Bionanocomposite hybrid polyurethane (BHPU) foams that exploit the tribute of natural fibers and nanoclay in green PU foam can lead to the new imminent in engaging the nanoclay and natural fibers. PU filled empty fruit bunch (EFB), PU filled silane treated EFB (sEFB) and PU filled organo montmorillonite (oMMT) have been prepared as control, and the hybridization has carried out for 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 ratios between EFB/oMMT and sEFB/oMMT. The hybridization of these natural fibers and oMMT permit to retain the strength without compromise the stiffness of BHPU. The hybridization also improves the barrier and thermal properties of these BHPU. Microscopic studies shows that the hybridization of these natural fibers and nanoclay provide initial evidence of the possibilities on the insertion of nanoclay into the natural fibers, thus open the opportunities to exploit this behavior to another hybrid system. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of insulin relies on correct dose and appropriateness of insulin injection technique. However, inappropriate technique is common among diabetes patients. The impact of educating proper technique in these patients is still under studied. To evaluate the outcome of education of insulin injection technique to diabetes patients who are on insulin therapy in a Malaysian primary care clinic. A total of 114 diabetes patients on insulin were randomly selected in this prospective study. Participants' injection technique and HbA1c were assessed at baseline and 3 months later. After initial assessment, all participants were taught on proper technique of injection. Those with inappropriate technique were given individualized coaching. Majority participants (86.8%; 99/144) had appropriate technique at baseline and 67.7% (66/99) of them managed to improve their technique after intervention. There was 0.82% reduction in HbA1c observed among all participants, mean (SD) HbA1c at baseline was 9.9 (2.11)% and at post-intervention was 9.1 (2.16)%, (p < 0.01). Inappropriate insulin injection technique is very common in current study. With focused education, 67.7% (66/99) of the respondents' had improvised their injection technique. There was 0.82% reduction in HbA1c measurements within 3 months post intervention {pre 9.9 (SD 2.16) %, vs post 9.08 (SD 2.16) %}. There is a necessity to assess insulin injection technique during every follow-up. Health care providers need to identify and rectify the incorrect the technique as it may improve the glycaemic control among diabetes patients who are on insulin devices.

Shape memory polyurethanes (SMPU) are one of the advanced materials that have potential applications in the field of biomedical particularly vascular stent. This paper studies the effect of incorporating palm oil polyol (POP) up to 40% molar ratio in place of petroleum-based polyol in the preparation of SMPU due to environmental concern. Polycaprolactone diol was utilized as the soft segment while 4,4-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol as the hard segments. The SMPU was prepared using two-step prepolymer method, and the fabricated samples were characterized to study the effect of POP on the thermal properties, tensile, and shape memory behavior of polyurethane. The results obtained have shown that SMPU with incorporation of POP showed good shape fixity (100%) and elongation at break (245%) up to 20% molar ratio of POP. The presence of dangling chains of fatty acid in POP was believed to enhance the flexibility of SMPU molecular chains by acting as a plasticizer. On the other hand, the shape recovery of SMPU remains high even at 40% molar ratio of POP, and the thermal stability of SMPU increased with the addition of POP. It is proposed that the synthesized POP-based SMPU is a suitable candidate for cardiovascular stent as they possessed desired thermal, mechanical, and shape memory properties.

A series of nanoclay reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane with shape memory effect have been successfully synthesized via two-step polymerization process. The polyurethanes are composed of polycaprolactonediol, palm oil polyol, 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol. Nanoclay was added in order to improve the overall properties of the pristine polyurethane. Besides, the addition of palm oil polyol is believed to enhance the crosslinking process and further improve the properties. X-ray diffraction result showed that there is a decrease in crystallinity of polyurethane nanocomposites as clay is added. Good shape memory and mechanical properties of resulting polyurethane nanocomposites were obtained in this work.

This study is conducted to evaluate the tensile properties of silicon carbide nanoparticles (SiCNP) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) filled toughened epoxy composites as a function of filler loading. The nanocomposites with different weight percentage of SiCNP and MWCNTs loading were fabricated by mechanical blending operation assisted with an ultrasonic cavitation technique. The loadings utilized were 0, 2, 4, and 6% of total composites weight. The result shows that the optimum filler loading of both systems were obtainable at 4% of SiCNP and MWCNTs of loadings. Composite with SiCNP filler achieved the highest value of tensile strength and Young's modulus at about 11% and 4%, respectively as compared to unfilled system. The enhancement pattern in MWCNTs nanocomposite systems were not significant as compared than SiCNP composite. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of MWCNTs composite were increased at only about 7% and 2%, respectively compared than unfilled system. The strain at break attribute for both filler system had shown reduction pattern at higher loading started from 2% loading and onwards. The variation in tensile properties were further supported by the tensile fracture morphologies and clearly shown that the filler-matrix plated an important role in affecting the tensile behavior of nanocomposite produced. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.