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A novel type of porous films based on the ZnO-incorporated chitosan–poly(methacrylic acid) polyelectrolyte complex was developed as a wound healing material. The structure of porous films was established by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and porosity studies revealed that the pore size and porosity of the developed films increased with the increase in zinc oxide (ZnO) concentration. The porous films with maximum ZnO content exhibited improved water swelling degree (1400%), controlled biodegradation (12%) for 28 days, a porosity of 64%, and a tensile strength of 0.47 MPa. Moreover, these films presented antibacterial activity toward Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus sp. due to the existence of ZnO particles. Cytotoxicity studies demonstrated that the developed films had no cytotoxicity against the mouse mesenchymal stem (C3H10T1/2) cell line. These results reveal that ZnO-incorporated chitosan-poly(methacrylic acid) films could be used as an ideal material for wound healing application.

Biopolymers are mainly the polymers which are created or obtained from living creatures such as plants and bacteria rather than petroleum, which has traditionally been the source of polymers. Biopolymers are chain-like molecules composed of repeated chemical blocks derived from renewable resources that may decay in the environment. The usage of biomaterials is becoming more popular as a means of reducing the use of non-renewable resources and reducing environmental pollution produced by synthetic materials. Biopolymers' biodegradability and non-toxic nature help to maintain our environment clean and safe. This study discusses how to improve the mechanical and physical characteristics of biopolymers, particularly in the realm of bioengineering. The paper begins with a fundamental introduction and progresses to a detailed examination of synthesis and a unique investigation of several recent focused biopolymers with mechanical, physical, and biological characterization. Biopolymers' unique non-toxicity, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and eco-friendly features are boosting their applications, especially in bioengineering fields, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, biomedical, ecological, industrial, aqua treatment, and food packaging, among others, at the end of this paper. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the relevance of biopolymers in smart and novel bioengineering applications. Graphical abstract The Graphical abstract represents the biological sources and applications of biopolymers. Plants, bacteria, animals, agriculture wastes, and fossils are all biological sources for biopolymers, which are chemically manufactured from biological monomer units, including sugars, amino acids, natural fats and oils, and nucleotides. Biopolymer modification (chemical or physical) is recognized as a crucial technique for modifying physical and chemical characteristics, resulting in novel materials with improved capabilities and allowing them to be explored to their full potential in many fields of application such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, agriculture, biomedical, food industries, and industrial applications.

In the past few decades, extensive research has been carried out to develop efficient photocatalysts at the expense of exclusive material engineering approaches. Besides materials engineering, photocatalytic reaction parameters such as catalyst loading, irradiation intensity, reaction temperature, ultrasound, pH, and initial concentration also play a vital role in improving the overall performance of the photocatalytic process. In sharp contrast, the current study aims to showcase the role of core reaction parameters in optimizing the performance of the photocatalyst for efficient photocatalysis and ultrasound-assisted photocatalysis (sonophotocatalaysis). This work has two-fold objectives. Primarily, this study is intended to identify the core parameters involve in photocatalytic/sonophotocatalytic process from the comprehensive literature review followed by the experimental validation to optimize the same. Consequently, it has been established that under optimal reaction conditions, the synergistic effect of photocatalysis along with sonication holds better performance compared to the standalone process. The current study validates that the optimization of the different reaction parameters can boost the performance of the photocatalytic process significantly without employing exceptionally sophisticated and expensive approaches. Thus, the assessment of various factors associated with photocatalysis could be the vital for large-scale applications.

The full behaviour of natural clay minerals in soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization in the presence of oxides and external C inputs is yet unknown. Thus, an incubation experiment was conducted in a sand–clay mixture with different soil clay fractions (SCFs) obtained from Alfisol, Inceptisol, Mollisol, and Vertisol in the presence of wheat residues to compare their C stabilization capacity. The C mineralization rates were higher in 1:1 type dominated SCFs (Alfisol and Inceptisol) compared to 2:1 interstratified mineral dominated SCFs (Vertisol). Wheat residues as C source altered SCFs’ abilities to stabilize SOC at only moderate dosages of application (3–12 g kg −1 ). C mineralization and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) fell by 40% and 30%, respectively, as the amount of clay increased from 7.5 to 40%. However, removing sesquioxides from the SCFs boosted C mineralization and MBC by 22% and 16–32%, respectively, which matched with higher enzymatic activities in the sand–clay mixture. The increased C stabilization capacity of Vertisol-SCF may be attributed to its greater specific surface area (SSA) (506 m 2  g −1 ) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) [meq/100 g]. Regression analysis revealed that SSA, CEC, and enzymatic activity explained approximately 86% of total variations in C mineralization. This study highlighted the critical role of 2:1 expanding clay minerals and sesquioxides in greater stabilization of external C input compared to its 1:1 counterpart. It also implied that the role of mineralogy or texture and sesquioxides levels in different soils (Vertisol, Mollisol, Inceptisol, Alfisol) should be prioritized while adding crop residues to reduce C footprint and enhance sequestration. Graphical abstract

Metal oxide nanoparticles have emerged as a technological force, exhibiting rapid expansion in the realms of electronics, catalysis, medical science, and chemical industries now-a-days. Among those, copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) have pulled together a great deal of interest because of their diverse properties and potential applications in the fields of nanomedicine and biomedical sciences. The environmental protection agency in the United States approved Cu-based alloys to be used in humans, and reports have proven that Cu is a trace element in various regulatory and signaling pathways involved in humans, which clearly indicates CuO NPs are biocompatible in nature as well. CuO NPs can be synthesized by two methods: bottom-up and top-down approaches, respectively, and the synthesis method parameters have a direct impact on the morphology and biomedical properties. CuO NPs are developed and deployed in various biomedical applications, such as anticancer, antimicrobial, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and biosensors. This review summarizes and discusses all the lacunae found so far, such as molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial and anticancer effects of CuO NPs, surface or targeted therapy, and controlled and targeted release of drugs. It also highlights the recent advancement and current status of CuO NPs in biomedical applications. Although there are many research and advancement in the field still many research gaps and challenges are yet to be resolved before bringing it to the commercial level. Graphical abstract The graphical abstract describes the synthesis and formation of copper oxide nanoparticles. By e-ncapsulation and preventing nanoparticles agglomeration, the stability and cytocompatibility of nanoparticles including their biomedical applications like antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, biosensor, drug delivery, tissue engineering, etc. can be controlled.

Mechanisms of soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization has received much focus recently due to its relevance in controlling the global carbon (C) cycle. Clay minerals are known to stabilize SOC through mechanisms such as, ligand exchange, polyvalent cation bridging, electrostatic attraction, H-bonding, and van der Waals forces. Most studies focused on clay organic interactions derived from geological deposits. However, the effect of pedogenic clay on SOC stability is still lacking especially in tropical conditions like India. Therefore, the impact of clay with different mineralogy such as smectite, 2:1 interstratified minerals, illite, kaolinite on soil C mineralization, and labile C fractions in four distinct soils under natural conditions was evaluated. The results indicated that the cumulative C mineralization (CO 2 -C cum ) was the highest in Mollisol (0.97 g C kg -1 ) and Vertisol (0.96g C kg -1 ), which was dominated by kaolinite+illite+chlorite–interstratified minerals and smectite/2:1 interstratified minerals, respectively followed by Alfisol and Inceptisol, which was dominated by kaolinite and illite. The percentage of SOC loss showed opposite trend where the highest SOC loss was accounted in Inceptisol (10.1%) and Alfisol (9.02%) whereas Mollisol and Vertisol lost lowest amount of SOC. Labile C fractions and dehydrogenase activity were significantly higher in Mollisol and Vertisol over Alfisol and Inceptisol. Specific surface area (SSA) ( r = 0.65, P ≤ 0.05) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) ( r = 0.62, P ≤ 0.05) positively correlated with C mineralization and labile C fractions and negatively correlated with percentage SOC loss. Principal component analysis confirmed that varying mineralogy significantly influenced the sequestration of labile C in soil under natural conditions. This study highlighted the positive influence of 2:1 expanding/limited expanding clay mineralogy in sequestering and stabilizing labile C in soil.

Photoactive semiconductor nanomaterials are the most emerging area of research for both solar photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications. Among the different photoactive materials Degussa P25 is one of the best and commercialized semiconductor material for photocatalytic applications. Degussa P25 is a mixed phase (Anatase and Rutile) heterojunction photocatalyst with superior photocatalytic performance under UV irradiation. Material engineering along with optimization of catalyst loading, radiation intensity and reaction temperature plays a vital role for improving the photocatalytic performance of any semiconductor photoactive material. In the current study the effect of catalyst loading, radiation intensity and temperature on photocatalytic performance of Degussa P25 under UV irradiation has been systematically investigated. The results reveal that high catalyst loading can reduce the photocatalytic performance of Degussa P25 rather than increasing. The increase in the radiation intensity can improve the photocatalytic performance of Degussa P25. Additionally, the increase in the reaction temperature showed an improved photocatalytic performance under UV irradiation. However more detailed analysis is needed for better understanding. This study reveals the necessity of optimization of the catalyst loading, reaction temperature and radiation intensity for efficient photocatalytic performance of Degussa P25.

The intrinsic alignment (IA) of galaxies acts as a systematic effect in weak lensing measurements and tends to introduce biases. It mimics the gravitational lensing signal which makes it difficult to distinguish it from the true gravitational weak lensing effect. Hence, it is critical to account for the noise for correctly interpreting the results. This study aims at a quantitative analysis of IA using the Tidal Alignment and Tidal Torquing (TATT) model. We also investigate how the signals for shear and galaxy-galaxy lensing behave upon changing the parameters of the TATT model. The data for this study was prepared with a computational pipeline based on the Cocoa model to explore the parameter space of the intrinsic shape signal. Through this work, we identify that linear terms of the intrinsic shape signal are dominant in the case of GGL while the higher-order terms dictate the shear signal.

Assembly joining process selection is a knowledge-intensive task that needs an efficient tool to capture, represent, reuse, and share knowledge related to various joint requirements. This paper presents an ontology-based knowledge framework for identifying the appropriate assembly joining process to support designers and process planners effectively. A joining process selection (JPS) ontology is developed to represent different core concepts like feature, material, product, joint requirement, and joining process. Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) is used for ontology mapping of joining process selection concepts to retrieve the required knowledge for process selection that integrates several instances and knowledge rules. Further, a five-step sequential procedure is established to select the joining process from the CAD model automatically. The proposed approach automatically infers the possible, probable, and most probable joining processes through rule-based reasoning. Based on the evaluation of the ontology, the precision, recall, and F-measure obtained are 89.4%, 85.7%, and 87.5%, respectively. Finally, the efficacy of the ontology is evaluated using industrial case studies from the automotive and aerospace industry.

This study examines the effect of a teacher's sense of humor on the academic achievement of university students. A total of 180 university students, 90 from arts and 90 from science, were asked to rate their teacher's sense of humor in the classroom. An investigator measures the effect of teachers' sense of humor on their academic achievement. Where the investigator used stratified random sampling for sample selection, an ex post facto research method was used as the study's design. The findings showed a significant difference between the perceived teacher's sense of humor and university students' academic achievement concerning their stream. The study also revealed that teachers who use humor in the classroom are more approachable and likable, which may increase engagement and motivation to learn. The implications of these findings suggest that incorporating humor in the classroom can be an effective strategy for improving students' performance.