Mesoporous Titania powders: the role of precursors, ligand addition and calcination rate on their morphology, crystalline structure and photocatalytic activity

We evaluate the influence of the use of different titania precursors, calcination rate, and ligand addition on the morphology, texture and phase content of synthesized mesoporous titania samples, parameters which, in turn, can play a key role in titania photocatalytic performances. The powders, obtained through the evaporation-induced self-assembly method, are characterized by means of ex situ X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) measurements, N2 physisorption isotherms and transmission electron microscopy. The precursors are selected basing on two different approaches: the acid-base pair, using TiCl4 and Ti(OBu)4, and a more classic route with Ti(OiPr)4 and HCl. For both precursors, different specimens were prepared by resorting to different calcination rates and with and without the addition of acetylacetone, that creates coordinated species with lower hydrolysis rates, and with different calcination rates. Each sample was employed as photoanode and tested in the water splitting reaction by recording I-V curves and comparing the results with commercial P25 powders. The complex data framework suggests that a narrow pore size distribution, due to the use of acetylacetone, plays a major role in the photoactivity, leading to a current density value higher than that of P25

Knowledge of nurses and nursing students on caring for patients adhering to different religions

Wstęp: Migracje ludności nasilone po wstąpieniu Polski do Unii Europejskiej spowodowały napływ ludności o odmiennej kulturze na teren naszego państwa i postawiły przed polskimi pielęgniarkami nowe wyzwania co do opieki nad osobami pochodzącymi z różnych kultur. Celem pracy była ocena wiedzy zarówno pielęgniarek, jak i studentów pielęgniarstwa dotyczącej specyfiki opieki nad pacjentami pochodzącymi z różnych kultur. Materiał i metody: Badania przeprowadzono metodą sondażu diagnostycznego, z zastosowaniem techniki ankiety skonstruowanej na potrzeby pracy przez autor. Wśród studentów studiów stacjonarnych II stopnia, studentów studiów pomostowych oraz pielęgniarek pracujących. Wyniki: Generalnie poziom wiedzy ankietowanych pielęgniarek dotyczący opieki nad pacjentami pochodzącymi z różnych kultur i religii był niski. Najlepiej badani odpowiadaliz zakresu ogólnej wiedzy o religii, gorzej wypadły pytania dotyczące zdrowia i opieki medycznej. Studenci studiów magisterskich wykazali się najlepszą znajomością tego zagadnienia. Wnioski: Przygotowanie badanych pielęgniarek do opieki uwarunkowanej kulturowo jest niewystarczające.Introduction: Migration increased after Poland’s accession to the EU and this has led to the influx of people from other cultures into our country what brought new challenges for Polish nurses regarding the care of patients from different cultural backgrounds. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of both nurses and nursing students on a specific patient care from different cultures. Material and methods: The study was conducted by survey diagnostic using survey. The questionnaire developed by the author among full-time postgraduate students, undergraduate students, and profesionally active nurses was used. Results: In general, the level of knowledge of the care of patients from different cultures and religions in the study group was low. Respondents’ answers showed that the general knowledge in the field of religion was better than questions about health and medical care which were underperformed. Graduate students have demonstrated the best knowledge of the issue. Conclusions: The preparation of nurses surveyed in caring for culturally diverse patients is insufficient

NKCS, a Mutant of the NK-2 Peptide, Causes Severe Distortions and Perforations in Bacterial, But Not Human Model Lipid Membranes

NKCS is an improved mutant of the bioactive peptide NK-2, which shows strong activity against Escherichia coli and low toxicity towards human cells. The different activity demonstrates the relevance of the physico-chemical nature of the target membrane for the biological effect of this peptide. We studied the effect of this potent antimicrobial peptide on model membranes by activity studies, differential scanning calorimetry, single molecule tracking and tracer efflux experiments. We found that NKCS severely distorted, penetrated and perforated model lipid membranes that resembled bacterial membranes, but not those that were similar to human cell membranes. The interactions of NKCS with phosphatidylethanolamine, which is abundant in bacterial membranes, were especially strong and are probably responsible for its antimicrobial activity

Deep learning for cerebral angiography segmentation from non-contrast computed tomography.

Cerebral computed tomography angiography is a widely available imaging technique that helps in the diagnosis of vascular pathologies. Contrast administration is needed to accurately assess the arteries. On non-contrast computed tomography, arteries are hardly distinguishable from the brain tissue, therefore, radiologists do not consider this imaging modality appropriate for the evaluation of vascular pathologies. There are known contraindications to administering iodinated contrast media, and in these cases, the patient has to undergo another examination to visualize cerebral arteries, such as magnetic resonance angiography. Deep learning for image segmentation has proven to perform well on medical data for a variety of tasks. The aim of this research was to apply deep learning methods to segment cerebral arteries on non-contrast computed tomography scans and consequently, generate angiographies without the need for contrast administration. The dataset for this research included 131 patients who underwent brain non-contrast computed tomography directly followed by computed tomography with contrast administration. Then, the segmentations of arteries were generated and aligned with non-contrast computed tomography scans. A deep learning model based on the U-net architecture was trained to perform the segmentation of blood vessels on non-contrast computed tomography. An evaluation was performed on separate test data, as well as using cross-validation, reaching Dice coefficients of 0.638 and 0.673, respectively. This study proves that deep learning methods can be leveraged to quickly solve problems that are difficult and time-consuming for a human observer, therefore providing physicians with additional information on the patient. To encourage the further development of similar tools, all code used for this research is publicly available

First direct study of the ammonolysis reaction in the most common alkaline and alkaline earth metal hydrides by <i>in situs</i> SR-PXD

We report on the first in situ synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction study (SR-PXD) of the ammonolysis reaction of selected alkaline and alkaline earth metal hydrides (i.e., LiH, NaH, KH, MgH2, and CaH2). The investigation was performed using an in situ SR-PXD pressure cell at an initial NH3 pressure of 6.5 bar in a range of temperature between room temperature (RT) and 350 °C. The results of this work give new important insights into the formation of metal amides and imides starting from the corresponding metal hydrides. LiH was observed to react with NH3 to form LiNH2 already at RT, and then it decomposes into Li2NH at 310 °C through the formation of nonstoichiometric intermediates of the Li1+xNH2–x form. The formation of NaNH2 takes place nearly at RT (28 °C), and it melts at 180 °C. As for LiH, KH reacts with NH3 at RT to surprisingly form, what it seems to be, cubic KNH2. However, we believe this phase to be a solid solution of KH in KNH2. At high temperature, the possible formation of several solid solutions of K(NH2)1–yHy with defined composition is also observed. The formation of Mg(NH2)2 was observed to starts at around 220 °C, from the interaction γ-MgH2 and NH3. At 350 °C, when all γ-MgH2 is consumed, the formation of Mg(NH2)2 stops and MgNH is formed by the reaction between β-MgH2 and NH3. Our results indicate that the formation of the γ-MgH2 is a key step in the synthesis of Mg(NH2)2 at low temperature (e.g., via ball milling technique). CaH2 was observed to react with NH3 at around 140 °C to form CaNH. At higher temperature the appearance of new reflections of possible Ca1+xNH phases, with the same crystalline structure of CaNH but with a smaller cell parameter was observed

Effect of NaH/MgB₂ ratio on the hydrogen absorption kinetics of the system NaH + MgB₂

In this work the effect of the ratio of starting reactants on the hydrogen absorption reaction of the system xNaH + MgB2 is investigated. At a constant hydrogen pressure of 50 bar, depending on the amount of NaH present in the system NaH + MgB2, different hydrogen absorption behaviors are observed. For two system compositions: NaH + MgB2 and 0.5NaH + MgB2, the formation of NaBH4 and MgH2 as only crystalline hydrogenation products is achieved. The relation between the ratio of the starting reactants and the obtained hydrogenation products is discussed in detail

Mesoporous titania powders: the role of precursors, ligand addition and calcination rate on their morphology, crystalline structure and photocatalytic activity

We evaluate the influence of the use of different titania precursors, calcination rate, and ligand addition on the morphology, texture and phase content of synthesized mesoporous titania samples, parameters which, in turn, can play a key role in titania photocatalytic performances. The powders, obtained through the evaporation-induced self-assembly method, are characterized by means of ex situ X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) measurements, N2 physisorption isotherms and transmission electron microscopy. The precursors are selected basing on two different approaches: the acid-base pair, using TiCl4 and Ti(OBu)4, and a more classic route with Ti(OiPr)4 and HCl. For both precursors, different specimens were prepared by resorting to different calcination rates and with and without the addition of acetylacetone, that creates coordinated species with lower hydrolysis rates, and with different calcination rates. Each sample was employed as photoanode and tested in the water splitting reaction by recording I-V curves and comparing the results with commercial P25 powders. The complex data framework suggests that a narrow pore size distribution, due to the use of acetylacetone, plays a major role in the photoactivity, leading to a current density value higher than that of P25