Adsorptive Removal of Manganese Ions from Polluted Aqueous Media by Glauconite Clay-Functionalized Chitosan Nanocomposites

The presence of Mn(II) in water exceeding the permitted concentration limits declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) influences individuals, animals, and the ecosystem negatively. Therefore, there is a necessity for an efficient material to eliminate this potentially toxic element from wastewater. We herein focused on the adsorptive removal of Mn(II) ions from polluted aqueous media using natural Egyptian glauconite clay (G) and its nanocomposites with modified chitosan (CS). We applied modified chitosan with glutaraldehyde (GL), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The utilized nanocomposites were referred to as GL-CS/G, EDTA-GL-CS/G, SDS-CS/G, and CTAB-CS/G, respectively. The point of zero charge values of the materials were estimated. The adsorption properties of the G clay and its nanocomposites toward the removal of Mn(II) ions from polluted aqueous media as well as the adsorption mechanism were explored using a batch technique. The glauconite (G) and its nanocomposites: GL-CS/G, CTAB-CS/G, EDTA-GL-CS/G, and SDS-CS/G, exhibited maximum adsorption capacity values of 3.60, 24.0, 26.0, 27.0, and 27.9 mg g^?1, respectively. The adsorption results fitted well the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. The estimated thermodynamic parameters: ΔH° (from 1.03 to 5.55 kJ/mol) and ΔG° (from ? 14.5 to ? 18.8 kJ/mol), indicated that Mn(II) ion adsorption process was endothermic, spontaneous, and physisorption controlled. Furthermore, the obtained adsorption results are encouraging and revealing a great potentiality for using the modified adsorbents as accessible adsorbents for Mn(II) ion removal from polluted aqueous solutions, depending on their reusability, high stability, and good adsorption capacities.

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National-scale implementation of mandatory freshwater farm plans: a mechanism to deliver water quality improvement in productive catchments in New Zealand?

Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems - Reducing agriculturally derived diffuse contaminant losses (via non-point sources) from land to water has proven difficult for decades. Owing to the diversity...     

Identification of Novel Fragments Binding to the PDZ1-2 Domain of PSD-95

Inhibition of PSD-95 has emerged as a promising strategy for the treatment of ischemic stroke, as shown with peptide-based compounds that target the PDZ domains of PSD-95. In contrast, developing potent and drug-like small molecules against the PSD-95 PDZ domains has so far been unsuccessful. Here, we explore the druggability of the PSD-95 PDZ1-2 domain and use fragment screening to investigate if this protein is prone to binding small molecules. We screened 2500 fragments by fluorescence polarization (FP) and validated the hits by surface plasmon resonance (SPR), including an inhibition counter-test, and found four promising fragments. Three ligand efficient fragments were shown by ¹H,¹⁵N HSQC NMR to bind in the small hydrophobic P⁰ pockets of PDZ1-2, and one of them underwent structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies. Overall, we demonstrate that fragment screening can successfully be applied to PDZ1-2 of PSD-95 and disclose novel fragments that can serve as starting points for optimization towards small-molecule PDZ domain inhibitors.     

Silicon Mitigates Drought Stress in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Through Improving Photosynthetic Pigments,Biochemical and Yield Characters

Silicon - Feeling prone to stress differs with plant production stage, water scarcity near commencement of grain filling phase has a significant reduced grain yield through fewer endosperm and sink...     

Single-Cell Microgels for Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Cell encapsulation within hydrogel droplets is transforming what is feasible in multiple fields of biomedical science such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, in vitro modeling, and cell-based therapies. Recent advances have allowed researchers to miniaturize material encapsulation complexes down to single-cell scales, where each complex, termed a single-cell microgel, contains only one cell surrounded by a hydrogel matrix while remaining <100 μm in size. With this achievement, studies requiring single-cell resolution are now possible, similar to those done using liquid droplet encapsulation. Of particular note, applications involving long-term in vitro cultures, modular bioinks, high-throughput screenings, and formation of 3D cellular microenvironments can be tuned independently to suit the needs of individual cells and experimental goals. In this progress report, an overview of established materials and techniques used to fabricate single-cell microgels, as well as insight into potential alternatives is provided. This focused review is concluded by discussing applications that have already benefited from single-cell microgel technologies, as well as prospective applications on the cusp of achieving important new capabilities.     

Matrix Manipulation of Directly-Synthesized PbS Quantum Dot Inks Enabled by Coordination Engineering

The direct-synthesis of conductive PbS quantum dot (QD) ink is facile, scalable, and low-cost, boosting the future commercialization of optoelectronics based on colloidal QDs. However, manipulating the QD matrix structures still is a challenge, which limits the corresponding QD solar cell performance. Here, for the first time a coordination-engineering strategy to finely adjust the matrix thickness around the QDs is presented, in which halogen salts are introduced into the reaction to convert the excessive insulating lead iodide into soluble iodoplumbate species. As a result, the obtained QD film exhibits shrunk insulating shells, leading to higher charge carrier transport and superior surface passivation compared to the control devices. A significantly improved power-conversion efficiency from 10.52% to 12.12% can be achieved after the matrix engineering. Therefore, the work shows high significance in promoting the practical application of directly synthesized PbS QD inks in large-area low-cost optoelectronic devices.     

Performance Analysis of Learning Rate Parameter on Prediction of Signal Power Loss for Network Optimization and Better Generalization

Wireless Personal Communications - This research work explores the neural network learning capabilities by using a multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network to predict signal power loss by...     

A Modified Imperialist Competitive Algorithm for Spoofing Attack Detection in Single-Frequency GPS Receivers

Wireless Personal Communications - A GPS spoofing attack broadcasts counterfeit signals to resemble standard GPS satellite signals to take control of the correlation peaks of GPS signals to force...     

Photoluminescence and decay characteristics of cerium,gallium and vanadium - containing borate-based bioactive glass powders for bioimaging applications

Biomaterials having photoluminescent properties play a crucial role in real-time bioimaging after in vivo implantation. In this study, photoluminescence properties and decay characteristics of the borate-based 13–93B3 glasses containing different concentrations of cerium, gallium, and vanadium oxides were investigated for biomedical applications. The borate-based bioactive glass powders were prepared using melt-quench technique and size reduction was performed through planetary ball milling. Bioactivity of the prepared powders was investigated in simulated body fluid at 37 °C under static conditions. The photoluminescent properties and decay kinetics of the as-prepared and the SBF-treated bioactive glass powders were analyzed by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. Results revealed that the cerium activated glasses exhibited an intense luminescence centered at 538 nm. Broad-band emission of the gallium and vanadium doped samples was centered at 440 and 572 nm, respectively. All of the SBF-treated glasses exhibited enhanced lifetimes and bi-exponential decays both in nanosecond and microsecond regime measurements. It was concluded that depending on the dopant concentration, bioactive glass particles prepared in the study showed remarkable photoluminescence and have potential to be used in bioimaging applications.     

Sounds Stimulation on In Vitro HL1 Cells: A Pilot Study and a Theoretical Physical Model

Mechanical vibrations seem to affect the behaviour of different cell types and the functions of different organs. Pressure waves, including acoustic waves (sounds), could affect cytoskeletal molecules via coherent changes in their spatial organization and mechano-transduction signalling. We analyzed the sounds spectra and their fractal features. Cardiac muscle HL1 cells were exposed to different sounds, were stained for cytoskeletal markers (phalloidin, beta-actin, alpha-tubulin, alpha-actinin-1), and studied with multifractal analysis (using FracLac for ImageJ). A single cell was live-imaged and its dynamic contractility changes in response to each different sound were analysed (using Musclemotion for ImageJ). Different sound stimuli seem to influence the contractility and the spatial organization of HL1 cells, resulting in a different localization and fluorescence emission of cytoskeletal proteins. Since the cellular behaviour seems to correlate with the fractal structure of the sound used, we speculate that it can influence the cells by virtue of the different sound waves’ geometric properties that we have photographed and filmed. A theoretical physical model is proposed to explain our results, based on the coherent molecular dynamics. We stress the role of the systemic view in the understanding of the biological activity.