Starch blend films made from sago and mung bean were prepared by casting with glycerol as the plasticizer and subsequently exposed to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for 2 h. The films were characterized by thickness, moisture sorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. All films produced were colorless while incorporation of glycerol resulted in more flexible and manageable films. Moisture sorption isotherms for all films showed sigmoidal shape and the control films showed slightly higher curve than treated films. While for X-ray analysis, the control and treated films for all formulations showed similar pattern, however for treated films showed more crystalline character. UV radiation showed affect on X-ray diffraction and sorption isotherms; however the UV radiation did not affect the spectra pattern of FTIR.
We present an investigation on a coupled system consists of gold nanoparticles and silicon nanocrystals. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) embedded into porous silicon (PSi) were prepared using the electrochemical deposition method. Scanning electron microscope images and energy-dispersive X-ray results indicated that the growth of AuNPs on PSi varies with current density. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the presence of cubic gold phases with crystallite sizes around 40 to 58 nm. Size dependence on the plasmon absorption was studied from nanoparticles with various sizes. Comparison with the reference sample, PSi without AuNP deposition, showed a significant blueshift with decreasing AuNP size which was explained in terms of optical coupling between PSi and AuNPs within the pores featuring localized plasmon resonances.
e effects of biological pretreatment on the rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis), was evaluated after cultivation of white rot fungi Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, Trametes versicolor, and a mixed culture of C. subvermispora and T. versicolor. The analysis of chemical compositions indicated that C. subvermispora had greater selectivity for lignin degradation with the highest lignin and hemicellulose loss at 45.06% and 42.08%, respectively, and lowest cellulose loss (9.50%) after 90 days among the tested samples. X-ray analysis showed that pretreated samples had a higher crystallinity than untreated samples. The sample pretreated by C. subvermispora presented the highest crystallinity of all the samples which might be caused by the selective degradation of amorphous components. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy demonstrated that the content of lignin and hemicellulose decreased during the biological pretreatment process. A study on hydrolysis of rubberwood treated with C. subvermispora, T. versicolor, and mixed culture for 90 days resulted in an increased sugar yield of about 27.67%, 16.23%, and 14.20%, respectively, as compared with untreated rubberwood (2.88%). The results obtained demonstrate that rubberwood is a potential raw material for industrial applications and white rot fungus C. subevermispora provides an effective method for improving the enzymatic hydrolysis of rubberwood.
Perovskite-structured lead titanate thin films have been grown on FTO-coated glass substrates from a single-source heterometallic molecular complex, [PbTi(μ2-O2CCF3)4(THF)3(μ3-O)]2 (1), which was isolated in quantitative yield from the reaction of tetraacetatolead(IV), tetrabutoxytitanium(IV), and trifluoroacetic acid from a tetrahydrofuran solution. Complex 1 has been characterized by physicochemical methods such as melting point, microanalysis, FTIR, (1)H and (19)F NMR, thermal analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Thin films of lead titanate having spherical particles of various sizes have been grown from 1 by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition at 550 °C. The thin films have been characterized by powder XRD, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. An optical band gap of 3.69 eV has been estimated by UV-visible spectrophotometry.
Characteristics of X-ray transmissions were investigated for epoxy composites filled with 2-10 vol% WO3 loadings using synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at 10-40 keV. The results obtained were used to determine the equivalent X-ray energies for the operating X-ray tube voltages of mammography and radiology machines. The results confirmed the superior attenuation ability of nano-sized WO3-epoxy composites in the energy range of 10-25 keV when compared to their micro-sized counterparts. However, at higher synchrotron radiation energies (i.e., 30-40 keV), the X-ray transmission characteristics were similar with no apparent size effect for both nano-sized and micro-sized WO3-epoxy composites. The equivalent X-ray energies for the operating X-ray tube voltages of the mammography unit (25-49 kV) were in the range of 15-25 keV. Similarly, for a radiology unit operating at 40-60 kV, the equivalent energy range was 25-40 keV, and for operating voltages greater than 60 kV (i.e., 70-100 kV), the equivalent energy was in excess of 40 keV. The mechanical properties of epoxy composites increased initially with an increase in the filler loading but a further increase in the WO3 loading resulted in deterioration of flexural strength, modulus and hardness.
Bone age assessment (BAA) of unknown people is one of the most important topics in clinical procedure for evaluation of biological maturity of children. BAA is performed usually by comparing an X-ray of left hand wrist with an atlas of known sample bones. Recently, BAA has gained remarkable ground from academia and medicine. Manual methods of BAA are time-consuming and prone to observer variability. This is a motivation for developing automated methods of BAA. However, there is considerable research on the automated assessment, much of which are still in the experimental stage. This survey provides taxonomy of automated BAA approaches and discusses the challenges. Finally, we present suggestions for future research.
Recently, TiO2/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) hybrid nanocatalysts have been a subject of high interest due to their excellent structures, large surface areas and peculiar optical properties, which enhance their photocatalytic performance. In this work, a modified microwave technique was used to rapidly synthesise a TiO2/MWCNT nanocatalyst with a large surface area. X-ray powder diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller measurements were used to characterise the structure, morphology and the surface area of the sample. The photocatalytic activity of the hybrid nanocatalysts was evaluated through a comparison of the degradation of methylene blue dye under irradiation with ultraviolet and visible light. The results showed that the TiO2/MWCNT hybrid nanocatalysts degraded 34.9% of the methylene blue (MB) under irradiation with ultraviolet light, whereas 96.3% of the MB was degraded under irradiation with visible light.
Ni3A1 is an intermetallic compound which has unique property with temperature. Annealing is done at temperature 300, 500, and 700°C for 1 hour and analyzed with X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis for their crystallographic nature. EDX confirmed the composition of Ni3A1 with exact stoichiometry, whereas the XRD confirmed the crystallographic nature of the material. The mechanical properties by hardness results showed that Ni3A1 has highest Vickers hardness value of 554 HV when it is non-heat treated. Its hardness drops as it undergoes annealing process. Corrosion analysis by tafel test shows that its polarization resistance may increase up to 4145 W cm2 when annealed at high temperature. These results show that Ni3A1 is a promising material to be considered as an alternative automotive body.
Measurement of major cation such as Na+, K+, and Ca2+ in water are normally carried out using
AAS, ICP-OES or flame photometry. In this study, an attempt was made to measure these cations
using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescent Spectrometry (EDXRF). Hot spring s water was taken from varies hot spring in Selangor and divided into two portions that is filtered and unfiltered. 5 mL of water samples were pipette into a special liquid cups (sample holders) which has a thin mylar film underneath. The MiniPal4 XRF instrument was used in this study. The resolution for the instrument use is 145 keV with energy resolution at 5.9 keV. The spectrum of cations were analysed by using MiniPal/MiniMate software to determine the cations concentration. For K+ and Ca2+, Al-thin filter was used and default filter was used for Na+. The concentration of Na+ obtained for filtered and unfiltered samples were ranged from 38.00 to 66.05 and 43.26 to 76.95 ppm. Meanwhile, concentrations of K+ for filtered and unfiltered samples were ranged from 2.42 to 8.07 and 6.18 to 29.28 ppm. Concentrations of Ca2+ for filtered and unfiltered samples were ranged from 2.59 to 10.94 and 3.18 to 12.99 ppm.
High quality indium oxide and iron doped indium oxide nanocrystalline films were prepared by the sol-gel method followed by a spin coating technique. The samples were characterized by an X-ray diffractometer, an atomic force microscopy and a UV-vis spectroscopy. All samples had good crystallinity with a preferred orientation in the (222) direction. The crystallite size increased from 12.1 nm for the pure sample to 16.1 nm for the sample with x=0.35 and then decreased to 12.1 nm for the sample with x=0.45. All samples contained nanometer grain sizes with a smooth surface. All films showed a high transmission of over 91% in the wavelength range of 200-800 nm.
The effect of corrosion inhibition of low carbon steel in water based medium containing lignin was investigated via weight loss method. The evolution of surface morphology has been carried out for 7 to 42 days via optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS). Immersion of metal specimen without lignin shows that significant increase in the surface roughness. The longer the immersion time, the more the oxide crust formed. The surface degradation of metal specimen was well protected by immersion in lignin solution. A protective layer containing of lignin was formed on the surface of metal specimens after 7 and 21 days immersion. The corrosion inhibition gives about 13 and 53% inhibition for both 7 and 21 days immersion, respectively. The protective layers were spalling and separated from the metal surface after 42 days immersion in lignin solution possibly due to the increase in corrosion attack after long time immersion according to the increase in dissolved oxygen and may also due to the thermal mismatch between oxide and substrate. The adsorption of protective layer containing lignin was temporary adsorbed on the surface.
Combination of magnetic and biocompatible materials to form core-shell nanomaterials has been widely used in medical fields. These core-shell magnetic biomaterials have a great potential for magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) treatment to remedy cancer. The aims of this study were to investigate the production of core-shell cobalt ferrite/polycaprolactone (CoFe2O4/PCL) nanomaterials with different ratios of cobalt ferrite to caprolactone, to study the effects of using polymer in reducing the agglomerations between particles and to determine the structure, morphology, thermal and magnetic properties of these core-shell nanomaterials. The core-shell nanomaterials were produced by in situ polymerization method. The formation of the CoFe2O4/PCL was investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x-ray diffractometer (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Its thermal properties were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was used to reveal the magnetic properties. The results for the XRD and FTIR spectra demonstrated the formation of cobalt ferrite and polycaprolactone in core-shell nanomaterials. From the TEM results, it was seen that the core-shell CoFe2O4/PCL nanomaterials were best formed at a ratio of CoFe2O4 to monomer caprolactone mixtures of 1:4.
In this study, a chitosan co-polymer scaffold was prepared by mixing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), NO, carboxymethyl chitosan (NOCC) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) solutions to obtain desirable properties for chondrocyte cultivation. Electron beam (e-beam) radiation was used to physically cross-link these polymers at different doses (30 kGy and 50 kGy). The co-polymers were then lyophilized to form macroporous three-dimensional (3-D) matrix. Scaffold morphology, porosity, swelling properties, biocompatibility, expression of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and type II collagen following the seeding of primary chondrocytes were studied up to 28 days. The results demonstrate that irradiation of e-beam at 50 kGy increased scaffold porosity and pore sizes subsequently enhanced cell attachment and proliferation. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed extensive interconnected microstructure of PVA-PEG-NOCC, demonstrated cellular activities on the scaffolds and their ability to maintain chondrocyte phenotype. In addition, the produced PVA-PEG-NOCC scaffolds showed superior swelling properties, and increased GAG and type II collagen secreted by the seeded chondrocytes. In conclusion, the results suggest that by adding NOCC and irradiation cross-linking at 50 kGy, the physical and biological properties of PVA-PEG blend can be further enhanced thereby making PVA-PEG-NOCC a potential scaffold for chondrocytes.
There is a resurgence of tuberculosis globally but lesions affecting the skull are rare. Cases reported are of single, focal lesions as seen on plain x-rays. We report a 34 yearold patient with tuberculosis of the skull where multiple punched out lesions are seen, mimicking that of multiple myeloma.
Radioactive particle tracking (RPT) has emerged as a promising and versatile technique that can provide rich information about a variety of multiphase flow systems. However, RPT is not an off-the-shelf technique, and thus, users must customize RPT for their applications. This paper presents a simple procedure for preparing radioactive tracer particles created via irradiation with neutrons from the TRIGA Mark II research reactor. The present study focuses on the performance evaluation of encapsulated gold and scandium particles for applications as individual radioactive tracer particles using qualitative and quantitative neutron activation analysis (NAA) and an X-ray microcomputed tomography (X-ray Micro-CT) scanner installed at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency.
We describe the clinical presentation, investigation and management of an eventually fatal case of hypercalcemic crisis due to primary hyperparathyridism (PHPT). A 60 year-old lady with history of urolithiasis presented with worsening generalized bone pain, spinal scoliosis and a limp. Laboratory data showed hypercalcemia and raised alkaline phosphatase. Left hip x-ray revealed a subcapital femoral neck fracture. Intact parathyroid hormone was elevated, 187.6 pmol/L (1.6 - 6.9) and ultrasound showed an enlarged right parathyroid gland. Despite initial reduction of serum calcium with saline infusion and multiple doses of intravenous pamidronate, her calcium increased to 4.14 mmol/L a week following application of Buck's traction for persistent left hip pain. She succumbed eventually with serum calcium peaking at 6.28 mmol/L despite multiple therapeutic interventions.
Ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) copolymer 70/30 thin films are prepared by spin coating. The crystalline structure of these films is investigated by varying the annealing temperature from the ferroelectric phase to the paraelectric phase. A hot plate was used to produce a direct and an efficient annealing effect on the thin film. The dielectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties of the P(VDF-TrFE) thin films are measured as a function of different annealing temperatures (80 to 140 °C). It was found that an annealing temperature of 100 °C (slightly above the Curie temperature, Tc) has induced a highly crystalline β phase with a rod-like crystal structure, as examined by X-ray. Such a crystal structure yields a high remanent polarization, Pr = 94 mC/m2, and pyroelectric constant, p = 24 μC/m2K. A higher annealing temperature exhibits an elongated needle-like crystal domain, resulting in a decrease in the crystalline structure and the functional electrical properties. This study revealed that highly crystalline P(VDF-TrFE) thin films could be induced at 100 °C by annealing the thin film with a simple and cheap method.
A low-energy plasma focus device was used as an electron beam source. A technique was developed to simultaneously measure the electron beam intensity and energy. The system was operated in Argon filling at an optimum pressure of 1.7 mbar. A Faraday cup was used together with an array of filtered PIN diodes. The beam-target X-rays were registered through X-ray spectrometry. Copper and lead line radiations were registered upon usage as targets. The maximum electron beam charge and density were estimated to be 0.31 μC and 13.5 × 10(16)/m(3), respectively. The average energy of the electron beam was 500 keV. The high flux of the electron beam can be potentially applicable in material sciences.
Watermelon is a natural product that contains high level of antioxidants and may prevent oxidative damage in tissues due to free radical generation following an exposure to ionizing radiation. The present study aimed to investigate the radioprotective effects of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. and Nakai) juice against oxidative damage induced by low dose X-ray exposure in mice. Twelve adult male ICR mice were randomly divided into two groups consisting of radiation (Rx) and supplementation (Tx) groups. Rx received filtered tap water, while Tx was supplemented with 50% (v/v) watermelon juice for 28 days ad libitum prior to total body irradiation by 100 μGy X-ray on day 29. Brain, lung, and liver tissues were assessed for the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites, glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) inhibition activities. Results showed significant reduction of MDA levels and AP sites formation of Tx compared to Rx (P < 0.05). Mice supplemented with 50% watermelon juice restore the intracellular antioxidant activities by significantly increased SOD inhibition activities and GSH levels compared to Rx. These findings may postulate that supplementation of 50% watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. and Nakai) juice could modulate oxidative damage induced by low dose X-ray exposure.
Formation of carbonate minerals by CO2 sequestration is a potential means to reduce atmospheric CO2 emissions. Vast amount of alkaline and alkali earth metals exist in silicate minerals that may be carbonated. Laboratory experiments carried out to study the dissolution rate in Pahang Sandstone, Malaysia, by CO2 injection at different flow rate in surficial condition. X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and weight losses measurement were performed to analyze the solid and liquid phase before and after the reaction process. The weight changes and mineral dissolution caused by CO2 injection for two hours CO2 bubbling and one week' aging were 0.28% and 18.74%, respectively. The average variation of concentrations of alkaline earth metals in solution varied from 22.62% for Ca(2+) to 17.42% for Mg(2+), with in between 16.18% observed for the alkali earth metal, potassium. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test is performed to determine significant differences of the element concentration, including Ca, Mg, and K, before and after the reaction experiment. Such changes show that the deposition of alkali and alkaline earth metals and the dissolution of required elements in sandstone samples are enhanced by CO2 injection.