Zn-doped nickel iron(oxy)hydroxide nanocubes passivated by polyanions with high catalytic activity and corrosion resistance for seawater oxidation

Electrochemical water splitting to produce hydrogen fuel is a promising renewable energy-conversion technique.Large-scale electrolysis of freshwater may deplete water resources and cause water scarcity worldwide.Thus,seawater electrolysis is a potential solution to the future energy and water crisis.In seawater electrolysis,it is critical to develop cost-effective electrocatalysts to split seawater without chloride corrosion.Herein,we present zinc-doped nickel iron(oxy)hydroxide nanocubes passivated by negatively charged polyanions(NFZ-PBA-S)that exhibits outstanding catalytic activity,stability,and selectivity for seawater oxidation.Zn dopants and polyanion-rich passivated surface layers in NFZ-PBA-S could effectively repel chlorine ions and enhance corrosion resistance,enabling its excellent catalytic activity and stability for seawater oxidation.

Quality assessment of the Topo-Iberia CGPS stations and data quality's effects on postfit ionosphere-free phase residuals

This paper analyzed GPS data from the Topo-Iberia network spanning almost 12 years(2008-2020).The data quality information for all 26 Topo-Iberia stations is provided for the first time,complementing the Spanish Geological Survey’s storage work.Data analyses based on quality indicators obtained using TEQC have been carried out.The guidelines and data quality information from the IGS stations have been considered as the quality references,with the stations ALJI,EPCU,and TIOU standing out as the worst stations,while on the contrary,FUEN,PALM,PILA,and TRIA meet the quality requirements to become an IGS station.The relationship between the GPS data quality and their GAMIT-and Gipsy X-derived postfit ionosphere-free phase residuals has also been investigated,and the results reveal an inversely proportional relationship.It has been found that the stations showing an increase in elevation of the horizon line,also show an increase in cycle slips and multipath,are among the poorest quality stations,and among those with the highest postfit RMS of phase residuals.Moreover,the evolution of the vegetation around the antenna should be considered as it could cause a progressive loss of quality,which is not complying with the IGS standards.The quality assessment shows that the Topo-Iberia stations are appropriate for geodetic purposes,but permanent monitoring would be necessary to avoid the least possible loss of data and quality.In addition,a method to characterize the GNSS data quality is proposed.

Low-Energy Spin Excitations in Detwinned FeSe

Antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation is regarded as the leading driving force for electron pairing in high-Tc superconductors.In iron-based superconductors,spin excitations at low energy range,especially the spin-resonance mode at ER~5kBTc,are important for understanding the superconductivity.Here,we use inelastic neutron scattering(INS)to investigate the symmetry and in-plane wave-vector dependence of low-energy spin excitations in uniaxial-strain detwinned Fe Se.The low-energy spin excitations(E<10 meV)appear mainly at Q=(±1,0)in the superconducting state(T9K)and the nematic state(T90 K),confirming the constant C_(2) rotational symmetry and ruling out the C_(4) mode at E≈3 meV reported in a prior INS study.Moreover,our results reveal an isotropic spin resonance in the superconducting state,which is consistent with the s±wave pairing symmetry.At slightly higher energy,low-energy spin excitations become highly anisotropic.The full width at half maximum of spin excitations is elongated along the transverse direction.The Q-space isotropic spin resonance and highly anisotropic low-energy spin excitations could arise from dyz intra-orbital selective Fermi surface nesting between the hole pocket aroundΓpoint and the electron pockets centered at MX point.

C-Type Antiferromagnetic Structure of Topological Semimetal CaMnSb_(2)

Determination of the magnetic structure and confirmation of the presence or absence of inversion(P)and time reversal(Τ)symmetry is imperative for correctly understanding the topological magnetic materials.Here highquality single crystals of the layered manganese pnictide CaMnSb_(2)are synthesized using the self-flux method.

MicroRNA: a new and promising potential biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of ovarian cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer(EOC) is the leading cause of death among all gynecological malignancies. Despite the technological and medical advances over the past four decades, such as the development of several biological markers(mRNA and proteins biomarkers), the mortality rate of ovarian cancer remains a challenge because of its late diagnosis, which is specifically attributed to low specificities and sensitivities. Under this compulsive scenario, recent advances in expression biology have shifted in identifying and developing specific and sensitive biomarkers, such as micro RNAs(miRNAs) for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. MiRNAs are a novel class of small non-coding RNAs that deregulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level, either by translational repression or by mRNA degradation. These mechanisms may be involved in a complex cascade of cellular events associated with the pathophysiology of many types of cancer. MiRNAs are easily detectable in tissue and blood samples of cancer patients. Therefore, miRNAs hold good promise as potential biomarkers in ovarian cancer. In this review, we attempted to provide a comprehensive profile of key miRNAs involved in ovarian carcinoma to establish mi RNAs as more reliable non-invasive clinical biomarkers for early detection of ovarian cancer compared with protein and DNA biomarkers.

One step NaBH_4 reduction of Pt-Ru-Ni catalysts on different types of carbon supports for direct ethanol fuel cells : Synthe sis and characte rization

The ternary catalyst Pt75Ru5Ni20 was conducted on various types of carbon supports including functionalized Vulcan XC-72R(f-CB),functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes(f-MWCNT),and mesoporous carbon(PC-Zn-succinic)by sodium borohydride chemical reduction method to improve the ethanol electrooxidation reaction(EOR)for direct ethanol fuel cell(DEFC).It was found that the particle size of the metals on f-MWCNT was 5.20 nm with good particle dispersion.The alloy formation of ternary catalyst was confirmed by XRD and more clearly described by SEM element mapping,which was relevant to the efficiency of the catalysts.Moreover,the mechanism of ethanol electrooxidation reaction based on the surface reaction was more understanding.The activity and stability for ethanol electrooxidation reaction(EOR)were investigated using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry,respectively.The highest activity and stability for EOR were observed from Pt75Ru5Ni20/f-MWCNT due to a good metal-carbon interaction.Ru and Ni presented in Pt-Ru-Ni alloy improved the activity and stability of ternary catalysts for EOR.Moreover,the reduction of Pt content in ternary catalyst led to the catalyst cost deduction in DEFC.

Spatial and temporal dynamics of Pai forest vegetation in Pakistan assessed by RS and GIS

Pai, an arid forest in Sindh Province of Pakistan, is important for the environmental, social, economic development and conservation of ecosystems of the province. Considering the significance of the forest for Sindh and the calls from the local population for its deforestation, we quantified the spatial and temporal variation in the vegetation of the forest and land surface temperature （LST） using optical and thermal Landsat satellite data. Our analysis of temporal （1987-2014） images with ArcGIS 10.1 revealed that the dense forest area was greatest at 725 ha （37 % of the total forest area） during 2013 while it was smallest at 217 ha （11%） in 1992. The sparse forest area peaked during 1987 at 1115 ha （58 %） under shrubs whereas it was smallest at 840 ha （43 %） in 1992, and the maximum deforestation of Pai forest occurred during 1992. Spatial change in vegetation over a period of about 27 years （1987-2014） revealed that vegetation increased on an area of 735 ha （37 %）, decreased on 427 ha （22 %）, and there was no change on 808 ha （41%） of the forest. Variation in temperature between shaded （dense forest） and unshaded areas （bare land） of the forest was from 6 to 10 ℃. While the temperature difference between areas with sparse forest and bare land ranged from 4 to 6℃. An inverse relationship between LST and NDVI of Pai forest with coefficients of determination of 0.944 and 0.917 was observed when NDVI was plotted against minimum and maximum LST, respectively. The vegetation in the forest increased with time and the areas of more dense Pai forest supported lower surface temperature and thus air temperature.

Modification of mechanical properties by TiO_2 nano-particle for biodegradable materials made from palm oil sludge and activated sludge cake

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-particle is widely used in composite materials to its improved mechanical properties.TiO2 nano-particle was used in the composite material that consists of palm oil sludge from the palm oil production and activated sludge cake from a papermaking process.TiO2 was synthesized by a hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide.The parameter was investigated by the mole ratio of reactant to different solvents (isopropanol and isobutanol).The solution was prepared by adjusting pH to acid solution,resulting in different sizes and distributions of precipitate which was heated at different temperatures.The obtained samples were then morphologically and structurally characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and particle size distribution (PSD).The experimental results show that the TiO2 sample from isopropanol solvent with heated temperature of 600 °C exhibits the best results.Consequently,different mass fractions of TiO2 (0,0.5%,1.0%,2.0%,4.0% and 8.0%) were used for specimens that were made from palm oil sludge mixed with activated sludge cake.All samples were later characterized by 3-point bending test and compression test.The results indicate that the adding 0.5% and 1.0% TiO2 particles to the composite material outperforms the other fractions in terms of enhancing mechanical properties.Nonetheless,mechanical properties tends to decrease when adding 2.0% TiO2.

Investigating User Ridership Sentiments for Bike Sharing Programs

Bike sharing is considered a state-of-the-art transportation program. It is ideal for short or medium trips providing riders the ability to pick up a bike at any self-serve bike station and return it to any bike station located within the system’s coverage area. The bike sharing programs in the United States are still very young compared to those in European countries. Washington DC was the first jurisdiction to devise a third generation bike sharing system in the US in 2008. To evaluate the popularity of a bike sharing program, a sentiment analysis of the riders’ feedback can be performed. Twitter is a great platform to understand people’s views instantly. Social media mining is, thus, gaining popularity in many research areas including transportation. Social media mining has two major advantages over conventional attitudinal survey methods—it can easily reach a large audience and it can reflect the true behavior of participants because of the anonymity social media provides. It is known that self-imposed censor is common in responding to conversational attitudinal surveys. This study performed text mining on the tweets related to a case study (Capital Bike share of Washington DC) to perform sentiment analysis or opinion mining. The results of the text mining mostly revealed higher positive sentiments towards the current system.

Computer Methodologies for the Comparison of Some Efficient Derivative FreeSimultaneous Iterative Methods for Finding Roots of Non-Linear Equations

In this article,we construct the most powerful family of simultaneous iterative method with global convergence behavior among all the existing methods in literature for finding all roots of non-linear equations.Convergence analysis proved that the order of convergence of the family of derivative free simultaneous iterative method is nine.Our main aim is to check out the most regularly used simultaneous iterative methods for finding all roots of non-linear equations by studying their dynamical planes,numerical experiments and CPU time-methodology.Dynamical planes of iterative methods are drawn by using MATLAB for the comparison of global convergence properties of simultaneous iterative methods.Convergence behavior of the higher order simultaneous iterative methods are also illustrated by residual graph obtained from some numerical test examples.Numerical test examples,dynamical behavior and computational efficiency are provided to present the performance and dominant efficiency of the newly constructed derivative free family of simultaneous iterative method over existing higher order simultaneous methods in literature.

Photometric studies of two W UMa type variables in the field of distant open cluster NGC 6866

We present photometric analysis of the two W UMa type binaries identified in the field of distant open star cluster NGC 6866. Although these systems, namely ID487 and ID494, were reported by Joshi et al., a detailed study of these stars has not been carried out before. The orbital periods of these stars are found to be 0.415110±0.000001 day and 0.366709±0.000004 day, respectively. Based on the photometric and infrared colors, we find their respective spectral types to be K0 and K3. The photometric light vari- ations of both stars show the O＇Connell effect which can be explained by employing a dark spot on the secondary components. The V and I band light curves are analyzed using the Wilson-Devinney （WD） code and relations given by Gazeas which yield radii and masses for the binary components of star ID487 of R1 = 1.24 ± 0.01R,R2 = 1.11 4- 0.02Re, and M1 = 1.24 ± 0.02Me, M2 = 0.96 ±0.05Me and for star ID494 of R1 = 1.22 ± 0.02Re, R2 = 0.81 4- 0.01 Re, and M1 = 1.20 4- 0.06 Me, M2 = 0.47 4- 0.01 Me.

Analysis of Wigner’s Set Theoretical Proof for Bell-Type Inequalities

We present a detailed analysis of the set theoretical proof of Wigner for Bell type inequalities with the following result. Wigner introduced a crucial assumption that is not related to Einstein’s local realism, but instead, without justification, to the existence of certain joint probability measures for possible and actual measurement outcomes of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) experiments. His conclusions about Einstein’s local realism are, therefore, not applicable to EPR experiments and the contradiction of the experimental outcomes to Wigner’s results has no bearing on the validity of Einstein’s local realism.

Kolmogorov’s Probability Spaces for “Entangled” Data-Subsets of EPRB Experiments: No Violation of Einstein’s Separation Principle

It is demonstrated that the use of Kolmogorov’s probability theory to describe results of quantum probability for EPRB (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm) experiments requires extreme care when different subsets of measurement outcomes are considered. J. S. Bell and his followers have committed critical inaccuracies related to spin-gauge and probability measures of such subsets, because they use exclusively a single probability space for all data sets and sub-sets of data. It is also shown that Bell and followers use far too stringent epistemological requirements for the consequences of space-like separation. Their requirements reach way beyond Einstein’s separation principle and cannot be met by the major existing physical theories including relativity and even classical mechanics. For example, the independent free will does not empower the experimenters to choose multiple independent spin-gauges in the two EPRB wings. It is demonstrated that the suggestion of instantaneous influences at a distance (supposedly “derived” from experiments with entangled quantum entities) is a consequence of said inaccuracies and takes back rank as soon as the Kolmogorov probability measures are related to a consistent global spin-gauge and permitted to be different for different data subsets: Using statistical interpretations and different probability spaces for certain subsets of outcomes instead of probability amplitudes related to single quantum entities, permits physical explanations without a violation of Einstein’s separation principle.

A Classical Theory for the Raman Optical Activity

A classical theory for the Raman optical activity(ROA)is proposed based on a picture that for a normal mode,atoms of a molecule with partial residual charges act as oscillating dipoles around their equilibrium positions,which also induce magnetic moments on the other atoms(dipoles),reciprocally.Then the resulting coupling between electric dipoles and magnetic moments of the molecule contributes to the optical activity.Despite its crude approximation,this model offers a physical essence for ROA and produces results that are of quality comparable to the complicated quantum-chemical calculation,as far as the sign of the circular intensity difference for the ROA is concerned.

Conformation-Change-Independent Anchoring of Liquid Crystals on Polymer Liquid Crystal Langmuir-Blodgett Films

The monolayers of a polymer liquid crystal at an air-water interface undergo successive phase transitions caused by conformation changes.In different phases,the polymer liquid crystal Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films are prepared to align liquid crystals homeotropically.The alignment property of the LB films is independent of the conformational changes of aligning agents.

Quantum Dynamical Theory for Squeezed Atom Laser

A model for the squeezed output coupler of the trapped Bose-Einstein condensed atoms is established with a simple many-boson system of two states with linear coupling, by preparing an initially squeezed light field. In the Bogoliubov approximation, its solutions show that the quadrature squeezing effect mutually oscillates between the coupling light field and the output atomic field. This manifests that the initially squeezed light will transform into a coherent state after some period of coupling interaction while the output atomic field is in a squeezed state.

Taxonomic studies of Phlebotomus sergenti (parrot) (diptera:psychodidae) and its evolutionary relationship with its closest allies

In the survey,the work was done to develop taxonomic record of sand fly Phlebotomus(paaphlebotomus) sergenti (Parrot) collected for the first time from new epidemic localities of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Dera Ghazi Khan(Pakistan).In view of the published reports about the detection of Leishmania major,the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis from this species in many countries,the correct identification of this species becomes of significant value in the study of epidemiology of leishmaniasis.Therefore,in order to facilitate zoologists and medical researchers in its correct identification,taxonomic characters of P.sergenti(parrot) is studied in details with special reference to its mouth parts,male and female genitalia.A key is also given to P. sergentii(parrot) and its closest allies.In this light its relationships with its closest allies is also briefly discussed.

A New Shadow Removal Method for Color Images

Shadow and variable illumination considerably influence the results of image understanding such as image segmentation, object tracking, and object recognition. The intrinsic image decomposition is to separate the reflectance and the illumination image from an observed image. The intrinsic image decomposition is very useful to remove shadows and then improve the performance of image understanding. In this paper, we present a new shadow removal method based on intrinsic image decomposition on a single color image using the Fisher Linear Discriminant (FLD). Under the assumptions-Lambertian surfaces, approximately Planckian lighting, and narrowband camera sensors, there exist an invariant image, which is 1-dimensional greyscale and independent of illuminant color and intensity. The Fisher Linear Discriminant is applied to create the invariant image. And further the shadows can be removed through the difference between invariant image and original color image. The experimental results on real data show good performance of this algorithm.