Preparation of nanostructured ruthenium doped titania for the photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol under visible light

AbstractRu doped titania was prepared by the impregnation method and examined for the photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol at ambient conditions. Ru/TiO2 photocatalysts with metal loadings of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8wt% were prepared and characterized using TEM, XRD, FTIR, SBET and EDX analyses. The degradation of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) in the aqueous phase was investigated under irradiation at 254nm, employing either photodegradation in the presence of titania, Ru doped titania or photolysis, to compare the efficiency of these photoinduced advanced oxidation techniques. Photocatalysis under visible irradiation was also investigated. The removal efficiency arrived at 50% using 0.2% Ru/TiO2 catalyst

Impact of diurnal variability and meteorological factors on the PM2.5 - AOD relationship: Implications for PM2.5 remote sensing

AbstractPM2.5 retrieval from space is still challenging due to the elusive relationship between PM2.5 and aerosol optical depth (AOD), which is further complicated by meteorological factors. In this work, we investigated the diurnal cycle of PM2.5 in China, using ground-based PM measurements obtained at 226 sites of China Atmosphere Watch Network during the period of January 2013 to December 2015. Results showed that nearly half of the sites witnessed a PM2.5 maximum in the morning, in contrast to the least frequent occurrence (5%) in the afternoon when strong solar radiation received at the surface results in rapid vertical diffusion of aerosols and thus lower mass concentration. PM2.5 tends to peak equally in the morning and evening in North China Plain (NCP) with an amplitude of nearly twice or three times that in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), whereas the morning PM2.5 peak dominates in Yangtze River Delta (YRD) with a magnitude lying between those of NCP and PRD. The gridded correlation maps reveal varying correlations around each PM2.5 site, depending on the locations and seasons. Concerning the impact of aerosol diurnal variation on the correlation, the averaging schemes of PM2.5 using 3-h, 5-h, and 24-h time windows tend to have larger R biases, compared with the scheme of 1-h time window, indicating diurnal variation of aerosols plays a significant role in the establishment of explicit correlation between PM2.5 and AOD. In addition, high cloud fraction and relative humidity tend to weaken the correlation, regardless of geographical location. Therefore, the impact of meteorology could be one of the most plausible alternatives in explaining the varying R values observed, due to its non-negligible effect on MODIS AOD retrievals. Our findings have implications for PM2.5 remote sensing, as long as the aerosol diurnal cycle, along with meteorology, are explicitly considered in the future

Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and antibacterial screening of novel Mannich bases of Ganciclovir

AbstractBiologically active Mannich bases with heteroaromatic ring system of substituted guanine derivative (2-amino-9 [{(1,3 di hydroxy propane-2yl) oxy} methyl] 6-9 dihydro-3H-purine-6-one) (ganciclovir), have been synthesized via Mannich reaction. The aminomethylation of ganciclovir with various biologically potent sulphonamides was carried out and then characterized by elemental analysis and spectral studies – UV, IR, 1H NMR, powder X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The compounds were screened for their antibacterial activity against various pathogenic bacteria at varying concentrations. The antibacterial activity of derived Mannich bases was compared with parent sulphonamides. The toxicity of synthesized Mannich bases was ascertained by LD50 test

Excess thermodynamic parameters for binary and ternary mixtures of {1-butanol (1)+cyclohexylamine (2)+n-heptane (3)} at different temperatures: A theoretical study

AbstractIn this work, we used the experimental data of Kijevcanin et al. for determining the excess thermodynamic parameters such as excess thermal expansion coefficients αE, isothermal coefficient of pressure excess molar enthalpy (∂HmE/∂P)T and excess partial molar volumes V¯m,iE for the binary and ternary mixtures formed by {1-butanol+cyclohexylamine+n-heptanes} at (288.15–323.15) K. The αE values, for 1-butanol+cyclohexylamine are S-shaped and for 1-butanol+n-heptane are positive and for cyclohexylamine+n-heptane are negative over the mole fraction range. The (∂HmE/∂P)T values, for 1-butanol+cyclohexylamine are S-shaped and for binary mixture of 1-butanol+n-heptane are negative and for binary mixture of cyclohexylamine+n-heptane are positive over the mole fraction. The values of αE and (∂HmE/∂P)T are calculated by using the Flory theory, the results show a good agreement with experimental data. The values of αE and (∂HmE/∂P)T for ternary mixture {1-butanol+cyclohexylamine+n-heptanes} are determined and the experimental data are correlated as a function of the mole fraction by using the equations of Cibulka, Jasinski and Malanowski, Singe et al., Pintos et al., Calvo et al., Kohler, and Jacob–Fitzner. The results show that the Calvo et al. equation is better than others

A combined inverse finite element – elastoplastic modelling method to simulate the size-effect in nanoindentation and characterise materials from the nano to micro-scale

AbstractMaterial properties such as hardness can be dependent on the size of the indentation load when that load is small, a phenomenon known as the indentation size effect (ISE). In this work an inverse finite element method (IFEM) is used to investigate the ISE, with reference to experiments with a Berkovich indenter and an aluminium test material. It was found that the yield stress is highly dependent on indentation depth and in order to simulate this, an elastoplastic constitutive relation in which yielding varies with indentation depth/load was developed. It is shown that whereas Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio are not influenced by the length scale over the range tested, the amplitude portion of yield stress, which is independent of hardening and corresponds to the initial stress for a bulk material, changes radically at small indentation depths. Using the proposed material model and material parameters extracted using IFEM, the indentation depth-time and load-depth plots can be predicted at different loads with excellent agreement to experiment; the relative residual achieved between FE modelling displacement and experiment being less than 0.32%. An improved method of determining hardness from nanoindentation test data is also presented, which shows goof agreement with that determined using the IFEM

Xanthogranulomatous Prostatitis, a Rare Prostatic Entity

AbstractThere are several benign prostatic pathologies that can clinically mimic a prostate adenocarcinoma. Xanthogranulomatous prostatitis is a benign inflammatory condition of the prostate and a rare entity. A 47-year old male, with 3 years of lower urinary tract symptoms, with a palpable hypogastric tumor, digital rectal examination: solid prostate, of approximately 60 g. Initial PSA was 0.90 ng/mL. He underwent surgical excision of the lower abdominal nodule and prostatectomy. Histopathology showed xanthogranulomatous prostatitis, without malignancy. Xanthogranulomatous prostatitis is an extremely rare entity that can simulate prostate adenocarcinoma, therefore having a correct histopathological diagnosis is essential

A unified high-resolution wind and solar dataset from a rapidly updating numerical weather prediction model

AbstractA new gridded dataset for wind and solar resource estimation over the contiguous United States has been derived from hourly updated 1-h forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) 3-km model composited over a three-year period (approximately 22 000 forecast model runs). The unique dataset features hourly data assimilation, and provides physically consistent wind and solar estimates for the renewable energy industry. The wind resource dataset shows strong similarity to that previously provided by a Department of Energy-funded study, and it includes estimates in southern Canada and northern Mexico. The solar resource dataset represents an initial step towards application-specific fields such as global horizontal and direct normal irradiance. This combined dataset will continue to be augmented with new forecast data from the advanced HRRR atmospheric/land-surface model

Clinical inertia to insulin initiation and intensification in the UK: A focused literature review

AbstractAchieving tight glycaemic control early following the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is key to optimising clinical outcomes, yet many patients and clinicians are reluctant to initiate and intensify insulin therapy. Reasons for this arise primarily from a lack of time, clinical expertise and patient understanding. However, meaningful progress can be achieved with self-management educational programmes soon after diagnosis. Clinician education and training, along with easy-to-use and well-tolerated therapies (for example, those carrying a low risk of hypoglycaemia and/or avoiding weight gain), may also increase the likelihood of patient adherence

Cu-Ni-PGE mineralisation at the Aurora Project and potential for a new PGE province in the Northern Bushveld Main Zone

AbstractThe Aurora Project is a Cu-Ni-PGE magmatic sulphide deposit in the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. Since 1992 mining in the northern limb has focussed on the Platreef deposit, located along the margin of the complex. Aurora has previously been suggested to represent a far-northern facies of the Platreef located along the basal margin of the complex and this study provides new data with which to test this assertion. In contrast to the Platreef, the base metal sulphide mineralisation at Aurora is both Cu-rich (Ni/Cu <1) and Au-rich. The sulphides are hosted predominantly in leucocratic rocks (gabbronorites and leucogabbronorites) with low Cr/MgO (<30) where pigeonite and orthopyroxene co-exist as low-Ca pyroxenes without cumulus magnetite. This mineral association is found in the Upper Main Zone and the Aurora mineral chemistry is consistent with this stratigraphic interval. Pigeonite gabbronorites above the Aurora mineralisation have high Cu/Pd ratios (>50,000) reflecting the preferential removal of Pd over Cu in the sulphides below. Similarly high Cu/Pd ratios characterise the Upper Main Zone in the northern limb above the pigeonite+orthopyroxene interval and suggest that Aurora-style sulphide mineralisation may be developed here as well. The same mineralogy and geochemical features also appear to be present in the T Zone of the Waterberg PGE deposit, located under younger cover rocks to the north of Aurora. If these links are proved they indicate the potential for a previously unsuspected zone of Cu-Ni-PGE mineralisation extending for over 40km along strike through the Upper Main Zone of the northern Bushveld

Rab11 and phosphoinositides: A synergy of signal transducers in the control of vesicular trafficking

AbstractRab11 and phosphoinositides are signal transducers able to direct the delivery of membrane components to the cell surface. Rab11 is a small GTPase that, by cycling from an active to an inactive state, controls key events of vesicular transport, while phosphoinositides are major determinants of membrane identity, modulating compartmentalized small GTPase function. By sharing common effectors, these two signal transducers synergistically direct vesicular traffic to specific intracellular membranes. This review focuses on the latest advances regarding the mechanisms that ensure the compartmentalized regulation of Rab11 function through its interaction with phosphoinositides