Synthesis of NiMn2O4 assisted by high-energy ball milling of NiO-MnO powders

Aguilar-Garib J. A.,Sánchez-de-Jesús F.,Bolarín-Miró A. M.,Ham-Hernández S. 한양대학교 세라믹연구소 2011 Journal of Ceramic Processing Research Vol.12 No.6

This work presents a useful example of the fact that mechanical activation promotes solid state reaction in the preparation of a NiMn2O4 from NiO and MnO; shown evidence demonstrates that high-energy ball milling of MnO and NiO powders followed by a heat treatment can be considered a possible route for the synthesis of this compound. The powders were milled at room temperature in a shaker mixer in a weight ratio 1 : 10 of powder to zirconia balls. X-ray diffraction patterns show small differences among the powders milled for different times, while post milling heat treatments conducted at different temperatures for 1 hour showed an increase in the formation of the nickel spinel with a tetragonal structure, which was successfully obtained with this combined mechanosynthesis (MSP) - heat treatment method.

First report of Gymnosporangium clavipes Cooke & Peck affecting Crataegus mexicana var. Chapeado and C. gracilior in Mexico

D. Alvarado-Rosales,E. H. Nieto-López,D. Téliz-Ortiz,V. Ayala-Escobar,R. Nieto-Angel,H. V. Silva-Rojas,S. G. Leyva-Mir,A. Jiménez-Nieto,C. Méndez-Inocencio 한국식물병리학회 2015 식물병연구 Vol.21 No.3

The tejocote (Crataegus spp.) is a tree considered to be native to Mexico. The aim of this study was to identify the causal agent of tejocote rust in the State of Puebla. Tejocote fruits were sampled in 2012 and 2013. The fungus was studied morphologically using light and scanning electron microscopy and molecularly using phylogenetic analysis of 18S and 28S rDNA genes. The fungus was identified as Gymnosporangium clavipes on tejocote fruits. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed report of Gymnosporangium clavipes Cooke & Peck affecting Crataegus mexicana var. Chapeado and C. gracilior in Puebla Mexico.

Sensitive NADH detection in a tumorigenic cell line using a nano-biosensor based on the organic complex formation

Akhtar, M.H.,Mir, T.A.,Gurudatt, N.G.,Chung, S.,Shim, Y.B. Elsevier Applied Science 2016 Biosensors & Bioelectronics Vol.85 No.-

A robust amperometric sensor for β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) detection was developed through the organic complex formation with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) bonded on the polyethylenimine (PEI)/activated graphene oxide (AGO) layer. The EDTA immobilized sensor probe (GCE/AGO/PEI-EDTA) revealed a catalytic property towards NADH oxidation that allows for the highly sensitive electrochemical detection of NADH at a low oxidation potential. Surface characterization demonstrated that the negatively charged AGO acted as nanofillers in the positively charged PEI matrix through the charge interaction. The immobilization of EDTA on the polymer layer provided more surface area for NADH to interact with through the enhanced chemical interlocking between them. We observed the strong interaction between NADH and EDTA on the AGO/PEI layer using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the calculation of the minimized energy for complex formation. The dynamic range of NADH was determined to be between 0.05μM and 500μM with a detection limit (LD) of 20.0+/-1.1nM. The reliability of the developed sensor for biomedical applications was examined by detecting NADH in tumorigenic lung epithelial cells using the standard addition method.

The role of mutations in COL6A3 in isolated dystonia

Lohmann, K.,Schlicht, F.,Svetel, M.,Hinrichs, F.,Zittel, S.,Graf, J.,Lohnau, T.,Schmidt, A.,Mir, P.,Krause, P. Springer Science + Business Media 2016 Journal of neurology: Zeitschrift für Neurolo Vol.263 No.4

<P>Specific mutations in COL6A3 have recently been reported as the cause of isolated recessive dystonia, which is a rare movement disorder. In all patients, at least one mutation was located in Exons 41 and 42. In an attempt to replicate these findings, we assessed by direct sequencing the frequency of rare variants in Exons 41 and 42 of COL6A3 in 955 patients with isolated or combined dystonia or with another movement disorder with dystonic features. We identified nine heterozygous carriers of rare variants including five different missense mutations and an extremely rare synonymous variant. In these nine patients, we sequenced the remaining 41 coding exons of COL6A3 to test for a second mutation in the compound heterozygous state. In only one of them, a second rare variant was identified (Thr732Met + Pro3082Arg). Of note, this patient had been diagnosed with ParkinsonA ' s disease (with dystonic posturing) due to homozygous PINK1 mutations. The COL6A3 mutations clearly did not segregate with the disease in the four affected siblings of this family. Further, there was no indication for a disease-modifying effect of the COL6A3 mutations since disease severity or age at onset did not correlate with the number of COL6A3 mutated alleles in this family. In conjunction with the relatively high frequency of homozygous carriers of reported mutations in publically available databases, our data call a causal role for variants in COL6A3 in isolated dystonia into question.</P>

Strengthening of capacity deficient RC beams - An experimental approach

M. Adil Dar,N. Subramanian,A.R. Dar,Amer Iliyas Rather,Mir Atif,Sayeeda Syed 국제구조공학회 2019 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.70 No.3

Any revision of seismic codes usually demands a higher capacity from structural members, making existing structures unsafe particularly from strength considerations. Retrofitting of capacity deficient members is very suitable for tackling such situations. This paper presents an experimental study on different retrofitting measures adopted for strengthening a series of reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Four identical RC beam specimens were casted, out of which three specimens were strengthened by different schemes (viz., bolted hot rolled flat, bolted cold-formed steel channel, and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate, respectively) on their tension face and tested under four-point monotonic loading. This study focuses on the investigation of the flexural behaviour of these retrofitted beams, observed in terms of strength and stiffness. It was concluded that all retrofitting measures improved the structural performance of these beams. However, the cost involved with each strengthening mode was proportional to the improvement in the performance achieved.

Maintenance Dose of Vitamin D: How Much Is Enough?

Mir Sadat-Ali,Fawaz M. Al-Anii,Haifa A. Al-Turki,Adeebah Abdulaziz AlBadran,Sa’ad Mohammed AlShammari 대한골대사학회 2018 대한골대사학회지 Vol.25 No.3

Background: It is still unclear the ideal vitamin D dosage once the deficiency and insufficiency is treated. Once deficiency was corrected we prospectively treated patients with 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 to check whether this dosage is enough to keep them above the 30 ng/mL of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25[OH]D). Methods: One hundred and thirty-five Saudi Arabian men and women treatment naïve for the vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency were part of this study. History and clinical examination were done to rule out any metabolic bone disease. Weight and height was taken to calculate the body mass index (BMI). Patients who were vitamin D deficient (≥30 ng/mL), a standard treatment of 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 weekly for 3 months, a blood test for the vitamin D levels at the end of 3 months, maintenance dose of 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 for 3 months and a third blood sample after 3 months. Results: The data for 128 patients was available for analysis. The average age was 44.95±12.97 years with the mean BMI of 29.60±2.59 kg/m2. The baseline 25(OH)D level was 13.16±3.30 ng/mL. The increase in the level of 25(OH)D on 50,000 IU weekly was significant from 13.16±3.3 ng/mL to 36.97±4.67 ng/mL (P<0.001) and then 2,000 IU daily for next 3 months, the level of 25(OH)D dropped top 20.38±5.42 ng/mL (P<0.001). Conclusions: Our study indicates that the maintenance dose of 2,000 IU of vitamin D is not enough for patients to keep the 25(OH)D levels above 30 ng/mL.

Behaviour of GFRP Stiffened Cold-Formed Steel Built-up Beams

Mir Basar Suhaib,M. A. Tantray 한국강구조학회 2022 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.22 No.4

This article explores a novel approach to inhibit local premature failures in cold-formed steel (CFS) beams and enhance their fl exural capacity by introducing external web stiff eners to buckling prone regions. An experimental and fi nite element investigation on the behaviour of doubly symmetric CFS built-up channel beams with adhesively bonded glass-fi ber reinforced polymer (GFRP) stiff eners is presented in this paper. Unlike previous attempts, where fl at plates have been used, the results of pultruded T-shaped GFRP stiff eners on the fl exural capacity and local failure inhibition of the CFS beams are presented. The viability of suggested strengthening arrangement is assessed by comparing the results from CFS beams strengthened with steel stiff eners of equivalent stiff ness. One control and six reinforced beams, stiff ened with diff erent confi gurations of both steel and GFRP stiff eners in the moment span, were tested up to failure under four-point bending. The change in the mode of failure from buckling at discrete regions to global failures with an improvement in the fl exural capacity by up to 39% was achieved using adhesively bonded external stiff eners in the present study. It can be concluded that adhesively bonded GFRP stiff eners provide a cost-eff ective and adequate alternative to enhance the fl exural performance and inhibit the local failures in thin-walled beams. Finite element models were developed and verifi ed against test results. FE models were found to be capable of predicting the ultimate capacity and failure of stiff ened beams with fair accuracy.

Effect of Garlic Oil on Fatty Acid Accumulation and Glycerol-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Activity in Differentiating Adipocytes

He, M.L.,Yang, W.Z.,You, J.S.,Chaves, A.V.,Mir, P.S.,Benchaar, C.,McAllister, T.A. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2009 Animal Bioscience Vol.22 No.12

Garlic oil (GAR, Allium sativum L.) has been studied as a feed additive to improve animal production performance and decrease methane emission in ruminants. The present study was designed to determine the possible effect of GAR on fatty acid composition and accumulation in animal fat tissue using a cell model. 3T3-L1 preadipocytes at $2{\times}10^{4}\;mL^{-1}$ were seeded to 24-well plates and allowed to proliferate to reach confluence. The cells were then treated with media containing 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 20 and 40 $\mu{g}$ $mL^{-1}$ of GAR during the differentiation period for 8 days. Media containing dexamethasone, methyl-isobutylxanthine and insulin was applied during the first 2 days of the early differentiation period. On day 8 sub-sets of the wells were stained with oil red-O and the remaining cells were harvested for determination of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [EC 1.1.1.8] (GPDH) activity (n = 6) and cellular fatty acid concentration (n = 6). It was found that supplementation of GAR increased (p<0.05) the ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids/saturated fatty acids in the adipocytes and showed inhibitory effect (p<0.05) on the post-confluent proliferation. With relative low dosage, GAR (5-20 $\mu{g}$ $mL^{-1}$) increased (p<0.05) the GPDH activity without affecting the cellular fatty acid concentration, while a high dosage (40 $\mu{g}$ $mL^{-1}$) inhibited (p<0.05) fatty acid accumulation and decreased GPDH activity. Supplementation of GAR had an effect on cell post-confluent proliferation, differentiation and fatty acid accumulation. However, the effect may be diverse and depends on the dose applied.

Evaluation of Two Novel Integrated Stand-Alone Spacer Designs Compared with Anterior and Anterior-Posterior Single-Level Lumbar Fusion Techniques: An In Vitro Biomechanical Investigation

Craig A. Kuhns,Jonathan A. Harris,Mir M. Hussain,Aditya Muzumdar,Brandon S. Bucklen,Saif Khalil 대한척추외과학회 2017 Asian Spine Journal Vol.11 No.6

Study Design: In vitro biomechanical investigation. Purpose: To compare the biomechanics of integrated three-screw and four-screw anterior interbody spacer devices and traditional techniques for treatment of degenerative disc disease. Overview of Literature: Biomechanical literature describes investigations of operative techniques and integrated devices with four dual-stacked, diverging interbody screws; four alternating, converging screws through a polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) spacer; and four converging screws threaded within the PEEK spacer. Conflicting reports on the stability of stand-alone devices and the influence of device design on biomechanics warrant investigation. Methods: Fourteen cadaveric lumbar spines were divided randomly into two equal groups (n=7). Each spine was tested intact, after discectomy (injured), and with PEEK interbody spacer alone (S), anterior lumbar plate and spacer (AP+S), bilateral pedicle screws and spacer (BPS+S), circumferential fixation with spacer and anterior lumbar plate supplemented with BPS, and three-screw (SA3s) or four-screw (SA4s) integrated spacers. Constructs were tested in flexion-extension (FE), lateral bending (LB), and axial rotation (AR). Researchers performed one-way analysis of variance and independent t -testing (p ≤0.05). Results: Instrumented constructs showed significantly decreased motion compared with intact except the spacer-alone construct in FE and AR (p ≤0.05). SA3s showed significantly decreased range of motion (ROM) compared with AP+S in LB (p ≤0.05) and comparable ROM in FE and AR. The three-screw design increased stability in FE and LB with no significant differences between integrated spacers or between integrated spacers and BPS+S in all loading modes. Conclusions: Integrated spacers provided fixation statistically equivalent to traditional techniques. Comparison of three-screw and four-screw integrated anterior lumbar interbody fusion spacers revealed no significant differences, but the longer, larger-diameter interbody spacer with three-screw design increased stabilization in FE and LB; the diverging four-screw design showed marginal improvement during AR.

Surface sediment geochemistry for understanding the recent sedimentary environment in northwestern Karnataka, south India

Ishfaq Ahmad Mir,Aijaz A. Bhat,M. Sreeprabash,V. Sridhar,K.V. Maruthi 한국지질과학협의회 2022 Geosciences Journal Vol.26 No.6

Geochemical study of 195 stream sediment samples (in less than 75 μm grain size) distributed in parts of Belgaum, Dharwad, and Uttar Kanada districts (bounded by latitudes from15°15'00'' to 15°30'00'' and longitudes from 74°30'00'' to 74°45'00'') were studied for the major oxide, trace and rare earth element content. The objective of this study is to understand the recent sedimentary environment by establishing the generalized climatic conditions, chemical weathering, sediment sorting and recycling, sediment sources, and the tectonic setting of the study area. Geochemical signatures of the sediments indicate a semi-arid to the moist climate in the study area. Geochemical proxies show that annual rainfall in the study area varies from 378 to 692 mm, higher in the western part compared to that in the eastern side. The chemical index of alteration (67.70–94.01) and chemical index of weathering (76.24–97.37) collectively suggest moderate to high chemical weathering. Studied samples show a wide variation in major oxides and trace elements. Fe2O3, MnO, K2O, P2O5, Rb, Zr, and Sc display a positive correlation with Al2O3 confirming their possible hydraulic fractionation. Zr/Sc vs. Th/Sc plot and correlation between CIA vs. Al2O3 indicate strong sediment recycling and sorting. Bulk geochemistry data suggests the involvement of granite and other felsic rocks, intermediate and mafic rocks as the sources of surface sediments. Our observations are very well matching with the geology of the area. Major and trace element set of discrimination diagrams demarcates the passive margin settings for the studied samples, except for a few samples plotting into an active continental margin tectonic settings.