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Background The concept of Euthanasia has recently come into the spotlight, and cases like that of Aruna Shanbaug have heavily influenced people’s opinion the topic. Whether euthanasia- done with the intention of ending suffering that otherwise cannot be helped should truly be supported or not. The thoughts on this topic- especially by those who work closely with patients who suffer from terminal illnesses- healthcare providers must be analyzed. Their perception and views on legalizing the procedure, and their hesitancy or lack thereof to perform such a procedure would give the rest of the world a clearer picture- a better standpoint to understand what to do. This study attempted to quantify and analyze the views of doctors and medical students on euthanasia. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 212 doctors and medical students of a private medical college in South India was conducted to determine their current attitudes toward euthanasia. Results The majority of the participants (66%) supported the practice of euthanasia. The majority of the participants also believe euthanasia should only be done with the explicit consent of the patient (71.7%). It was also observed that those who had heard about euthanasia via hearsay mostly agreed that it must only be done with the explicit consent of the patient. Moreover, the study also showed that those who had heard about it from hearsay and news mostly stand for it. Conclusion Thus it has been noted that news and media all around us heavily influence peoples’ opinions. It is concluded that these opinions have changed from the past and will likely do so depending on the environment and media around the topic.

Effective diagnosis of skin tumours mainly relies on the analysis of the characteristics of the lesion. Automatic detection of malignant skin lesion has become a mandatory task to reduce the risk of human deaths and increase their survival. This article proposes a study of skin lesion classification using transfer learning approach. The transfer learning model uses four different state-of-the-art architectures, namely Inception v3, Residual Networks (ResNet 50), Dense Convolutional Networks (DenseNet 201) and Inception Residual Networks (Inception ResNet v2). These models are trained under the dataset comprising seven different classes of skin lesions. The skin lesion images are pre-processed using image quantization, grayscaling and the Wiener filter before final training step. These models are compared for performance evaluation on different metrics. The present study shows the efficacy of the methodology for automated classification of lesion images.

Addictive behavior can be effectively managed with yoga. This study compared smartphone use, self-rated sleep, and beliefs about well-being in university students who practiced yoga regularly with those who did not.One hundred and forty-two university students (average age ± standard deviation: 20.2 ± 2.2; male: female = 1:1) who practiced yoga (90 min a day, 6 days a week, and 29.7 months) were compared for smartphone excessive use, self-rated sleep, and beliefs about well-being, with an equal number of comparable age- and gender-distributed university students who did not practice yoga.The yoga group had lower scores on the short version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale with fewer nocturnal episodes of checking their smartphone. The nonyoga group reported longer nocturnal sleep time compared to the yoga group, whereas there was no significant difference in the beliefs about well-being scores between the two groups.University students who practice yoga may be less likely to use a smartphone excessively as well as have uninterrupted sleep than students who do not practice yoga.

Substitution of ionic platinum is carried out in Co3O4 host synthesized by solution combustion strategy. These Pt substituted Co3O4 spinels characterized by XRD show pure crystalline phase of Co3O4 without any separated peaks related to Pt/PtOx. Electrochemical OER activities of these spinels are investigated by cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry in neutral, alkaline and neutral buffer electrolytes. LSV studies on 1% Pt substituted Co3O4 exhibit a low overpotential (η) of 455 mV at 20 mA cm−2 in KOH, as compared to PBS medium. Tafel slope value of 117 mV dec−1 in KOH represents one electron EC mechanism. The detailed XPS studies indicate that Pt doping increases the tetrahedral Co2+ sites of Co3O4. XPS studies before and after OER also infers that the mixed valence of Co in the host (Co3O4) undergoes redox (Co2+/Co3+) changes with simultaneous reduction in Pt dopant from Pt4+ to Pt2+ influencing the OER activity., A.S. acknowledges Ahmedabad University and funding support from Department of Science and Technology-SERB sponsored research project (ST SERB-EMR/2016/ 005565) for funding and fellowship.

High surface area nanoparticles of antimony doped tin oxide are synthesized for the first time by one step solution combustion method using tin oxalate and antimony chloride as precursors. The synthesis method is rapid and gives particles of sizes 9–13 nm. The material has a specific surface area of 84 m2/g as estimated by Brunaure-Emmett-Teller (BET) model. The structural properties, surface morphologies, electrical and electrochemical properties are studied as a function of the dopant concentration. Effect of dopant concentration on X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns shows some noticeable changes in particle size. Solid state UV spectroscopy demonstrates that due to the antimony doping, the band gap of SnO2 decreases significantly. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) and Hall Effect measurement are employed to characterize the electrical properties. The comparative study of Sn1-xSbxO2 (0.01 ≤ x ≤ 0.05) indicates that the composition of Sn0.95Sb0.05O2 has the lowest resistance with the highest carrier concentration. Electrochemical properties of the material were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry in both acidic and neutral media showing the Sn0.95Sb0.05O2 with high electron transfer properties.

We herein report a series of nanocrystalline Ni-doped Co3O4: Co3−xNixO4 (0.0075 ≤ x ≤ 0.30) with a nickel doping percentage from 0.25 to 10 atomic percent synthesized using solution combustion method. These oxides are characterized by XRD and show pure nanocrystalline phase of Co3O4 with no separated peaks related to Ni/NiOx and confirms that Ni has been substituted in the lattice. TEM results indicate that the morphology and size of all the compounds are similar. Electrochemical measurements indicate that Co3O4 and Co3−xNixO4 are active for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and also shows that low amount of nickel doping in Co3O4 can remarkably enhance OER activity in neutral, alkaline and buffer (pH-7) electrolytes. Out of all compositions, 0.5% Ni-doped Co3O4 (Co2.985Ni0.015O4) seems to be more active than Co3O4 in terms of both current density and onset potential in K2SO4 medium. The enhancement in terms of OER activity, however, decreases until the doping concentration reaches beyond 0.5%. Phosphate buffer solution (PBS) studies reveal that Co3O4 and 0.5% Ni-doped Co3O4 show OER at near thermodynamic potential. Detailed x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies have indicated that surface oxygen (lattice oxygen) concentration is an important factor in deciding the OER activity which is highest for 0.5% Ni doped Co3O4 (Co2.985Ni0.015O4) and hence gives the highest OER activity.

Nanoporous geopolymer was synthesized with and without using Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) by condensing the mixture of metakaolin and alkali solution at a fixed ratio at room temperature. The surface area of CTAB-geopolymer was found to be more (216 m2/g) as compared to without CTAB added geopolymer (137 m2/g). The experimental results verified that the geopolymer could adsorb copper ions completely at lower concentrations and partially at higher concentrations. Pseudo second order model fits well at all the concentration from 55 to 1700 ppm as the values of the correlation coefficient lies between 0.96 and 0.99. Intraparticle diffusion model at the concentration 55 ppm explains that there is only boundary layer diffusion (instantaneous) and after this step, all the Cu ions are exchanged by the nanoporous geopolymer. At 120 ppm, intraparticle diffusion model shows multilinearity. Different adsorption models - Langmuir, Freundlich and Tempkin were also tested to evaluate the most appropriate model and it was found that adsorption follows Langmuir model. The adsorption capacity and pseudo second order rate constant is estimated to be 1.65 meq/g which is significantly higher than the fly ash based nonporous geopolymer.

The use of biomolecules toward environmental analysis provides impressive advantages in terms of selectivity and efficiency. Proteins have served as the classical choice of biomolecules in this regard partly due to their natural function as strong and specific binding agents. Nevertheless, biomolecules are usually considered unsuitable for large-scale environmental applications due to their fragility and cost. In this chapter, we first examine the emergence of nucleic acid based nanotechnology in the context of environmental analysis. Notably, the development of nucleic acid aptamers, aptazymes, and nano-architectures has facilitated application as both a receptor in biosensors as well as versatile scaffolds for engineering functional constructs. Further, we present a proof-of-concept of nucleic acid based nanoconstructs as a reusable adsorbing agent. We have developed nucleic acid three-way junction-based matrices that are capable of retrieval and reuse of a commonly used staining agent. Immobilization of the nucleic acid architectures on magnetic nanoparticles enables their reuse across samples. Inherent sophistication of biomolecules in general and nucleic acid based constructs, in particular, supports their deployment in specialized applications at a smaller scale pertinent to individual human activity. The perspective presented in this chapter is expected to encourage environmental engineering in distinctive and atypical contexts.

Technology adoption has been advocated as an important way to improve agricultural productivity and welfare of farmers in the semi-arid regions across the globe. The Government of Karnataka implemented the Bhoosamrudhi program in four districts of the state (Bidar, Chikballapur, Dharwad, and Udupi) as a pilot project to increase the crop yield and income of smallholder farmers. This program was launched on the theme of technology adoption along with convergence among different departments of agriculture. Farmers have been classified into five categories based on their levels of technology intensification to assess the impact of different levels of technology intensification on their welfare. The research is built on a primary survey conducted in pilot districts of the state in 2018 over a sample of 1,465 farmer households. The results generated using econometric methods of propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability weighted with regression adjustment (IPWRA) highlight that the higher the intensification, the higher the net returns to the farmers. The results state that non-adopters would receive a benefit of an additional Rs.3200 per month if they adopt at least one level of technology intensification. Hence, this program turned out to be a successful model for smallholder farmers in semi-arid regions of India. Steps should be taken to maintain and expand the momentum of adoption to ensure food and livelihood security in the economy.

The synthesis of novel and efficient catalysts for acetylene hydrogenation exhibiting high selectivity towards ethylene is important due to the presence of selective acetylene hydrogenation reaction in petrochemical processing. Since adsorption of C2 gases constitutes the primary step in catalytic hydrogenation and governs the selectivity of the catalysts, we have explored the C2-adsorption potential of reducible CeO2-based systems. The adsorption of C2-gases over CeO2-based materials was assessed using experimental in situ spectroscopic techniques and in silico theoretical studies based on density functional theory. The effect of Pd2+ substitution on adsorption was studied. The addition of Pd2+-ions was found to enhance the adsorption of the gases. Theoretical calculations provided insights into the modes of adsorption, adsorption energetics and reactant-catalyst interactions. The role of the presence of cationic substitution and anionic vacancies in strengthening the adsorption of gases was established. Pd-substituted reduced CeO2 showed activity for the adsorption of all C2 gases. On the basis of the aforementioned experimental and theoretical observations, the catalysts were tested for acetylene hydrogenation, and Pd-substituted CeO2 was found to be a good catalyst for the reaction with complete acetylene conversion observed below 100 °C.

Nano-crystalline Co3O4 is synthesized using solution combustion method. Characterization is done using XRD, TEM and BET surface area analysis. XRD shows pure nano-crystalline phase of Co3O4. Crystallinity of as prepared material improves by calcining the compound at 900 °C for 10 h while no effect is seen at 600 °C. TEM studies show that particles of around 50 nm size are formed at 400 °C. At 600 °C a well-defined hexagonal morphology could be seen both by TEM and SEM and the particle size is around 70 nm. However, TEM of the sample at 900 °C shows big agglomerates of cobalt oxide and no specific geometry could be obtained. Estimated BET surface area for the sample calcined at 600 °C is 10 m2/g. Detailed electrochemical studies are carried out in neutral and basic electrolytes where Ag/AgCl is used as the reference electrode. It is found that Co3O4 is active for oxygen evolution reaction in basic medium as well as in neutral medium. KOH is used as the basic medium while KNO3, K2SO4 and phosphate buffer is used for neutral medium. However, it is not active for hydrogen evolution reaction in any of the medium even at − 1.0 V. This is confirmed by gas analysis of the output gas in the cell by using a mass spectrometer. When compared with the buffer medium, it is observed that local pH changes in KNO3 and K2SO4 medium are possibly affecting the oxygen evolution reaction.

CO2 methanation is an important probe reaction to understand CO2 interactions with catalytic surfaces. The importance of this reaction is further increased by its association with CO2 utilization. This study reports the mechanistic aspects of CO2 methanation over combustion synthesized Ru-substituted CeO2 catalyst. Temperature-programmed reaction experiments were carried out to understand the interaction of CO2, H2, and their stoichiometric mixture with the catalyst surface. In situ FTIR spectroscopy was used to identify the intermediates of the reaction. It was observed that CO2 adsorption took place on the surface of Ce0.95Ru0.05O2 and the formation of surface carbonate intermediates took place only when H2 was present in the gas phase. In the absence of H2, CO2 did not show any indication for chemisorption. This behavior was explained in terms of the reaction between CO2 and the surface hydroxyls leading to the formation of a vacancy. Upon dissociation, carbonates led to chemisorbed CO which eventually...

Cloud computing is an evolving term these days. It is a model which provide services that is delivered and consumed on demand, anywhere at any time through any accessible network with the computing devices using cloud computing technologies. Cloud is beneficial as it provides ondemand, managed and customized resource, at the same time the biggest challenge of cloud computing is to overcome by the security risk to the cloud system especially the user group. Cloud security is a major privacy challenge which any cloud service provider and user facing these days. This paper presents the issues related to cloud security framework. Most of the time, some innovations come to our life in a way that we could not have imagined, block chain is one of such technology. In this paper we have proposed an architecture and framework of cloud security and its concerning areas and based on that we had visualize the prime concern areas in terms of cloud security, and how integration of blockchain with cloud computing created a big impact on cloud security features.

This study represents a novel application for the removal of heavy metals from industrial waste effluent with the help of Biomass Ash and Guar-Gum nanocomposites. Researches have been shown that biomass use instead of fossil fuels for energy conversion. Biomass sample may also include herbaceous and agricultural residues like rice husks, wheat straw, wood, sunflower shells etc. Properties of biomass like heating value, moisture content, ash content, susceptibility to slagging and fouling and volatile content makes it a good fuel and appropriate modification of biomass ash with chitosan nanocomposite have been shown to effectively remove heavy metals from industrial wastewater. Guar gum nanocomposite will be used to adsorb heavy metal from the waste water stream .Due to its thickening, emulsifying, binding and gelling properties, quick solubility in cold water, wide pH stability, film forming ability it can be used as an adsorbent in the adsorption process. Guar gum is the powdered endosperm of the seeds of the Cyamopsis tetragonolobus which is a leguminous crop. The endosperm contains a complex polysaccharide called galactomannan, which is a polymer of d-galactose and d-mannose. Characterization of nanocomposite by using TGA, XRD, TEM ,SEM ,FTIR shows the better possibility as chemical adsorbents for entrapping metals ions present in waste water.

The purpose of the study is to formulate and evaluate a new, cheap and effective natural mucoadhesive agent that can be used as an effective alternative for traditional mucoadhesive agent. The study procedure involved extraction of mucoadhesive agent from the Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) seeds, solubility testing of the mucilage obtained, phytochemical testing, determination of swelling index, preparation of nasal gel, measurement of viscosity, The study showed that the extraction of fenugreek seeds had 36% w/w of mucoadhesive agent. The natural mucoadhesive agent was soluble in hot water and cold water. The swelling index was found to be 160%.Fenugreek seeds produce high viscosity mucilage at low concentration levels. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jnpa.v27i1.12149 Journal of Nepal Pharmaceutical Association 2014 Vol.XXVII: 40-45

The synthesis of novel and efficient catalysts for acetylene hydrogenation exhibiting high selectivity towards ethylene is important due to the presence of selective acetylene hydrogenation reaction in petrochemical processing. Since adsorption of C

Because of microbial resistance to conventional antibiotics, there is increasing interest in silver, including silver nanoparticles (nano-Ag), in antimicrobial applications. However, questions remain regarding the relative roles of nano-Ag particles, versus Ag(+) ions released from nano-Ag dissolution, in imparting bacterial toxicity. Here, we developed a novel nano-Ag that, based on its cysteine cap, was expected to dissolve slowly and thus potentially allow for differentiating nanoparticle, versus ionic, effects of Ag. The nano-Ag was systematically tested for its differential toxicity to Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Bacterial growth, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, particle dissolution, cellular electron transfer activity, and cell membrane damage and potential were evaluated. In minimal growth medium, E. coli and P. aeruginosa growth were slowed at 100 mg L(-1) (0.93 mM) and 5 mg L(-1) (0.046 mM), respectively; P. aeruginosa was completely inhibited at and above 10 mg L(-1) (0.093 mM). For both strains, toxicity was associated with ROS and cell membrane damage. Based on comparisons to AgNO3 exposures, toxicity from nano-Ag was due to Ag(+) ions and not intact nano-Ag, even though nanoparticle dissolution was less than 2% in minimal growth medium. Because of their stability and slow Ag(+) ion release, the cysteine-capped nano-Ag particles here are useful to antimicrobial applications. Additionally, our systematic approach to evaluating toxicity, membrane damage, and ROS generation can be applied with other nanomaterials and bacteria.

This paper reports the synthesis of silver encapsulated β-Fe 2 O 3 core–shell hollow nanotubes soluble in aqueous medium. Colloidal β-Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles produced by the hydrolysis of FeCl 3 are grown on Ag nanoparticles in N 2 environment to produce core–shell hollow tubular structure. A variation in the amount of silver (0.23 × 10 −4 mol dm −3 – 0.76 × 10 −4 mol dm −3 ) regularly blue shifts the excitonic band due to β-Fe 2 O 3 , and reduces the thickness of β-Fe 2 O 3 in the shell besides changing the morphology of the nanostructures. A typical amount of silver (0.58 × 10 −4 mol dm −3 ) leads to the development of core–shell hollow tubes (SC) in which the core consists of Ag nanoparticles with an average diameter of 3.5 nm and the shell is made of β-Fe 2 O 3 hollow nanotubes consisting of Cl − and NO 3 − ions with an average thickness and the inner diameter of 3 nm and 9 nm, respectively. Unlike pure β-Fe 2 O 3 nanorods, SC at 7 T exhibits superparamagnetic behavior at a relatively higher temperature (100 K), whereas β-Fe 2 O 3 under these conditions depicted paramagnetic behavior. However, at 7 T and 5 K both of the samples exhibited superparamagnetic behavior, but the magnetization for SC (0.4 emu cm −2 ) was about 5.6 times higher compared to that of pure β-Fe 2 O 3 . The presence of specific amount of Ag in SC possibly results in the observed change in morphology, decrease in dimension and the orientation of β-Fe 2 O 3 nanorods in a particular direction, which contributes to the transformation in magnetic behavior associated with enhanced saturation magnetization.

This paper describes the synthesis, optical, photophysical and magnetic behavior of GMP-templated binary (β-Fe2O3/CdS) (SG) and ternary (β-Fe2O3/Ag/CdS) (SI) nanohybrids. In these systems the amount of different phases (GMP, β-Fe2O3 and Ag) and pH have been optimized so as to achieve the maximum emission. Analysis of the morphology of these nanohybrids by AFM, FE-SEM and TEM measurements shows that fresh samples of binary and ternary nanohybrids contain spherical nanoparticles, which are transformed into nanorods and nanowires, respectively upon aging. Both SAED and XRD analysis of the nanohybrids show them to contain CdS and Ag phases with hexagonal and β-Fe2O3 phase with orthorhombic structures, respectively. The excitation of binary nanohybrids by 340 nm light results in the quenching of the emission of the CdS phase with a bimolecular quenching rate constant of 2.1 × 1010 dm3 mol−1s−1. On the other hand, excitation of CdS using the same wavelength of light in the ternary nanohybrid results in enhancement of fluorescence intensity by a factor of ∼3 associated with a red-shift in the emission maximum compared to the binary nanohybrid. The increase in the intensity of emission of SI is also evidenced by an increase in average lifetime value of the ternary complex (52 ns) compared to that of the binary complex (30 ns). An examination of fluorescence anisotropy in both the cases shows an increase in the value of anisotropy and rotational correlation time (θ2) upon aging. The presence of CdS in the binary hybrid results in the reduction of saturation magentization value (0.0019 emu cm−2) by an order of magnitude as compared to β-Fe2O3 (0.019 emu cm−2) and a change in the magnetic behavior from superparamagnetic to ferromagnetic with coercivity and remanance values of 1200 Oe and 7.9 × 10−5 emu cm−2, respectively. A similar change in magnetic behavior is observed in the case of SI, which are, however, associated with relatively higher values of Ms (0.0026 emu cm−2), Hc (1273 Oe) and Mr (1.78 × 10−4 emu cm−2), compared to those of the binary hybrid, respectively. The presence of Ag in the ternary hybrid thus induces a change in optical, photophysical and magnetic properties, which are correlated with a change in their morphology.

Nano-crystalline Co3O4 and a series of Ni-doped Co3O4; Co3-xNixO4 (0.0075 £ x £ 0.30) have been synthesized using solution combustion method. Complete characterization is carried out using XRD, TEM and BET surface area analysis. XRD shows pure nano-crystalline phase of Co3O4 with no peaks related to Ni or nickel oxide confirming that Ni is not present as a separated phase on the surface and has been substituted in the lattice. TEM studies for as prepared samples (400 oC) show that particles of 0.5% Ni doped Co3O4 (Co2.985Ni0.015O4) are around 60 nm in size. Calcination of Co2.985Ni0.015O4 at 600 °C for 10 hours results into well-defined hexagonal morphology which could be seen both by TEM and SEM. After calcination, particle size becomes 70 nm. Estimated BET surface area for Co2.985Ni0.015O4 (calcined at 600°C) is 10m2/g. Detailed electrochemical studies have been carried out in basic, neutral buffer and neutral electrolyte medium. Both Co3O4 and Co3-xNixO4 were found active for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with an interesting behavior in doped compound. It is found that lower nickel doping significantly enhances the OER activity in all the mediums; basic, neutral and neutral buffer. Figure 1 depicts that just 0.5% Ni-doped Co3O4 (Co2.985Ni0.015O4) is far more active than Co3O4 both in terms of current density and onset potential in K2SO4 medium. This enhancement nevertheless decreases once the doping concentration reaches beyond 0.5%. Figure 2 shows that OER activity (chronoamperomertic current) of Co3O4 increases after 0.25% Ni doping peaking at 0.5% and thereafter the reduction in the activity takes place. 1% Ni doped Co3O4 is less active than 0.25% Ni doped Co3O4. Once the doping concentration is 2.5% there is no enhancement in the activity compared to Co3O4. In the same way no effect is seen at 5 and 10% doping of Ni and the activity is similar to parent Co3O4. Same trend is observed in all other medium. Interestingly, in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) Co3O4 and 0.5% Ni-doped Co3O4 show OER at near thermodynamic potential i.e at a very low over potential. Similar effect was observed by Nocera and co-workers on cobalt oxide 1-2. This conclusively states that Co3O4 and its doped variant form similar type of in situ active sites as noticed Nocera and co-workers. References : 1. M.W. Kanan, D.G. Nocera, Science 321 (2008) 1072-1075. 2. Y. Surendranath, M.W. Kanan, D.G. Nocera, Journal of the American Chemical Society 132 (2010) 16501-16509 Figure 1

Silver iron oxide nanoparticles of fairly small size (average diameter approximately 1 nm) with narrow size distribution have been synthesized by the interaction of colloidal beta- Fe2O3 and silver nanoparticles. The surface morphology and size of these particles have been analyzed by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Their structural analysis has been carried out by employing x-ray diffraction (XRD), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), optical and infrared (IR) spectroscopic techniques. The ageing of these particles exhibits the formation of self-assembly, possibly involving weak supramolecular interactions between Ag(I)O4 and Fe(III)O4 species. These particles display the onset of absorption in the near-infrared region and have higher absorption coefficient in the visible range compared to that of its precursors. Magnetic measurements reveal an interesting transition in their magnetic behavior from diamagnetic to superparamagnetic. The magnetic moment of these particles attains a limiting value of about 0.19 emu cm(-2), which is more than two times higher than that of colloidal beta- Fe2O3. With enhanced optical and magnetic properties, this system is suggested to have possible applications in optoelectronic and magnetic devices.

β-Fe2O3 nanostructures of different shapes have been synthesized by the hydrolysis of FeCl3 in the absence and presence of Co2+ ions. These materials have been characterized by UV–vis spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry (SQUID). The addition of Co2+ transforms the shape of nanosized β-Fe2O3 from rods to become spherical. These nanostructures demonstrate superparamagnetic behavior. The extent of saturation magnetization is enhanced by a factor of 3 from 0.49 to 1.56 emu g−1 upon addition of 0.12% Co2+.