Computing Influential Nodes Using the Nearest Neighborhood Trust Value and PageRank in Complex Networks

Computing influential nodes gets a lot of attention from many researchers for information spreading in complex networks. It has vast applications, such as viral marketing, social leader creation, rumor control, and opinion monitoring. The information-spreading ability of influential nodes is greater compared with other nodes in the network. Several researchers proposed centrality measures to compute the influential nodes in a complex network, such as degree, betweenness, closeness, semi-local centralities, and PageRank. These centrality methods are defined based on the local and/or global information of nodes in the network. However, due to their high time complexity, centrality measures based on the global information of nodes have become unsuitable for large-scale networks. Very few centrality measures exist that are based on the attributes between nodes and the structure of the network. We propose the nearest neighborhood trust PageRank (NTPR) based on the structural attributes of neighbors and nearest neighbors of nodes. We define the measure based on the degree ratio, the similarity between nodes, the trust values of neighbors, and the nearest neighbors. We computed the influential nodes in various real-world networks using the proposed centrality method. We found the maximum influence by using influential nodes with SIR and independent cascade methods. We also compare the maximum influence of our centrality measure with the existing basic centrality measures.     

Encapsulated zerovalent iron/nickel-fly ash zeolite foam for treating industrial wastewater contaminated by heavy metals

Pollution due to heavy metal discharge into water systems is a global issue that has attracted growing attention in recent years. Thus, we had synthesized encapsulated zerovalent iron/nickel-fly ash zeolite foam (SA-ZFN foam) by freeze-drying method for the simultaneous removal of various heavy metals from industrial wastewater. The resulting SA-ZFN foam’s structural characterization was performed using advanced instrumental techniques. In addition, factors influencing heavy metal removal were discussed including the pH, reaction time, temperature, initial metal concentration, and their competition with each other; and the adsorption mechanism was investigated. The Langmuir maximum capacity of as-prepared foam was 75.76, 49.78, 44.89, and 7.31 mg/g for Cu(II), As(V), Hg(II), and Cr(VI), respectively. Furthermore, isotherms and kinetic data revealed that the rate-limiting step is monolayer adsorption on a homogeneous surface.Furthermore, thermodynamic studies indicated that ΔG° decreases as temperature rises, i.e. the adsorption process becomes more favorable at higher temperatures. The results suggest the no significant decrease of adsorption capacity on each cycle was observed by re-sustaining over three times in the first two cycles. When applied to real industrial wastewater, the SA-ZFN foam reduced the residual heavy metals to acceptable levels. Continuous column experiment also suggested that the SA-ZFN foam could simultaneously remove the heavy metals from aqueous solutions. From these results, it is demonstrated that the SA-ZFN foam is a promising, efficient, and economical material for wastewater treatment.     

Mechanical and sodium ion conductivity properties of graphene oxide–incorporated nanocomposite polymer electrolyte membranes

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Graphene oxide (GO) nano-sheets incorporated PEO/PVA composite membranes complexed with NaIO4 salt at different concentrations were prepared using the...     

Fabrication and characterization of magnesium—ion-conducting flexible polymer electrolyte membranes based on a nanocomposite of poly(ethylene oxide) and potato starch nanocrystals

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Flexible and free-standing electrolyte membranes of nanocomposite ‘poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/starch-nanocrystals (SNCs)’ complexed with...     

Synthesis of New Reagent Benzyloxybenzaldehydethiosemicarbazone (BBTSC): Selective,Sensitive and Extractive Spectrophotometric Determination of Pd(II) in Water Samples and Synthetic Mixtures

A new reagent, benzyloxybenzaldehydethiosemicarbazone (BBTSC) was synthesized and a new method was developed for the simple, highly selective and extractive spectrophotometric determination of palladium(II) with BBTSC at wave length 365 nm. The metal ion formed a yellow colored complex with BBTSC in acetate buffer of pH 5.0, which was easily extractable into cyclohexanol with 1:1 (Metal: Ligand) composition. The method obeys Beer's law in the range of 5–60 ppm. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity were found to be 0.4 × 10⁴ Lt. mol^?1 cm^?1 and 0.02661 μg cm^?2, respectively. The correlation co‐efficient of the Pd(II)‐BBTSC complex was 0.9657, which indicated an excellent linearity between the two variables. The repeatability of the method was checked by finding the relative standard deviation (RSD) (n = 10), which was 0.321% and its detection limit 0.016875 μg.mL^?1. The instability constant of the method was calculated by Asmus' method as 3.5714 × 10^?4. The interfering effect of various cations and anions were also studied. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of palladium(II) in synthetic and water samples. The results were compared with those obtained using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, testing the validity of the method.     

Characterization of PEO/PVP/GO nanocomposite solid polymer electrolyte membranes: microstructural,thermo-mechanical,and conductivity properties

Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO)/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) blended nanocomposite polymers, incorporating graphene oxide (GO) nano-sheets and embedded with NaIO₄ salt, were prepared using solution casting technique. The as-prepared nanocomposite electrolyte membranes were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, and Raman vibrational spectroscopic techniques to confirm the dispersion of GO nano-sheets and to understand the synergistic properties of GO/polymer interactions as a function of GO nano-sheets concentration. GO fillers incorporated electrolyte membranes demonstrated distinctive surface morphology composed of circular-shaped protuberances of different dimensions. The decrease of Raman intensity ratio (I_D/I_G) and in-plane crystallite size (L_a) values of the nanocomposites suggested the good dispersion and confinement of the GO nano-sheets. The optical properties of blend electrolyte films were studied as a function of GO filler concentration using optical absorption and diffuse reflectance spectra. In reference to PEO/PVP/NaIO₄, the resultant PEO/PVP/NaIO₄/GO (0.4% in weight) electrolyte membrane demonstrated both an increase in tensile strength of ca. 42% and in Young’s modulus of ca. 40%, improvements coupled with a maximum fractured elongation of 3%. Through impedance spectroscopy analysis, the role of the GO nano-sheets onto the room temperature conductivity properties of the prepared electrolyte membranes has been probed.     

Electrically Polarized Withaferin A and Alginate-Incorporated Biphasic Calcium Phosphate Microspheres Exhibit Osteogenicity and Antibacterial Activity In Vitro

Biphasic calcium phosphate microspheres were synthesized by the water on oil emulsion method and, subsequently, withaferin A was incorporated in the microspheres to evaluate their efficacy in biomedical applications. These withaferin A and alginate-incorporated biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP-WFA-ALG) microspheres were then negatively polarized, and the formation of biphasic calcium phosphates was validated by X-ray diffraction study. Although the TSDC measurement of the BCP-WFA-ALG microspheres showed the highest current density of 5.37 nA/cm², the contact angle of the specimen was found to be lower than the control BCP microspheres in all the media. The water uptake into BCP-WFA-ALG microspheres was significantly higher than in the pure BCP microspheres. MTT assay results showed that there was a significant enhancement in cell proliferation rate with the BCP-WFA-ALG composite microspheres. The osteogenic differentiation of MG 63 cells on BCP-WFA-ALG microspheres exhibited an increased expression of osteogenic marker genes in the case of the BCP-WFA-ALG composite microspheres.