Microbubbling and microencapsulation by co-axial electrohydrodynamic atomization

Microbubbles coated with polymers or surfactants have been used in medical imaging for several years as ultrasound contrast agent particles and are now being investigated by researchers as drug and gene delivery vehicles and blood substitutes. Current methods available for the preparation of microbubbles are insufficient as they result in microbubbles with a wide size distribution and as such filtration is necessary before their use. With a view to fill the above demand, a detailed investigation has been carried out in this research to learn the viability of co-axial electrohydrodynamic atomization (CEHDA) technique to prepare microbubbles. The research also focuses on the effects of the process parameters such as flow rates, applied voltage and material parameters such as electrical conductivity, surface tension and viscosity with the objective of preparing polymer or surfactant coated stabilized microbubbles with diameters < 8 μm and with a narrow size distribution. A model glycerol-air system was used so that the CEHDA technique was modified to generate suspensions of microbubbles to a diameter < 8 μm with a narrow size distribution and then to characterise the CEHDA microbubbling process in terms of size and stability with varying process parameters and material parameters. Construction of a parametric plot between the air flow rate and the liquid flow rate was extremely useful in identifying the flow rate regime of air and liquid or suspension or solution for the continuous microbubbling of the system used. With further investigations into the CEHDA microbubbling technique, it was possible to develop strategies, first, to prepare suspensions of stabilized phospholipids-coated microbubbles with a mean diameter of ~ 5 μm and a polydispersivity index of 9%, and second, polymeric microspheres with a mean diameter of 400 nm and a polydispersivity index of 8% using a biocompatible polymer

Not to Knot a Catheter. Case Report of the Knotting of a Suprapubic Catheter

A 20-month-old boy, who underwent left nephrectomy, had a suprapubic catheter inserted that knotted within the bladder. This case report identifies possible causes for such occurrences and how best to manage them

Corporate Social Responsibility and Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs): Management Perceptions from IFIs in Bahrain

Islamic finance is gaining greater attention in the finance industry, and this paper analyses how Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are responding to the welfare needs of society. Using interview data with managers and content analysis of the disclosures, this study attempts to understand management perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in IFIs. A thorough understanding of CSR by managers, as evident in the interviews, has not been translated fully into practice. The partial use of IFIs’ potential role in social welfare would add further challenges in the era of financialisation

Five Dimensional Cosmological Models in General Relativity

A Five dimensional Kaluza-Klein space-time is considered in the presence of a perfect fluid source with variable G and $\Lambda$. An expanding universe is found by using a relation between the metric potential and an equation of state. The gravitational constant is found to decrease with time as $G \sim t^{-(1-\omega)}$ whereas the variation for the cosmological constant follows as $\Lambda \sim t^{-2}$, $\Lambda \sim (\dot R/R)^2$ and $\Lambda \sim \ddot R/R$ where $\omega$ is the equation of state parameter and $R$ is the scale factor.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Int. J. Theor. Phy

Scenario of Accelerating Universe from the Phenomenological \Lambda- Models

Dark matter, the major component of the matter content of the Universe, played a significant role at early stages during structure formation. But at present the Universe is dark energy dominated as well as accelerating. Here, the presence of dark energy has been established by including a time-dependent $\Lambda$ term in the Einstein's field equations. This model is compatible with the idea of an accelerating Universe so far as the value of the deceleration parameter is concerned. Possibility of a change in sign of the deceleration parameter is also discussed. The impact of considering the speed of light as variable in the field equations has also been investigated by using a well known time-dependent $\Lambda$ model.Comment: Latex, 9 pages, Major change

A new proposal for Galactic dark matter: Effect of f(T) gravity

It is still a challenging problem to the theoretical physicists to know the exact nature of the galactic dark matter which causes the galactic rotational velocity to be more or less a constant. We have proposed that the dark matter as an effect of f(T) gravity. Assuming the flat rotation curves as input we have shown that f(T) gravity can explain galactic dynamics. Here, we don' have to introduce dark matter. Spacetime metric inspired by f(T) gravity describes the region up to which the tangential velocity of the test particle is constant. This inherent property appears to be enough to produce stable circular orbits as well as attractive gravity.Comment: 7 pages and 1 figure. Minor corrections are made. Accepted for publication in Int.J.Theor.Phy

Higher ethical objective (Maqasid al-Shari'ah) augmented framework for Islamic banks : assessing the ethical performance and exploring its determinants.

This study utilises higher objectives postulated in Islamic moral economy or the maqasid al-Shari’ah theoretical framework’s novel approach in evaluating the ethical, social, environmental and financial performance of Islamic banks. Maqasid al-Shari’ah is interpreted as achieving social good as a consequence in addition to well-being and, hence, it goes beyond traditional (voluntary) social responsibility. This study also explores the major determinants that affect maqasid performance as expressed through disclosure analysis. By expanding the traditional maqasid al-Shari’ah,, we develop a comprehensive evaluation framework in the form of a maqasid index, which is subjected to a rigorous disclosure analysis. Furthermore, in identifying the main determinants of the maqasid disclosure performance, panel data analysis is used by including several key variables alongside political and socio-economic environment, ownership structures, and corporate and Shari’ah governance-related factors. The sample includes 33 full-fledged Islamic banks from 12 countries for the period of 2008–2016. The findings show that although during the nine-year period the disclosure of maqasid performance of the sampled Islamic banks has improved, this is still short of ‘best practices’. Through panel data analysis, this study finds that the Muslim population indicator, CEO duality, Shari’ah governance, and leverage variables positively impact the disclosure of maqasid performance. However, the effect of GDP, financial development and human development index of the country, its political and civil rights, institutional ownership, and a higher share of independent directors have an overall negative impact on the maqasid performance. The findings reported in this study identify complex and multi-faceted relations between external market realities, corporate and Shari’ah governance mechanisms, and maqasid performance