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.     

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...     

Influences of nanoparticles and chain length on thermodynamic and electrical behavior of fluorine liquid crystals

Hydrogen-bonded polar nematic liquid crystal series with the general formula nOBAF (n = 7—12) is studied. The mesomorphic characterization is demonstrated through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). The complexes with short alkyl chains (n=7, 8) present a wide nematic range and monotropic smectic F mesophase, whereas the longer alkyl chain (n=10—12) analogues show high melting and low clearing mesomorphic liquid crystals. The thermal range of the mesophase and the birefringence increase with chain length decreasing. Furthermore, the effect of the nanoparticles (LiNbO₃) on the thermal and the electrical behavior of 8OBAF are investigated. The presence of LiNbO₃ nanoparticles increases the conductivity and reduces the resistivity of the complex.     

Genetic diversity and haplotype structure of 21 Y‐STRs,including nine noncore loci,in South Tunisian Population: Forensic relevance

Y chromosome STRs (Y‐STRs) are being used frequently in forensic laboratories. Previous studies of Y‐STR polymorphisms in different groups of the Tunisian population identified low levels of diversity and discrimination capacity (DC) using various commercial marker sets. This definitely limits the use of such systems for Y‐STRs genotyping in Tunisia. In our investigation on South Tunisia, 200 unrelated males were typed for the 12 conventional Y‐STRs included in the PowerPlex® Y System. Additional set of nine noncore Y‐STRs including DYS446, DYS456, DYS458, DYS388, DYS444, DYS445, DYS449, DYS710, and DYS464 markers were genotyped and evaluated for their potential in improving DC. Allele frequency, gene diversity, haplotype diversity (HD), and DC calculation revealed that DYS464 was the most diverse marker followed by DYS710 and DYS449 markers. The standard panel of 12 Y‐STRs (DC = 80.5%) and the nine markers were combined to obtain DC of 99%. Among the 198 different haplotypes observed, 196 haplotypes were unique (HD = 99.999). Out of the nine noncore set, six Y‐STRs (DYS458, DYS456, DYS449, DYS710, DYS444, and DYS464) had the greatest impact on enhancing DC. Our data provided putative Y‐STRs combination to be used for genetic and forensic applications.