Impact of the annealing temperature on Pt/g-C3N4 structure, activity and selectivity between photodegradation and water splitting

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank SABIC as well as EPSRC platform grant [EP/K015540/1] for financial support and the Royal Society of Chemistry for a Wolfson Merit Award. In order to protect intellectual property the data underpinning this publication are not made publicly available. All enquiries about the data should be addressed to [email protected] reviewedPostprin

A summary of adapting Industry 4.0 vision into engineering education in Azerbaijan

Industry 4.0 vision and associated technologies are rapidly adopted in several industrial sectors to gain the benefits of creating smart cyber-physical systems and operations. Some sectors, e.g. manufacturing, oil and gas, offshore wind energy, have progressed in developing digitization strategies, executing pilot projects and progressing toward mature implementation of industry 4.0 vision. Offshore Oil and Gas industry highly believes in the potential industrial and societal impacts of digital transformation, due to the need for stochastic and remote operations. Azerbaijan as one of the countries that heavily depend on the Oil and Gas industry is developing more projects in the Caspian Sea. There are several worldwide challenges, mainly, lack of standards, business models, ready products/services and competent and skilled employees. Fortunately, specific developed countries are working hard to standardize industry 4.0 architecture. Moreover, large-scale companies are creating alliances to create a trustful and long-term business model. Furthermore, large-scale companies of information and operational technology are creating robust products and services to be commercially available off the shelf. In terms of education and training, many worldwide universities are upgrading their programs, curriculums, teaching approaches with the goal to support the industry with competent future employees and entrepreneurs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is, to present the status of engineering education programs in adapting the industry 4.0 vision in Azerbaijan and address the skills that are required for future employment. In order to present the targeted status, the curriculums of all engineering education programs at the master level were collected and analyzed. However, five of them were directly adapting industry 4.0 vision and relevant for industry 4.0. Moreover, a semi-structured interview with industrial managers was applied to extract the future required skills. This study can be considered as a first step in developing a roadmap for engineering education, particularly industrial engineering, to adopt industry 4.0 vision at the national level.acceptedVersio

Highly acid-durable carbon coated Co3O4 nanoarrays as efficient oxygen evolution electrocatalysts

Most oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts are not stable in corrosive acids. Even the expensive RuO2 or IrO2, the most acid-resistant oxides, can be dissolved at an oxidative potential. Herein, we realize that the failures of OER catalysts are mostly caused by the weak interface between catalysts and the substrates. Hence, the study of the interface structure between catalysts and substrates is critical. In this work, we observe that the cheap OER catalysts Co3O4 can be more durable than the state-of-the-art RuO2 if the interface quality is good enough. The Co3O4 nanosheets deposited on carbon paper (Co3O4/CP) is prepared by electroplating of Co-species and followed by a two-step calcination process. The 1st step occurs in vacuum in order to maintain the surface integrity of the carbon paper and converts Co-species to Co(II)O. The 2nd step is a calcination in ambient conditions which enables the complete transformation of Co(II)O to Co3O4 without degrading the mechanical strength of the Co3O4-CP interface. Equally important, an in situ formation of a layer of amorphous carbon on top of Co3O4 further enhances the OER catalyst stability. Therefore, these key advances make the Co3O4 catalyst highly active toward the OER in 0.5 M H2SO4 with a small overpotential (370 mV), to reach 10 mA/cm2. The observed long lifetime for 86.8 h at a constant current density of 100 mA/cm2, is among the best of the reported in literature so far, even longer than the state-of-art RuO2 on CP. Overall, our study provides a new insight and methodology for the construction of a high-performance and high stability OER electrocatalysts in corrosive acidic environments

Oxidation of Low Valent Sulphur Compounds with Lead Tetraacetate: Part III- Determination of Tri- & Tetrathionates & the Redox Potential of Sulphate- Trithionate System

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Summary measures of socioeconomic and area-based inequalities in fertility rates among adolescents: evidence from Ethiopian demographic and health surveys 2000–2016

Background One of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancies in the world is in sub-Saharan Africa. Most adolescent pregnancies in the region are unintended or unwanted, due to poor access to information and services on sexual and reproductive health for adolescents. Ethiopia has high adolescent fertility rates (AFR) with disparities across socioeconomic subgroups and regions. This study assessed the magnitude and trends of socioeconomic and area-based AFR inequalities in Ethiopia. Methods The 2000 and 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health surveys (EDHS) was analyzed using the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) software. Adolescent fertility rates were disaggregated using three equity stratifiers (economic status, education and residence) and analyzed through four summary measures (Difference (D), Population Attributable Risk (PAR), Ratio (R) and Population Attributable Fraction (PAF)) to assess inequality. To measure statistical significance, point estimates were constructed using a 95% Uncertainty Interval (UI). Results Large socio-economic and urban-rural inequalities were observed within the 16-year period. Adolescents in less well-off socio-economic groups (PAF: -62.9 [95% UI; − 64.3, − 61.4], D: 96.4 [95% UI; 47.7, 145.1]), uneducated (R: 8.5 [95% UI; 4.8, 12.2], PAR: -76.4 [95% UI;-77.7, − 75.0]) and those from rural areas (D: 81.2 [95% UI; 67.9, 94.6], PAF: -74.2 [95% UI, − 75.7, − 72.7]) had a higher chance of pregnancy and more births than their counterparts. Conclusions Socioeconomic (education and economic status) and place of residence determine adolescents’ pregnancy and childbearing. Policies and programs should be directed at preventing child marriage and early fertility so that adolescents continue to access education, sexual and reproductive health care as well as access employment opportunities. More emphasis should be placed on subpopulations with disproportionately higher adolescent pregnancy and childbirth

Photo-catalytic hydrogen production over Au/g-C3N4:effect of gold particle dispersion and morphology

Metal/semiconductor interactions affect electron transfer rates and this is central to photocatalytic hydrogen ion reduction. While this interaction has been studied in great detail on metal oxide semiconductors, not much is known of Au particles on top of polymeric semiconductors. The effects of gold nanoparticle size and dispersion on top of g-C3N4 were studied by core and valence level spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy in addition to catalytic tests. The as-prepared, non-calcined catalysts displayed Au particles with uniform dimension (mean particle size = 1.8 nm) and multiple electronic states: XPS Au 4f7/2 lines at 84.9 and 87.1 eV (each with a spin–orbit splitting of 3.6–3.7 eV). These particles, which did not show localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), before the reaction, doubled in size after the reaction giving a pronounced LSPR at about 550 nm. The effect of the heating environment on these particles (in air or in H2) was further investigated. While heating in H2 gave Au nanoparticles of different shapes, heating under O2 gave exclusively spherical particles. Similar activity towards photocatalytic hydrogen ion reduction under UV excitation was seen in both cases, however. XPS Au 4f analyses indicated that an increase in deposition time, during catalyst preparation, resulted in an increase in the initial fraction of oxidized gold particles, which were easily reduced under hydrogen. The valence band region for Au/gC3N4 was further studied in an effort to compare it to what is already known for Au/metal oxide semiconductors. A shift of over 2 eV for the Au 5d doublets was noticed between reduced and oxidized gold particles with mean particle sizes between 2 and 6 nm, which is consistent with the final state effect. A narrow range of gold loading for optimal catalytic performance was seen, where it seems that a density of one Au particle per 10 × 10 nm2 is the most suitable. Particle size and shape had a minor effect on performance, which may indicate the absence of a plasmonic effect on the reaction rate.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Modern contraceptive utilization and its associated factors among married women in Senegal: a multilevel analysis

Background Utilization of modern contraceptives is still low in low-and middle-income countries, although fertility and population growth rates are high. In Senegal, modern contraceptive utilization is low, with few studies focusing on its associated factors. This study examined modern contraceptive use and its associated factors among married women in Senegal. Methods Data from the 2017 Continuous Demographic and Health Survey (C-DHS) on 11,394 married women was analysed. We examined the associations between the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of women and their partners and modern contraceptive use using multilevel logistic regression models. Adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Results The utilization of modern contraceptives among married women was 26.3%. Individual level factors associated with modern contraceptive use were women’s age (45–49 years-aOR = 0.44, 0.30–0.63), women’s educational level (higher-aOR = 1.88, 1.28–2.76) husband’s educational level (higher-aOR = 1.43, 1.10–1.85)), number of living children (5 or more children-aOR = 33.14, 19.20–57.22), ideal number of children (2 children-aOR = 1.95, 1.13–3.35), desire to have more children (wants no more-aOR = 2.46, 2.06–2.94), ethnicity (Diola-aOR = 0.70, 0.50–0.99), media exposure (yes-aOR = 1.44, 1.16–1.79)), wealth index (richer-aOR = 1.31, 1.03–1.67) and decision making power of women (decision making two-aOR = 1.20, 1.02–1.41). Whereas, region (Matam-aOR = 0.35, 0.23–0.53), place of residence (rural-aOR = 0.76, 0.63–0.93), community literacy level (high-aOR = 1.31, 1.01–1.71) and community knowledge level of modern contraceptives (high-aOR = 1.37, 1.13–1.67) were found as significant community level factors. Conclusions The findings indicate that both individual and community level factors are significantly associated with modern contraceptive use among married women in Senegal. Interventions should focus on enhancing literacy levels of women, their husbands and communities. Furthermore, strengthening awareness and attitude towards family planning should be given priority, especially in rural areas and regions with low resources

Sub-regional disparities in the use of antenatal care service in Mauritania: findings from nationally representative demographic and health surveys (2011-2015).

BACKGROUND: Skilled antenatal care (ANC) has been identified as a proven intervention to reducing maternal deaths. Despite improvements in maternal health outcomes globally, some countries are signaling increased disparities in ANC services among disadvantaged sub-groups. Mauritania is one of sub-Saharan countries in Africa with a high maternal mortality ratio. Little is known about the inequalities in the country's antenatal care services. This study examined both the magnitude and change from 2011 to 2015 in socioeconomic and geographic-related disparities in the utilization of at least four antenatal care visits in Mauritania. METHODS: Using the World Health Organization's Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) software, data from the 2011 and 2015 Mauritania Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) were analyzed. The inequality analysis consisted of disaggregated rates of antenatal care utilization using four equity stratifiers (economic status, education, residence, and region) and four summary measures (Difference, Population attributable risk, Ratio and Population attributable fraction). A 95% Uncertainty Interval was constructed around point estimates to measure statistical significance. RESULTS: Substantial absolute and relative socioeconomic and geographic related disparities in attending four or more ANC visits (ANC4+ utilization) were observed favoring women who were richest/rich (PAR = 19.5, 95% UI; 16.53, 22.43), educated (PAF = 7.3 95% UI; 3.34, 11.26), urban residents (D = 19, 95% UI; 14.50, 23.51) and those living in regions such as Nouakchott (R = 2.1, 95% UI; 1.59, 2.56). While education-related disparities decreased, wealth-driven and regional disparities remained constant over the 4 years of the study period. Urban-rural inequalities were constant except with the PAR measure, which showed an increasing pattern. CONCLUSION: A disproportionately lower ANC4+ utilization was observed among women who were poor, uneducated, living in rural areas and regions such as Guidimagha. As a result, policymakers need to design interventions that will enable disadvantaged subpopulations to benefit from ANC4+ utilization to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to 140/100, 000 live births by 2030

Socioeconomic and geographic variations in antenatal care coverage in Angola: further analysis of the 2015 demographic and health survey.

BACKGROUND:In African countries, including Angola, antenatal care (ANC) coverage is suboptimal and maternal mortality is still high due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. There is evidence of disparities in the uptake of ANC services, however, little is known about both the socio-economic and geographic-based disparity in the use of ANC services in Angola. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of socio-economic, urban-rural and subnational inequality in ANC coverage in Angola. METHODS:We analyzed data from the 2015 Angola Demographic and Health Survey (ADHS) using the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) software. The analysis consisted of disaggregated ANC coverage rates using four equity stratifiers (economic status, education, residence, and region) and four summary measures (Difference, Population Attributable Risk, Ratio and Population Attributable Fraction). To measure statistical significance, an uncertainty interval (UI) of 95% was constructed around point estimates. RESULTS:The study showed both absolute and relative inequalities in coverage of ANC services in Angola. More specifically, inequality favored women who were rich (D = 54.2, 95% UI; 49.59, 58.70, PAF = 43.5, 95% UI; 40.12, 46.92), educated (PAR = 19.9, 95% UI; 18.14, 21.64, R = 2.14, 95% UI; 1.96, 2.32), living in regions such as Luanda (D = 51.7, 95% UI; 43.56, 59.85, R = 2.64, 95% UI; 2.01, 3.26) and residing in urban dwellings (PAF = 20, 95% UI; 17.70, 22.38, PAR = 12.3, 95% UI; 10.88, 13.75). CONCLUSION:The uptake of ANC services were lower among poor, uneducated, and rural residents as well as women from the Cuanza Sul region. Government policy makers must consider vulnerable subpopulations when designing needed interventions to improve ANC coverage in Angola to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of reducing global maternal mortality ratio to 70 deaths per 100,000 live births

Mixed-Ligand Complexes of Fe(II) & Cu(II) with Alizarin Maroon as a Primary Ligand & 5-Sulphosalicylic Acid as a Secondary Ligand

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