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Sage is a widely used herbal ingredient rich in bioactive compounds suitable for various applications. This study compared encapsulated Salvia officinalis L. powders derived from extracts obtained by supercritical fluid extraction (SESP) and hydro-distillation (HESP) for their characterisation and antioxidant activities. The SESP powder showed bulky agglomerated bio-feature from the morphology study, whereas the HESP powder showed more in individually separated round shape particles. The chemical functional groups' analysis also revealed the presence of molecular interface between bio-components in both samples. Thermo-molecular analysis also revealed the SESP sample had more stable thermal changing behaviour than the HESP sample with increasing temperature. The total phenolic content (TPC) and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) value of HESP were significantly higher than that of SESP, at 29.419 ± 0.662 mgGAE/g ESP and 2011.494 ± 19.909 μM TE/g ESP, respectively. Additionally, high antioxidant activity was recorded in HESP based on its significantly low EC50 value as estimated in the DPPH assay, at 0.317 ± 0.002 mg/mL. Nonetheless, the performance of antioxidant activities for SESP was superior to that of unencapsulated sage extract obtained from similar extraction processes as reported in the literature. Thus, the results imply that SESP has a promising future as a natural alternative substituent for synthetic antioxidants in food, pharmaceutical, and biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the leading cause of preventable blindness is diabetic retinopathy (DR). Although there are several undiagnosed and non-treated cases of DR, accurate and adequate retinal screening could facilitate the early detection and treatment of DR. The goal of this research is to develop a reliable DR screening and detection model to reduce the risk of DR-related blindness. DR-infected eyes describe ophthalmologist for further examination and diagnosis might reduce the risk of vision loss and provide timely and accurate diagnostic information. Hence, this paper proposes a hybrid inductive machine learning algorithm (HIMLA) as an automated DR detection diagnostic tool. HIMLA processes and classifies colored fundus images as healthy (no retinopathy) or unhealthy (presence of DR) by identifying the appropriate medical DR cases. The proposed algorithm comprises four stages: pre-processing, segmentation, feature extraction, and classification. At the pre-processing stage, colored fundus images are normalized to a specific brightness level to enhance the quality of the images. In the segmentation stage, the processed image is encoded and decoded to segment the images for improving image quality. Furthermore, feature extraction and classification are performed using multiple instance learning (MIL). The proposed method was evaluated on CHASE datasets for the detection of DR. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the proposed approach are 96.62%, 95.31%, and 96.88%, respectively. These results indicates that HIMLA outperforms other DR models, such as ML-based neovascularization detection in the optic disc (MLB-NVD), genetic algorithm–based diabetic retinopathy (GAB-DR), DL algorithm diabetic retinopathy (DLA-DR), and diagnostic assessment–based DL for diabetic retinopathy (DAD-DR), which reduces the risk of vision loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a postbiotic compound produced by stabilized non-viable Lactobacilli on the health, growth performance, immunity, and gut status against Escherichia coli (E. coli) challenge of broiler chickens. A total of 400, day-old broiler chicks were allocated into 4 equal groups (1–4) consisting of 100; each assigned into 2 equal replicates (50 each). Chickens in the 1st group were received the dry form of the compound at doses of 1 kg and 0.5 kg/ton feed for starter and grower, and the finisher diets, respectively. Chickens in the 2nd group were given the aqueous form of the compound in a dose of 4 mL/L of the drinking water during the first 3 days of life and at a day before and after each vaccination. Feed and water treatment regimens were administered to chickens in the 3rd group. Group 4 was kept without treatment. Each bird in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th group was challenged with E. coli (O78) at 1-week-old. All groups were kept under observation till 5-week-old. Statistical analysis included one-way ANOVA and other methods as described with significant differences at P ≤ 0.05. The results indicated that feed and water treatments with the postbiotic compound induced more significant (P ≤ 0.05) amelioration of a disease picture, enhancement of growth performance, boosting of immune response, improvement of bursa of Fabricius/body weight ratio, and reduction of intestinal coliform count in challenged chickens when compared with challenged non-treated chickens. In conclusion, the postbiotic compound either in a dry and/or an aqueous form is recommended for improving the health, performance, and immunity of colisepticaemic broiler chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, flexural, impact and dynamic mechanical properties of the Pineapple leaf fibres (PALF) and Washingtonia trunk fibres (GW) based bio-phenolic hybrid composites were examined. The pure and hybrid composites were fabricated using the hand lay-up technique with an overall fibre weight ratio of 50% in which GW and PALF were maintained in the fibre weight ratios of 50:50, 30:70, and 70:30 denoted as 1G1P, 3G7P, and 7G3P, respectively. Hybrid composites displayed better flexural strength, flexural modulus and impact strength than the GW composites and better viscoelastic properties than the PALF composites. Results revealed that 1G1P hybrid composites exhibited 25% and 12% improvements in flexural strength and modulus compared to the GW composites. 3P7K composites showed a twofold increase in impact strength than GW composites. The storage modulus of the pure and hybrid composites declined rapidly beyond the glass transition temperature. Furthermore, it was observed that the values of storage modulus for all the composites at 150 °C were similar regardless of the composite configuration. The Peak of loss modulus was found to increase in the following order: GW > 7G3P > 3G7P > 1G1P > PALF. Furthermore, the temperature at the peak tan delta was improved, and a reduction in the tan delta peak was observed for hybrid composites compared to the pure composites. Finally, the PALF and GW hybrid combinations can be suitable for use in various applications such as textiles, machinery part production industries, medicine, automobiles, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertebral tumors have a percentage of back pain that causes other vertebral region-born symptoms. Cancers that affect the vertebral column are visceral organ cancer metastases that are mostly seen in older patients. Vertebral dysfunction and neurological failure vertebral column cancers are the most important occurred cancers for patients. In the past, only few methods have been used to combat main and metastatic vertebral tumors. These methods are accessible for short-term monitoring and possess standardized classification consistency for vertebral diagnosis. In this paper, geometric rough propagation neural network has been used for the identification of genetic factors in the examination of a clinical sample with vertebral columns. The proposed neural network has C-statistics of 79.1%, a parameter pitch of 96.1%, and configuration for measurement in the study range with the Brier's score of 95.6%. The algorithm shows great net gain on the decision curve study, with promising performance results of 98.5% on internal testing for preoperative non-routine estimation of discharges with 0.5% error rate and 96% accuracy range. Also, these models have been externally validated by the online healthcare careers cloud-based open access web application on Internet of Medical Things Platform with 97.9% specificity ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has potential effects on future hydrologic characteristics of arid and semi-arid river basins. The Lesser Zab River in Iraq was selected as a representative example of arid and semi-aird river basin. In this paper, the minimum and maximum temperatures (Tmin and Tmax) and precipitation (Pcp) for Lesser Zab Basin (LZB) were projected using Long Ashton Research Station-Weather Generator (LARS-WG) considering three future periods P1 (2021–2040), P2 (2041–2060), and P3 (2061–2080) under five global climate models (GCMs) and three representative concentration pathways (RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5). The projected weather variables were inserted into the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the same scenarios and future periods. The results showed that LZB is expected to suffer from hot weather and drought by end of P3 due to an increase in Tmin by 16.78, 27.9, and 44.05%; an increase in Tmax by 8.4, 13.67 and 21.5%; and a decrease in Pcp by 0.07, 5.26, and 5.31%, under RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5, respectively. Moreover, the projected evapotranspiration also tended to increase by 5.52, 8.37, and 12.61% under RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5, respectively. Consequently, the projected streamflow of LZB is expected to decrease by 16.7, 27.15, and 31.23% under RCPs 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5, respectively. The paper introduced novel findings based on LARS-WG and SWAT simulations that contribute to a better understanding of future climate and hydrologic trends in arid and semi-arid river basins. The study outcomes assist sustainable management of water resources and decision-making process involved in climate change adaptation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Glioblastoma is a fast-growing primary brain tumor observed in adults with the worst prognosis. Preclinical studies have demonstrated the encouraging anticancer activity of statins. This study evaluated the efficacy of atorvastatin in combination with standard therapy in patients with glioblastoma. In this prospective, open-label, single-arm, phase II study, patients were treated with atorvastatin in combination with the standard glioblastoma therapy comprising radiotherapy and temozolomide. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) at 6 months (PFS-6). Among 36 patients enrolled from January 2014 to January 2017, the median age was 52 (20–69) years; 22% of the patients were aged ≥60 years, and 62% were male. Patients received atorvastatin for a median duration of 6.2 (0.3–28) months. At a median follow-up of 19 months, the PFS-6 rate was 66%, with a median PFS of 7.6 (5.7–9.4) months. In terms of Grade ≥ 3 hematological adverse events, thrombocytopenia and neutropenia occurred in 7% and 12% of patients, respectively. In multivariate analyses, high baseline low-density lipoprotein levels were associated with worse survival (P = 0.046). Atorvastatin was not shown to improve PFS-6. However, this study identified that high low-density lipoprotein levels are an independent predictor of poor cancer-related outcomes. Future clinical trials testing statins should aim to enroll patients with slow-growing tumors. Clinical trial information: NCT0202957 (December 12, 2013) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study electrochemical sensors, based on undoped and doped (Cr, Mn, Cu and Zn) SnO2 as a sensing electrode material, were fabricated and used to detect acetone (10–600 ppb) and toluene (1–40 ppb). The sol–gel synthesized nanomaterial was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Contact angle (CA). Electrochemical sensing characteristics were determined from the Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopic analysis (EIS). The electrochemical results reveal that the sensors' response to acetone was highest with copper doping whereas in case of toluene sensing zinc dopants showed highest sensitivity. This work demonstrated that acetone and toluene sensing is selective with copper and zinc doping and these doped SnO2 nanomaterials can be used for the formation of array/electronic nose and help in simultaneous detection of acetone and toluene both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, a lot of people have the oral health problems due to continuous changes in the lifestyle such as the person's speech which can be affected by the malocclusion in teeth and the crooked teeth. The dental problems can cause cavity and bacterial infection. The dental and speech problems mostly can be related to the Alzheimer disease, and cognitive changes. Therefore, the dental information is collected from patients and analyzed by applying intelligent machine learning techniques. The gathered dental information is normalized by standardized min max approach. Further, different statistical parameters are derived which are huge in dimension. The optimal features are selected using grey wolf optimized approach. The method effectively selects the optimum dental features and the selected features are processed using bacterial optimized associative deep neural network. The network collects the Alzheimer disease features and compare them with the collected dental features to establish the brain related issues with dental features. The efficiency of the system is evaluated using experimental results and discussion. Thus, the introduced intelligent bacterial optimized associative deep neural network recognizes the relationship up to 98.98% of accuracy which is the maximum accuracy compared to other methods. Further, IBADNN-based Alzheimer detection system approach attains maximum predicting and selecting disease features (precision 98.65% and recall 99.03%) whereas other approaches such as OLVQ (precision 95.03% and recall 96.23%), HACANN (precision 96.36% and recall 96.91%) and GCNN (precision 97.47% and recall 97.512%) and attains low predicting and selecting accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thrombosis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Out of four, one person is dying of thrombosis; yet, the seriousness of this disease is underappreciated. Its early prediction and prevention continue to be a dilemma that confuses researchers. Nevertheless, a light can be seen at the end of the tunnel; thanks to nanoscience which has led to the development of new generations of nanostructure with different applications in bio-medicine and bio-engineering. The key paradigm for the Internet of Nano Things (IoNT) has allowed for new medical data to be collected which potentially helps achieve more accurate disease prediction. It has enabled real-time health services and turned the physical space of a patient into a smart space. While an enabler for several applications, the artificial nature of Internet of Nano Things devices can be harmful where the implementation of Nano Things may lead to unintended health effects. To overcome this issue, researchers have suggested the novel paradigm of the IoBNT that combines nanotechnology with tools from synthetic biology to provide reengineering of biological embedded computing devices. IoBNT promises many medical applications, such as intra-body sensing and actuation networks, based on biological cells and their characteristics in the biochemical field. In this paper, a novel IoBNT-based model with an optimized Bio-Cyber communication interface that helps predict and analyze blood vessel clots is introduced. The model utilizes a bio-interface to collect information on the blood vessels and convert it into an electrical equivalent format. Furthermore, the optical or thermal responsiveness excites the release of definite nano-carrier molecules such as liposomes which may be devised across the bloodstream and enter the targeted area passively to stimulate suitable nano-devices to predict the clots. The Bio-Cyber interface is used for linking the traditional electromagnetic wave to the Bio-Signaling Network based on the bioluminescence concept. Lab-scale simulation analysis shows prominent outcomes in the prediction of blood vessel clots with 97.66% accuracy and 12.22% tolerance level in error rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sensitive and selective electrochemical detection of picric acid (PA), a toxic, harmful environmental pollutant and an explosive, using different morphologies of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is reported. The different Cu2O morphologies, synthesized by a hydrothermal method for 8 h, 10 h, and 12 h, were characterized using various techniques to confirm their morphological, optical, compositional, and structural properties. Sensors, fabricated in the form of screen-printed electrodes using these different morphologies of Cu2O, were used to study the electrochemical sensing capabilities of the nanomaterials for PA (7.8 μ M to 10.0 mM). Cyclic voltammetry studies revealed a distinct change in the redox peak current as a function of PA concentration, which was further confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies, as the charge-transfer resistance increased with an increase in PA concentration. Scan rate studies showed that the electrochemical sensing of PA is a surface-controlled process, involving rapid electron transfer. Among the different morphologies, Cu2O synthesized for 8 h showed a reproducible and reliable sensitivity of 130.4 μA mM−1 cm−2 with a limit of detection of 39 μM and good linearity over a wide range of PA concentrations. Interference studies with other phenolic compounds revealed the presence of distinct peaks corresponding to PA, indicating that the fabricated sensor shows specificity and selectivity for PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a quest for developing new material with performance of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) a non-metallic doping i.e., of nitrogen was carried out to commercial TiO2 nanoparticle using simple, facile and sustainable mechanochemistry method. Melamine was used as source of nitrogen and different weight percentages (10, 30, 50, 70 and 90%), mixed with TiO2 mechanically in a ball mill for 12 h at an speed of 500 rotations per minute followed by annealing at 550 °C for 2 h under constant N2 flow. The post nitrogen doping structural analysis indicated anatase phase of TiO2.The morphological observations by transmission electron microscopy did not show change due to melamine and particle size remains less than 30 nm. N-doping resulted in an increased wavelength of peak absorption from 334 nm to about 350 nm and shifting of absorption edge from UV (~ 400 nm) to visible region (~ 500 nm) resulting in the reduction of the band gap from 3.14 to 2.43 eV which is supported by XPS and Tauc plot analysis. The functional analysis reveals amide bond at higher melamine concentration. The DSSC characteristics were measured with source-meter coupled with simulated light source which shows a significant increase of cell efficiency from 26 with 10% of melamine to that of 86 with 90% melamine. The increase in efficiency was linear with increasing nitrogen doping concentration. The study suggested that melamine can be used as a suitable N-dopant source for improved photoconversion properties that can help engineer to develop a device with enhanced performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this work, we reported the synthesis of zinc sulphide microspheres using the hydrothermal method. ZnS microspheres were synthesized using water, zinc acetate, thiourea and ammonia solution at 150°C for 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h. The as-synthesized ZnS powders were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. XRD indicates the cubic (major phase) as well as hexagonal (minor phase) crystalline phase with enhanced crystallinity increased gradually with more reaction time. UV-Vis spectra show the absorption peaks in the UV-Vis region for all the samples. The Tauc’s plot was used to calculate the band gap energy of ZnS samples, which are found to be 3.39 eV, 3.4 eV, and 3.42 eV for the samples synthesized at reaction times of 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h, respectively. FESEM images confirm the formation of microspheres as aggregates of spherical nanoparticles. The as-synthesized ZnS microspheres have been explored for solar light-induced photo-catalytic dye degradation of methylene blue (MB), and the results confirm that such microspheres exhibit effectual photocatalytic properties.Graphical Abstract: Zinc sulphide microspheres have been synthesized hydrothermally at different reaction times (6 h, 12 h, and 24 h). The as-synthesized ZnS microspheres were successfully employed as photocatalyst for MB dye degradation. Due to high crystallinity, ZnS microspheres synthesized for 24 h show more efficient degradation potential than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report synthesis and study of magneto-optic Faraday effect for dilute magnetic semiconductor nanostructure. The colloidal CdS nanocrystals were prepared via hot injection method and successfully doped with Mn cations. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by using UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Systematic studies on effect of Mn doping on photoluminescence, electron spin resonance, and magneto-optical properties are carried out. UV-Vis spectral analysis confirms blue shift in bandgap of CdS nanoparticles due to quantum confinement effect. The X-ray diffraction study confirms hexagonal wurtzite phase formation of CdS nanoparticles without any impurity phases. TEM analysis confirms uniform particle size, having particle size distribution around 5 nm. As-synthesized undoped CdS shows triangular-shaped nanocrystals with hexagonal structure; however, triangular shape of CdS nanoparticles is not conserved after Mn doping. The photoluminescence characteristic spectra of Mn-doped CdS nanocrystals showed emission band at 660 nm and its intensity was found to increase with increasing Mn concentration. Electron spin resonance signal, with six-line hyperfine structure splitting, confirmed doping of Mn ions in CdS lattice. Magneto-optic measurements showed linear variation of Faraday rotation with respect to applied magnetic field, indicating paramagnetic behavior of Mn-doped CdS. The highest Verdet constant 24.81 deg/T cm was observed for 2% Mn-doped CdS nanocrystals, which further decreases with increasing Mn concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally research on to tailoring the novel materials using II-VI elements aims to improve the dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) performance. Rare earth elements too are being explored as dopant to metal oxides for such applications. In this work, an effort is made to synthesize europium doped titanium oxide with sol-gel method at different atomic concentrations of Eu ranging from 2.17 × 10 to 17.4 × 10 atoms/cm in the solid mixture. Titanium isopropoxide was hydrolyzed, mixed with Eu precursor and then refluxed followed by drying and calcination of the precipitate that was then used for DSSC fabrication. The particle size was found to vary from 100 to 200 nm with Eu doping while absorption was found increasing with Eu doping concentrations. The photocurrent-voltage characteristics were measured with a simulated light source and a source-meter as a function of Eu doping concentration. It is found that increasing Eu doping concentration enhances the optical absorbance/fluorescence and hence increased photoconversion efficiency. On addition of least amount of Eu, a 1.6 times higher efficiency is noted than that of undoped TiO. The proposed study indicated that such controlled doping would have potential in tailoring the material for DSSC and deliver better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive research have been made in improving the dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) performance by designing, tailoring and enhancing the photoconversion properties of the matrix. The approaches used are material synthesis, dye permutation combinations, use of natural extracts or using several sensitizers. The polymers are also being explored in this regards in their pristine or composite forms. Therefore, in this study an attempt is made to synthesize a mesoporous polyaniline-titanium dioxide (PANI-TiO) nanocomposites with one pot synthesis approach at different concentrations of PANI (0.3-0.7 ml). Titanium isopropoxide was used as precursor for TiO with aniline and the material was synthesized at ice bath temperature. Morphological observations showed that the composite is a mesoporous material with tubular structure where TiO particles are seen entrapped in the polymer matrix and found that intercalation can be tailored with PANI concentration. Structural, functional and optical characterization indicate anatase phase of TiO, with several functional bands that can help in dye interaction and broad absorption bands within visible region. The photocurrent-voltage response was measured with simulated light and source-meter. It is interesting to note that increasing PANI concentration enhances the mesoporous structure and hence increases the dye loading capacity and photoconductivity of the material. The efficiency increased by about 22 % with addition of 0.5 ml of PANI from 0.3 ml. The proposed study has indicated that such material have the potential to be used for DSSC fabrication with which the device performance can further be increased to a better levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive efforts are being made in enhancing the photoconversion efficiency of TiO based dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) using different approaches. In this work, the Sn-doped TiO nanopowder was sensitized with flower extracts of Dahlia Violet (DV), Rabbit flower (RF) and their mixed extract separately other than the commercial N719 dye and DSSC characteristics were studied. Hydrothermal method was used to synthesize Sn-doped TiO for 48 h at 150 °C. X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis, FTIR and Raman scattering were used to characterize the synthesized powder. DSSCs of the synthesized powder was fabricated using conventional sandwich type technique sealed with Surlyn polymer film. The photocurrent-voltage characteristics were measured under solar simulated light using source-meter. It is interesting to note that the flower extract resulted in comparable photoconversion efficiency as that of N719 dye. When the powder was sensitized with N719, 1.66 % efficiency was achieved while mixed extract resulted in 1.28 %, DV in 0.99 % and RF in 0.52 % efficiency. The results of various analysis techniques and cell characteristics are correlated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive efforts are being made in enhancing the photoconversion efficiency of TiO based dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) using different approaches. In this work, the TiO nanopowder was sensitized with rare earth metal and DSSC characteristics were studied. Commercial powder (P25) was calcined at 450 °C and sensitized with Nd. X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis, FTIR and Raman scattering were used to characterize nanopowder and found that Nd-sensitization resulted in formation of additional absorption/vibrational bands. The photocurrent-voltage characteristics were measured under simulated light using source-meter. It is interesting to note that the photoconversion efficiency has doubled when commercial powder was just calcined. When the powder was sensitized with Nd, efficiency has tremendously increased to 4.51 % for commercial powder and 9.10 % for calcined powder indicating the effect of Nd-sensitization. The results of various analysis techniques and cell characteristics are correlated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to assess the efficacy of a novel curcumin derivative (NCD) versus sildenafil citrate in erectile signaling. The study was conducted on 10 control male rats and 50 diabetic male rats divided into the following groups: diabetic, curcumin, NCD, sildenafil and NCD combined with sildenafil. Cavernous tissue (CC) gene expression levels of heme oxygenase (HO)-1, Nrf2, NF-κβ and p38, enzyme activities of HO and nitric oxide synthase (NOS), cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and intracavernosal pressure (ICP) were assessed. Results showed that 12 weeks after induction of diabetes, erectile dysfunction was confirmed by the significant decrease in ICP, a significant decrease in cGMP, NOS, HO enzyme activities, a significant decrease in HO-1 gene and a significant elevation of NF-κβ, p38 genes. Administration of all therapeutic interventions led to a significant elevation in ICP, cGMP levels, a significant increase in HO-1 and NOS enzymes, a significant increase in HO-1 and Nrf2 gene expression, and a significant decrease in NF-κβ, p38 gene expression. NCD or its combination with sildenafil showed significant efficacy and more prolonged duration of action. In conclusion, NCD could enhance erectile function with more efficacy and more prolonged duration of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we have attempted to explain the influence of secondary filler on the dispersion of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) nanocomposites (CNT/HDPE). In order to understand the mixed-fillers system, Montmorillonite (MMT) in addition with Maleic anhydride grafted high density polyethylene (PE-g-MA) was added to CNT/HDPE nanocomposites. It was followed by investigating their effect on the thermo-mechanical, rheological and morphological properties of the aforesaid nanocomposite. Incorporation of 3 wt% each of MMT and PE-g-MA into CNT/HDPE nanocomposites resulted to the increased values for the tensile and flexural strength (32 % increase in both), as compared to the pure HDPE matrix. The thermal analysis result showed improved thermal stability of the formulated nanocomposites. The initial decomposition temperature ( T) for such nanocomposite with 9 wt% of MMT and 3 wt% of PE-g-MA reached to 296 °C from 265 °C ( T for neat HDPE matrix). Addition of MMT to CNT/HDPE nanocomposites also increased the rheological properties indicating a dominating elastic response. A significant increase in loss, storage modulus and complex viscosity was observed upon addition of PE-g-MA, whereas Tan δ was found to be reduced. This might be due to better interfacial adhesion between MMT and HDPE phases that attributes to the elastic dominance. Improvement in dispersion of CNT upon addition of MMT and PE-g-MA was further supported by the morphological analysis. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that larger aggregates of CNTs were disappeared upon addition of these two components leading to the enhancement of thermo-mechanical properties for such composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, a series of 0, 1 and 7 wt% silver nano-particles (Ag NPs) incorporated poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nano-fibers were synthesized by the electrospinning process. The PLGA/Ag nano-fibers sheets were characterized using SEM, TEM and DSC analyses. The three synthesized PLGA/silver nano-fiber composites were screened for anticancer activity against liver cancer cell line using MTT and LDH assays. The anticancer activity of PLGA nano-fibers showed a remarkable improvement due to increasing the concentration of the Ag NPs. In addition to the given result, PLGA nano-fibers did not show any cytotoxic effect. However, PLGA nano-fibers that contain 1 % nano silver showed anticancer activity of 8.8 %, through increasing the concentration of the nano silver to 7 % onto PLGA nano-fibers, the anticancer activity was enhanced to a 67.6 %. Furthermore, the antibacterial activities of these three nano-fibers, against the five bacteria strains namely; E.coli o157:H7 ATCC 51659, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 13565, Bacillus cereus EMCC 1080, Listeria monocytogenes EMCC 1875 and Salmonella typhimurium ATCC25566 using the disc diffusion method, were evaluated. Sample with an enhanced inhibitory effect was PLGA/Ag NPs (7 %) which inhibited all strains (inhibition zone diameter 10 mm); PLGA/Ag NPs (1 %) sample inhibited only one strain ( B. cereus) with zone diameter 8 mm. The PLGA nano-fiber sample has not shown any antimicrobial activity. Based on the anticancer as well as the antimicrobial results in this study, it can be postulated that: PLGA nanofibers containing 7 % nano silver are suitable as anticancer- and antibiotic-drug delivery systems, as they will increase the anticancer as well as the antibiotic drug potency without cytotoxicity effect on the normal cells. These findings also suggest that Ag NPs, of the size (5-10 nm) evaluated in the present study, are appropriate for therapeutic application from a safety standpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the artificial hip joint femur head that is made of Stiffness Graded (SG) material in terms of joint stresses distributions and dimensions. In this study, 3D finite element models of femur head that is made of SG material and traditional femur heads made of Stainless Steel (SS), Cobalt Chromium alloy (Co Cr Mo) and Titanium alloy (Ti) have been developed using the ANSYS Code. The effects on the total artificial hip joint system stresses due to using the proposed SG material femur head (with low stiffness at the outer surface and high stiffness at its core) have been investigated. Also, the effects on the polymeric cup contact stresses due to the use of different sizes of femur heads, presence of metal backing shell and presence of radial clearance (gap) between cup and femur head have been investigated. The finite element results showed that using SG femur head resulted in a significant reduction in the cup contact stresses even for small femur heads compared with Ti alloy, SS and Co Cr Mo femur heads. The presence of radial clearance resulted in significant increase in the cup stresses especially for small femur heads. Finally, the presence of SS metal backing shell resulted in slight increase in the hip joint stresses especially for small femur head joints. This work analyzes successfully the usage of proposed SG material as femur head in order to reduce the predicted stresses at the total hip joint replacement due to the redistribution of strain energy in the hip prostheses. Therefore, the present results suggest that minor changes in design and geometrical parameters of the hip joint have significant consequences on the long term use of the joint and should be taken into consideration during the design of the hip joint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty daily time step–based SWAT simulation models for the Duhok, Adhaim and Dokan dam watersheds, in Iraq, were implemented using five land cover (LC) and digital elevation model (DEM) of different resolutions. The optimal LC and DEM for computing the most accurate streamflow for each watershed were specified. Results indicated that delineation of the flat watersheds is significantly affected by the DEM resolution and there was no evident trend on the computation of watersheds' total areas, boundaries, number of subbasins and stream networks. Moreover, there is no significant trend between the increase in LC and DEM resolutions and accuracy of the computed streamflow. The most accurate streamflows for the Duhok, Adhaim and Dokan watersheds were computed using LC (DEM) of 30 m, 1000 m and 1000 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an increasing focus on applied research, series of single/composite materials are being investigated for device development to detect several hazardous, dangerous, and toxic molecules. Here, we report a preliminary attempt of an electrochemical sensor fabricated using pristine Ni and Cr-doped nano tin oxide material (SnO2) as a tool to detect agro-hazardous material, i.e. Organophosphate (OP, chlorpyrifos). The nanomaterial was synthesized using the solution method. Nickel and chromium were used as dopant during synthesis. The synthesized material was calcined at 1000 °C and characterized for morphological, structural, and elemental analysis that showed the formation of agglomerated nanosized particles of crystalline nature. Screen-printed films of powder obtained were used as a matrix for working electrodes in a cyclic voltammogram (CV) at various concentrations of organophosphates (0.01 to 100 ppm). The CV curves were obtained before and after the immobilization of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) on the nanomaterial matrix. An interference study was also conducted with hydroquinone to ascertain the selectivity. The preliminary study indicated that such material can be used as suitable matrix for a device that can easily detect OP to a level of 10 ppb and thus contributes to progress in terms of desired device technology for the food and agricultural-industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterial-based photoluminescence (PL) diagnostic devices offer fast and highly sensitive detection of pesticides, DNA, and toxic agents. Here we report a label-free PL genosensor for sensitive detection of Vibrio cholerae that is based on a DNA hybridization strategy utilizing nanostructured magnesium oxide (nMgO; size >30 nm) particles. The morphology and size of the synthesized nMgO were determined by transmission electron microscopic (TEM) studies. The probe DNA (pDNA) was conjugated with nMgO and characterized by X-ray photoelectron and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic techniques. The target complementary genomic DNA (cDNA) isolated from clinical samples of V. cholerae was subjected to DNA hybridization studies using the pDNA-nMgO complex and detection of the cDNA was accomplished by measuring changes in PL intensity. The PL peak intensity measured at 700 nm (red emission) increases with the increase in cDNA concentration. A linear range of response in the developed PL genosensor was observed from 100 to 500 ng/μL with a sensitivity of 1.306 emi/ng, detection limit of 3.133 ng/μL and a regression coefficient (R2) of 0.987. These results show that this ultrasensitive PL genosensor has the potential for applications in the clinical diagnosis of cholera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]