Characterization and photocatalytic study of tantalum oxide nanoparticles prepared by the hydrolysis of tantalum oxo-ethoxide Ta₈(μ₃-O)₂(μ-O)₈(μ-OEt)₆(OEt)₁₄

Ta-8(mu(3)-O)(2)(mu-O)(8)(mu-OEt)(6)(OEt)(14) (1) was obtained by the controlled hydrolysis of tantalum ethoxide Ta(OEt)(5) in the presence of ammonia. Compound 1 is considered as the intermediate building block in the sol-gel polymerization of Ta(OEt)(5). Further hydrolysis of compound 1 yielded nanoparticles of Ta2O5, which were characterized by various techniques such as TGA-DTA-DSC, UV-vis DRS, XRD, SEM, TEM, particle size analyzer (DLS) and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The band gap of the particles was calculated by using the Tauc plot. The photocatalytic activity of Ta2O5 nanoparticles was tested by the degradation of the organic dye rhodamine B

Characterization and photocatalytic study of tantalum oxide nanoparticles prepared by the hydrolysis of tantalum oxo-ethoxide Ta₈(μ₃-O)₂(μ-O)₈(μ-OEt)₆(OEt)₁₄

Ta-8(mu(3)-O)(2)(mu-O)(8)(mu-OEt)(6)(OEt)(14) (1) was obtained by the controlled hydrolysis of tantalum ethoxide Ta(OEt)(5) in the presence of ammonia. Compound 1 is considered as the intermediate building block in the sol-gel polymerization of Ta(OEt)(5). Further hydrolysis of compound 1 yielded nanoparticles of Ta2O5, which were characterized by various techniques such as TGA-DTA-DSC, UV-vis DRS, XRD, SEM, TEM, particle size analyzer (DLS) and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The band gap of the particles was calculated by using the Tauc plot. The photocatalytic activity of Ta2O5 nanoparticles was tested by the degradation of the organic dye rhodamine B

Evaluating air quality and criteria pollutants prediction disparities by data mining along a stretch of urban-rural agglomeration includes coal-mine belts and thermal power plants

Air pollution has become a threat to human life around the world since researchers have demonstrated several effects of air pollution to the environment, climate, and society. The proposed research was organized in terms of National Air Quality Index (NAQI) and air pollutants prediction using data mining algorithms for particular timeframe dataset (01 January 2019, to 01 June 2021) in the industrial eastern coastal state of India. Over half of the study period, concentrations of PM2.5, PM10 and CO were several times higher than the NAQI standard limit. NAQI, in terms of consistency and frequency analysis, revealed that moderate level (ranges 101–200) has the maximum frequency of occurrence (26–158 days), and consistency was 36%–73% throughout the study period. The satisfactory level NAQI (ranges 51–100) frequency occurrence was 4–43 days with a consistency of 13%–67%. Poor to very poor level of air quality was found 13–50 days of the year, with a consistency of 9%–25%. Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Bagged Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) and Bayesian Regularized Neural Networks (BRNN) are the data mining algorithms, that showed higher efficiency for the prediction of PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and SO2 except for CO and O3 at Talcher and CO at Brajrajnagar. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between observed and predicted values of PM2.5 (ranges 12.40–17.90) and correlation coefficient (r) (ranges 0.83–0.92) for training and testing data indicate about slightly better prediction of PM2.5 by RF, SVM, bagged MARS, and BRNN models at Talcher in comparison to PM2.5 RMSE (ranges 13.06–21.66) and r (ranges 0.64–0.91) at Brajrajnagar. However, PM10 (RMSE: 25.80–43.41; r: 0.57–0.90), NO2 (RMSE: 3.00–4.95; r: 0.42–0.88) and SO2 (RMSE: 2.78–5.46; r: 0.31–0.88) at Brajrajnagar are better than PM10 (RMSE: 35.40–55.33; r: 0.68–0.91), NO2 (RMSE: 4.99–9.11; r: 0.48–0.92), and SO2 (RMSE: 4.91–9.47; r: 0.20–0.93) between observed and predicted values of training and testing data at Talcher using RF, SVM, bagged MARS and BRNN models, respectively. Taylor plots demonstrated that these algorithms showed promising accuracy for predicting air quality. The findings will help scientific community and policymakers to understand the distribution of air pollutants to strategize reduction in air pollution and enhance air quality in the study region

Large-scale GWAS identifies multiple loci for hand grip strength providing biological insights into muscular fitness

Hand grip strength is a widely used proxy of muscular fitness, a marker of frailty, and predictor of a range of morbidities and all-cause mortality. To investigate the genetic determinants of variation in grip strength, we perform a large-scale genetic discovery analysis in a combined sample of 195,180 individuals and identify 16 loci associated with grip strength (P<5 x 10(-8)) in combined analyses. A number of these loci contain genes implicated in structure and function of skeletal muscle fibres (ACTG1), neuronal maintenance and signal transduction (PEX14, TGFA, SYT1), or monogenic syndromes with involvement of psychomotor impairment (PEX14, LRPPRC and KANSL1). Mendelian randomization analyses are consistent with a causal effect of higher genetically predicted grip strength on lower fracture risk. In conclusion, our findings provide new biological insight into the mechanistic underpinnings of grip strength and the causal role of muscular strength in age-related morbidities and mortality

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

A note on the origin of Clinopyroxene megacrysts from the Udiripikonda lamprophyre, Eastern Dharwar Craton, southern India

Abundant sub-rounded to sub-angular and centimeter-sized clinopyroxene megacrysts constitute a conspicuous feature of the Udiripikonda lamprophyre, located in the Eastern Dharwar craton, Southern India. These clinopyroxene megacrysts, at times, are also associated with minor amounts of biotite. The megacrysts lack reaction-rim or any other disequilibrium textures generally displayed by crustal and mantle xenocrysts/xenoliths entrained in such volatile-rich magmas. Cr2O3-impoverished (&#60; 0.1 wt%) nature of the clinopyroxene megacrysts preclude them from being chrome-diopside, derived from the disaggregation of upper mantle rocks, and commonly found entrained in kimberlites,. The clinopyroxene megacrysts (Wo47.43- 49.20En32.44- 33.64 Fs13.73- 15.03; Ac3.32- 4.69) and associated biotite (Mg#: 0.84- 0.90) are compositionally similar to the clinopyroxene (Wo43.68-47.76; En37.47-44.58; Fs8.36 – 12.31; Ac2.70- 3.38) and biotite (Mg#: 0.84- 0.88) occurring as liquidus phases within the host lamprophyre. Clinopyroxene barometry reveals an overlapping pressure estimates for megacrysts (9.8 to 12.4 kbar) and phenocrysts (8.4 to 10.1 kbar). Likewise, the Tiin-biotite geothermometry also suggests an overlapping temperature range of 957o C to 1097o C and 904o C to 1069o C for megacrystal suite and phenocrysts respectively at pressure of &#732;10 kbar. The clinopyroxene &#177; biotite megacrysts of this study are, thus, inferred to be cognate products which crystallized under high- to medium-pressure conditions during the evolution of lamprophyre magma