Phenolic composition,antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of free and bound phenolic extracts of Moringa oleifera seed flour

Phenolic compounds, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of defatted Moringa oleifera seed flour (DMF) were investigated. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were measured using colorimetric methods. Free phenolic acid and flavonoid profiles were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography, while antioxidant capacities were evaluated using scavenging assays of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power and total antioxidant capacity. The results showed that extractability of phenolic compounds was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in bound phenolic extract (4173.00 ± 32.22 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g) than in free phenolic extract (780.00 ± 14.2 mg GAE/100 g) and it showed higher antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The IC₅₀ value for DPPH radical scavenging activity was 0.9 ± 0.05 and 14.9 ± 0.07 mg/mL for bound phenolic and free phenolic extracts, respectively. Bound phenolic extract was more effective (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), 0.06–0.157%) than free phenolic extract (MIC, 0.117–0.191%) against tested bacteria. Ten phenolic compounds (gallic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, protocatechuic acid, cinnamic acid, catechin, epicatechin, vanillin and quercetin) were identified and quantified in both extracts. These natural plant phenolics from Moringa seeds could be a good source of antioxidants and antibacterials for food and pharmaceutical industries.     

Metal nanowire grating patterns

Metal nanowire patterning in the form of grating structures has been carried out using a wide range of lithography techniques, and many hybrid methods derived from them. The challenge is to achieve sub-100 nm linewidths with controllable spacing and thickness over large areas of substrates with high throughput. In particular, the patterns with linewidth and spacing of a few tens of nm offer properties of great interest in optoelectronics and plasmonics. Crossbar grating structures--two gratings patterned perpendicular to each other--will play an important role as ultra-high density electrode grids in memristive devices for non-volatile memory.     

Solid state metathesis synthesis of BaTiO3, PbTiO3, K0.5Bi0.5TiO3 and Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3

A solid state metathesis approach has been applied to synthesize perovskite oxides such as BaTiO₃, PbTiO₃, K_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ and Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃, these were characterized by powder XRD, IR and energy dispersive spectra (EDS). Potassium titanium oxalate and metal chlorides are used as the starting materials. X-ray analysis shows the formation of a single phase with tetragonal structure for BaTiO₃, PbTiO₃, K_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ and a monoclinic structure for Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃. The Infrared spectra of these compounds show the characteristic band due to Ti–O octahedron for all the compounds. The EDS spectra show the relative ratio of the metal ions. The morphology of synthesized compounds was obtained from SEM measurements.     

Distributed network embedded FEC for real-time multicast applications in multi-hop wireless networks

Multi-hop wireless networks are becoming popular because of their flexibility and low deployment cost. Emerging technologies such as orthogonal frequency division and multiple in and multiple out have significantly increased the bandwidth of a wireless channel. Further, as device cost decreases, a communication terminal can have multiple radios and transmit/receive data simultaneously, which improves the capacity of a wireless network. This makes the support of real-time multicast applications over multi-hop wireless networks viable and practical. Meanwhile, wireless links are prone to random and burst losses due to multipath fading and cross channel interference, real-time multicast over a wireless network remains a challenging problem. Traditional end-to-end FEC is less efficient in multi-hop wireless networks, as packets may suffer from random or burst losses in more than one hop before they arrive at their destination. In this paper, we advocate the deployment of distributed network-embedded FEC (DNEF) for real-time multicast distribution over multi-hop wireless networks. We first develop a packet loss model of multi-hop wireless networks using a system analysis approach. We then propose a distributed codec placement algorithm and evaluate its performance. Our simulation shows that multicast using DNEF significantly outperforms both traditional multicast and application-level peer-to-peer multicast that can be deployed over multi-hop wireless networks.     

Multihop Rate Adaptive Wireless Scalable Video Using Syndrome‐Based Partial Decoding

The overall channel capacity of a multihop wireless path drops progressively over each hop due to the cascading effect of noise and interference. Hence, without optimal rate adaptation, the video quality is expected to degrade significantly at any client located at a far‐edge of an ad‐hoc network. To overcome this limitation, decoding and forwarding (DF), which fully decodes codewords at each intermediate node, can be employed to provide the best video quality. However, complexity and memory usage for DF are significantly high. Consequently, we propose syndrome‐based partial decoding (SPD). In the SPD framework an intermediate node partially decodes a codeword and relays the packet along with its syndromes if the packet is corrupted. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed scheme by simulations using actual 802.11b wireless traces. The trace‐driven simulations show that the proposed SPD framework, which reduces the overall processing requirements of intermediate nodes, provides reasonably high goodput when compared to simple forwarding and less complexity and memory requirements when compared to DF.     

Patterned Synthesis of Pd4S: Chemically Robust Electrodes and Conducting Etch Masks

A simple, one‐step process to synthesize Pd₄S films is reported here along with their characterization using X‐ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and electrical measurements. The synthesis involves thermolysis of a single‐source precursor, namely palladium alkanethiolate, in H₂ atmosphere at 250 °C for 3 h. The films are highly conducting and resistant to strong acidic, alkali, and oxidizing environments. The precursor allows patterning of the Pd₄S films by electron beam lithography and micromolding, an attribute that has been employed in making chemically resistant electrodes and etch masks. The conversion of palladium thiolate to other sulfide phases is also achieved.     

Preparation and characterization of Co-doped TiO2 materials for solar light induced current and photocatalytic applications

Different amounts of Co-doped TiO₂ powders and thin films were prepared by following a conventional co-precipitation and sol–gel dip coating technique, respectively. The synthesized powders and thin films were subjected to thermal treatments from 400 to 800 °C and were thoroughly investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive analysis with X-rays, FT-infrared, FT-Raman, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, BET surface area, zeta potential, flat band potential measurements, band-gap energy, etc. The photocatalytic ability of the powders was evaluated by methylene blue (MB) degradation studies. The thin films were characterized by photocurrent and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy techniques. The characterization results suggest that the Co-doped TiO₂ powders synthesized in this study consist mainly anatase phase, and possess reasonably high specific surface area, low band gap energy and flat band potentials amenable to water oxidation in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. The photocatalytic degradation of MB over Co-doped TiO₂ powders followed the Langmuir–Hinshelwood first order reaction rate relationship. The 0.1 wt.% Co-doped TiO₂ composition provided the higher photocurrent, n-type semi-conducting behavior and higher photocatalytic activity among various Co-doped TiO₂ compositions and pure TiO₂ investigated.     

Some Aspects of Colloidal Nanoparticle Stability, Catalytic Activity, and Recycling Potential

In this review article, we examine many important aspects of the nanocatalysis field such as size and shape dependent nanocatalysis, the stability of nanoparticles during its catalytic function, and their recycling potential. We provide an overview of some of the work in the literature pertinent to these topics and also discuss some of our own work in these important areas. Some examples of how the catalytic activity is affected by the size of the nanoparticles are discussed as well as how the catalytic process affects the nanoparticle size after its catalytic function. The synthesis of platinum nanoparticles of different shapes is surveyed and the dependence of nanoparticle shape on the catalytic activity is discussed. In addition, changes in the nanoparticle shape and resulting changes in the catalytic activity are also discussed. The recycling potential of the metal nanocatalysts is also highlighted. In addition, a simple examination of the mechanism of nanocatalysis is discussed.     

The therapeutic alliance in behavior therapy.

It may be argued that behavior therapy has proceeded with minimal regard for the therapeutic alliance (TA) as a key mechanism of change. However, ignoring the role of TA in behavior therapy may not only be problematic on a practical level, but also may be inconsistent with basic principles that underlie behavior therapy. In beginning to address these issues, the authors consider the role of TA in behavior therapy with a focus on relevant basic principles. Keeping a focus on these basic principles, the authors then outline three contemporary behavior therapies that already incorporate a focus on the therapeutic relationship and conclude with a clinical case illustration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)