Synthesis of nanoporous TiO2 materials using a doubly surfactant system and applying them as useful adsorbents

Hydrothermal and non-hydrothermal nanoporous TiO₂ materials were synthesized via a doubly surfactant route by using cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactants as the molecular template/structure directing agent. Hydrothermal treatment was performed for comparison. The bulk chemical and phase compositions, crystalline structures, particle morphologies, thermal stabilities and surface texturing were determined by means of X-ray powder analysis, SEM and N₂ sorptiometry. The nanoporous TiO₂ materials were found to have a spherical morphology with a diameter range of 50–200 nm and a high surface area (390 m² g^?1). Hydrothermal and non-hydrothermal nanoporous TiO₂ materials were applied for adsorption of heavy metal cations and the toxic organic compound, copper phthalocyanine, from water for evaluation of their adsorption properties. Both nanoporous TiO₂ materials were found to have similar adsorption capacities toward heavy metal cations and CuPc. Both hydrothermal and non-hydrothermal TiO₂ nanoporous materials were found to have very good potential for application as a new adsorbent especially for adsorbing heavy metal cations from wastewaters.     

Heat Transfer and Hydrodynamic Performance Analysis of a Miniature Tangential Heat Sink Using Al2O3–H2O and TiO2–H2O Nanofluids

In this article, thermal and hydrodynamic performances of a miniature tangential heat sink are investigated experimentally by using Al₂O₃–H₂O and TiO₂–H₂O nanofluids. The effects of flow rate and volume concentration on the thermal performance have been investigated for the Reynolds number range of 210 to 1,100. Experimental results show that the average convective heat transfer coefficient increases 14 and 11% and the bottom temperature of the heat sink decreases 2.2°C and 1.6°C by using Al₂O₃–H₂O and TiO₂–H₂O nanofluid instead of pure distilled water, respectively.     

Simultaneous quantitative analysis of polyphenolic compounds in human plasma by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A diet rich in polyphenolic compounds has recognized health benefits, and as such is routinely monitored as part of dietary intervention studies. A method for the simultaneous determination of 36 phenolic compounds, including phenolic acids and flavonoids, using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry is described here. The target analytes were quantified based on their specific mass spectral fragments using a selected reaction monitoring approach. A C18 column with embedded aromatic functionality ensured separation of all phenolic compounds studied which included several pairs of isomers. Sample preparation involved the use of β‐glucuronidase to release the phenolic compounds from their conjugated forms. The intra‐day and inter‐day precision and accuracy was less than 7% for all phenolic compounds studied. Recoveries, where plasma was spiked with three different concentrations of the analytes, ranged from 95–115%. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.23–3.89 and 1.15–7.79 nM, respectively. The method was successfully applied to real samples and the range reported for each phenolic compound, with the exception of hydroferulic acid, nordihydroguaiaretic acid, methylgallate, and m‐coumaric acid, was at least an order of magnitude higher than the limit of quantification for the method.     

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids-Free Extract from the Cell Culture of Lithospermum officinale with High Antioxidant Capacity

The benefits of Lithospermum officinale has encouraged people to continue using its extract (CAS 90063-58-4) in both medicinal and cosmetic industries despite the fact that chemical analysis confirms the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in the extract. While the cultivation of L. officinale takes, at least, 2 years to produce usable crops, its callus culture proliferated 8.3 times with 4.9-fold biomass in less than 30 days under the applied conditions in this study. Under the applied conditions, the cell extract contained no toxic PAs while phenylpropanoid pathway was active toward phenolic acids formation not toward naphthoquinone derivatives. Rosmarinic acid was produced as the main constituent. Total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of the proliferated cell extracts were similar to those of the extracts of the natural plant tissues, in particular from the root. These results support the idea that the extract of L. officinale cells can be a reliable substitute for the extract of the natural plant tissues.

     

A highly selective and sensitive cocaine aptasensor based on covalent attachment of the aptamer-functionalized AuNPs onto nanocomposite as the support platform

Based on the conformational changes of the aptamer-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) onto MWCNTs/IL/Chit nanocomposite as the support platform, we have developed a sensitive and selective electrochemical aptasensor for the detection of cocaine. The 5′-amine-3′-AuNP terminated aptamer is covalently attached to a MWCNTs/IL/Chit nanocomposite. The interaction of cocaine with the aptamer functionalized AuNP caused the aptamer to be folded and the AuNPs with negative charge at the end of the aptamer came to the near of electrode surface therefore, the electron transfer between ferricyanide (K₃Fe(CN)₆) as redox probe and electrode surface was inhibited. A decreased current of (K₃Fe(CN)₆) was monitored by differential pulse voltammetry technique. In an optimized condition the calibration curve for cocaine concentration was linear up to 11 μM with detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio of 3) of 100 pM. To test the selectivity of the prepared aptasensor sensing platform applicability, some analgesic drugs as the interferes were examined. The potential of the aptasensor was successfully applied for measuring cocaine concentration in human blood serum. Based on our experiments it can be said that the present method is absolutely beneficial in developing other electrochemical aptasensor.     

Prediction of retinopathy in diabetic patients using type-2 fuzzy regression model

Due to the small sample size of data available in medical research and the levels of uncertainty and ambiguity associated with medical data, some researchers have employed fuzzy regression models to find the relationship between outcomes and explanatory variables in medical decision-making. The advantages of regression models are their ability to handle small sample sizes while fuzzy logic can model vagueness, thus making fuzzy regression a popular model among researchers. In addition, the high levels of uncertainty in medical data encourage the use of type-2 fuzzy which is capable of handling such uncertainty. The current paper proposes an interval type-2 fuzzy regression model for predicting retinopathy in diabetic patients. The results of the present work shall prevent unnecessary testing of diabetic patient. This study also aims to assist patients and the healthcare community to reduce the cost of diabetes control and treatment by optimizing the number of check-ups.     

New method to posynomial geometric programming of trapezoidal fuzzy numbers

This paper presents a method for solving posynomial geometric programming with fuzzy coefficients. By utilizing comparison of fuzzy numbers with a method, the programming with fuzzy coefficients is reduced to the programming with constant coefficients. Then the programming with fuzzy coefficients can be solved by using a method for posynomial geometric programming. Finally, one comparative example is used to illustrate advantage of the new method.     

Biosynthesis of Fe3O4-magnetic nanoparticles using clover leaf aqueous extract: Green synthesis of 1,3-benzoxazole derivatives

In this research, magnetic Fe₃O₄-NP nanoparticles were synthesized employing a green biosynthetic procedure by reduction of ferric chloride solution with clover leaf water extract. The nanoparticles prepared via this biosynthesis method can potentially be valuable for different purposes such as organic synthesis. In this research, 1,3-benzoxazole derivatives were generated via a multicomponent reaction of α-bromo ketones, isothiocyanate, and propiolate in the presence of a catalytic amount of bio-Fe₃O₄ MNPs and sodium hydride in water at 50°C in good yields. The catalyst was reused five times with a minor decrease in its catalytic activity.     

Nested splitting CG-like iterative method for solving the continuous Sylvester equation and preconditioning

We present a nested splitting conjugate gradient iteration method for solving large sparse continuous Sylvester equation, in which both coefficient matrices are (non-Hermitian) positive semi-definite, and at least one of them is positive definite. This method is actually inner/outer iterations, which employs the Sylvester conjugate gradient method as inner iteration to approximate each outer iterate, while each outer iteration is induced by a convergent and Hermitian positive definite splitting of the coefficient matrices. Convergence conditions of this method are studied and numerical experiments show the efficiency of this method. In addition, we show that the quasi-Hermitian splitting can induce accurate, robust and effective preconditioned Krylov subspace methods.