Computational study on the effects of variable viscosity of micropolar liquids on heat transfer in a channel

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - A numerical model is developed to study the effects of temperature-dependent viscosity on heat transfer in magnetohydrodynamic flow of micropolar fluid...     

Bifurcation diagrams and caustics of simple quasi border singularities

Quasi boundary and quasi corner singularities of functions are discussed. They correspond to the classifications of Lagrangian projections with a boundary or a corner. The geometry of bifurcation diagrams and caustics of simple quasi boundary and quasi corner singularities in R³ and R⁴ are described.     

Anti-atherosclerotic activity of Betulinic acid loaded polyvinyl alcohol/methylacrylate grafted Lignin polymer in high fat diet induced atherosclerosis model rats

Betulinic acid is one such natural pentacyclic triterpenoid compound, holding various pharmacological properties but its poor bioavailability is the only limitation. One of the biological macromolecules such as Lignin is a plant-derived aromatic, eco-friendly and low-cost polymer that certainly self-assembles into nano-sized colloids. Therefore, onto the current investigation, we increased the bioavailability of betulinic acid by coating on to a nanopolymer prepared with poly vinyl alcohol, lignins and methyl acrylate. Betulinic acid loaded polyvinyl alcohol/ethylacrylate grafted Lignin polymer (PVA/Lig-g-MA) nanoformulation was characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM and TEM analysis and also the drug entrapment, in vitro drug releasing capacity was done to examine the efficiency of the nanoformulation of a drug. The MTT assay was evaluated the cytotoxicity of synthesized nanoformulation against normal endothelial cells HUVEC and HAPEC to confirm the side effects of the drug. The anti-atherosclerotic property of the nanoformulation was ascertained in both in vitro condition (with HUVEC and HPAEC) and in vivo studies (with Wistar rats). As a result, the characterization studies and in vitro studies clearly confirmed the Betulinic acid loaded PVA/Lig-g-MA nanoformulation is an ideal nanopolymer and it doesn’t cause any cytotoxic effect in normal endothelial cells. It also decreased the lipopolysaccharides induced inflammation through the down-regulation of NFκB and MAP/JNK signaling molecule expressions. Following in vivo results confirmed the synthesized nanoformulation effectively decreased the hyperchlostremia, inflammation and vasoconstriction, which induced over high fat diet. The results of histopathological analysis of cardiac tissues also confirmed the cardioprotective role of synthesized nanoformulation. Overall, both the in vitro and in vivo studies authentically proven the Betulinic acid loaded PVA/Lig-g-MA nanoformulation would be a potent cost effective anti-atherosclerotic nanodrug.     

First observation of F

We measured the excitation function for ¹³O + p elastic scattering to obtain data on the unknown ¹⁴F nucleus. The ground state and several low-lying excited states in ¹⁴F were observed and spin/parity assignments were made. ¹⁴F appears to be much less unstable than was predicted. We compare theoretical predictions for the ¹⁴F level scheme with the experimental results.     

On the New Shear Constraint for Plane-Stress Orthotropic Plasticity Modeling of Sheet Metals

Experimental Mechanics - A shear constraint was very recently proposed by Abedini et al. (Int. J. Solids and Structures 151: 118–134 2018) to evaluate and calibrate advanced non-quadratic...     

Crystallization kinetics of binary arsenic selenium chalcogenides

Binary As–Se glasses with different amounts of As content have been prepared and scanned with different heating rates (3 ≤ ψ ≤ 48 K min⁻¹) over temperatures ranging from 300 to 450 K. Both the glass transition temperature (T_gl) and the temperature peak of crystallization (T_pc) increase as a function of As and/or the ψ values. A good correlation between T_gl and T_pc has been investigated. The observed increase in T_gl and T_pc by increasing the ψ values or as a function of As is well discussed in accordance with Lasocka’s relationship and using the average coordination number A_cn, the viscosity at glass transition μ(T_gl) and the overall mean bond energy E. The glass transition E_gl and crystallization activation energies (E_gl and E_pc) were determined based on the changes in T_gl and T_pc values due to the heating rate (ψ). The increase in the values of E_gl and E_pc with increasing the As content is expected due to the increase in T_gl and T_pc values. The kinetic exponent n and the crystal dimensionality m have been determined.