Interpretation of X-ray Powder Diffraction Patterns . By H. Lipson and H. Steeple. Pp. viii + 335 + 3 plates. (Mac-millan: London; St Martins Press: New York, May 1970.) £4.

X-Ray Diffraction

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

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A literature review.

Organ printing can be defined as layer-by-layer additive robotic biofabrication of three-dimensional functional living macrotissues and organ constructs using tissue spheroids as building blocks. The microtissues and tissue spheroids are living materials with certain measurable, evolving and potentially controllable composition, material and biological properties. Closely placed tissue spheroids undergo tissue fusion - a process that represents a fundamental biological and biophysical principle of developmental biology-inspired directed tissue self-assembly. It is possible to engineer small segments of an intraorgan branched vascular tree by using solid and lumenized vascular tissue spheroids. Organ printing could dramatically enhance and transform the field of tissue engineering by enabling large-scale industrial robotic biofabrication of living human organ constructs with "built-in" perfusable intraorgan branched vascular tree. Thus, organ printing is a new emerging enabling technology paradigm which represents a developmental biology-inspired alternative to classic biodegradable solid scaffold-based approaches in tissue engineering.

Organ Printing: Tissue Spheroids as Building Blocks

Assessing the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 is critical to inform future preparedness response plans. Here we quantify the impact of 6,068 hierarchically coded NPIs implemented in 79 territories on the effective reproduction number, Rt, of COVID-19. We propose a modelling approach that combines four computational techniques merging statistical, inference and artificial intelligence tools. We validate our findings with two external datasets recording 42,151 additional NPIs from 226 countries. Our results indicate that a suitable combination of NPIs is necessary to curb the spread of the virus. Less disruptive and costly NPIs can be as effective as more intrusive, drastic, ones (for example, a national lockdown). Using country-specific ‘what-if’ scenarios, we assess how the effectiveness of NPIs depends on the local context such as timing of their adoption, opening the way for forecasting the effectiveness of future interventions. Analysing over 50,000 government interventions in more than 200 countries, Haug et al. find that combinations of softer measures, such as risk communication or those increasing healthcare capacity, can be almost as effective as disruptive lockdowns.

/pdf/ranking-the-effectiveness-of-worldwide-covid-19-government-2q47z7xuir.pdf

Ranking the effectiveness of worldwide COVID-19 government interventions.

Environmental perspective of COVID-19.

At present aluminium matrix composites are widely used in engineering applications. Aluminium matrix composites are providing such superior properties which cannot be achieved by any existing monolithic material. Properties of aluminium matrix composite are highly influenced by nature of reinforcement which can be either in continuous or discontinuous fibre form. It also depends on the selection of processing techniques for the fabrication of aluminium matrix composites which depends on many factors including type of matrix and reinforcement, the degree of microstructural integrity desired and their structural, mechanical, electrochemical and thermal properties. Present paper reports an overview on synthesis routes, mechanical behavior and applications of aluminium matrix composites. Special focus is given to primary processing techniques for manufacturing of aluminium matrix composites. In the end, commercialization challenges, industrial aspects and future research directions are also briefed.

Advance research progresses in aluminium matrix composites: manufacturing & applications

Application of MOF materials as drug delivery systems for cancer therapy and dermal treatment

Recently, research studies in the fields of science and engineering are directed towards the synthesis, design, development, and consumption of environment-friendly chemical species to replace traditional toxic chemicals. This is because of the escalating demands of conservation understanding and stringent ecological rules. Currently, various environment-friendly alternatives derived from natural resources such as biopolymers, plant extracts, chemical medicines (drugs), etc. are widely used to replace toxic corrosion inhibitors. Moreover, various biopolymers in their pure and modified forms are extensively employed as environment-friendly corrosion inhibitors. Compounds derived through multicomponent reactions (MCRs), and microwave (MW) and ultrasound (US) irradiations are also considered as environment-friendly alternatives. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and ionic liquids (ILs) possess low vapor pressure and are regarded as designer environment-friendly alternatives. The chemicals synthesized using green solvents such as water, ILs and supercritical CO2 can also be regarded as environment-friendly chemical species. A comprehensive literature survey reveals that these compounds are extensively utilized as metallic corrosion inhibitors in various corrosive electrolytes. Overall, this review provides a summary of several major reports on environment-friendly corrosion inhibitors.

/pdf/recent-developments-in-sustainable-corrosion-inhibitors-ubi221f69w.pdf

Recent developments in sustainable corrosion inhibitors: design, performance and industrial scale applications

Nanomaterials have unique chemical and physical features such as a large surface area, small size, and high stability compared to conventional bulk materials. Therefore, they are widely used for the adsorption of different compounds in environmental, biological, and food samples. On the other hand, it is crucial to investigate the adsorption mechanisms, kinetics, and the thermodynamics to understand the nature of the adsorption process. Thus several isotherm and kinetic models are applied to the adsorption systems to achieve this goal. This chapter highlights the recent applications of the nanoadsorbents in the literature. The adsorption mechanisms, kinetics, and thermodynamics of the reported examples are also described.

Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain

Papers

Environmental perspective of COVID-19.

Advance research progresses in aluminium matrix composites: manufacturing & applications

Application of MOF materials as drug delivery systems for cancer therapy and dermal treatment

Recent developments in sustainable corrosion inhibitors: design, performance and industrial scale applications

Mechanism of Adsorption on Nanomaterials