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In the context of global adaptation to climate change, the demandfor water, especially drinking water, becomes a serious issue that needs to be studied to find feasible and economical solutions. Many available technologies have been applied to produce drinking water such as filtration of groundwater or seawater. However, the implementation of these technologies is feasible or not depending on specific nature as well as socio-economic conditions. For the drought regions where there is no seawater and lack of groundwater, moisture separation technology becomesafeasible solution. A system to extract the water from moisture has been designed, fabricated and installed to provide 10 litersof drinking water per day. As the system operates; it can produce around 2.1 litersof drinking water per hour; and consume 1.8 kW of electricity. The system has been designed to be able to use two typesof power sources: one from solar energy (main source) and the other from the national grid (auxiliary source).

The inhibition of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Protease (HIV-1 PR) can prevent the synthesis of new viruses. Computer-aided drug design (CADD) would enhance the discovery of new therapies, through which the estimation of ligand-binding affinity is critical to predict the most efficient inhibitor. A time-consuming binding free energy method would reduce the usefulness of CADD. The modified linear interaction energy (LIE) approach emerges as an appropriate protocol that performs this task. In particular, the polar interaction free energy, which is obtained via numerically resolving the linear Poisson–Boltzmann equation, plays as an important role in driving the binding mechanism of the HIV-1 PR + inhibitor complex. The electrostatic interaction energy contributes to the attraction between two molecules, but the vdW interaction acts as a repulsive factor between the ligand and the HIV-1 PR. Moreover, the ligands were found to adopt a very strong hydrophobic interaction with the HIV-1 PR. Furthermore, the results obtained corroborate the high accuracy and precision of computational studies with a large correlation coefficient value R = 0.83 and a small RMSE δRMSE = 1.25 kcal mol−1. This method is less time-consuming than the other end-point methods, such as the molecular mechanics Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MM/PBSA) and free energy perturbation (FEP) approaches. Overall, the modified LIE approach would provide ligand-binding affinity with HIV-1 PR accurately, precisely, and rapidly, resulting in a more efficient design of new inhibitors.

There is experimental evidence that the astaxanthin, betanin, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) compounds slow down the aggregation kinetics and the toxicity of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide. How these inhibitors affect the self-assembly at the atomic level remains elusive. To address this issue, we have performed for each ligand atomistic replica exchange molecular dynamic (REMD) simulations in an explicit solvent of the Aβ11-40 trimer from the U-shape conformation and MD simulations starting from Aβ1-40 dimer and tetramer structures characterized by different intra- and interpeptide conformations. We find that the three ligands have similar binding free energies on small Aβ40 oligomers but very distinct transient binding sites that will affect the aggregation of larger assemblies and fibril elongation of the Aβ40 peptide.

There is experimental evidence that the astaxanthin, betanin, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) compounds slow down the aggregation kinetics and the toxicity of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide. How these inhibitors affect the self-assembly at the atomic level remains elusive. To address this issue, we have performed for each ligand atomistic replica exchange molecular dynamic (REMD) simulations in an explicit solvent of the Aβ

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been considered as an excellent adsorbent in environmental engineering, especially for treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The paper presents a new approach for the selective adsorption of Xylene isomers from air samples using nanomaterial based on oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes. In the first study, the functionalization of two oxidized MWCNTs was achieved with hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite. The characterization of functionalized CNTs (CNT-NaOCl, CNT-H2O2) was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-Ray diffractometer (XRD). Afterthat, the applications of pristine CNTs and oxidized CNTs for removal of three Xylene isomers from air samples were discussed. The results demonstrate that the correlation of CNTs and three isomers was significantly different with an affinity order o-Xylene > m-Xylene > p-Xylene. The oxidized CNTs with carbonyl groups increased significantly its adsorption capacity for these isomers. A comparison in term of adsorption performance shows that the framework distinguishes among these adsorbents due to the dispersive properties and the electrostatic interaction between the Xylene isomers and oxidized CNTs surface.

The inhibition of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Protease (HIV-1 PR) can prevent the synthesis of new viruses. Computer-aided drug design (CADD) would enhance the discovery of new therapies, through which the estimation of ligand-binding affinity is critical to predict the most efficient inhibitor. A time-consuming binding free energy method would reduce the usefulness of CADD. The modified linear interaction energy (LIE) approach emerges as an appropriate protocol that performs this task. In particular, the polar interaction free energy, which is obtained

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used as adsorbent in environmental treatment, especially for pollutants and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The purpose of this work is to develop materials based on functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for Benzene and Toluene removal. This will exploit adsorption propertiesof modified MWCNTS for Benzene and Toluene. In the first study, adsorption capacity of pristine MWCNTs to Benzene and Toluene in aqueous solution was investigated through isotherm study. The qe values of CNTs for Benzene and Toluene were 45,5 mg.g-1 and 56.3 mg.g-1, respectively and a contact time of 120 min. The modification of three oxidized MWCNTs were performed with acid solution (HNO3/H2SO4), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). The modified MWCNTs materials (CNT-COOH,CNT-NaOCl,CNT-H2O2) were characterized by Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The effects of functional groups on the MWCNTs on the adsorption capacity of Benzene, Toluene in aqueous solution were studied and compared to pristine MWCNTs. The results demonstrated that the efficiency of adsorption was significantly enhanced with oxidized CNTs, and following the order CNTs-NaOCl > CNTs-H2O2> CNTs-H2SO4> pristine CNTs.

The coupling compound of Biotin (Vitamin H) and redox molecule ferrocene throughcovalent bonding was studied. Synthesis and structure identification of Biotinylated 1 - (- 2-aminoethyl) ferrocene were performed by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and MS. The ultimate goal of thispaper is to develop derivatives of ferroceneservingas an electrochemical probe that wouldenhance the performance of immunosensor.An immunosensor based on polypyrrole-streptavidinlayer as platform for immobilization of biotinylatedferrocene and antibodies was developed. Themeasurement of redox signal of ferrocene was analyzed by differential pulse voltammetry(DPV) method and underlined a variation of redox properties upon the antigen interaction. Theintroduction of the redox biotinylatedferrocene into streptavidin-polypyrrole layer affords a goodsensitivity of the biosensor with a detection limit of 0.16 pg.mL-1.