Effects of yttrium doping on structural, electrical and optical properties of barium titanate ceramics.

In this report, we study the Yttrium-doped Barium Titanate (Y-BT) Ba1 - xYxTiO3 (with x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07 mmol) perovskite ceramics synthesized by sol-gel method. The as-made powder samples were pressed into a pellet shape and subsequently sintered at 1300 °C for 5 h in air. The structural, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of the synthesized samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), impedance analyzer, and UV-Vis-NIR Spectroscopy respectively. The XRD study revealed the formations of single phase tetragonal structure of Barium Titanate (BT) with ∼23-33 nm mean crystallite size. The crystallite size increases initially with Y-doping, found at about 33 nm for x = 0.01, and reduces for increase in Y3+ concentration further. The microstructural study from FESEM depicts the uniform distribution of compact and well-faceted grain growth for Y-BT in contrast with undoped barium titanate. The average grain size (∼0.29-0.78 µm) of the Y-BT decreases with increasing doping concentration. Frequency-dependent impedance analyses show enhanced dielectric properties like dielectric constant, quality factor, and conductivity with low dielectric loss in the presence of Yttrium. The optical bandgap energy (∼2.63-3.72 eV) estimated from UV-Vis-NIR diffuse reflection data shows an increasing trend with a higher concentration of yttrium doping.

Impact of gut microbiome on skin health: gut-skin axis observed through the lenses of therapeutics and skin diseases.

The human intestine hosts diverse microbial communities that play a significant role in maintaining gut-skin homeostasis. When the relationship between gut microbiome and the immune system is impaired, subsequent effects can be triggered on the skin, potentially promoting the development of skin diseases. The mechanisms through which the gut microbiome affects skin health are still unclear. Enhancing our understanding on the connection between skin and gut microbiome is needed to find novel ways to treat human skin disorders. In this review, we systematically evaluate current data regarding microbial ecology of healthy skin and gut, diet, pre- and probiotics, and antibiotics, on gut microbiome and their effects on skin health. We discuss potential mechanisms of the gut-skin axis and the link between the gut and skin-associated diseases, such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, acne vulgaris, rosacea, alopecia areata, and hidradenitis suppurativa. This review will increase our understanding of the impacts of gut microbiome on skin conditions to aid in finding new medications for skin-associated diseases.

Evaluation of food safety knowledge, attitude, and self-reported practices of trained and newly recruited untrained workers of two baking industries in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, with the mounting esteem of bakery products, food safety issues in bakery industries are a paramount concern nowadays. In this regard, this current study was performed to evaluate food safety knowledge, attitude, and self-reported practices of two groups (160 trained and 55 new untrained) of workers from two popular baking industries in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to acquire the data during the study. On food safety knowledge, attitude, and self-reported practices, trained workers' scores (33.01 ± 0.09, 14.86 ± 0.03, 10.66 ± 0.25, respectively) were significantly higher than the scores (9.82 ± 0.23, 10.44 ± 0.26, 5.91 ± 0.33, respectively) of newly appointed untrained workers. The quality assurance department displayed better knowledge, attitude, and self-reported practices scores than the rest of the departments of the industries. However, compared to knowledge and attitude, the self-reported practice was not up to a satisfactory level. According to the study, training can be proved effective for improving knowledge and attitude but does not always translate those into self-reported practice and behaviors. The results also reinforce the importance of conducting training for untrained workers and suggest further behavior-based food safety training for all employees.