Modeling and investigation of swelling kinetics of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose/starch/citric acid superabsorbent polymer.

Crosslinked hydrophilic polymers with high water absorption rates are known as superabsorbent polymers (SAPs). Most commercial superabsorbent polymers are made with acrylic acid, which is difficult to biodegrade. So, in this investigation, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was utilized as a significant component in the synthesis of polysaccharide-based SAPs. Citric acid (CA) and starch were chosen as crosslinking agents because they are more eco-friendly, non-toxic, and biodegradable than traditional crosslinking agents. FTIR analysis revealed that the superabsorbent polymer product contains a crosslinked structure of CMC and starch with side chains that carry carboxylate functional groups. Superabsorbent weight loss and grafting data were satisfactorily studied using the TGA approach. Under optimum circumstances, the SAP2 water absorbency capacity in distilled water was 287.37 g.g-1 and SAP1 absorbency capacity in a solution containing 0.9 wt% NaCl was 52.18 g.g-1. Moreover, Schott's pseudo-second-order model was used to determine the kinetic swelling of the superabsorbent. The initial swelling rate of SAPs can be calculated using the Q∞ data acquired in the following order: SAP2 > SAP1 > SAP3 > SAP4 in distilled water and SAP1 > SAP2 > SAP3 > SAP4 in 0.9 wt% NaCl solution, respectively. The findings suggested that a small amount of citric acid introduced into the SAPs matrix could enhance the swelling rate of SAPs. The results of the cytotoxicity tests show that the extraction liquid of composite hydrogel fibers is less cytotoxic than the positive control. As well, SAP underwent in silico docking investigations on the DNA Gyrase enzyme. As the ligand is a monomer of SAP, it was a long chain of carbohydrate molecules with alcoholic groups, esters groups, and keto groups forms a strong binding interaction with DNA gyrase.

FibVID: Comprehensive fake news diffusion dataset during the COVID-19 period.

As the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has run rampant worldwide, the dissemination of misinformation has sown confusion on a global scale. Thus, understanding the propagation of fake news and implementing countermeasures has become exceedingly important to the well-being of society. To assist this cause, we produce a valuable dataset called FibVID (Fake news information-broadcasting dataset of COVID-19), which addresses COVID-19 and non-COVID news from three key angles. First, we provide truth and falsehood (T/F) indicators of news items, as labeled and validated by several fact-checking platforms (e.g., Snopes and Politifact). Second, we collect spurious-claim-related tweets and retweets from Twitter, one of the world's largest social networks. Third, we provide basic user information, including the terms and characteristics of "heavy fake news" user to present a better understanding of T/F claims in consideration of COVID-19. FibVID provides several significant contributions. It helps to uncover propagation patterns of news items and themes related to identifying their authenticity. It further helps catalog and identify the traits of users who engage in fake news diffusion. We also provide suggestions for future applications of FibVID with a few exploratory analyses to examine the effectiveness of the approaches used.