared with 0.5% w/w Co–PGE showed a mild inhibition activity against S. aureus, and PU prepared with 10% w/w Co–PGE demonstrated a high inhibition activity against C. albicans. This study demonstrated that value‐added Co–PGE synthesized from glycerol has the potential as an antimicrobial agent for polymer coatings in biomedical devices. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46045.     

A Compact Rectangular Dual Patch Antenna for Multiple Satellite Communication Applications

At present, with the advances in satellite communication systems and their increasing importance, wideband antennas are in great demand for both military and commercial applications. Most of the communication systems need a wideband antenna that operates on multi-octave frequencies. In patch antenna, diverse techniques played a vital role in enhancing the antenna parameters such as gain or bandwidth. A new design concept of a compact rectangular dual patch antenna has been developed for both high gain and wider bandwidth. In this work, a compact rectangular dual patch antenna is proposed as a wideband antenna for multiple satellite communication applications such as Global Positioning System, Global Navigation Satellite System, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, and S-Band Satellite Communication. The designed rectangular dual patch antenna is simulated and fabricated. Based on the performance, the fabricated antenna is compared with the simulated results in terms of VSWR, gain, axial ratio, and 3 dB beam width. Increased gain and wider bandwidth have been achieved with the developed rectangular patches and their energy distributed on the surface of the dual patches simultaneously. Finally, the proposed rectangular dual patch antenna shows improved performance for the multiple satellite communication applications.

     

Asymmetric and symmetric modified bow-tie slotted circular patch antennas for circular polarization

Modern communication systems employ wideband antennas with circular polarization (CP) radiation. In this work, asymmetric modified bow-tie (ABT) and symmetric modified bow-tie (SBT) slotted circularly polarized single-point probe-fed circular patch antennas with dimensions of 40 mm × 40 mm for wideband applications are proposed. A 10 dB RL bandwidth of 350 MHz with CP, 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 100 MHz, peak gain of 4.9 dBic, and 10 dB RL bandwidth of 530 MHz with CP, 3 dB AR bandwidth of 140 MHz, peak gain of 5 dBic are obtained for ABT and SBT slotted circular patch antennas, respectively. The proposed SBT slotted patch is scaled up and down to 50 mm × 50 mm and 30 mm × 30 mm, respectively. The proposed scaled-up version offers 10 dB RL and 3 dB AR bandwidths of 340 MHz and 80 MHz, with a peak gain of 5 dBic. The scaled-down version offers 10 dB RL and 3 dB AR bandwidths of 710 MHz and 180 MHz, with a peak gain of 5.25 dBic. These prototypes are suitable to work in IEEE 802.11a WLAN, ISM, and IEEE 802.11ac applications. The measured and simulated results are then discussed and compared.     

Synthesis and characterization of crosslinked polyurethane dispersions based on hydroxylated polyesters

Stringent environmental regulation has endowed dispersible coatings with excellent property profiles in industrial applications. In this aspect, aqueous polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) are of special interest. The present study reports on the synthesis of hydroxylated polyester (HP) based polyurethane polyols containing internal carboxyl group with different diisocyanates. These polyurethane polyols were partly acetoacetylated with ethyl acetoacetate to incorporate β‐ketoester in the polyurethane polyol backbone. The synthesized polyols were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and differential scanning calorimetry. Polyurethane polyols and their acetoacetylated cousins were used to develop PUDs. Particle size of the reactive PUDs was evaluated by a particle size analyzer. PUDs were crosslinked with hexamethoxy methyl melamine and their film properties were studied by dynamic mechanical and thermal analyzers and thermogravimetric analyses. The effects of different diisocyanate and acetoacetylation on the stability of reactive dispersion and properties of the crosslinked films were evaluated. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 368–380, 2006     

Spectrophotometric investigation of laser dye diffusion in styrene–acrylonitrile copolymer solutions

An ultraviolet spectrometer was used to measure the absorption kinetics of a laser dye, 1,4‐bis(5‐phenyloxazoyl‐2‐yl) benzene, at its maximum wavelength in solutions of styrene–acrylonitrile copolymer dissolved in 1,4‐dioxane. From the time‐dependent absorbance data, the dye diffusion coefficient was calculated by a combination of Fick's law of diffusion with the Beer–Lambert law of absorption. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 1481–1484, 2005