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Spent engine oil is a major source of environmental pollution that affects the aquatic ecosystem and human health. Cellulose nanofibers (CNF) are natural nanomaterials that can be used as additives in spent engine oil to enhance its performance, especially at high temperatures and pressures. Utilizing sulfur-based unbleached rice straw pulping technique, the rice straw was grinded in a solution with 10 % sodium sulfite and 2 % sodium carbonate, that heated to 160 °C for 2 h. This produces unbleached sulfur pulp, which is then analyzed for ash, cellulose, and lignin content. A subsequent bleaching step at 80 °C with a sodium chlorite/acetic acid mix completes the process. This technique was adopted to produce CNF. In this study, preparation and characteriztion of CNF-additives to spent engine oil was performed using different techniquessuch as; IR spectra analysis, kinematic viscosity, and wear scar width. It was also evaluated on the oil adsorption, vibration, and noise reduction properties of the resulted additive oil. The results showed that CNF improved viscosity, lubrication, and anti-wear properties of the oil, and decreased its friction, vibration, and noise. The optimal concentration of CNF was 2.0 wt%, which increased the kinematic viscosity by 14.5 % and reduced the wear scar width by 31 % compared to the spent oil sample. Moreovere, CNF reduced the environmental impact of oil disposal and recycling. Overall, CNF are promising nanofillers for improving the performance of spent engine oil and lowering its environmental impact.

Mohamed Hamouda,1 Mohamed Farghaly,2 Sara Al Dallal2,3 1Value Access & HEOR, GSK, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 2Health Insurance Section, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 3Emirates Health Economics Society, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesCorrespondence: Mohamed Hamouda, Value Access & HEOR, GSK, ARENCO Tower, 19th Floor, Dubai Media City, PO Box 50199, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tel +971543604604, Email mohamed.a.hamouda@gsk.comPurpose: Asthma is a common, chronic respiratory disorder associated with substantial societal and economic burden globally, despite the availability of different treatment modalities. GSK has developed a once-daily single-inhaler triple therapy (SITT), comprised of fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI); a combination of inhaled corticosteroid, long-acting muscarinic antagonist, and long-acting β2-agonist for patients with uncontrolled asthma. A budget impact analysis was conducted to determine the financial impact of introducing FF/UMEC/VI SITT from the perspective of the Dubai Academic Healthcare Corporation (DAHC).Methods: A budget impact model was constructed using an epidemiology-based approach and used to estimate the expected 5-year budget impact of including FF/UMEC/VI for the treatment of eligible patients within the DAHC in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The model included both pharmacy and efficacy-related costs. The perspective of the DAHC healthcare payer was adopted, thus only direct payer costs were included in the analysis. A one-way sensitivity analysis was conducted to test the robustness of the model structure, assumptions, and input parameters.Results: The total budget impact was estimated to save 1 million United States Dollars (USD) over 5 years, with budget impacts of 0.08 million USD in Year 1; 0.14 million USD in Year 2; 0.22 million USD in Year 3; 0.28 million USD in Year 4; and 0.33 million USD in Year 5. The overall budget impact per patient was estimated to save 12.2 USD over 5 years. In one-way sensitivity analyses, the budget impact was most sensitive to changes in the market uptake of FF/UMEC/VI.Conclusion: Healthcare payers may consider FF/UMEC/VI in the management of uncontrolled asthma which would save costs and reduce healthcare resource use in the UAE.Keywords: asthma, asthma maintenance therapy, budget impact analysis, triple therapy, United Arab Emirates

Multifunctional membrane technology has gained tremendous attention in wastewater treatment, including oil/water separation and photocatalytic activity. In the present study, a multifunctional composite nanofiber membrane is capable of removing dyes and separating oil from wastewater, as well as having antibacterial activity. The composite nanofiber membrane is composed of cellulose acetate (CA) filled with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in a polymer matrix and dipped into a solution of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs). Membrane characterization was performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and water contact angle (WCA) studies were utilized to evaluate the introduced membranes. Results showed that membranes have adequate wettability for the separation process and antibacterial activity, which is beneficial for water disinfection from living organisms. A remarkable result of the membranes’ analysis was that methylene blue (MB) dye removal occurred through the photocatalysis process with an efficiency of ~20%. Additionally, it exhibits a high separation efficiency of 45% for removing oil from a mixture of oil–water and water flux of 20.7 L.m−2 h−1 after 1 h. The developed membranes have multifunctional properties and are expected to provide numerous merits for treating complex wastewater.

The osteoinductivity of bioactive glass ceramics (BGCs) is dependent on their ability to effectively interact with the surrounding physiological environment and influence the fate of target cells; however, masking and poor dispersion can negatively influence bioactivity. Here, we address this problem via a simple fabrication method of assembling highly ordered and aligned arrays of BGC nanoneedle-like structures (@) on the outer surface of various polyamide 6 (PA6) substrates (casted film, 3D printing filaments, electrospun fibre mats) by ion dissociation. The staggered-like nanoneedles of BGC@PA6 substrates with excellent uniform dispersion showed favourable cell viability, proliferation, and spreading of MC3T3 osteoblast-like cells. Moreover, the immobilized BGC nanoneedles induced osteogenic differentiation and accelerated the expression of late osteoblast marker genes, compared to the control group. Furthermore, the BGC@PA6 composite showed high affinity for bone-like apatite formation when incubated in physiological body fluids. These findings suggest that the unique dispersion of BGCs@PA6 substrates with nanostructure features make them attractive candidates for bone tissue regeneration and open avenues for future investigation into exploiting these properties for bone tissue engineering. Importantly, this work provides a novel concept for in-situ immobilization of BGC with distinctive topographical features onto polymer substrates simulating natural bone structure.

Direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) have shown a high potential to supply energy and contribute to saving the climate due to their bioethanol sustainability and carbon neutrality. Nonetheless, there is a consistent need to develop new catalyst electrodes that are active for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). In this work, two C-supported PdIrNi catalysts, that have been reported only once, are prepared via a facile NaBH4 co-reduction route. Their physiochemical characterization (X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)) results show alloyed PdIrNi nanoparticles that are well dispersed (4Ir2Ni1/C is promising, their EOR performance has proven them less active than their Pd/C counterpart. Although the oxidation current peak of Pd/C is 1.8 A/mgPd, it is only 0.48 A/mgPd for Pd4Ir2Ni1/C and 0.52 A/mgPd for PdIrNi/C. These results were obtained three times and are reproducible, but since they do not add up with the sound PdIrNi microstructure, more advanced and in situ EOR studies are necessary to better understand the poor EOR performance.

Due to the increasing demand for artificial joint implants, two types of clays, montmorillonite (MMT) and halloysite nanotube (HNT), have been used either in combination as hybrid additives to reinforce the properties of the widely used polymer in the biomedical field (ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)). The 5% nanoclay content was incorporated into all manufactured nanocomposite materials. Several tests were conducted to evaluate the mechanical performance of these nanocomposite materials, including Izod, hardness, abrasion, and compression. Additionally, XRD analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and biocompatibility study were investigated to examine these nanocomposite's capacity to suit orthopedic applications. Compared to pure UHMWPE, the "hybridization" effect successfully increased the resistance of the nanocomposite. Although 5% HNT‐UHMWPE composites underwent some degradation in impact strength, the excellent ductility preserved the composites to fail without catastrophic fracture. Based on the MTT assay, all nanocomposites exhibited good biocompatibility, evident by favorable cell growth with no signs of cytotoxicity after up to 96 h of incubation in media with different amounts of material in solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper used different concentrations of xylose as a cross‐linker to initiate the Maillard reaction with the soy protein isolate matrix. The mechanical performance and moisture resistance of the soy protein isolate film were enhanced. Measuring the specific wavelength absorbance, free amino group concentration, and fluorescence spectrum of the cross‐linked result revealed the alteration of the soy protein isolate. Simultaneously, composite films made by crosslinking soy protein isolate with xylose were thoroughly investigated. Mechanical properties, contact angle measurement, water vapour transmission rate, optical properties, and thermal performance were used to determine the film's fundamental properties, and the interaction relationship between soy protein isolate, xylose, and glycerol was studied using infrared spectroscopy. The study found that the modified SPI film outperformed the unmodified film, particularly when the xylose content was 20%. The tensile strength reached 6.26 MPa, and the water vapour permeability was reduced to 5.45 × 10−8 g·mm/m2·s·Pa. It also exhibited excellent UV resistance and good thermal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, BiCuTeO is considered as one of the promising thermoelectric materials due to its ultra-low thermal conductivity. For this reason, the thermoelectric characteristic of this material has been studied to evaluate the lattice thermal conductivity (KL) from firstprinciples calculations which are based on solving linearized Boltzmann transport equations (LBTE) through the relaxation time (RTA) approximation. These calculations are used to predict the behavior of phonons in order to understand the origin of the ultralow thermal conductivity of BiCuTeO. The lattice thermal conductivity of BiCuTeO is reproduced with high accuracy. Our calculations predict that BiCuTeO announces a strong anharmonicity, which is the cause of the very low value of the thermal conductivity. This results in very high group speeds. Moreover, the calculations of the elastic properties, dielectric constants, phonon group velocities, lifetimes, and Grüneisen parameters shows that the lattice thermal conductivity exhibits an obvious anisotropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hany G Attia,1 Mai Abdelhalim Hamouda,2 Saeed Alasmari,3 Dalia F El-Telbany,4 Zaenah Zuhair Alamri,5 Safa H Qahl,5 Mohammad Y Alfaifi,6 Majid Mohammad Al-Sawahli,7 Sara Abd El Wahed8 1Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, King Salman International University, El-Tur, Egypt; 3Department of Biology, College of Science and Arts, Najran University, Najran 1988, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Modern University for Technology and Information (MTI), Cairo, Egypt; 5Department of Biological Science, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Biology, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, The Islamic University, Najaf, Iraq; 8Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, The British University in Egypt, Cairo, EgyptCorrespondence: Majid Mohammad Al-Sawahli, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, The Islamic University, Najaf, Iraq, Tel +201119925299, Email majidalsawahli@gmail.com Hany G Attia, Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966555857605, Email hgattia@nu.edu.saPurpose: : Polyvinyl alcohol-capped silver nanostructures (cAgNSs) were investigated in order to enhance the cytotoxicity, pro-apoptotic, and oxidant patterns of in human laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 cells by employing a 50 mT electromagnetic field (LEMF) for 30 min.Methods: Wet chemical reduction was used to synthesize the cAgNSs, and after they had been capped with polyvinyl alcohol, they were specifically examined for particle size analysis and structural morphology. To visualize how the silver may attach to the protein targets, a molecular docking study was conducted. Estimation of cytotoxicity, cell cycle progression supported by mRNA expression of three apoptotic-promoting genes and one apoptotic-resisting.Results: Particle size analysis results were a mean particle size of 157.3± 0.5 nm, zeta potential value of − 29.6 mV± 1.5 mV, and polydispersity index of 0.31± 0.05. Significantly reduction of IC50 against Hep-2 cells by around 6-fold was concluded. Also, we obtained suppression of the proliferation of Hep-2 cells, especially in the G0/G1 and S phases. Significant enhanced mRNA expression revealed enhanced induced CASP3, p53, and Beclin-1 mediated pro-apoptosis and induced NF-κB mediated autophagy in Hep-2 cells. Augmented levels of GR, ROS and MDA as oxidative stress biomarkers were also obtained. HE staining of Hep-2 cells exposed to cAgNSs and LEMF confirmed the enhanced apoptotic potential comparatively.Conclusion: By conclusion, the developed nano-sized structures with the aid of extremely-low frequency electromagnetic field were successful to fortify the anti-cancer profile of cAgNSs in Hep-2 cells. Keywords: electromagnetic field, silver nanoparticles, apoptosis, laryngeal carcinoma