Novel approach with polyfluorene/polydisulfide copolymer binder for high-capacity silicon anode in lithium-ion batteries

In this study, as a novel design with the collaboration of a fluorene and sulfide-based copolymer for Li-ion battery application is presented. Polyfluorene-co-polydisulfide is prepared with desired functional groups to yield a conductivity and good adhesion. These critical and important features are performed by preparing polymers with proper functional groups. The preparation process is accomplished via Suzuki coupling process under Pd catalyst by combining separately synthesized 4,4′-dibromodiphenyl disulfide in combination with 9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-bis(trimethylborate). The fully obtained capacity of the silicon particles, that is, at C/10 with the capacity of 1250 mAh g⁻¹ after the 500th cycle, approves the good performance by preserving capacity stability till 600th cycles. The designed and synthesized polymer binder with different functionalities and carbon nanotube additive show better characteristics such as conductivity, high polarity, and binding adhesion. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48303.     

A new species of Cassida Linnaeus, 1758, from Turkey (Chrysomelidae: cassidinae)

A new species, Cassida alidagiense sp. nov., has been described from Kayseri province in Turkey. For the time being, the species is endemic to Turkey. Cassida alidagiense sp. nov., is related to Cassida linnavuorii Borowiec, 1986; Cassida brevis Weise, 1884; and Cassida bella Faldermann, 1837, from which it differs in the shape of the apex of cornu of the spermethaca, and it can be distinctively differentiated from these species based on color of under body and spermathecal characters especially. In addition, the paper presents ultrastructures observed by SEM of spermatheca of Cassida alidagiense sp. nov. from Turkey.     

A method for polymethymetacrylate coating via self-curable unsaturated polyester primer on metal and glass surfaces

A method was developed for protective coating of steel and glass surfaces with poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA). In this method, first, a primer coating was formed on the flat surfaces using self-curable polyester, poly(2-hydoxypropyl maleate) (Polymer-1). The polyester was applied onto polished surfaces and heated at 180 °C for 15–120 min to obtain transparent and crosslinked primer layer without using additional crosslinker.     

Fracture strength of composite resins for endodontically treated molars

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different fabrication techniques on the fracture strength of the composite resin-based inlay restorations of endodontically treated molars. Methods: Sixty mandibular molars were divided into six groups (n = 10) designated according to the treatment as: Group-1: Control group, intact teeth; Group-2: Filtek Ultimate Universal restorative with incremental technique; Group-3: Filtek Bulk Fill Posterior restorative; Group-4: Biodentine with Filtek Ultimate Universal restorative; Group 5: everX Posterior with Filtek Ultimate Universal restorative; and Group-6: Lava Ultimate CAD/CAM restorative. The standard mesio-occluso-distal cavities were prepared and the roots filled for all the teeth, except those of the control group. Following the placement of the restorations, the fracture resistance of the specimens was measured. The data were analyzed by the one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s post hoc test. Results: While Group-1 (2815.80 N) exhibited significantly higher fracture strength than the other groups (p < 0.05), Groups-2 (2062.20 N), 3 (2166.00 N), 5 (2355.60 N), and 6 (2340.70 N) exhibited statistically similar results (p > 0.05). The Biodentine group (1480.50 N) exhibited significantly lower fracture strength than the rest of the groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The CAD/CAM and manual build-up techniques exhibited statistically similar results with the exception of Biodentine, which exhibited a significantly lower in vitro performance compared to the other composites used in the study. The fiber-supported composite everX Posterior increased the fracture strength of the endodontically treated teeth.     

Electrospun plasma‐modified chitosan/poly(ethylene terephthalate)/ferrocenyl‐substituted N‐acetyl‐2‐pyrazoline fibers for phosphate anion sensing

Two ferrocenyl‐substituted N‐acetyl‐2‐pyrazolines, N‐acetyl‐3‐(2‐furyl)‐5‐ferrocenyl‐2‐pyrazoline (Fc‐1) and N‐acetyl‐3‐(2‐thienyl)‐5‐ferrocenyl‐2‐pyrazoline (Fc‐2) electrospun fibers, were produced in the presence of plasma‐modified chitosan (PMCh)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) supporting polymers with an electrospinning method. The morphological and chemical characterizations of the PMCh/PET/Fc‐1 and PMCh/PET/Fc‐2 electrospun fibers were determined by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy analysis. Thermogravimetric analysis results indicated the presence of ferrocene within the PMCh/PET nanofibers. The electrochemical behavior of the PMCh/PET/Fc‐1 and PMCh/PET/Fc‐2 electrospun fibers were investigated by cyclic voltammetry measurements based on the ferrocene/ferrocenium redox couple. The new PMCh/PET/Fc‐1 and PMCh/PET/Fc‐2 electrospun fibers aggregated on the indium tin oxide were used for phosphate anion sensing. The highest oxidation peak currents were observed for the PMCh/PET/Fc‐1 electrospun fibers at about 0.56 V in 0.1M phosphate buffer. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43344.     

Content-based copy detection by a subspace learning based video fingerprinting scheme

We propose a video copy detection scheme that employs a transform domain global video fingerprinting method. Video fingerprinting has been performed by the subspace learning based on nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF). It is shown that the binary video fingerprints extracted from the basis and gain matrices of the NMF representation enable us to efficiently represent the spatial and temporal content of a video segment respectively. An extensive performance evaluation has been carried out on the query and reference dataset of CBCD task of TRECVID 2011. Our results are compared with the average and the best performance reported for the task. Also NDCR and F1 rates are reported in comparison to the performance achieved via the global methods designed by the TRECVID 2011 participants. Results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves higher correct detection rates with good localization capability for the transformation of text/logo insertion, strong re-encoding, frame dropping, noise addition, gamma change or their mixtures; however there is still potential for improvement to detect copies with picture-in-picture transformations. It is also concluded that the introduced binary fingerprinting scheme is superior to the existing transform based methods in terms of the compactness.     

Two Different Approaches for Oral Administration of Voriconazole Loaded Formulations: Electrospun Fibers versus β-Cyclodextrin Complexes

In this work, a comparison between two different preparation methods for the improvement of dissolution rate of an antifungal agent is presented. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) electrospun fibers and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) complexes, which were produced via an electrospinning process and an inclusion complexation method, respectively, were addressed for the treatment of fungal infections. Voriconazole (VRCZ) drug was selected as a model drug. PCL nanofibers were characterized on the basis of morphology while phase solubility studies for β-CDs complexes were performed. Various concentrations (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt %) of VRCZ were loaded to PCL fibers and β-CD inclusions to study the in vitro release profile as well as in vitro antifungal activity. The results clearly indicated that all formulations showed an improved VRCZ solubility and can inhibit fungi proliferation.