Adaptive investigation of the optical properties of polymer fibers from mixing noisy phase shifting microinterferograms using deep learning algorithms

In this article, an adaptive denoising method is suggested to accurate investigate the optical and structural features of polymeric fibers from noisy phase shifting microinterferograms. The mixed class of noise that may produce in the phase-shifting interferometric techniques is established. To our knowledge, this is an early study considered the mixing noises that may occur in microinterferograms. The suggested method utilized the convolution neural networks to detect the noise class and then denoising, it according to its class. Four convolution neural networks (Googlenet, VGG-19, Alexnet, and Alexnet–SVM) are refined to perform the automatic classification process for the noise class in the established data set. The network with the highest validation and testing accuracy of these networks is considered to apply the suggested method on realistic noisy microinterferograms for polymeric fibers, polypropylene and antimicrobial polyethylene terephthalate)/titanium dioxide, recoded using interference microscope. Also, the suggested method is applied on noisy microinterferograms include crazing and nanocomposite material. The demodulated phase maps and the three-dimensional birefringence profiles are calculated for tested fibers according to the suggested method. The obtained results are compared with the published data for these fibers and found to be in good agreements.     

Structurally Diverse Histone Deacetylase Photoreactive Probes: Design,Synthesis, and Photolabeling Studies in Live Cells and Tissue

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity is modulated in vivo by post-translational modifications and formation of multiprotein complexes. Novel chemical tools to study how these factors affect engagement of HDAC isoforms by HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) in cells and tissues are needed. In this study, a synthetic strategy to access chemically diverse photoreactive probes (PRPs) was developed and used to prepare seven novel HDAC PRPs 9 – 15 . The class I HDAC isoform engagement by PRPs was determined in biochemical assays and photolabeling experiments in live SET-2, HepG2, HuH7, and HEK293T cell lines and in mouse liver tissue. Unlike the HDAC protein abundance and biochemical activity against recombinant HDACs, the chemotype of the PRPs and the type of cells were key in defining the engagement of HDAC isoforms in live cells. Our findings suggest that engagement of HDAC isoforms by HDACi in vivo may be substantially modulated in a cell- and tissue-type-dependent manner.     

A Laser-Induced Mo2CTx MXene Hybrid Anode for High-Performance Li-Ion Batteries

MXenes, a fast-growing family of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides/nitrides, are promising for electronics and energy storage applications. Mo₂CT_x MXene, in particular, has demonstrated a higher capacity than other MXenes as an anode for Li-ion batteries. Yet, such enhanced capacity is accompanied by slow kinetics and poor cycling stability. Herein, it is revealed that the unstable cycling performance of Mo₂CT_x is attributed to the partial oxidation into MoO_x with structural degradation. A laser-induced Mo₂CT_x/Mo₂C (LS-Mo₂CT_x) hybrid anode has been developed, of which the Mo₂C nanodots boost redox kinetics, and the laser-reduced oxygen content prevents the structural degradation caused by oxidation. Meanwhile, the strong connections between the laser-induced Mo₂C nanodots and Mo₂CT_x nanosheets enhance conductivity and stabilize the structure during charge–discharge cycling. The as-prepared LS-Mo₂CT_x anode exhibits an enhanced capacity of 340 mAh g⁻¹ vs 83 mAh g⁻¹ (for pristine) and an improved cycling stability (capacity retention of 106.2% vs 80.6% for pristine) over 1000 cycles. The laser-induced synthesis approach underlines the potential of MXene-based hybrid materials for high-performance energy storage applications.     

Combined experimental and TDDFT computational studies of the optical and electrical characteristic of luminol films-doped TiO2 with 9.027% power conversion efficiency

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - In this study, the spectrophotometric analysis was applied to check the optical properties of undoped [LO]TF and doped Luminol films with...     

Proteome Based Approach Defines Candidates for Designing a Multitope Vaccine against the Nipah Virus

Nipah virus is one of the most harmful emerging viruses with deadly effects on both humans and animals. Because of the severe outbreaks, in 2018, the World Health Organization focused on the urgent need for the development of effective solutions against the virus. However, up to date, there is no effective vaccine against the Nipah virus in the market. In the current study, the complete proteome of the Nipah virus (nine proteins) was analyzed for the antigenicity score and the virulence role of each protein, where we came up with fusion glycoprotein (F), glycoprotein (G), protein (V), and protein (W) as the candidates for epitope prediction. Following that, the multitope vaccine was designed based on top-ranking CTL, HTL, and BCL epitopes from the selected proteins. We used suitable linkers, adjuvant, and PADRE peptides to finalize the constructed vaccine, which was analyzed for its physicochemical features, antigenicity, toxicity, allergenicity, and solubility. The designed vaccine passed these assessments through computational analysis and, as a final step, we ran a docking analysis between the designed vaccine and TLR-³ and validated the docked complex through molecular dynamics simulation, which estimated a strong binding and supported the nomination of the designed vaccine as a putative solution for Nipah virus. Here, we describe the computational approach for design and analysis of this vaccine.     

Three-dimensional generalized thermoelastic diffusion and application for a thermoelastic half-space subjected to rectangular thermal pulse

In this article, a model of three-dimensional generalized thermo-diffusion in a half-space thermoelastic medium subjected to permeating gas and the rectangular thermal pulse has been constructed. The half-space is considered to be made of an isotropic homogeneous thermoelastic material. The chemical potential is also assumed to be known on the bounding plane. Laplace transform techniques have been applied, and the solution is obtained in the Laplace transform domain using a direct approach. The solution of the problem in the physical domain is obtained numerically using a numerical method based on a Riemann-sum approximation for the inversion of Laplace transform. The temperature increment, stress, strain, diffusion concentration, and chemical potential distributions are represented graphically. The nonzero value of the relaxation time parameter predicts the finite speed of thermal, mechanical, diffusion waves.     

Investigation of Strontium (II) Sorption Kinetic and Thermodynamic onto Straw-derived Biochar

Biochars have attracted much research attention recently because of their potential applications in many environmental areas. In this study, rice straw-derived biochars produced at different pyrolysis temperatures (550–750°C) were used as adsorbents for the removal of strontium (II) under different experimental conditions of time, pH, and temperature. Sr(II) sorption equilibrium occurs after 30 min and its sorption maximum achieved at pH 6. The kinetic data obtained were analyzed to predict the constant rate of sorption using three common kinetic models: pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order equation, and intraparticle diffusion equation. The pseudo-second-order model was suitable for describing the sorption kinetics for the removal of Sr(II) from aqueous solution onto straw-derived biochar. Sorption of Sr(II) onto biochar was endothermic. Biochar has the highest Sr(II) sorption capacity in comparison to other adsorbents.     

Thermal,structural, and optical properties of γ‐irradiated poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(ethylene glycol) thin film

Poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PVA/PEG) copolymer was prepared using casting technique. The obtained PVA/PEG thin films have been irradiated with gamma rays with doses ranging from 1.5 to 20 Gy. The resultant effect of gamma irradiation on the thermal properties of PVA/PEG has been investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The onset temperature of decomposition T_o and activation energy of thermal decomposition E_a were calculated, results indicating that the PVA/PEG thin film decomposes in one main weight loss stage. Also, the gamma irradiation in dose range 4–12 Gy led to a more compact structure of PVA/PEG copolymer, which resulted in an improvement in its thermal stability with an increase in the activation energy of thermal decomposition. The variation of transition temperatures with gamma dose has been determined using DTA. The PVA/PEG thermograms were characterized by the appearance of an endothermic peak due to melting of crystalline phase. In addition, structural property studies using X‐ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy were performed on both nonirradiated and irradiated samples. Furthermore, the transmission of the PVA/PEG samples and any color changes were studied. The color intensity (E was greatly increased with increasing the gamma dose and was accompanied by a significant increase in the blue and green color components. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Process for producing high octane gasoline having lower benzene content and distillation end point with its environmental effect of engine exhaust emissions

In this research, a process is discussed for upgrading reformate and power former in Iraq’s Al-Doura refinery, by reducing the amount of benzene in the gasoline product with simultaneous reduction in the gasoline’s ASTM distillation end point. The process consists of fractionation of the reformate and power former to recover that fraction (90–180°C) of hydrocarbons. This was directly used as gasoline without further conversion. The heavy bottom fraction (180°C—EBP) consisting of the aromatic and non-aromatic hydrocarbons was recovered and used as antiknock additives to gasoline. The other fraction with (IBP—90°C) was used as feedstock to producing benzene by solvent extraction. The reformate and power former fractions (90–180°C) are blended with light straight run naphtha at ratio (75: 25) to producing gasoline as well as Al Doura gasoline. It was found that the amount of benzene was reduced from 1.41 wt % in the original pool to 1.37 and 1.31 in the alternative products. Engine emissions were also reduced when using the alternative products compared with original pool product.