Green and facile synthesis of cerium doped Ni3Fe electrocatalyst for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Electrochemical water splitting is the most promising pathway to produce high-purity hydrogen to alleviate global energy crisis. This reaction demands inexpensive, efficient and robust electrocatalyst for its commercial use. Herein, we demonstrate an effective, facile and scalable method for the synthesis of cerium doped Ni3Fe nanostructures as an electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by following simple chemical bath deposition route. The different molar ratios (3, 6 and 12 mM) of cerium in the chemical bath were used to study its effect on the structural and the electrochemical properties of the Ni3Fe nanostructured films. Doping of cerium contents induced variations in the morphology of deposited Ni3Fe nanostructures. The optimized electrocatalyst Ni3Fe/Ce-6 yielded high surface area catalyst nanosheets uniformly deposited on three-dimensional conductive scaffold to ensure increase in the exposure of doped Ni3Fe catalytic sites with high electrical conductivity. As a result, this earth-abundant electrocatalyst affords high OER performance with a small overpotential of 310 mV versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) at 10 mA cm-2 and retains good stability up to ~ 10 h in alkaline electrolyte. This scalable strategy has great potential in future advancement of efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts for their large-scale application in energy conversion systems.                     KEY WORDS: Oxygen evolution, Electrocatalyst, Ni3Fe nanostructures, Cerium, Alkaline electrolyte   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2020, 34(2), 353-363 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v34i2.1

Videographical Analysis of Short Service in Badminton

The purpose of this study is to analyze the kinematic variables (shuttle velocity and racket angle) and segmental variables. For the purpose of the study eight male intervarsity badminton players were selected as the subjects. The mean age, height and body weight of the subjects were reported as 18.8± 0.9 years, 174.8± 3.5 cm & 66.9 ± 4.5 kg respectively. Canon Legria HF S10 Camcorder operating at 60 Hz used to record the movement. The identified clips were analyzed with the help of Silicon Coach Pro7 motion analysis software. The result of study revealed that there is significant difference existed between forehand short service and backhand short service at racket angle and shoulder angle. Whereas there was negative relationship exists between shoulder angle and shuttle velocity

Hydatid cyst disease of the thorax

Hydatid disease is a frequently encountered entity in endemic areas and constitutes a serious health problem. The lung is the second most commonly affected organ after the liver. In three of four cases of pulmonary hydatid cyst, the cyst is solitary. The early phase after primary infection is always asymptomatic. Primary symptoms in patients with pulmonary cystic echinococcosis include cough, fever, and chest pain. The clinical and radiological manifestations for the hydatid cyst in the lung depend on the integrity of the cyst. Bronchial fistulization is an important event in the evolution of the cyst. In cases of dubious orientation after the initial study, ultrasonography, conventional tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging prove helpful in delineating the disease accurately. For a specific serologic diagnosis, theimmunoglobulin G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoelectrophoresis are preferred. Despite the fficacy of new chemotherapeutic regiments, the mainstay of treatment for thoracic hydatidosis remains essentially surgical. In general chemotherapy is used as a complement to surgical treatment to avoid recurrence of the disease. Regardless of the surgical methods adopted, the removal of the parasite intoto, prevention of its dissemination, maximum preservation of pulmonary function, and the immediate obliteration of the remaining cavity are the imperative basis for effective therapy. The most frequent post-surgical complications are pleural infection and prolonged air leakage. The operative morbidity and recurrence rates have been reported with variation. Education of the population in endemic areas regarding the disease transm ission cycle and institution of appropriate prophylaxis are essential steps to eradicate the disease completely

Analysis of Arm Movement in Badminton of ForehandLong and Short Service

The Badminton, in respect to shuttle velocity, is one of the fastest racket sports along with Long Tennis. The ability to respond quickly and effectively to a constant changing environment is a key factor to successful performance in addition service plays a vital role in winning a point. Thus, the study was proposed to analyse arm movements of six male university players of long and short services. The data was collected during competition situation. The biomechanical variables and segmental variables of upper extremities were- shuttle velocity, shuttle height at contact, shuttle attaining maximum height, shuttle angle, wrist angle, elbow angle and shoulder angle. The mean age, body height and body weight were reported as (20.83±1.72) years, (167.13±7.06) cm and (59.00±3.68) kg respectively. Canon Legria HF S10 Comcorders operating at 60 Hz was used to record the movement. The identified clips were analyzed with the help of Silicon Coach Pro7's motion analysis software. The result of study revealed that there were significant differences between forehand long and short serve in elbow angle, shuttle height at contact and shuttle attaining maximum height at 0.05 level of significance

Design and cost estimation of solar powered reverse osmosis desalination system

Photovoltaic assisted reverse osmosis (PV-RO) has been proven an efficient renewable energy-based desalination technique to provide drinkable water, especially in remote areas. In this manuscript, a simulation based RO design system was adopted to evaluate the desalination performance for three cities of Pakistan, that is, Lahore, Hasil Pur, and Faisalabad. The inlet concentration of Lahore, Hasil Pur, and Faisalabad was reduced from 1495, 2190, and 7683 TDS to 295.44, 237.69, and 241.98 TDS respectively, according to the WHO drinking water recommendations. The RO desalination system was integrated with the photovoltaic system to fulfill the energy requirement for desalination. The energy requirement for the RO system for the working of 10 h/day with the freshwater production rate of 0.80 m3/h for Lahore, Hasil Pur, and Faisalabad is 60, 95, and 311 kWh/month, respectively. According to PVsyst software, the energy demand can be accomplished by installing 9 PV panels in Lahore, 15 PV panels in Hasil Pur, and 40 PV panels in Faisalabad. The simulation results in PVsyst showing that the battery losses will be 52.2% in Lahore, 51.1% in Hasil Pur, and 49% in Faisalabad

Control Workplace Stress with Systematic Approach

The reflection of the employees behaviour towards assigned task and lack of interest in routine activates generates the negative results for organizational sustainable growth. Generally, stress at workplace brings the negativity in whole environment, thus, individual feel uncomfortable to perform their task under pressure. This paper evaluates the factors that causing the stressful environment in the organizations among the workforce and confers for the solution with the model employment to minimize its root causes. The in-depth examination of the evaluation reveals the confidence upon the workability of the model by applying in the organizational environment to get the affirmative productivity among workforce. This research remains helpful for the organizations to mark the prototype as their general rules to achieve the organizational goals through the efficiency workforce productiveness

Control Workplace Stress with Systematic Approach

The reflection of the employees behaviour towards assigned task and lack of interest in routine activates generates the negative results for organizational sustainable growth. Generally, stress at workplace brings the negativity in whole environment, thus, individual feel uncomfortable to perform their task under pressure. This paper evaluates the factors that causing the stressful environment in the organizations among the workforce and confers for the solution with the model employment to minimize its root causes. The in-depth examination of the evaluation reveals the confidence upon the workability of the model by applying in the organizational environment to get the affirmative productivity among workforce. This research remains helpful for the organizations to mark the prototype as their general rules to achieve the organizational goals through the efficiency workforce productiveness

We won\u27t go there: Barriers to accessing maternal and newborn care in district Thatta, Pakistan

Accessibility and utilization of healthcare plays a significant role in preventing complications during pregnancy, labor, and the early postnatal period. However, multiple barriers can prevent women from accessing services. The aim of this study was to explore the multifaceted barriers that inhibit women from seeking maternal and newborn health care in Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan. This study employed an interpretive research design using a purposive sampling approach. Pre-tested, semi-structured interview guides were used for data collection. The data were collected through eight focus group discussions with men and women, and six in-depth interviews with lady health workers and analyzed through thematic analysis. The study identified individual, sociocultural, and structural-level barriers that inhibit women from seeking maternal and newborn care. Individual barriers included mistrust towards public health facilities and inadequate symptom recognition. The three identified sociocultural barriers were aversion to biomedical interventions, gendered imbalances in decision making, and women\u27s restricted mobility. The structural barriers included ineffective referral systems and prohibitively expensive transportation services. Increasing the coverage of healthcare service without addressing the multifaceted barriers that influence service utilization will not reduce the burden of maternal and neonatal mortality. As this study reveals, care seeking is influenced by a diverse array of barriers that are individual, sociocultural, and structural in nature. A combination of capacity development, health awareness, and structural interventions can address many if not all of these barriers

Diagnosis of Stage II Rheumatoid Arthritis through Functional Evaluation of Wrist and Hand among Adult Females

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a commonly prevailing disease among women. Disease progression deformities such as ulnar and radial shift of the wrist, Boutonnière, swan neck deformity and mallet finger become evident, which results in marked limitation of hand function. Patients usually lose the ability to hold, grasp and pinch thus activities of daily living are compromised. This study aimed to diagnose stage II Rheumatoid Arthritis through assessing the limitations of hand functions in adult females. Methods: A sample of 37 adult females with Stage II RA presenting to the rheumatology department of National hospital, Lahore and Combined Military Hospital, Lahore were recruited in the study. Patients with clinically diagnosed Stage II RA presenting with pain and dysfunction of the hands and wrist joints were included. Patients with any traumatic condition or any other bone disease that limits hand function were excluded from the study. The scale used for the assessment was Patient Rated Wrist/Hand Evaluation (PRWHE) with the reliability of >0.75 and validity of 0.7. Results: In a sample of adult women with a mean age of 42, 39% reported moderate pain and 61% had severe pain whereas the functional limitations was reported to be moderate in 47.3% while 52.7% had severe limitation of hand function. These results prove that there is a negative impact of hand malformations on hand function. Conclusion: The adult females with stage II Rheumatoid Arthritis had severely limited hand function. The functional limitations of hand were increased with disease progression especially in adult females