Shape controlled iron oxide nanoparticles: inducing branching and controlling particle crystallinity

Anisotropic nanoparticles (NPs) have garnered a great deal of attention for their applications in catalysis, magnetism and biomedicine. However, synthetic strategies to grow such NPs are still limited as their growth mechanisms are poorly understood. This work presents the synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) based on the decomposition of iron(III) acetylacetonate in organic solvents to form anisotropic IONPs that are branched or multiply branched. We fully explore their growth parameters to understand the effect of varying amounts of oleylamine (OAm), as well as a nitrogen purge on particle morphology. We show here the synthetic relationship between a wide range of sizes and shapes of IONPs that are both isotropic and anisotropic. Of all the parameters, the amount of oleylamine in the reaction is the key to tune the particle size while the effect of a nitrogen gas purge during synthesis was shown to be crucial for the formation of the branched and multiply branched NPs. Two multiply branched NP systems with only a small difference in the synthetic conditions were shown to have radically different magnetic properties, such as heating in an alternating magnetic field. This was attributed to the defects found in the structure of one and not in the other. By following their development during growth, crystal defects were observed in both systems during the early stages of the reaction. However, for the multiply branched structure that became single crystalline, the aggregation of the nuclei occurred earlier in the reaction, allowing more time for growth and crystallite rearrangement to occur. These results have wide ranging implications for controlling the properties of anisotropic nanomaterials with similar structures, including their magnetic behavior

Production of Biogas with Two-Stage Fermentation of Cow Dung-Palm Oil Mill Effluent

In this research, biogas is produced from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) by fermentation of cow dung using a stirred reactor and purified by various CO2 and H2S removal techniques. The variables in this study were: composition of cow dung (55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80% w/w), amino acid composition (0.5%, 1%, 1.5% w/w) and length of fermentation time (2, 6, 10, 14, 16 days). The fixed variables were stirring speed (100 rpm), temperature (30oC) and reactor volume (100 L). This research also investigated the effect of using a lime packed reactor on the purity of methane gas. From the results of first stage of fermentation, it was found that the optimum composition of cow dung-POME was at 60% and the fermentation time was 14 days. In the second stage of fermentation using optimum results at first stage compared to fermentation of cow dung without POME, the results of measuring the gas pressure produced in 60% cow dung-POME fermentation were 17.5 Psig greater than fermentation of cow dung without POME of 15 Psig

Formation of H2 and CH4 by weathering of olivine at temperatures between 30 and 70°C

Hydrocarbons such as CH4 are known to be formed through the Fischer-Tropsch or Sabatier type reactions in hydrothermal systems usually at temperatures above 100°C. Weathering of olivine is sometimes suggested to account for abiotic formation of CH4 through its redox lowering and water splitting properties. Knowledge about the CH4 and H2 formation processes at low temperatures is important for the research about the origin and cause of early Earth and Martian CH4 and for CO2 sequestration. We have conducted a series of low temperature, long-term weathering experiments in which we have tested the CH4 and H2 formation potential of forsteritic olivine

Ultrasonic intensification as a tool for enhanced microbial biofuel yields

peer-reviewedUltrasonication has recently received attention as a novel bioprocessing tool for process intensification in many areas of downstream processing. Ultrasonic intensification (periodic ultrasonic treatment during the fermentation process) can result in a more effective homogenization of biomass and faster energy and mass transfer to biomass over short time periods which can result in enhanced microbial growth. Ultrasonic intensification can allow the rapid selective extraction of specific biomass components and can enhance product yields which can be of economic benefit. This review focuses on the role of ultrasonication in the extraction and yield enhancement of compounds from various microbial sources, specifically algal and cyanobacterial biomass with a focus on the production of biofuels. The operating principles associated with the process of ultrasonication and the influence of various operating conditions including ultrasonic frequency, power intensity, ultrasonic duration, reactor designs and kinetics applied for ultrasonic intensification are also described

Severe paradoxical reaction in tuberculous meningitis

A 31-year-old female presented with a 3-week history of fever and headache. CSF Ziehl-Neelsen smear microscopy revealed acid-fast bacilli, and CSF GeneXpert MTB/RIF was positive for&nbsp;Mycobacterium tuberculosis&nbsp;with no mutations of rifampicin resistance. Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) was diagnosed. Baseline contrast-enhanced brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was unremarkable. Eight weeks later the patient developed markedly reduced visual acuity and clinical signs consistent with left 3rd and 6th cranial nerve palsies. Repeat contrast-enhanced brain MRI revealed extensive tuberculous exudate filling the basal cisterns of the brain consistent with a severe paradoxical reaction of TBM. High dose intravenous dexamethasone was administered, with visual acuity returning to near-normal over 3&ndash;4 weeks. In TBM paradoxical inflammatory reactions are common yet difficult to predict. When severe, they may result in substantial neurological morbidity and death. Prompt host directed therapies such as corticosteroids may reduce chances of permanent neurological damage.</p

Joint scheduling and mapping in support of downlink fairness and spectral efficiency in ieee 802.16e OFDMA system

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The next generation broadband wireless networks deploy orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) as the enabling technologies for broadband data transmission with QoS capabilities. In such broadband wireless systems, one major issue is how to utilize radio resource efficiently while maintaining fairness between sessions as well as providing adequate QoS. In this work, we propose an approach for OFDMA/time division duplex (TDD) downlink suitable for IEEE802.16e WiMAX systems that combines scheduling and burst mapping algorithms for a trade-off between session fairness, QoS, and spectral efficiency. While optimizing radio resources under QoS and fairness constraints is an NP-hard problem, we follow a heuristic approach that simplifies the complexity of the algorithm. Performance results show that while the new scheme outperforms the Proportional Fair algorithm in terms of fairness, it also improves the overall system spectral efficiency. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd