Origin of Violet‐Blue Emission in Ti‐Doped Gahnite

ZnAl₂O₄ doped with Ti⁴⁺ (2%) was synthesized by the hydrothermal method at 220°C at pressure of 25 bars. An average grain size of the as‐prepared sample was 3 nm, the samples with biggest grain size were obtained after annealing at 300°C, 500°C, 600°C, 700°C, and 900°C, diameter of the latter was about 33 nm. IR spectroscopy indicated that ZnAl₂O₄ was partially inverted. The degree of the inversion decreases with increase in the annealing temperature but increases with increasing Ti⁴⁺ content. Absorption and emission spectra as well as emission decay profiles were recorded at 300 and 77 K. The observed spectra are due to charge‐transfer O^2??Ti⁴⁺ transitions. Color of the emission depends on the nanocrystal size and with increase in its diameter changes from violet to blue, accordingly the absorption bands exhibit redshift. The calculations based on Density Functional Theory confirmed the experimental results. 3d electrons of titanium ions form the bottom of the ZnAl₂O₄:Ti⁴⁺ conduction band, oxygen, aluminum or zinc vacancies create additional levels in the gahnite energy band gap. It was also found that in ZnAl₂O₄ aluminum or zinc vacancy induces magnetism with relatively high magnetic moment close to 1 μ_B per vacancy.     

Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists—Use in Chronic Kidney Disease

Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA) are drugs with a potentially broad spectrum of action. They have been reported to have healing effects in many diseases, such as chronic heart failure, hypertension, or nephrotic syndrome. Numerous studies suggest that mineralocorticoid receptor activation is pathogenic and a progression factor of chronic kidney disease (CKD); however, results of studies on the use of MRA in the treatment of CKD are inconclusive. Current guidelines recommend against the use of MRA in patients with advanced CKD. Although, there is growing interest on their use in this population due to treatment benefits. In this review, we summarize studies which were purposed to evaluate the impact of MRA therapy on CKD patients. Despite many benefits of this treatment e.g., reducing cardiovascular mortality or alleviating proteinuria, steroidal MRA (such as spironolactone or eplerenone) have a low safety profile. They often lead to hyperkalemia complications which are dangerous in patients with CKD, and diabetic nephropathy, especially in hemodialysis patients. Studies on recently developed nonsteroidal MRA showed that they have fewer side effects. In our review, we discuss steroidal and nonsteroidal MRA treatment effects on the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), proteinuria, the cardiovascular system, and hyperkalemia in CKD patients. We present new content and recent publications in this field.     

Compact low-cost high-voltage pulse generator for biological applications

In order to test the electroporation applied to mammalian cells (DU-145 human prostate cancer cell line), treated with short (30 ns) intense electric pulses, a new architecture of a pulse generator is proposed. It provides a quasi-rectangular output with nanosecond rise time and fully controlled repetition rate, which allows the control of the electric field dose applied to the cells. The system consists of a pulse generator with a high voltage gain and power efficiency, but it outputs exponential pulses. To improve that side, a pulse forming line (PFL) is used to get the final rectangular pulse. The whole device is designed using a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) technology. That reduces the cost and increases the compactness of the generator. The output is connected to a special electroporation cuvette filled with special liquid. The impedance of such load is not well known, that is why some preliminary tests were carried out to identify the load of the generator. A number of simulations allowed to validate the design and to find out the influence of different parameters on its characteristics. Finally, a compact 4-kV generator was built and tested. The results are discussed and compared with those obtained from simulations.     

Nonlinear transmission conditions for thin highly conductive interphases of curvilinear shape

We consider heat transfer problem in a composite ceramic featuring a thin nonlinear interphase layer with distinctively different characteristics (high thermal conductivity, apart from the mentioned physical size). The presence of an interphase may be problematic for the classical FEM approach in terms of technical implementation, accuracy and stability of the results. We avoid the potential issues by replacing the interphase in the model with a zero thickness imperfect nonlinear interface with two transmission conditions. These conditions are carefully derived using asymptotic analysis and aim at preserving the physical properties of the original interphase layer now absent in the model, thus ensuring an accurate solution. Numerical examples with particular attention to various physical and geometrical aspects illustrate the validity of the described approach.     

Transdermal Delivery Systems for Ibuprofen and Ibuprofen Modified with Amino Acids Alkyl Esters Based on Bacterial Cellulose

The potential of bacterial cellulose as a carrier for the transport of ibuprofen (a typical example of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) through the skin was investigated. Ibuprofen and its amino acid ester salts-loaded BC membranes were prepared through a simple methodology and characterized in terms of structure and morphology. Two salts of amino acid isopropyl esters were used in the research, namely L-valine isopropyl ester ibuprofenate ([ValOiPr][IBU]) and L-leucine isopropyl ester ibuprofenate ([LeuOiPr][IBU]). [LeuOiPr][IBU] is a new compound; therefore, it has been fully characterized and its identity confirmed. For all membranes obtained the surface morphology, tensile mechanical properties, active compound dissolution assays, and permeation and skin accumulation studies of API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) were determined. The obtained membranes were very homogeneous. In vitro diffusion studies with Franz cells were conducted using pig epidermal membranes, and showed that the incorporation of ibuprofen in BC membranes provided lower permeation rates to those obtained with amino acids ester salts of ibuprofen. This release profile together with the ease of application and the simple preparation and assembly of the drug-loaded membranes indicates the enormous potentialities of using BC membranes for transdermal application of ibuprofen in the form of amino acid ester salts.     

Temperature-controlled nanomosaics of AuCu bimetallic structure towards smart light management

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Gold–copper nanostructures are promising in solar-driven processes because of their optical, photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical...     

Heat generation in plane strain compression of a thin rigid plastic layer

This paper presents a theoretical investigation into heat generation in the continued quasi-static plane strain compression of a thin metal strip between two rigid, parallel perfectly rough dies. The strip material is rigid perfectly plastic. The length of the dies is supposed to be much larger than the current strip thickness. The plastic work rate approaches infinity in the vicinity of perfectly rough friction surfaces. Since the plastic work rate is involved in the heat conduction equation, this significantly adds to the difficulties of solutions of this equation. In particular, commercial finite element packages are not capable of solving such boundary value problems. The present approximate solution is given in Lagrangian coordinates. In this case, the original initial/boundary value problem reduces to the standard second initial/boundary value problem for the nonhomogeneous heat conduction equation. Therefore, the Green’s function is available in the literature. An example is presented to illustrate the general solution.     

Degradation of organothiophosphorous extractant Cyanex 301

The resistance of extractants to light is important during industrial extraction processes. A photodegradation of the organothiophosphorous extractant Cyanex 301 in toluene and hexane as organic diluent and the identification of possible degradation products using FT-IR and GC-MS techniques were performed. The influence of copper(II) and cobalt(II) ions on the stability of the extractant under UV-vis light exposure was also studied. The changes in the percentage composition of individual components of the extractant depended on the types of organic diluents and copper or cobalt ions. During this process, copper complex irradiation precipitation of black powder and photooxidation of toluene were observed. Based on these results we proposed a hypothetical mechanism of photodegradation of extractant Cyanex 301.