UV-visible studies of chemical bath deposited nise thin films.

NiSe thin films were deposited onto microscope glass slides by chemical bath deposition method. Chemical bath deposition method could be a cost-effective technology for the production of terrestrial photoelectrochemical cells. The films obtained were characterized by UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The values of optical band gap have been determined from the absorption spectra. The deposition was carried out under different deposition times (1, 2 and 3 hours) and bath temperatures(40 and 50 °C). Based on the optical absorbance spectra, all the films exhibited a high absorbance in the visible region. The films deposited at longer time showed higher absorbance values. The band gap values obtained were found to be 2.11-2.52 eV

Evaluation of two cell culture media in culturing rat full term amniotic fluid cells

Introduction: Amniotic fluid (AF) consists of heterogenous population of cells with high diagnostic and therapeutic values. The study of rat amniotic fluid cells is very limited, despite the extensive use of this animal model in biomedical research. Primary culture of rat AF cells, especially from full term pregnancies has not been well established. Here we attempt to determine the suitable medium in culturing rat AF cells that would enhance the cell viability, growth rate and heterogeneity. Methods: The cell viability, growth rate and heterogeneity of rat AF cells were compared upon culturing the primary cells in two different media; Amniomax or RPMI. Cell viability study was carried out using trypan blue staining, while the growth rate was monitored based on the time required to passage the cells (population doubling time in hour). The heterogeneity of cells was examined based on the morphology of the cells. Statistical analysis was performed using t-test. Results: Amniomax was observed to provide a better culture condition in culturing rat AF cells as the cells are more viable, grow faster and more heterogenous as compared to the cells grown in RPMI. Conclusion: Amniomax is a more suitable medium for high quality and viability of full term rat AF cell culture, as compared to RPMI. Thus, warranting propagation of more rat AF cells for biomedical research

trans-Tetra­carbonyl­bis­[tris­(3-fluoro­phen­yl)phosphane]chromium(0)

In the title compound, [Cr(C18H12F3P)2(CO)4], the Cr atom is octa­hedrally coordinated by four carbonyl ligands and the two tertiary phosphanes, which are trans to each other. The three benzene rings in one phosphane ligand make dihedral angles of 53.50 (9), 75.51 (10) and 80.63 (10)° with each other, while in the other ligand these angles are 51.92 (10), 78.56 (11) and 86.80 (10)°. C—H⋯O and C—H⋯F inter­actions link the mol­ecules into a three-dimensional network. Each of the F atoms is disordered over two positions with refined occupancies of 0.944 (3):0.056 (3), 0.702 (4):0.298 (4), 0.829 (4):0.171 (4), 0.567 (4):0.433 (4), 0.545 (4):0.455 (4) and 0.920 (4):0.080 (4)

Chemical bath deposition of NiSe thin films from aqueous solutions.

The nickel selenide thin films were prepared onto microscope glass slides by a chemical bath deposition technique. The X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy were used for their structural and morphological characterization. The X-ray diffraction results showed that the thin films prepared for longer deposition time and higher pH were polycrystalline with rhombohedral structure. The atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy results indicated that the thin films covered the glass substrate completely and consisted of irregularly shaped grains. The optical properties of thin films were determined from analysis of the measured absorbance spectrum. The nickel selenide thin films exhibited direct band-gap transition with band gap energy of 1.8 eV

Chemical bath deposition of NiSe thin films from alkaline solutions using triethanoleamine as complexing agent

The nickel selenide thin films were prepared onto microscope glass slides by chemical bath deposition technique. The X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy have been used for their structural and morphological characterization. The X-ray diffraction result shows that thin films have a polycrystalline and rhombohedral structure. The scanning electron microscopy micrograph shows the thin films cover the glass substrate completely and consisted of irregular shaped grains. The optical properties of thin films were determined from analysis of measured absorbance spectrum. The nickel selenide thin films exhibited direct band gap transition with band gap energy of 1.8 eV

Effect of titanium (IV) isopropoxide molarity on the crystallinity and photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide thin film deposited via green sol–gel route

In this paper, the effect of titanium (IV) isopropoxide TTIP molarity on the crystallinity and TiO2 thin film properties deposited via green sol–gel route was reported. The green sol–gel route is a pioneering approach for eco-friendly coating where solvent is not utilized in the sol formulation. This is in contrast to the common TiO2 sol formulation where solvent is used despite the long term harmful the environment. TiO2 solution with different TTIP molarity of 0.2 M, 0.3 M, 0.4 M and 0.5 M were utilized during coating deposition. Deposition were conducted for ten times using dip coating and treated at 500 °C (1-h). The crystalline phases and phase content were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and reference intensity ratio (RIR) equation. Crystallites size was obtained by Scherrer's equation while coating morphologies was analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The photocatalytic activity was conducted by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) towards UV-light and visible light. At higher TTIP molarity (0.5 M), higher crystallinity of mixed anatase (∼17 nm) and rutile (∼29 nm) phases were obtained along with homogeneous coating (cracking and visible pore). Also, higher MB degradation were obtained at UV-light (95%) and visible-light (86%) irradiation. In conclusion, higher TTIP molarity produced TiO2 film with higher crystallinity, small crystallite size, cracking morphology thus contribute good performance in photocatalytic activity. Findings in this work shown that TiO2 thin film deposition is possible conducted without the use of solvent through optimized formulation of only precursor, acid and water. This is beneficial for the environment sustainability. Keywords: Sol–gel dipping, Titanium dioxide, Titanium (IV) isopropoxide, Solvent free, Photocatalytic activity, Green rout

Raman Spectroscopy and XRD investigation on TiO2 sol-gel dip coating thin films synthesizes with and without solvents

TiO2 coating films were prepared by sol-gel dip coating method using TTiP precursors with and without ethanol as a medium to hydrolyze the HCl catalyst. The prepared samples of titanium dioxide (TiO2) coating were dried at 110°C for 30 minutes then heated at 500°C and 600°C for 1h and 3h respectively to study effect of annealing temperature and soaking time. The crystallinity of the TiO2 coating were identified by using X-ray Diffraction technique and crystallite size was calculated. Raman Spectroscopy also used as the confirmation of phases formation of TiO2 coating films. Crystallite size of TiO2 films were obtained at 12.35 nm, 17.29 nm for anatase, 21.71 nm, 28.95 nm for rutile and 2.19 nm for brookite. Thus, the establishment of the desired phases, crystallinity and grain size of TiO2 thin films sol-gel can be controlled and encouraging to explore as an effort toward producing a sustainable photocatalytic

Raman Spectroscopy and XRD investigation on TiO

TiO2 coating films were prepared by sol-gel dip coating method using TTiP precursors with and without ethanol as a medium to hydrolyze the HCl catalyst. The prepared samples of titanium dioxide (TiO2) coating were dried at 110°C for 30 minutes then heated at 500°C and 600°C for 1h and 3h respectively to study effect of annealing temperature and soaking time. The crystallinity of the TiO2 coating were identified by using X-ray Diffraction technique and crystallite size was calculated. Raman Spectroscopy also used as the confirmation of phases formation of TiO2 coating films. Crystallite size of TiO2 films were obtained at 12.35 nm, 17.29 nm for anatase, 21.71 nm, 28.95 nm for rutile and 2.19 nm for brookite. Thus, the establishment of the desired phases, crystallinity and grain size of TiO2 thin films sol-gel can be controlled and encouraging to explore as an effort toward producing a sustainable photocatalytic

Quantitative analysis of fetal DNA in maternal plasma in gestational diabetes mellitus, iron deficiency anemia and gestational hypertension pregnancies

Objective: To quantify circulating fetal DNA (fDNA) levels in the second and third trimesters of normal healthy pregnant individuals and pregnant women with the following clinical conditions: gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), iron deficiency anemia and gestational hypertension (GHT). Methods: The SRY gene located on the Y chromosome was used as a unique fetal marker. The fDNA was extracted from maternal plasma and the SRY gene concentrations were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using TaqMan dual labeled probe system. Results: No significant differences were observed in the mean fDNA concentration between normal and GDM pregnancy samples (p > 0.05) and also between normal and anemic pregnancy samples (p > 0.05) in both trimesters, but significant differences were observed between the third trimester normal and GHT pregnancy samples (p = 0.001). GDM and iron deficiency anemia do not affect the levels of fDNA in maternal plasma while GHT significantly elevates the levels of fDNA in maternal plasma. Conclusions: Increased amount of circulating fDNA in maternal plasma could be used for early identification of adverse pregnancies. GDM and anemia do not affect the levels of fDNA in maternal plasma while GHT significantly elevates the levels of fDNA in maternal plasma. Hence, the elevated fDNA values could be used as a potential screening marker in pregnancies complicated with GHT but not with GDM and iron deficiency anemia

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of an inulinase gene from and Aspergillus sp.

Selected endophytic fungi have been report to be inulin degraders to produce fructose or other oligosaccharides. In this study, the Aspergillus sp. producing inulinase were isolated from selected plant species at Serdang area in Malaysia. Fungal isolates were screened solely based on inulin degrading enzymes production and two isolates named Asf1 and Onf1 were selected as the best inulinase enzyme producers. Genomic DNA of these two isolates were extracted and amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A 1,341 bp DNA fragment containing inulinase gene was successfully amplified from Asf1 fungal isolate and was named as inu2 gene in this study. Based on the morphological characteristics, rDNA and neighbour-joining phylogenetic analysis, Asf1 fungal isolate could display closely-related to the genus of Aspergillus. The complete sequence designated Asf1 Inu2 gene was successfully obtained via rapid-amplification of cDNA ends-polymerase chain reaction (RACE-PCR). A 2.3 kb DNA fragment encoding endoinulinase, inu2, from Asf1 fungal isolate includes an open reading frame of 1,552 bp with calculated molecular weight of 55,954.1 Da and signal peptide sequence of 23 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of the Asf1 inu2 displayed 97, 96, 69 and 22% identities to that of A. ficuum inu2, A. niger inuB, P. purpurogenum and K. marxianus, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that fungal endo- and exo-inulinases have indepently evolved with the respective hydrolytic activities toward terminal and internal β-(2 → 1)-fructofuranosidic linkages in inulin