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The properties of transition metal doped iron pyrite thin films deposited by AACVD have been studied.

Pyrite(FeS2) and transition metal doped pyrite, MxFe1−xS2 (where M = Co, Ni, Cu and Zn), have been deposited on various substrates using aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD).

Objective This study was performed to compare the predictive performance of serum procalcitonin (PCT), N-terminal brain natriuretic propeptide (NT-proBNP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT), and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods This retrospective cohort study enrolled 150 patients with sepsis and septic shock and 30 control patients without sepsis. Each patient was followed until death or 28 days. Correlations between variables were assessed with Spearman’s rho test. The Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests were used for between-group comparisons. Results Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of the SOFA score, PCT, NT-proBNP, IL-6, PT, and TT showed an area under the curve of 0.872, 0.732, 0.711, 0.706, 0.806, and 0.691, respectively, for diagnosing sepsis. Binary logistic regression demonstrated that the SOFA score was an independent predictor of 28-day mortality and septic shock. The correlation coefficient (r) between SOFA and PCT, NT-proBNP and SOFA, IL-6 and SOFA, PT and SOFA, and TT and SOFA was 0.79, 0.52, 0.57, 0.56, and 0.58, respectively. Conclusion While the SOFA score is the gold standard, analysis of multiple biomarkers could increase the performance capacity for diagnosis and prognosis in patients with sepsis in the ICU.

Transition metal sulfides (TMSs) are of special interest in energy conversion and storage devices. Amongst all sulfides, fool's gold or iron pyrite (FeS 2 ) is potentially an attractive candidate for photovoltaic applications. Iron pyrite has risen to prominence due to its distinct properties and abundance in nature to meet the large scale needs. It is considered as environmentally benign solar absorber material with high absorption coefficient, α > 6 x10 5 cm À 1 for λ � 700 nm and suitable energy bandgap (E g = 0.95 eV). Numerous physical and chemical methods have been employed to deposit nanocrystalline pyrite thin films directly from source materials or indirectly by sulfuration. This review gives an overview of pyrite as a low cost photovoltaic absorber material for contemporary solar cell structures. In addition, practical approaches like the rational design of nanocomposites, band gap engineering and nanostructure synthesis of pyrite for improving its properties particularly photovoltaic properties are also deliberated. Moreover, limitations, challenges, remedies and prospects of pyrite as potential photovoltaic material are also reviewed to further advance the development of pyrite-based solar cell configurations.[a] Dr.at a low precursor concentration, pyrite nanocubes (125-250 nm in 20-180 min) were obtained due to low nuclei concentration and slow growth (diffusion limited) in quasiequilibrium. The anisotropic structures nanodendrites were 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

BackgroundGold nanoparticles are useful candidate for drug delivery applications and are associated with enhancement in the bioavailability of coated drugs and/or therapeutic agent. Since, heterocyclic compounds are known to exhibit antimicrobial potential against variety of pathogens, we designed this study to evaluate the antibacterial effects of gold nanoparticles conjugation with new synthesized cationic ligand; 4-Dimethyl aminopyridinium propylthioacetate (DMAP-PTA) in comparison with pure compound and antibiotic drug Pefloxacin. Antibacterial activity of DMAP-PTA coated gold nanoparticles was investigated against a fecal strain of E. coli (ATCC 8739).ResultsA new dimethyl aminopyridine based stabilizing agent named as DMAP-PTA was synthesized and used for stabilization of gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles coated with DMAP-PTA abbreviated as DMAP-PTA-AuNPs were thoroughly characterized by UV–visible, FT-IR spectroscopic methods and transmission electron microscope before biological assay. DMAP-PTA, DMAP-PTA-AuNPs and Pefloxacin were examined for their antibacterial potential against E. coli, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined to be 300, 200 and 50 µg/mL respectively. Gold nanoparticles conjugation was found to significantly enhance the antibacterial activity of DMAP-PTA as compared to pure compound. Moreover, effects of DMAP-PTA-AuNPs on the antibacterial potential of Pefloxacin was also evaluated by combination therapy of 1:1 mixture of DMAP-PTA-AuNPs and Pefloxacin against E. coli in a wide range of concentrations from 5 to 300 µg/mL. The MIC of Pefloxacin + DMAP-PTA-AuNPs mixture was found to be 25 µg/mL as compared to Pefloxacin alone (50 µg/mL), which clearly indicates that DMAP-PTA-AuNPs increased the potency of Pefloxacin. AFM analysis was also carried out to show morphological changes occur in bacteria before and after treatment of test samples. Furthermore, DMAP-PTA-AuNPs showed high selectivity towards Pefloxacin in spectrophotometric drug recognition studies which offers tremendous potential for analytical applications.ConclusionsGold nanoparticles conjugation was shown to enhance the antibacterial efficacy of DMAP-PTA ligand, while DMAP-PTA-AuNPs also induced synergistic effects on the potency of Pefloxacin against E. coli. DMAP-PTA-AuNPs were also developed as Pefloxacin probes in recognizing the drug in blood and water samples in the presence of other drugs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12951-017-0332-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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