Copper Oxide Nanoparticles Induced Growth and Physio-Biochemical Changes in Maize (Zea mays L.) in Saline Soil.

Research on nanoparticles (NPs) is gaining great attention in modulating abiotic stress tolerance and improving crop productivity. Therefore, this investigation was carried out to evaluate the effects of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) on growth and biochemical characteristics in two maize hybrids (YH-5427 and FH-1046) grown under normal conditions or subjected to saline stress. A pot-culture experiment was carried out in the Botanical Research Area of "the University of Lahore", Lahore, Pakistan, in a completely randomized design. At two phenological stages, both maize hybrids were irrigated with the same amount of distilled water or NaCl solution (EC = 5 dS m-1) and subjected or not to foliar treatment with a suspension of CuO-NPs. The salt stress significantly reduced the photosynthetic parameters (photosynthetic rate, transpiration, stomatal conductance), while the sodium content in the shoot and root increased. The foliar spray with CuO-NPs improved the growth and photosynthetic attributes, along with the N, P, K, Ca, and Mg content in the roots and shoots. However, the maize hybrid YH-5427 responded better than the other hybrid to the saline stress when sprayed with CuO-NPs. Overall, the findings of the current investigation demonstrated that CuO-NPs can help to reduce the adverse effects of salinity stress on maize plants by improving growth and physio-biochemical attributes.

Association of maternal, obstetric, fetal, and neonatal mortality outcomes with Lady Health Worker coverage from a cross-sectional survey of >10,000 households in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

Pakistan has among the highest rates of maternal, perinatal, and neonatal mortality globally. Many of these deaths are potentially preventable with low-cost, scalable interventions delivered through community-based health worker programs to the most remote communities. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 10,264 households during the baseline phase of a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan from June-August 2021. The survey was conducted through a stratified, two-stage sampling design with the objective of estimating the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) within the study catchment area, and informing implementation of the cRCT. Study outcomes were self-reported and included neonatal death, stillbirth, health facility delivery, maternal death, postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), and Lady Health Worker (LHW) coverage. Summary statistics (proportions and rates) were weighted according to the sampling design, and mixed-effects Poisson regression was conducted to explore the relationship between LHW coverage and maternal/newborn outcomes. We identified 7,600 women who gave birth in the past five years, among whom 13% reported experiencing PPH. The maternal mortality ratio was 225 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (95% confidence interval [CI] 137-369). Among 12,376 total births, the stillbirth rate was 41.4 per 1,000 births (95% CI 36.8-46.7) and the perinatal mortality rate was 53.0 per 1,000 births (95% CI 47.6-59.0). Among 11,863 live births, NMR was 16.2 per 1,000 live births (95% CI 13.6-19.3) and 65% were delivered at a health facility. LHW home visits were associated with declines in PPH (risk ratio [RR] 0.89 per each additional visit, 95% CI 0.83-0.96) and late neonatal mortality (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.67-0.97). Intracluster correlation coefficients were also estimated to inform the planning of future trials. The high rates of maternal, perinatal, and neonatal death in Gilgit-Baltistan continue to fall behind targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Effect of experimental boundary conditions and treatment-time on the electro-desalination of soils.

This study investigates the effect of boundary conditions and treatment-time on the electro-desalination of artificially-contaminated soil. The effect of ion exchange membranes (IEM), calcium chloride (CaCl2), and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on the removal of salt (i.e., Na+, Cl-, and Ca2+) and metal (i.e., Co2+ and Fe2+) ions from the soil by electrokinetic (EK) was studied. The outcomes demonstrate that an increase in treatment-time decreases the electroosmosis and ion removal rate, which might be attributed to the formation of acid-base fronts in soil, except in the IEM case. Because a high pH jump and electroosmotic flow (EOF) of water were not observed within the soil specimen due to the IEM, the removal of ions was only by diffusion and electromigration. The collision of acid-base fronts produced a large voltage gradient in a narrow soil region with a reduced electric field (EF) in its remaining parts, causing a decrease in EOF and ion transport by electromigration. The results showed that higher electroosmosis was observed by using CaCl2 and EDTA; thus, the removal rate of Co2+, Na+, and Ca2+ was greater than Cl- due to higher EOF. However, for relatively low EOF, the removal of Cl- exceeded that of Co2+, Na+, and Ca2+, possibly due to a lack of EOF. In addition, the adsorption of Fe2+ in soil increased with treatment-time due to the corrosion of the anode during all EK experiments except in the case of IEM, where an anion exchange membrane (AEM) was introduced at the anode-soil interface.

Statistically Analyzed Heavy Metal Removal Efficiency of Silica-Coated Cu0.50Mg0.50Fe2O4 Magnetic Adsorbent for Wastewater Treatment.

Even low concentrations of pollutants in water, particularly heavy metals, can significantly affect the ecosystem and human health. Adsorption has been determined to be one of the most effective techniques of removing pollution from wastewater among the various strategies. To remove heavy metals such as Zn2+ and Pb2+, we prepared a silica-coated CuMgFe2O4 magnetic adsorbent using sol-gel method and tested it for wastewater treatment. X-ray diffraction investigation validated the creation of cubic spinel structure, while morphological analysis showed that silica coating reduces the particle size but boosts the surface roughness of the nanoparticles and also reduces the agglomeration between particles. UV-visible spectroscopy indicates a rise in bandgap and magnetic characteristics analysis indicates low values of magnetization due to silica coating. The kinetic and isotherm parameters for heavy metal ions adsorption onto silica-coated Cu0.50Mg0.50Fe2O4 nanoparticles are calculated by applying pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Langmuir and Freundlich models. Adsorption kinetics revealed that the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models are the best fit to explain adsorption kinetics. Synthesized adsorbent revealed 92% and 97% removal efficiencies for Zn2+ and Pb2+ ions, respectively.

Dual S-Scheme Heterojunction CdS/TiO2/g-C3N4 Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Production and Dye Degradation Applications.

This study investigated a ternary CdS/TiO2/g-C3N4 heterojunction for degrading synthetic dyes and hydrogen production from aqueous media through visible light-initiated photocatalytic reactions. CdS, TiO2, and g-C3N4 were combined in different mass ratios through a simple hydrothermal method to create CdS/TiO2/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts. The prepared heterojunction catalysts were investigated by using FTIR, XRD, EDX, SEM, and UV-visible spectroscopy analysis for their crystal structures, functional groups, elemental composition, microtopography, and optical properties. The rhodamine B dye was then degraded by using fully characterized photocatalysts. The maximum dye degradation efficiency of 99.4% was noted in these experiments. The evolution rate of hydrogen from the aqueous solution with the CdS/TiO2/g-C3N4 photocatalyst remained 2910 µmol·h-1·g-1, which is considerably higher than those of g-C3N4, CdS, CdS/g-C3N4, and g-C3N4/TiO2-catalyzed reactions. This study also proposes a photocatalytic activity mechanism for the tested ternary CdS/TiO2/g-C3N4 heterojunctions.

Unveiling Oxidative Stress-Induced Genotoxicity and Its Alleviation through Selenium and Vitamin E Therapy in Naturally Infected Cattle with Lumpy Skin Disease.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a contagious infection of cattle caused by a virus of the Poxviridae family, genus Capripoxvirus. In Pakistan, recent outbreaks have resulted in significant nationwide mortality and economic losses. A 20-day prospective cohort study was performed on sixty infected cattle with the aim to evaluate LSD-induced oxidative stress's genotoxic role and to determine the ameliorative effect of antioxidant therapy using principal component analysis (PCA) and a multivariable ordinal logistic regression model. LSDV was identified from scab samples and nodular lesions using RPO30-specific gene primers. The infected cattle were divided into control and treated groups. The animals were observed initially and finally on day 20 to evaluate the homeostatic, oxidative, and genotoxic changes. The animals in the treated group were administered a combination of selenium (Se) and vitamin E at the standard dose rate for five consecutive days. A substantial (p < 0.05) improvement in the hematological indices was observed in the treated group. The treated group also showed a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in levels of serum nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) post-therapy. The PCA at the final sampling data of the treated group showed that Principal Component (PC1 eigenvalue 1.429) was influenced by superoxide dismutase (SOD; 0.3632), catalase (CAT; 0.2906), and glutathione (GSH; 0.0816) and PC2 (eigenvalue 1.200) was influenced by CAT (0.4362), MDA (0.2056), and NO (0.0693). A significant correlation between serum NO (76%) and MDA levels (80%) was observed with genetic damage index (GDI) scores. The ordinal logistic regression model regarding the use of antioxidant therapy revealed 73.95-times (95%CI; 17.36-314.96) improvement in the GDI in treated animals. The multivariable ordinal logistic regression showed that each unit increase in NO and MDA resulted in a 13% increase in genotoxicity in infected individuals. In conclusion, our study revealed that LSD-induced oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation product causes genotoxicity in affected animals. Furthermore, the combined Se and vitamin E therapy significantly alleviated oxidative stress and genotoxicity in LSD-affected cattle.

Lead Toxicity-Mediated Growth and Metabolic Alterations at Early Seedling Stages of Maize (Zea mays L.).

To investigate the toxic effects of lead (Pb) on key metabolic activities essential for proper germination and seedling growth of maize seeds, experiments were carried out with different levels of Pb (0 to 120 mg of Pb L-1 as PbCl2) applied through growth medium to two maize hybrids H-3310S and H-6724. The research findings indicated that growth and metabolic activities were adversely affected by increased Pb contamination in growth medium; however, a slow increase in these parameters was recorded with increasing time from 0 to 120 h. Protease activity decreased with an increase in the level of Pb contamination but increased with time; consequently, a reduction in seed proteins and an increase in total free amino acids were observed with time. Similarly, α-amylase activity decreased with an increase in Pb concentration in growth medium while it increased with increasing time from 0 to 120 h; consequently, reducing and non-reducing sugars increased with time but decreased with exposure to lead. The roots of both maize hybrids had higher Pb contents than those of the shoot, which decreased the uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. All these nutrients are essential for optimal plant growth; therefore, the reduction in growth and biomass of maize seedlings could be due to Pb toxicity that altered metabolic processes, as sugar and amino acids are necessary for the synthesis of metabolic compounds, rapid cell division, and proper functioning of enzymes in the growing embryo, but all were dramatically reduced due to suppression of protease and α-amylase by toxicity of Pb. In general, hybrid H-3310S performed better in Pb-contaminated growth medium than H-6724.

Molecular identification and infection pathology of Mycobacterium spp. in captive wild animals in Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION: Animal tuberculosis is an infectious, chronic, granulomatous, and debilitating disease affecting animals as well as humans. However, in recent decades, there have been many endemic geographic localities where animal tuberculosis has been identified in wildlife reservoirs, limiting the eradication program in cattle. This study aimed to identify animal tuberculosis in captive zoo animals in Pakistan. METHODOLOGY: In total, 185 morbid zoo animals were brought for postmortem examination at a veterinary postmortem facility. During the macroscopic examination, these animals were thoroughly examined for the presence of suggestive gross lesions of animal tuberculosis (granulomas/tubercles), and the pattern and distribution of these lesions in different organs. The Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) staining was performed on smears prepared from granulomatous lesions of lung tissue followed by molecular identification of M. bovis and M. tuberculosis DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: The postmortem examination revealed that 8.1% (15/185) of animals had gross tuberculosis lesions on the lungs and lymph nodes. The ZN staining of tissue smears showed 5.40% positivity while M. bovis and M. tuberculosis DNA was identified in 3.78 % and 1.1% of investigated animals, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that animal tuberculosis is prevalent among wildlife in Pakistan and it may pose serious public health concerns to the people visiting these zoos and wildlife parks.

Optimal Architecture of a Dual S-Scheme ZnIn2S4-ZnO-Al2O3 Heterosystem with High H2 Evolution Rate under Visible Light.

In this study, dual S-scheme ZnIn2S4-Al2O3-ZnO (ZIS-Al-Zn) heterojunctions were produced by a facile, low cost, and rapid combustion technique. These heterojunctions accelerated the photocatalytic hydrogen production due to the multi-channel-promoted separation of photocarriers. By optimizing the content of the components, the synthesized ZIS-Al-Zn composite with 20 wt% of ZnIn2S4 and 30 wt% of Al2O3 in the ZIS-Al-Zn composite demonstrated the highest hydrogen production rate of 54.2 mmol g-1 h-1, which was nearly 11 and 8.30 times better than ZnO-Al2O3 and ZnO-ZnIn2S4 composites, respectively. The results of DRS, PL, EIS, LSV, and CV techniques showed the highest shift in the light absorption, rapid interfacial transfer, and quenched recombination of photocarriers over the ternary ZIS-Al-Zn composite than single and binary catalysts. The obtained results revealed the formation of a dual S-scheme mechanism of transfer of photocarriers in ZIS-Al-Zn heterojunctions, contributing to better hydrogen production efficiency. The optimized ZIS-Al-Zn composite also exhibited good stability and reusability.

Production of combustible fuels and carbon nanotubes from plastic wastes using an in-situ catalytic microwave pyrolysis process.

This study performed in-situ microwave pyrolysis of plastic waste into hydrogen, liquid fuel and carbon nanotubes in the presence of Zeolite Socony Mobil ZSM-5 catalyst. In the presented microwave pyrolysis of plastics, activated carbon was used as a heat susceptor. The microwave power of 1 kW was employed to decompose high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) wastes at moderate temperatures of 400-450 °C. The effect of plastic composition, catalyst loading and plastic type on liquid, gas and solid carbon products was quantified. This in-situ CMP reaction resulted in heavy hydrocarbons, hydrogen gas and carbon nanotubes as a solid residue. A relatively better hydrogen yield of 129.6 mmol/g as a green fuel was possible in this process. FTIR and gas chromatography analysis revealed that liquid product consisted of C13+ fraction hydrocarbons, such as alkanes, alkanes, and aromatics. TEM micrographs showed tubular-like structural morphology of the solid residue, which was identified as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) during X-ray diffraction analysis. The outer diameter of CNTs ranged from 30 to 93 nm from HDPE, 25-93 nm from PP and 30-54 nm for HDPE-PP mixure. The presented CMP process took just 2-4 min to completely pyrolyze the plastic feedstock into valuable products, leaving no polymeric residue.

Testing of Sr-Doped ZnO/CNT Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution from Water Splitting under Atmospheric Dielectric Barrier Plasma Exposure.

Nonthermal plasma is a well-recognized environmentally advantageous method for producing green fuels. This work used different photocatalysts, including PZO, SxZO, and SxZCx for hydrogen production using an atmospheric argon coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD)-based light source. The photocatalysts were produced using a sol-gel route. The DBD discharge column was filled with water, methanol, and the catalyst to run the reaction under argon plasma. The DBD reactor was operated with a 10 kV AC source to sustain plasma for water splitting. The light absorption study of the tested catalysts revealed a decrease in the band gap with an increase in the concentration of Sr and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the Sr/ZnO/CNTs series. The photocatalyst S25ZC2 demonstrated the lowest photoluminescence (PL) intensity, implying the most quenched recombination of charge carriers. The highest H2 evolution rate of 2760 µmol h-1 g-1 was possible with the S25ZC2 catalyst, and the lowest evolution rate of 56 µmol h-1 g-1 was observed with the PZO catalyst. The photocatalytic activity of S25ZC2 was initially high, which decreased slightly over time due to the deactivation of the photocatalyst. The photocatalytic activity decreased from 2760 to 1670 µmol h-1 g-1 at the end of the process.

Effect of environmental NGOs on human health in China: An empirical analysis.

The emergence of environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) has proved beneficial in improving environmental quality and related health issues. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the impact of ENGO on human health in China from 1995 to 2020. To investigate the relationship between the variables, we have employed the ARDL model. The ARDL model results demonstrate that the long-run impact of ENGO is negative on infant mortality and death rate, meaning that an increase in the proportion of ENGOs in China considerably decreases infant mortality and death rate. On the other hand, ENGOs have a favorable influence on life expectancy in China, demonstrating ENGOs' supporting role in raising birth life expectancy. In the short run, estimates of ENGOs have no substantial influence on newborn mortality and death rates in China, whereas ENGOs have a positive and significant impact on life expectancy. These results imply that ENGOs help improves people's health status in China, which is also supported by the rise in GDP, technology, and health expenditures. The causal analysis confirms the bi-directional causal link between ENGO and IMR and ENGO and LE, while the unidirectional causal link runs from ENGO to DR. The results of the study provide insights into the impact of environmental NGOs on human health in China and may help guide policies aimed at improving public health outcomes through environmental protection efforts.

Statistical prediction and sensitivity analysis of kinetic rate constants for efficient thermal valorization of plastic waste into combustible oil and gases.

Sensitivity analyses of rate constants for chemical kinetics of the pyrolysis reaction are essential for the efficient valorization of plastic waste into combustible liquids and gases. Finding the role of individual rate constants can provide important information on the process conditions, quality, and quantity of the pyrolysis products. The reaction temperature and time can also be reduced through these analyses. For sensitivity analysis, one possible approach is to estimate the kinetic parameters using MLRM (multiple linear regression model) in SPSS. To date, no research reports on this research gap are documented in the published literature. In this study, MLRM is applied to kinetic rate constants, which slightly differ from experimental data. The experimental and statistically predicted rate constants varied up to 200% from their original values to perform sensitivity analysis using MATLAB software. The product yield was examined after 60 min of thermal pyrolysis at a fixed temperature of 420 °C. The predicted rate constant "k(8)" with a slight difference of 0.02 and 0.04 from the experiment revealed 85% oil yield and 40% light wax after 60 min of operation. The heavy wax was missing from the products under these conditions. This rate constant can be utilized to maximize the commercial-scale extraction of liquids and light waxes from thermal pyrolysis of plastics.

Sensitivity Analysis of Thermal Degradation of Plastic Waste Using Statistically Assumed Exponential Factors and Activation Energies.

The rise in the production of plastic waste has prompted the exploration of various recovery options instead of landfilling, burning, and other unethical ways of decomposing. The experimentally generated rate constants for the thermal processing of plastic waste do not yield enough liquid fuels and gases for commercial-scale usage. It is imperative to predict kinetic rate constants statistically using an appropriate combination of activation energies (E a) and frequency factors (A o) for the optimized thermal valorization of plastic waste. This approach also assists in controlling the selectivity and quantity of the pyrolysis products. A statistical kinetic model was tested to find the best combination of rate constants from different combinations of E a and A o to pyrolyze the high-density polyethylene. Two series of E a and A o were first assumed using R software. These series were then used to predict kinetic rate constants and analyze their sensitivity independently using MATLAB. The rate constants were varied from their originally predicted values during the sensitivity analysis. It was found that the rate constant k(7) dominated the other predicted rate constants where high oil and gas yields were concerned. The gas yield increased from lower to higher extreme positions in the range of 60%-74% with the first series and from 65% to 81% with the second series. The maximum oil content was found around 74% and 65% with the first series and second series, respectively.

A Cu medium designed Z-scheme ZnO-Cu-CdS heterojunction photocatalyst for stable and excellent H2 evolution, methylene blue degradation, and CO2 reduction.

Solar photocatalysis has emerged as a pollution-free and inexhaustible technique that has been extensively researched in the domains of environmental remediation and energy production. Herein, we have integrated ZnO and CdS nanoparticles through Cu as a solid-state electron mediator to design a ZnO-Cu-CdS Z-scheme heterosystem via a sol-gel route and further tested this as a photocatalyst for dye degradation, H2 evolution, and CO2 reduction. Within 60 min of visible light exposure, about 97% of methylene blue (MB) is degraded with a degradation rate constant of 0.042 min-1 for the ZnO0.45Cu0.1CdS0.45 catalyst. The MB degradation with this catalyst is 84, 21, 4.8, and 2 times as high as those of ZnO, CdS, ZnO0.5CdS0.5, and Cu0.1ZnO0.9 catalysts. The ZnO-Cu-CdS catalyst manifests an H2 evolution efficiency of 5579 µmol h-1 g-1, which is 169, 41, 3.9, and 3.5 times as high as those of ZnO, CdS, ZnO0.5CdS0.5, and Cu0.1ZnO0.9 catalysts. Using H2 as a reducing agent, the CO production rate over the ZnO0.45Cu0.1CdS0.45 catalyst reaches 770 µmol h-1 g-1, which is 3 and 1.8 times higher than those of ZnO0.5CdS0.5 and Cu0.1ZnO0.9 catalysts. Besides, the optimal CH4 production rate over ZnO0.45Cu0.1CdS0.45 reaches 890 µmol h-1 g-1. The improved photocatalytic response of the ZnO-Cu-CdS catalyst is assigned to the delayed recombination of photoexcited charge carriers through a Z-scheme charge transport mode, maintaining the photocarriers with strong redox potentials and the dual role of Cu to serve as a conductive bridge to accelerate the charge transfer rate and enhance the light absorption due to its SPR phenomenon. This research offers a promising strategy for developing binary/ternary Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalytic systems for different photocatalytic applications.

Potential effect of luteolin, epiafzelechin, and albigenin on rats under cadmium-induced inflammatory insult: In silico and in vivo approach.

Introduction: Cadmium(Cd) an industrial poison present abundantly in the environment, causes human toxicity by an inflammatory process. Chronic exposure of cadmium can cause a number of molecular lesions that could be relevant to oncogenesis, through indirect or epigenetic mechanisms, potentially including abnormal activation of oncogenes and suppression of apoptosis by depletion of antioxidants. As induction of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is linked to inflammatory processes, use of luteolin, epiafzelechin, and albigenin alone or in different combinations may be used as anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents. Methods: We, herein, performed in silico experiments to check the binding affinity of phytochemicals and their therapeutic effect against COX-2 in cadmium administered rats. Wistar albino rats were given phytochemicals in different combinations to check their anti-inflammatory activities against cadmium intoxication. The level of alanine aminotransferases (ALT), 4-hydroxynonenal (4HNE), 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), isoprostanes (IsoP-2α), COX-2, and malondialdehyde (MDA) were estimated with their respective ELISA and spectrophotometric methods. Results: The generated results show that phytocompounds possessed good binding energy potential against COX-2, and common interactive behavior was observed in all docking studies. Moreover, the level of ALT, 4HNE, 8-OHdG, TNF-α, IsoP-2α, malondialdehyde, and COX-2 were significantly increased in rats with induced toxicity compared to the control group, whereas in combinational therapy of phytocompounds, the levels were significantly decreased in the group. Discussion: Taken together, luteolin, epiafzelechin, and albigenin can be used as anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents for future novel drug design, and thus it may have therapeutic importance against cadmium toxicity.

Semiconductor photocatalysts: A critical review highlighting the various strategies to boost the photocatalytic performances for diverse applications.

The photocatalytic technology illustrates an eco-friendly and sustainable route to overcome environmental and energy issues. The successful construction of a photocatalyst depends on four key elements: light absorption ability, the density of active sites, redox capacity, and photoinduced electron-hole recombination rate. Sincemost of intrinsic semiconductor photocatalysts cannot meet all these requirements, they are often modified to boost their photocatalytic properties. Many strategies have been adopted to design novel and efficient photocatalysts for diverse applications. Herein, we review the most efficient of these strategies and methods focused on effectively overcoming the efficiency limitations of photocatalysts to promote their large-scale application. Subsequently, a particular aim is put on the most current studies for photocatalytic applications, including CO2 reduction, N2 fixation, H2 evolution, and pollutants degradation. Finally, key challenges and future perspectives in designing and implementing semiconductor photocatalysts for large-scale applications are discussed. Therefore, it is foreseen that this review will work as a guide for future research and provides a variety of strategies to develop novel and high-performance photocatalysts for various applications.

Two phase feature-ranking for new soil dataset for Coxiella burnetii persistence and classification using machine learning models.

Coxiella burnetii (Cb) is a hardy, stealth bacterial pathogen lethal for humans and animals. Its tremendous resistance to the environment, ease of propagation, and incredibly low infectious dosage make it an attractive organism for biowarfare. Current research on the classification of Coxiella and features influencing its presence in the soil is generally confined to statistical techniques. Machine learning other than traditional approaches can help us better predict epidemiological modeling for this soil-based pathogen of public significance. We developed a two-phase feature-ranking technique for the pathogen on a new soil feature dataset. The feature ranking applies methods such as ReliefF (RLF), OneR (ONR), and correlation (CR) for the first phase and a combination of techniques utilizing weighted scores to determine the final soil attribute ranks in the second phase. Different classification methods such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Logistic Regression (LR), and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) have been utilized for the classification of soil attribute dataset for Coxiella positive and negative soils. The feature-ranking methods established that potassium, chromium, cadmium, nitrogen, organic matter, and soluble salts are the most significant attributes. At the same time, manganese, clay, phosphorous, copper, and lead are the least contributing soil features for the prevalence of the bacteria. However, potassium is the most influential feature, and manganese is the least significant soil feature. The attribute ranking using RLF generates the most promising results among the ranking methods by generating an accuracy of 80.85% for MLP, 79.79% for LR, and 79.8% for LDA. Overall, SVM and MLP are the best-performing classifiers, where SVM yields an accuracy of 82.98% and 81.91% for attribute ranking by CR and RLF; and MLP generates an accuracy of 76.60% for ONR. Thus, machine models can help us better understand the environment, assisting in the prevalence of bacteria and decreasing the chances of false classification. Subsequently, this can assist in controlling epidemics and alleviating the devastating effect on the socio-economics of society.

Catalytic Hydrogen Evolution from H2S Cracking over CrxZnS Catalyst in a Cylindrical Single-Layered Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Reactor.

The use of non-thermal plasma technology in producing green fuels is a much-appreciated environmentally friendly approach. In this study, an Al2O3-supported CrxZnS semiconductor catalyst was tested for hydrogen evolution from hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas by using a single-layered dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system. The Al2O3-supported CrxZnS catalyst (x = 0.20, 0.25, and 0.30) was produced by using a co-impregnation method and characterized for its structural and photocatalytic characteristics. The discharge column of the DBD system was filled with this catalyst and fed with hydrogen sulfide and argon gas. The DBD plasma was sustained with a fixed AC source of 10 kV where plasma produced species and UV radiations activated the catalyst to break H2S molecules under ambient conditions. The catalyst (hexagonal-cubic-sphalerite structure) showed an inverse relationship between the band gap and the dopant concentration. The hydrogen evolution decreased with an increase in dopant concentration in the nanocomposite. The Cr0.20ZnS catalyst showed excellent photocatalytic activity under the DBD exposure by delivering 100% conversion efficiency of H2S into hydrogen. The conversion decreased to 96% and 90% in case of Cr0.25ZnS and Cr0.30ZnS, respectively.

Enhancement of Magnetic and Dielectric Properties of Ni0.25Cu0.25Zn0.50Fe2O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles through Non-Thermal Microwave Plasma Treatment for High-Frequency and Energy Storage Applications.

Spinel ferrites are widely investigated for their widespread applications in high-frequency and energy storage devices. This work focuses on enhancing the magnetic and dielectric properties of Ni0.25Cu0.25Zn0.50 ferrite series through non-thermal microwave plasma exposure under low-pressure conditions. A series of Ni0.25Cu0.25Zn0.50 ferrites was produced using a facile sol-gel auto-ignition approach. The post-synthesis plasma treatment was given in a low-pressure chamber by sustaining oxygen plasma with a microwave source. The structural formation of control and plasma-modified ferrites was investigated through X-ray diffraction analysis, which confirmed the formation of the fcc cubical structure of all samples. The plasma treatment did not affect crystallize size but significantly altered the surface porosity. The surface porosity increased after plasma treatment and average crystallite size was measured as about ~49.13 nm. Morphological studies confirmed changes in surface morphology and reduction in particle size on plasma exposure. The saturation magnetization of plasma-exposed ferrites was roughly 65% higher than the control. The saturation magnetization, remnant magnetization, and coercivity of plasma-exposed ferrites were calculated as 74.46 emu/g, 26.35 emu/g, and 1040 Oe, respectively. Dielectric characteristics revealed a better response of plasma-exposed ferrites to electromagnetic waves than control. These findings suggest that the plasma-exposed ferrites are good candidates for constructing high-frequency devices.