Novel technique for producing porous carbon nanofiber mate for supercapacitors application

In this work, Carbon Nanofiber mates (CNF) were fabricated by carbonization of electrospun non-conducting PolyAcryloNitrile (PAN) and PAN/PolyvinylAlcohol (PVA) nanofiber mates at 1100°C. PAN acts as a carbon source while PVA acts as a scarifying material to create porosity which leads to increase the accessible surface area. Two types of samples have been produced, carbon nanofiber mate (CNF) and Porous carbon nanofiber mate (P-CNF). The samples were first characterized by XRD, FTIR and SEM then examined as novel electrodes for supercapacitor applications. The specific capacitance (SC) results of the CNFs based on electrospun PAN mate and P-CNF based on electrospun PAN/PVA mate precursors, were 170 and 202 Fgm-1 respectively. The porous structure of P-CNF mate not only increased SC but also increased the capacitive retention and cyclic stability at discharging current density three times higher than that applied in case of CNFs. These results confirm that the tailored P-CNFs have potential for lightweight and durable flexible supercapacitor applications

Effect of vitamin D3 in treating hyperthyroidism in patients with graves’ disease

Background Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune disease characterized by hyperthyroidism secondary to circulating autoantibodies. Multiple factors contributed to its etiology, including genetic and environmental factors. The role of vitamin D is well-known in calcium metabolism and skeletal homeostasis. Vitamin D was shown to be a modulator in both innate and adaptive immunity. There is a link between vitamin D deficiency and various autoimmune diseases. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was reported to be common in patients with GD. Interestingly, vitamin D deficiency is found to be associated with higher thyroid volume in patients with newly-onset GD. However, vitamin D deficiency relationship with GD remains a controversial issue. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation in GD with and without ophthalmopathy. Patients and methods A randomized prospective study was conducted on 60 adult patients with GD aged 20–40 years. Group 1 comprised 20 patients with GD receiving a daily dose of 30 mg of methimazole alone. Group 2 comprised 40 patients with GD receiving the same dose of methimazole, supplemented with intramuscular injection of vitamin D3 200 000 IU/month for 3 months. Patients were followed up over a 3-month duration. Results There was hypovitaminosis D in all participants with a percentage of vitamin D deficiency (vitamin D level: <20 ng/ml) of 73.9% in male and 54.1% in female and a vitamin D insufficiency (vitamin D level: 20–29 ng/ml) of 26.1% in male and 45.9% in female. Vitamin D was significantly correlated with thyroid volume and degree of exophthalmos. On vitamin D supplementation, group 2 had significantly lower thyroid volume and better effect on the degree of exophthalmos. Conclusion Vitamin D supplementation for GD has a favorable effect on thyroid volume and on the degree of exophthalmos

Effect of dietary supplementation of betaine and organic minerals on growth performance, serum biochemical parameters, nutrients digestibility, and growth-related genes in broilers under heat stress

Global warming and climate changes have a detrimental impact on poultry production, causing substantial economic losses. This study investigated the effects of incorporating dietary betaine (BT) and organic minerals (OMs) on broilers’ performance as well as their potential to mitigate the negative impacts of heat stress (HS). Six hundred 1-day-old Ross 308 chicks were randomly allocated to 12 experimental treatments with 5 replicates of 10 birds each (5 male + 5 female). The birds were provided with diets containing BT (0 and 2,000 ppm) and OMs (0, 250, and 500 ppm), either individually or in combination, under both thermoneutral and HS-inducing temperatures. The HS conditions involved exposing the birds to cyclic periods of elevated temperature (35°C ± 2°C) for 6 h daily, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, starting from d 10 and continuing until d 35. The exposure to HS deteriorated birds’ growth performance; however, dietary BT and OMs inclusion improved the growth performance parameters bringing them close to normal levels. Carcass traits were not affected by dietary supplementation of BT, OMs, HS, or their interaction. Interestingly, while HS led to increased (P < 0.05) levels of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA), these adverse effects were mitigated (P < 0.05) by the addition of BT and OMs. Moreover, dietary BT supplementation led to elevated serum total protein and globulin concentrations. Cyclic HS did not alter Mn, Zn, and Cu contents in the pectoral muscle. However, the incorporation of OMs at both levels increased concentrations of these minerals. Notably, the combination of 500 ppm OMs and 2,000 ppm BT improved Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe digestibility, which has been compromised under HS conditions. Cyclic HS upregulated gene expression of interleukin-1β, heat shock protein 70, and Toll-like receptor-4 while downregulated the expression of claudin-1, uncoupling protein, growth hormone receptor, superoxide dismutase 1, glutathione peroxidase 1 and insulin-like growth factor 1. The aforementioned gene expressions were reversed by the combination of higher dietary levels of BT and OMs. In conclusion, the dietary supplementation of 500 ppm OMs along with 2,000 ppm BT yielded significant improvements in growth performance and mineral digestibility among broiler chickens, regardless of thermal conditions. Moreover, this combination effectively restored the expression of growth-related genes even under heat-stress conditions

DSC and elastic moduli studies on tellurite-vanadate glasses containing antimony oxide

xSb2O3-40TeO2-(60 − x) V2O5 glasses with 0 ≤ x ≤ 10 (in mol%) have been prepared by rapid- melt quenching method. DSC curves of these ternary glasses have been investigated. The glass transition properties that have been measured and reported in this paper, include the glass transition temperature (Tg), glass transition width (ΔTg), heat capacity change at glass transition (ΔCP) and fragility (F). Thermal stability, Poisson’s ratio, fragility and glass forming tendency of these glasses have been estimated, to determine relationship between chemical composition and the thermal stability or to interpret the structure of glass. In addition, Makishima and Makenzie’s theory was applied for determination of Young’s modulus, bulk modulus and shear modulus, indicating a strong relation between elastic properties and structure of glass. Generally, results of this work show that glass with x = 0 has the highest shear, bulk and Young’s moduli which make it as suitable candidate for the manufacture of strong glass fibers in technological applications; but it should be mentioned that glass with x = 8 has higher handling temperature and super resistance against thermal attack