Toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastic and copper oxide nanoparticle in Artemiasalina: Single and combined effects on stress responses.

Nanoparticles, such as copper oxide nanoparticle (CuO NP) and polystyrene nanoplastic (PSNP), are increasingly released into aquatic environments, and pose potential risks to aquatic animals such as brine shrimps. Understanding the toxicity of these nanoparticles, especially when combined, is very important to assess their environmental effects. Therefore, this work describes the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastic (PSNP) and CuO nanoparticles (CuO NPs) for brine shrimp (Artemiasalina).

Effect of elevated temperature, sea water acidification, and phenanthrene on the expression of genes involved in the shell and pearl formation of economic pearl oyster (Pinctada radiata).

Our study aims to examine the effect of some stressors on the gene expression levels of shell matrix proteins in a pearl oyster. Oysters were exposed to the different combinations of the temperature, pH, and phenanthrene concentration is currently measured in the Persian Gulf and the predicted ocean warming and acidification for 28 days. The expression of all the studied genes was significantly downregulated.

Oxidative stress, genotoxic effects, and other damages caused by chronic exposure to silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), and their mixtures in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

This study assessed the oxidative stress impacts of Ag NPs and ZnO NPs and their mixtures in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish were exposed to sublethal concentrations of each NP and a mixture for 28 days followed by a 28-day recovery period (without NP exposure) and measurements made on hepatic levels of antioxidant enzymes (CAT, SOD, and GPx), MDA levels, expression of the genes for the Hsp70 and Hsp90, and MT, blood biochemical parameters (total protein, globulin, albumin, AST, ALT, ALP, and LDH), and genotoxicity in erythrocytes (via measurement of micronuclei (MN) and nuclear (NA) abnormalities). There was a tendency for an increase in the variation in the responses of antioxidant defense systems and there were higher MDA levels with increasing exposure concentration of Ag NPs and with increasing exposure time.

Toxicity of Silver Nanoparticles in the Presence of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Differs for Acute and Chronic Exposures in Zebrafish.

We assessed the acute toxicity effects (96 h) of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and chronic (28 d) exposure to Ag NPs, including in combination with ZnO NPs. In the chronic studies, we further assessed the toxicokinetics and bioaccumulation of Ag and the resulting histopathological effects in the gill, intestine, and liver of zebrafish. Co-exposures with ZnO NPs reduced the toxicity of Ag NPs for acute (lethality) but enhanced the toxicity effects (tissue histopathology) for chronic exposures.

Associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, body mass index and body fat composition among Emirati population: Results from the UAE healthy future study.

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are highly prevalent among several populations across the globe. Numerous studies have shown a significant correlation between body-mass-index (BMI) and Vitamin D status, however, some results differed according to ethnicity. Despite the abundance of sunshine throughout the year, vitamin D deficiency is prominent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Bipolar Electric-Field Switching of Perpendicular Magnetic Tunnel Junctions through Voltage-Controlled Exchange Coupling.

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (p-MTJs) switched utilizing bipolar electric fields have extensive applications in energy-efficient memory and logic devices. Voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy linearly lowers the energy barrier of the ferromagnetic layer via the electric field effect and efficiently switches p-MTJs only with a unipolar behavior. Here, we demonstrate a bipolar electric field effect switching of 100 nm p-MTJs with a synthetic antiferromagnetic free layer through voltage-controlled exchange coupling (VCEC).

Determination of texture properties of banana fruit cells with an atomic force microscope: A case study on elastic modulus and stiffness.

Characterization of biological materials with their elasto-mechanical properties is considered essential for understanding their nature. In addition, elasto-mechanical studies at the macroscale are frequently used to determine these characteristics by a resistance measurement such as the Magness-Taylor penetration test or compression test using an Instron Universal Mechanical Testing Machine. In this regard, the atomic force microscopy (AFM) was presented as a new method for identifying the alterations of elasto-mechanical properties at a nanoscale.

The 2021 Magnonics Roadmap.

Magnonics is a budding research field in nanomagnetism and nanoscience that addresses the use of spin waves (magnons) to transmit, store, and process information. The rapid advancements of this field during last one decade in terms of upsurge in research papers, review articles, citations, proposals of devices as well as introduction of new sub-topics prompted us to present the first roadmap on magnonics. This is a collection of 22 sections written by leading experts in this field who review and discuss the current status besides presenting their vision of future perspectives.

Toxicological effects of AgO and AgCO doped TiO nanoparticles and pure TiO particles on zebrafish (Danio rerio).

In this study, the toxic effects of silver oxide and silver carbonate doped TiO nanoparticles (AgO-TiO NPs and AgCO-TiONPs), TiO nanoparticles (TiO NPs), and bulk TiO on gene expression, lipid peroxidation, genotoxicity, and histological alterations in zebrafish (Danio rerio) was assessed. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Zeta potential analyses. TiONPs after doping with Ag showed shift to higher wavelengths and decrease of band gap energy.

Understanding the Switching Mechanisms of the Antiferromagnet/Ferromagnet Heterojunction.

Electric-field-driven spintronic devices are considered promising candidates for beyond CMOS logic and memory applications thanks to their potential for ultralow energy switching and nonvolatility. In this work, we have developed a comprehensive modeling framework to understand the fundamental physics of the switching mechanisms of the antiferromagnet/ferromagnet heterojunction by taking BiFeO/CoFe heterojunctions as an example. The models are calibrated with experimental results and demonstrate that the switching of the ferromagnet in the antiferromagnet/ferromagnet heterojunction is caused by the rotation of the Neel vector in the antiferromagnet and is not driven by the unidirectional exchange bias at the interface as was previously speculated.

Efficient removal of cytotoxic drugs from wastewater by single-stage combined photocatalysis-algae treatment process.

In this study, the efficiency of a single-stage combined photocatalysis-algae treatment process in the removal of the anticancer drug, flutamide (FLU), from aqueous solution has been evaluated. The removal abilities of the individual blue-green alga ( sp.), nano-sized MoS photocatalyst under visible light irradiation, and combined photocatalysis-algal treatment process were investigated.

FeO/Ag nanocomposite biosynthesised using extract and its enhanced anticancer efficiency.

In this work, the authors investigated the apoptotic activities of FeO/Ag nanocomposite biosynthesised by extract against MCF-7 (human breast cancer cells). The physico-chemical properties of prepared FeO/Ag nanocomposite were studied by different spectroscopic methods. To evaluate the cytotoxic effect, MCF-7 cells were treated with different concentrations of FeO/Ag nanocomposite and examined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay.

Biosynthesis of FeO@Ag Nanocomposite and Evaluation of Its Performance on Expression of norA and norB Efflux Pump Genes in Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

At present, the universal health problem with Staphylococcus aureus is the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains due to the overuse of antibiotics. Drug extrusion through efflux pumps is one of the bacterial mechanisms to neutralize the bactericidal effect of antibiotics. The antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticle as well as FeO nanoparticle had been previously studied and widely described.

Patterns of tobacco use in the United Arab Emirates Healthy Future (UAEHFS) pilot study.

Introduction: Self-reported tobacco use in the United Arab Emirates is among the highest in the region. Use of tobacco products other than cigarettes is widespread, but little is known about specific behavior use patterns. There have been no studies that have biochemically verified smoking status.

Proposal for nanoscale cascaded plasmonic majority gates for non-Boolean computation.

Surface-plasmon-polariton waves propagating at the interface between a metal and a dielectric, hold the key to future high-bandwidth, dense on-chip integrated logic circuits overcoming the diffraction limitation of photonics. While recent advances in plasmonic logic have witnessed the demonstration of basic and universal logic gates, these CMOS oriented digital logic gates cannot fully utilize the expressive power of this novel technology. Here, we aim at unraveling the true potential of plasmonics by exploiting an enhanced native functionality - the majority voter.

Overcoming thermal noise in non-volatile spin wave logic.

Spin waves are propagating disturbances in magnetically ordered materials, analogous to lattice waves in solid systems and are often described from a quasiparticle point of view as magnons. The attractive advantages of Joule-heat-free transmission of information, utilization of the phase of the wave as an additional degree of freedom and lower footprint area compared to conventional charge-based devices have made spin waves or magnon spintronics a promising candidate for beyond-CMOS wave-based computation. However, any practical realization of an all-magnon based computing system must undergo the essential steps of a careful selection of materials and demonstrate robustness with respect to thermal noise or variability.

Non-volatile Clocked Spin Wave Interconnect for Beyond-CMOS Nanomagnet Pipelines.

The possibility of using spin waves for information transmission and processing has been an area of active research due to the unique ability to manipulate the amplitude and phase of the spin waves for building complex logic circuits with less physical resources and low power consumption. Previous proposals on spin wave logic circuits have suggested the idea of utilizing the magneto-electric effect for spin wave amplification and amplitude- or phase-dependent switching of magneto-electric cells. Here, we propose a comprehensive scheme for building a clocked non-volatile spin wave device by introducing a charge-to-spin converter that translates information from electrical domain to spin domain, magneto-electric spin wave repeaters that operate in three different regimes--spin wave transmitter, non-volatile memory and spin wave detector, and a novel clocking scheme that ensures sequential transmission of information and non-reciprocity.

Antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts of Sambucus ebulus and Urtica dioica against clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Increase in the emergence of drug -resistant pathogens led to the development of natural antimicrobials. In this study the antimicrobial effect of methanolic extracts of Sambucus ebulus and Urtica dioica on 16 skin and wound infections isolates of methicillin resistant S. aureus have been studied.

Cervical sympathetic schwannoma: report of two cases and review of the literature.

This study describes two cases of cervical sympathetic schwannoma operated at department of vascular surgery and review the literature to clarify the demographic, diagnostic, and therapeutic features of these rare lesions for the first time. Two 32- and 59-year-old ladies both presenting with a painless cervical mass were referred to our service with the initial diagnosis of carotid body tumor. At the operation, mobile masses which could be easily dissected from the surrounding arteries and veins, except for the cervical sympathetic trunk were observed.