Evaluating the Contamination by Indoor Dust in Dubai.

Nowadays, people spend most of their time indoors. Despite constantly cleaning these spaces, dust apparition cannot be avoided. Since dust can contain chemical elements that negatively impact people's health, we propose the analysis of the metals from the indoor dust component collected in different locations in Dubai, UAE. Multivariate statistics (correlation matrix, clustering) and quality indicators (QI)-Igeo, PI, EF, PLI, Nemerow-were used to assess the contamination level with different metals in the dust. We proposed two new QIs (CPI and AQI) and compared the results with those provided by the most used indices-PLI and Nemerow. It is shown that high concentrations of some elements (Ca in this case) can significantly increase the values of the Nemerow index, CPI, and AQI. In contrast, the existence of low concentrations leads to the decrement of the PLI.

Assessment of roadside pollution by heavy metals: A case study from the District of Bani Kinanah, Irbid, Northern Jordan.

The District of Bani Kenanah is home to natural reserves, forests, local agricultural practices, and a multitude of historical and cultural sites. The majority of the population in the study area is employed in the agricultural sector, which is dominated by olive tree cultivation and the production of premium olive oil. The current study aimed to assess the degree of roadside soil pollution and predict the potential ecological impacts of Pb, Cd, Zn, Cr, Ni, Mn, Cu, Fe, and Co. Therefore, 30 soil samples were collected and analyzed with a Flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer for the aforementioned metals. The spatial distribution maps of these metals were generated by inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation in ArcGIS 10.3. The values of heavy metals (HMs) in the study were lower than the international standards for soil quality. The soil was classified as moderately to substantially enriched with Cd, Pb, and Zn based on the EF values. However, the indices of geo-accumulation (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), and potential ecological risk (RI) generally revealed minor metallic contamination. The traffic and agricultural activities were the potential sources of Cd, Pb, and Zn in the study area. Incorporating HMs analysis with GIS maps was beneficial for assessing soil pollution.

A Hydrofluoric Acid-Free Green Synthesis of Magnetic M.Ti2CTx Nanostructures for the Sequestration of Cesium and Strontium Radionuclide.

MAX phases are the parent materials used for the formation of MXenes, and are generally obtained by etching using the highly corrosive acid HF. To develop a more environmentally friendly approach for the synthesis of MXenes, in this work, titanium aluminum carbide MAX phase (Ti2AlC) was fabricated and etched using NaOH. Further, magnetic properties were induced during the etching process in a single-step etching process that led to the formation of a magnetic composite. By carefully controlling etching conditions such as etching agent concentration and time, different structures could be produced (denoted as M.Ti2CTx). Magnetic nanostructures with unique physico-chemical characteristics, including a large number of binding sites, were utilized to adsorb radionuclide Sr2+ and Cs+ cations from different matrices, including deionized, tap, and seawater. The produced adsorbents were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The synthesized materials were found to be very stable in the aqueous phase, compared with corrosive acid-etched MXenes, acquiring a distinctive structure with oxygen-containing functional moieties. Sr2+ and Cs+ removal efficiencies of M.Ti2CTx were assessed via conventional batch adsorption experiments. M.Ti2CTx-AIII showed the highest adsorption performance among other M.Ti2CTx phases, with maximum adsorption capacities of 376.05 and 142.88 mg/g for Sr2+ and Cs+, respectively, which are among the highest adsorption capacities reported for comparable adsorbents such as graphene oxide and MXenes. Moreover, in seawater, the removal efficiencies for Sr2+ and Cs+ were greater than 93% and 31%, respectively. Analysis of the removal mechanism validates the electrostatic interactions between M.Ti2C-AIII and radionuclides.

Investigation of factors affecting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among communities of universities in the United Arab Emirates.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the lives of people living across the world and the development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 is considered to be one of the most promising solutions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. In several countries, we are witnessing hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccines, which is a complex phenomenon influenced by a variety of factors. A cross-sectional study was performed to comprehensively investigate the impact of factors like demography, COVID-19 pandemic-induced behavior, and vaccine attitude on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (VA) among communities of five different universities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To investigate the effect of demography and COVID-19 pandemic-induced behavioral factors, Analysis of Variance was perfomed. The effect of COVID-19 vaccine attitudes on COVID-19 VA was examined through partial least squares-structural equations modeling. The results of the study showed no difference among the population in accepting COVID-19 vaccines due to their demographic factors. The effect of pandemic-induced behavioral factors on COVID-19 VA suggested that the people of UAE accepted COVID-19 vaccines irrespective of the movement and travel restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. The results on the effect of vaccine attitudes on COVID-19 VA showed that vaccine benefit attitudes, safety concerns, and trust in health-care professionals (TrHP) were found to be significant factors in VA. Furthermore, TrHP was found to reduce the negative effect of safety concerns related to COVID-19 VA. The findings broadly highlight that COVID-19 VA in the UAE was not hampered by demographic factors and the pandemic-induced behavioral constraints. The study also showed that people with co-morbidities had lower level of COVID-19 VA than people with no co-morbidities. To improve COVID-19 VA, the perceived benefits with COVID-19 vaccine and TrHP must be enhanced and simultaneously safety concerns of the vaccines need to be addressed.

Changes in the Invasion Rate of Prosopis juliflora and Its Impact on Depletion of Groundwater in the Northern Part of the United Arab Emirates.

Prosopis species were introduced to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) region for desert greening. However, the species now pose a great threat to the native plant diversity. This study used high-resolution satellite imagery (1990-2019) to understand the history and current distribution of Prosopis species and their impact on fresh groundwater. The results show that the Prosopis invasion in the study area reached its maximum expansion rate in 2019 and covered an area of about 16 km2 compared to 0.2 km2 in 1990. The areas near Sharjah Airport, Umm Fannan, and Al Talla, located at a lower elevation of the sand dune area, are heavily invaded. Prosopis groundwater requirement derived using evapotranspiration shows that groundwater consumption has changed drastically after 2010 and consumed about 22.22 million m3 of groundwater in 2019, which is about a 7372% increase in groundwater consumption from the year 1990 to 2019. The results can be useful for setting up a management plan for the sustainable use of this species in the UAE region in particular and other similar countries in the arid land regions that are suffering from freshwater depletion because of Prosopis invasion.

Preparation of H3PO4 modified Sidr biochar for the enhanced removal of ciprofloxacin from water.

In this study, biochar was prepared from Sidr plant leaves and used for the treatment of ciprofloxacin (CIP)-contaminated water. CIP is important class of emerging water pollutants from pharmaceutical industries. The biochar showed 65% adsorption efficiency and 43.48 mg/g adsorption capacity of CIP. Adsorption efficiency as well as adsorption capacity were improved to 91% and 62.50 mg/g, respectively, by phosphoric acid (H3PO4) modified biochar. Removal of CIP by the prepared biochar was due to different surface functional groups of CIP and biochar as revealed from the study of different characterization analyses. The presence of PO43- group in modified biochar led to maximum binding of CIP. Also, the modified biochar showed higher reusability potential and less leaching of ions when compared to the raw biochar. Removal of CIP was affected by concentrations of CIP, the amount of biochar and different pH's; the maximum removal of CIP was achieved at pH 4. The Freundlich and pseudo-first-order models best fitted the removal of CIP by modified biochar. Advanced characterization techniques were applied to investigate surface and physiological characteristics of the biochar and modified biochar. The modification showed high impact on the performance and stability of biochar. The study showed significant impacts of modification on the potential of the biochar for treatment of CIP-contaminated water.

Application of NMI-TfCl-mediated amide bond formation in the synthesis of biologically relevant oxadiazole derivatives employing less basic (hetero)aryl amines.

We herein report a modified methodology for the synthesis of some oxadiazoles linked to amides under mild conditions. The developed protocol using NMI-TfCl has been found to be effective and tolerant for the amide bond formation reaction of a series of electronically deactivating and sterically challenging amines. The antioxidant potential of the newly synthesized compounds has been evaluated at the later stage.

Utilization of the UAE date palm leaf biochar in carbon dioxide capture and sequestration processes.

This paper evaluates the potential use of date palm leaf biochar as a climate change solution through CO2 capture and sequestration. The pyrolysis of date palm leaf was performed at different temperatures 300°, 400°, 500°, and 600 °C. The physicochemical characteristics of the synthesized biochar were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Direct gas-solid interaction was carried out in an integrated Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR), connected with a gas analyzer for maximum and effective mixing between the biochar and CO2. LabView program was used as data acquisition for an instantaneous calculation of CO2 adsorption. This study showed that the date palm biochar as porous carbon-based materials has high CO2 adsorption capacity through physisorption and chemisorption progressions. The adsorption results showed a maximum CO2 capture percentage of 0.09 kg CO2/kg, 0.15 kg CO2/kg, 0.20 kg CO2/kg, and 0.25 kg CO2/kg palm biochar synthesized at 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C, and 600 °C, respectively. This paper paid attention to the inexpensive technology applied in CO2 sequestration, where fluidization provides well mixing of biochar particles with low operation cost.

Contamination Assessment of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil, in the Liwa Area (UAE).

The Liwa area is a primary food production area in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has intensively been used for agriculture. This study investigates the pollution levels with heavy metals in agricultural soils from the Liwa area. Thirty-two soil samples were analyzed for Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, Co, and As. Results revealed that heavy metal levels varied in the ranges 220.02-311.21, 42.39-66.92, 43.43-71.55, 32.86-52.12, 10.29-21.70, 2.83-8.84, 0.46-0.69, 0.03-0.37 mg/kg for Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, Co, and As, respectively. All samples presented low As concentrations with an average of 0.01 mg/kg. The variations in bulk metal contents in the soil samples were related to multiple sources, including agrochemicals, atmospheric dust containing heavy metals, and traffic-related metals. Enrichment factor analysis indicates that Cd, Ni, Zn, and Cr were highly enriched in soils, and they could originate from non-crustal sources. Based on the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), the soil samples appeared uncontaminated with Mn, Cr, Zn, Pb, Co, As, Cu, uncontaminated to moderately contaminated with Ni and moderately contaminated with Cd. The contamination factors suggest low contamination, except for Ni, which showed moderate contamination. The average pollution load index (PLI) revealed unpolluted to low pollution of all soil samples. The ecological risk assessment (PERI) showed that all heavy metals posed a low risk, except for Cd which exhibited a high ecological risk.

Assessment of Metals Concentrations in Soils of Abu Dhabi Emirate Using Pollution Indices and Multivariate Statistics.

The aim of this study was twofold. Firstly, we performed a land capability class determination of the agricultural soils from the Abu Dhabi Emirate, the United Arab Emirates, based on the concentrations of 17 chemical elements determined in the soil samples collected from 84 locations. Secondly, we assess the soil pollution with different metals, using several pollution indices. The results of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) shows that four principal components (PCs) are responsible for describing the total metals concentrations' variance, the highest contribution on PC1 being that of Mn, and Cr, on PC2 that of Fe, on PC3 that of Cu, and on PC4 that of Al. After determining the optimal number of clusters, we classified the sites into three clusters, while the studied metals were grouped function on their concentrations. Then, we used five indices to assess the pollution level of the soil at the study sites and in the clusters. The geo-accumulation index (Igeo) indicates uncontamination/moderately contamination with Cu in cluster 1, uncontaminated/moderately contaminate soils with Cd, Cu, and Ni in cluster 2, and uncontaminated/moderately contaminated soil with Cu and moderately contaminated with Pb, Zn, and Ni in cluster 3. By comparison, the enrichment factors overestimate the pollution of the studied sites. The pollution load index (PLI) indicates a baseline level of pollution at 14 sites and the deterioration of the soil quality at four sites. The Nemerow pollution index provides similar results as PLI.

Application of response surface methodology on the nanofluid flow over a rotating disk with autocatalytic chemical reaction and entropy generation optimization.

The role of nanofluids is of fundamental significance in the cooling process of small electronic devices including microchips and other associated gadgets in microfluidics. With such astounding applications of nanofluids in mind, it is intended to examine the flow of magnetohydrodynamic nanofluid comprising a novel combination of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and engine oil over a stretched rotating disk. The concentration equation is modified by considering the autocatalytic chemical reaction. The succor of the bvp4c numerical technique amalgamated with the response surface methodology is secured for the solution of a highly nonlinear system of equations. The sensitivity analysis is performed using a response surface methodology. The significant impacts of the prominent arising parameters versus involved fields are investigated through graphical illustrations. It is observed that the skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt number are positively sensitive to nanoparticle volume fraction while it is positively sensitive to the suction parameter. It is negatively sensitive to the Magnetic parameter. The skin friction coefficient is negatively sensitive to all input parameters.

Irreversibility minimization analysis of ferromagnetic Oldroyd-B nanofluid flow under the influence of a magnetic dipole.

Studies highlighting nanoparticles suspensions and flow attributes in the context of their application are the subject of current research. In particular, the utilization of these materials in biomedical rheological models has gained great attention. Magneto nanoparticles have a decisive role in the ferrofluid flows to regulate their viscoelastic physiognomies. Having such substantial interest in the flow of ferrofluids our objective is to elaborate the melting heat transfer impact in a stretched Oldroyd-B flow owing to a magnetic dipole in the presence of entropy generation optimization. Buongiorno nanofluid model expounding thermophoretic and Brownian features are considered. Moreover, activation energy with chemical reaction is also considered. The Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model is affianced instead of conventional Fourier law. The renowned bvp4c function of MATLAB is utilized to handle the nonlinearity of the system. Impacts of miscellaneous parameters are portrayed through graphical fallouts and numeric statistics. Results divulge that the velocity and temperature profiles show the opposite trend for growing estimates of the ferromagnetic parameter. It is also noticed that the temperature ratio parameter diminishes the entropy profile. Moreover, it is seen that the concentration profile displays a dwindling trend for the Brownian motion parameter and the opposite trend is witnessed for the thermophoretic parameter.

Impact of Newtonian heating and Fourier and Fick's laws on a magnetohydrodynamic dusty Casson nanofluid flow with variable heat source/sink over a stretching cylinder.

The present investigation aims to deliberate the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) dusty Casson nanofluid with variable heat source/sink and modified Fourier's and Fick's laws over a stretching cylinder. The novelty of the flow model is enhanced with additional effects of the Newtonian heating, activation energy, and an exothermic chemical reaction. In an exothermic chemical reaction, the energy of the reactants is higher than the end products. The solution to the formulated problem is attained numerically by employing the MATLAB software function bvp4c. The behavior of flow parameters versus involved profiles is discussed graphically at length. For large values of momentum dust particles, the velocity field for the fluid flow declines, whereas an opposite trend is perceived for the dust phase. An escalation is noticed for the Newtonian heating in the temperature profile for both the fluid and dust-particle phase. A comparison is also added with an already published work to check the validity of the envisioned problem.

Upshot of heterogeneous catalysis in a nanofluid flow over a rotating disk with slip effects and Entropy optimization analysis.

The present study examines homogeneous (HOM)-heterogeneous (HET) reaction in magnetohydrodynamic flow through a porous media on the surface of a rotating disk. Preceding investigations mainly concentrated on the catalysis for the rotating disk; we modeled the impact of HET catalysis in a permeable media over a rotating disk with slip condition at the boundary. The HOM reaction is followed by isothermal cubic autocatalysis, however, the HET reactions occur on the surface governed by first-order kinetics. Additionally, entropy minimization analysis is also conducted for the envisioned mathematical model. The similarity transformations are employed to convert the envisaged model into a non-dimensional form. The system of the modeled problem with ordinary differential equations is analyzed numerically by using MATLAB built-in bvp4c function. The behavior of the emerging parameters versus the thermal, concentration, and velocity distributions are depicted graphically with requisite discussion abiding the thumb rules. It is learned that the rate of the surface catalyzed reaction is strengthened if the interfacial area of the permeable media is enhanced. Thus, a spongy medium can significantly curtail the reaction time. It is also noticed that the amplitude of velocity and thermal profile is maximum for the smallest value of the velocity slip parameter. Heat transfer rate declines for thermophoresis and the Brownian motion parameter with respect to the thermal slip parameter. The cogency of the developed model is also validated by making a comparison of the existing results with a published article under some constraints. Excellent harmony between the two results is noted.

Nano-zerovalent manganese/biochar composite for the adsorptive and oxidative removal of Congo-red dye from aqueous solutions.

Congo-red (CR), a precursor of textile products and a contaminant of great concern, has contaminated aquatic environments. Here, we explored the synthesis of mesoporous nano-zerovalent manganese (nZVMn) and Phoenix dactylifera leaves biochar (PBC) composite for the removal of CR from water. The nZVMn/PBC adsorbed 117.647 mg/g of CR versus 25.316 mg/g by PBC at [CR]0 = 20 mg/L and [PBC]0 = [nZVMn/PBC]0 = 500 mg/L. Variation of [nZVMn/PBC]0, [CR]0 and pH influenced the adsorption of CR. Freundlich adsorption isotherm and pseudo-first-order kinetic models best fitted CR adsorption. The H2O2 coupling with nZVMn/PBC promoted removal of CR possibly due to the formation of hydroxyl radical (●OH) and caused 95 % removal of CR versus 77 % by nZVMn/PBC alone. The ●OH scavengers inhibited the removal of CR. The nZVMn/PBC showed a good reusability and efficient removal of CR up to the seventh cycle of treatment. Results reveal that nZVMn improved performance, thermal stability and reusability of biochar. Degradation products from ●OH-mediated degradation of CR were studied by ultraperformance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detector to establish degradation pathways. The ion-chromatographic analysis showed the formation of non-toxic inorganic acetate product, which suggests high potential of the newly fabricated adsorbent in the removal of CR.

Integrated structural and functional analysis of the protective effects of kinetin against oxidative stress in mammalian cellular systems.

Metabolism and signaling of cytokinins was first established in plants, followed by cytokinin discoveries in all kingdoms of life. However, understanding of their role in mammalian cells is still scarce. Kinetin is a cytokinin that mitigates the effects of oxidative stress in mammalian cells. The effective concentrations of exogenously applied kinetin in invoking various cellular responses are not well standardized. Likewise, the metabolism of kinetin and its cellular targets within the mammalian cells are still not well studied. Applying vitality tests as well as comet assays under normal and hyper-oxidative states, our analysis suggests that kinetin concentrations of 500 nM and above cause cytotoxicity as well as genotoxicity in various cell types. However, concentrations below 100 nM do not cause any toxicity, rather in this range kinetin counteracts oxidative burst and cytotoxicity. We focus here on these effects. To get insights into the cellular targets of kinetin mediating these pro-survival functions and protective effects we applied structural and computational approaches on two previously testified targets for these effects. Our analysis deciphers vital residues in adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) and adenosine receptor (A2A-R) that facilitate the binding of kinetin to these two important human cellular proteins. We finally discuss how the therapeutic potential of kinetin against oxidative stress helps in various pathophysiological conditions.

Integrated Framework of the Immune-Defense Transcriptional Signatures in the Arabidopsis Shoot Apical Meristem.

The growing tips of plants grow sterile; therefore, disease-free plants can be generated from them. How plants safeguard growing apices from pathogen infection is still a mystery. The shoot apical meristem (SAM) is one of the three stem cells niches that give rise to the above ground plant organs. This is very well explored; however, how signaling networks orchestrate immune responses against pathogen infections in the SAM remains unclear. To reconstruct a transcriptional framework of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) pertaining to various SAM cellular populations, we acquired large-scale transcriptome datasets from the public repository Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We identify here distinct sets of genes for various SAM cellular populations that are enriched in immune functions, such as immune defense, pathogen infection, biotic stress, and response to salicylic acid and jasmonic acid and their biosynthetic pathways in the SAM. We further linked those immune genes to their respective proteins and identify interactions among them by mapping a transcriptome-guided SAM-interactome. Furthermore, we compared stem-cells regulated transcriptome with innate immune responses in plants showing transcriptional separation among their DEGs in Arabidopsis. Besides unleashing a repertoire of immune-related genes in the SAM, our analysis provides a SAM-interactome that will help the community in designing functional experiments to study the specific defense dynamics of the SAM-cellular populations. Moreover, our study promotes the essence of large-scale omics data re-analysis, allowing a fresh look at the SAM-cellular transcriptome repurposing data-sets for new questions.

Baseline marine investigation and impact of fish farming on the marine environment in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Scattered seashells were observed on the seabed with no marine corals. The baseline studies indicate that biodiversity decreased from the northeast to southwest direction. The dominant groups of phytoplankton were diatoms followed by dinoflagellates, with insignificant vertical variations in species composition and population due to shallow water. The benthic diversity over the majority of the study area was relatively low compared with other nearshore areas in the region. All subtidal habitats showed evidence of disturbance to varying degrees, with no fish species recorded at these locations. The soft sediment habitat was found to cover much of the area footprint, and faunal diversity was very low. Fish diversity and abundance were equally poor with only a few demersal species recorded. No evidence of coral colonization was recorded although the presence of a low-profile, encrusting species was recorded in close proximity, to the east of the study area. Mangrove, coral, and seagrass were absent in the study area and its immediate vicinity. Modelling of waste plume suggested that the harbor water is fairly well-mixed, and the dispersion of ammonia attenuates with distance.

Molecular Modeling of the Interaction Between Stem Cell Peptide and Immune Receptor in Plants.

Molecular docking enables comprehensive exploration of interactions between chemical moieties and proteins. Modeling and docking approaches are useful to determine the three-dimensional (3D) structure of experimentally uncrystallized proteins and subsequently their interactions with various inhibitors and activators or peptides. Here, we describe a protocol for carrying out molecular modeling and docking of stem cell peptide CLV3p on plant innate immune receptor FLS2.

Mapping a Transcriptome-Guided Arabidopsis SAM Interactome.

The advent of multi-OMICS approaches has a significant impact on the investigation of biological processes occurring in plants. RNA-SEQ, cellular proteomics, and metabolomics have added a considerable ease in studying the dynamics of stem cell niches. New cell sorting approaches coupled with the labeling of stem cell population specific marker genes are highly instrumental in enriching distinct cellular populations for various types of analysis. One more promising field of OMICS is the mapping of cellular interactomes. The plant stem cells research is barely profited from this newly emerging field of OMICS. Generation of stem cell/niche-specific interactome is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. Here, we describe a method on how to assemble a SAM-based interactome after using the available generic Arabidopsis interactomes. To define the context of SAM in a generic interactome, we used SAM cell population transcriptome datasets. Our step-by-step protocol can easily be adopted for other stem cell niches such as RAM and lateral meristems keeping in view the availability of transcriptome datasets for cellular populations of these niches.