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Supercapacitors and water splitting cells have recently played a key role in offering green energy through converting renewable sources into electricity. Perovskite-type electrocatalysts such as BaTiO3, have been well-known for their ability to efficiently split water and serve as supercapacitors due to their high electrocatalytic activity. In this study, BaTiO3, Al-doped BaTiO3, Ce-doped BaTiO3, and Al-Ce co-doped BaTiO3 nanofibers were fabricated via a two-step hydrothermal method, which were then characterized and compared for their electrocatalytic performance. Based on the obtained results, Al-Ce co-doped BaTiO3 electrode exhibited a high capacitance of 224.18 Fg−1 at a scan rate of 10 mVs−1, high durability during over the 1000 CV cycles and 2000 charge–discharge cycles, proving effective energy storage properties. Additionally, the onset potentials for OER and HER processes were 11 and − 174 mV vs. RHE, respectively, demonstrating the high activity of the Al-Ce co-doped BaTiO3 electrode. Moreover, in overall water splitting, the amount of the overpotential was 0.820 mV at 10 mAcm−2, which confirmed the excellent efficiency of the electrode. Hence, the remarkable electrocatalytic performance of the Al-Ce co-doped BaTiO3 electrode make it a promising candidate for renewable energy technologies owing to its high conductivity and fast charge transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mother's breast milk is a natural and complete food for infants but can be a main source of exposure to toxic pollutants. These pollutants can negatively affect the health of the infant. Therefore, conducting biomonitoring surveys is essential to evaluate such health effects in toxicological research. This study aimed to estimate the probable health risks for infants exposed to essential and non-essential trace elements through breast milk ingestion. This descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study was performed on 90 breastfeeding mothers referred to the health centers in Mashhad, Iran in January 2021. The health risk assessments (carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk) were estimated using chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard quotient (HQ), hazard index (HI), and lifetime carcinogenic risk (CR), which were recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). The results of the HQ values of trace elements through ingestion exposure for arsenic (90%), copper (90%), zinc (40%), and iron (10%) exceeded the threshold of HQ, and arsenic (66.59%), copper (16.91%), and zinc (9.68%) and iron (4.57%) had the highest contribution to increasing the HI index. The average value of CR was 5. 08 × 10−3. Chromium and iron showed significant relationships (P<0.05) with education level and disease background in this study, and the concentration of chromium, iron, and zinc in the breast milk samples significantly changed during lactation stages (P<0.05). Overall, the risk of carcinogenicity through exposure to breast milk for infants was higher than the safety level of US EPA risk. Therefore, there could be a potential health risk of trace elements, particularly arsenic, copper, and zinc for infants in Mashhad, Iran through the consumption of mothers' breast milk. More efforts are required to control and reduce routes of receiving trace elements in breastfeeding mothers by the competent authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports a novel and efficient method for the synthesis of magnetic copper complex conjugated to calcium lignosulfonate modified with diethylenetriamine (Fe3O4@lignosulfonate@diethylenetetramine@Cu complex (FLD-Cu complex)) as an effective photocatalyst. The structure, morphology, and composition of the synthesized complex were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), elemental mapping, vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), thermogravimetry/derivative thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analyses. In addition, the photocatalytic performance of FLD-Cu complex in the degradation of organic dyes such as methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) under UV light was studied. The effects of various parameters such as contact time, photocatalyst dosage, pH, and initial dye concentration on the photocatalyst efficiency were also evaluated. Furthermore, FLD-Cu complex showed high stability and reusability after five successive cycles with no significant loss of photocatalytic activity. This photocatalyst could be isolated readily from the reaction mixture using a permanent magnet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new, cost-effective, and green method has been developed to prepare Cu nanoparticles (Cu NPs) using Carthamus tinctorius aqueous extract as a non-toxic reducing/stabilizing agent without addition of any chemical-reducing agent or surfactants. In the next stage, the magnetic blend of lignin-chitosan was synthesized and used as an efficient support for the immobilization of Cu NPs (Cu NPs@Fe3O4-LS-CS). The prepared Cu NPs@Fe3O4-LS-CS was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) analyses. The synthesized Cu NPs@Fe3O4-LS-CS was used as an efficient and novel heterogeneous magnetic catalyst in the synthesis of 5-aryl-1H-tetrazole derivatives by the reaction of aryl nitriles and sodium azide in dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent. The synthesized nanocatalyst can be recycled and reused five times with no considerable loss of catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major part of water pollutants includes of organic such as phenolic pollutant, thus there are every hazardous to environment. Present work is a comparative onto surface chemistry and adsorptive characteristics of coordinate organic polymer (Cop-150) and nanoporous carbon (NPC) prepared using solvothermal method. New NPC was successfully synthesized to remove of phenol. FT-IR, XRD, XPS, SEM, TGA, and BET techniques have been used to characterization and confirm physicochemical variation during preparing Cop-150 and NPC. Box–Behnken response surface methodology (BBRSM) was used to optimize four important factors of the pH (2–10), contact time (1–40 min), temperature (25–60 °C), and initial concentration of phenol (5–50 mg L−1). To analyze the data obtained from the adsorption of phenol by synthesized adsorbents, four linear, 2FI, quadratic and cubic models were examined, which the quadratic model was recognized as the best model. To the NPC the equal adsorption capacity 500 mg g−1 is achieved at the initial concentration of phenol = 49.252 mg L−1, contact time = 15.738 min, temperature = 28.3 °C, and pH 7.042. On the other hand, the adsorption capacity for Cop-150 in pH 4.638, the contact time = 19.695 min, the temperature = 56.8 °C, and the initial concentration of phenol = 6.902 mg L−1 was equal to 50 mg g−1. The experimental data at different conditions were investigated by some famous kinetic and isotherm models, which among them, were corresponded to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm. Moreover, based to result of thermodynamics to the both Cop-150 and NPC, the adsorption process is exothermic and spontaneous. According to results the Cop-150 and NPC could be used for up to four and five cycles without significantly reducing their performance, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the ability of radiomics features extracted from myocardial perfusion imaging with SPECT (MPI-SPECT) was investigated for the prediction of ejection fraction (EF) post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) treatment. A total of 52 patients who had undergone pre-PCI MPI-SPECT were enrolled in this study. After normalization of the images, features were extracted from the left ventricle, initially automatically segmented by k-means and active contour methods, and finally edited and approved by an expert radiologist. More than 1700 2D and 3D radiomics features were extracted from each patient's scan. A cross-combination of three feature selections and seven classifier methods was implemented. Three classes of no or dis-improvement (class 1), improved EF from 0 to 5% (class 2), and improved EF over 5% (class 3) were predicted by using tenfold cross-validation. Lastly, the models were evaluated based on accuracy, AUC, sensitivity, specificity, precision, and F-score. Neighborhood component analysis (NCA) selected the most predictive feature signatures, including Gabor, first-order, and NGTDM features. Among the classifiers, the best performance was achieved by the fine KNN classifier, which yielded mean accuracy, AUC, sensitivity, specificity, precision, and F-score of 0.84, 0.83, 0.75, 0.87, 0.78, and 0.76, respectively, in 100 iterations of classification, within the 52 patients with 10-fold cross-validation. The MPI-SPECT-based radiomic features are well suited for predicting post-revascularization EF and therefore provide a helpful approach for deciding on the most appropriate treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals generate tremendous amount of personal data each day, with a wide variety of uses. This datum often contains sensitive information about individuals, which can be disclosed by "adversaries". Even when direct identifiers such as social security numbers are masked, an adversary may be able to recognize an individual's identity for a data record by looking at the values of quasi-identifiers (QIDs), known as identity disclosure, or can uncover sensitive attributes (SAs) about an individual through attribute disclosure. In data privacy field, multiple disclosure risk measures have been proposed. These share two drawbacks: they do not consider identity and attribute disclosure concurrently, and they consider a restrictive attack model by assuming certain attributes, namely QIDs and SAs. In this paper, we present a flexible adversary disclosure risk measure that addresses these limitations, by presenting a single combined metric of identity and attribute disclosure, and generalizing attack models by considering all scenarios for an adversary's knowledge and disclosure targets while providing the flexibility to model a specific disclosure preference. We have developed an efficient algorithm for computing our proposed risk measure and evaluated the performance of our approach on a benchmark dataset from 1994 Census database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effect of microwave sintering temperature on the densification, microstructure, and mechanical properties of mullite-Nd2O3 composites. The calcined mullite precursors prepared from aluminum nitrate nonahydrate and tetraethyl orthosilicate with and without 10 wt.% Nd2O3 were sintered with microwave fast heating processes at temperatures of 1400, 1500 and 1600°C without a holding time. The XRD results revealed cristobalite, alumina, and mullite as the dominant crystalline phases in the sintered samples without Nd2O3, and the quantity of mullite increased with increasing sintering temperature. The addition of Nd2O3 led to the elimination of cristobalite peaks with increasing the temperature from 1400 to 1500°C. The composites showed higher relative density compared with mullite ceramic, probably due to increased absorption of microwave energy by Nd2O3. The highest Vickers hardness (13.9 ± 0.2 GPa), bending strength (387 ± 22 MPa), and fracture toughness (4.81 ± 0.1 MPa.m0.5) were found in the mullite composite sintered at 1600°C. The good mechanical properties of mullite-Nd2O3 composite seem to be due to the formation of worm-shaped fibers in the Al2O3-SiO2-Nd2O3 ternary system in the microstructure of the composite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezoelectric fields can decrease the recombination rate of photogenerated electrons and holes in semiconductors and therewith increase their photocatalytic activities. Here, a BaTiO3/WS2 composite is synthesized and characterized, which combines piezoelectric BaTiO3 nanofibers and WS2 nanosheets. The piezo-photocatalytic effect of the composite on the persulfate activation is studied by monitoring Ofloxacin (OFL) degradation efficiency. Under mechanical forces, LED lamp irradiation, and the addition of 10 mM persulfate, the OFL degradation efficiency reaches ~90% within 75 min, which is higher than efficiencies obtained for individual BaTiO3, WS2, or TiO3, widely used photocatalysts in the field of water treatment. The boosted degradation efficiency can be ascribed to the promotion of charge carrier separation, resulting from the synergetic effect of the heterostructure and the piezoelectric field induced by the vibration. Moreover, the prepared composite displays good stability over five successive cycles of the degradation process. GC–MS analysis is used to survey the degradation pathway of OFL during the degradation process. Our results offer insight into strategies for preparing highly effective piezo-photocatalysts in the field of water purification. Piezoelectric fields can be exploited in photocatalysis to decrease the rate of photogenerated electron and hole recombination. Here, the authors demonstrate that a BaTiO3/WS2 composite is a highly effective piezo-photocatalyst for the degradation of water pollutant ofloxacin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present research, a recyclable catalyst has been prepared via a simple approach using chitosan as a linear polysaccharide. This paper reports the synthesis of novel copper(II) complex of 5-phenyl-1H-tetrazole immobilized on magnetic chitosan (MCS@PhTet@Cu(II)) as an effective catalyst. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) techniques were applied for the characterization of the catalyst. The catalytic activity of MCS@PhTet@Cu(II) was evaluated in the ultrasound-assisted synthesis of 3-imino-2-phenylisoindolin-1-one derivatives via the reaction between benzoyl chloride and arylcyanamides in ethanol at ambient temperature. Utilizing a wide variety of arylcyanamides under mild conditions, no use of toxic organic solvents, moderate reaction time, high yields along with catalyst excellent reusability and easy separation of the products without any tedious separation techniques, made this method a novel and simple process. The resulting heterogeneous catalyst showed valuable advantages such as easier work-up, better stability, and greater separation ability using an external magnet. The catalyst showed high efficacy and recyclability even after five cycles with no significant loss of its efficacy. The present methodology provides a path for the preparation of structurally diverse heterocyclic compounds, which may exhibit important biological activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of food toxic compounds is one of the significant strategies for investigating food quality. The presence research introduces an electrochemical approach for toxic ractopamine sensing using a gold electrode amplified with gold nanoparticles (Au-Nps/AuME). The oxidation signal of ractopamine was investigated at the surface of Au-Nps/AuME, and results showed a 2.36-fold amplification in current and reducing 100 mV in oxidation potential compare to the pristine gold electrode. The redox reaction of ractopamine shows a pH dependence behavior with two electrons and two protons. Furthermore, the scan rate and chronoamperometric investigation showed a diffusion coefficient of 1.0 × 10−6 cm2/s to the oxidation reaction of ractopamine at the surface of Au-Nps/AuME. Analytical investigation showed a linear dynamic range of 0.1–380 µM for sensing of ractopamine using square wave voltammetric technique. Also, Au-Nps/AuME could be used to measure ractopamine in food samples such as pork samples with a recovery range of 98.3–103.9% and a detection limit of 50 nM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study introduces a novel Ni–Mo-MOF-modified screen printed electrode (Ni–Mo-MOF/SPE) to sensitively and rapidly detect amaranth. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was also applied to evaluate the electrochemical behavior of amaranth on the surfaces of bare SPE and Ni–Mo-MOF/SPE, and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) to calculate linearly detection range of amaranth. According to the results, various linear oxidation peak currents were obtained at different concentrations (between 0.15 ± 0.001 and 500.0 ± 0.001 µM) and the limit of detection (LOD) was estimated to be 0.05 ± 0.001 µM in the optimal conditions. Additionally, the efficacy of developed electrode was tested by real samples, the results of which were satisfactory. The proposed Ni–Mo-MOF/SPE not only had special properties such as high selectivity, high sensitivity, cost-effectiveness and rapid response, but also was shown to possess wide applications for sensitively amaranth detection in real samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides are promising candidates of photodetectors where they are commonly grown parallel to the substrate due to their 2D characteristics in micrometer scales from exfoliation of bulk crystals or through high temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods. In this study, semi-hexagonal vertical nanosheets of SnS2 layered have been fabricated on FTO substrate without using Sn source through CVD method at relatively low temperature (500 °C). Due to exceptional band alignment of triple cation lead perovskite (TCLP) with semi-hexagonal SnS2 nanosheets, an improved photodetector has been fabricated. This type of photodetectors fabricated through lithography-free and electrodes metallization free approach with remarkable fast response (20.7 µs/31.4 µs as rising /falling times), showed high photoresponsivity, external quantum efficiency and detectivity of 1.84 AW−1, 513% and 1.69 × 1011, respectively under illumination of incident light with wavelength of 445 nm. The stability of the photodetectors has been studied utilizing a protective PMMA layer on the perovskite layer in 100% humidity. The introduced growth and fabrication process of the planar photodetector, including one/two dimensional interface through the edges/basal planes of layered materials with perovskite film, paves a way for the large scale, cost-effective and high-performance optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quercetin (Qu) is a most active biological flavonoid and it has a very wide spectrum of potential applications. Herein, we have synthesized ionic liquid assisted Co3O4 nanostructures through an aqueous chemical growth method and fabricated a Co3O4 modified GCE as an electrochemical sensor for the sensitive detection and determination of Qu. The proposed electrochemical sensor was not only prepared with a very easy, simple and cheap method but it was also found to be very selective, sensitive and highly stable for the detection of Qu in standard solutions as well as in real food samples like onion, honey and green tea. The prepared electrochemical sensor has shown an excellent electrochemical response for Qu with a wide range of detection from 0.01 to 3 µM. The oxidation current response of Qu on Co3O4 modified GCE was found 4 times higher than the response of bare GCE which is due to the high conductivity, tremendous catalytic ability and large surface area of Co3O4 nanostructures. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) for Co3O4/GCE sensor was calculated and found to be 0.0002 µM and 0.0007 µM respectively. While, the amount of Qu in real samples was found to be 5.367 µg/mL in honey, 15.58 µg/g in onion and 3.473 mg/g in green tea respectively. In comparison to the previously reported sensors, the prepared Co3O4/GCE sensor has shown a higher electrocatalytic capability, remarkable stability, super sensitivity and adequate selectivity for the determination of Qu in standard solutions as well as in real samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an urgent need to develop a highly sensitive detection system for detecting trace amount of food contaminants. The environmental analysis of Sudan I, a carcinogenic azo-dye, has attracted wide attention due to their increasing levels and high toxicities. Several methods have been developed to detect the presence of this compound. For example, analytical methods based on chromatography and spectroscopy has attracted significant attentions for the determination of Sudan I. However, these methods require complex separation processes, expensive equipment, toxic chemicals, long analysis times, and expert staff. Electroanalytical methods can be considered as promising alternative techniques due to their advantages such as simplicity, low cost, high sensitivity, and fast analysis speed. Electroanalytical methods have been also investigated for the determination of Sudan I. Chemically modified electrodes have been widely used to counter the problems of poor sensitivity and selectivity faced at bare electrodes. We have reviewed the materials that have been extensively used to fabricate modified electrode surfaces for detection of Sudan I. The characteristics of the materials that improve the electrocatalytic activity of the modified surfaces are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assorted common contaminants namely organic dyes and nitro compounds are generated by various industries and have caused alarming problems for the environment and humans. The development of effective and newer methods to eliminate these contaminants is imperative. One effective way to eliminate these pollutants is to deploy sustainable heterogeneous catalyst systems. Accordingly, a novel and efficient magnetic nanocomposite catalyst comprising graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), gold (Au), and hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles (C3N4/Fe2O3/Au) is prepared through a cost-effective and green method. The individual components, g-C3N4 and Au nanoparticles (NPs), are prepared via thermal decomposition of urea and laser ablation in liquid, respectively. The behavior of C3N4/Fe2O3/Au nanocomposite as a catalyst for the borohydride reduction of methyl orange (MO) dye and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in aqueous solution, is illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Various amplification assays and sensing can be applied for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. The outputs of biosensors should be presented quantitatively to obtain more accurate and more accessible results. Developing smaller size platforms is one approach toward applying such phone apps, as well as utilizing LFA, biosensors, and nanobiosensors detection techniques. A novel coronavirus of zoonotic origin (SARS-CoV-2) has recently been recognized in patients with acute respiratory disease. COVID-19 causative agent is structurally and genetically similar to SARS and bat SARS-like coronaviruses. The drastic increase in the number of coronavirus and its genome sequence have given us an unprecedented opportunity to perform bioinformatics and genomics analysis on this class of viruses. Clinical tests like PCR and ELISA for rapid detection of this virus are urgently needed for early identification of infected patients. However, these techniques are expensive and not readily available for point-of-care (POC) applications. Currently, lack of any rapid, available, and reliable POC detection method gives rise to the progression of COVID-19 as a horrible global problem. To solve the negative features of clinical investigation, we provide a brief introduction of the general features of coronaviruses and describe various amplification assays, sensing, biosensing, immunosensing, and aptasensing for the determination of various groups of coronaviruses applied as a template for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. All sensing and biosensing techniques developed for the determination of various classes of coronaviruses are useful to recognize the newly immerged coronavirus, i.e., SARS-CoV-2. Also, the introduction of sensing and biosensing methods sheds light on the way of designing a proper screening system to detect the virus at the early stage of infection to tranquilize the speed and vastity of spreading. Among other approaches investigated among molecular approaches and PCR or recognition of viral diseases, LAMP-based methods and LFAs are of great importance for their numerous benefits, which can be helpful to design a universal platform for detection of future emerging pathogenic viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reports the fabrication of Au nanoparticles (NPs) by laser ablation of a gold metal plate immersed in water in the absence of stabilizing agents and their application in the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) using sodium borohydride (NaBH4) in aqueous media at ambient temperature. UV–Vis, EDS (energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), FESEM (field emission scanning electron microscopy), transmission electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry analyses have been applied for the characterization of Au NPs which affirmed that they were successfully synthesized and their size ranged from 5–30 nm. The reduction rate for 4-NP with Au NPs using NaBH4 was measured via UV–Vis spectroscopy from 250 to 550 nm. The clean and eco-friendly protocol presented here neither produces hazardous wastes nor uses any toxic organic solvents, hazardous reductants and expensive surfactant template or capping agents; Au NPs display high catalytic activity as the reaction was completed within 20 min with 100% conversion. Greener preparation of Au nanoparticles by Q switched laser ablation and their application in 4-nitrophenol reduction [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly sensitive electrocatalytic sensor was designed and fabricated by the incorporation of NiO dope Pt nanostructure hybrid (NiO–Pt–H) as conductive mediator, bis (1,10 phenanthroline) (1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione) nickel(II) hexafluorophosphate (B,1,10,P,1,10, PDNiPF6), and electrocatalyst into carbon paste electrode (CPE) matrix for the determination of cysteamine. The NiO–Pt–H was synthesized by one-pot synthesis strategy and characterized by XRD, elemental mapping analysis (MAP), and FESEM methods. The characterization data, which confirmed good purity and spherical shape with a diameter of ⁓ 30.64 nm for the synthesized NiO–Pt–H. NiO–Pt–H/B,1,10, P,1,10, PDNiPF6/CPE, showed an excellent catalytic activity and was used as a powerful tool for the determination of cysteamine in the presence of serotonin. The NiO–Pt–H/B,1,10, P,1,10, PDNiPF6/CPE was able to solve the overlap problem of the two drug signals and was used for the determination of cysteamine and serotonin in concentration ranges of 0.003–200 µM and 0.5–260 µM with detection limits of 0.5 nM and 0.1 µM, using square wave voltammetric method, respectively. The NiO–Pt–H/B,1,10,P,1,10,PDNiPF6/CPE showed a high-performance ability for the determination of cysteamine and serotonin in the drug and pharmaceutical serum samples with the recovery data of 98.1–103.06%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, Fe3O4@TiO2/Cu2O nanocomposites were synthetized and supported on granular activated carbon (GAC). The synthesized nanocomposite coated on GAC was used as catalyst in photocatalytic process for 2,4-dichloropenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) removal from aqueous solutions. The coated nanocomposite was characterized using XRD, TEM, BET, VSM, UV–Vis DRS, SEM and EDX tests to evaluate its surface morphology and elemental compounds. Results indicated that the photocatalytic efficiency for the removal of 2,4-D was reduced with increasing solution pH, and the maximum removal efficiency was obtained at solution pH of 5. The photocatalytic efficiency was increased with increasing catalyst dosage from 0.1 to 0.4 g/L. The results implied that reaction temperature played a key role in the photocatalytic performance and the process efficiency increased with increasing reaction temperature in the range of 10–35 °C. The kinetic study showed that the photocatalytic process followed the first-order kinetic model. Moreover, in the photocatalytic process, ·OH acted as the main agent for the oxidation of 2,4-D. According to the results, Fe3O4@TiO2/Cu2O magnetic nanocomposite supported on GAC offered a suitable performance after five cycles, and therefore, it can be used as a reusable and cost-effective catalyst for removing such toxins from polluted waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objective: One of the most effective treatments for patients with obesity, albeit with some complications, is obesity surgery. The aim of this study was to develop a clinical decision support system (CDSS) to predict the early complications of one-anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB) surgery. Subjects/Methods: This study was conducted in Tehran, Iran on patients who underwent OAGB surgery in 2011–2014 in five hospitals. Initially, variables affecting the OAGB early complications were identified using the literature review. Patients' data were extracted from an existing database of obesity surgery. Then, different artificial neural networks (ANNs) (multilayer perceptron (MLP) network) were developed and evaluated for prediction of 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month complications. Results: Factors including age, BMI, smoking status, intra-operative complications, comorbidities, laboratory tests, sonography results, and endoscopy results were considered important factors for predicting early complications of OAGB. A CDSS was developed with these variables. The accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of the 10-day prediction system in the test data were 98.4%, 98.6%, and 98.3%, respectively. These figures for 1-month system were 96%, 93%, and 98.4% and for the 3-month system were 89.3%, 86.6%, and 91.5%, respectively. Conclusions: Using the CDSS designed, we could accurately predict the early complications of OAGB surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geomechanical changes may occur in reservoirs due to production from reservoirs. Study of these changes has an important role in upcoming operations. Frictional equilibrium is one of the items that should be determined during the depletion as it may vary with respect to time. Pre-existing faults and fractures will slide in regions where there is no frictional equilibrium. Hence, it may be concluded that reduction in pore pressure can initiate the sliding of faults. Whereas, it is also possible that faults will not exist after a certain time as production recovers the equilibrium. Casing shearing or lost circulation may be occurred due to faulting. In reservoirs which depletion leads to frictional equilibrium, decrease of fractures and faults leads to some variations in permeability. Hence, predicting the effect of depletion on frictional equilibrium is required in dealing with casing shearing or lost circulation in drilling of new wells. In addition, permeability modeling will be more precise during the life of reservoirs. Estimation of necessary time to create or vanish faults is vital to be successful in production from wells or drilling new wells. Achieving or loosing of equilibrium mainly depends on in situ stresses and rate of production. Estimation of the in situ stresses at the initiation state of reservoir is the key to study the state of faults. The next step is to predict the effects of depletion on in situ stresses. Different models are suggested in which decrease of horizontal stresses is predicted as function of pore pressure variation. In these models, different assumptions are made such as simplifying the poroelastic theory, ignoring the passing time, and considering the geometry of reservoir. In this article, a new model is proposed based on theory of inclusions and boundary element method. This state-of-the-art model considers the geometry of reservoir. In addition, changes of in situ are obtained as a function of time to reach to a more precise model capable of applying during the reservoir life. Finally, the model is imposed on real cases. The effect of depletion on faults is studied in reservoirs of normal and strike-slip stress regimes, and conventional and proposed models are compared. For this aim, in the first step, mechanical earth models of these two reservoirs are built using logging and coring data. Stress polygon method and poroelastic horizontal strain model are used for strike-slip and normal regimes, respectively. In reservoir 1 which is in a strike-slip stress regime, a fault is distinguished in formation microimaging (FMI) log. For this reservoir, the required time to achieve to frictional equilibrium is calculated. In the reservoir 2, the potential depth of fault sliding is analyzed and required time for faulting in that depth is predicted. The predicted time for satisfaction of frictional equilibrium using the proposed model has a significant difference with the predicted time using the previous methods. In addition, the proposed model predicts that different parts of reservoir 2 are willing for faulting during depletion. The previous model determines only one point that faulting may happen. It is necessary to use this new model to consider different important factors such as geometry and time to gain more accurate predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field openers should be admired for leading the crowds. This comment is relevant to the bigger picture of Professor Sourirajan to highlight how a humble talent had selflessly founded a multicontinental major, which scaled up to US$ 50 billion in the 2021 global membrane separation market to enrich the quality of worldwide life via providing clean water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrocatalytic technologies play a vital role in clean electrochemical conversions to utilize renewable energies because of increasing the efficiency, rate, and selectivity of the chemical transformations involved, enabling several sustainable processes for future technologies at a scalable and affordable price. To realize the water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle, the key reactions are the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the CO SB 2 sb reduction reaction (CO SB 2 sb RR), and the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), as well as the oxygen-related reactions, including the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which are important half-reactions in electrolyzers and fuel cells, respectively. The diligent and determined cooperation of Ms. Ruiying Lai and her colleagues -Ms. Ruiying Lai, the special issue's initiator- is warmly appreciated. [Extracted from the article]

Due to the accumulation of various useful traits over evolutionary time, emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccum and dicoccoides, 2n = 4x = 28; AABB), durum wheat (T. turgidum subsp. durum, 2n = 4x = 28; AABB), T. timopheevii (2n = 4x = 28; AAGG) and D genome containing Aegilops species offer excellent sources of novel variation for the improvement of bread wheat (T. aestivum L., AABBDD). Here, we made 192 different cross combinations between diverse genotypes of wheat and Aegilops species including emmer wheat × Ae. tauschii (2n = DD or DDDD), durum wheat × Ae. tauschii, T. timopheevii × Ae. tauschii, Ae. crassa × durum wheat, Ae. cylindrica × durum wheat and Ae. ventricosa × durum wheat in the field over three successive years. We successfully recovered 56 different synthetic hexaploid and octaploid F2 lines with AABBDD, AABBDDDD, AAGGDD, D1D1XcrXcrAABB, DcDcCcCcAABB and DvDvNvNvAABB genomes via in vitro rescue of F1 embryos and spontaneous production of F2 seeds on the Fl plants. Cytogenetic analysis of F2 lines showed that the produced synthetic wheat lines were generally promising stable amphiploids. Contribution of D genome bearing Aegilops and the less-investigated emmer wheat genotypes as parents in the crosses resulted in synthetic amphiploids which are a valuable resource for bread wheat breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adenocarcinomas and active granulomas can both have a spiculated appearance on computed tomography (CT) and both are often fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) avid on positron emission tomography (PET) scan, making them difficult to distinguish. Consequently, patients with benign granulomas are often subjected to invasive surgical biopsies or resections. In this study, quantitative vessel tortuosity (QVT), a novel CT imaging biomarker to distinguish between benign granulomas and adenocarcinomas on routine non-contrast lung CT scans is introduced. Our study comprised of CT scans of 290 patients from two different institutions, one cohort for training (N = 145) and the other (N = 145) for independent validation. In conjunction with a machine learning classifier, the top informative and stable QVT features yielded an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC AUC) of 0.85 in the independent validation set. On the same cohort, the corresponding AUCs for two human experts including a radiologist and a pulmonologist were found to be 0.61 and 0.60, respectively. QVT features also outperformed well known shape and textural radiomic features which had a maximum AUC of 0.73 (p-value = 0.002), as well as features learned using a convolutional neural network AUC = 0.76 (p-value = 0.028). Our results suggest that QVT features could potentially serve as a non-invasive imaging biomarker to distinguish granulomas from adenocarcinomas on non-contrast CT scans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]