Efficient Lithium Recovery from Water Using Polyamide Thin-Film Nanocomposite (TFN) Membrane Modified with Positively Charged Silica Nanoparticles.

The separation of Li from Mg in salt-lake brines using nanofiltration (NF) has become the most popular solution to meet the rising demand for lithium, particularly driven by the extensive use of lithium-ion batteries. This study presents the fabrication of a uniquely designed polyamide (PA) thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes with ultrahigh Li/Mg selectivity and enhanced water flux by covalently incorporating mixed ligands functionalized silica nanoparticles (F-SiONPs) into the selective PA layer and covalently bonding them to the membrane surface. In this strategy, bare silica nanoparticles (SiONPs) were functionalized with mixed superhydrophilic ligands, including primary amine and quaternary ammonium groups, resulting in a highly positive surface charge primarily from the quaternary ammonium groups and enabling covalent conjugation via amine groups.

Optimization of a rapid, sensitive, and high throughput molecular sensor to measure canola protoplast respiratory metabolism as a means of screening nanomaterial cytotoxicity.

Nanomaterial-mediated plant genetic engineering holds promise for developing new crop cultivars but can be hindered by nanomaterial toxicity to protoplasts. We present a fast, high-throughput method for assessing protoplast viability using resazurin, a non-toxic dye converted to highly fluorescent resorufin during respiration. Protoplasts isolated from hypocotyl canola (Brassica napus L.

Investigation of time series-based genre popularity features for box office success prediction.

Predicting the profitability of movies at the early phase of production can be helpful to support the decision to invest in movies however, due to the limited information at this stage it is a challenging task to predict the movie's profitability. This study proposes features using time series prediction. We argue that a movie can produce better box office returns if its genre's popularity is high at the time of release.

Bruxism management in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and down syndrome - A systematic review.

Background: In dentistry, association between bruxism and individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and Down Syndrome (DS) is high. Bruxism is one of the most common oral and psychophysiological disorders, that is still an unsolved issue with limited data.

Objectives: The purpose of this systematic review (SR) was to evaluate evidence about bruxism and its management in individuals with ASD and DS.

Determinants of Bangladeshi patients' decision-making process and satisfaction toward medical tourism in India.

Objectives: The aims are to explore the factors influencing Bangladeshi patients' decision-making process and their satisfaction level toward medical tourism in India.

Methods: The study used a quantitative research approach with a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from the patients or their relatives ( = 388) who would have decided to travel to India for medical and treatment purposes at the Chittagong Indian visa center (IVAC).

Modelling behavioural intention to buy apartments in Bangladesh: An extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB).

Understanding the elements that influence buyers' purchase intentions is critical for real estate companies. The goal of this study is to develop a model for investigating behavioural intentions to purchase apartments in Bangladesh. To obtain the preliminary elements, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used as the underpinning theoretical framework.

A Machine-Learning-Based System for Prediction of Cardiovascular and Chronic Respiratory Diseases.

Cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases are global threats to public health and cause approximately 19 million deaths worldwide annually. This high mortality rate can be reduced with the use of technological advancements in medical science that can facilitate continuous monitoring of physiological parameters-blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood glucose, etc. The futuristic values of these critical physiological or vital sign parameters not only enable in-time assistance from medical experts and caregivers but also help patients manage their health status by receiving relevant regular alerts/advice from healthcare practitioners.

Surface characterization of thin-film composite membranes using contact angle technique: Review of quantification strategies and applications.

Thin-film composite (TFC) membranes are the most widely used membranes for low-cost and energy-efficient water desalination processes. Proper control over the three influential surface parameters, namely wettability, roughness, and surface charge, is vital in optimizing the TFC membrane surface and permeation properties. More specifically, the surface properties of TFC membranes are often tailored by incorporating novel special wettability materials to increase hydrophilicity and tune surface physicochemical heterogeneity.

Risk perception and information-seeking behavior during emergency: An exploratory study on COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

With the fluctuating condition of the pandemic, people's perception of COVID-19 is also inconstant. If people perceive a low risk of any health emergency or any other crisis, they won't look for proper information to change their attitude, which might increase their risk. Through the use of two different theories and a mixed-method approach, this study attempted to understand the current perception about COVID-19 and the relationship between risk perception and information-seeking behavior.

On the classification of Microsoft-Windows ransomware using hardware profile.

Due to the expeditious inclination of online services usage, the incidents of ransomware proliferation being reported are on the rise. Ransomware is a more hazardous threat than other malware as the victim of ransomware cannot regain access to the hijacked device until some form of compensation is paid. In the literature, several dynamic analysis techniques have been employed for the detection of malware including ransomware; however, to the best of our knowledge, hardware execution profile for ransomware analysis has not been investigated for this purpose, as of today.

Extending the Morphological Hit-or-Miss Transform to Deep Neural Networks.

While most deep learning architectures are built on convolution, alternative foundations such as morphology are being explored for purposes such as interpretability and its connection to the analysis and processing of geometric structures. The morphological hit-or-miss operation has the advantage that it considers both foreground information and background information when evaluating the target shape in an image. In this article, we identify limitations in the existing hit-or-miss neural definitions and formulate an optimization problem to learn the transform relative to deeper architectures.

Evaluation of carbon tetrachloride fraction of Actinodaphne angustifolia Nees (Lauraceae) leaf extract for antioxidant, cytotoxic, thrombolytic and antidiarrheal properties.

Actinodaphne angustifolia Nees (Family: Lauraceae) is commonly used in folk medicine against urinary disorder and diabetes. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the antioxidant, cytotoxic, thrombolytic, and antidiarrheal activities of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) fraction of leaves of A. angustifolia (CTFAA) in different experimental models.

Smart applications for diabetes management: A comprehensive survey and ranking.

Diabetes is a chronic disease, and its treatment requires intensive management of medication, diet, and exercise. Nowadays, information and communication technology provides diverse facilities to patients and medical specialists to manage different diseases in an efficient manner with the help of smartphone technology. Earlier studies have not ranked diabetes management apps by correlating each app feature, and their review is not comprehensive.

Event-Dataset: Temporal information retrieval and text classification dataset.

Recently, Temporal Information Retrieval (TIR) has grabbed the major attention of the information retrieval community. TIR exploits the temporal dynamics in the information retrieval process and harnesses both textual relevance and temporal relevance to fulfill the temporal information requirements of a user Ur Rehman Khan et al., 2018.

Semantic Segmentation with Transfer Learning for Off-Road Autonomous Driving.

Since the state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms demand a large training dataset, which is often unavailable in some domains, the transfer of knowledge from one domain to another has been a trending technique in the computer vision field. However, this method may not be a straight-forward task considering several issues such as original network size or large differences between the source and target domain. In this paper, we perform transfer learning for semantic segmentation of off-road driving environments using a pre-trained segmentation network called DeconvNet.

Functional Bioinorganic Hybrids from Enzymes and Luminescent Silicon-Based Nanoparticles.

This study reports the preparation of functional bioinorganic hybrid materials exhibiting catalytic activity and photoluminescent properties arising from the combination of enzymes and freestanding silicon-based nanoparticles. The hybrid materials reported herein have potential applications in biological sensing/imaging and theranostics, as they combine long-lived silicon-based nanoparticle photoluminescence with substrate-specific enzymatic activity. Thermal hydrosilylation of undecenoic acid and alkene-terminated poly(ethylene oxide) with hydride-terminated silicon nanocrystals afforded nanoparticles functionalized with a mixed surface made up of carboxylic acid and poly(ethylene oxide) moieties.

Phosphorus Pentachloride Initiated Functionalization of Silicon Nanocrystals.

Phosphorus pentachloride (PCl) has long been used to chlorinate hydrocarbons. It has also been applied in silicon surface chemistry to facilitate alkylation via a two-step halogenation/Grignard route. Here we report a study of the reaction of PCl with hydride-terminated silicon nanocrystals (H-SiNCs).

Instantaneous Functionalization of Chemically Etched Silicon Nanocrystal Surfaces.

Remarkable advances in surface hydrosilylation reactions of C=C and C=O bonds on hydride-terminated silicon have revolutionized silicon surface functionalization. However, existing methods for functionalizing hydride-terminated Si nanocrystals (H-SiNCs) require long reaction times and elevated temperatures. Herein, we report a room-temperature method for functionalizing H-SiNC surfaces within seconds by stripping outermost atoms on H-SiNC surfaces with xenon difluoride (XeF ).

Alkoxy-Terminated Si Surfaces: A New Reactive Platform for the Functionalization and Derivatization of Silicon Quantum Dots.

Alkoxy-terminated silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) were synthesized via hydrosilylation of aliphatic ketones on hydride-terminated SiQD (H-SiQD) surfaces under microwave-irradiation. Aromatic ketones undergo hydrosilylation on H-SiQD surfaces at room temperature without requiring any catalyst. The alkoxy-terminated SiQDs are soluble in organic solvents, colloidally stable, and show bright and size dependent photoluminescence (PL).

Grafting Poly(3-hexylthiophene) from Silicon Nanocrystal Surfaces: Synthesis and Properties of a Functional Hybrid Material with Direct Interfacial Contact.

Hybrid functional materials (HFMs) comprised of semiconductor nanoparticles and conjugated polymers offer the potential of synergetic photophysical properties. We have developed HFMs based upon silicon nanocrystals (SiNCs) and the conductive polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (SiNC@P3HT) by applying surface-initiated Kumada catalyst transfer polycondensation (SI-KCTP). One unique characteristic of the developed SiNC@P3HT is the formation of a direct covalent bonding between SiNCs and P3HT.

Composite Noble-Metal Films/H -Conducting Solid-Polymer Electrolyte Assemblies: The Nitrate-Reduction Activity in an Asymmetric Sandwich-Type Reactor.

Asymmetric (Pt|Nafion|Pt-Pd-Cu) assemblies were fabricated to study the nitrate-reduction reaction (NRR) at the cathode surface. The influence of the material composition, supplied current, and applied potential on the reactivity, kinetics, and product selectivity were thoroughly investigated. The cathode assembly consisting of 54 atom % Pt showed enhanced reactivity both in binary (Pt-Pd; k ≈10.

Borane-catalyzed room-temperature hydrosilylation of alkenes/alkynes on silicon nanocrystal surfaces.

Room-temperature borane-catalyzed functionalization of hydride-terminated silicon nanocrystals (H-SiNCs) with alkenes/alkynes is reported. This new methodology affords formation of alkyl and alkynyl surface monolayers of varied chain lengths (i.e.

Chloride surface terminated silicon nanocrystal mediated synthesis of poly(3-hexylthiophene).

Abundant and environmentally benign metal-free silicon-based reagents, including chloride surface-terminated silicon nanocrystals (Cl-SiNCs) and silicon wafers as well as molecular chlorosilanes, were explored as catalysts for the synthesis of poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) at room temperature. Cl-SiNC catalysts exhibit the highest activity of those investigated, and systems based upon single-crystal silicon wafers provide convenient, straightforward purification. The as-prepared P3HT exhibits moderate molecular weights and bears H/Br or Br/Br end groups; these properties will allow direct application and also facilitate their use as macroinitiators in the syntheses of block and/or telechelic polymers.

Gene expression profiling of candidate virulence factors in the laminated root rot pathogen Phellinus sulphurascens.

Background: Phellinus sulphurascens is a fungal pathogen that causes laminar root rot in conifers, one of the most damaging root diseases in western North America. Despite its importance as a forest pathogen, this fungus is still poorly studied at the genomic level. An understanding of the molecular events involved in establishment of the disease should help to develop new methods for control of this disease.

Vibrio cholerae in an Historically Cholera-Free Country.

We report the autochthonous existence of Vibrio cholerae in coastal waters of Iceland, a geothermally active country where cholera is absent and has never been reported. Seawater, mussel, and macroalgae samples were collected close to and distant from sites where geothermal activity causes a significant increase in water temperature during low tides. V.