Copper is a cheaper alternative to various noble metals with a range of potential applications in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. However, copper nanoparticles have major limitations, which include rapid oxidation on exposure to air. Therefore, alternative pathways have been developed to synthesize metal nanoparticles in the presence of polymers and surfactants as stabilizers, and to form coatings on the surface of nanoparticles. These surfactants and polymeric ligands are made from petrochemicals which are non- renewable. As fossil resources are limited, finding renewable and biodegradable alternative is promising.The study aimed at preparing, characterizing and evaluating the antibacterial properties of copper nanoparticles. Copper nanoparticles were prepared using gelatin biopolymer, CuSO4.5H2O ions and hydrazine as stabilizer, precursor salt and reducing agent respectively. However, vitamin C and NaOH solution were also employed as an antioxidant and pH adjuster. The synthesized copper nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), zeta potential measurements powder, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The UV-visible absorption spectrum confirms the formation of the CuNPs, which showed maximum absorbance at 583 nm. Results obtained from TEM indicated a decrease in size of particle from a low concentration to high concentration of the supporting materials. The optimum concentration of gelatin was found to be 0.75 wt%. The supporting materials used for this synthesis are biocompatible and the obtained products are stable in air. The synthesized CuNPs display promising antibacterial activities against B. subtilis (B29), S. aureus (S276), S. choleraesuis (ATCC 10708) and E. coli (E266) as gram positive and negative bacteria respectively.
This paper aims to examine the effects of the gender differences on learners‟ motivation in learning the four skills of English as a foreign language as well as to identify the proper types of motivation for males and females via a qualitative semi-structured interview. The findings showed that all the males have extrinsic motivation in all four skills. On the other hand, females differ among themselves in their motivation. In conclusion, it is also the teachers‟ responsibility to guide and direct their learners to achieve better outcomes in learning the four EFL skills.
A composite section is made up of a concrete slab attached to a steel beam by means of shear connectors. Under positive and negative bending moment, part of the slab will act as a flange of the beam, resisting the longitudinal compression or tension force. When the spacing between girders becomes large, it is evident that the simple beam theory does not strictly apply because the longitudinal stress in the flange will vary with distance from the girder web, the flange being more highly stressed over the web than in the extremities. This phenomenon is termed "shear lag". In this paper, a nonlinear three-dimensional finite element analysis is employed to evaluate and determine the actual effective slab width of the composite steel-concrete
... Show MoreTrickle bed reactor was used to study the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene over Ni/SiO2 catalyst. The catalyst was prepared using the Highly Dispersed Catalyst (HDC) technique. Porous silica particles (capped cylinders, 6x5.5 mm) were used as catalyst support. The catalyst was characterized by TPR, BET surface area and pore volume, X-ray diffraction, and Raman Spectra. The trickle bed reactor was packed with catalyst and diluted with fine glass beads in order to decrease the external effects such as mass transfer, heat transfer and wall effect. The catalyst bed dilution was found to double the liquid holdup, which increased the catalyst wetting and hence, the gas-liquid mass transfer rate. The main product of the hydrogenation reaction of n
... Show MoreHeritage is considered as the civilization and cultural wealth accumulated over the . centuries, whereas architectural heritage is the physical witness of that civilization. Despite the fact that architectural heritage is the most important effort for economic development of any communit,، it suffers from deterioration and neglection especially in the Arab communities. Recently awareness has increased about the importance of investing on architectural heritage generally and sustainable investment particularly. The goal of investment process in heritage areas is to revive economic activity in addition to attempt to revive the heritage and community values. Research aims to examine the relationship between sustainable investment and
... Show MoreWireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) are networks of wirelessly interconnected sensor nodes equipped with multimedia devices, such as cameras and microphones. Thus a WMSN will have the capability to transmit multimedia data, such as video and audio streams, still images, and scalar data from the environment. Most applications of WMSNs require the delivery of multimedia information with a certain level of Quality of Service (QoS). This is a challenging task because multimedia applications typically produce huge volumes of data requiring high transmission rates and extensive processing; the high data transmission rate of WMSNs usually leads to congestion, which in turn reduces the Quality of Service (QoS) of multimedia appli
... Show MoreThe clayey soils have the capability to swell and shrink with the variation in moisture content. Soil stabilization is a well-known technique, which is implemented to improve the geotechnical properties of soils. The massive quantities of waste materials are resulting from modern industry methods create disposal hazards in addition to environmental problems. The steel industry has a waste that can be used with low strength and weak engineering properties soils. This study is carried out to evaluate the effect of steel slag (SS) as a by-product of the geotechnical properties of clayey soil. A series of laboratory tests were conducted on natural and stabilized soils. SS was added by 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20% to the soil.
... Show MoreSoftware-defined networking (SDN) presents novel security and privacy risks, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In response to these threats, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have emerged as effective approaches for quickly identifying and mitigating anomalies. To this end, this research employs various classification methods, including support vector machines (SVMs), K-nearest neighbors (KNNs), decision trees (DTs), multiple layer perceptron (MLP), and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), and compares their performance. CNN exhibits the highest train accuracy at 97.808%, yet the lowest prediction accuracy at 90.08%. In contrast, SVM demonstrates the highest prediction accuracy of 95.5%. As such, an
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