ELECTROSPRAY METHOD: PROCESSING PARAMETERS INFLUENCE ON MORPHOLOGY AND SIZE OF PCL PARTICLES

The polymeric microparticles using electrospray technique have been used effectively as the drug carrier, whereby controlled release of drug. The electrosprayed particles morphology and size dictated the degradation of polymer matrix, therefore they influenced the release profile from drug loaded microparticles. The effects of electrospray processing parameters (flow rate, applied voltage and distance from the tip of needle to collector) on morphology and size of polycaprolactone (PCL) particles were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ImageJ software. In this research, the PCL solution was prepared by dissolving PCL in Dichloromethane at 4.5 % solution. In addition, processing parameters such as the flow rate (0.5 mL/h, 1 mL/h, 1.5 mL/h, 2 mL/h and 4 mL/h), the applied voltage (15 kV, 18 kV and 24 kV) and the collecting distance (15 cm, 20 cm, and 25 cm) were changed to examine the effects of them on size and morphology of PCL particles. The results indicated that at the suitable electrospraying parameters (18 kV, 1.5 mL/h, 20–25 cm), microparticles have obtained the uniform and stable morphology while at higher flow rate (2 mL/h and 4 mL/h), the particles were deformed and had bigger size.

TAYLOR CONE–JET MODE IN THE FABRICATION OF ELECTROSPRAYED MICROSPHERES

In this study, electrospray modes were investigated to clarify their effects on the morphology and size of polycaprolactone (PCL) particles. The result indicated that electrosprayed microspheres with homogeneous and stable morphology were fabricated by using cone–jet mode and suitable electrospray processing parameters. Besides, the PCL solution was created by dissolving in dichloromethane with different concentrations such as 3.5%, 4%, 4.5% and 5%. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs pointed that electrosprayed PCL microspheres were formed by using 4.5 % polymer solution. In addition, the reproducible and homogeneous morphology of PCL microparticles were obtained at the following set of parameters: applied voltage of 18 kV, flow rate of 1.5 mL/h and distance tip to collector of 20 cm. Moreover, at the collecting distance of 15–25 cm, the flow rate of 1.2–1.8 mL/h and applied voltage of 18 kV the cone–jet mode was generated. It was an effective electrospray mode to create stable and homogeneous microspheres

Should Parents Work Away from or Close to Home? The Effect of Temporary Parental Absence on Child Poverty and Children’s Time Use in Vietnam

Working away from home might bring higher earnings than working near home. However, the absence of parents due to work can have unexpected effects on children. This paper examines the effects of the temporary absence of parents on the well-being of children aged 5–8 years old in Vietnam, using indicators of household poverty, per capita consumption expenditure, and child time allocation. The paper relies on OLS and fixed-effects regression and panel data from the Young Lives surveys in 2007 and 2009. It finds a positive correlation between parental absence and per capita expenditure. Parental absence tends to increase per capita food expenditure instead of per capita non-food expenditure. Regarding the way children spend their time, there are no statistically significant effects of parental absence

Urban Poverty in Vietnam: Determinants and Policy Implications

This study examines the profile and determinants of poverty in the two largest cities in Vietnam – Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Data used in this study are from the 2009 Urban Poverty Survey. Using the poverty line of 12,000 thousand VND/year, the poverty incidence is estimated at 17.4 percent for Hanoi and 12.5 percent for Ho Chi Minh (HCM) city. There is a large proportion of the poor who are found stochastically poor. Hanoi has higher rates of structurally poverty than HCM city. The proportion of structurally poor and stochastically non-poor is rather small. Overall, the poor have fewer assets than the non-poor. The poor also have poorer housing conditions, especially they have much lower access to tap water than the non-poor. Heads of the poor households tend to have lower education and unskilled works than the heads of the non-poor households

TDMA-based scheduling for multi-hop wireless sensor networks with 3-egress gateway linear topology

We have studied packet transmission scheduling on multi-hop wireless sensor networks with 3-egress gateway linear topology, called Y-shaped topology. In every one cycle period, each node generates and forwards data packets that are bounded for either of the gateways at edges. In this paper, we focus on centrally-managed Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)-based slot allocations and design a packet transmission scheduling framework combining with the basic redundant transmission to reduce and recover packet losses. On each of three types of path models to cover all possible routing on Y-shaped topology, we efficiently derive a global static time-slot allocation. The derived time-slot allocation exactly maximizes the probability that all packets are successfully delivered to one of the gateways within one cycle period, which cannot be achieved by existing scheduling schemes

Statistical evaluation of the geochemical data for prospecting polymetallic mineralization in the Suoi Thau – Sang Than region, Northeast Vietnam

In Northeast Vietnam, Suoi Thau-Sang Than is considered as a high potential area of polymetallic deposits. 1,720 geochemical samples were used to investigate polymetallic mineralization; thereby polymetallic ore occurrences in this study region were discovered and the statistical and multivariate analysis helps to define geochemical anomalies in some northeastern regions, namely Suoi Thau, Sang Than, and Ban Kep. The statistical method and cluster analysis of geochemical data indicate that the Cu, Pb, and Zn elements are good indicators, and most of them comply with the lognormal or gamma distribution. Based on the third-order threshold, the geochemical anomalies of the content of the Cu, Pb, and Zn elements reflect the concentration of copper forming ore bodies in the mineralized zone, and clearly show the concentration in three distinct zones. The trend surface analysis which was employed to determine spatial variations and relationships among these good indicator elements and anomalous areas revealed relative changes in the content of the indicator elements, and they can be considered as regular. Moreover, the goodness of fit obtained trend functions of Pb and Zn, and Cu elements is a third-degree trend surface model. These results indicate that the models can be useful in studying geochemical anomalies and analyzing the tendency of the concentration of indicator elements in the Suoi Thau-Sang Than region. Additionally, it is suggested that the statistical analysis shows a remarkable potential to use the bottom river sediments in the region to investigate polymetallic mineralization. Moreover, geochemical data can help to evaluate geochemical anomalies of the pathfinder elements and potential mineral mapping of the Suoi Thau-Sang Than region in Northeast Vietnam

Characterization of arsenic-resistant endophytic Priestia megaterium R2.5.2 isolated from ferns in an arsenic-contaminated multi-metal mine in Vietnam

Bioremediation is a biological process to remove or neutralize environmental pollutants. This study was carried out to investing at the efficacy of arsenic resistant endophytic bacteria isolated from Pteris vittata, Pityrogramma calomelanos, Blenchum orientale, and Nephrolepis exaltata, which grow in a highly arsenic (As) contamination mining site in Vietnam. Their segmented roots, stems, and leaves were homogenized separately and inoculated on LB agar plates containing 5mM As(III) and As(V). A total of 31 arsenic resistant endophytic strains were selected, in which strain R2.5.2 isolated from the root of P. calomelanos had the highest arsenic resistant capability. Strain R2.5.2 tolerated up to 320 mM and 160 mM of arsenate and arsenite, respectively. The strain developed well on a media of 0.1 5% NaCl, at 20-40ºC and pH 5 9, and actively utilized most of the sugar sources. It had a high IAA biosynthesis capacity with an average concentration of 19.14 mg/L, tolerated to 0.5-16 mM concentration of Ag+, Hg2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Cr4+, and reduced As(V). Based on 16s rDNA, R2.5.2 was identified as Priestia megaterium. The ars C gene coding for arsenate reductase catalyzing reduction of As(V) was successfully amplified in P. megaterium R2.5.2.  The selected strain may have potential use for bioremediation practice

All-dielectric Metamaterial for Electromagnetically-induced Transparency in Optical Region

Metamaterial (MM) is emerging as a promising approach to manipulate electromagnetic waves, spanning from radio frequency to the optical region. In this paper, we employ an effect called electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) in all-dielectric MM structures to create a narrow transparent window in opaque broadband of the optical region (580-670 nm). Using dielectric materials instead of metals can mitigate the large non-radiative ohmic loss on the metal surface. The unit-cell of MM consists of Silicon (Si) bars on Silicon dioxide (SiO$_{2}$) substrate, in which two bars are directed horizontally and one bar is directed vertically. By changing the relative position and dimension of the Si bars, the EIT effect could be achieved. The optical properties of the proposed MM are investigated numerically using the finite difference method with commercial software Computer Simulation Technology (CST). Then, characteristic parameters of MM exhibiting EIT effect (EIT-MM), including Q-factor, group delay, are calculated to evaluate the applicability of EIT-MM to sensing and light confinement

Direct Observation of Exceptional Points in Photonic Crystal by Cross-Polarization Imaging in Momentum Space

This study explores exceptional points (EPs) in photonic crystals (PhCs) and introduces a novel method for their single-shot observation. Exceptional points are spectral singularities found in non-Hermitian systems, such as leaky PhC slabs. However, directly observing EPs in PhC systems using regular reflectivity spectroscopy is a considerable challenge due to interference between guided resonances and background signals. In this work, we present a simple, nondestructive technique that employs crossed polarizations to directly observe EPs in momentum-resolved resonant scattering. This approach effectively suppresses the background signal, enabling exclusive probing of the guided resonances where EPs manifest. Our results demonstrate the formation of EPs in both energy-momentum mapping and isofrequency imaging. All experimental findings align seamlessly with numerical simulations and analytical models. Our approach holds great potential as a robust tool for studying non-Hermitian physics in PhC platform