University of Johannesburg

About: University of Johannesburg is a education organization based out in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 8070 authors who have published 22749 publications receiving 329408 citations. The organization is also known as: UJ.

Nitrogen/Palladium-Codoped TiO2 for Efficient Visible Light Photocatalytic Dye Degradation

Abstract: Elimination of toxic organic compounds from wastewater is currently one of the most important subjects in water pollution control. Eosin Yellow, an anionic xanthene fluorescent dye, known to be carcinogenic, originates mainly from textile industrial processes and is resistant to conventional chemical or biological water treatment methods. Photocatalysis using non metal/platinum group metal-codoped TiO2 may provide effective means of removing such dyes from contaminated water. In this study, nitrogen/palladium-codoped TiO2 photocatalysts were prepared by calcination of the hydrolysis product of titanium isopropoxide, Ti(OC3H7)4, with aqueous ammonia. Samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Anatase phase particles of size range 1...

The role of photobiomodulation on gene expression of cell adhesion molecules in diabetic wounded fibroblasts in vitro

Abstract: Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are cell surface glycoproteins that facilitate cell-cell contacts and adhesion with the extracellular matrix (ECM). Cellular adhesion is affected by various disease conditions, such as diabetes mellitus (DM) and inflammation. Photobiomodulation (PBM) stimulates biological processes and expression of these cellular molecules. The aim of this experimental work was to demonstrate the role of PBM at 830nm on CAMs in diabetic wounded fibroblast cells. Isolated human skin fibroblast cells were used. Normal (N-) and diabetic wounded (DW-) cells were irradiated with a continuous wave diode laser at 830nm with an energy density of 5J/cm(2). Real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the relative gene expression of 39 CAMs 48h post-irradiation. Normalized expression levels from irradiated cells were calculated relative to non-irradiated control cells according to the 2^(-ΔΔCt) method. Thirty-one genes were significantly regulated in N-cells (28 were genes up-regulated and three genes down-regulated), and 22 genes in DW-cells (five genes were up-regulated and 17 genes down-regulated). PBM induced a stimulatory effect on various CAMs namely cadherins, integrins, selectins and immunoglobulins, and hence may be used as a complementary therapy in advancing treatment of non-healing diabetic ulcers. The regulation of CAMs as well as evaluating the role of PBM on the molecular effects of these genes may expand knowledge and prompt further research into the cellular mechanisms in diabetic wound healing that may lead to valuable clinical outcomes.