Adsorption of cationic methylene blue dye using microwave-assisted activated carbon derived from acacia wood: Optimization and batch studies

This study assesses the performance of optimized acacia wood-based activated carbon (AWAC) as an adsorbent for methylene blue (MB) dye removal in aqueous solution. AWAC was prepared via a physicochemical activation process that consists of potassium hydroxide (KOH) treatment, followed by carbon dioxide (CO₂) gasification under microwave heating. By using response surface methodology (RSM), the optimum preparation conditions of radiation power, radiation time, and KOH-impregnation ratio (IR) were determined to be 360 W, 4.50 min, and 0.90 g/g respectively, which resulted in 81.20 mg/g of MB dye removal and 27.96% of AWAC’s yield. Radiation power and IR had a major effect on MB dye removal while radiation power and radiation time caused the greatest impact on AWAC’s yield. BET surface area, mesopore surface area, and pore volume of optimized AWAC were found to be 1045.56 m²/g, 689.77 m²/g, and 0.54 cm³/g, respectively. Adsorption of MB onto AWAC followed Langmuir and pseudo-second order for isotherm and kinetic studies respectively, with a Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacity of 338.29 mg/g. Mechanism studies revealed that the adsorption process was controlled by film diffusion mechanism and indicated to be thermodynamically exothermic in nature.     

An ultrastructural study of age-related changes in mouse olfactory epithelium

Transmission and scanning electron microscopic examinations were undertaken to detail changes in the olfactory epithelium (OE) resulting from the ageing process. Samples were prepared from 3% glutaraldehyde/1% formaldehyde perfused mice aged 6 months and 29-30 months. Compared to OE from young adults, a number of striking changes were apparent in tissue from older animals. The most obvious of these were extensive local accumulations of large inclusion bodies, totally disrupting the normal morphology of such affected areas of olfactory epithelium. Even in areas where these deposits were absent, other significant signs of ageing were noted in the seemingly unaffected OE of all older mice studied. Quantitative analysis of semi-thin resin sections revealed that the OE of aged mice was significantly reduced in thickness, and with significantly fewer olfactory sensory neurons, irrespective of whether or not inclusions were present. In addition, pale cells, which have been suggested to be a form of degenerating cells, were more abundant in aged OE. The straight, sharp boundary between respiratory and olfactory epithelia which is seen in young adults became irregular and disrupted with age due to an intermingling of the respiratory and olfactory cells. Such structural alterations may parallel olfactory dysfunction reputed to occur in older mammals.     

Anion Directed Self‐Assembly of One‐Dimensional and Two‐Dimensional Coordination Polymers Containing Bridging Diphosphine Ligands

The reactions of 1,2‐bis(diphenylphosphanyl)ethane (dppe) with different silver(I) salts facilitated the formation of 1D and 2D coordination polymers, [Ag(dppe)(OAc)]_n · nH₂O ( 1 ) and [Ag₂(dppe)_1.5(NO₃)₂]_n ( 2 ), respectively. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, ATR‐IR spectroscopy, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and ³¹P NMR spectroscopy, and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. Structural analysis revealed that complex 1 exhibits a 1D infinite wavy structure, in which each silver(I) ion is bridged by dppe ligands. Structure 2 has a 2D topologically promising architecture that displays a 6.6.6 graphitic net, which corresponds to hnd topology. The nitrate ions and dppe ligands are in a μ₂ bridging mode and support the formation of this net. Moreover, significant π–π interactions between the phenyl rings in the apertures of (6,3) grid stabilized complex 2 .     

Structural prediction of a novel chitinase from the psychrophilic Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 and an analysis of its structural properties and function

The structure of psychrophilic chitinase (CHI II) from Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 has yet to be studied in detail. Due to its low sequence identity (<30?%), the structural prediction of CHI II is a challenge. A 3D model of CHI II was built by first using a threading approach to search for a suitable template and to generate an optimum target-template alignment, followed by model building using MODELLER9v7. Analysis of the catalytic insertion domain structure in CHI II revealed an increase in the number of aromatic residues and longer loops compared to mesophilic and thermophilic chitinases. A molecular dynamics simulation was used to examine the stability of the CHI II structure at 273, 288 and 300?K. Structural analysis of the substrate-binding cleft revealed a few exposed aromatic residues. Substitutions of certain amino acids in the surface and loop regions of CHI II conferred an increased flexibility to the enzyme, allowing for an adaptation to cold temperatures. A substrate binding comparison of CHI II with the mesophilic chitinase from Coccidioides immitis, 1D2K, suggested that the psychrophilic adaptation and catalytic activity at low temperatures were achieved through a reduction in the number of salt bridges, fewer hydrogen bonds and an increase in the exposure of the hydrophobic side chains to the solvent.     

Multiband frequency reconfigurable substrate integrated waveguide antenna using copper strip for cognitive radio applicable to internet of things application

In this paper, a Multiband Frequency Reconfigurable Substrate Integrated Waveguide (FR-SIW) cavity backed slot antenna for Cognitive Radio appropriate to Internet of Things (IoT) technology is presented. The proposed antenna is developed to address the specific design challenges posed by the IoT based Cognitive Radio (CR) networks. Reconfiguration of frequency bands is achieved using copper strips. The antenna resonates during the selected five switching states of the copper strips at 2.9 GHz, 2.6 GHz, 2.824 GHz, 2.792 GHz, 2.872 GHz, 4.488 GHz, 4.724 GHz, 4.712 GHz, 5.476 GHz, 5.336 GHz, 5.448 GHz, 5.392 GHz, and 5.42 GHz. The multiple frequency bands are controlled by altering the electrical length of designed slots. Overall, the simulated and measured results showed good agreement and the designed antenna is a potential candidate for cognitive radio applications, especially to IoT applications.

     

Time division multiple access scheduling strategies for emerging vehicular ad hoc network medium access control protocols: a survey

Telecommunication Systems - The deployment of a broadband public safety (PS) mobile network can be undertaken in different ways. One method involves combining commercial networks with private ones...     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure Analysis of 9-Phenyl-β-carboline

An efficient method is described for the synthesis of 9-phenyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole and 9-(4-chlorophenyl)-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole by employing a catalytic amount of CuI (10 mole%) without any ligand. The single crystal of 9-phenyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole was produced by crystallization from hexane and ethyl acetate mixture that was investigated by single X-ray diffraction (XRD). The compound crystallizes in monoclinic P21/c space group with unit cell dimensions a = 11.3132(5) Å, b = 12.0061(5) Å, c = 9.2498(4) Å, α = 90°, β = 103.187(3)°, γ = 90°. ¹H and ¹³C NMR, IR, and mass spectroscopic methods of the compounds are also discussed.     

Dynamics of PEGylated–Dextran–Spermine Nanoparticles for Gene Delivery to Leukemic Cells

Leukemic cells are hard-to-transfect cell lines. Many transfection reagents which can provide high gene transfer efficiency in common adherent cell lines are not effective to transfect established blood cell lines or primary leukemic cells. This study aims to examine a new class of cationic polymer non-viral vector, PEGylated–dextran–spermine (PEG-D-SPM), to determine its ability to transfect the leukemic cells. Here, the optimal conditions of the complex preparation (PEG-D-SPM/plasmid DNA (pDNA)) were examined. Different weight-mixing (w/w) ratios of PEG-D-SPM/pDNA complex were prepared to obtain an ideal mixing ratio to protect encapsulated pDNA from DNase degradation and to determine the optimal transfection efficiency of the complex. Strong complexation between polymer and pDNA in agarose gel electrophoresis and protection of pDNA from DNase were detected at ratios from 25 to 15. Highest gene expression was detected at w/w ratio of 18 in HL60 and K562 cells. However, gene expression from both leukemic cell lines was lower than the control MCF-7 cells. The cytotoxicity of PEG-D-SPM/pDNA complex at the most optimal mixing ratios was tested in HL60 and K562 cells using MTS assay and the results showed that the PEG-D-SPM/pDNA complex had no cytotoxic effect on these cell lines. Spherical shape and nano-nature of PEG-D-SPM/pDNA complex at ratio 18 was observed using transmission electron microscopy. As PEG-D-SPM showed modest transfection efficiency in the leukemic cell lines, we conclude that further work is needed to improve the delivery efficiency of the PEG-D-SPM.     

Enhancing Security in Mobile IPv6

In the Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6) protocol, a mobile node (MN) is a mobile device with a permanent home address (HoA) on its home link. The MN will acquire a care‐of address (CoA) when it roams into a foreign link. It then sends a binding update (BU) message to the home agent (HA) and the correspondent node (CN) to inform them of its current CoA so that future data packets destined for its HoA will be forwarded to the CoA. The BU message, however, is vulnerable to different types of security attacks, such as the man‐in‐the‐middle attack, the session hijacking attack, and the denial‐of‐service attack. The current security protocols in MIPv6 are not able to effectively protect the BU message against these attacks. The private‐key‐based BU (PKBU) protocol is proposed in this research to overcome the shortcomings of some existing MIPv6 protocols. PKBU incorporates a method to assert the address ownership of the MN, thus allowing the CN to validate that the MN is not a malicious node. The results obtained show that it addresses the security requirements while being able to check the address ownership of the MN. PKBU also incorporates a method to verify the reachability of the MN.     

Potential Effect of Polyphenolic-Rich Fractions of Corn Silk on Protecting Endothelial Cells against High Glucose Damage Using In Vitro and In Vivo Approaches

Endothelial cell dysfunction is considered to be one of the major causes of vascular complications in diabetes. Polyphenols are known as potent antioxidants that can contribute to the prevention of diabetes. Corn silk has been reported to contain polyphenols and has been used in folk medicine in China for the treatment of diabetes. The present study aims to investigate the potential protective role of the phenolic-rich fraction of corn silk (PRF) against injuries to vascular endothelial cells under high glucose conditions in vitro and in vivo. The protective effect of PRF from high glucose toxicity was investigated using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The protective effect of PRF was subsequently evaluated by using in vivo methods in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Results showed that the PRF significantly reduced the cytotoxicity of glucose by restoring cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. PRF was also able to prevent the histological changes in the aorta of STZ-induced diabetic rats. Results suggested that PRF might have a beneficial effect on diabetic patients and may help to prevent the development and progression of diabetic complications such as diabetic nephropathy and atherosclerosis.