Gamma-irradiation effects on the electrical conductivity of pure and Co-doped MgAl2O4 spinel

The electrical conductivity of pure and Co-doped MgAl₂O₄ spinels was measured at 700–1100 K. The results of both pure and doped spinels were found to be fitted with an exponential expression with two different activation-energy parameters, in two ranges of temperature. The effect of -irradiation on the electrical conductivity of pure and doped spinels was also studied. The kinetic parameters of the isothermal annealing of the induced irradiation damages in the spinels were determined. All the results were found to be consistent with the ionic conduction which was suggested to be due to the motion of the cation vacancy.     

A combined genetic algorithm-fuzzy logic controller (GA–FLC) in nonlinear programming

This paper presents a combined genetic algorithm-fuzzy logic controller (GA–FLC) technique for constrained nonlinear programming problems. In the standard Genetic algorithms, the upper and lower limits of the search regions should be given by the decision maker in advance to the optimization process. In general a needlessly large search region is used in fear of missing the global optimum outside the search region. Therefore, if the search region is able to adapt toward a promising area during the optimization process, the performance of GA will be enhanced greatly. Thus in this work we tried to investigate the influence of the bounding intervals on the final result. The proposed algorithm is made of classical GA coupled with FLC. This controller monitors the variation of the decision variables during process of the algorithm and modifies the boundary intervals to restart the next round of the algorithm. These characteristics make this approach well suited for finding optimal solutions to the highly NLP problems. Compared to previous works on NLP, our method proved to be more efficient in computation time and accuracy of the final solution.     

Physical properties of hexafluoroacetone

The vapour pressure of hexafluoroacetone has been determined from 58°C to the critical point. The critical temperature and pressure were also measured. Densities of the liquid and saturated vapour were determined between - 50°C and the critical point. Using this information the rectilinear diameter line and the heats of vaporization have been determined.     

Development of Organochlorine Pesticide Electrochemical Sensor Based on Fe3O4 Nanoparticles@indium Tin Oxide Electrode

Monitoring food quality and safety need the development of highly sensitive and accurate techniques. Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are a widely used category of pesticides. The high toxicity and high stability of OCPs pesticides made their detection the target of several research studies. Chloridazon, one of the wide used OCPs pesticides, and its major degradation product (chloridazon-desphenyl) have shown high harmful effects. Here, a specific OCPs electrochemical sensor was developed. Fe₃O₄ nanostructures decorated indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode showed high specificity towards the OCPs because of the capability of chlorine atoms, to interact with the iron oxide NPs. The chemical composition and the morphology of the modified nanosensor were investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The results showed the formation of two morphologies, including spongy agglomerated NPs with100 nm in diameter and nanofibers with 20 nm in thickness. The modified electrode exhibited a high sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.9 μmol L⁻¹. Also, chloridazon was detected in the presence of various interferences, including isoproturon pesticide and urea. Furthermore, chloridazon pesticide was also detected in a surface water sample.     

Stability indicating methods for the determination of some anti-fungal agents using densitometric and RP-HPLC methods

Two chromatographic methods were developed for the determination of some anti-fungal drugs in the presence of either their degradation products or cortisone derivatives. The densitometric method determined mixtures of each of ketoconazole (KT), clotrimazole (CL), miconazole nitrate (MN) and econazole nitrate (EN) with the degradation products of each one. Mixtures of MN with hydrocortisone (HC) and of EN with triamcinolone acetonide (TA) were also successfully separated and determined by this technique. For KT and CL, a mixture of methanol:water:triethylamine (70:28:2 v/v) was used as a developing system and the spots were scanned at 243 nm and 220 nm for KT and CL, respectively. For MN and EN, a mixture of hexane:isopropyl alcohol:triethylamine (80:17:3 v/v) was used as a developing system and the spots were scanned at 225 nm for both drugs. The HPLC method determined mixtures of CL or EN with their degradation products which were separated and quantified on a Zorbax C8 column. Elution was carried out using methanol:phosphate buffer pH 2.5 (65:35 v/v) as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.5 ml/min and UV detection at 220 nm for CL. For EN, a mixture of methanol:water containing 0.06 ml triethylamine pH 10 (75:25 v/v) was used as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.5 ml/min and UV detection at 225 nm. The methods were also used to separate mixtures of CL with betamethasone dipropionate (BD) and EN with TA in a laboratory prepared mixture and in pharmaceutical preparations. The methods were sensitive, precise and applicable for determination of the drugs in pharmaceutical dosage forms.     

Cure kinetics, dynamic mechanical and morphological properties of epoxy resin-Im6NiBr2 system

The aim of this study was to examine effects of a catalyst of Nickel-imidazole, i.e. Im₆NiBr₂ on the cure reaction and network properties of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A. DSC and FT-IR measurements are carried out on the epoxy resin loaded with 5, 15, and 30 phr of nickel salt to get some insights into the storage stability. It has been concluded that the storage stability has mainly depended on the epoxy composition and was the lowest for the highest level of curing agent. Kinetics of the cure has been described by applying iso-conversional method of Ozawa to scanning DSC data demonstrating that the studied cure reaction is autocatalytic in nature. The Kamal phenomenological approach has been utilized to fit the experimental isothermal DSC data. The model showed a satisfactory fitting of the experimental results at either early stages or at the final steps of the studied cure reaction. Further, the model did not provide a reasonable fitting in the propagation step of polymerization, 0.3 < α < 0.5, possibly due to existence of the additional reaction/s which did not consider in the used model. DMTA is used to find the optimum cure schedule. It has been shown that the sample with a postcure treatment offers the highest value of glass transition temperature (T_g) in the tan δ peak. SEM and X-ray analyses are employed to investigate the fracture surface morphology and to understand the distribution of nickel in the cured samples exhibiting that the nickel is scattered in the continuous phase homogenously. Flexural properties of the sample cured at optimum conditions are also determined.     

Extending Time Profile of Morphine‐Induced Analgesia Using a Chitosan‐Based Molecular Imprinted Polymer Nanogel

Chitosan‐based molecular imprinted polymer (CS‐MIP) nanogel is prepared in the presence of morphine template, fully characterized and used as a new vehicle to extend duration of morphine analgesic effect in Naval Medical Research Institute mice. The CS‐MIP nanogel with ≈25 nm size range exhibits 98% loading efficiency, and in vitro release studies show an initial burst followed by an extended slow release of morphine. In order to study the feasibility of CS‐MIP nanogel as morphine carrier, 20 mice are divided into two groups randomly and received subcutaneous injection of morphine‐loaded CS‐MIP and morphine (10 mg kg^?1) dissolved in physiologic saline. Those received injection of morphine‐loaded CS‐MIP show slower and long lasting release of morphine with 193 min effective time of 50% (ET50) analgesia compared to 120 min ET50 in mice received morphine dissolved in physiologic saline. These results suggest that CS‐MIP nanogel can be a possible strategy as morphine carrier for controlled release and extension of its analgesic efficacy.

     

Nanostructured ferrite/graphene/polyaniline using for supercapacitor to enhance the capacitive behavior

Graphene nanosheets, polyaniline (PANI), and nanocrystallites of transition metal ferrite {Fe₃O₄ (Mag), NiFe₂O₄ (NiF), and CoFe₂O₄ (CoF)} have been prepared and characterized via XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, UV–vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge discharges, and impedance spectroscopy. Electrochemical measurements showed that supercapacitances of hybrid electrodes made of the ternary materials are higher than that of hybrid electrode made of binary or single material. The ternary hybrid CoF/graphene (G)/PANI electrode exhibits a highest specific capacitance reaching 1123 Fg^?1, an energy density of 240 Wh kg^?1 at 1 A g^?1, and a power density of 2680 Wkg^?1 at 1 A g^?1 and outstanding cycling performance, with 98.2% capacitance retained over 2000 cycles. The extraordinary electrochemical performance of the ternary CoF/G/PANI hybrid can be attributed to the synergistic effects of the individual components. The PANI conducting polymer enhances an electron transport. The Ferrite nanoparticles prevent the restocking of the carbon sheets and provide Faradaic processes to increase the total capacitance.     

Asymptotic representations of solutions of one class of second-order ordinary differential equations

We establish asymptotic representations for some classes of solutions of nonautonomous second-order differential equations close, in a certain sense, to linear equations.