Enhanced photocatalytic reduction reaction over Bi??¡VTiO? nanoparticles in presence of formic acid as a hole scavenger

Author name used in this publication: X. Z. LiAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of TiO?by doping with Ag for degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol in aqueous suspension

Author name used in this publication: X. Z. Li2005-2006 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Photocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A as an endocrine disruptor in aqueous suspension using Ag-TiO?catalysts

Author name used in this publication: X. Z. Li2005-2006 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Подбор персонала: инновационные персонал-технологии рекрутинга

The aim of this study was to investigate the adsorption potential of heat treated lepidocrocites (gamma-FeOOH) towards As(III) and As(V) ions in aqueous solutions. Initially, mesoporous lepidocrocite was synthesized, treated at different temperatures, and characterized using various analytical techniques. During the heating, transformation of lepidocrocite into hematite was observed. The adsorption of As(III) and As(V) was studied by batch experiments and the effects of different operational parameters e.g., adsorbent dose, solution pH, contact time, and the initial concentration of As(III)/(V) (isotherms) were studied. Lepidocrocite treated at 250 degrees C exhibited &gt;99% and 94% adsorption from 50 mg/L As(V) and As(III) solutions, respectively with an adsorbent dose of 2.5 g/L. The highest uptake capacity was obtained for As(III) (55 mg/g) on lepidocrocite without the heat treatment and for As(V) (38 mg/g) on lepidocrocite treated at 250 degrees C, which was assigned to be a mixture of maghemite and hematite. The adsorption kinetic data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model and the BiLangmuir isotherm had the best applicability to describe the adsorption equilibrium.</p

Photocatalytic degradation of methylparathion - An endocrine disruptor by Bi??-doped TiO?

Author name used in this publication: X. Z. LiAuthor name used in this publication: G. K. H. PangAuthor name used in this publication: P. A. Tanner2005-2006 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Future of 5-fluorouracil in cancer therapeutics, current pharmacokinetics issues and a way forward

Background: In addition to exhibiting antitumor potential, antitumor drugs exhibit toxicity due to a poor pharmacokinetic profile. An enormous amount of research has been carried out and is still ongoing to obtain more targeted, potent, and safe drugs to treat cancer, and pharmacokinetic evaluations of anticancer drugs are needed. Objectives: The present review examined different delivery systems and methodologies designed in recent years to investigate the pharmacokinetics of the anticancer drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). These methodologies highlight how the issues of bioavailability, absorption, half-life, targeted neoplastic cell potential, and high therapeutic index of 5-FU are resolved. Results: A number of naturally occurring macromolecules such as modified starch, porphyran, peptides, and folic acids have been found to be successful in vitro to improve the permeability and retention effect of 5-FU against solid tumors. A promising approach for targeted 5-FU delivery to oncoproteins has resulted in a number of potentially sound anticancer nanocomposites. Chitosan nanoparticles loaded with 5-FU have been shown to exhibit cytotoxicity equivalent to 5-FU injections against gastric carcinoma. At the level of inter- and intra-molecular interactions, the co-crystal approach has been found to be successful against colorectal cancer proteins. Because of the 5-FU ligand-like nature and its metal-binding potential, researchers have shifted attention toward the synergistic co-administration of gold complexes with this drug. Conclusions: This study highlighted the techniques used to improve the pharmacokinetics of 5-FU and that “nanocarriers” are a promising approach in this field. The conclusion is supported by solid evidence

Small non-coding RNA profiling and the role of piRNA pathway genes in the protection of chicken primordial germ cells

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Background Genes, RNAs, and proteins play important roles during germline development. However, the functions of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) on germline development remain unclear in avian species. Recent high-throughput techniques have identified several classes of ncRNAs, including micro RNAs (miRNAs), small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). These ncRNAs are functionally important in the genome, however, the identification and annotation of ncRNAs in a genome is challenging. The aim of this study was to identify different types of small ncRNAs particularly piRNAs, and the role of piRNA pathway genes in the protection of chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs). Results At first, we performed next-generation sequencing to identify ncRNAs in chicken PGCs, and we performed ab initio predictive analysis to identify putative piRNAs in PGCs. Then, we examined the expression of three repetitive sequence-linked piRNAs and 14 genic-transcript-linked piRNAs along with their linked genes using real-time PCR. All piRNAs and their linked genes were highly expressed in PGCs. Subsequently, we knocked down two known piRNA pathway genes of chicken, PIWI-like protein 1 (CIWI) and 2 (CILI), in PGCs using siRNAs. After knockdown of CIWI and CILI, we examined their effects on the expression of six putative piRNA-linked genes and DNA double-strand breakage in PGCs. The knockdown of CIWI and CILI upregulated chicken repetitive 1 (CR1) element and RAP2B, a member of RAS oncogene family, and increased DNA double-strand breakage in PGCs. Conclusions Our results increase the understanding of PGC-expressed piRNAs and the role of piRNA pathway genes in the protection of germ cells

Photocatalytic Degradation of Bisphenol A (BPA) Present in Aqueous Solution Using g-C3N4 Nanosheets Under Solar Light Irradiation

A graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheet sample was synthesized from a melamine precursor by a method of simple direct heating in a semi-closed system followed by thermal oxidation etching at 550 °C for 12 h. The sample was labelled as (g-C3N412h) and was systematically characterized. Moreover, the results were then compared with a pristine g-C3N4 sample for the degradation of Bisphenol A (BPA) present in water. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor. It is known that the BPA is one of the most harmful organic materials and that it does not degrade easily in the environment. It was therefore selected as a target to test the photocatalytic activity of prepared carbon nitride nanosheets under direct solar irradiation. The results showed the structure of the g-C3N4 nanosheets when the sample had been treated for a longer time compared to the regular treatment time.&nbsp; The optical band gap results remained the same, indicating the existence of a g-C3N4 backbone structure. However, the XPS and FTIR spectra showed some modification on g-C3N4 after longer etching treatment time such as the C-H, CO and N pyridinic structure. The photocatalytic degradation of Bisphenol A by the g-C3N4 nanosheets under solar irradiation was much better (around 60%) than that with the g-C3N43h bulk sample (around 30%). This enhanced &nbsp;photocatalytic activity can be attributed to multiple factors such as the smaller particle size, rich carbon surface and high surface area exhibited by the g-C3N4 nanosheets. This further indicates that g-C3N4 can be used with solar irradiation to treat wastewater containing endocrine disruptor chemicals

Integration of Active Chassis Control Systems for Improved Vehicle Handling Performance

This thesis investigates the principle of integration of vehicle dynamics control systems by proposing a novel control architecture to integrate the brake-based electronic stability control (ESC), active front steering (AFS), normal suspension force control (NFC) and variable torque distribution (VTD). A nonlinear 14 degree of freedom passive vehicle dynamics model was developed in Matlab/Simulink and validated against commercially available vehicle dynamics software CarSim. Dynamics of the four active vehicle control systems were developed. Fuzzy logic and PID control strategies were employed considering their robustness and effectiveness in controlling nonlinear systems. Effectiveness of active systems in extending the vehicle operating range against the passive ones was investigated. From the research, it was observed that AFS is effective in improving the stability at lower lateral acceleration (latac) region with less interference to the longitudinal vehicle dynamics. But its ability diminishes at higher latac regions due to tyre lateral force saturation. Both ESC and VTD are found to be effective in stabilising the vehicle over the entire operating region. But the intrusive nature of ESC promotes VTD as a preferred stability control mechanism at the medium latac range. But ESC stands out in improving stability at limits where safety is of paramount importance. NFC is observed to improve the ability to generate the tyre forces across the entire operating range. Based on this analysis, a novel rule based integrated chassis control (ICC) strategy is proposed. It uses a latac based stability criterion to assign the authority to control the stability and ensures the smooth transition of the control authority amongst the three systems, AFS, VTD and ESC respectively. The ICC also optimises the utilisation of NFC to improve the vehicle handling performance further, across the entire operating regions. The results of the simulation are found to prove that the integrated control strategy improves vehicle stability across the entire vehicle operating region