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Bleeding is common in patients with haematological malignancies undergoing intensive therapy. We aimed to assess the effect of tranexamic acid on preventing bleeding and the need for platelet transfusions.

AbstractPDK1, an attractive cancer target that downstreams 23 other kinases towards cell growth, survival and metabolism has gaining attention due to allosteric effect of ligands bound to it. Generally, the drug design strategy using pharmacophores is either a single protein structure or ensemble or ligand-based. Apart from these methods, yet another new approach of protein–protein docking with state of art computational tool like Schrodinger Suite to generate pharmacophores based on the interacting partners of the protein is proposed in this work. The structure-based pharmacophoric features were picked up from docking the ten interacting partners of PDK1 and screened against the Enamine libraries containing protein–protein interacting compound collection, advanced, protein mimetic and allosteric compounds. High throughput virtual screening against the PIF pocket of PDK1 yields an indole scaffold. The identified indole derivative is proposed to be a strong activator that binds in the protein–protein interaction site of PDK1 which was further confirmed by molecular metadynamics simulations, free energy surface analysis and MM-GBSA calculations. Thus, the pharmacophores generated by the interacting proteins for PPI can facilitate the virtual screening in structure-based drug discovery of similar therapeutic targets.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

This paper proposes a hybrid technique for optimizing Combined Cooling, Heating, and Power (CCHP) systems integrating a diverse set of components including geothermal heat pumps, gas turbines, absorption chillers/heaters, and photovoltaic/thermal collectors, along with storage units like batteries and water tanks. The innovation lies in combining the Capuchin Search Algorithm (CapSA) with the Wild Horse Optimizer (WHO) to concurrently optimize primary energy savings, cost reductions, and carbon dioxide emissions. Parametric distributions are used in probabilistic strategies to resolve uncertainty in solar radiation and building load. CapSA optimizes the CCHP system’s design, while WHO enhances its performance. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is demonstrated through implementation in MATLAB, where it achieves an average ACSR (Average Comprehensive Saving Rate) enhancement of 5.48%. This numerical result highlights a substantial improvement over existing methodologies, showcasing the superior performance of the hybrid optimization approach in enhancing energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of CCHP systems.

The periosteum is a thin layer that envelops the bone with a distinct structure and plays a crucial role in bone regeneration and remodelling. One of the vital goals in bone tissue engineering is the development of a bionic periosteum fibrous layer that could induce superior healing of the bone matrix, and numerous studies have explored utilising this for bone regeneration purposes. Diminished cellular proliferation, potential toxicity, unfavourable porosity, and expensive materials and procedures are a few of the research gaps that exist with respect to its regeneration. This study aims to address these issues and to develop a periosteum-mimicking scaffold by electrospinning method. Gelatin-based calcium lactate gluconate (CLG) scaffold was developed by electrospinning, and physicochemical assessment were done by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared radiation (FTIR). In-vitro assays were performed using osteoblast-like cells (MG63) to induce osteogenic differentiation. Cell viability assay and mineralization assay was done using Acridine orange/Ethidium bromide dye and alizarin red staining respectively. The Gelatin-CLG scaffold surface was observed to be heterogeneous, with both smooth and rough textures with the absence of any crystals. EDX analysis confirmed the presence of calcium in the Gelatin-CLG scaffold. The addition of CLG to gelatin showed an alteration in the crystallinity property of the Gelatin-CLG scaffold compared to the gelatin scaffold. Cell viability assessment showed that a significant percentage of cells were viable on CLG scaffolds. An increasing trend in metabolic activity was noted in gelatin and Gelatin + 5% CLG scaffolds while non-significant change was noted in Gelatin + 10% CLG on Day 3 and 7. The index of mineralization was significant in the Gelatin-CLG scaffold compared to the gelatin scaffold on Day 7 and Day 14. This study suggests that the Gelatin-CLG fibrous scaffold has the potential to induce differentiation of osteoblast-like cells. However, further studies are warranted to use Gelatin-CLG as a potential candidate in tissue engineering applications.

AbstractThe interaction of an antiviral drug Molnupiravir (MOL) with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) was investigated using a series of biophysical techniques. A significant hyperchromism with a blue shift  nm in the UV-Vis spectra indicated a high binding affinity of MOLfor CT-DNA with binding constants in the order of 105M−1. Competitive fluorescent dye displacement assays with ethidium bromide (EB) and Hoechst 33258 suggested an intercalative mode of binding of MOLwith CT-DNA. Thermodynamic profiles determined using fluorescence titration and isothermal titration calorimetric (ITC) analysis matched well with each other. The negative free energy change revealed that the MOL/CT-DNA complexation is a spontaneous process. The negative values of enthalpy and entropy changes indicated that H-bonding and van der Walls interactions play dominant roles in stabilizing the complex. A decrease in viscosity of CT-DNA solution upon adding MOLindicated a partial intercalation mode of binding which was well supported by circular dichroism (CD) spectral and effect of KI and denaturation studies. Molecular docking and metadynamics simulation studies clearly showed the partial intercalation of the pyrimidine ring of MOLinto the base pairs of DNA. Free energy surface (FES) contour indicated that the drug/DNA complex is stabilized by H-bonding and pi-pi/pi-cation interactions.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Deep neural networks (DNNs) are rapidly evolving from streamlined single-modality single-task (SMST) to multimodality multitask (MMMT) with large variations for different layers and complex data dependencies among layers. To support such models, hardware systems also evolved to be heterogeneous. The heterogeneous system comes from the prevailing trend to integrate diverse accelerators into the system for lower latency. FPGAs have high-computation density and communication bandwidth and are configurable to be deployed with different designs of accelerators, which are widely used for various machine-learning applications. However, scaling from SMST to MMMT on heterogeneous FPGAs is challenging since MMMT has much larger layer variations, a massive number of layers, and complex data dependency among different backbones. Previous mapping algorithms are either inefficient or over-simplified which makes them impractical in general scenarios. In this work, we propose CHEF to enable efficient implementation of MMMT models in realistic heterogeneous FPGA clusters, i.e., deploying heterogeneous accelerators on heterogeneous FPGAs (A2F) and mapping the heterogeneous DNNs on the deployed heterogeneous accelerators (M2A). We propose CHEF-A2F, a two-stage accelerators-to-FPGAs deployment approach to co-optimize hardware deployment and accelerator mapping. In addition, we propose CHEF-M2A, which can support general and practical cases compared to previous mapping algorithms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to implement MMMT models in real heterogeneous FPGA clusters. Experimental results show that the latency obtained with CHEF is near-optimal while the search time is 10 $000\times $ less than exhaustively searching the optimal solution.

Objective: Preterm infants need enrichment of human milk (HM) for optimal growth. This study evaluated a novel, point-of-care human milk concentration (HMC) process for water removal from fresh HM samples by passive osmotic concentration. Study design: Nineteen fresh HM samples were concentrated by incubation with the HMC devices for 3 h at 4 °C. Pre- and post-concentration HM samples were compared by HM properties for: pH, osmolality, macronutrients, enzyme activity, bioactive, and total cell viability. Results: Passive osmotic concentration reduced HM volume by an average of 16.3% ± 3.8% without a significant effect on pH or cell viability. Ten of the 41 HM components did not differ significantly (p> 0.05) between pre- and post-concentration samples. Twenty-three increased within the expected range by volume reduction. Six increased more than expected, two less than expected, and none decreased significantly. Conclusion: Passive osmotic concentration of fresh HM can concentrate HM components by selective removal of water. HM osmolality and pH remained within neonatal feeding parameters.

Previous studies proposed varying leucine requirements for adults ranging from 25 to 40 mg⋅kg−1⋅d−1, but often these studies did not test intakes exceeding 40 mg⋅kg−1⋅d−1. Data using the indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) method suggest a higher requirement of 55 mg⋅kg−1⋅d−1on the basis of the total branched-chain amino acids requirement, but not leucine independently.

Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) Recommendations for total sulfur amino acids (TSAAs; methionine + cysteine) during pregnancy are based on factorial calculations using data from adult males. To date, no data exist on TSAA requirements obtained directly during pregnancy.

AbstractThe interaction between enzyme-like pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and calf-thymus DNA (CT-DNA) has been investigated by means of multi-spectroscopic (UV-Vis, fluorescence and circular dichroism), isothermal titration calorimetric (ITC), viscometry and molecular docking and metadynamics simulation techniques. Absorption spectral data suggested the formation of a PQQ/CT-DNA complex, which quenched the fluorescence of PQQviathe dynamic quenching process. The results of CD spectral studies coupled with viscosity measurements, competitive binding assays with Hoechst 33258 and ethidium bromide (EB), KI quenching experiments, gel electrophoresis and DNA melting studies indicated groove binding mode of interaction of PQQwith CT-DNA. ITC experiment revealed that the complex formation is a spontaneous process (ΔGo < 0) with a binding constant of 1.05 × 104M−1. The observed ΔHo < 0 and ΔSo < 0 pointed out that the complex is stabilized by van der Waals forces along with H-bonding interactions. The outcomes of molecular docking and simulation studies confirmed the binding of PQQwith DNA. The free energy surface (FES) analysis pointed out the existence of an equilibrium between partial intercalation and groove binding modes, which is in good agreement with the competitive binding assays.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Indian sugar production generates a lot of biomass that can be used to create electricity. Modern sugar mills use bagasse with 50% moisture, which affects boiler efficiency since water evaporation requires energy. Steam and power production can be increased by drying bagasse. India is one of the world’s greatest sugarcane growers, and its bagasse may be burned to generate electricity efficiently and sustainably. Most sugar mills co-generate with bagasse and sell extra electricity to the grid. This research aims to improve bagasse drying with a flue gas flash dryer. A small-scale facility with a free-fall reactor was used to determine how flue gas temperature, biomass size, and biomass feed rate affect bagasse sample free-fall height and velocity. Lab-scale trials were also observed. CFD models of industrial bagasse dryer components like the cyclone separator and drying column reactor are created using SOLIDWORKS and ANSYS FLUENT to study flue gas and bagasse flow paths. Combustion requires stoichiometric air. Detailed analyses of combustion products and bagasse’s proximate and ultimate components are presented. SPSS and psychrometric chart comparisons support the study’s findings. This study examines how flue gas temperature influences boiler bagasse drying. Bagasse dryers pull exit flue gas at 130–150 °C after air preheaters. By removing air heaters and transferring flue gases at 220 °C (above 220 °C, bagasse catches fire) to bagasse dryers, boiler efficiency can be improved from 68 to 84%, steam generation from 120 to 150 tph, and bagasse saving from 55 to 70 tph. The air preheater at 240 °C reduces gas moisture by 20%.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSIn the context of Industry 5.0, our study advances manufacturing factory layout planning by integrating multi-objective optimization with nature-inspired algorithms and a digital human modeling tool. This approach aims to overcome the limitations of traditional planning methods, which often rely on engineers’ expertise and inputs from various functions in a company, leading to slow processes and risk of human errors. By focusing the multi-objective optimization on three primary targets, our methodology promotes objective and efficient layout planning, simultaneously considering worker well-being and system performance efficiency. Illustrated through a pedal car assembly station layout case, we demonstrate how layout planning can transition into a transparent, cross-disciplinary, and automated activity. This methodology provides multi-objective decision support, showcasing a significant step forward in manufacturing factory layout design practices.

The pursuit of advanced materials with enhanced or tailored properties has indeed been a crucial focus in various industries. From aerospace to automotive, and from nuclear power to space exploration, the need for materials that can withstand extreme conditions, offer improved performance, and ensure safety is paramount. Safety standards are vital in industries where materials are subjected to extreme conditions or where failure could have catastrophic consequences. Therefore, research in advanced materials not only focuses on enhancing properties but also ensuring that these materials meet rigorous safety standards. Friction stir processing (FSP) emerges as a transformative methodology, facilitating the achievement of superplasticity, enhanced ductility, heightened strength, toughness, and hardness, all while preserving the structural integrity of the material. In recent years, notable advancements have been witnessed in preparing magnesium (Mg) alloys, Mg composites, and functional Mg materials. This comprehensive review encompasses the latest developments, global significance, adherence to standards, and innovative strides in Mg alloys from 2011 to 2023. It includes the FSP processing techniques, governing mechanism, advantageous properties, grain size, dislocations and their impacts, corrosion, wear behaviour, formability studies, cryogenic FSP, underwater FSP and friction stir additive manufacturing. Readers will gain critical insights, receive constructive suggestions, and discern future directions from this extensive review, as it encapsulates the trajectory of advancements in Mg alloys and delineates promising horizons with potentially transformative impacts in materials science research. Prospects and potential areas would deem help upcoming researchers to pursue with new advanced materials.

In the present study, eco-friendly polylactic acid (PLA)-high-density-polyethylene (HDPE)-based polymer reinforced with magnesium oxide was fabricated. Experimental findings reveal that the resultant composite exhibited enhanced tensile and flexural properties as well as higher glass transition temperature and degradation temperature compared to neat PLA-HDPE polymer. For instance, tensile strength and modulus of composite reinforced with 5 wt.% MgO improved by 22.27% and 11.98%, respectively, while the flexural modulus of the composite was enhanced by 16.2% in comparison to PLA-HDPE composite. The improved flexural strength with the addition of MgO indicates the ability of MgO to improve the ability to cope with transverse load (and reduce deflection) in the composite. Findings from the present study were also compared with data reported in literature to provide an insight on the mechanical behaviour of PLA-HDPE-MgO composites.

Protein recommendations for older adults are based on nitrogen balance data from young adults. Physiological studies using the indicator amino acid oxidation method suggest they need 30% to 50% more protein than current recommendations. We herein present glutathione (GSH) as a physiological estimate of protein adequacy in older adults.

AbstractThe interaction between the anti-cancer drug Palbociclib (PAL) and calf-thymus DNA (CT-DNA) was investigated using various biophysical techniques in a physiological buffer (pH 7.4). It was found that PALintercalated into the base pairs of CT-DNA as evidenced from the results of UV-Vis, fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), competitive binding assay with ethidium bromide (EB) and Hoechst 33258, KI quenching study, the effect of denaturing agent and viscosity measurements. The magnitude of binding constants (106M−1) at different temperatures suggested strong binding between PALand CT-DNA during complexation. The observed ΔHo> 0 and ΔSo> 0 indicated that the binding process is primarily driven by hydrophobic interactions. Molecular docking studies indicated partial intercalation of pyridopyrimidine ring between the base pairs of DNA. Free energy surface (FES) analysis derived from metadynamics simulation studies revealed the PAL-induced cleavage of DNA, which was confirmed by gel electrophoresis experiments.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

In 2005, the Institute of Medicine advised using methods other than nitrogen balance (NB) for determining protein requirements. Since then, protein requirements using indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) have been published and are higher than NB. Glutathione (GSH), a tripeptide of cysteine, glutamate, and glycine, is a principal antioxidant that can be used as a functional indicator of protein adequacy.

The convergence of the focus of Industry 5.0 on human well-being and the prevalent problem of work-related musculoskeletal disorders necessitates advanced digital solutions due to limitations in manual risk assessment methods. This research aimed to compare usability of a newly developed video-based awkward posture identification software, the ergonomist assistant for evaluation (ERAIVA) with a conventional manual method. The risk assessment tool utilised in this study, integrated into the ERAIVA digital platform, is the risk management assessment tool for manual handling proactively (RAMP). Four assessors evaluated video-recorded tasks using both methods (manual and ERAIVA). The usability was assessed through the post-study system usability questionnaire, time consumption, number of video replays and video annotation deletions. The impact on identification of awkward posture durations was also studied. ERAIVA exhibited the highest usability score; it showed a higher number of video replays of specific sequences and annotations without significant differences in time consumption.

ObjectiveTo examine the feasibility of early and extended erythropoietin monotherapy after hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE).DesignDouble-blind pilot randomised controlled trial.SettingEight neonatal units in South Asia.PatientsNeonates (≥36 weeks) with moderate or severe HIE admitted between 31 December 2022 and 3 May 2023.InterventionsErythropoietin (500 U/kg daily) or to the placebo (sham injections using a screen) within 6 hours of birth and continued for 9 days. MRI at 2 weeks of age.Main outcomes and measuresFeasibility of randomisation, drug administration and assessment of brain injury using MRI.ResultsOf the 154 neonates screened, 56 were eligible; 6 declined consent and 50 were recruited; 43 (86%) were inborn. Mean (SD) age at first dose was 4.4 (1.2) hours in erythropoietin and 4.1 (1.0) hours in placebo. Overall mortality at hospital discharge occurred in 5 (19%) vs 11 (46%) (p=0.06), and 3 (13%) vs 9 (40.9%) (p=0.04) among those with moderate encephalopathy in the erythropoietin and placebo groups. Moderate or severe injury to basal ganglia, white matter and cortex occurred in 5 (25%) vs 5 (38.5%); 14 (70%) vs 11 (85%); and 6 (30%) vs 2 (15.4%) in the erythropoietin and placebo group, respectively. Sinus venous thrombosis was seen in two (10%) neonates in the erythropoietin group and none in the control group.ConclusionsBrain injury and mortality after moderate or severe HIE are high in South Asia. Evaluation of erythropoietin monotherapy using MRI to examine treatment effects is feasible in these settings.Trial registration numberNCT05395195.

We propose a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) framework based on a direct optimal control method that ensures continuous-time constraint satisfaction and accurate evaluation of the running cost, without compromising computational efficiency. We leverage the recently proposed successive convexification framework for trajectory optimization, where: (1) the path constraints and running cost are equivalently reformulated by augmenting the system dynamics, (2) multiple shooting is used for exact discretization, and (3) a convergence-guaranteed sequential convex programming (SCP) algorithm, the prox-linear method, is used to solve the discretized receding-horizon optimal control problems. The resulting NMPC framework is computationally efficient, owing to its support for warm-starting and premature termination of SCP, and its reliance on first-order information only. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed NMPC framework by means of a numerical example with reference-tracking and obstacle avoidance. The implementation is available at https://github.com/UW-ACL/nmpc-ctcs.

Graphical abstract:

Dengue is prone to cause frequent disease outbreaks. An early outbreak prediction based on the climatic variables is essential to control the disease’s spread and avoid possible outbreaks. Existing non-seasonal outbreak classification uses a partition-based clustering method for outlier removal; however, a standard outlier detection with improved prediction performance is needed to detect outbreaks. We develop ICE-VDOP model, an Integrated Clustering and Ensemble machine-learning model for Vector-borne Disease Outbreak Prediction to classify outbreaks based on non-seasonal climatic characteristics for Bangkok and Bangladesh datasets. The work begins with identifying the clustering approach that generates a refined dataset ensuring the data points’ inherent structure is preserved and does not alter the association of climatic variables and Dengue Incidence. The partitioning-based clustering methods modify the direction of association between climatic variables and Dengue Incidence after outlier removal as it removes the essential data points. The comparative results shows that BIRCH (balanced iterative reducing and clustering hierarchy), a hierarchical clustering technique for outlier removal captures finer non-seasonal climate variables (temperature, rainfall and relative humidity) and gradient boosting (GB) achieves a prediction accuracy of 97% for Bangkok and 98% for the Bangladesh datasets.

Hydrogels are 3-dimensional networks synthesized using natural or synthetic polymers with their ability to retain and transport water. The hydrogels have high permeability, biocompatibility, flexibility, and viscoelasticity based on their fabrication processes. Hydrogels are utilized extensively in the pharmaceutical industry and may be administered for oral, rectal, ocular, transdermal, and many more biomedical applications. Hydrogels are more suitable for drug delivery applications when synthesized using biodegradable natural polymers possessing high biocompatibility and lower toxicity. Large volumes of biological fluids either water can be absorbed by hydrogels, but due to their three-dimensional architecture, they are physiologically insoluble. Usually, attention is given to hydrogels that exhibit bioinert properties and stay unaltered upon implantation, also known as non-degradable hydrogels. However, natural hydrogels served in pharmaceuticals, tissue regeneration scaffolds, drug delivery systems, and imaging agents. They are templates for chronic or acute wound healing and dressings. Natural hydrogel–based scaffolds are desirable for skin regeneration and repair due to their homology to the extracellular matrix, which includes mechanical tunability, excellent biocompatibility, and retention of water capacity. This review article summarizes recent and noteworthy advances in natural hydrogel design, properties, and applications in the biomedical field.

A simple chemo-dosimeter VDP2bearing a ferrocene moiety was designed, synthesized, and characterized, and exhibited both chromogenic and electrochemical responses selectively for CN−in H2O–DMSO (9 : 1, v/v) medium. The probe VDP2showed an instantaneous color change from colorless to yellow with CN−that can readily be observed visually. The deprotonation of the benzimidazole –NH, followed by nucleophilic addition of CN−to the olefinic C-atom, as evidenced by 1H and 13C NMR titration experiments, caused the colorimetric and electrochemical responses. The mass spectral study, CV, FTIR and Mulliken charges computed well supported the proposed mechanism. The electrochemical limit of detection was calculated to be 72 nM. The results of DFT and TD-DFT calculations suggested that the colorless nature of the probe VDP2is due to weak intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) transition and the yellow color of the VDP2+CNadduct is due to through-space ICT transition. Above all, the probe could be an ideal candidate for monitoring cyanide in water samples and cassava flour with practical significance. A simple and convenient colorimetric method was developed to determine cyanide content in cassava flour.

Floods pose diverse challenges for organisms, infrastructure, and the environment, especially with the increasing frequency of natural disasters. Many existing works focused on traditional flood prediction methods, relying on statistical models which struggle in adapting to the dynamic environmental shifts, resulting in inaccurate forecasts and impeding effective disaster response. To address this, we propose a flood prediction paradigm that integrates both statistical models and social media data analysis techniques. By employing ensemble models combining classifiers such as K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Logistic Regression, Random Forest for statistical data analysis, alongside advanced natural language processing techniques such as Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), Long Short Term Memory (LSTM), and FastText for tweet analysis, our multimodal framework offers a comprehensive solution for flood forecasting. Leveraging rainfall data and user tweets, this study explores the fusion of diverse datasets to enhance predictive accuracy and provide timely insights into flood risk. The proposed system achieved an accuracy of 97%. Experimental results exhibit that the system outperforms other traditional methods. It captured the dynamic interplay between environmental data and human-generated content by amalgamating the predictive capabilities of diverse classifiers with advanced natural language processing techniques.

Utilizing environmentally friendly nanomaterials to address insect pests and promote plant growth is imperative. The present study was conducted to find an alternative to chemical insecticides by comparing the entomotoxic efficacy of non-biogenic and biogenic zinc oxide nanoparticles against Sitophilus oryzaeL. (Curculionidae; Coleoptera) in maize (Zea maysL.). Entomotoxic studies against S. oryzaeexhibited LD50values of 22.33, 46.01, and 4.73 mg/100 g of maize seeds for non-biogenic ZnO NPs, biogenic ZnO NPs, and malathion 5D, respectively. SEM studies of non-biogenic and biogenic zinc oxide nanoparticles attached on the surface of the maize seeds, act as physical poison, adhering to the surface of the insect and causing desiccation, dehydration and ultimately death to S. oryzae. A higher seed germination percentage (99%) and dry matter production (4.8 g) were seen in non-biogenic zinc oxide nanoparticle treated seeds. In conclusion, zinc oxide nanoparticles prepared through a non-biogenic (sol–gel) approach exhibited a dual role by acting as an insecticide against S. oryzaeand a growth promoter in maize seeds.

For drone using a three-phase motor, it is practically difficult to achieve hardware redundancy due to space constraints. To solve this problem, horizontal separation (HS) dual motor design is proposed. The HS dual motor embeds the physical characteristics of two motors into a single fault tolerant one. On the other hand, the efficiency decreases as motor height increases. The loss is minimized by optimizing the up–down air gap to solve this problem. Moreover, by optimizing the slot shape, efficiency increases. The up–down airgap design variables and slot shape have high-order and nonlinear characteristics with multiple local maxima. The nonlinear problems are handled using polynomial regression-based modeling as a fitness function to maximize efficiency using a genetic algorithm as a global optimization technique and its efficiency is experimentally compared.

Mo2C is a unique material due to its tunable phase and electronic structures. Because of the interaction of molybdenum and carbon, the D band of molybdenum atoms expands, similar to Pt. This hybridization minimizes the energy required for hydrogen adsorption, thereby enhancing the electrocatalytic characteristics. In this article, we report the direct one-pot synthesis of Mo2C on N doped on a porous carbon sheet for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions using ammonium molybdate as a molybdenum source, glucose as a carbon source, and ammonia as a nitrogen source. The porosity and Mo2C nanostructure embedded in N-doped carbon have helped to facilitate the infusion of electrolytes and the detachment of hydrogen molecules from the surface of a Mo2C-N-doped porous carbon sheet. Besides, the prepared composite has shown the most efficient HER performances with the overpotential and Tafel slope of Mo2C and Mo2C-NC mA/cm2being 133 and 95 mV and 76 and 69 mV dec–1, respectively; it also has excellent stability in an acidic medium. Because of its easy resource, simple preparation, and excellent performance, the prepared Mo2C on a N-doped carbon sheet has a significant potential to be an alternative for cost-effective hydrogen production.

This study investigated the mechanical and corrosion properties of Friction Stir Welded (FSW) and Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welded phosphor bronze (CuSn4) joints. Corrosion tests were conducted on the welded joints, and the percentage of weight loss due to corrosion was measured at different time intervals. Results revealed that the percentage of weight loss due to corrosion of the TIG joint increased with time, whereas the percentage of weight loss due to corrosion of the FSW welded joint remained constant. This could be attributed to recrystallisation that happened in the solid-state welding, which reduced corrosion in the FSW welded joint. In addition, tensile tests were conducted to evaluate the strength of the joints. FSW with a spindle speed of 1300 rpm, weld speed of 0.06mm/sec, plunge depth of 0.25mm, pin profile of pentagon, and flat shoulder profile was found to produce good results. TIG welding with a welding speed of 1.75mm/sec, a gas flow rate of 7.5 cm3/min and an amperage of 120A also produced good results. The tensile strength of FSW was found to be approximately 1.6 times higher than that of TIG welding.