Large-scale synthesis of ZnO balls made of fluffy thin nanosheets by simple solution process: structural, optical and photocatalytic properties

This paper reports a large-scale synthesis of ZnO balls made of fluffy thin ZnO nanosheets by simple solution process at low-temperature of 65±2°C. The synthesized ZnO structures were characterized in detail in terms of their morphological, structural, optical and photocatalytic properties. The detailed morphological characterizations, done by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), confirmed that the synthesized products are ZnO balls which are made by accumulation of hundreds of thin ZnO nanosheets. Interestingly, it is seen that the nanosheets are arranged in such a special fashion that they made ball-like morphologies. Detailed structural examinations revealed that of as-synthesized ZnO products are well-crystalline and possessing wurtzite hexagonal phase. The optical property, measured by UV-Visible spectroscopy, substantiated good optical properties for as-synthesized ZnO balls. The as-synthesized ZnO balls were utilized as an efficient photocatalysts for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye. Almost complete degradation of MB was observed in presence of ZnO balls composed of nanosheets within 70 min under UV-light irradiation. By comparing the photocatalytic performance with commercially available TiO(2)-UV-100, it was observed that the synthesized ZnO balls exhibited superior photocatalytic performance as compared to TiO(2)-UV-100 photocatalyst.     

Low-temperature growth and properties of flower-shaped - Ni(OH)2 and NiO structures composed of thin nanosheets networks

Flower-shaped β- Ni(OH)₂ structures composed of thin nanosheet networks have been synthesized via the simple aqueous solution route by using nickel chloride and ammonium hydroxide at 65 C in 4 h. The general morphological observations revealed that the flowers are composed of thin nanosheets which were connected to each other in such a manner that they form network-like morphologies. Moreover, single-crystalline flower-shaped NiO structures composed of thin nanosheets were also obtained by thermal decomposition of flower-shaped β- Ni(OH)₂ structures. The shape of nanosheet networks in β- Ni(OH)₂ was sustained after thermal decomposition to NiO however, some broken nanosheets were also observed from the flower-shaped structures of NiO. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).     

Large-quantity synthesis of ZnO hollow objects by thermal evaporation: Growth mechanism, structural and optical properties

Synthesis of large-quantity uniformly distributed ZnO hollow objects, i.e. cages and spheres have been performed on Si(1 0 0) and steel alloy substrates by the direct heating of metallic zinc powder in the presence of oxygen. Extensive structural observations revealed that the formed products are crystalline ZnO with the wurtzite hexagonal phases. The Raman-active optical phonon E₂ modes, attributed to wurtzite hexagonal phase of ZnO, were observed at 437 cm⁻¹ for the products grown on both the substrates. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectra showed a broad band in the visible region with a suppressed UV emission, indicating the presence of oxygen vacancies and structural defects in the as-grown structures. Additionally, post growth annealing was also carried out to further investigate the photoluminescence properties of the as-grown products. It was observed that the formation of hollow objects consists of several stages which include the formation of Zn clusters, oxidation on the sheath and sublimation/evaporation of the Zn from the interiors, resulted in the formation of hollow objects.     

Neutron transfer dynamics and doorway to fusion in time-dependent Hartree-Fock theory

We analyze the details of mass exchange in the vicinity of the Coulomb barrier for heavy-ion collisions involving neutron-rich nuclei using the time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) theory. We discuss the time dependence of transfer and show that the potential barriers seen by individual single-particle states can be considerably different than the effective barrier for the two interacting nuclei having a single center of mass. For this reason we observe a substantial transfer probability even at energies below the effective barrier.     

A Numerical Investigation of 3D MHD Rotating Flow with Binary Chemical Reaction,Activation Energy and Non-Fourier Heat Flux

In this investigation we analyze the rotating three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic flow of Maxwell fluid in attendance of binary chemical reaction with activation energy. Furthermore, effects of non-Fourier heat flux are taken into account. Formulation is done in the presence of heat and mass convective boundary conditions. Self-similar forms from boundary layer equations are obtained using apposite transformations. Numerical solution is obtained via built-in bvp-4c function in MATLAB for the system of differential equations. Effects of ensuing parameters on flow distributions are portrayed graphically. It is witnessed that increasing values of rotational parameter lowers the velocity profile and both Biot numbers have escalating effect on temperature and concentration distributions. A comparative study to a previously done investigation is also included to corroborate our results.     

Fabrication and Evaluation of Voriconazole Loaded Transethosomal Gel for Enhanced Antifungal and Antileishmanial Activity

Voriconazole (VRC) is a broad-spectrum antifungal agent belonging to BCS class II (biopharmaceutical classification system). Despite many efforts to enhance its solubility, this primary issue still remains challenging for formulation scientists. Transethosomes (TELs) are one of the potential innovative nano-carriers for improving the solubility and permeation of poorly soluble and permeable drugs. We herein report voriconazole-loaded transethosomes (VRCT) fabricated by the cold method and followed by their incorporation into carbopol 940 as a gel. The prepared VRCT were evaluated for % yield, % entrapment efficiency (EE), surface morphology, possible chemical interaction, particle size, zeta potential, and polydispersity index (PDI). The optimized formulation had a particle size of 228.2 nm, a zeta potential of −26.5 mV, and a PDI of 0.45 with enhanced % EE. Rheology, spreadability, extrudability, in vitro release, skin permeation, molecular docking, antifungal, and antileishmanial activity were also assessed for VRCT and VRC loaded transethosomal gel (VTEG). Ex-vivo permeation using rat skin depicted a transdermal flux of 22.8 µg/cm²/h with enhanced efficiency up to 4-fold. A two-fold reduction in inhibitory as well as fungicidal concentration was observed against various fungal strains by VRCT and VTEG besides similar results against L-donovani. The development of transethosomal formulation can serve as an efficient drug delivery system through a topical route with enhanced efficacy and better patient compliance.     

A Novel Image Encryption Scheme Based on Elliptic Curves over Finite Rings

Image encryption based on elliptic curves (ECs) is emerging as a new trend in cryptography because it provides high security with a relatively smaller key size when compared with well-known cryptosystems. Recently, it has been shown that the cryptosystems based on ECs over finite rings may provide better security because they require the computational cost for solving the factorization problem and the discrete logarithm problem. Motivated by this fact, we proposed a novel image encryption scheme based on ECs over finite rings. There are three main steps in our scheme, where, in the first step, we mask the plain image using points of an EC over a finite ring. In step two, we create diffusion in the masked image with a mapping from the EC over the finite ring to the EC over the finite field. To create high confusion in the plain text, we generated a substitution box (S-box) based on the ordered EC, which is then used to permute the pixels of the diffused image to obtain a cipher image. With computational experiments, we showed that the proposed cryptosystem has higher security against linear, differential, and statistical attacks than the existing cryptosystems. Furthermore, the average encryption time for color images is lower than other existing schemes.     

Al2O3-47 nm and Al2O3-36 nm characterizations of nonlinear differential equations for biomedical applications: Magnetized peristaltic transport

Current research models the Al₂O₃ 47nm and Al₂O₃ 36nm nanoparticles transportation through peristalsis with entropy optimization. Conservation laws for mass, momentum and energy are used to model the present flow situation. These equations elaborates the magnetohydrodynamics, Hall, thermal radiation, Joule heating, heat generation and absorption. Convective heat transfer impacts are studied at channel walls. Entropy is modeled in view of thermodynamics second law. Two different expressions for effective viscosity are accounted. Simplification of the modeled equations is done through lubrication assumptions. Solution for momentum equation is obtained analytically and for numerically for temperature equation. Built-in shooting procedure is utilized to obtain the desired numerical results. Later on these obtained results are used to sketch and discussed the flow quantities of interest for the influential parameters accounted in the problem.     

New cocrystals of heterocyclic drugs: structural,antileishmanial, larvicidal and urease inhibition studies

Many heterocycles have been developed as drugs due to their capacity to interact productively with biological systems. The present study aimed to synthesize cocrystals of the heterocyclic antitubercular agent pyrazinamide ( PYZ , 1 , BCS III) and the commercially available anticonvulsant drug carbamazepine ( CBZ , 2 , BCS class II) to study the effect of cocrystallization on the stability and biological activities of these drugs. Two new cocrystals, namely, pyrazinamide–homophthalic acid (1/1) ( PYZ:HMA , 3 ) and carbamazepine–5-chlorosalicylic acid (1/1) ( CBZ:5-SA , 4 ), were synthesized. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction-based structure of carbamazepine–trans-cinnamic acid (1/1) ( CBZ:TCA , 5 ) was also studied for the first time, along with the known cocrystal carbamazepine–nicotinamide (1/1) ( CBZ:NA , 6 ). From a combination drug perspective, these are interesting pharmaceutical cocrystals to overcome the known side effects of PYZ ( 1 ) therapy, and the poor biopharmaceutical properties of CBZ ( 2 ). The purity and homogeneity of all the synthesized cocrystals were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction and FT–IR analysis, followed by thermal stability studies based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Detailed intermolecular interactions and the role of hydrogen bonding towards crystal stability were evaluated quantitatively via Hirshfeld surface analysis. The solubility of CBZ at pH 6.8 and 7.4 in 0.1 N HCl and H₂O were compared with the values of cocrystal CBZ:5-SA ( 4 ). The solubility of CBZ:5-SA was found to be significantly improved at pH 6.8 and 7.4 in H₂O. All the synthesized cocrystals 3 – 6 exhibited a potent urease inhibition (IC₅₀ values range from 17.32 ± 0.89 to 12.3 ± 0.8 µM), several times more potent than standard acetohydroxamic acid (IC₅₀ = 20.34 ± 0.43 µM). PYZ:HMA ( 3 ) also exhibited potent larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti. Among the synthesized cocrystals, PYZ:HMA ( 3 ) and CBZ:TCA ( 5 ) were found to possess antileishmanial activity against the miltefosine-induced resistant strain of Leishmania major, with IC₅₀ values of 111.98 ± 0.99 and 111.90 ± 1.44 µM, respectively, in comparison with miltefosine (IC₅₀ = 169.55 ± 0.20 µM).     

A Personnel Selection Problem in Healthcare System Using Fuzzy-TOPSIS Approach

The methods of multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) are increasingly becoming the most desired tools for making daily decisions in various fields of human endeavors. Staff employment in any sector requires a thorough evaluation of the applicant before selection to ensure effective and efficient service delivery. Besides, healthcare is one of the most complicated organizations dealing with human lives. This paper has developed a staff selection model considering a fuzzy environment by using the technique for order preference similar to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) method. For the delivery and promotion of quality healthcare systems, medical staff selection is crucial to the system. Therefore, the study evaluates medical staff by using the expert''s linguistic judgement under the criteria of skill, experience and ability to respond to a problem. The expert''s vagueness in judgments has been represented by using fuzzy triangular numbers. The study determines the closeness coefficient, the measures of separation and the ideal solutions of the TOPSIS method. The most appropriate medical staff are ranked and selected based on the available criteria. The Fuzzy-TOPSIS method is simple and can help other organizations achieve proper ranking, evaluation and selection of qualified candidates, as it takes imprecise information into account.