A novel carbon/chitosan paste electrode for electrochemical detection of normetanephrine in the urine

Normetanephrine is a marker for pheochromocytoma, a rare catecholamine-secreting and neuroendocrine tumor, that arises from sympathetic and parasympathetic paraganglia. In this work, a novel carbon/chitosan electrode paste was used for sensitive voltammetric determination of normetanephrine and dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid and uric acid. The modified electrode has shown an increase in the effective area of up to 68%, well-separated oxidation peaks, and an excellent electrocatalytic activity. The electrochemical response characteristics were investigated by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry. Interestingly, high sensitivity and selectivity in the linear range of normetanephrine, dopamine, ascorbic acid, and uric acid concentrations were observed. The present method was applied in the urine sample and satisfactory results were obtained showing that this electrode is very suitable in pharmaceutical and clinical preparations.     

Evaluation of occupational noise pollution and attitudes of exposed workers in two metal industries

The purpose of the present study was to determined noise levels and to show the annoyance reaction, hearing loss, hearing impairment by the workers due to the occupational noise exposure according to Iran development of Environment （IDE） and also awareness about effects of noise and use of hearing protective devices （HPD） in the two manufacturing electronic equipment （metal） industries. The present study was carried out among industrial workers and included a sample of lao workers, site 1 （n = 52） and site 2 （n = 78） from two metal industries located in south eastern Iran province of Kerman. In order to attend the objectives of the current study, noise levels evaluation was determined throughout all different work stations in both industries. The results of the study revealed that noise levels in 75% of the stations are higher than limits used for assessment of noise for community response. The result of the study indicated that noise levels in the workplace are （66%） very high, （28%） high and only 6% low. Workers having higher education are much aware of the health impact due to occupational noise. Chi-square analysis indicated that the difference in educational background and not wearing HPD was significant and also a significant relationship was also observed between the impact of occupational noise on the health and education status. This research has clearly demonstrated that the workers in both the metal industries included in this study are at high risk of developing noise induced hearing loss and other associated ailments due to excessive occupational exposure to noise. There is a need to develop and apply a well-defined, comprehensive and enforceable training programs and noise regulation. The study revealed that the workers having higher education （9-12 grades） are much aware of the health impact due to occupational noise exposure. There is a need to establish a hearing conservation programs in both industries, the components of such program include noise assessment, use of hearing protection devices, audiometric and increasing awareness among the workers about the adverse effects of noise.     

Controlling morphology and structure of nanocrystalline cadmium sulfide (CdS) by tailoring solvothermal processing parameters

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) with different morphologies was successfully prepared by solvothermal process by controlling the processing parameters, including nature of precursor and solvent, reaction temperature and process time. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that, in all cases highly pure and crystallized CdS with hexagonal structure were obtained. In addition, it was found that the processing parameters influence on preferable growth direction of CdS nanostructures. Field emission scanning electron microscope analysis showed that CdS nanowires with different aspect ratios were obtained (depending upon the reaction temperature and process time) in presence of sulfur powder and ethylenediamine, whereas CdS nanoparticles were produced by sulfur powder and ethanolamine. Moreover, CdS nanorods were prepared using thiourea and ethylenediamine. Transmission electron microscope image confirmed that CdS nanowire with one of the highest aspect ratio reported in the literature (i.e., 255) was achieved using sulfur powder and ethylenediamine at 200 °C reaction temperature for 72 h process time. UV–Vis absorption spectra of CdS nanostructures prepared under different conditions displayed a blue shift relative to that of bulk CdS due to the quantum size effect.     

Shape invariance for the bent brane with two scalar fields

In this paper, we study the braneworld scenarios in the presence of two real scalar fields coupled by gravity. The first-order formalism for the bent brane (for both de Sitter and anti-de Sitter geometry), leads us to discuss the shape invariance method in the bent brane systems. So, by using the fluctuations of metric and fields we obtain the Schrödinger equation. Then we factorize the corresponding Hamiltonian in terms of multiplication of the first-order differential operators. These first-order operators lead us to obtain the energy spectrum with the help of shape invariance method.     

Synthesis of highly pure nanocrystalline and mesoporous CaTiO3 by a particulate sol–gel route at the low temperature

The low temperature perovskite-type calcium titanate (CaTiO₃) thin films and powders with nanocrystalline and mesoporous structure were prepared by a straightforward particulate sol–gel route. The prepared sol had a narrow particle size distribution about 17 nm. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that, the synthesized powders had highly pure and crystallized CaTiO₃ structure with preferable orientation growth along (1 2 1) direction at 400–800 °C. The activation energy of crystal growth was calculated 5.73 kJ/mol. Furthermore, transmission electron microscope images showed that the average crystallite size of the powders annealed at 400 °C was around 3.5 nm. Field emission scanning electron microscope analysis and atomic force microscope images revealed that, the deposited thin films had uniform, mesoporous and nanocrystalline structure with the average grain size in the range 33–39 nm depending on annealing temperature. Based on Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, the synthesized powders showed mesoporous structure with BET surface area in the range 51–21 m²/g at 400–800 °C. One of the smallest crystallite size and one of the highest surface areas reported in the literature is obtained which can be used in many applications, such as photocatalysts.     

Numerical simulation of fluid flow of two rotating side-by-side circular cylinders by Lattice Boltzmann method

A numerical investigation of the two-dimensional laminar flow around side-by-side rotating circular cylinders using Lattice Boltzmann method is conducted. The effects of variation of rotational speed ratio β and different gap spacings g* at Reynolds number of 100 are studied. A various range of rotational speed ratio 0 ≤ β ≤ 2 for four different gap spacings of 3, 1.5, 0.7 and 0.2 are investigated. Flow conditions and its characteristics, such as lift and drag coefficients and Strouhal number, is studied. The results indicated that as β increases, the flow changes its condition from periodic to steady after a critical rotational speed. Results also indicated that variation of the gap spacing and rotational speed has significant effect on wake pattern. Wake pattern in turn has significant effect on the Strouhal number. Finally, the result is compared with experimental and other numerical data.