There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

/pdf/a-comprehensive-review-on-the-applications-of-coal-fly-ash-mt8gcj5phv.pdf

A comprehensive review on the applications of coal fly ash

Multidrug resistance of the pathogenic microorganisms to the antimicrobial drugs has become a major impediment toward successful diagnosis and management of infectious diseases. Recent advancements in nanotechnology-based medicines have opened new horizons for combating multidrug resistance in microorganisms. In particular, the use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a potent antibacterial agent has received much attention. The most critical physico-chemical parameters that affect the antimicrobial potential of AgNPs include size, shape, surface charge, concentration and colloidal state. AgNPs exhibits their antimicrobial potential through multifaceted mechanisms. AgNPs adhesion to microbial cells, penetration inside the cells, ROS and free radical generation, and modulation of microbial signal transduction pathways have been recognized as the most prominent modes of antimicrobial action. On the other side, AgNPs exposure to human cells induces cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and inflammatory response in human cells in a cell-type dependent manner. This has raised concerns regarding use of AgNPs in therapeutics and drug delivery. We have summarized the emerging endeavors that address current challenges in relation to safe use of AgNPs in therapeutics and drug delivery platforms. Based on research done so far, we believe that AgNPs can be engineered so as to increase their efficacy, stability, specificity, biosafety and biocompatibility. In this regard, three perspectives research directions have been suggested that include 1) synthesizing AgNPs with controlled physico-chemical properties, 2) examining microbial development of resistance towards AgNPs, and 3) ascertaining the susceptibility of cytoxicity, genotoxicity, and inflammatory response to human cells upon AgNPs exposure.

/pdf/mechanistic-basis-of-antimicrobial-actions-of-silver-1vmm44o6it.pdf

Mechanistic Basis of Antimicrobial Actions of Silver Nanoparticles.

Adsorption of heavy metals on conventional and nanostructured materials for wastewater treatment purposes: A review

Food wastes are today considered as a cheap source of valuable components since the existent technologies allow the recovery of target compounds and their recycling inside food chain as functional additives in different products. The goal of the current article is to classify food waste sources and high-added value ingredients prior to exploring the recovery stages, conventional and emerging technologies applied from the raw material to the final or encapsulated product. Safety and cost aspects were discussed, too, while a survey of patented methodologies leading to real products was listed, with a final purpose of discussing the prevalent problems that restrict the commercialization of similar procedures.

Abdolreza Aroujalian

Papers

Effect of added NaX nano-zeolite into polyamide as a top thin layer of membrane on water flux and salt rejection in a reverse osmosis process

Surface modification of polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes by corona air plasma for separation of oil/water emulsions

Mixed matrix membrane of nano-zeolite NaX/poly (ether-block-amide) for gas separation applications

Effect of lag time in interfacial polymerization on polyamide composite membrane with different hydrophilic sub layers

Pervaporation of dilute alcoholic mixtures using PDMS membrane