Optimization of disodium edetate topical gel using central composite design and evaluation for external radioactive decontamination
In order to develop a superior formulation for skin decontamination of 99mTc-pertechnetate (a potential radiocontaminant), a topical gel formulation containing disodium edetate was optimized by using 2-factor, 3-level central composite design. Polymer concentration (A) and disodium edetate concentration (B) were selected as the independent variables and the dependent variables were selected as viscosity (Y1), spreadability (Y2) and extrudability (Y3) of the gel. The viscosity of the gel was found to decrease proportionally with spreadability and extrudability, whereas the spreadability was increased proportionally with extrudability. Validation of the optimization study with 13 confirmatory runs indicated a high degree of predictive ability of response surface methodology (RSM). The optimized formulations were evaluated for drug content, in vitro, in vivo, ex vivo and skin irritation studies. The in vitro evaluation of the topical gel efficacy study confirmed the good chelation efficacy of disodium edetate molecules with 99mTc-pertechnetate ions. The ex vivo diffusion kinetics study demonstrated that the permeation rate of 99mTc-pertechnetate through intact skin was decreased to 83.68% after immediate application of disodium edetate gel. In vivo studies demonstrated that the application of topical gel is effective in external decontamination of 99mTc-pertecnetate from male Sprague-Dawley rats. The optimized gels did not produce any dermatological reactions on rats. All the results of the study revealed that disodium edetate loaded topical gel is a promising formulation for the external decontamination of radioactive agents.
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Organizational justice: understanding, applying, and measuring
The term ‘organizational justice’ refers to the extent to which employees perceive workplace procedures, interactions and outcomes to be fair in nature. These perceptions can influence attitudes and behaviour for good or ill, in turn having a positive or negative impact on employee performance and the organization’s success. The principles of organizational justice are not, on the whole, complex to apply and may be considered more in the vein of ‘sound managerial practice’ than ‘social technology’. While some interventions may be less successful on some occasions or in particular contexts, none is likely to be harmful, and at the very least they will promote a sense that the organization is concerned about fairness. When implemented well, they can make a significant contribution to improving performance, enhancing commitment, and preserving dignity and humaneness.
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Patterns of response and non-response in longitudinal survey of Oyo community, Oyo state, Nigeria
There is widespread concern that the cumulative effects of the non-response that is bound to affect any long-running longitudinal study will lead to mistaken inferences about change. We focused this work on the Longitudinal Survey of Oyo town covering the existing fifteen (15) Enumeration Areas to show the patterns of response and non-response. The Surveys started in 2008 and a two-stage stratified random sampling scheme was used in selecting 750 households. Household heads were interviewed in five waves (waves 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). We used an interviewer-administered questionnaire to collect data on the demographic characteristics of the respondents. The Response rates for waves 1 through 5 were 77.86%, 82%, 81.33%, 82% and 80.67% respectively while the non-response rates were 22.14%, 18%, 18.67%, 18%, and 19.33% respectively. The average number of visit ranges from a minimum of 1.2 in Kosobo to a maximum of 4 in Ladigbolu. The average duration of the household interview ranges between a minimum of 7.7 minutes in Monbolaje and a maximum of 18 minutes in Asipa. Finally, fieldwork lasts on average of 11.8 hour in Asipa, but only 6.6 hours in Monbolaje. The most common interview mode is the Pencil-And-Paper (face-to-face) Interview. New entry is linked to eligibility, whereas monotone attrition is mainly due to migration. Occasional responses are due to absences while that of non-responses are due to out of scope and lack of cooperation.
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Payoff in Oligopoly Markets’ A Mathematical Model
Game Theory may be applied in situations in which a Decision Maker (DM) must take into account the reasoning of other Decision Makers. It has proved to be an enormously fruitful approach to the analysis of a wide range of problems. Any situation in which rivals make strategic choices, to which competitors will respond, can be assessed using game theory analysis. An Oligopoly is a market dominated by a few large suppliers. The degree of market concentration is very high (i.e. a large % of the market is taken up by the leading firms). Firms within an oligopoly produce branded products (advertising and marketing is an important feature of competition within such markets) and there are also barriers to entry. Another important characteristic of an oligopoly is interdependence between firms. This means that each firm must take into account the likely reactions of other firms in the market when making pricing and investment decisions. This creates uncertainty in such markets - which we seek to model through the use of game theory. The purpose of this paper is to develop a purely mathematical approach to determine a Payoff for oligopoly market. The model developed allows the researcher to derive Payoff Matrix in an oligopoly market using only assumption about each firm.
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Performance study of variation effect of spacer thickness on Si/Si0.5Te0.5-based resonant interband tunneling diode
Si-based resonant interband tunneling diodes (RITD) with spacer thicknesses varying from 2.5 to 25 nm was grown and fabricated at Baghdad University. The effect of spacer thickness on the peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR), peak current density (JP), and voltage swing (VS) was studied for determining the static or dynamic read access memory (SRAM, DRAM). By increasing the tunneling spacer thickness up to 12 nm, RITDs with VS are reduced below 0.3V; this is suitable for low-power tunnel diode SRAM applications. The JP increased as the spacer thickness increased from 2.5nm to 5nm. As the spacer thickness increased above 5nm, the Jp decreased. Using a low-current-density in this paper, a bread-boarded one-transistor tunneling-based SRAM (TSRAM) memory cell with low standby power consumption was demonstrated, where the standby power of this 1T TSRAM is estimated to be 65nW/cell using the 10-?m diameter RITDs. The result demonstrates the potential of Si-based tunnel diodes for low-power memory applications.
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Placement generation units using ant colony algorithm (ACS) to improve the reliability of the distribution network
One of the key issues in assessing the reliability of power systems. Studies and projects to improve the reliability of the distribution network has mostly been focused on changing the structure of the distribution system or transmission the Executive them even more expensive and is not available. In this work, the development of DG units in distribution networks the presence of these materials ensure that the indicators qabylt distribution network will pay. In this thesis, the main goal of distributed production system effects on the reliability of the system with regard to limitations related parameters such as voltage profiles and losses in the distribution network. Concepts and indicators of the reliability of the network and the ongoing impact of DG units on the reliability of the distribution network will be investigated. Finally, the intelligent ant colony algorithm to determine the optimal location generation units in order to achieve the best reliability indices by including restrictions have been charged. The proposed algorithm is tested on 34 bus IEEE network simulation, simulated and results are compared.
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Prevalence of anemia among the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and diabetes – in and around Ongole -India
The infectious disease pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and the non-infectious disease diabetes mellitus (DM) constitutes major health problem in the society. Many research studies acknowledging the negative health impacts of DM on patients with PTB. In this study 500 PTB patients with DM had been subjected to screen for anemia. Hb % had been studied to evaluate their anemic status. The study results had been strongly proving about…% of the PTB patients were found to be affected by anemia. From this study results, it has been concluded that the patients with DM and PTB had been documented with mild to severe type of anemia . These patients require special care to treat anemia which in turn helps in the management of PTB and DM.
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Prevalence of Depression among university students in Nairobi County, Kenya: A comparison of two public universities
Depression is a serious mental disease that affects both young and old people in the society. Depressed people harbor negative thoughts, and this makes them perceive life issues negatively. Depression is common among university students and despite the methods provided for its intervention, the prevalence of depression among university students remain higher than in the general population. The objective of this study was to determine and compare the current prevalence of depression among engineering students at the University of Nairobi and at the Technical University of Kenya. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted, where two Kenyan public universities were conveniently sampled. Engineering students from the University of Nairobi and those from The Technical University of Kenya who were studying undergraduate degree in any engineering courses were sampled for the study. The study data was collected using questionnaires and the Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). The prevalence of depression was determined through proportions obtained from the data from the BDI in the two different universities. The findings indicated that 66.4% of the respondents from University of Nairobi had no depression, 16.9% registered moderate depression levels, 15.5% had mild depression, while 1.2% of the respondents exhibited severe depression. Further, results revealed that 67.1% of the respondents from Technical University of Kenya exhibited had no depression, 16.9% registered mild depression levels, 14.8% had moderate depression, while 1.2% of the respondents exhibited severe depression. The study concluded that about a third of the students studying engineering degree courses at the University of Nairobi and at the Technical University of Kenya are currently going through different levels of depression ranging from mild, moderate and severe depression. The implication of the findings is that depression is a serious concern among university students and therefore should not be ignored.
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Prevalence of Depressive Disorder and the associated social and demographic characteristics in a post-conflict setting: Maai Mahiu IDP in Nakuru, Kenya
Trauma can have long-term effects on the survivors’ mental health. In addition, levels of mental disorders reported among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees globally vary considerably. The disputed 2007 presidential election in Kenya eventually resulted in violence. The survivors were left with heavy psychosocial and economic burdens. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of depression at baseline among IDPs resident in Maai Mahiu camp after the 2007/8 Post Election Violence (PEV) in Kenya. This study was pretest-posttest quasi-experimental and used purposive sampling to select a sample of 139 respondents out of the target population of 196 households. The respondents gave informed consent and filled out socio-demographic and Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI-11) questionnaires. Analysis was conducted using SPSS, whereby univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistical tests were done. The findings indicated a high prevalence of Depressive Disorder (DD) at 63.3% among the respondents. These findings are significant for clinical practice and could be used to update strategies and policies governing IDP’s health. Therefore, the study recommended that psychosocial interventions should be provided to the PEV survivors and other vulnerable populations in Kenya to avert their suffering.
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Problems of the aged persons in urban area and role of familial relations
The need of social gerontological studies is increasing due to rapid changes in life styles especially in urban area. With increasing facilities available in urban environment, the aged people can live without much support of other family members to certain extent. But after certain age and after some period of isolation, they feel dejected and this feeling of dejection leads to many physiological and psychological problems. While economically well to do aged ones are not having economic problems but they have other problems common to poorer people. A survey of the aged persons in Hubli-Dharwad Corporation Area including samples across different religious and economic groups is proposed to be undertaken. The proposed study will follow questionnaire method. It has been observed that the aged males feel more insecure about their future than the female counterparts, especially in getting help from children in their day-to-day life. There appears to be sex-wise difference in the economic impact, as females do not face much of problems as do the males. The married ones face less age related problems than the single ones. The role of family relations in solving the age-related problems has been discussed.
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