Mechanical and wear properties of palm oil fuel ash reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite

The metal matrix composites consist of unique properties that make the materials become more attractive in a variety of industrial applications. Palm oil fuel ash (POFA) is produced from the burning of palm oil shell and husk fiber in generation plant boiler for energy generation that serve the palm oil extraction purposes. It has been discarded as agricultural industrial wastes. However, POFA contains a high percentage of hard silica (SiO2) which therefore makes it extremely valuable for manufacturing high strength composites materials including electronic, ceramic, polymer, glass, and construction materials industries. In this paper, it evaluated the use of Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) particles in the production of Al-MMC in order to strengthen the properties of the base metal. Particle-size of 75 and different volume fraction of Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) particles (5%, 10% and 15%) particulate-reinforced Al-MMCs are fabricated by using the stir casting method and tested for mechanical properties. The microstructure of the fabricated composite material are also studied and analyzed in this study. It was observed that the tensile and impact strength and wear resistance of the composite increased substantially as the volume fraction of reinforcing particle increased

Synthesis of Nanoparticle-based Binary Oxide Electrode TiO2-ZrO2 with Carrot-derived Natural Dye Extract for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) Application

Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is the third generation of thin film solar cell. In this work, carrot fruit dye has been prepared and used in the DSSC as sensitizer. TiO2–ZrO2 fine binary oxide was mechanochemically prepared and made paste. Then, TiO2–ZrO2 paste (colloidal) was deposited onto FTO/glass in two ways as single and double coatings by rolling method. It was immersed in the carrot solution to get dyed cell. The dyed TiO2-ZrO2-FTO/glass cell was offset with the FTO/glass cell coated with adhesive carbon paste. Photovoltaic properties of prepared TiO2–ZrO2 DSSC cell were measured. The results showed the efficiency of double coating cell was found to be larger than that of the single coating cell. According to the fill factor from experiments, both DSSC cells were acceptable for industrial requirement. It can be concluded that the results obtained were quite acceptable in use of cost-effective and Eco-favorable dye-sensitized solar cell

Genomic epidemiology of artemisinin resistant malaria

The current epidemic of artemisinin resistant Plasmodium falciparum in Southeast Asia is the result of a soft selective sweep involving at least 20 independent kelch13 mutations. In a large global survey, we find that kelch13 mutations which cause resistance in Southeast Asia are present at low frequency in Africa. We show that African kelch13 mutations have originated locally, and that kelch13 shows a normal variation pattern relative to other genes in Africa, whereas in Southeast Asia there is a great excess of non-synonymous mutations, many of which cause radical amino-acid changes. Thus, kelch13 is not currently undergoing strong selection in Africa, despite a deep reservoir of variations that could potentially allow resistance to emerge rapidly. The practical implications are that public health surveillance for artemisinin resistance should not rely on kelch13 data alone, and interventions to prevent resistance must account for local evolutionary conditions, shown by genomic epidemiology to differ greatly between geographical regions

Pf7: an open dataset of Plasmodium falciparum genome variation in 20,000 worldwide samples

We describe the MalariaGEN Pf7 data resource, the seventh release of Plasmodium falciparum genome variation data from the MalariaGEN network.  It comprises over 20,000 samples from 82 partner studies in 33 countries, including several malaria endemic regions that were previously underrepresented.  For the first time we include dried blood spot samples that were sequenced after selective whole genome amplification, necessitating new methods to genotype copy number variations.  We identify a large number of newly emerging crt mutations in parts of Southeast Asia, and show examples of heterogeneities in patterns of drug resistance within Africa and within the Indian subcontinent.  We describe the profile of variations in the C-terminal of the csp gene and relate this to the sequence used in the RTS,S and R21 malaria vaccines.  Pf7 provides high-quality data on genotype calls for 6 million SNPs and short indels, analysis of large deletions that cause failure of rapid diagnostic tests, and systematic characterisation of six major drug resistance loci, all of which can be freely downloaded from the MalariaGEN website

An open dataset of Plasmodium falciparum genome variation in 7,000 worldwide samples

MalariaGEN is a data-sharing network that enables groups around the world to work together on the genomic epidemiology of malaria. Here we describe a new release of curated genome variation data on 7,000 Plasmodium falciparum samples from MalariaGEN partner studies in 28 malaria-endemic countries. High-quality genotype calls on 3 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and short indels were produced using a standardised analysis pipeline. Copy number variants associated with drug resistance and structural variants that cause failure of rapid diagnostic tests were also analysed.  Almost all samples showed genetic evidence of resistance to at least one antimalarial drug, and some samples from Southeast Asia carried markers of resistance to six commonly-used drugs. Genes expressed during the mosquito stage of the parasite life-cycle are prominent among loci that show strong geographic differentiation. By continuing to enlarge this open data resource we aim to facilitate research into the evolutionary processes affecting malaria control and to accelerate development of the surveillance toolkit required for malaria elimination