In this study tungsten oxide and graphene oxide (GO-WO2.89) were successfully combined using the ultra-sonication method and embedded with polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) to prepare novel low-fouling membranes for ultrafiltration applications. The properties of the modified membranes and performance were investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle (CA), water permeation flux, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection. It was found that the modified PPSU membrane fabricated from 0.1 wt.% of GO-WO2.89 possessed the best characteristics, with a 40.82° contact angle and 92.94% porosity. The permeation flux of the best membrane was the highest. The pure water permeation flux of the best membrane showcased 636.01 L·m−2·h−1 with 82.86% BSA rejection. Moreover, the membranes (MR-2 and MR-P2) manifested a higher flux recovery ratio (FRR %) of 92.66 and 87.06%, respectively, and were less prone to BSA solution fouling. The antibacterial performance of the GO-WO2.89 composite was very positive with three different concentrations, observed via the bacteria count method. These results significantly overtake those observed by neat PPSU membranes and offer a promising potential of GO-WO2.89 on activity membrane performance.
In this work, a simulated study was carried out for designing a novel spiral rectangular patch of microstrip antenna that is used in ultra-wideband applications by using a high frequency structure simulator software (HFSS). A substrate with dielectric constant of 4.4 and height 2.10 mm (commercial substrate height available is about 0.8-1.575 mm) has been used for the design of the proposed antenna. The design basis for enhancing bandwidth in the frequency range 6.63 - 10.93 GHz is based on increasing the edge areas that positively affect the antenna's efficiency. This design makes the designed antenna cost less by reducing the area of the patch. It has been noticed that the bandwidth of the antenna under this study is increasing to 4.30
... Show MoreIn the present study a new synthesis method has been introduced for the decoration of platinum(Pt) on the functionalized graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) and also highlighted the preparation method of nanofluids. GNP–Pt uniform nanocomposite was produced from a simple chemical reaction procedure, which included acid treatment for functionalization of GNP. The surface characterization was performed by various techniques such as XRD, FESEMand TEM. The effective thermal conductivity, density, viscosity, specific heat capacity and stability of functionalized GNP–Pt water based nanofluids were investigated in different instruments. The GNP–Pt hybrid nanofluids were prepared by dispersing the nanocomposite in base fluid without adding any surfac
... Show MoreThis study aims to evaluate the biocompatibility of a novel filler material intended to improve the longevity of polymer systems used in prosthetics in respect of cytotoxicity and skin irritation. RTV50F silicone elastomer incorporated with various percentages of hexagonal boron nitride (H-BN) (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1 wt%) have been tested. Silicone without H-BN was utilized as the control for comparison. The in vitro cytotoxicity test includes specimens (n=18) with 10 mm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness applied directly to the normal human fibroblast cell line (NHF) and incubated for 72 hours, then 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to determine the cell viability. The skin irritati
... Show MoreThe silicon carbide/carbon fiber (SiC/CF) hybrid fillers were introduced to improve the electrical and thermal conductivities of the epoxy resin composites. Results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the peaks at 3532 and 2850 cm−1 relate to carboxylic acid O–H stretching and aldehyde C–H stretching appearing deeper with an increased volume fraction of SiC. Scanning electron microscopic image shows a better interface bonding between the fiber and the matrix when the volume fraction of SiC particles are increased. As frequency increases from 102 Hz to 106 Hz, dielectric constants decrease slightly. Dissipation factor (tan δ) values keep low a
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Students’ feedback is crucial for educational institutions to assess the performance of their teachers, most opinions are expressed in their native language, especially for people in south Asian regions. In Pakistan, people use Roman Urdu to express their reviews, and this applied in the education domain where students used Roman Urdu to express their feedback. It is very time-consuming and labor-intensive process to handle qualitative opinions manually. Additionally, it can be difficult to determine sentence semantics in a text that is written in a colloquial style like Roman Urdu. This study proposes an enhanced word embedding technique and investigates the neural word Embedding (Word2Vec and Glove) to determine which perfo
... Show MoreBackground/Aim: Endometrial abnormalities represent a diagnostic challenge due to overlapping imaging features with normal endometrium. Aim of this study was to assess accuracy of dynamic contrast-enhanced and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in evaluation of endometrial lesions in comparison with T2 and to assess local staging validity and degree of myometrial invasion in malignancy. Methods: Forty patients with abnormal vaginal bleeding or sonographic thickened endometrial were recruited. MRI examination of pelvis was per-formed using 1.5 T scanner with a pelvic array coil. Conventional T1-and T2, dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) sequences and diffusion-weighted image (DWI) were performed. Results: Mean age of pa
... Show MoreThree N-(hydroxylphenyl) dimethylmaleimides were directly prepared in good yields (81-86)% from the reaction of dimethylmaleic anhydride with amino phenols. The prepared imides were esterified to the corresponding benzoates, methacrylates and cinnamates via their reaction with different acid chlorides in the presence of triethylamine. The prepared esters were tested as plasticizers for PVC via preparing of thirty six samples of PVC with the prepared esters in certain weight ratio followed by recording their softening points. Comparison the results with the universal plasticizers for PVC (DOP) and (DBP) indicated that the prepared esters in general have high plasticizing efficiency.
We report a new theranostic device based on lead sulfide quantum dots (PbS QDs) with optical emission in the near infrared wavelength range decorated with affibodies (small 6.5 kDa protein-based antibody replacements) specific to the cancer biomarker human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and zinc(II) protoporphyrin IX (ZnPP) to combine imaging, targeting and therapy within one nanostructure. Colloidal PbS QDs were synthesized in aqueous solution with a nanocrystal diameter of ∼5 nm and photoluminescence emission in the near infrared wavelength range. The ZHER2:432 affibody, mutated through the introduction of two cysteine residues at the C-terminus (
Metoclopramide (MCP) ion selective electrodes based on metoclopramide-phosphotungstic acid (MCP-PT) ion pair complex in PVC matrix membrane were constructed. The plasticizers used were tri-butyl phosphate (TBP), di-octyl phenyl phosphonate (DOPP), di-butyl phthalate (DBPH), di-octyl phthalate (DOP), di-butyl phosphate (DBP), bis 2-ethyl hexyl phosphate (BEHP). The sensors based on TBP, DOPP, DBPH and DOP display a fast, stable and linear response with slopes 59.9, 57.7, 57.4, 55.3 mV/decade respectively at pH ranged 2-6. The linear concentration range between 1.0×10-5 – 1.0×10-2 M with detection limit 3.0×10-6 and 4.0×10-6 M for electrodes using TBP, DOPP and DBPH while e
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