Formulation and Characterization of Glutaraldehyde Cross-Linked Chitosan Biodegradable Microspheres Loaded with Famotidine

Purpose: To formulate biodegradable chitosan microspheres loaded with famotidine to overcome the poor bioavailability and frequent dose administration of the drug.Methods: Chitosan microspheres were prepared by simple emulsification technique based on glutaraldehyde crosslinking. Various process and formulation variables such as speed of emulsification, crosslinking time, drug/polymer ratio, volume of cross linking agent and volume of surfactant were optimized. The microspheres were characterized for entrapment efficiency, drug loading, in vitro drug release, surface morphology, as well as by particle size analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).Results: The microspheres showed a smooth surface with a narrow particle size distribution (105 – 219 μm) and an entrapment efficiency of up to 73 %. They exhibited controlled drug release characteristics with 85.6 % of the drug released over a period of 24 h with an initial burst release of 26.9 % in the first 2 h. Drug release followed Higuchi release kinetics. FTIR and DSC data indicate that there was no drug interaction between the drug and polymer used.Conclusion: The chitosan microspheres could be further developed as a potential biodegradable carrier for oral controlled delivery of famotidine.Keywords: Chitosan microspheres, Crosslinking, Controlled delivery, Famotidine, Glutaraldehyde, Biodegradable

Automatic Irrigation System

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian Economy. Irrigation is a basic determinant factor of Agriculture and it is the most powerful constrains on the increase of agricultural production. Irrigation is affected by highly inadequate quantity and quality of water, soil and minerals which are the most essential components. Since, it is hardly available in our country, it is necessary to use a suitable method which subsequently reduces human effort and to increase the productions amidst of the consequences such as leaching of nutrients from soil and water. The main objective of this paper is to use an efficient method of irrigation using the recent trends of our growing technology. It is by using mobile apps or remote control systems which is known as Automatic Irrigation System, which will be of great use to farmers that can be used from home. In this system, the GSM receives message from the user and sends to the microcontroller through which the action is implemented. Thus, this system can be efficiently used for soil and water management through Automation

High density p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 nanowires by electrochemical templating through ion-track lithography

High density p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 nanowire arrays are produced by a combination of electrodeposition and ion-track lithography technology. Initially, the electrodeposition of p-type wBi(0.5)Sb(1.5)Te(3) films is investigated to find out the optimal conditions for the deposition of nanowires. Polyimide-based Kapton foils are chosen as a polymer for ion track irradiation and nanotemplating Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 nanowires. The obtained nanowires have average diameters of 80 nm and lengths of 20 mu m, which are equivalent to the pore size and thickness of Kapton foils. The nanowires exhibit a preferential orientation along the {110} plane with a composition of 11.26 at.% Bi, 26.23 at.% Sb, and 62.51 at.% Te. Temperature dependence studies of the electrical resistance show the semiconducting nature of the nanowires with a negative temperature coefficient of resistance and band gap energy of 0.089 +/- 0.006 eV

CONTROLLED DELIVERY OF ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUG-LOADED CROSS-LINKED MICROSPHERES BY IONIC GELATION METHOD

Objective: Lamivudine (LVD) is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor originally developed as an antiretroviral drug and primarily used in thetreatment of most common chronic disease of the planet, acquired immune deficiency syndrome and hepatitis B. The main objective of the study is todevelop controlled drug delivery system to increase the efficacy of antiretroviral drug, LVD against human immunodeficiency virus infections.Methods: The microencapsulation of LVD in gelatin microspheres was carried out by cross-linking process with glutaraldehyde saturated tolueneusing ionic-gelation method. The prepared microspheres were evaluated for particle size analysis, % yield value, % drug content, drug entrapmentefficiency, scanning electron microscopy for surface morphology, swelling index, accelerated stability studies, Fourier transform infrared radiationspectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for polymer drug compatibility, in vitro dissolution efficiency and release kineticstudies.Results: The obtained microspheres showed very smooth surface and exhibited regular spherical geometry due to higher crosslinking density. FT-IRand DSC revealed the absence of drug polymer interactions. The percentage yield, entrapment efficiency and drug content for F6 LVD microsphereswas found to be 79.31%, 65.55% and 96.25% respectively. The particle size was ranged from 34.61% to 51.45 μm sizes and in vitro release profileshowed that cross-linking density of gelatin microspheres effectively controlled the release of LVD.Conclusion: The findings of our investigation demonstrated that F6 of gelatin-LVD microspheres had good controlled release profile with maximumentrapment efficiency and prolonged drug release for 24 hrs or longer and this formulation would be capable of overcoming the drawbacks andlimitations of LVD conventional dosage forms.Keywords: Lamivudine, Microspheres, Controlled release, Gelatin, Fourier transform infrared, Differential scanning calorimetry, In vitro releasekinetics

DC UPS for Critical Loads

The usual way to avoid a computer shutdown during a mains failure is to connect an  uninterruptible power supply system (UPS), which can be suitably modified and fitted inside the computer cabinet by the use of proposed methodology known as a dc UPS.  Conventional desk top UPS systems store electricity in form of chemical energy in batteries and when ever mains fail the batteries provide DC power which is then converter to ac by inverter and then fed to the computer in order to save critical data.  Thus power from mains or from UPS is fed to switched mode power supply unit which converts it to dc to  supply the computer motherboard and accessories.  Leaving the case of the computer powered by mains, duing power failure the dc power is unnecessarily converted to ac and then to dc again in SMPS hence high switching losses and heat is produced there by making the entire system very lowe efficient.  In this work it is proposed to directly feed the dc power from the battery to the computer SMPS system by building a UPS arrangement within the computer system.  This not noly saves space, it is highly efficient compared to the conventional ups system, easy to carry, low cost and reliable since there is no change over operation is required/.  A complete design of an ac to dc power supply with an internal dc UPS is presented in this paper. . A prototype has been fully developed and tested as a PC power supply. Thus the result is achieved at full power about 6-8 minutes

Three-Dimensional Nanostructured Palladium with Single Diamond Architecture for Enhanced Catalytic Activity

Fuel cells are a key new green technology that have applications in both transport and portable power generation. Carbon-supported platinum (Pt) is used as an anode and cathode electrocatalyst in low-temperature fuel cells fueled with hydrogen or low-molecular-weight alcohols. The cost of Pt and the limited world supply are significant barriers to the widespread use of these types of fuel cells. Comparatively, palladium has a 3 times higher abundance in the Earth’s crust. Here, a facile, low-temperature, and scalable synthetic route toward three-dimensional nanostructured palladium (Pd) employing electrochemical templating from inverse lyotropic lipid phases is presented. The obtained single diamond morphology Pd nanostructures exhibited excellent catalytic activity and stability toward methanol, ethanol, and glycerol oxidation compared to commercial Pd black, and the nanostructure was verified by small-angle X-ray scattering, scanning tunneling electron microscopy, and cyclic voltammetry

Designing an information system for updating land records in Bangladesh: action design ethnographic research (ADER)

Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Information Systems (IS) has developed through adapting, generating and applying diverse methodologies, methods, and techniques from reference disciplines. Further, Action Design Research (ADR) has recently developed as a broad research method that focuses on designing and redesigning IT and IS in organizational contexts. This paper reflects on applying ADR in a complex organizational context in a developing country. It shows that ADR requires additional lens for designing IS in such a complex organizational context. Through conducting ADR, it is seen that an ethnographic framework has potential complementarities for understanding complex contexts thereby enhancing the ADR processes. This paper argues that conducting ADR with an ethnographic approach enhances design of IS and organizational contexts. Finally, this paper aims presents a broader methodological framework, Action Design Ethnographic Research (ADER), for designing artefacts as well as IS. This is illustrated through the case of a land records updating service in Bangladesh

Analysis of Emission and Fuel Economy in a Plug in Hybrid Vehicle Using Various Control Strategies

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) differ from hybrid vehicles (HEVs) with their capability to use off-board electricity generation to recharge their battery. Electric vehicles are highly emerging for transportation purpose, which have been developed over the past several decades due to various environmental concerns. Pure electric vehicles currently do not have adequate range when powered by batteries alone and also recharging of it requires several hours. The shortcoming raised with the standalone energy source powered electric vehicle made to think about an alternative option for an electric vehicle and motivated towards the hybridization of energy sources in electric vehicle. This paper analyzes the equivalent power circuit and operation principles of a PHEV using UDDS and NEDC driving pattern. Regenerative braking also provides an effective way of extending the driving range of battery powered electric vehicles. Conventional automobiles use Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) to operate with the energy source from fossil fuels. However, the conventional vehicle system provides limited fuel economy, as well as producing harmful air pollutants. A Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) has been introduced which operates within its all electric range. Which have high capacity of energy storage system. PHEVs used to charge the battery from electricity grid, which differs from the traditional Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). The plug in hybrid electric vehicle is instigated for enhancing the vehicle performance by improving the fuel economy, effectively capturing the regenerative braking energy by controlling the Battery State of Charge (SoC) level within the optimal upper and lower bound that would improve the battery life, eliminating the fuel starvation problem and maximizing the drivability of the vehicle through an optimized distribution of the required power to the load. The proposed work is focused on designing a gasoline based Hybrid Electric Vehicle includes the modelling of hybrid energy sources and other interfacing structures

Fecal Incontinence: Prevalence, Severity, and Quality of Life Data from an Outpatient Gastroenterology Practice

Background. The prevalence of fecal incontinence varies tremendously as a result of inadequate data collection methods. Few office-based studies have assessed the prevalence of fecal incontinence and none have looked at modifiable risk factors or effect on quality of life. Design, Settings, Patients, and Main Outcome Measures. Five hundred patients who visited our inner city, university-based gastroenterology practice, were asked about symptoms of fecal incontinence. We also retrospectively reviewed 500 charts to identify the frequency of patient-physician reporting of fecal incontinence. Results. Of the 500 patients that were directly questioned, 58 (12%, 43 women, 15 men) admitted to fecal incontinence compared to 12 (2.4%) in the retrospective arm. Patients with fecal incontinence and loose/watery stool reported the lowest quality of life scores. While the average severity score was similar between men and women, women had a significantly lower average quality of life score (3.04 versus 2.51; P < 0.03). Conclusions. The identification of fecal incontinence increases when patients are directly questioned. Identifying and treating patients with loose stool is a potential strategy to improve quality of life in this patient population. In men and women with similar severity of fecal incontinence, women have a significantly lower quality of life

Electrochemically copper-doped bismuth tellurium selenide thin films

We report the first results of a study on electrochemically doped copper bismuth tellurium selenide thin films electrodeposited from aqueous nitric acid electrolytes containing up to 2 mM of Cu(NO3)2. The effect of Cu(NO3)2 concentration on the composition, structure and thermoelectric properties of the bismuth tellurium selenide films is investigated by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Seebeck and Hall effect measurements. A Cu(NO3)2 concentration of 1.5 mM is found to offer a Seebeck coefficient of up to −390 μV K−1 at room temperature, which is the highest reported to date for an electrodeposited bismuth tellurium compound