Nustar observation of the binary system 4U 0114+65

The high mass X-ray binary system 4U 0114+65 was observed by Nustar in October 2019, and by XMM-Newton in August 2015. Here we performed spectral and timing analysis of the Nustar observation, and carry out timing analysis on the XMM-Newton data. We measured the spin period of the neutron star from both observations and found a spin-up rate $\dot{p} = 1.54 \pm 0.38 \times 10^{-6} s s^{-1}$. During the Nustar observation two flares occured, one occured shortly after the start of the observation and the other near the end separated by a long period of low/quiescent- state. The large and sudden flares mostly resulted from accretion of Corotating Interaction Region (CIR) material. A common spectral model to HMXBs, powerlaw with high energy cutoff and absorption at low energy, gave a good fit to both flaring and quiescent states. A flourescent iron line was not required in fitting any of the states. On the other hand, very tentative evidence of Cyclotron Resonant Scattering Feature (CRSF) at $\sim$ 17 keV was found during fitting using cyclabs model, however fitting improvement was not significant enough to confirm its detection, plus a very narrow width (< 1 keV) was obtained for the line and its first harmonic. Visual inspection of the spectra showed a deficiency of emission near the expected first and second harmonic. Another important feature visually noticed in the spectra is the presence of hard tail above 50 keV. This could be explained by the shocked material bounding the CIR

Simultaneous estimation of cinnamaldehyde and eugenol in essential oils and traditional and ultrasound-assisted extracts of different species of cinnamon using a sustainable/green HPTLC technique

A wide range of analytical techniques are reported for the determination of cinnamaldehyde (CCHO) and eugenol (EOH) in plant extracts and herbal formulations either alone or in combination. Nevertheless, sustainable/green analytical techniques for the estimation of CCHO and EOH either alone or in combination are scarce in the literature. Accordingly, the present research was carried out to establish a rapid, highly sensitive, and sustainable high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) technique for the simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH in the traditional and ultrasound-assisted methanolic extracts of Cinnamomum zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia and their essential oils. The simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH was performed through NP-18 silica gel 60 F254S HPTLC plates. The cyclohexane/ethyl acetate (90:10, v v−1) solvent system was optimized as the mobile phase for the simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH. The greenness score of the HPTLC technique was predicted using AGREE software. The entire analysis was carried out at a detection wavelength of 296 nm for CCHO and EOH. The sustainable HPTLC technique was observed as linear in the range 10–2000 ng band−1 for CCHO and EOH. The proposed technique was found to be highly sensitive, rapid, accurate, precise, and robust for the simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH. The content of CCHO in traditional methanolic extracts of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 96.36, 118.49, and 114.18 mg g−1, respectively. However, the content of CCHO in ultrasound-assisted methanolic extracts of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 111.57, 134.39, and 129.07 mg g−1, respectively. The content of CCHO in essential oils of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 191.20, 214.24, and 202.09 mg g−1, respectively. The content of EOH in traditional methanolic extracts of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 73.38, 165.41, and 109.10 mg g−1, respectively. However, the content of EOH in ultrasound-assisted methanolic extracts of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 87.20, 218.09, and 121.85 mg g−1, respectively. The content of EOH in essential oils of C. zeylanicum, C. burmannii, and C. cassia was found to be 61.26, 79.21, and 69.02 mg g−1, respectively. The amounts of CCHO and EOH were found to be significantly higher in ultrasound-assisted extracts of all species compared to its traditional extraction and hence ultrasound extraction has been proposed as a superior technique for the extraction of CCHO and EOH. The AGREE analytical score of the present analytical technique was predicted as 0.75, suggesting excellent greenness profile of the proposed analytical technique. Based on all these observations and results, the proposed sustainable HPTLC technique can be successfully used for the simultaneous estimation of CCHO and EOH in different plant extracts and herbal products

Treatment of Textile Wastewater Using a Novel Electrocoagulation Reactor Design

This study explored the best operating conditions for a novel electrocoagulation (EC) reactor with the rotating anode for textile wastewater treatment. The influence of operating parameters like interelectrode distance (IED), current density (CD), temperature, pH, operating time (RT) and rotation speed on the removal efficiency of the contaminant was studied. A comparative study was done using conventional model with static electrodes in two phases under same textile wastewater. The findings revealed that the optimal conditions for textile wastewater treatment were attained at RT = 10 min, CD = 4 mA/cm2, rotation speed = 150 rpm, temperature = 25°C, IED = 1 cm and pH = 4.57. The removal efficiencies of color, biological oxygen demand (BOD), turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solid (TSS) were 98.50, 95.55, 96, 98 and 97.10%, respectively, within the first 10 min of the reaction. The results of the experiment reveal that the newly designed reactor incorporated with cathode rings and rotated anode impellers provide a superior treatment efficiency within a short reaction time. The novel EC reactor with a rotating anode significantly enhanced textile wastewater treatment compared to the conventional model. The values of adsorption and passivation resistance validated the pollutants removal rate

Repairing and Strengthening of Damaged RC Columns Using Thin Concrete Jacketing

This research aims to investigate the efficiency of repairing damaged concrete columns using thin concrete jacketing. The experimental program included casting of nine reference 300 mm long reinforced concrete column specimens: three specimens had a cross-sectional dimension of 100 mm × 100 mm, three specimens had a cross-sectional dimension of 150 mm × 150 mm, and three specimens had a cross-sectional dimension of 170 mm × 170 mm. A total of 36 identical column cores were cast with similar cross sections of 100 mm × 100 mm and a height of 300 mm. These cores were damaged by loading them with approximately 90% of their actual ultimate axial load capacities. Then, the columns were repaired and strengthened by applying two jacketing materials, which were 25 and 35 mm thick, on all four sides. Group 1 consisted of 18 column cores jacketed by normal strength concrete with a maximum aggregate size of 4.75 mm and steel reinforcement, whereas Group 2 consisted of 18 column cores jacketed using ultrahigh-performance fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete with steel reinforcement. The experimental program showed that the Group 1 specimens had ultimate load capacities more than twice those of the unjacketed reference columns and the same axial capacity as the monolithically cast reference columns. The Group 2 specimens showed a significant increase in ultimate load capacity, which was approximately 3 times that of the unjacketed reference column and 1.86 times that of the monolithically cast reference columns. Moreover, using the shear studs was found to be the most effective …This research aims to investigate the efficiency of repairing damaged concrete columns using thin concrete jacketing. The experimental program included casting of nine reference 300 mm long reinforced concrete column specimens: three specimens had a cross-sectional dimension of 100 mm × 100 mm, three specimens had a cross-sectional dimension of 150 mm × 150 mm, and three specimens had a cross-sectional dimension of 170 mm × 170 mm. A total of 36 identical column cores were cast with similar cross sections of 100 mm × 100 mm and a height of 300 mm. These cores were damaged by loading them with approximately 90% of their actual ultimate axial load capacities. Then, the columns were repaired and strengthened by applying two jacketing materials, which were 25 and 35 mm thick, on all four sides. Group 1 consisted of 18 column cores jacketed by normal strength concrete with a maximum aggregate size of 4.75 mm and steel reinforcement, whereas Group 2 consisted of 18 column cores jacketed using ultrahigh-performance fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete with steel reinforcement. The experimental program showed that the Group 1 specimens had ultimate load capacities more than twice those of the unjacketed reference columns and the same axial capacity as the monolithically cast reference columns. The Group 2 specimens showed a significant increase in ultimate load capacity, which was approximately 3 times that of the unjacketed reference column and 1.86 times that of the monolithically cast reference columns. Moreover, using the shear studs was found to be the most effective

Performance evaluation of multiple-beam free space optics in tropical rainy weather

Free space optics (FSO) has the potential to replace optical fiber as a solution for the last mile problem. FSO is favored because of its cheap maintenance costs and quick deployment time as compared to other communication system such as fiber optics. Atmospheric attenuation is a problem for FSOs with classic single beam systems, especially when it rains heavily specially in tropical region like Malaysia. As a result, a multibeam FSO transceiver system has become popular as a solution to this problem. The purpose of this study is to compare the standard single beam FSO system with the suggested multibeam FSO system. At a bit error rate (BER) of 10-9, the comparison is made in terms of received optical power, channel distance, and geometrical losses. Rain intensity data is gathered over a six-month period. To evaluate the performance of both systems, the average rain attenuation is calculated from this data and exposed to single beam and multibeam FSO systems. The multibeam FSO approach was found to increase the system's performance. The results show that employing up to four beams improves the quality of received power and increases the channel distance to 1150 m when compared to a single beam FSO system with a channel distance of only 830 m

TM NONLINEAR ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN SEMICONDUCTOR SUPERLATICES WAVEGUIDING SYSTEMS

Considerable attention has been devoted to a nonlinear waves propagation in various wave-guide structure due to their applications in photonic-microwave devices . In this communication, the dispersion characteristics of transverse magnetic polarized waves nonlinear guided waves propagating in a multilayer semiconductor superlattices waveguide surrounded by one side by a nonlinear magnetic cover have been investigated theoretically. The two sublattice uniaxial antiferromagnetic crystal is considered as a nonlinear magnetic medium where the permeability is treated as a function of the magnetic field. Nummerical results are demonstrated for a waveguiding system containing some number of layers of superlattices. We hope that our present work could lead to several extensions and promising applications in future technology

The Effect of RF-Plasma Power on the Growth of III-Nitride Materials

In this study, n-InGaN nanorods were grown directly on p-type Si (111) substrates by plasmaassisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). The crystal structure is investigated using the reflection of high-energy electron diffraction patterns. Additionally, the morphology and optical properties of the InGaN nanorods were investigated using both scanning electron microscopy and room temperature photoluminescence spectra. The results showed that, the PL peak position shifted toward lower energy by increasing plasma power due to increase in In concentration within InGaN nanorods. It can be observed that, through using optimum growth conditions, a uniform indium up to 34% can be achieved with no phase split-up or indium isolation. Thus, none of the mobile In-droplets on the surface were observed

Development and validation of a high-performance thin-layer chromatographic method for the quantitative analysis of vitexin in Passiflora foetida herbal formulations

© 2019 Dehon et al. Introduction: Formative evaluations of clinical teaching for emergency medicine (EM) faculty are limited. The goal of this study was to develop a behaviorally-based tool for evaluating and providing feedback to EM faculty based on their clinical teaching skills during a shift. Methods: We used a three-phase structured development process. Phase 1 used the nominal group technique with a group of faculty first and then with residents to generate potential evaluation items. Phase 2 included separate focus groups and used a modified Delphi technique with faculty and residents, as well as a group of experts to evaluate the items generated in Phase 1. Following this, residents classified the items into novice, intermediate, and advanced educator skills. Once items were determined for inclusion and subsequently ranked they were built into the tool by the investigators (Phase 3). Results: The final instrument, the Faculty Shift Card, is a behaviorally-anchored evaluation and feedback tool used to facilitate feedback to EM faculty about their teaching skills during a shift. The tool has four domains: teaching clinical decision-making; teaching interpersonal skills; teaching procedural skills; and general teaching strategies. Each domain contains novice, intermediate, and advanced sections with 2-5 concrete examples for each level of performance. Conclusion: This structured process resulted in a well-grounded and systematically developed evaluation tool for EM faculty that can provide real-time actionable feedback to faculty and support improved clinical teaching

Attenuation of Smad, Wnt and E2F Signaling by Egyptian Riverhemp Triterpenes in Leukemia Cells

Presenter: Ospanov Meirambekhttps://egrove.olemiss.edu/pharm_annual_posters_2021/1012/thumbnail.jp