Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Nanobifiller filled Epoxy Anti-Corrosive Nano-Organic coating for High Performance Automotive Applications

Nanobifiller filled epoxy, nylon 66 (PA 66) and their blend-based nanocomposites were prepared by solution casting method to produce anti-corrosive and abrasion resistant epoxy nanocoating for aerospace and automotive applications. Nanobifiller was composed of Bentonite clay modified organically with quaternary salt of threonine amino acid and nanodiamonds (ND). Various techniques were implied to investigate anticorrosive properties of polymeric nanocomposites. These techniques include salt spray analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). It was observed that epoxy nanocomposites prepared are much resistant to corrosion as compared to pristine epoxy samples with improved barrier properties

Developing a rubric to assess critical thinking in a multidisciplinary context in higher education

Critical thinking (CT) is a generic attribute that is greatly valued across academic disciplines in higher education, and around the globe. It is also defined as one of the graduate attributes of higher education for the sample private university where this research was conducted, as it is perceived that CT helps the graduate to become ‘engaged citizens’ in the twenty-first century. Despite the well-documented importance of CT, its assessment remains a challenge. This study addresses this challenge through the systematic development and field-testing of a rubric for assessing critical thinking in a multidisciplinary context in higher education. A multidisciplinary group of faculty (i.e. education, nursing, medicine) from the sample university partnered with a policy research group in Canada to translate this plan into action. The development of the assessment tool followed a multi-step process including: (i) identification of the main elements of CT; (ii) choice of a rubric format; (iii) adaptation of the currently available relevant rubrics; and, (iv) field testing and establishment of the reliability of the rubric. The process resulted in the development of a holistic template, the Assessment of Critical Thinking (ACT) rubric. Two versions of the rubric have been field tested on a sample (n=59) of students drawn from different entities of the sample university. The data collected was subjected to psychometric analysis which yielded satisfactory results. This was a modest attempt to develop an assessment tool to guide multidisciplinary faculty members in teaching and assessing CT by assisting them to make decisions about the level of their students’ CT skills through a combination of numerical scores and qualitative description. It may also empower them to make self-initiated, conscious efforts to improve their classroom practice with reference to CT. The ACT rubric provides an anchoring point to start working on the daunting yet doable task of developing and fine-tuning both the assessment measures of CT and interventions to promote CT based on the assessment findings. Future research may not only provide robust evidence of the reliability and validity of the ACT rubric for a larger and varied sample but also help in making informed decisions to enhance teaching and learning of CT across entities of the sample university

Effects of temperature and water purity on germination and yield of mungbean sprouts

Mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) is a popular pulse crop, producing protein-rich food and nitrogen-rich residues. Mungbean sprouts were grown at different temperature levels of 10, 20 and 30°C in various water purities of 30 (distilled water), 100, 400, 700 and 1000 TDS (ppm). After keeping them in the germination chamber for 72 h, the percentage of germination, stem length and yield along with proximate composition were determined. The temperature was kept as main factor and water purity as the second. The experiment was replicated four times and the data obtained were analyzed using two factorial completely randomized design. The results showed that both the factors had significant (p<0.05) effect on the germination, stem length, yield as well as proximate composition. A temperature of 30°C and water with high purity of 30 TDS resulted in high emergence (69%), stem length (3.14 cm) and yield (70.1 g) as compared to the other treatments. Minimum germination (2.1%), stem length (0.11 cm) and yield (12.11 g) were recorded in samples kept at low temperature of 10°C and water purity with 1000 TDS. The mungbean seeds showed a very low plasticity to water purity, and that they were very susceptible to water impurities. It is concluded that, to prepare sprouts from mungbeans, it is necessary to germinate mungbean seeds them in water having high purity and temperature of 30oC for maximum germination, stem length and yield

Catalytic removal of Alizarin Red using chromium manganese oxide nanorods: degradation and kinetic studies

Dye removal through photocatalytic degradation employing nanomaterials as catalysts is a growing research area. In current studies, photocatalytic alizarin red (AR) dye degradation has been investigated by designing a series of Cr based manganese oxide nanomaterials (MH1–MH5). Synthesized nanomaterials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive x-ray, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and photoluminescence techniques and were utilized for photocatalytic AR dye degradation under UV light. AR dye degradation was monitored by UV–visible spectroscopy and percent degradation was studied for the effect of time, catalyst dose, different dye concentrations, and different pH values of dye solution. All the catalysts have shown more than 80% dye degradation exhibiting good catalytic efficiencies for dye removal. The catalytic pathway was analyzed by applying the kinetic model. A pseudo second-order model was found the best fitted kinetic model indicating a chemically-rate controlled mechanism. Values of constant R2 for all the factors studied were close to unity depicting a good correlation between experimental data

Effect of early tranexamic acid administration on mortality, hysterectomy, and other morbidities in women with post-partum haemorrhage (WOMAN): an international, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Post-partum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Early administration of tranexamic acid reduces deaths due to bleeding in trauma patients. We aimed to assess the effects of early administration of tranexamic acid on death, hysterectomy, and other relevant outcomes in women with post-partum haemorrhage. Methods In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we recruited women aged 16 years and older with a clinical diagnosis of post-partum haemorrhage after a vaginal birth or caesarean section from 193 hospitals in 21 countries. We randomly assigned women to receive either 1 g intravenous tranexamic acid or matching placebo in addition to usual care. If bleeding continued after 30 min, or stopped and restarted within 24 h of the first dose, a second dose of 1 g of tranexamic acid or placebo could be given. Patients were assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight numbered packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Participants, care givers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. We originally planned to enrol 15 000 women with a composite primary endpoint of death from all-causes or hysterectomy within 42 days of giving birth. However, during the trial it became apparent that the decision to conduct a hysterectomy was often made at the same time as randomisation. Although tranexamic acid could influence the risk of death in these cases, it could not affect the risk of hysterectomy. We therefore increased the sample size from 15 000 to 20 000 women in order to estimate the effect of tranexamic acid on the risk of death from post-partum haemorrhage. All analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This trial is registered with ISRCTN76912190 (Dec 8, 2008); ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00872469; and PACTR201007000192283. Findings Between March, 2010, and April, 2016, 20 060 women were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive tranexamic acid (n=10 051) or placebo (n=10 009), of whom 10 036 and 9985, respectively, were included in the analysis. Death due to bleeding was significantly reduced in women given tranexamic acid (155 [1·5%] of 10 036 patients vs 191 [1·9%] of 9985 in the placebo group, risk ratio [RR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·65–1·00; p=0·045), especially in women given treatment within 3 h of giving birth (89 [1·2%] in the tranexamic acid group vs 127 [1·7%] in the placebo group, RR 0·69, 95% CI 0·52–0·91; p=0·008). All other causes of death did not differ significantly by group. Hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (358 [3·6%] patients in the tranexamic acid group vs 351 [3·5%] in the placebo group, RR 1·02, 95% CI 0·88–1·07; p=0·84). The composite primary endpoint of death from all causes or hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (534 [5·3%] deaths or hysterectomies in the tranexamic acid group vs 546 [5·5%] in the placebo group, RR 0·97, 95% CI 0·87-1·09; p=0·65). Adverse events (including thromboembolic events) did not differ significantly in the tranexamic acid versus placebo group. Interpretation Tranexamic acid reduces death due to bleeding in women with post-partum haemorrhage with no adverse effects. When used as a treatment for postpartum haemorrhage, tranexamic acid should be given as soon as possible after bleeding onset. Funding London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Pfizer, UK Department of Health, Wellcome Trust, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Transcriptome Sequencing Highlights the Regulatory Role of DNA Methylation in Immune-Related Genes&rsquo; Expression of Chinese Oak Silkworm, Antheraea pernyi

Antheraea pernyi is an important lepidopteran used as a model insect species to investigate immune responses, development, and metabolism modulation. DNA methylation has recently been found to control various physiological processes throughout the life of animals; however, DNA methylation and its effect on the physiology of insects have been poorly investigated so far. In the present study, to better understand DNA methylation and its biological role in the immune system, we analyzed transcriptome profiles of A. pernyi pupae following DNA methylation inhibitor injection and Gram-positive bacteria stimulation. We then compared the profiles with a control group. We identified a total of 55,131 unigenes from the RNA sequence data. A comparison of unigene expression profiles showed that a total of 680 were up-regulated and 631 unigenes were down-regulated in the DNA-methylation-inhibition-bacteria-infected group compared to the control group (only bacteria-injected pupae), respectively. Here, we focused on the immune-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and screened 10 genes that contribute to immune responses with an up-regulation trend, suggesting that microbial pathogens evade host immunity by increasing DNA methylation of the host genome. Furthermore, several other unigenes related to other pathways were also changed, as shown in the KEGG analysis. Taken together, our data revealed that DNA methylation seems to play a crucial biological role in the regulation of gene expression in insects, and that infection may enhance the host genome DNA methylation by a yet-unknown mechanism

<i>Antheraea pernyi</i> Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 2 Negatively Modulates the JAK/STAT Pathway to Attenuate Microbial Infection

The Janus kinase (JAK) signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway has been shown to govern various physiological processes, including immune responses, hematopoiesis, cell growth, and differentiation. Recent studies show that suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins attenuate JAK-STAT signaling in mammals; however, their functions are less clear in lepidopteran insects. Here, we report a full-length sequence of SOCS-2 from the Chinese oak silkworm Antheraea pernyi (designated as ApSOCS-2) and study its biological role in immune responses via the JAK-STAT pathway. ApSOCS-2 expression was high in the fat bodies and hemocytes of A. pernyi fifth instar larvae. After pathogen infection with nucleopolyhedrovirus, Beauveria bassiana, Escherichia coli, and Microccus luteus, ApSOCS-2 mRNA was strongly increased compared to the control group. To elucidate the possible involvement in innate immunity, we measured antimicrobial peptide genes expression profiles in the fat body of A. pernyi. In contrast, recombinant ApSOCS-2 protein administration significantly reduced the AMPs transcription, while the depletion of ApSOCS-2 by RNAi increased their expression. Furthermore, we observed higher antibacterial activity and lower bacterial replication in dsApSOCS-2-treated larvae. The ApSOCS-2 transcription level was reduced in STAT depleted A. pernyi larvae challenged by M. luteus. The ApSOCS-2 RNAi data sets were also subjected to transcriptomic analysis, which suggests that ApSOCS-2 is a key regulator of immune function. Taken together, our data suggest that ApSOCS-2 is required for the negative regulation of AMPs transcripts via the JAK-STAT pathway in the insect

Design of Model-Based and Model-Free Robust Control Strategies for Lower Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeletons

Rehabilitation in the form of locomotion assistance and gait training through robotic exoskeletons requires both precision and accuracy to achieve effective results. The essential challenge is to ensure robust tracking of the reference signal, i.e., of the gait or locomotion. This paper presents the design of model-based (MB) and model-free (MF) robust control strategies to achieve desired performance and robustness in terms of transient behavior and steady-state/tracking error, implementable to the locomotion assistance and gait training by exoskeletons. The dynamic responses of the exoskeleton system were investigated with both the control strategies. The study was carried out with a variety of reference signals and performance was evaluated to identify the best suited approach for rehabilitation exoskeletons. In case of the model-based control, a mathematical model of the system was developed using a bond graph modeling technique and a lead compensated H-infinity reference gain controller was designed to ensure robust tracking performance. In the model-free control strategy, however, the system function is approximated using radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) and an adaptive proportional-derivative RBFNN controller was designed to achieve the desired results with minimum tracking error. Both strategies make the system robust and stable. However, the MF control strategy is faster for all reference inputs as compared to the MB control strategy i.e., faster to approach the peak value and settle, and rapidly approaches the zero steady-state/tracking error. The rise time in the case of a sinusoidal input for model-free control is 0.4 s faster than the rise time in model-based control. Similarly, the settling time is 3.9 s faster in the case of model-free control, which is a prominent difference and can provide better rehabilitation results