Acid-induced gelation behavior of sonicated casein solutions

Casein gels were made from solutions sonicated by 24 and 130 kHz ultrasounds for 0, 60 and 120 min, followed by acidification with glucono-δ-lactone at 30 °C. The dynamics of gel formation were studied using rheological methods and microstructure of gels was monitored using scanning electron microscopy. Sonication postponed the gelation point to a lower pH value and increased the elasticity of freshly formed gels. It also resulted in gels with a more interconnected structure and smaller non-distinguishable particulates. This structure was especially dominant for the gel made from the solution already sonicated for 120 min.     

Guaranteed cost nonlinear sampled-data control: applications to a class of chaotic systems

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper addresses the guaranteed cost sampled-data controller synthesis and analysis problems with application to nonlinear chaotic systems. A linear parameter-varying (LPV)...     

Influence of ionic liquid counterions on activity and selectivity of ethylene trimerization using chromium-based catalysts in biphasic media

In recent years ionic liquids (ILs) have attracted much interest because of their widespread use in various fields. Several trimerization and oligomerization catalysts have been evaluated in ILs with different organic–inorganic hybrid structures. High catalytic activity and selectivity, easy product separation, and recycling of the catalyst are the advantages of a biphasic catalyst system compared to the homogeneous catalysts. In this study, the influence of IL counter-anions on activity and selectivity of the ethylene trimerization catalysts based on Cr-SNS-R was investigated. All synthesized materials were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, UV–Vis. spectroscopy, thin-layer chromatography, and elemental analysis (CHNS). In ethylene trimerization reaction, the dodecyl substituent in the SNS ligand exhibited better activity and selectivity than the butyl substituent. The results revealed that the presence of BF₄⁻ as a counter-anion in the IL led to an increase in activity and selectivity compared to Br⁻ and I⁻ counter-anions. It was found that the BF₄⁻ counter-anion plays a conclusive role in the development of 1-hexene activity and selectivity to a maximum amount of 71,132 g_1-C6/(g_Cr × h) and more than 99%, respectively. Finally, the catalyst was reused thrice without losing its 1-hexene selectivity.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Tin Oxide Nanoparticles by Solid State Chemical Reaction Method

High purity tin oxide nanopowders have been synthesized by using a solid-state chemical reaction technique with annealing at elevated temperature. The effects of two parameters, specifically by controlling the annealing temperature and kind of alkaline chlorides as precursors, the effect on particle size, morphology and IR spectra of synthesized tin oxide nanopowder were investigated. From the X-ray pattern, the crystal structure of the synthesized powders was confirmed as a tetragonal structure. Based on the recorded FTIR spectrum of SnO₂, the IR bands due to SnO₂ vibrations and its lattice modes were observed at 625 and 690 cm⁻¹, respectively. In addition, an important characterization peak has been identified at 1,450 cm⁻¹ due to Sn–O–Sn bridges observed only when LiCl was used as precursor. The formation of Sn–O–Sn bridges was confirmed by TGA–DTA analysis. According to the SEM images, it is obvious to notice that the kind of alkaline chlorides as precursors play a dominant role in controlling the morphology of tin oxide nanopowders.     

A novel technique for simultaneous diagnosis and radioprotection by radioactive cerium oxide nanoparticles: study of cyclotron production of <Superscript>137m</Superscript>Ce

Application of nanoparticles in nuclear medicine has aimed to develop diagnosis and therapeutic techniques. Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CNPs) are expected to be useful for protection of healthy tissue from radiation-induced harm and could serve therapeutic function. Among a variety of cerium radioisotopes, ^137mCe (T _1/2 = 34.4 h, IT (99.22%), β⁺ (0.779%)) could be a novel candidate radionuclide in the field of diagnosis owing to its appropriate half-life, 99.91% natural abundance of target and its intense gamma line at 254.29 keV. In this study, ^137mCe excitation function via the ^natLa(p,3n) reaction was calculated by TALYS-1.2 and EMPIRE-3 codes. The excitation function calculations demonstrated that the ^natLa(p,3n)^137mCe reaction leads to the formation of the ^136/138Ce isotopic contamination in the 22–35 MeV energy range. Interestingly, the isotopic impurities of ^137mCe could serve radio protector function. Overall results indicate that the cyclotron produced ^137mCeO₂ nanoparticles by irradiation of a target encompassing lanthanum oxide nanoparticles could be a potent alternative for conventional diagnostic radionuclides with simultaneous radioprotection capacity.     

Thermal Degradation Kinetics and Modeling Study of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWP)/Graphene Nanocomposite

The incorporation of nanofillers such as graphene into polymers has shown significant improvements in mechanical characteristics, thermal stability, and conductivity of resulting polymeric nanocomposites. To this aim, the influence of incorporation of graphene nanosheets into ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) on the thermal behavior and degradation kinetics of UHMWPE/graphene nanocomposites was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that graphene nanosheets were uniformly spread throughout the UHMWPE’s molecular chains. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) data posited that the morphology of dispersed graphene sheets in UHMWPE was exfoliated. Non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies identified a more pronounced increase in melting temperatures and latent heat of fusions in nanocomposites compared to UHMWPE at lower concentrations of graphene. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) revealed that UHMWPE’s thermal stability has been improved via incorporating graphene nanosheets. Further, degradation kinetics of neat polymer and nanocomposites have been modeled using equations such as Friedman, Ozawa–Flynn–Wall (OFW), Kissinger, and Augis and Bennett’s. The "Model-Fitting Method” showed that the auto-catalytic nth-order mechanism provided a highly consistent and appropriate fit to describe the degradation mechanism of UHMWPE and its graphene nanocomposites. In addition, the calculated activation energy (E_a) of thermal degradation was enhanced by an increase in graphene concentration up to 2.1 wt.%, followed by a decrease in higher graphene content.     

4-channels coherent perfect absorption (CPA)-type demultiplexer using plasmonic nano spheres

The current research represents a nanoscale and compact 4-channels plasmonic demultiplexer. It includes eight coherent perfect absorption (CPA) – type filters. The operation principle is based on the absorbable formation of a conductive path in the dielectric layer of a plasmonic nano-spheres waveguide. Since the CPA efficiency depends strongly on the number of plasmonic nano-spheres and the nano spheres location, an efficient binary optimization method based on the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm is used to design an optimized array of the plasmonic nano-sphere in order to achieve the maximum absorption coefficient in the ‘off’ state.     

Impact of chitosan coating of anionic liposomes on clearance rate, mucosal and systemic immune responses following nasal administration in rabbits

Liposomes have been identified as effective immunological adjuvants and have potential for the intranasal and oral delivery of protein antigen. Anionic MLV liposomes were prepared by dehydration–rehydration method. For coating, liposomes were incubated in chitosan solution. Efficiency of coating was confirmed by the evaluation of FITC-labelled chitosan-coated liposomes using a fluorescent microscope. Liposomes morphology and size were studied by optical microscope and size analyzer. Mucoadhesion potential of liposomes was evaluated in human nose by gamma-scintigraphy using ^99mTc-labelled liposomes. Rabbits (4 animals per group) were nasally immunized in weeks 0, 2 and 4 by liposomes encapsulated with 40 Lf TT. Bleedings and lavage collections were taken place in weeks 3 and 6, and IgG and sIgA titers were measured by ELISA method.Liposomes had a mean diameter of 2.38 μm. Loading of TT was 58.7 ± 12.4%. The mucoadhesion (clearance rate from nose) of both coated and non-coated liposomes was similar (P > 0.05). Among the immunized animals, the highest nasal lavage sIgA titers were seen in non-coated liposomes followed by coated ones. The serum IgG titers (2nd bleeding) in animals immunized by both kinds of liposome were similar (P > 0.05), and were lower than the TT solution group (P < 0.05). Immunization by i.m. injection of TT solution resulted in the lowest sIgA and highest IgG titers (P < 0.05) compared with liposomal groups.The results were indicative of good potential of negatively charged liposomes in the induction of mucosal immunity. Coating of liposomes by chitosan, failed to increase both the residence time of liposomes in nasal cavity and systemic responses. Conversely, coated liposomes could not induce the mucosal responses as efficiently as non-coated liposomes. It seems that the coating of liposomes affected their interaction potential with nasal associated lymphoid tissue cells.     

Chaotic invasive weed optimization algorithm with application to parameter estimation of chaotic systems

This paper introduces a novel hybrid optimization algorithm by taking advantage of the stochastic properties of chaotic search and the invasive weed optimization (IWO) method. In order to deal with the weaknesses associated with the conventional method, the proposed chaotic invasive weed optimization (CIWO) algorithm is presented which incorporates the capabilities of chaotic search methods. The functionality of the proposed optimization algorithm is investigated through several benchmark multi-dimensional functions. Furthermore, an identification technique for chaotic systems based on the CIWO algorithm is outlined and validated by several examples. The results established upon the proposed scheme are also supplemented which demonstrate superior performance with respect to other conventional methods.     

Practicality of the cyclotron production of radiolanthanide 142Pr: a potential for therapeutic applications and biodistribution studies

Radiolanthanide praseodymium-142 (T _1/2 = 19.12 h, E _?? ^?  = 2.162 MeV (96.3%), E?? = 1575 keV (3.7%)) due to its high ??-emission and low specific ??-emission could not only be a therapeutic radionuclide, but also a suitable radionuclide in order for biodistribution studies. Conventionally, ¹⁴²Pr produces via ¹⁴¹Pr(n,??)¹⁴²Pr reaction by irradiation in a low-fluence reactor and this study evaluates cyclotron reaction production of it. ¹⁴²Pr excitation function via ^natLa(??,n)¹⁴²Pr, ¹⁴²Ce(p,n)¹⁴²Pr, and ^natPr(d,p)¹⁴²Pr reactions were calculated by TALYS-1.2 and EMPIRE-2.19beta codes, and with the data taken from the TENDL-2010 database. In addition, we compared them with the reported measurement by experimental data. Requisite thickness of targets was obtained by SRIM-2010 code for each reaction. The ¹⁴²Pr production yield was evaluated with attention to excitation function and stopping power. Similar to reactor produced ¹⁴²Pr; ¹⁴¹Pr impurity exists in cyclotron produced ¹⁴²Pr while it could not be separated by chemical methods. Therefore, cyclotron and reactor produced ¹⁴²Pr will be in carrier added form.