Preparation of single wall carbon nanotube-pyrene 3D hybrid nanomaterial and its sensor response to ammonia

In this work, the structural features and sensor response toward ammonia of a three dimensional (3D) SWCNTs material covalently functionalised with 1,6-diethynylpyrene were studied. The target SWCNTs hybrid material was prepared by the reaction of azido substituted SWCNTs with the 1,6-diethynylpyrene containing double terminal alkyne groups via the azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition (Click) reaction. The structure of the 1,6-diethynylpyrene compound was determined by different spectroscopic methods such as FT-IR, 1H-NMR, MALDI-TOF mass, fluorescence and UV–Visible, while its SWCNT-Pyrene 3D hybrid material was characterized by FT-IR, Raman, UV-Visible spectroscopies and thermogravimetric analysis. The morphology of the hybrid films was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The sensing performance of the SWCNT-Pyrene 3D hybrid material was studied against low-concentrations of NH3 in the range of 0.1-40 ppm by measuring changes in the films' conductivity at different levels of relative humidity. The reversible electrical sensor response toward ammonia was observed both in the case of SWCNT and SWCNT-Pyrene 3D hybrid films however the response values of SWCNT-Pyrene 3D hybrid film were higher than those of SWCNT

A Hybrid State Estimation Strategy With Optimal Use of Pseudo-Measurement

Despite the rapidly increasing number of PMUs in power grids, it is still not possible to obtain observability in large power systems solely using PMUs. Therefore, use of hybrid state estimators became a necessity to utilize PMUs in power system state estimation. The main challenge in the hybrid state estimation is the mismatch between the refresh rates of the SCADA and PMU measurements. This results in power system unobservability between the instants SCADA measurements are refreshed, even if PMU measurements are received. In this paper, a hybrid state estimator, which employs pseudo-injection measurements during this unobservable duration, is proposed. The pseudo-injection measurements are generated using historical data, and updated during the estimation process using Kalman filter. In order to minimize the biasing effect of those pseudo-measurements, their number is kept at minimum while guaranteeing that the possible most accurate ones are employed

Preventive role of gallic acid on alcohol dependent and cysteine protease-mediated pancreas injury

In order to investigate an association between alcohol consumption and lysosomal cysteine protease induced pancreatic injury and preventive effect of gallic acid as dose-dependent, we determined myeloperoxidase and malondialdehyde levels, serum amylase activities and cathepsin B and L activities in the cytosolic and lysosomal fractions of pancreatic tissue in the ethanol (8 g/kg) and ethanol plus gallic acid (at different doses 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) given rats. Absolute ethanol (8 g/kg) was given by oral gavage. Gallic acid was dissolved in the saline (2 ml/kg) and administered before 30 min the oral administration of ethanol. Pancreatic myeloperoxidase and also malondialdehyde levels and serum amylase activities were measured. Besides, histological investigations were made. Cathepsin B activities in the cytosolic fraction were decreased by gallic acid (200 mg/kg) and increased in ethanol given rats. Cytosolic/lysosomal ratio of cathepsin B and L were found to be low in the all doses of gallic acid as compared to ethanol group. Serum amylase, pancreatic myeloperoxidase activities and malondialdehyde levels in the ethanol group were higher than in the control group. These were not statistically significant for myeloperoxidase and malondialdehyde. Also, our histopathologic results indicated that ethanol administration increased pancreatic tissue injury. Gallic acid especially at 200 mg/kg improved ethanol-mediated pancreatic tissue damage.In conclusion, gallic acid treatments were decreased release of lysosomal cathepsin B and L enzymes into cytoplasmic fraction and prevented alcohol mediated pancreatic tissue injury. Preventive effect of gallic acid might be dose-dependent

COVID-19 Salgının Çocukların Yeme Düzeni ve Ebeveynlerin Kaygı Düzeyi Üzerindeki Etkileri: Çok Merkezli Bir Çalışma

Amaç: Çalışmamız Koronavirüs hastalığı-2019 (COVID-19) salgınının birinci ayında çocukların yeme düzenlerini, ebeveynlerinin koronavirüsü bulaşma riski ile ilgili kaygılarını ve bu kaygı ile ilişkili etkenlerin değerlendirilmesini ve salgın öncesi ile karşılaştırılmasını amaçlamıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışma çok merkezli (n=8) ve kesitsel olarak planlanmıştır. Çalışma merkezlerine başvuran 6-18 yaş arası çocukların ailelerinden çalışmaya katılmayı kabul edenlere bilgilendirilmiş gönüllü olur formu ve anketleri içeren bilgiler, e-posta veya mesajlaşma yoluyla iletilmiştir. Bulgular: Çalışmaya ortalama 11,1 yaşında (standart sapma=3,4) 893 çocuk dahil edilmiştir. Çalışmaya dahil edilen çocukların %50,7’si (n=453) kızdır. Ailelerin çoğu, salgının birinci ayında çocuklarının yeme düzeninde değişiklik bildirmezken (%63,6, n=568), %21,4’ü çocuklarının yeme düzeninin daha iyi, %15,0’ı ise daha kötü olduğunu bildirmiştir. Ebeveynlerin %40.0’ı kendileri veya çocuklarına virüs bulaşmasından “çok kaygılı” olduğunu belirtmiştir. Kaygı düzeyi yüksek olan ebeveynler, düşük olanlara göre anlamlı derecede daha genç ve düşük eğitimlidir (sırasıyla; p<0,001, p=0,001). Sonuç: COVID-19 salgını ebeveynlerin kaygı düzeyini ve çocuklarının yeme düzenlerini etkilemiştir. Genç ve düşük eğitimli ebeveynlerin bulaşma riski açısından daha kaygılı oldukları saptanmıştır. Ebeveynlik yaşı ve eğitimi koruyucu ruh sağlığı girişimleri açısından önemli olabilir.Objectives: Our study aimed to evaluate the eating patterns of children as well as parental anxiety on virus transmission along with associated factors in the first month of the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to compare the results to pre-epidemic patterns. Materials and Methods: This study was planned as a multi-center (n=8), cross-sectional study. Informed consent forms and questionnaires were sent to the parents of the children between the ages of 6 and 18 years who applied to the study centers and accepted study participation via e-mail or instant messaging applications. Results: During the study period, 893 children with a mean age of 11.1 years (standard deviation=3.4) were enrolled. More than half (50.7%, n=453) were girls. The majority of families reported no change in eating patterns of their children in the first month of the pandemic (63.6%, n=568). More than one-fifth (21.4%, n=191) reported an improvement in eating patterns while 15.0% reported worsening. A significant minority of parents (40.0%) reported feeling “very anxious” for potential risk of transmission to themselves or their children. Parents with higher levels of anxiety were significantly younger and had lower levels of education (p<0.001, p=0.001, respectively). Conclusion: The COVID-19 epidemic has affected both parents’ anxiety and children’s eating patterns. The association of younger parental age and lower levels of education with elevated levels of anxiety related to transmission risk may be important for protective interventions in mental health