Alginate is one of the natural biopolymers that is widely used for drug formulations, combination of alginate with other polymers, such as gum acacia, pectin, and carrageenan can increase mechanical strength, therefore, can reduce leakage of the encapsulated active pharmaceutical ingredient from the polymer matrix. Interaction of alginate and these polymers can occur via intermolecular hydrogen bonds causing synergism, which is determined from the viscosity of polymer mixture.

Alginate was combined with gum acacia/pectin/carrageenan in different blending ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100) with and without addition of CaCl₂. The synergism effect is obtained from the design of experimental (DoE), and calculati

Currently, one of the topical areas of application of machine learning methods is the prediction of material characteristics. The aim of this work is to develop machine learning models for determining the rheological properties of polymers from experimental stress relaxation curves. The paper presents an overview of the main directions of metaheuristic approaches (local search, evolutionary algorithms) to solving combinatorial optimization problems. Metaheuristic algorithms for solving some important combinatorial optimization problems are described, with special emphasis on the construction of decision trees. A comparative analysis of algorithms for solving the regression problem in CatBoost Regressor has been carried out. The object of

Abstract: In this research, nanofibers have been prepared by using an electrospinning method. Three types of polymer (PVA, VC, PMMA) have been used with different concentration. The applied voltage and the gap length were changed. It was observed that VC is the best polymer than the other types of polymers.

In this research, nanofibers have been prepared by using an electrospinning method. Three types of polymer (PVA, VC, PMMA) have been used with different concentration. The applied voltage and the gap length were changed. It was observed that VC is the best polymer than the other types of polymers.

A cantilevered piezoelectric beam with a tip mass at its free end is a common energy harvester configuration. This paper introduces a new principle of designing such a harvester which increases the generated voltage without changing the natural frequency of the harvester: The attraction force between two permanent magnets is used to add stiffness to the system. This magnetic stiffening counters the effect of the tip mass on the natural frequency. Three setups incorporating piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers of the same type in different mechanical configurations are compared theoretically and experimentally to investigate the feasibility of this principle. Theoretical and experimental results show that magnetically stiffe

Background: Management of immature permanent teeth with necrotic pulp is considered challenging to the clinician. Regeneration of pulp tissue is a relatively new approach for management of these teeth that allow continuation of root maturation rather than formation of just a calcific barrier as in apexification. Method: 9 years-old girl with traumatized upper left central incisor. The clinical and radiographical examinations revealed uncomplicated crown fracture, tenderness to percussion, absence of response to cold vitality test. Diagnostic X-ray revealed open apex with periapical radiolucency. Revascularization was suggested to treat the tooth, starting with irrigation of canal with 5% NaOCl + 3% H2O2, followed by 2 weeks of triple antibi

Soil-structure frictional resistance is an important parameter in the design of many foundation systems. The soil-structure interface area is responsible for load transferring from the structure to the surrounding soil. The mobilized shaft resistance of axially loaded, long slender pile embedded in dense, dry sand is experimentally and numerically analyzed when subjected to pullout force. Experimental setup including an instrumented model pile while the finite element method is used as a numerical analysis tool. The hypoplasticity model is used to model the soil adjacent to and surrounding the pile by using ABAQUS FEA (6.17.1). The soil-structure interface behavior depends on many factors, but mainly on the interface soi

Flexible pavement design and analysis were carried out in the past with semi-experimental methods, using elastic characteristics of pavement layers. Due to the complex interferences between various layers and their time consumption, the traditional pavement analysis, and design methods were replaced with fast and powerful methods including the Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Discrete Element Method (DEM). FEM requires less computational power and is more appropriate for continuous environments. In this study, flexible pavement consisting of 5 layers (surface, binder, base, subbase, and subgrade) had been analyzed using FEM. The ABAQUS (6.14-2) software had been utilized to investigate the influence of the base layer depth on ver

The splicing design of the existing road and the new road in the expansion project is an important part of the design work. Based on the analysis of the characteristics and the load effect of pavement structure on splicing, this paper points out that tensile crack or shear failure may occur at the splicing under the repeated action of the traffic load on the new/old pavement. According to the current structure design code of asphalt pavement in China, it is proposed that the horizontal tensile stress at the bottom of the splicing layer and the vertical shear stress at other layers of the splicing line should be controlled by adjusting the position and size of the excavated steps in addition to the conventional design ind

Flexible pavements are considered an essential element of transportation infrastructure. So, evaluations of flexible pavement performance are necessary for the proper management of transportation infrastructure. Pavement condition index (PCI) and international roughness index (IRI) are common indices applied to evaluate pavement surface conditions. However, the pavement condition surveys to calculate PCI are costly and time-consuming as compared to IRI. This article focuses on developing regression models that predict PCI from IRI. Eighty-three flexible pavement sections, with section length equal to 250 m, were selected in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq, to develop PCI-IRI relationships. In terms of the quantity and severity of eac