Effect on photophysical properties of colloidal ZnS quantum dots by doping with cobalt, copper, and cobalt�Ccopper mixtures

Colloidal ZnS quantum dots (QDs) are prepared by passing H₂S gas through a solution of Zn(CH₃COO)₂ in acetonitrile. Photophysical properties are investigated using UV?CVisible and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The spectrum shows an absorption shoulder at 271 nm representing a band gap of 4.6 eV. The doping of ZnS QDs with Co, Cu, and a mixture of Co and Cu not only increased the band gap to 0.2 eV but also turns these otherwise colorless QDs to blue in color due to cobalt, and green due to Cu. The observed emission in the visible region suggests that the dopants may have induced additional excited states to the ZnS QDs. This absorbance in the visible region can be utilized in the optoelectronic applications.     

Replacement of native copper in superoxide dismutase with copper-64 without much loss in its enzymatic activity

Superoxide dismutase, containing copper and zinc, has been labeled with copper-64 by incubating the prepared apoenzyme with cupric(65) chloride at room temperature. No significant loss in the enzymatic activity was observed after labeling. The incorporation of copper-64 was ascertained by starch gel electrophoresis and high performance liquid chromatography. The labeling efficiency was found to be >95%.     

The growth of nanoscale periodic and dot-like structures on the surface of stainless steel with femtosecond laser pulses in the dry and wet ambient environment

The present work deals with growth of nanoscale periodic and dot-like structures on the surface of stainless steel (SS) by the irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses. For this purpose Ti: Sapphire femtosecond laser pulses (wavelength of 800 nm, pulse length of 25 fs and pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz) were employed in a dry (air) and liquid confined (deionized water and ethanol) environments. The targets were exposed to 1000 succeeding pulses for various fluences ranging from 50 to 150 mJ?cm^?2. Nanoscale structures including ripples, and dots were observed by SEM analysis. The growth and dependence of structure-formation on the ambient environment and laser fluence in both central as well as peripheral ablated areas is systematically investigated. The development of nanostructures and nanoripples is correlated with structural analysis carried out by micro Raman spectroscopy.     

Revisiting the structure and dynamics of hydrated Cd2+ in aqueous solutions: Insights from the RI-SCS-MP2/MM molecular dynamics simulation

The spin component scale MP2/molecular mechanics molecular dynamics simulation investigated the hydration shell formation and hydrated Cd²⁺ dynamics in the water environment. At the first hydration shell, six water molecules with 2.27 Å for the average distance between water and Cd²⁺. Dynamical properties were analyzed by computing the water molecule's mean residence time (MRT) in its first and second hydration shells. The MRT of each shell was determined to be 31.8 and 1.92 ps, suggesting the strong influence of Cd²⁺ in the first hydration shell. The second shell was labile, with an average number of water molecules being 18. Despite the strong interaction between Cd²⁺ and water molecules in the first shell, the influence of ions in the second hydration shell remained weak.     

Exogenous Sodium Nitroprusside Mitigates Salt Stress in Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) by Affecting the Growth,Yield, and Biochemical Properties

Soil salinity disrupts the physiological and biochemical processes of crop plants and ultimately leads to compromising future food security. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a contributor to nitric oxide (NO), holds the potential to alleviate abiotic stress effects and boost tolerance in plants, whereas less information is available on its role in salt-stressed lentils. We examined the effect of exogenously applied SNP on salt-stressed lentil plants by monitoring plant growth and yield-related attributes, biochemistry of enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD)) amassing of leaf malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Salinity stress was induced by NaCl application at concentrations of 50 mM (moderate salinity) and 100 mM (severe salinity), while it was alleviated by SNP application at concentrations of 50 µM and 100 µM. Salinity stress severely inhibited the length of roots and shoots, the relative water content, and the chlorophyll content of the leaves, the number of branches, pods, seeds, seed yield, and biomass per plant. In addition, MDA, H₂O₂ as well as SOD, CAT, and POD activities were increased with increasing salinity levels. Plants supplemented with SNP (100 µM) showed a significant improvement in the growth- and yield-contributing parameters, especially in plants grown under moderate salinity (50 mM NaCl). Essentially, the application of 100 µM SNP remained effective to rescue lentil plants under moderate salinity by regulating plant growth and biochemical pathways. Thus, the exogenous application of SNP could be developed as a useful strategy for improving the performance of lentil plants in salinity-prone environments.     

Millimeter-wave enabled PAM-4 data transmission over hybrid FSO-MMPOF link for access networks

Optical Review - In this paper, we propose a full duplex architecture based on a hybrid link composed of free space optics (FSO) and multimode plastic optical fiber (MMPOF) for short-range wireless...     

Defects-engineered tailoring of tri-doped interlinked metal-free bifunctional catalyst with lower gibbs free energy of OER/HER intermediates for overall water splitting

Controllable tailoring of metal-free/carbon-based nanostructures tends an encouraging way to enhance the bifunctional activity of electrodes, but a great challenge owing to the sluggish kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a facile tempted-defects assisted fractionation strategy is presented to synthesize N, S, and O tri-doped metal-free catalyst (DE-TDAP). Due to this effective tempted-defects and heteroatoms interlinking in DE-TDAP, it delivers the lowest overpotential toward both the OER (346 mV) and HER (154 mV) at 10 mA cm^?2. Remarkably, the DE-TDAP-electrode carries only a cell voltage of 1.81 V at 10 mA cm^?2 for overall water splitting and long-term stability. Considerably, the density functional theory (DFT) calculation exposes that the tailored-defects in tri-doped interlinking could enhance bifunctional catalytic performance devising from lower Gibbs free energy of OER/HER intermediates on active sites. This struggle henceforth provides a perceptive understanding of the synergetic principles of heteroatom-interlinking-tailoring nanostructures in water splitting.     

Enhancement of the Catalytic Activity of a Macrocyclic Cobalt(II) Complex for the Electroreduction of O(2) by Adsorption on Graphite

In solution, the [(tim)Co](2+) complex (tim = 2,3,9,10-tetramethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-1,3,8,10-tetraene) reacts only slowly with O(2), but upon adsorption on graphite electrodes, it becomes an active catalyst for the reduction of O(2) to H(2)O(2). The electroreduction of O(2) proceeds in a single voltammetric step at close to the diffusion-controlled rate at a relatively positive potential (0.25 V vs SCE). The remarkable enhancement in catalytic activity is attributed to a higher affinity for O(2) of the adsorbed complex as a result of its interactions with functional groups on the surface of roughened or oxidized graphite. A possible mechanism for the catalytic reduction of O(2) is proposed. It differs from the one employed by the analogous [(hmc)Co](2+) complex (hmc = C-meso-5,7,7,12,14,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane) which operates at less positive potentials and exhibits two separated voltammetric steps in the reduction of O(2), via [(hmc)CoOOH](2+), to H(2)O(2).     

Evaluation of the effect of Ramadan fasting on fat-soluble antioxidants and markers of oxidative stress in healthy Pakistani subjects

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Ramadan fasting on the fat-soluble antioxidants [all-trans-retinol (vitamin A) and α-tocopherol (vitamin E)] in healthy Pakistani subjects. Thirty (30) healthy male volunteers (aged 30–50 years) with Ramadan fasting have participated in the study. Blood sampling from these subjects was conducted 1 day before and on 15th and 28th days of Ramadan. The serum levels of vitamin A and vitamin E were measured using liquid chromatography linked with UV–visible (HPLC–UV). The comparison between the samples taken at different times was made by Minitab software applying two samples and paired t-test at (p?<?0.05) as significant. No significant changes have been found in the levels of all-trans-retinol before and during Ramadan values. The levels of α-tocopherol on 28th Ramadan have been decreased significantly when compared with its values before Ramadan (p?<?0.0001). It is concluded that there is nonsignificant change in the levels of vitamin A during the month of Ramadan while the levels of α-tocopherol have been decreased significantly on the 28th day of Ramadan. It is therefore suggested that the fasting of Ramadan has effect on the levels of α-tocopherol and food-based interventions might be necessary to modify the diet during Ramadan.     

An expedient esterification of aromatic carboxylic acids using sodium bromate and sodium hydrogen sulfite

Treatment of aromatic carboxylic acids and substituted toluenes with a mixture of sodium bromate and sodium hydrogen sulfite in a two-phase system gave the corresponding esters in good yield. The intermediate α-brominated toluene was formed by the in situ generated hypobromous acid. The α-bromotoluene underwent an intermolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction with aromatic carboxylic acids present in the reaction mixture to afford the corresponding esters.