With No Deliberate Speed: The Segregation of Roma Children in Europe

In this study, by taking the advantage of both inorganic ZnO nanoparticles and the organic material chitosan as a composite seed layer, we have fabricated well-aligned ZnO nanorods on a gold-coated glass substrate using the hydrothermal growth method. The ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by the Raman spectroscopic techniques, which showed the nanocrystalline phase of the ZnO nanoparticles. Different composites of ZnO nanoparticles and chitosan were prepared and used as a seed layer for the fabrication of well-aligned ZnO nanorods. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopic techniques were utilized for the structural characterization of the ZnO nanoparticles/chitosan seed layer-coated ZnO nanorods on a gold-coated glass substrate. This study has shown that the ZnO nanorods are well-aligned, uniform, and dense, exhibit the wurtzite hexagonal structure, and are perpendicularly oriented to the substrate. Moreover, the ZnO nanorods are only composed of Zn and O atoms. An optical study was also carried out for the ZnO nanoparticles/chitosan seed layer-coated ZnO nanorods, and the obtained results have shown that the fabricated ZnO nanorods exhibit good crystal quality. This study has provided a cheap fabrication method for the controlled morphology and good alignment of ZnO nanorods, which is of high demand for enhancing the working performance of optoelectronic devices

Multi proxy approach to evaluate and delineate the potential of hot springs in the Kotli District (Kashmir, Pakistan)

Tattapani hot springs are located near the Kotli District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. This study evaluates these hot springs based on surface geological information, radon emission measurements, hydro-geochemical and isotopic signatures and potential source mechanisms. Field observations reveal that the hot springs are located at the crest of the Tattapani anticline along the faulted contact of Cambrian carbonates with Paleocene siliciclastics. In addition, remnants of igneous intrusions in the Cambrian carbonates are commonly observed. Spatial distribution of radon emissions (ranging between 2.1 and 29.5KBq m-3) indicates an anomalous zone located over the Cambrian-Paleocene faulted contact. Hydro-geochemical data show sodium-bicarbonate affinity of hot springs. The highest surface temperature of these springs is recorded at 60.8ºC. Average reservoir temperatures based on silica and cation geo-thermometers are 101ºC and 115ºC, respectively. Giggenbach ternary diagram (Na-K-Mg) suggests a non-equilibrium state between fluid and rock, whereas isotopic and chemical data indicate heat loss by conductive cooling and mixing with groundwater during the flow of thermal water up to the surface. Oxygen and deuterium isotopes indicate that thermal water is of meteoric origin, rain and/or snow in the north at higher altitudes providing the potential recharge. Furthermore, absence of tritium in the thermal water suggests a residence time of more than 50 years

Normality of I-V Measurements Using ML

Electrochemistry ecosystems are promising for accelerating the design and discovery of electrochemical systems for energy storage and conversion, by automating significant parts of workflows that combine synthesis and characterization experiments with computations. They require the integration of flow controllers, solvent containers, pumps, fraction collectors, and potentiostats, all connected to an electrochemical cell. These are specialized instruments with custom software that is not originally designed for network integration. We developed network and software solutions for electrochemical workflows that adapt system and instrument settings in real-time for multiple rounds of experiments. We demonstrate this automated workflow by remotely operating the instruments and collecting their measurements to generate a voltammogram (I-V profile) of an electrolyte solution in an electrochemical cell. These measurements are made available at the remote computing system and used for subsequent analysis. In this paper, we focus on a novel, analytically validated machine learning (ML) method for an electrochemistry ecosystem to ensure that I-V measurements are consistent with the normal experimental conditions, and to detect abnormal conditions, such as disconnected electrodes or low cell content volume.Comment: published at eScience 202

Uranium Concentration in Human Blood using Fission Track Etch Technique

The technique of fission track etch has been applied to determine concentration of uranium in human blood samples for exposed group and control group, male and female, using CR-39 track detector that is employed for registration of induced fission tracks. The blood samples of exposed group were collected from three key southern Iraqi governorates (Basrah, Muthanna and Dhi-Qar). These governorates were the center of intensive military activities during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf wars. The blood samples of the control group were taken from individuals who live in Babil governorate. This governorate, which is considered environmentally uncontaminated, is located north-west of the study area. The results showed that the uranium concentrations in human blood of exposed group ranged from 0.78 ppb (male, 3 years old, from Dhi-Qar) to 2.47 ppb (female, 65 years old, from Basrah). For the control group, the uranium concentration ranged from 0.32 ppb (male, 4 years old) to 1.47 ppb (female, 52 years old). It has also been found that the uranium concentrations in blood samples of exposed group are higher than those of the control group, and the uranium concentrations for female exposed group and control group are higher than those for male exposed group and control group. Keywords: uranium concentration, human blood, CR-39, fission track, Ira

Patterns for Populus spp. stand biomass in gradients of winter temperature and precipitation of Eurasia

Based on a generated database of 413 sample plots, with definitions of stand biomass of the genus Populus spp. in Eurasia, from France to Japan and southern China, statistically significant changes in the structure of forest stand biomass were found, with shifts in winter temperatures and average annual precipitation. When analyzing the reaction of the structure of the biomass of the genus Populus to temperature and precipitation in their transcontinental gradients, a clearly expressed positive relationship of all components of the biomass with the temperature in January is visible. Their relationship with precipitation is less clear; in warm climate zones, when precipitation increases, the biomass of all wood components decreases intensively, and in cold climate zones, this decrease is less pronounced. The foliage biomass does not increase when precipitation decreases, as is typical for wood components, but decreases. This can be explained by the specifics of the functioning of the assimilation apparatus, namely its transpiration activity when warming, and the corresponding increase in transpiration, which requires an increase in the influx of assimilates into the foliage, and the desiccation of the climate that reduces this influx of assimilates. Comparison of the obtained patterns with previously published results for other species from Eurasia showed partial or complete discrepancies, the causes of which require special physiological studies. The results obtained can be useful in the management of biosphere functions of forests, which is important in the implementation of climate stabilization measures, as well as in the validation of the results of simulation experiments to assess the carbon-deposition capacity of forests. © 2020 by the authors

Iron Deposition following Chronic Myocardial Infarction as a Substrate for Cardiac Electrical Anomalies: Initial Findings in a Canine Model

Purpose: Iron deposition has been shown to occur following myocardial infarction (MI). We investigated whether such focal iron deposition within chronic MI lead to electrical anomalies. Methods: Two groups of dogs (ex-vivo (n = 12) and in-vivo (n = 10)) were studied at 16 weeks post MI. Hearts of animals from ex-vivo group were explanted and sectioned into infarcted and non-infarcted segments. Impedance spectroscopy was used to derive electrical permittivity () and conductivity (). Mass spectrometry was used to classify and characterize tissue sections with (IRON+) and without (IRON-) iron. Animals from in-vivo group underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) for estimation of scar volume (late-gadolinium enhancement, LGE) and iron deposition (T2*) relative to left-ventricular volume. 24-hour electrocardiogram recordings were obtained and used to examine Heart Rate (HR), QT interval (QT), QT corrected for HR (QTc) and QTc dispersion (QTcd). In a fraction of these animals (n = 5), ultra-high resolution electroanatomical mapping (EAM) was performed, co-registered with LGE and T2* CMR and were used to characterize the spatial locations of isolated late potentials (ILPs). Results: Compared to IRON- sections, IRON+ sections had higher, but no difference in. A linear relationship was found between iron content and (p1.5%)) with similar scar volumes (7.28%±1.02% (Iron (1.5%)), p = 0.51) but markedly different iron volumes (1.12%±0.64% (Iron (1.5%)), p = 0.02), QT and QTc were elevated and QTcd was decreased in the group with the higher iron volume during the day, night and 24-hour period (p<0.05). EAMs co-registered with CMR images showed a greater tendency for ILPs to emerge from scar regions with iron versus without iron. Conclusion: The electrical behavior of infarcted hearts with iron appears to be different from those without iron. Iron within infarcted zones may evolve as an arrhythmogenic substrate in the post MI period

Synthesis, structural, spectral and biological evaluation of metals endowed 1,2,4-triazole

Biologically active triazole Schiff base ligand 2,4-dichloro-6-[(1H-1,2,4-triazol-3-ylimino)methyl]phenol (A) has been synthesized by the condensation reaction of an equimolar amount of 1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-amine and 3,5-dichlorosalicylaldehyde and then it coordinated with salts of metals [VO(IV), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II)] in 2:1 molar ratio to derive a series of transition metal chelates (1)-(6). All the compounds were characterized by various physical, spectral, analytical techniques and elemental analysis. Spectral characterization and magnetic moment data of complexes revealed square pyramidal geometry for vanadium complex and octahedral for remaining (2)-(6) complexes. Quantum chemical calculation has been carried out to explore optimized geometry and electronic structure of the ligand. Density functional theory (DFT) with B3LYP/6-311+g(d,p) method was performed to determine vibrational bands, frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) and natural bond analysis (NBO) of the ligand. NBO analysis showed that the ligand bears higher molecular stability because of hyper conjugate interactions. Computational study results revealed that there was a close interaction of theoretical and experimental spectroscopic data. Global reactivity descriptors calculated by the energies of FMOs, indicated ligand to be bioactive. The synthesized compounds were studied for antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and antiglycation activity and the results revealed that ligand has remarkable activity which considerably increased upon chelation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; KEY WORDS: Triazole ligand, Transition metal chelates, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antioxidant, Computational study &nbsp; Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2020, 34(2), 335-351 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v34i2.1

The principle of space-for-time substitution in predicting Betula spp. Biomass change related to climate shifts

Human society faces problems of a global scale today, as a result of which the priorities of environmental research are shifting to the macro level, and ecology has entered the era of big data. The authors have created a database of 1,717 model trees of Betula spp. with measured indicators of diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height, age, and aboveground biomass growing in the territory of Eurasia. Regression models for aboveground biomass components are calculated, including the dendrological indices mentioned, and two climate indicators as independent variables. Based on the theory of space-for time substitution, the obtained patterns of changes in aboveground biomass in the territorial climatic gradients of Eurasia are used to predict changes in biomass due to climate shifts. In accordance with the law of the limiting factor by Liebig, it is established that in sufficiently moisture-rich climatic zones, an increase in temperature by 1??C with a constant amount of precipitation causes an increase in biomass, and in water-deficient zones ??? its decrease. In warm climatic zones, a decrease in precipitation by 100 mm at a constant average January temperature causes a decrease in biomass, and in cold climatic zones ??? its increase

A Comparative Pattern for Populus spp. and Betula spp. Stand Biomass in Eurasian Climate Gradients

Based on the generated database of 413 and 490 plots of biomass of Populus spp. and Betula spp. in Eurasia, statistically significant changes in the structure of forest stand biomass were found with shifts in January temperatures and average annual precipitation. When analyzing harvest data, the propeller-shaped biomass patterns in the gradients of average annual precipitation and average January temperatures are obtained, which are common for both deciduous species. Correspondingly, Populus and Betula forests show a regularity common to the biomass components: In the cold zones the precipitation increase leads to the increase of biomass, and in the warm ones to their decrease. In wet areas, the increase of temperature causes the decrease of biomass, and in dry areas, it causes their increase. In accordance with the law of the limiting factor by Liebig-Shelford, it is shown that both an decrease in temperature in dry conditions and a increase in precipitation in a warm climate lead to a decrease in the biomass of trees. © 2022 by the authors