Explore the vast range of titles available.

Shortage of drinking water has gained potential interest over the last few decades. Discharged industrial effluent, including various toxic pollutants, to water surfaces is one of the most serious environmental issues. The adsorption technique has become a widely studied method for the removal of toxic pollutants, specifically synthetic dyes, from wastewater due to its cost-effectiveness, high selectivity, and ease of operation. In this study, a novel gelatin-crosslinked-poly(acrylamide- co -itaconic acid)/montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay nanocomposites-based adsorbent has been prepared for removing malachite green (MG) dye from an aqueous solution. Modified gelatin nanocomposites were synthesized using a free-radical polymerization technique in the presence and absence of MMT. Various analytical instrumentation: including FTIR, FESEM, XRD, and TEM techniques were used to elucidate the chemical structure and surface morphology of the prepared samples. Using a batch adsorption experiment, Langmuir isotherm model showed that the prepared modified gelatin nanocomposite had a maximum adsorption capacity of 950.5 mg/g using 350 mg/L of MG dye at pH 9 within 45 min. Furthermore, the regeneration study showed good recyclability for the obtained nanocomposite through four consecutive reusable cycles. Therefore, the fabricated gelatin nanocomposite is an attractive adsorbent for MG dye elimination from aqueous solutions.

In this work, titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 NPs) and modified TiO 2 NPs with silver (Ag) or platinum (Pt) dopant were developed through photodeposition method for the NO x conversion into nitric acid (HNO 3 ) under visible light irradiation. The formed photocatalysts TiO 2 , Ag/TiO 2 , and Pt/TiO 2 nanocomposites were characterized by utilizing TEM, SEM, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), XRD, UV/visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), and FT-IR. It had been investigated that an enhancement within the conversion of NO x into HNO 3 was increased from 34.3 to 78.3% for Ag/TiO 2 and from 35.2 to 78.5% for Pt/TiO 2 under visible light irradiation conditions at room temperature for less than 2 h. The photodegradation rate order of NO x under visible light irradiation is Pt/TiO 2 ~ Ag/TiO 2 > TiO 2 . A possible mechanism for the catalytic conversion of NO x gases has been proposed, which depends on the photogeneration of electrons and holes after the excitation of nanocatalysts under visible radiation that promoted superoxide and hydroxyl ions, which can depredate NO x gases. This approach of NO x photocatalytic conversion is characterized by its chemical stability, low cost, high efficiency, simple operation, and strong durability than traditional methods.

The design of reactors based on high performance photocatalysts is an important research in catalytic hydrogenation. In this work, modification of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 NPs) was achieved by preparation of Pt/TiO 2 nanocomposites (NCs) through photo-deposition method. Both nanocatalysts were used for the photocatalytic removal of SOx from the flue gas at room temperature in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, water, and nitroacetanilide derivatives under visible light irradiation. In this approach, chemical deSOx was achieved along with protection of the nanocatalyst from sulfur poising through the interaction of the released SOx from SOx-Pt/TiO 2 surface with p-nitroacetanilide derivatives to produce simultaneous aromatic sulfonic acids. Pt/TiO 2 NCs have a bandgap of 2.64 eV in visible light range, which is lower than the bandgap of TiO 2 NPs, whereas TiO 2 NPs have a mean size of 4 nm and a high specific surface area of 226 m 2 /g. Pt/TiO 2 NCs showed high photocatalytic sulfonation of some phenolic compounds using SO 2 as a sulfonating agent along with the existence of p-nitroactanilide derivatives. The conversion of p-nitroacetanilide followed the combination processes of adsorption and catalytic oxidation–reduction reactions. Construction of an online continuous flow reactor–high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry system had been investigated, realizing real-time and automatic monitoring of completion the reaction. 4-nitroacetanilide derivatives ( 1a-1e) was converted to its corresponding sulfamic acid derivatives ( 2a–2e) in 93–99% isolated yields of within 60 s. It is expected to offer a great opportunity for ultrafast detection of pharmacophores.

Agricultural and agro-industrial wastes (e.g., potato peel waste) are causing severe environmental problems. The processes of pretreatment, saccharification, and fermentation are the major obstacles in bioethanol production from wastes and must be overcome by efficient novel techniques. The effect of exposing the fungi (yeast) Saccharomyces cerevisiae to laser source with the addition of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (g-C 3 N 4 ) with different concentrations on bioethanol production was investigated through the implementation of a batch anaerobic system and using potato peel waste (PPW). Dichromate test was implemented as quantitative analysis for quantification of the bioethanol yield. The benefits of this test were the appearance of green color indicating the identification of ethanol (C 2 H 5 OH) by bare eye and the ease to calculate the bioethanol yield through UV–visible spectrophotometry. The control sample (0.0 ppm of g-C 3 N 4 ) showed only a 4% yield of bioethanol; however, by adding 150 ppm to PPW medium, 22.61% of ethanol was produced. Besides, laser irradiations (blue and red) as influencing parameters were studied with and without the addition of g-C 3 N 4 nanomaterials aiming to increase the bioethanol. It was determined that the laser irradiation can trigger the bioethanol production (in case of red: 13.13% and in case of blue: 16.14% yields, respectively) compared to the control sample (in absence of g-C 3 N 4 ). However, by adding different concentrations of g-C 3 N 4 nanomaterials from 5 to 150 ppm, the bioethanol yield was increased as follows: in case of red: 56.11% and, in case of blue: 56.77%, respectively. It was found that using fungi and exposing it to the blue laser diode source having a wavelength of 450 nm and a power of 250 mW for a duration of 30 min with the addition of 150 mg L −1 of g-C 3 N 4 nanomaterials delivered the highest bioethanol yield from PPW.

Critical-sized bone defects (CSBDs) are causing a significant challenge in orthopedic surgery for their inability to heal spontaneously, demanding innovative biomaterials to enhance bone formation. Current therapies, as autografts and allografts, are restricted by donor site morbidity and immune rejection. The current study presents a novel, biocompatible composite material formed of nano-graphene oxide (nGO), mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), and hydroxyapatite (HAp) and designed to synergistically control the unique characters of each component. The novelty of this composite is due to its composition as it formed via the combination of nGO for enhancement of the mechanical strength and the cell proliferation, MTA for its higher bioactivity and its ability for cement formation, while the HAp having optimum biocompatibility and osteoconductivity, this synergistic interaction was not previously explored for CSBD repair. The current study utilized a rat model of critical-sized radial bone defects. The nGO/MTA/HAp composite was manufactured by consuming a modified Hummer’s method for nGO, combined with commercially available MTA and HAp. Radiographic and computed tomography (CT) evaluation at 2-, 4-, and 8-weeks post-operation elaborating the progressive bone formation in the treated group compared to minimal changes in the untreated group. Histopathological examination demonstrated strong composite integration, massive cellular infiltration, and strong signs of osteoblast differentiation, causing approximately 75–85% defect closure at the 8th week. The current study highlights the potential of the nGO/MTA/HAp composite as a biocompatible and osteoinductive composite for CSBD repair, presenting enhanced mechanical strength, bioactivity, and osteoconductivity.

Unanimous action to achieve specific goals is crucial for the success of a robotic swarm. This requires clearly defined roles and precise communication between the robots of a swarm. An optimized task allocation algorithm defines the mechanism and logistics of decision-making that enable the robotic swarm to achieve such common goals. With more nodes, the traffic of messages that are required to communicate inside the swarm relatively increases to maintain decentralization. Increased traffic eliminates real-time capabilities, which is an essential aspect of a swarm system. The aim of this research is to reduce execution time while retaining efficient power consumption rates. In this research, two novel decentralized swarm communication algorithms are proposed, namely Clustered Dynamic Task Allocation–Centralized Loop (CDTA-CL) and Clustered Dynamic Task Allocation–Dual Loop (CDTA-DL), both inspired by the Clustered Dynamic Task Allocation (CDTA) algorithm. Moreover, a simulation tool was developed to simulate different swarm-clustered communication algorithms in order to calculate the total communication time and consumed power. The results of testing the proposed CDTA-DL and CDTA-CL against the CDTA attest that the proposed algorithm consumes substantially less time. Both CDTA-DL and CDTA-CL have achieved a significant speedup of 75.976% and 54.4% over CDTA, respectively.

The soil-borne fungus Macrophomina phaseolina causes charcoal rot, which is one of the most damaging threats to the faba bean in Egypt. The goal of this work was to investigate the inhibitory effects of silver nanoparticles AgNPs on Modiolula phaseolina in vitro, as well as their effectiveness in reducing the incidence of charcoal rot in greenhouse settings. AgNPs were synthesized using a chemical and biological technique in this work. Aqueous trisodium citrate was used to synthesize chemical-AgNPs. However, biological-AgNPs were synthesized using the active chemical components (hesperidin and ascoebic acid are main products) occurred in orange ( Citrus sinensis L.) peel extracts. The as-synthesized AgNPs (chemo-ANPs or bio-AgNPs) were full characterized using UV–Vible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Bio-AgNPs with spherical forms were found to have an average diameter of 32-47 nm. The antifungal activity of the aqueous extract of orange peel, chemo- and bio-AgNPs at doses of 0, 10, 25, 50, and 100 ppm was tested in vitro against the most virulent isolate of M. phaseolina (isolate number Mp3). It was demonstrated that the orange peel extract showed no antifungal activity. However chemo-AgNPs showed an inhibiting M. phaseolina (Mp3) radial development by 60.5% at a concentration of 100 ppm. In addition, bio-AgNPs were shown to have potential antifungal efficacy, inhibiting the radial growth of M. phaseolina (Mp3) by 100% at a concentration of 100 ppm. In a greenhouse experiment, faba bean seeds treated with bio-AgNPs significantly reduced the incidence of damping-off and charcoal rot diseases and raised the percent of survival plants under greenhouse conditions and soil infested with M. phaseolina . The use of bio-AgNPs improves the growth of faba bean plants growing in greenhouse conditions. As a result, photo-biosynthesized AgNPs from orange peel extract can be employed as a nano-fungicide and nano-fertilizer for faba bean production.

Disturbed sleep can cause to m health problems such as cognitive impairment, depressed mood, and negative effects on cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune function. This study formulates and optimizes Eszopiclone trilaminate fast dissolving film. Prepared Eszopiclone trilaminate fast dissolving film (Eszopiclone TFDF) was characterized by disintegration time, drug release, tensile strength (TS), percentage elongation (EB%), folding endurance, taste masking test, and in vitro dissolution test. The selected formulas were F2 (0.5% xanthan gum, 10% propylene glycol), F4 (3% sodium alginate, 10% propylene glycol) and F6 (1.5% pullulan, 10% propylene glycol) were subjected to in vivo study compared to conventional Lunesta® tablet. The results indicated that disintegration time was in the range of 940 m. Drug release was found to be in the field of 78.51%-99.99%, while TS values and EB% differed from 11.12 to 25.74 (MPa) and 25.38%-36.43%, respectively. The folding endurance went between 200 and 300 times. All formulas exhibited acceptable uniformity content, surface pH, film thickness, and a good taste feeling. F4 had the highest Cmax (39.741 ± 6.785-μg/l) and lower Tmax (1.063 hr) among other formulas and conventional tablets. Therefore, FDFs' technology could increase the therapeutic effect of Eszopiclone.

Siwa Oasis is of great historical, environmental, and scientific importance, as it contains unique archeological and geological features. Groundwater is the main source of freshwater in that oasis. The carbonate aquifer groundwater, used for irrigation, was sampled to evaluate factors controlling quality changes spatially and temporally by applying hydrochemical and statistical analyses. The salinity of the aquifer varied spatially from 1367 to 8645 mg/l based on one hydrogeological condition, with the highest TDS (> 5432.5 mg/l, 25% of samples) at the central part of the study area. Temporally, the salinity changed slightly from 3754.3 mg/l (in 2014) to 4222.4 mg/l (in 2020). The cession of illegal wells, pumping control, and excavation of formed salts have a noticeable impact on salinity (mediate the increase in salinity) and ions. However, about 61% of the studied samples can be considered unsuitable for irrigation owing to salinity and can harm plant yield. The heavy metals studied (Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb), except Cd, were within the permissible limit for irrigation water. Finally, it is proposed to construct desalination stations to enhance water quality for irrigation in the study area and set up many companies for salt extraction.

Contamination of water is considered the most potential problem recently due to significant toxic pollutants such as heavy metal ions and pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, we report the synthesis of antimicrobial cross-linked gelatin hydrogels as a dual functional adsorbent for wastewater treatment from toxic heavy metal ions (as copper) and several pathogenic microorganisms; including E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and Candidaalbicans. The cross-linked gelatin hydrogels were prepared in the presence of different concentrations of methylene bisacrylamide as a crosslinking agent via free-radical polymerization approach. Chemical structure of the prepared cross-linked gelatin hydrogels was successfully elucidated using several physicochemical tools: FTIR, XRD, EDX, and SEM, and TGA. The maximum swelling capacity of the prepared hydrogels reached a peak of 1821% at a hydrogel yield of 223.3%. While the adsorption data of Cu (II) ions from an aqueous solution revealed that maximum adsorption capacity was recorded as 564.9 mg/g at optimum conditions: 10 mL of 100 ppm of Cu (II) ions, 4 mg of adsorbent, pH 6, and an adsorption time of 12 min. The adsorption findings exhibited that adsorption behaviour was well-fitting to Langmuir isotherm with R2 of 0.9998. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity data showed superior antimicrobial activity for the as-prepared cross-linked grafted gelatin hydrogels against all tested microorganisms: E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and Candida albicans, with inhibition zone diameters of; 28, 23, 20 and 18 mm. Therefore, our cross-linked grafted gelatin hydrogels adsorbent is a very promising adsorbent for wastewater treatment, especially, for the fast and efficient capture of Cu ions from aqueous solutions and inhibiting the growth of several pathogenic microorganisms.