Quality Assessment of Standard and Customized COTS Products

Software quality is a very important aspect in evolving strategy for IT vendors involved in commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) (also referred as packaged software) product development. Software metrics are widely accepted measures for monitoring and managing the quality in software projects. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are COTS products and attempt to integrate data and processes in organizations and often require extensive customization. Using software quality metrics already established in literature, software quality attributes defined by the quality model ISO/IEC 9126 were evaluated for a standard and a customized ERP product. This will help the ERP team to identify the specific quality attributes that were affected owing to customization. This research study infers that there exists a considerable impact of ERP system customization over the quality of ERP product. The implications of the findings for both practice and research are discussed, and possible areas of future research are identified.

Optical detection of glucose and glycated hemoglobin using etched fiber Bragg gratings coated with functionalized reduced graphene oxide

An enhanced optical detection of D-glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c ) has been established in this study using etched fiber Bragg gratings (eFBG) coated with aminophenylboronic acid (APBA)-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The read out, namely the shift in Bragg wavelength (ΔλB ) is highly sensitive to changes that occur due to the adsorption of glucose (or HbA1c ) molecules on the eFBG sensor coated with APBA-RGO complex through a five-membered cyclic ester bond formation between glucose and APBA molecules. A limit of detection of 1 nM is achieved with a linear range of detection from 1 nM to 10 mM in the case of D-glucose detection experiments. For HbA1c , a linear range of detection varying from 86 nM to 0.23 mM is achieved. The observation of only 4 pm (picometer) change in ΔλB even for the 10 mM lactose solution confirms the specificity of the APBA-RGO complex coated eFBG sensors to glucose molecules.

Sensitive detection of C-reactive protein using optical fiber Bragg gratings

An accurate and highly sensitive sensor platform has been demonstrated for the detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) using optical fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The CRP detection has been carried out by monitoring the shift in Bragg wavelength (ΔλB) of an etched FBG (eFBG) coated with an anti-CRP antibody (aCRP)-graphene oxide (GO) complex. The complex is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. A limit of detection of 0.01mg/L has been achieved with a linear range of detection from 0.01mg/L to 100mg/L which includes clinical range of CRP. The eFBG sensor coated with only aCRP (without GO) show much less sensitivity than that of aCRP-GO complex coated eFBG. The eFBG sensors show high specificity to CRP even in the presence of other interfering factors such as urea, creatinine and glucose. The affinity constant of ∼1.1×10(10)M(-1) has been extracted from the data of normalized shift (ΔλB/λB) as a function of CRP concentration.

Critical behavior of three organosiloxane de Vries-type liquid crystals observed via the dielectric response

Dielectric measurements have been made on three organosiloxane liquid crystal compounds exhibiting a smectic A (SmA) to smectic C* (SmC*) transition, the SmA phase being of the de Vries type. The electroclinic response of the molecules in the de Vries phase of these compounds exhibits a double-peak profile, and is thus different from the conventional chiral SmA phase, a feature explained on the basis of an antiferroelectric (AF) block model (Krishna Prasad et al 2009 Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 147802). The differential interactions arising from the different molecular ends of these siloxane-based compounds, which are the basis for the AF block model, can also be expected to enhance the layer translational order. We present x-ray integrated intensity data that show a high (~0.9) translational order in the SmA phase. Dielectric relaxation spectra bring out the fact that the magnitude of the soft mode relaxation parameters is dependent on the number of siloxane groups in the terminal part of the molecule. A range-shrinking analysis of the temperature-dependent dielectric relaxation strength has been carried out, using a power-law expression. The characteristic exponent shows a systematic growth with range shrinking and reaches limiting values comparable to that predicted for the 2D Ising universality class.

Diminution of the ordering in plastic and liquid crystalline phases by confinement

In a compound exhibiting plastic (crystal B) and liquid crystalline (smectic A) phases, we report calorimetric and X-ray features that are drastically affected by confinement and orientation in Anopore membranes. Data on the untreated membranes in which the molecules aligned parallel to the pore axes, show a significant diminution in the correlation length corresponding to the positional order of the plastic phase suggesting that finite size effects can perhaps transform the plastic phase to a hexatic one. In the orthogonal case, having the molecules in the plane of the membrane, a new phase is induced, whose structural possibilities are discussed. Calorimetric measurements corroborate these results and also bring out the different thermal behaviors, not only between the bulk and the confined cases, but also between the situations wherein the orientations of the molecules are different. These findings are expected to open up a new path to understand the melting phenomenon, especially that which occurs in lower dimensions.

Electric-field-dictated phase diagram and accelerated dynamics of a reentrant nematic liquid crystal under photostimulation

In a system consisting of photoactive molecules that exhibit light-driven isomerization transformations, actinic light can diminish or enhance ordering to the extent that transitions from the equilibrium to a more disordered phase can be brought about isothermally. This feature enables light to be used as a thermodynamiclike parameter to investigate phase behavior and adds another dimension to the studies owing to the nonequilibrium character of the isothermal transitions. We have carried out experiments which exploit the combination of two recent findings, viz., an electric field can accelerate the return to the nematic liquid crystalline phase from a photodriven isotropic phase; and in a reentrant mesogen, the photoinduced phase can be more ordered. To photostimulate the nonequilibrium transitions a low power uv radiation (0.1 mW cm(-2)) has been used. Unique temperature-electric-field phase diagrams of a liquid crystal exhibiting isotropic-nematic-smectic- A -reentrant nematic sequence, mapped using light transmission as probe reveal that the electric field influences all the transitions, but the effect is maximum on the equilibrium reentrant nematic to the photoinduced smectic- A transition. Temporal measurements have been performed under nonequilibrium conditions to study the dynamics of both the photochemical and the back relaxation processes across the different transitions. The electric field is indeed observed to accelerate the thermal back relaxation in each case, and especially the recovery of the reentrant phase is hastened by three orders of magnitude in time. We explore possible causes for the acceleration and present a finding which can be associated with one of the predictions of density-functional calculations for isomerization of azobenzenes.

Unusual dielectric and electrical switching behavior in the de Vries smectic A phase of two organosiloxane derivatives

X-ray, electrical, electro-optical, and dielectric studies in the de Vries smectic A (SmA) phase of organosiloxane derivatives exhibit features surprisingly different from that of a conventional SmA phase. The switching data show a double peak profile, characteristic of an antiferroelectric (AF) structure. A model with the adjacent smectic layers having an AF-like arrangement and no global tilt correlation is proposed. Observed in molecules with differential interactions between the two termini, these findings have wide ramifications in understanding the minimum layer shrinkage of such systems.

Pretransitional behaviour in the vicinity of the isotropic-nematic transition of strongly polar compounds

The isotropic-nematic transition, being weakly first order, exhibits pretransitional effects signifying the appearance of the nematic-like regions in the isotropic phase. In the isotropic phase, strongly polar liquid crystals, such as the popular alkyl and alkoxy cyano biphenyl behave in a non-standard fashion: whereas far away from the transition the dielectric constant ε(iso) has a 1/T dependence (a feature also commonly seen in polar liquids), on approaching the nematic phase the trend reverses resulting in a maximum in ε(iso), at a temperature slightly above the transition, an effect explained on the basis of short-range correlations with an antiparallel association of the neighbouring molecules. Recently, there has been a revival in studies on this behaviour to possibly associate it with the order of transition. Here we report dielectric measurements carried in the vicinity of this transition for a number of compounds having different molecular structures including a bent core system, but with a common feature that the molecules possess a strong terminal polar group, nitro in one case and cyano in the rest. Surprisingly, the convex shape of the thermal variation of ε(iso) was more an exception than the rule. In materials that exhibit such an anomaly we find a linear correlation between δε = (ε(peak)-ε(IN))/ε(IN) and δT = T(peak)-T(IN), where ε(peak) is the maximum value of the dielectric constant in the isotropic phase, ε(IN) the value at the transition, and T(peak) and T(IN) the corresponding temperatures.

Enhancement of dissolution and oral bioavailability of gliquidone with hydroxy propyl-beta-cyclodextrin

The virtual insolubility of gliquidone in water results in poor wettability and dissolution characteristics, which may lead to a variation in bioavailability. To improve these characteristics of gliquidone, binary systems with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) were prepared by classical methods such as physical mixing, kneading, co-evaporation and co-lyophilization. The solid state interaction between the drug and HP-beta-CD was assessed by evaluating the binary systems with X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and IR- spectroscopy. The results establish the molecular encapsulation and amorphization of gliquidone. The phase solubility profile of gliquidone in aqueous HP-beta-CD vehicle resulted in an A(L) type curve with a stability constant of 1625 M(-1). The dissolution rate of binary systems was greater than that of pure drug and was significantly higher in the case of co-lyophilized and co-evaporated systems. Upon oral administration, [AUC]-alpha was significantly higher in case of co-lyophilized (2 times) and co-evaporated systems (1.5 times) compared to pure drug suspension while other binary systems showed only a marginal improvement. The study ascertained the utility of HP-beta-CD in enhancing the oral bioavailability of gliquidone, and points towards a strong influence of the preparation method on the physicochemical properties.

Dendrimer-mediated transdermal delivery: enhanced bioavailability of indomethacin

The transdermal delivery of aqueous formulations of indomethacin, a model drug, with different concentrations of three types of dendrimer showed a linear increase in flux with increasing concentration of each of the dendrimers. This result was in contrast to phase solubility studies, where Higuchi's A(N) profile was observed. The steady-state flux of the drug increased significantly and was highest with the G4-NH2 dendrimer at 0.2% w/v concentration, which showed an enhancement factor of 4.5 compared to the pure drug suspension. In vivo, a steady-state flux was achieved in 5 h, and the C(max) values were significantly higher with G4-NH2 and G4-OH dendrimer formulations. The [AUC](0-24h) of G4-NH2 (2.27 times) and G4-OH (1.95 times) formulations were significantly higher than that of the pure drug, but was only marginally higher in the case of G-4.5 dendrimer formulation. The % inhibition of paw volume showed a trend comparable to the pharmacokinetic data and a maximum of 1.6- and 1.5-fold increase was found with G4-NH2 and G4-OH formulations, respectively, compared to the pure drug suspension.

Effect of pH and complexation on transdermal permeation of gliquidone

Gliquidone, a second generation sulfonylurea has been investigated for transdermal delivery. The poor aqueous solubility of the drug prompted the use of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD), a cyclic oligosaccharide, which is known to facilitate transdermal permeation of many drugs by enhancing the solubility and thus improving the diffusible species of the drug molecules at the skin-vehicle interface. In order to optimize the transdermal delivery of gliquidone, the effect of pH along with complexation on the solubility and permeation has been investigated. The solubility profiles of the drug, on increasing the concentration of HP-beta-CD were of Higuchi's AL type at the three pH values evaluated. However, the solubilization slope of the drug at pH 7.0 was 22 times that at pH 3.0 as a result of greater intrinsic solubility of the ionized form of the drug at pH 7.0. Transdermal flux of gliquidone at pH 7.0 was significantly greater than the flux at pH 3.0 in the presence of 15% w/v HP-beta-CD, attributable to the better solubility of the drug at pH 7.0 in the presence of HP-beta-CD. The effect of increasing concentrations of HP-beta-CD investigated at variable drug loading in the donor phase at pH 7.4 endorsed the earlier observations from studies on other drugs, that the drug has to be present at saturation in HP-beta-CD aqueous vehicle to achieve an optimized flux. While at saturation, the steady state flux of gliquidone from the aqueous HP-beta-CD (25% w/v) vehicle was enhanced 31 times compared to pure drug suspension at pH 7.4, unsaturation in the donor phase resulted in the decreased flux of gliquidone. It was concluded from the present study that enhanced transdermal flux of gliquidone can be achieved by adjusting the pH and the concentration of HP-beta-CD to achieve a better solubility of the drug.

Plasma protein polymorphisms in Malas and Madigas of coastal Andhra Pradesh, south India

Four plasma protein polymorphisms: Group specific Component (GC), Haptoglobin (HP), Transferrin (TF) and Caeruloplasmin (CP), have been determined in two endogamous populations (Mala and Madiga) of Visakhapatnam of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, South India. The results were compared between the two caste populations and they revealed no significant differences. The results were also compared with those available from other Andhra populations.