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Abstract Background Participatory approaches have become a widely applied research approach. Despite their popularity, there are many challenges associated with the evaluation of participatory projects. Here we describe an evaluation of a community-based participatory research study of underserved communities in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam at risk for hepatitis C virus. The goals of our evaluation were to explore the main benefits and challenges of implementing and participating in a participatory study and to describe study impacts. Methods We conducted two meetings with leaders and members of the participating groups followed by in-depth interviews with 10 participants. We then held a dissemination meeting with over 70 participants, including the representatives of each group, researchers from non-governmental organizations (community-based, national and international), and govenrment officials from the Vietnam Ministry of Health and the Department of Health of HCMC. Results Results include four categories where we describe first the participatory impacts, followed by the collaborative impacts. Then we describe the benefits and challenges of creating and belonging to one of the groups, from members’ and leaders’ points of view. Finally, we describe the key suggestions that participants provided for future research. Conclusion In conclusion, the evaluation approach led to both a research reflection on the ‘success’ of the project and enabled participants themselves to reflect on the outcomes and benefits of the study from their point of view.

Maritime transport forms the backbone of international logistics, as it allows for the transfer of bulk and long-haul products. The sophisticated planning required for this form of transportation frequently involves challenges such as unpredictable weather, diverse types of cargo kinds, and changes in port conditions, all of which can raise operational expenses. As a result, the accurate projection of a ship’s total time spent in port, and the anticipation of potential delays, have become critical for effective port activity planning and management. In this work, we aim to develop a port management system based on enhanced prediction and classification algorithms that are capable of precisely forecasting the lengths of ship stays and delays. On both the training and testing datasets, the XGBoost model was found to consistently outperform the alternative approaches in terms of RMSE, MAE, and R2 values for both the turnaround time and waiting period models. When used in the turnaround time model, the XGBoost model had the lowest RMSE of 1.29 during training and 0.5019 during testing, and also achieved the lowest MAE of 0.802 for training and 0.391 for testing. It also had the highest R2 values of 0.9788 during training and 0.9933 during testing. Similarly, in the waiting period model, the XGBoost model outperformed the random forest and decision tree models, with the lowest RMSE, MAE, and greatest R2 values in both the training and testing phases.

Hydrotalcite-Ag nanoparticles (HT-Ag NPs) have garnered significant attention in research due to their remarkable antibacterial activity and excellent photocatalytic properties. Consequently, they have been utilized in various fields, such as pharmaceuticals, medicine, electronics, and environmental treatment. However, the synthesis of HT-Ag nanoparticles often involves the use of NaBH4, a chemical reducing agent, to reduce Ag (I) ions and form Ag NPs on HT. Nevertheless, the residue of chemical reducing agents can lead to environmental pollution as above mentioned. The approach of utilizing plant extracts for the synthesis of Ag NPs decorated on HT has captivated many scientists due to its eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable process. Additionally, the plant extract plays a crucial role in stabilizing Ag NPs within HT-Ag structures. This paper presents a green synthesis of hydrotalcite-silver (HT-Ag) nanosheets using an AgNO3 salt solution as a precursor and areca (Areca catechu L.) nut extract as a reducing agent. The HT nanosheets, synthesized by a co-precipitation method combined with a hydrothermal method, exhibited an ordered lamellar layer structure. The areca seed extract in 99.5 % ethanol solvent acts as a reducing agent to convert Ag(I) ions into silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). The presence of Ag NPs on the surface of HT nanosheets was confirmed using UV–Vis spectroscopy, XRD, AAS, HR-TEM, and SEM methods. The results indicated that Ag NPs are spherical in shape and uniformly dispersed on the surface of HT. The particle size of Ag NPs ranged from 15 nm to 40 nm. The yield of the Ag NPs synthesis process on HT ranged from 60.79 % to 85.89 %, depending on the concentration of AgNO3 salt solution. The antibacterial properties, including their effectiveness against E. coli and S. aureus, were tested using the agar well diffusion method to determine the zone of inhibition. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of HT-Ag nanosheets has also been evaluated. Specifically, the study focused on evaluating the antibacterial activity of HT-Ag nanosheets using a marine Gram-negative bacterium, P. stutzeri B27, to explore their potential applications in materials designed for use in marine environments. Furthermore, the durability of HT-Ag nanosheets was assessed. The obtained results demonstrated that the Ag NPs decorated on HT exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, and P. stutzeri B27, making them suitable for applications as antibacterial and enhancing additives for polymer systems, particularly in materials used in marine environments.

Background and purpose: Proton therapy for breast cancer is usually given in free breathing (FB). With the use of deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) technique, the location of the heart is displaced inferiorly, away from the internal mammary nodes and, thus, the dose to the heart can potentially be reduced. The aim of this study was to explore the potential benefit of proton therapy in DIBH compared to FB for highly selected patients to reduce exposure of the heart and other organs at risk. We aimed at creating proton plans with delivery times feasible with treatment in DIBH. Material and methods: Sixteen patients with left-sided breast cancer receiving loco-regional proton therapy were included. The FB and DIBH plans were created for each patient using spot-scanning proton therapy with 2–3 fields, robust and single field optimization. For the DIBH plans, minimum monitor unit per spot and spot spacing were increased to reduce treatment delivery time. Results: All plans complied with target coverage constraints. The median mean heart dose was statistically significant reduced from 1.1 to 0.6 Gy relative biological effectiveness (RBE) by applying DIBH. No statistical significant difference was seen for mean dose and V17Gy RBE to the ipsilateral lung. The median treatment delivery time for the DIBH plans was reduced by 27% compared to the FB plans without compromising the plan quality. Interpretation: The median absolute reduction in dose to the heart was limited. Proton treatment in DIBH may only be relevant for a subset of these patients with the largest reduction in heart exposure.

Metal corrosion is a challenge for the world with heavy impacts on the economy. Study on the development of effectiveness anticorrosion additives is a promising strategery for the protection industry. This research focuses on the modification of hydrotalcite Mg−Al (HT) loading tannic acid (TA) with 3‐(trimethoxy silyl) propyl methacrylate organo‐silane (TMSPM) for applicating as an anti‐corrosion additive for epoxy coating on the steel substrate. The suitable ratio of HT and modifiers was investigated and the suitable content of modified HT in epoxy matrix was found based on mechanical properties of the epoxy‐based coating. The characteristics of modified HT were assessed through infrared (IR) spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction pattern (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetry analysis (TGA), water contact angle (WCA), dynamic light scattering (DLS). Detailly, HT‐TA3‐S3 shows good stability in distilled water when HT/TA was modified with TMSPM which makes Zeta potential decreases significantly. Besides, SEM analysis presented HT‐TA‐S has a cylindrical shape about of 500 nm. Moreover, the crystallite size of HT/TA after being modified by TMSPM decreases sharply. All of these prove successfully synthesize HT loading TA with modified TMSPM. Water contact angle (WCA) decreases in case of loading TA and increases in case of modifying with TMSPM (WCA changed from HT (116.3°) to HT‐TA (102.4°) and HT‐TA‐S (120.1°) which indicates the increased hydrophobicity of the sample. The obtained results showed HT/TA was modified successfully with TMSPM. The modification affected the size distribution and surface properties of HT nanoparticles while it did not impact on the crystal structure of HT. After incorporating modified HT/TA into the epoxy coating, the adhesion of coating to steel substrate was improved significantly. Consequently, the adhesion of epoxy/3 wt. % modified HT/TA coating was increased 3 times as compared to epoxy neat (from 0.76 MPa to 2.77 MPa). In addition, the relative hardness and gloss retention of epoxy/3 wt. % modified HT/TA coating reached the maximum values as compared to the others. Owing to salt spraying results, the epoxy/3 wt. % modified HT/TA exhibited an excellent anticorrosion ability for the steel substrate. All the above results show the potential of HT nanoparticles loading TA modified with TMSPM as anticorrosive additives for protective coatings on steel substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies about emissions reduction and treatment, and renewable energy generation are sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Therein, photocatalysts have emerged as highly attractive multifunctional materials due to their versatile applications in environmental remediation and energy production. In this study, a bifunctional photocatalyst, TiO2/g-C3N4, was synthesized for the purpose of NOx removal and water splitting. Various weight ratios of commercially available TiO2 were combined with g-C3N4 synthesized through a pyrolysis method. The findings demonstrate that the 10%-TiO2/g-C3N4 composite exhibited a notably high NO removal rate of 48.34% and minimal NO2 yield compared to pure g-C3N4. The incorporation of TiO2 onto g-C3N4 induced bandgap restructuring, resulting in a significant enhancement in photocurrent density, with a maximum increase of 25 μA cm−2 at 1.23 V. Moreover, the combination of g-C3N4 with 10% TiO2 exhibited promising electrocatalytic potential for the oxygen evolution reaction, as indicated by an overpotential of 0.44 V. Overall, the utilization of bifunctional photocatalysis with TiO2/g-C3N4 holds great promise as an effective approach for both NOx removal and water splitting applications. This combination offers potential solutions for addressing environmental challenges and advancing renewable energy technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXenes is a new two-dimensional material which is gaining more attention in recent years for applications in catalysis, energy storage, and environmental remediation. In this study, MXene-Ti3C2 is synthesized from precursor MAX-Ti3AlC2 via etching method and then combined with coconutshell-derived activated carbon to provide a highly conductive and porous composite. The composite will be later employed as electrode materials in capacitive deionization for water desalination. The results have shown an increase in specific capacitance by 3.7 times in the composite (0.5 wt% MXene-Ti3C2) when compared with pure activated carbon. These promising results have proved the possibility to use MXenes-based composites for desalination and other treatment techniques for salted water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials based on metal oxides, especially Cu2O, have received much attention in recent years due to the many unique properties of the surface plasmon resonance they provide. The report presented the co‐precipitation method, a simple preparation method to produce Cu2O oxide particles. In addition, to improve the unique antibacterial properties of Cu2O, a proposed method is to attach Ag nanoparticles to the surface of Cu2O particles. The Cu2O and Cu2O−Ag particles were synthesized based on redox reactions using ascorbic acid (LAA) as a reducing agent. Moreover, in this experiment, two surfactants, polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), were added during the manufacturing process to create particle samples and particle combinations with better properties than the original sample. Changes in the characteristics and properties of particle samples are determined by many different physical and chemical methods such as ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy (UV‐Vis), infrared spectroscopy (IR), noise X‐ray radiation (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Finally, the activity against bacteria, including E. coli and S. aureus, was also tested using the agar well diffusion method to determine the zone of inhibition. The results improved the particle size value, which decreased by half to 200 nm when two additional surfactants, PEG and SDS, were added. In addition, the antibacterial ability has also been shown to increase significantly when the diameter of the bacterial inhibition zone increased significantly, reaching values of 20 mm (Cu2O/Ag/SDS) and 32 mm (Cu2O/Ag/PEG) for the E. coli bacterial strain. The initial test sample was only about 14 mm in size. The S. aureus bacterial strain also had a similar improvement trend after adding Ag to the Cu2O surface with the appearance of two surfactants, SDS and PEG. The inhibition zone diameter values reached the optimal value at 36 mm in the Cu2O/Ag/PEG particle combination sample compared to only the initial 26 mm in the Cu2O particle sample. Finally, the particle samples are added to the acrylic emulsion paint film to evaluate the changes. Positive results were obtained, such as improvement in adhesion (1.22 MPa), relative hardness (240/425), and sand drop resistance (100 L/mil) in the Cu2O/Ag/PEG particle combination sample, which showed the correctness and accuracy of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrotalcite–silver (HT−Ag) nanoparticles have been involved in various daily crucial applications, such as antibacterial, photocatalytic, adsorption, etc. There are many approaches to synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) decorated on hydrotalcite (HT) surface and the most used approach is using a strong reducing agent. Thus, affordable but effective "green" reducing agents – Syzygium nervosum leaf extract, are taken into account in this work to solve several issues related to chemical reducing agents. This work aimed to assess the effect of Syzygium nervosum leaf extract as a reducing agent for green synthesis of AgNPs on HT through an optimizing process using response surface methodology (RSM) and the Box‐Benken model. The optimal conditions for the synthesis of AgNPs on HT include a reaction time of 6.15 hours, a reaction temperature of 50 °C, and the ratio of diluted Syzygium nervosum leaf extract to reduce AgNO3 of 50.37 mL/mg. Under the optimal conditions, the yield of the reduction reaction reached 77.54 %, close to the theoretical value of 76.97 %. The optimization model was suitable for the experiment data. Besides, the morphology, density, and characteristics of AgNPs on the surface of HT layers have been determined by using Ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR‐TEM), selected area diffraction, X‐ray diffraction, Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, Fluorescence emission spectroscopy (FE), Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET) methods. The spherical AgNPs were synthesized successfully on the surface of HT with the average particle size of 13.0±1.1 nm. Interestingly, HT−Ag hybrid materials can inhibit strongly the growth of E. coli, S. aureus as well as two antibiotic resistance bacterial strains, P. stutzeri B27, and antibiotic resistance E. coli. Especially, the antibacterial activity quantification and durability of the HT−Ag hybrid materials were also tested. Overall, the HT−Ag hybrid materials are very promising for application in material science and biomedicine fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nine triterpenoid saponins, one steroid and 4 simple phenolic compounds were isolated from the roots of P. serrata. All isolated compounds were examined for α- glucosidase inhibition effects. The simple phenolics 4-Hydroxy-4-methoxy-benzoic acid (7) and Protocatechuic acid (9) showed the greatest inhibition effects among the isolated compounds with IC50 values of 0.55 ± 0.01 and 0.84 ± 0.02 μg/mL, respectively. Network pharmacology approach was applied to investigate the molecular mechanisms of α- glucosidase inhibition activities of isolated compounds. In light of the data obtained in this study, it is evaluated that the insulin resistance pathway may be the primary mechanism of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies about emissions reduction and treatment, and renewable energy generation are sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Therein, photocatalysts have emerged as highly attractive multifunctional materials due to their versatile applications in environmental remediation and energy production. In this study, a bifunctional photocatalyst, TiO2/g-C3N4, was synthesized for the purpose of NOx removal and water splitting. Various weight ratios of commercially available TiO2 were combined with g-C3N4 synthesized through a pyrolysis method. The findings demonstrate that the 10%-TiO2/g-C3N4 composite exhibited a notably high NO removal rate of 48.34% and minimal NO2 yield compared to pure g-C3N4. The incorporation of TiO2 onto g-C3N4 induced bandgap restructuring, resulting in a significant enhancement in photocurrent density, with a maximum increase of 25 μA cm−2 at 1.23 V. Moreover, the combination of g-C3N4 with 10% TiO2 exhibited promising electrocatalytic potential for the oxygen evolution reaction, as indicated by an overpotential of 0.44 V. Overall, the utilization of bifunctional photocatalysis with TiO2/g-C3N4 holds great promise as an effective approach for both NOx removal and water splitting applications. This combination offers potential solutions for addressing environmental challenges and advancing renewable energy technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials based on metal oxides, especially Cu 2 O, have received much attention in recent years due to the many unique properties of the surface plasmon resonance they provide. The report presented the co-precipitation method, a simple preparation method to produce Cu 2 O oxide particles. In addition, to improve the unique antibacterial properties of Cu 2 O, a proposed method is to attach Ag nanoparticles to the surface of Cu 2 O particles. The Cu 2 O and Cu 2 O-Ag particles were synthesized based on redox reactions using ascorbic acid (LAA) as a reducing agent. Moreover, in this experiment, two surfactants, polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), were added during the manufacturing process to create particle samples and particle combinations with better properties than the original sample. Changes in the characteristics and properties of particle samples are determined by many different physical and chemical methods such as ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), infrared spectroscopy (IR), noise X-ray radiation (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Finally, the activity against bacteria, including E. coli and S. aureus, was also tested using the agar well diffusion method to determine the zone of inhibition. The results improved the particle size value, which decreased by half to 200 nm when two additional surfactants, PEG and SDS, were added. In addition, the antibacterial ability has also been shown to increase significantly when the diameter of the bacterial inhibition zone increased significantly, reaching values of 20 mm (Cu 2 O/Ag/SDS) and 32 mm (Cu 2 O/Ag/PEG) for the E. coli bacterial strain. The initial test sample was only about 14 mm in size. The S. aureus bacterial strain also had a similar improvement trend after adding Ag to the Cu 2 O surface with the appearance of two surfactants, SDS and PEG. The inhibition zone diameter values reached the optimal value at 36 mm in the Cu 2 O/Ag/PEG particle combination sample compared to only the initial 26 mm in the Cu 2 O particle sample. Finally, the particle samples are added to the acrylic emulsion paint film to evaluate the changes. Positive results were obtained, such as improvement in adhesion (1.22 MPa), relative hardness (240/425), and sand drop resistance (100 L/mil) in the Cu 2 O/Ag/PEG particle combination sample, which showed the correctness and accuracy of the research., (© 2024 The Authors. ChemistryOpen published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Hydrotalcite-silver (HT-Ag) nanoparticles have been involved in various daily crucial applications, such as antibacterial, photocatalytic, adsorption, etc. There are many approaches to synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) decorated on hydrotalcite (HT) surface and the most used approach is using a strong reducing agent. Thus, affordable but effective "green" reducing agents - Syzygium nervosum leaf extract, are taken into account in this work to solve several issues related to chemical reducing agents. This work aimed to assess the effect of Syzygium nervosum leaf extract as a reducing agent for green synthesis of AgNPs on HT through an optimizing process using response surface methodology (RSM) and the Box-Benken model. The optimal conditions for the synthesis of AgNPs on HT include a reaction time of 6.15 hours, a reaction temperature of 50 °C, and the ratio of diluted Syzygium nervosum leaf extract to reduce AgNO 3 of 50.37 mL/mg. Under the optimal conditions, the yield of the reduction reaction reached 77.54 %, close to the theoretical value of 76.97 %. The optimization model was suitable for the experiment data. Besides, the morphology, density, and characteristics of AgNPs on the surface of HT layers have been determined by using Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), selected area diffraction, X-ray diffraction, Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, Fluorescence emission spectroscopy (FE), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) methods. The spherical AgNPs were synthesized successfully on the surface of HT with the average particle size of 13.0±1.1 nm. Interestingly, HT-Ag hybrid materials can inhibit strongly the growth of E. coli, S. aureus as well as two antibiotic resistance bacterial strains, P. stutzeri B27, and antibiotic resistance E. coli. Especially, the antibacterial activity quantification and durability of the HT-Ag hybrid materials were also tested. Overall, the HT-Ag hybrid materials are very promising for application in material science and biomedicine fields., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Hydrogen production through photoelectrochemical (PEC) reactions is an innovative and promising approach to producing clean energy. The PEC working electrode of a Co 3 O 4 /ZnO-based p-n heterojunction was prepared by a straightforward electrochemical deposition with different deposition times onto an FTO (Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide) glass substrate. The successful synthesis of the materials was confirmed through analysis using XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDX, DRS, and PL techniques. Mott-Schottky plots and some characterization studies also checked the determination of the formation of the p-n junction. Co 3 O 4 /ZnO/FTO with a Co 3 O 4 deposition time of 2 minutes exhibited the lowest onset potential of 0.82 V and the lowest overpotential of 470 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 . Furthermore, the photo-conversion efficiency of the Co 3 O 4 /ZnO/FTO sample showed 1.4 times higher current density than the ZnO/FTO sample. A mechanism is also proposed to enhance the Co 3 O 4 /ZnO/FTO electrode photo-electrocatalytic activity involved in the water-splitting reaction. The Co 3 O 4 /ZnO/FTO electrode shows significant potential as a promising PEC electrode to produce hydrogen., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)