Skokie, the ACLU and the Endurance of Democratic Theory

ZnO nanorods (NRs) with high surface area to volume ratio and biocompatibility is used as an efficient photosensitizer carrier system and at the same time providing intrinsic white light needed to achieve cancer cell necrosis. In this letter, ZnO nanorods used for the treatment of breast cancer cell (T47D) are presented. To adjust the sample for intracellular experiments, we have grown the ZnO nanorods on the tip of borosilicate glass capillaries (0.5 mu m diameter) by aqueous chemical growth technique. The grown ZnO nanorods were conjugated using protoporphyrin dimethyl ester (PPDME), which absorbs the light emitted by the ZnO nanorods. Mechanism of cytotoxicity appears to involve the generation of singlet oxygen inside the cell. The novel findings of cell-localized toxicity indicate a potential application of PPDME-conjugated ZnO NRs in the necrosis of breast cancer cell within few minutes

A Flexible Sandwich Nanogenerator for Harvesting Piezoelectric Potential from Single Crystalline Zinc Oxide Nanowires

High-quality single crystalline zinc oxide nanowires were grown on silver and gold coated plastic substrates for the fabrication of a sandwich-like nanogenerator using the aqueous chemical growth method. The applicability of this configuration as a nanogenerator is demonstrated by studying the harvested electrical output under mechanical deformation. Three different configurations were fabricated and utilized for harvesting piezoelectric potential by applying an external force. The maximum resulting output open circuit voltage and short circuit current were 2.4 V and 152.2 μA, respectively. The comparison between the different configurations indicates that more piezoelectric potential can be harvested by using two arrays of ZnO NWs placed face-to-face than by using a single nanowire configuration. In addition, the use of a piezoelectric polymer will enhance the amount of generated piezoelectric potential. The obtained results from different configurations of zinc oxide nanowire nanogenerators offer a cost-effective, flexible, long term stable nanogenerator for promising application. The principle of the sandwich nanogenerator demonstrated a new idea for novel self-powering nanotechnology that harvests electricity from the environment for applications such as portable electronics

Effect of Process Parameters on the Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol in Oilfield Produced Wastewater using ZnO/Fe2O3 Nanocomposites.

The upstream processing of crude oil is often associated with the presence of phenolic compounds when not properly treated could result in adverse effects on human health. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of process parameters on the photocatalytic degradation of phenol. The ZnO/Fe2O3 nanocomposite photocatalyst was prepared by sol-gel method and characterized using various instrument techniques. The characterized ZnO/Fe2O3 nanocomposite displayed suitable physicochemical properties for the photocatalytic reaction. The ZnO/Fe2O3 nanocomposite was employed for the phenol degradation in a cylindrical batch reactor under solar radiation. The photocatalytic runs show that calcination temperature of the ZnO/Fe2O3 nanocomposite, catalyst loading, initial phenol concentration and pH of the wastewater significantly influence the photocatalytic degradation of phenol. After 180 min of solar radiation, the highest phenol degradation of 92.7% was obtained using the ZnO/Fe2O3 photocatalyst calcined at 400 ºC. This study has demonstrated that phenol degradation is significantly influenced by parameters such as calcination temperature of the ZnO/Fe2O3 nanocomposite, catalyst loading, initial phenol concentration and pH of the wastewater resulting in highest phenol degradation using the ZnO/Fe2O3 nanocomposite calcined at 400 ºC, initial phenol concentration of 0.5 mg/L, catalyst loading of 3 mg/L and pH of 3. Copyright © 2020 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Bioactive Compounds (Review)

In recent times, bioactive compounds from plant samples are extracted using a microwave extractor. This is because traditional methods of extraction are need of higher volume of solvents, degrade thermal-sensitive bioactive compounds, and consume much time of extraction. Hence, this chapter unveils the importance of the microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique in the recovery of bioactive compounds from plants. The involving extraction steps need to recover higher yields, faster, consumption of lesser extracting solvents, and ensure stable heat-sensitive bioactive compounds. The factors affecting MAE in the recovery of bioactive compounds from plant materials are as well discussed. Additionally, some of the previously reported bioactive compounds from plant samples using MAE are highlighted

Chemical constituents and cockroach repellent activity of Sudanese Cyperus rotundus rhizomes essential oil

Cockroaches are among the most adaptive creatures to the environment; they dwell on the earth’s surface for the past millions of years. The presence of cockroaches is posing serious health issues in many countries of the world. Searching for an effective natural repellent agent has become a highly important attempt to control these insects. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the chemical compositions of essential oil from Sudanese Cyperus rotundus rhizomes and determine their repellent activity against American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana). The obtained essential oil was radish yellow in color, the oil content was 0.73% and forty-four constituents were identified. The most major components were: Isolongifolol (7.63%), longiverbenone (5.61%), β-cadinene (5.54%), and longifolenaldehyde (5.16%). The oil was characterized by sesquiterpenes abundance 52.45% (oxygenated sesquiterpenes 30.72% and sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons 21.73%); whereas, monoterpenes comprised 8.43% (oxygenated monoterpenes 6.81%, and monoterpenes hydrocarbons 1.62%). The experiment showed that the essential oil possesses promising results as a repellent against P. americana. Therefore, conducting more research on isolation, identification of active compounds and extensive tests on other types of cockroaches are priorities in future studies

Attitudes toward Jordanian Arabic-Accented English among Native and Non-native Speakers of English

This paper explores attitudes toward Jordanian Arabic-accented English among native and non-native speakers of English. Three groups of listeners (native English speakers, Jordanian Arab specialists and non-specialists in English) were asked to rate three groups of speakers (a group of native English speakers and two groups of Jordanian Arabic bilinguals) reading a short story in English on the degree of foreign accentedness, friendliness, pleasantness and clarity. The results showed that the Jordanian Arabic speakers, especially those with a lower level of English, were perceived less favourably than the native speakers. Furthermore, the English native listeners generally had more favourable perceptions than the non-native listeners with regard to the non-native speakers. The degree of foreign-accentedness was highly correlated with attitudes toward non-native speakers, especially among the non-native speakers themselves. The results confirm that a native English accent is preferred over non-native accents

A novel ump demulsifier, nd-20-02 assistedmicrowave technology for separation of crude oil emulsions

Traditional ways of breaking emulsion using heat and chemicals are disadvantageous from economic and environmental perspectives. In this invention, the potentials of UMP formulated demulsifier assisted-microwave in demulsification of water-in-crude oil emulsions are investigated. The work began with some characterizations to provide understanding of fundamental issues such as formation, formulation and breaking of emulsions by both chemical and microwave approaches. The aim was to obtain optimized operating condition as well as fundamental understanding of water-in-crude oil stability, upon which further development on demulsification processes could be developed. The results obtained in this invention have exposed the capability of UMP demulsifer assistedmicrowave technology in separation of water-in-crude oil emulsion compared with conventional methods

ayesian Regularization-Trained Multi-layer Perceptron Neural Network Predictive Modelling of Phenol Degradation using ZnO/Fe2O3 photocatalyst

The processing of crude oil in the onshore platform often results in the generation of produce water containing harmful organic pollutants such as phenol. If the produce water is not properly treated to get rid of the organic pollutants, human exposure when discharged could be detrimental to health. Photocatalytic degradation of the organic pollutant has been a proven, non-expensive techniques of removing these harmful organic compounds from the produce water. However, the detail experimentation is often tedious and costly. One way to investigate the non-linear relationship between the parameters for effective performance of the photodegradation is by artificial neural network modelling. This study investigates the predictive modelling of photocatalytic phenol degradation from crude oil wastewater using Bayesian regularization-trained multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN). The ZnO/Fe2O3 photocatalyst used for the photodegradation was prepared using sol-gel method and employed for the phenol degradation study in a batch reactor under solar irradiation. Twenty-six datasets generated by Box-Behken experimental design was used for the training of the MLPNN with input variables as irradiation time, initial phenol concentration, photocatalyst dosage and the pH of the solution while the output layer consist of phenol degradation. Several MLPNN architecture was tested to obtain an optimized 4 5 1 configuration with the least mean standard error (MSE) of 1.27. The MLPNN with the 4 5 1 architecture resulted in robust prediction of phenol degradation from the wastewater with coefficient of determination (R) of 0.999

The phenomenon of vehicle park brake rollaway

When a vehicle is parked on a slope with hot brakes, what appears to be a sufficient parking brake action can sometimes become insufficient. When the brakes cool down, the braking force reduces due to relaxation of the entire parking brake system, and the vehicle may start to move, leading to obvious catastrophic consequences. This phenomenon is known as vehicle rollaway. This thesis describes the problem in detail and postulates a mechanism that accounts for the occurrence of the rollaway event on vehicles using integrated rear callipers. Different testing methods are presented that are used to investigate the propensity of a vehicle's parking brake system to rollaway. These include on-vehicle evaluations and laboratory based measurements. A description is given of a novel dynamometer facility that was developed for this research that is capable of testing vehicle parking brake systems for rollaway. Two mathematical modelling techniques are presented that demonstrate how the parking brake system parameters influence the likelihood of rollaway occurring. A finite element model was used to simulate the change in contact pressure at the frictional interface during a rollaway event. A numerical model was also used to predict the change in torque developed by a parking brake system cooling from an initial elevated temperature. The change in clamp load at the frictional interface was modelled using an essentially I-D quasi-static system that showed how the stiffness and the thermal properties of the system qualitatively affect the phenomenon. The research found that rollaway does not always start with a uniform motion, but with a stick/slip motion. The likelihood of rollaway occurring was found to be directly linked to the temperature of the brake when the vehicle is parked. Rollaway can be reduced by lowering the initial temperature of the brake prior to parking. Rollaway can also be reduced by increasing the input load to the system when applying the parking brake. The research identifies the key design parameters of the brake system components whose values require close control within the real system if rollaway is to be avoided.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo