Directly Compressible Acetaminophen Compositions Prepared by Fluidized-Bed Granulation

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in aqueous solution was used as a binding agent in a fluidized-bed system to agglomerate acetaminophen powder into directly compressible granules. It was found that a minimal amount of 5% w/w PVP in a concentration of 7.5% w/v or less was needed to produce granules with an acceptable flow and the corresponding tablets having enough hardness without capping. There was a strong correlation between the time for 80% dissolved (T₈₀) and the logarithm of granule volume-surface mean diameter. A directly compressible acetaminophen composition to manufacture tablets having a T₈₀ value less than 30 min can be prepared simply by adding an appropriate amount of disintegrant (crospovidone, sodium starch glycolate, or pregelatinized starch) to the agglomerated granules.     

A new space-vector-modulated control for a unidirectionalthree-phase switch-mode rectifier

A unidirectional three-phase switch-mode rectifier that delivers sinusoidal input currents in phase with the corresponding input phase voltages is proposed and analyzed in this paper. In the proposed topology, three AC switches are placed before the bridge rectifier and, respectively, across two power lines. A simple control scheme combing space-vector modulation and hysteresis current control is presented. Sinusoidal input line currents are observed in experimental results     

Regional chemotherapy of liver tumors

In the absence of adequate autogenous vein for tibial artery bypass in limb salvage surgery, the use of prosthetic grafts with a distal anastomotic vein cuff or patch has shown promising results. Here, we describe how the Florester Internal Vessel Occluder (Meadox UK, Bedfordshire, UK) can facilitate the construction of a distal anastomotic vein cuff.     

Oxygen absorption kinetics in YBa2Cu3Ox

The oxygen absorption process in highly aligned YBa₂Cu₃O_x samples in air and in pure oxygen was studied at several constant temperatures. The process can be expressed in two steps, a chemical reaction controlled step and a diffusion controlled step. The kinetic equations are as follows respectively:

(1 − a_t) ln(1 − a_t) + a_t = k_Dt

The activation energy was calculated using an Arrhenius equation. The technical conditions of heat treatment for oxygen absorption of highly aligned YBa₂Cu₃O_x crystals are discussed.     

An analytical grain-barrier height model and its characterizationfor intrinsic poly-Si thin-film transistor

An analytical model for the grain-barrier height of the intrinsic poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) is developed, in which the grain-barrier height for the applied gate voltage smaller than the threshold voltage is obtained by solving the charge neutrality equation and the grain-barrier height for the applied gate voltage larger than the threshold voltage is obtained by using the quasi-two-dimensional (2-D) method. Good agreements between experimental and simulation results are obtained for a wide gate voltage range     

Novel technique for SiO2 formed by liquid-phasedeposition for low-temperature processed polysilicon TFT

A technique for SiO₂ formation by liquid-phase deposition (LPD) at nearly room temperature for low-temperature processed (LTP) polysilicon thin-film transistor (poly-Si TFT) was developed. LPD SiO₂ film with a lower P-etch rate shows a dense structure. LPD SiO₂ also exhibits good electrical characteristics. LTP poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) with LPD SiO ₂ as the gate insulator have been fabricated and investigated. Their characteristics indicate performance adequate for their use as pixel transistors in liquid crystal displays (LCDs)     

An expert system with temporal reasoning for alarm processing inpower system control centers

The alarm lists presented to control center operators are usually difficult to interpret. The authors present an expert system that processes the alarm lists in Portuguese control centers. This system makes an intelligent synthesis of the available information and presents it in a flexible and structured way. It uses an original approach to deal with temporal reasoning and real-time constraints. The system incorporates an explanation module that enables its use as a tutor for novice operators     

Effects of observer metamerism in the determination of human color-matching functions

This article addresses the results of the recent North and Fairchild article on observer metamerism. It reports on the results of a different experiment that produced similar results to those of North and Fairchild. The history of observer metamerism is outlined briefly and some possible sources of the large variations in inter-observer matches are suggested. Finally, a plea for a commercially viable special index of metamerism for change in observer is formulated. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

High fibre bread containing brewer's spent grains and its effect on lipid metabolism in rats

Bread samples containing milled brewer's spent grain (BSG) at levels of 10–25% were prepared. The protein content of the bread ws found to be 15.4, 16.3 and 18.8%, when BSG was added at levels of 10, 20 and 25%, respectively. Fibre content however was 4.9, 6.4 and 7.5%, repectively. Amino acid pattern of the bread samples revealed that most of the essential amino acids were found in considerable amounts compared to the FAO provisional pattern with exception to lysine, threonine and tryptophan which showed deficiencies. The bread samples were fed to rats for 28 days, after which total lipids and cholesterol were measured. The results indicated impaired growth weight (7.1–10.0%) compared with the control. Total lipids as well as total cholesterol were also reduced by 5.7–8.0% and 6.0–8.3%, respectively. Sensory evaluations of prepared bread showed high score acceptance for fino bread, rolls and baton salie amounted to 70.0, 63.0 and 62.7%, respectively.     

Comparison of Displacement and Mixing Diffusers

In order to cumpare the peformance of different supply diffuers of ventilation air, the airflow passern, temperature stratifiation and contaminant dispersion in a furnitured office ventilated by three kinds of air diffuer were numerically investigated. The air diffuers studied in this paper are a quarter-cylinder displacement diffuer on the floor and mixing diffuers (linear and vortex diffuers) on the ceiling. The heat sources in the of-fice are considered to be 50% convective and 50% radiative. The k-? two-equatwn model of turbulence is employed to predict the turbulent diffusion. The results show that the displacement diffuser provides a rather uniform flow field with low velocify in most areas, and the vertical temperature difference from floor to ceiling is as high as 6 K. With the linear diffuser, the air velociry is high, and the temperature is uniform both horizontally and vertically. The air velocity generated by the vortex diffuser is moderate. The distributions of the temperature and the contaminant are rather uniform.