17 research outputs found
A LED-based Functional Light Source for the Characterization of Thin Film Solar Cells
A light source of selective functionalities of wavelengths, illumination
periods, and intensities is desirable for investigating performance parameters
as well as the quality of different layers and interfaces of solar cells.
Conventional light sources used for these types of research are expensive,
space-consuming, cumbersome to work with, and have limited functionalities. We
have developed a light source with variable wavelength, intensity, and
illumination period to address these issues using an illumination period
control unit, voltage regulator, neutral density filter, alterable light
emitting diodes, etc. As a proof-of-concept, we employed our constructed light
source to investigate the intensity, wavelength, illumination period modulated
photovoltaic, and impedance properties of inorganic thin film solar cells such
as cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) using lights of
wavelength 410, 520, and 635 nm. We hope to use this light source for
photophysical and photochemical studies of metal oxide materials used for
renewable energy research.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure
Effect of Substrate Surface on the Wide Bandgap SnO2 Thin Films Grown by Spin Coating
Tin (IV) oxide (SnO2) sols have been synthesized from SnCl2.2H2O precursor
solution by applying two different processing conditions. The prepared sols
were then deposited on UV-Ozone treated quartz and soda lime glass (SLG)
substrates by spin coating. The as-synthesized film was soft-baked at about 100
deg. C. for 10 min. This process was repeated five times to get a compact film,
followed by air-annealing at 250 deg. C. for 2 h. The pristine and annealed
films were characterized by UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, Grazing Incident X-Ray
Diffraction (GIXRD), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM).
The effect of substrate surface was investigated by measuring the contact
angles with De-Ionized (DI) water. UV-Ozone treatment of substrate provides a
cleaner surface to grow a homogeneous film. The electrical resistivity of
annealed thin films was carried out by a four-point-collinear probe employing
the current reversal technique and found in the range of approx. 2x10^3 to
3x10^3 Ohm.cm. Film thickness was found in the range of approx. 137-285 nm,
measured by a stylus profilometer. UV-Vis-NIR Transmission data revealed that
all the thin film samples showed maximum (82-89) % transmission in the visible
range. The optical bandgap of the thin films was estimated to be approx. 3.75
to 4.00 eV and approx. 3.78 to 4.35 eV for the films grown on SLG and quartz
substrates, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure
Solid-state Synthesis of Phase Pure CuBi2O4 by Sequential Ball Milling
Bismuth-based metal oxides are an intriguing class of photoelectrode
materials that can potentially enable large-scale solar hydrogen production via
photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting. For realizing such PEC devices,
Kusachiite (copper bismuth oxide) is one of the most promising photocathode
materials for high solar to hydrogen efficiency. Here we attempt to synthesize
phase pure copper bismuth oxide (CuBi2O4) nanopowders using a facile
solid-state reaction technique subsequently sintered at 750 0C for 4 h in air.
These CuBi2O4 (CBO) powders have been further sequentially ball milled (SBM) up
to 25 h to elucidate the milling duration effect on the optical bandgap of the
ball milled CuBi2O4 (SBM-CBO). The structural, optical, and Raman studies
suggest that phase pure tetragonal CBO could be grown from raw CuO and Bi2O3
powders. The variations in morphology and chemical composition of CBO with
increasing milling hours were examined using field emission scanning electron
microscopy (FE-SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis,
respectively. The optical bandgap was measured in the range of 1.70 - 1.85 eV
from the UV-VIS-NIR Diffuse reflection data of SBM-CBO powders. The CBO
photocathode materials with variable structural and optical properties could be
a promising candidate for self-sustained PEC generation of hydrogen fuel.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 2022 4th International Conference on Sustainable
Technologies for Industry 4.0 (STI
Spherical and Rod-shaped Gold Nanoparticles for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
Raman Spectroscopy offers an in-situ, rapid, and non-destructive
characterization tool for chemical analysis of diverse samples with no or
minimal preparation. However, due to the inherent weak signal of conventional
Raman spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance features of noble metal
nanoparticles have been utilized to conduct Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
(SERS) in detecting trace label contaminants in foods and foodstuffs. In this
effort, we synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by reduction of chloroauric
acid (HAuCl4) with sodium citrate dehydrate. We prepared different sizes of
AuNPs at a fixed temperature (100 oC) but with varying pHs of 4 and 8. The
as-synthesized AuNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light
scattering (DLS), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM).
FE-SEM micrographs revealed spherical AuNPs with an average diameter of approx.
55 nm and rod-shaped AuNPs with an average length of approx. 170 nm for sample
synthesis at pH 8 and 4, respectively. The effectiveness of the as-prepared
AuNPs for SERS is tested by detecting Rhodamine 6G diluted at a trace level.
This study suggests that plasmonic nanoparticles coupled with SERS have great
potential for broad applications in detecting other trace amounts of hazardous
chemicals in foods and foodstuffs.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
An Estimation of Five-decade Long Monkeypox Case Fatality Rate: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
On July 23, 2022 the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the Monkeypox disease (MPXD) as a worldwide public health issue. This study conducts a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the overall case fatality rate (CFR) of MPXD worldwide during 1970â2022. The tenure-tracked MPXD outbreaks associated with CFR were calculated based on available published data from six different periods (i.e., 1970-79, 1980-89, 1990-99, 2000-09, 2010-19, and 2000-2022). A total of 229 peer-reviewed accessible articles were investigated, of which, 17 articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Most of the studies on MPXD CFR were published in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) providing 47% of data for the current meta-analysis. The overall pooled CFR of MPXD was 4.14% (range: 0.62% â 9.51%) during 1970â2022. In this study, total of 379 death cases were found from published MPXV based research articles where the pooled estimate CFR was 1.87%. The pooled CFR was higher during the earlier outbreak of the MPXD such as 10.71% in 1970-1979. With the progress of time, the CFR from MPXD followed a decreasing trend and reached 5.38% in 1980-1999 and 4.45% in 2000-2022. Young male children aged73.0%. This is the first meta-analysis using 52 years of data which indicates that the CFR of MPXV is decreasing from previous years. The findings of this meta-analysis might be paramount for the policymakers to tackle MPXD and minimize the overall CFR of MPXD through strategic actions
CommunicationâTexture and Bandgap Tuning of Phase Pure Cu2O Thin Films Grown by a Simple Potentiostatic Electrodeposition Technique
Highly textured phase pure Cu _2 O thin films have been grown by a simple electrodeposition technique with varying deposition voltages (â0.3 to â1.0 V). The surface morphology characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed that the deposited thin films coherently carpet the underlying substrate and are composed of sharp faceted well-defined grains of 0.5â1.0 ÎŒ m sizes. XRD analyses showed that all films are composed of polycrystalline cubic Cu _2 O phase only and have average crystalline domain size in the range of 30â73 nm. The preferred crystalline orientation of phase pure Cu _2 O films was found to be changing from (200) to (111) with increasing cathodic voltages and showed the highest (111) and (200) crystalline texture coefficient while growing at â1.0 and â0.8 V respectively. The optical bandgap of the as-grown samples was calculated in the range of 1.95â2.20 eV using UVâvis Transmission data. The performance of Cu _2 O/FTO photocathodes was tested by estimating LED âON/OFFâ modulated surface photovoltage into a photoelectrochemical cell at a zero bias
Temporal dynamics and fatality of SARSâCoVâ2 variants in Bangladesh
Abstract Background and Aims Since the beginning of the SARSâCoVâ2 pandemic, multiple new variants have emerged posing an increased risk to global public health. This study aimed to investigate SARSâCoVâ2 variants, their temporal dynamics, infection rate (IFR) and case fatality rate (CFR) in Bangladesh by analyzing the published genomes. Methods We retrieved 6610 complete whole genome sequences of the SARSâCoVâ2 from the GISAID (Global Initiative on Sharing all Influenza Data) platform from March 2020 to October 2022, and performed different inâsilico bioinformatics analyses. The clade and Pango lineages were assigned by using Nextclade v2.8.1. SARSâCoVâ2 infections and fatality data were collected from the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Bangladesh. The average IFR was calculated from the monthly COVIDâ19 cases and population size while average CFR was calculated from the number of monthly deaths and number of confirmed COVIDâ19 cases. Results SARSâCoVâ2 first emerged in Bangladesh on March 3, 2020 and created three pandemic waves so far. The phylogenetic analysis revealed multiple introductions of SARSâCoVâ2 variant(s) into Bangladesh with at least 22 Nextstrain clades and 107 Pangolin lineages with respect to the SARSâCoVâ2 reference genome of Wuhan/Huâ1/2019. The Delta variant was detected as the most predominant (48.06%) variant followed by Omicron (27.88%), Beta (7.65%), Alpha (1.56%), Eta (0.33%) and Gamma (0.03%) variant. The overall IFR and CFR from circulating variants were 13.59% and 1.45%, respectively. A timeâdependent monthly analysis showed significant variations in the IFR (pâ=â0.012, KruskalâWallis test) and CFR (pâ=â0.032, KruskalâWallis test) throughout the study period. We found the highest IFR (14.35%) in 2020 while Delta (20A) and Beta (20H) variants were circulating in Bangladesh. Remarkably, the highest CFR (1.91%) from SARSâCoVâ2 variants was recorded in 2021. Conclusion Our findings highlight the importance of genomic surveillance for careful monitoring of variants of concern emergence to interpret correctly their relative IFR and CFR, and thus, for implementation of strengthened public health and social measures to control the spread of the virus. Furthermore, the results of the present study may provide important context for sequenceâbased inference in SARSâCoVâ2 variant(s) evolution and clinical epidemiology beyond Bangladesh
The reactive cholera vaccination campaign in urban Dhaka in 2022: experience, lessons learned and future directions
Introduction: An upsurge of diarrheal cases occurred in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with approximately 30% of the cases being identified as cholera in 2022. To combat this situation, a reactive Oral Cholera Vaccination campaign was organized in five highly cholera-affected areas of Dhaka city. The paper is a descriptive tale of experience gathering, organization and implementation of reactive oral cholera vaccination campaign. Study design: This is a descriptive report of a reactive oral cholera vaccination campaign. Methods: Population density maps were generated using GIS technology before launching the campaign. The target population comprised individuals aged over one year, excluding pregnant women, totaling 2,374,976 people residing in above mentioned areas. The campaign utilized Euvichol-Plus, an OCV with adherence to the necessary cold chain requirements. Total 700 teams, each consisting of six members, were deployed across the five zones. The campaign was conducted in two rounds, where first round took place in JuneâJuly 2022, followed by second round in August 2022. During the campaign, data on adverse events following immunization (AEFI) was collected. Expert teams from various government and non-government organizations monitored regularly and ensured the campaign's success. Results: The first round achieved a coverage rate of 99%, whereas in the second round, 86.3% of individuals among the first dose recipients. During the campaigns, a total of 57 AEFIs were reported. Conclusions: This campaign serves as a model for a multispectral approach in combating cholera epidemics, highlighting the collaborative efforts of policymakers, health authorities, local communities, and health partners
Health-Promoting Potential of Millet: A Review
Being a key source of animal food, millet production has been sharply increasing over the last few years in order to cope with the dietary requirements of the ever-increasing world population. It is a splendid source of essential nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, fat, minerals, vitamins, and also some other bioactive compounds that eventually help through multiple biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-cholesterol, anti-hypertensive, anthropometric effects and regulation of gut microbiota composition. These bioactive compounds, nutrients, and functions of cereal grains can be affected by processing techniques such as decortication, soaking, malting, milling, fermentation, etc. This study discusses the nutritional and functional properties of millet-incorporated foods and their impact on health, based on around 150 articles between 2015 and 2022 from the Web of Science, Google Scholar, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Breeding Bid Survey (BBS), and FoodData Central (USDA) databases. Analyzing literature reviews, it is evident that the incorporation of millet and its constituents into foodstuffs could be useful against undernourishment and several other health diseases. Additionally, this review provides crucial information about the beneficial features of millet, which can serve as a benchmark of guidelines for industry, consumers, researchers, and nutritionists
Electrochemical biosensing strategies for DNA methylation analysis
DNA methylation is one of the key epigenetic modifications of DNA that results from the enzymatic addition of a methyl group at the fifth carbon of the cytosine base. It plays a crucial role in cellular development, genomic stability and gene expression. Aberrant DNA methylation is responsible for the pathogenesis of many diseases including cancers. Over the past several decades, many methodologies have been developed to detect DNA methylation. These methodologies range from classical molecular biology and optical approaches, such as bisulfite sequencing, microarrays, quantitative real-time PCR, colorimetry, Raman spectroscopy to the more recent electrochemical approaches. Among these, electrochemical approaches offer sensitive, simple, specific, rapid, and cost-effective analysis of DNA methylation. Additionally, electrochemical methods are highly amenable to miniaturization and possess the potential to be multiplexed. In recent years, several reviews have provided information on the detection strategies of DNA methylation. However, to date, there is no comprehensive evaluation of electrochemical DNA methylation detection strategies. Herein, we address the recent developments of electrochemical DNA methylation detection approaches. Furthermore, we highlight the major technical and biological challenges involved in these strategies and provide suggestions for the future direction of this important field