Why High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications Matters

Modelling and Simulation (M&S) offer adequate abstractions to manage the complexity of analysing big data in scientific and engineering domains. Unfortunately, big data problems are often not easily amenable to efficient and effective use of High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities and technologies. Furthermore, M&S communities typically lack the detailed expertise required to exploit the full potential of HPC solutions while HPC specialists may not be fully aware of specific modelling and simulation requirements and applications. The COST Action IC1406 High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications has created a strategic framework to foster interaction between M&S experts from various application domains on the one hand and HPC experts on the other hand to develop effective solutions for big data applications. One of the tangible outcomes of the COST Action is a collection of case studies from various computing domains. Each case study brought together both HPC and M&S experts, giving witness of the effective cross-pollination facilitated by the COST Action. In this introductory article we argue why joining forces between M&S and HPC communities is both timely in the big data era and crucial for success in many application domains. Moreover, we provide an overview on the state of the art in the various research areas concerned

A review of using green chemistry methods for biomaterials in tissue engineering

Hossein Jahangirian,1 Ensieh Ghasemian Lemraski,2 Roshanak Rafiee-Moghaddam,1 Thomas J Webster1 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran Abstract: Although environmentally safe, or green, technologies have revolutionized other fields (such as consumables, automobiles, etc.), its use in biomaterials is still at its infancy. However, in the few cases in which safe manufacturing technology and materials have been implemented to prevent postpollution and reduce the consumption of synthesized scaffold (such as bone, cartilage, blood cell, nerve, skin, and muscle) has had a significant impact on different applications of tissue engineering. In the present research, we report the use of biological materials as templates for preparing different kinds of tissues and the application of safe green methods in tissue engineering technology. These include green methods for bone and tissue engineering-based biomaterials, which have received the greatest amount of citations in recent years. Thoughts on what is needed for this field to grow are also critically included. In this paper, the impending applications of safe, ecofriendly materials and green methods in tissue engineering have been detailed. Keywords: ecofriendly, safe material, scaffold, green chemistry, biomaterials, tissue engineering, nanomedicine, nanoparticl

A review of drug delivery systems based on nanotechnology and green chemistry: green nanomedicine

Hossein Jahangirian,1 Ensieh Ghasemian Lemraski,2 Thomas J Webster,1 Roshanak Rafiee-Moghaddam,3 Yadollah Abdollahi4 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran; 3School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, 4Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Abstract: This review discusses the impact of green and environmentally safe chemistry on the field of nanotechnology-driven drug delivery in a new field termed “green nanomedicine”. Studies have shown that among many examples of green nanotechnology-driven drug delivery systems, those receiving the greatest amount of attention include nanometal particles, polymers, and biological materials. Furthermore, green nanodrug delivery systems based on environmentally safe chemical reactions or using natural biomaterials (such as plant extracts and microorganisms) are now producing innovative materials revolutionizing the field. In this review, the use of green chemistry design, synthesis, and application principles and eco-friendly synthesis techniques with low side effects are discussed. The review ends with a description of key future efforts that must ensue for this field to continue to grow. Keywords: green chemistry, cancer, drug delivery, nanoparticl

Synthesis, characterization, and performance evaluation of multilayered photoanodes by introducing mesoporous carbon and TiO<inf>2</inf>for humic acid adsorption

Nanostructured photoanodes were prepared via a novel combination of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and mesoporous carbon (C). Four different photoanodes were synthesized by sol-gel spin coating onto a glassy substrate of fluorine-doped tin oxide. The photocatalytic activities of TiO2, TiO2/C/TiO2, TiO2/C/C/TiO2, and TiO2/C/TiO2/C/TiO2photoanodes were evaluated by exposing the synthesized photoanodes to UV-visible light. The photocurrent density observed in these photoanodes confirmed that an additional layer of mesoporous carbon could successfully increase the photocurrent density. The highest photocurrent density of ∼1.022 mA cm−2at 1 V/saturated calomel electrode was achieved with TiO2/C/C/TiO2under an illumination intensity of 100 mW cm−2from a solar simulator. The highest value of surface roughness was measured for a TiO2/C/C/TiO2combination owing to the presence of two continuous layers of mesoporous carbon. The resulting films had a thickness ranging from 1.605 μm to 5.165 μm after the calcination process. The presence of double-layer mesoporous carbon resulted in a 20% increase in the photocurrent density compared with the TiO2/C/TiO2combination when only a single mesoporous carbon layer was employed. The improved performance of these photoanodes can be attributed to the enhanced porosity and increased void space due to the presence of mesoporous carbon. For the first time, it has been demonstrated here that the photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2can be improved by integrating several layers of mesoporous carbon. Comparison of the rate of removal of humic acid by the prepared photoanodes showed that the highest performance from TiO2/C/C/TiO2was due to the highest photocurrent density generated. Therefore, this study showed that optimizing the sequence of mesoporous carbon layers can be a viable and inexpensive method for enhanced humic acid removal.The authors would like to acknowledge High Impact Research (grant number HIR/MOE/ENG59), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA, for their earnest cooperation of this research

Synthesis, characterization, and performance evaluation of multilayered photoanodes by introducing mesoporous carbon and TiO2 for humic acid adsorption

Soraya Hosseini,1 Hossein Jahangirian,2 Thomas J Webster,2 Salman Masoudi Soltani,3 Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua1 1Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; 3Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, UK Abstract: Nanostructured photoanodes were prepared via a novel combination of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and mesoporous carbon (C). Four different photoanodes were synthesized by sol&ndash;gel spin coating onto a glassy substrate of fluorine-doped tin oxide. The photocatalytic activities of TiO2, TiO2/C/TiO2, TiO2/C/C/TiO2, and TiO2/C/TiO2/C/TiO2 photoanodes were evaluated by exposing the synthesized photoanodes to UV&ndash;visible light. The photocurrent density observed in these photoanodes confirmed that an additional layer of mesoporous carbon could successfully increase the photocurrent density. The highest photocurrent density of ~1.022&nbsp;mA&nbsp;cm-2 at 1&nbsp;V/saturated calomel electrode was achieved with TiO2/C/C/TiO2 under an illumination intensity of 100&nbsp;mW&nbsp;cm-2 from a solar simulator. The highest value of surface roughness was measured for a TiO2/C/C/TiO2 combination owing to the presence of two continuous layers of mesoporous carbon. The resulting films had a thickness ranging from 1.605&nbsp;&micro;m to 5.165&nbsp;&micro;m after the calcination process. The presence of double-layer mesoporous carbon resulted in a 20% increase in the photocurrent density compared with the TiO2/C/TiO2 combination when only a single mesoporous carbon layer was employed. The improved performance of these photo&shy;anodes can be attributed to the enhanced porosity and increased void space due to the presence of mesoporous carbon. For the first time, it has been demonstrated here that the photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2 can be improved by integrating several layers of mesoporous carbon. Comparison of the rate of removal of humic acid by the prepared photoanodes showed that the highest performance from TiO2/C/C/TiO2 was due to the highest photocurrent density generated. Therefore, this study showed that optimizing the sequence of mesoporous carbon layers can be a viable and inexpensive method for enhanced humic acid removal. Keywords: renewable energy, photocatalysis, mesoporous carbon, TiO2 nanoparticle, multilayer photoelectrode, humic aci

Fabrication modeling of industrial CO2 ionic liquids absorber by artificial neural networks

The fabrication of industrial CO2 blended solution absorber was modeled by artificial neutral network. First the generated model had been statistically evaluated and then its ability of prediction was confirmed by validation test. The validated model was used to predict the desirable density and relative importance of the fabrication's effective variables. In conclusion, the importance included xH2O, 36.18%, xgua, 25.37%, xMDEA, 25.34% and temperature, 13.11% which showed none of them is negligible as well as the density (g cm(-3)) was validated by further experiment that showed the actual density, 1.101, was quite close to the predicted value, 1.017. (C) 2014 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A review of small molecules and drug delivery applications using gold and iron nanoparticles

Hossein Jahangirian,1 Katayoon Kalantari,2 Zahra Izadiyan,3 Roshanak Rafiee-Moghaddam,1 Kamyar Shameli,3 Thomas J Webster1 1Department of Chemical Engineering, 313 Snell Engineering Center, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; 2Centre of Advanced Materials (CAM), Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 3Department of Environment and Green Technology, Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Abstract: Conventional cancer treatment techniques show several limitations including low or no specificity and consequently a low efficacy in discriminating between cancer cells and healthy cells. Recent nanotechnology developments have introduced smart and novel therapeutic nanomaterials that take advantage of various targeting approaches. The use of nanotechnology in medicine and, more specifically, drug delivery is set to spread even more rapidly than it has over the past two decades. Currently, many nanoparticles (NPs) are under investigation for drug delivery including those for cancer therapy. Targeted nanomaterials bind selectively to cancer cells and greatly affect them with only a minor effect on healthy cells. Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs), specifically, have been identified as significant candidates for new cancer therapeutic modalities because of their biocompatibility, easy functionalization and fabrication, optical tunable characteristics, and chemophysical stability. In the last decade, there has been significant research on Au-NPs and their biomedical applications. Functionalized Au-NPs represent highly attractive and promising candidates for drug delivery, owing to their unique dimensions, tunable surface functionalities, and controllable drug release. Further, iron oxide NPs due to their &ldquo;superparamagnetic&rdquo; properties have been studied and have demonstrated successful employment in numerous applications. In targeted drug delivery systems, drug-loaded iron oxide NPs can accumulate at the tumor site with the aid of an external magnetic field. This can lead to incremental effectiveness in drug release to the tumor site and vanquish cancer cells without harming healthy cells. In order for the application of iron oxide NPs in the human body to be realized, they should be biodegradable and biocompatible to minimize toxicity. This review illustrates recent advances in the field drug and small molecule delivery such as fluorouracil, folic acid, doxorubicin, paclitaxel, and daunorubicin, specifically when using gold and iron oxide NPs as carriers of anticancer therapeutic agents. Keywords: small molecules, drug delivery, nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, iron oxide nanoparticle