Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface Area and Electrocatalytic Properties of FeNi Nanoparticles for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER)

Iron-nickel bimetallic electrocatalysts have recently emerged as some of the best candidates for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolyte. Understanding the effects of composition and morphology of iron-nickel nanoparticles is crucial for optimization and enhanced electrocatalyst performance. Both physical surface area and electrochemical surface area (ECSA) are functions of morphology. In this study, four different iron-nickel nanoparticle catalysts were synthesized. The catalysts were varied based on morphology (alloy versus coreshell) and composition (low, medium, and high stabilizer concentration). Brunauer-EmmettTeller (BET) surface area analysis was conducted on three of the synthesized iron-nickel nanoparticles using a physisorption analyzer while electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was employed to quantify the ECSA by capacitance. Comparison of ECSA and BET results to electrocatalyst overpotential suggests both available surface area and nanoparticle morphology play roles in electrocatalytic activity. Additionally, compositional analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) suggests final nanoparticle composition is dependent on amount of stabilizing ligand added, with lower stabilizer concentrations resulting in less overall metal incorporation and larger deviations from theoretical compositions. This project holds ample future research opportunities to delineate the effects of stabilizers on final nanoparticle composition, physical surface area, electrochemical properties, and catalytic performance for OER. However, this work has helped to elucidate aspects of the property-performance relationship of this class of FeNi nanoparticles.
Electron diffraction by carbon nanotubes

This paper first presents results from electron diffraction (ED) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of carbon nanotubes. TEM and ED of straight or coiled nanotubes are shown and the mechanisms of formation of the diffraction patterns caused by their specific atomic structures are qualitatively explained. Then a quantitative theory of kinematical diffraction by straight carbon nanotubes is proposed. The formalism is inspired from the theory of X-Ray diffraction by helical structures originally developed by Cochran, Crick and Vand for biological molecules. Each of the cylindrical graphene layers in a nanotube is viewed as being constructed from a finite set of regularly spaced carbon helices sharing the nanotube axis. This description leads to an exact, compact formula for the total kinematical diffraction amplitude of a complete monolayer tubule of arbitrary chirality. We illustrate the theory with computer simulations of the diffraction patterns of monolayer tubules and multilayer nanotubes of mixed chiralities and compare with observed ED patterns. The closed-form formula for the scattering amplitude of a single tubule also provides the molecular form factor to further compute the diffraction by the regular lattice of parallel tubules observed recently. We finally indicate briefly how the method can be extended to compute the kinematical diffraction by coiled nanotubes and other helical structures of nanometer size.
Applicability of dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) peels as low-cost biosorbent for adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution: kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamics studies

aFaculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, Tel. +60355211721; emails: ahjm72@gmail.com, ali288@salam.uitm. edu.my bChemistry Department, College of Science, Al-Muthanna University, Iraq, Tel. +9647816827372; email: afafmurtadha@yahoo.com cSchool of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia, Tel. +604 6534031; email: nyingshin@yahoo.com
Distribution of zinc oxide nanoparticles on unbleached and bleached bamboo paper via in-situ approaches

Metal oxide nanoparticles such as zinc oxide are increasingly being recognized for potential use in research and health-related application. It is usually incorporated in the modern healthcare products functioning as antimicrobial properties. These inorganic compounds could be applied for antimicrobial paper. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the growth distribution of zinc oxide nanoparticles prepared via in-situ approaches on unbleached and bleached pulps. In order to produce these pulps, hydrothermal method is used throughout the study. The micrograph obtained from the scanning of Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope exhibited that zinc oxide nanoparticles appeared in the range of 64.1 nm to 87.5 nm supported by the analysis of Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis, as high as 27% zinc and 39% oxygen. As expected, zinc oxide nanoparticles decreased the mechanical properties of paper due to the interference of fiber bonding. Antimicrobial test demonstrated acceptable results which required further test.
Structural Studies and Photochromic Properties of Lead(II)-Halide Complexes of 1-CnH2n+1-2-(Arylazo) Imidazoles

Pb(Raai-CnH2n+1)X2 has been synthesized by the reaction between PbX2 (X=Cl, Br, I) and 1-alkyl-2-(Arylazo) Imidazole (Raai- CnH2n+1, R=H, Me and n=4, 6, 8). The structures of the complexes have been established by spectral (UV-Vis, IR, 1H-NMR) data. UV light irradiation in DMF solution of the complexes exhibit E-to-Z (trans-to-cis) isomerisation of coordinated Raai-CnH2n+1 about- N=N-group. The reverse transformation, Z-to-E, is very slow with visible light irradiation while thermally accessible. The rate and quantum yields (φEZ) of the photoisomerisation of the complexes are lower than free ligand data. The activation energy (Ea) of reverse isomerisation (Z-to-E (cis-to-trans)) of [Pb(Raai-CnH2n+1)X2] is lower than that of free ligand data; the entropy of activation (ΔS*) is large negative in the complexes. Effect of halide (Cl-, Br- and I-) on the rate and quantum yields of photochromism is established in this work and has been supported by DFT computation. Slower rate of photoisomerisation of the coordinated ligands compared to the free ligand may be due to increase of mass of the complexes. However, the rate of isomerisation follows the sequence [Pb(Raai-CnH2n+1)Cl2] <[Pb(Raai-CnH2n+1)Br2] <[Pb(Raai-CnH2n+1)I2].
Impact of Pore–Walls Ligand Assembly on the Biodegradation of Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles for Controlled Drug Delivery

Porous materials with molecular-scale ordering have attracted major attention mainly because of the possibility to engineer their pores for selective applications. Periodic mesoporous organosilica is a class of hybrid materials where self-assembly of the organic linkers provides a crystal-like pore wall. However, unlike metal coordination, specific geometries cannot be predicted because of the competitive and dynamic nature of noncovalent interactions. Herein, we study the influence of competing noncovalent interactions in the pore walls on the biodegradation of organosilica frameworks for drug delivery application. These results support the importance of studying self-assembly patterns in hybrid frameworks to better engineer the next generation of dynamic or “soft” porous materials.
Haemoparasitic Infections: Risk Factors and Effects on Packed Cell Volume of Pregnant Women in Samaru, Zaria (Haemoparasitic Infections in Pregnant Women)

Pregnant women in Nigeria still suffer a great burden of Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense infections. However, malaria is one of the dominant diseases during pregnancy. These haemoparasites affect both maternal and foetal health. Structured questionnaires on socio-demographic and risk factors of haemoparasitic infections were administered on 125 consented pregnant women between the ages of 16-45 years in Samaru, Zaria. Each participant's venous blood sample (2ml) was collected and average packed cell volume (PCV) was determined. The samples were examined for haemoparasites on thin and thick blood smears stained with Giemsa dye using oil immersion (100x) objective of the light microscope. Only two types of haemoparasites were detected: Plasmodium falciparum (47.2%) and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (4.0%), with a co-infection of 0.8%. Plasmodium falciparum infections were found across all the age-groups, but the youngest of pregnant women within 16-20 years and 21-25 years were the most infected. Women in their first trimester of pregnancy were significantly most infected with P. falciparum (P=0.047). Women without formal education (75.0%) as well as those that were unemployed (48.1%) had more haemoparasites. Living in houses surrounded by stagnant water and involvement in unprotected farming were risks for haemoparasitic infections. The prevalence of anaemia among the pregnant women was 45.6%. The presence of P. falciparum was statistically related to low PCV of 21-30% which was indicative of anaemia (P=0.000). Also, among the women with low PCV, there was higher occurrence of T. b. gambiense with a case of co-infection. Pregnant women should be encouraged to enroll for ante-natal checkup at early stage of pregnancy. Parasitological examination during the ante-natal visits should not be limited to malaria alone: other neglected tropical diseases should be checked for and treated adequately. Keywords— Haemoparasites, Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma, pregnant women, anaemia, packed cell volume.
Liquid Distribution and Local Hydrodynamics of Winpak: A Multiscale Method

A multiscale method for a novel structured packing, Winpak, was developed to study liquid distribution and local hydrodynamics. The method combines a unit network model with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The unit network model was used to predict the liquid distribution at the macroscale by defining 10 distribution coefficients. The distribution coefficients were obtained based on microscale behavior of liquid distribution which was simulated in six representative elementary units by the CFD method. The VOF model was used to capture the interface between the gas phase and the liquid film. Through simulation results, three flow patterns were observed. In addition, the relatively large liquid holdup and wetting area of Winpak were elucidated. The average film thickness in REUs was also investigated. Furthermore, the liquid distribution obtained from the macroscale model indicates that the windows could mitigate the tendency of liquid flowing toward the sidewall.
Bayesian Updating of Embankment Settlement on Soft Soils with Finite Element Method

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Project No. 2016YFC0800200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Nos. 51679174, 51579190, 51528901), and Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (Project No. 2017QNRC001). The financial support is gratefully acknowledged.
Synthesis and antibacterial activity of some novel fluorobenzothiazole derivatives

A series of 2,2'-(2-(2-benzylidenehydrazinyl)-6-fluorobenzo[d]thiazol-7-ylazanediyl) diethanol derivatives (4a-e) were synthesized in order to examine their in vitro antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis Gram-positive and Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa Gram-negative bacteria. 4-fluoro-3-chloroaniline was treated with potassium thiocyanate in presence of bromine in glacial acetic acid to get 2-amino-7-chloro-6- fluoro benzothiazole (1), which was further treated with hydrazine hydrate and concentrated HCl to get of 2-amino-7-chloro-6-fluoro-benzothiazole (2). Then Schiff’s base (3a-e) is prepared by reaction of fluoro-benzothiazole with different substituted aromatic aldehydes. The final targeted compounds (4a-e) were synthesized by substituting seventh chlorine of compound 3a-e by diethanolamine in presence of triethylamine. All the compounds were characterized by melting point, TLC and the chemical structures of the compounds were elucidated by IR, 1H NMR, mass spectroscopy. Among the series, compounds 4b, 4d and 4e exhibited good antibacterial activity profile as compared with the standard. In summary, preliminary results indicate that some of the newly synthesized title compounds exhibited promising antibacterial activities and they warrant more consideration as prospective antimicrobials.
Metal–Organic Framework Templated Porous Carbon‐Metal Oxide/Reduced Graphene Oxide as Superior Support of Bimetallic Nanoparticles for Efficient Hydrogen Generation from Formic Acid

Ultrafine PdAg nanoparticles (NPs) are successfully immobilized on zirconia/porous carbon/reduced graphene oxide (ZrO2/C/rGO) nanocomposite derived from metal organic framework/graphene oxide. Monodispersed PdAg NPs (diameter ≤2.5 nm) can be facilely anchored on the ZrO2/C/rGO and the aggregation of metal NPs can be avoided utmostly. By virtue of the synergistic effect between metal NPs and support, the resulting PdAg@ZrO2/C/rGO exhibits excellent activity (turnover frequency, 4500 h−1 at 333 K) for the dehydrogenation of formic acid. As an effective strategy, it provides an opportunity to immobilize ultrafine metal NPs on metal oxide/porous carbon/reduced graphene oxide, which has tremendous application prospects in various catalytic fields.
13 134-Km Fiber-Optic Time Synchronization

In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate an ultra-long haul and multi-access fiber-optic time synchronization system over the equivalent 13 134 km fiber link based on the bidirectional time division multiplexing transmission over a single fiber with the same wavelength (BTDM-SFSW) scheme. The 13 134 km fiber link is simulated by re-circulating the time signals 33 laps in the 398 km fiber loop. Intermediate stations containing bidirectional optical-electrical-optical repeaters are simultaneously used to implement a high-symmetry low-noise bidirectional signal regeneration for extending transmission distance, and provide the time signals for multi-access time synchronization applications. The results illustrate that time signals aligned with the master station can be available at the slave station and arbitrary intermediate stations without requiring link calibrations. Time synchronization stability in terms of time deviation (TDEV) of less than 32 ps/10 s and the combined uncertainty of less than 89.6 ps can be obtained for the 13 134 km fiber recirculating link. The intermediate stations also have the similar performance with the main fiber link. The simple, robust and accurate ultra-long haul fiber-optic time synchronization technique demonstrated here represents a new class of high-accuracy time synchronization that could be used for national/intercontinental atomic clock comparison campaigns and opens up a possibility for providing synchronized time signals to multiple users over the large-scale fiber-optic networks.
Development of Multiplex PCR Assay as a basis for Predicting Pigment Related Features

Currently, short tandem repeats are used in forensic DNA typing to identify the DNA profiles recovered from evidence samples and deceased individuals. Recently, SNPs that are related to pigmentation have been researched for their use in the identification of phenotypic traits. The development of a SNP panel that could successful identify the eye and skin color of an individual, would be immensely useful in missing person cases or mass disaster victim identification. Eight SNPs were selected into a SNaPshot assay that could accurately predict eye and skin color, five for eye color and six for skin color. Development of the SNaPshot assay begins with development of a multiplex PCR. A multiplex PCR of these eight SNPs was developed to be incorporated into this assay, so it can be used for identification of phenotypic traits. Primer pairs for each of the eight SNPs were tested in singleplex reactions for their accuracy and efficiency. Successful primers were subsequently pooled into multiplex reactions to determine which primers could function together in a multiplex reaction with accurate results.
What They Didn't Teach Us: New Teachers Reflect on Their Preparation Experiences.

This article describes findings from a qualitative, practically-focused study of how novice teachers perceive the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher preparation coursework. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with fourteen teachers at two highly diverse elementary schools in an urban area. Participating teachers were in their first, second or third year of teaching, and administrators and teacher mentors were interviewed to provide background information and corroborating input as well. Teachers indicated they felt well prepared in areas such as lesson planning but poorly prepared with respect to skills such as data analysis and relationship-building with students and families. This article concludes with recommendations for improved teacher preparation in areas related to both university coursework and field-based placements.
Calibration-free optical emission spectroscopy method for the measurements of gas temperature and OH density

The diagnostic of absolute densities of reactive species and gas temperature is of growing interest for many applications. In this paper, we proposed a simple method to determine OH densities and rotational temperatures based on the molecular self-absorption. A 10 cm diffuse atmospheric pressure RF glow discharge is used to verify the proposed method. Good agreements with broadband absorption are achieved with a two-temperature Boltzmann distribution description of the excited state.
Characterizing and classifying urban watersheds with compositional and structural attributes

Current land‐use classifications used to assess urbanization effects on stream water quality date back to the 1980s when limited information was available to characterize watershed attributes that mediate non‐point source pollution. With high resolution remote sensing and widely used GIS tools, there has been a vast increase in the availability and precision of geospatial data of built environments. In this study, we leverage geospatial data to expand the characterization of developed landscapes and create a typology that allows us to better understand the impact of complex developed landscapes across the rural to urban gradient. We assess the ability of the developed landscape typology to reveal patterns in stream water chemistry previously undetected by traditional land‐cover based classification. We examine the distribution of land‐cover, infrastructure, topography and geology across 3876 National Hydrography Dataset Plus catchments in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, USA. From this dataset, we generate metrics to evaluate the abundance, density and position of landscape features relative to streams, catchment outlets and topographic wetness metrics. While impervious surfaces are a key distinguishing feature of the urban landscape, sanitary infrastructure, population density and geology are better predictors of baseflow stream water chemistry. Unsupervised clustering was used to generate a distinct developed landscape typology based on the expanded, high‐resolution landscape feature information. Using stream chemistry data from 37 developed headwater catchments, we compared the baseflow water chemistry grouped by traditional land‐cover based classes of urbanization (rural, low, medium and high density) to our composition and structure‐based classification (a nine‐class typology). The typology based on 22 metrics of developed landscape composition and structure explained over 50% of the variation in NO3−‐N, TDN, DOC, Cl−, and Br− concentration, while the ISC‐based classification only significantly explained 23% of the variation in TDN. These results demonstrate the importance of infrastructure, population and geology in defining developed landscapes and improving discrete classes for water management.
Hydroxyapatite chromatographic procedures for phospholipids: Endotoxin purification methods

ABSTRACT We studied the one-step purification of endotoxin by hydroxyapatite chromatography using total lipids extracted from Escherichia coli by the Bligh and Dyer method. High endotoxic activity was detected in a fraction eluted from 0.5 mg total lipids using an isopropanol gradient under salt-free buffer conditions. The fraction contained at least 7,000 endotoxin units and was completely free from other phospholipids. Notably, the running time of the chromatographic separation was approximately 4 h, whereas purification by the conventional hot phenol–water procedure requires ≥60 h. The procedure developed here is a simple, scalable, and rapid method for the purification of endotoxin.
“Scythian” Findings in the Moravia

The article presents results of the author’s bachelor thesis, which deals with detailed cataloguing and analysing of findings of so-called Scythian character in the Moravia in the late Early Iron Age period. The author based this article on catalogue from his thesis. Relevant analogies and typological assignments were studied for concerning every subject in the catalogue and on their basis there was made general chronological classification of each piece. The aim of this article is to present observations that resulted from a detailed evaluation, on its basis occurrence of the subjects of so-called Scythian origin in the Moravia were divided into three time horizons.
Post covid pulmonary fibrosis - Implications of interdisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation program: Short communication

Since December, 2019, an outbreak of a novel corona virus disease was reported in Wuhan, China, which has subsequently affected more than 200 countries worldwide. The symptoms associated with COVID-19 are diverse, ranging from mild to moderate upper respiratory tract symptoms to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The major risk factors for severe corona virus disease are shared with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, namely increasing age, male sex, and co morbidities such as hypertension and diabetes. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic progressive disease in which lung function inexorably declines, leading to respiratory failure [1, 2].
Evaluating Metabolic Responses in Mice to Nanosized Titanium Dioxide Particles Using Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry Based Metabolomics

Titanium dioxide nanoparticle (TiO 2 NP) is one of the most commonly used engineered nanoparticles. It has attracted lot of interest to analytical toxicologists in recent past due to its toxicity on human health and environment. The present study was aimed to explore the GC-MS based metabolomics as a tool to investigate the toxicity of TiO 2 NP in comparison to TiO 2 BP with doses of 300, 600, 1200 mg/kg respectively in both gender(s) of Swiss Albino mice for 7 and 14 days. Serum biochemistry and histopathology parameters were performed. Chemometric analysis by supervised PLS-DA was performed to identify the discrimination/classification between exposed and non-exposed samples due to metabolic perturbations. The morphological, biochemical, haematological and metabolomic analysis revealed that, TiO 2 NP has induced toxicological effects to both female and male mice. The results showed that metabolomics along with biochemical analysis can be employed as a comprehensive tool to identify the toxicity of NPs in the model organisms at molecular level.