Management strategies for the Lower Seyhan catchment

The Seyhan river has a total catchment area of 20,731 km(2) with major pollution sources located downstream of the Seyhan Dam in Adana. The so-called Lower Seyhan, is under the threat of nor only domestic and industrial wastewater discharges originating from the metropolitan area of Adana, but also agricultural wastes of the fertile Cukurova Plain. In this study, the present and future water qualify characteristics of the Lower Seyhan have been investigated by means of a mathematical modelling study based on actual field data as well as in-situ water quality measurements. The model of choice was the QUAL2EU. The behaviour of the Lower Seyhan was studied under different pollution control scenarios in order to develop plausible water quality management strategies for the target year of 2010. As a result of these studies, two alternative systems were proposed for the management of the wastewater sources within the Lower Seyhan catchment. Alternative wastewater treatment plant designs and their cost implications were evaluated by means of the CAPDET-PC software package. A user-charging scheme and an optimisation model that can be used for demonstrating the economic viability of the proposed systems were also developed for obtaining a cost-optimum management policy for both municipalities and industrial establishments of the area. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of the IAWQ. All rights reserved

Electrospinning/electrospraying coatings for metal microneedles: a design of experiments (DOE) and quality by design (QbD) approach

The research presented here shows QbD implementation for the optimisation of the key process parameters in electrohydrodynamic atomisation (EHDA). Here, the electrosprayed nanoparticles and electrospun fibers consisting of a polymeric matrix and dye. Eight formulations were assessed consisting of 5% w/v of polycaprolactone (PCL) in dichloromethane (DCM) and 5% w/v polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in ethanol. A full factorial DOE was used to assess the various parameters (applied voltage, deposition distance, flow rate). Further particle and fiber analysis using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), particle/fiber size distribution. In addition to this in vitro release studied were carried out using fluorescein and Rhodamine B as model dyes and in vitro permeation studies were applied. The results show a significant difference in the morphology of resultant structures as well as a more rapid release profile for the PVP particles and fibers in comparison to the sustained release profiles found with PCL. In vitro drug release studies showed 100% drug release after 7 days for PCL particles and showed 100% drug release within 120 min for PVP particles. The release kinetics and the permeation study showed that the MN successfully pierced the membrane and the electrospun MN coating released a large amount of the loaded drug within 6 h. This study has demonstrated the capability of these robust MNs to encapsulate a diverse range drugs within a polymeric matrix giving rise to the potential of developed personalised medical devices