A Simple Trick to Increase the Areal Specific Capacity of Polypyrrole Membrane: The Superposition Effect of Methyl Orange and Acid Treatment.

Polypyrrole (PPy) is one of the attractive conducting polymers that have been investigated as energy storage materials in devices like supercapacitors. Previously, we have reported a free-standing soft PPy membrane synthesized through interfacial polymerization in which methyl orange (MO) and ferric chloride were used as nano template and oxidant. In this work, we report that the presence of MO and the treatment of the PPy-MO membrane with sulfuric acid can dramatically increase the specific capacitance of the membrane. The properties of the membranes were evaluated using scanning electron microscope (SEM) for morphology, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for chemistry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for thermal stability, and cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for electrochemical activity. It was found that the areal specific capacitance of the PPy membrane increased from 2226 mF/cm2 to 6417 mF/cm2 and the charge transfer resistivity decreased from about 17 Ω to 3 Ω between 10,000 and 0.1 Hz due to the presence of MO and the acid treatment. It is likely that the superposition effect of MO and acid treatment helped the charge transfer process and consequently enhanced the charge storage performance and specific capacitance of the PPy membrane.

The effects of garlic-supplemented diets on skin mucosal immune responses, stress resistance and growth performance of the Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus) fry.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of garlic supplementation on some skin mucus immune parameters, mucus antimicrobial activity and growth performance of the Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus caspicus) fry. Fish (1 ± 0.07 g) were divided into four groups fed diets containing 0 (control), 5, 10 and 15 g kg(-1) garlic for 8 weeks. The results showed that there was a significant increase in weight gain and specific growth rate in those fish fed garlic diets compared with the control (P < 0.05). Condition factor was not significantly affected by garlic dosage. At the end of trial, the epidermal mucus protein level, alkaline phosphatase and antimicrobial activity against 2 g-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens) and gram-positive bacteria (Streptococcus faecium and Micrococcus luteus) were measured. Skin mucus alkaline phosphatase, protein levels and antimicrobial activity were increased following garlic administration, and the bacterial growth inhibition zones were significantly elevated in garlic-fed fish (P < 0.05). In salinity stress experiment, no differences were observed for survival rate among the experimental diets. No mortality was recorded during the feeding trial. These results indicated that dietary garlic beneficially affects the skin mucus immune parameters and growth performance of the Caspian roach fry.

Gastrointestinal manifestations in patients with common variable immunodeficiency.

This study focuses on endoscopic and pathologic alterations of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders of Iranian patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). Nineteen of 39 CVID patients (48%) had GI complaints. The most common symptom was chronic diarrhea (28%). In endoscopic examination of small intestines, 15 patients had no abnormal finding. Duodenal biopsy revealed villous atrophy in eight and nodular lymphoid hyperplasia in three patients. There was no statistically significant difference between patients with and patients without duodenal villous atrophy regarding the presence of chronic diarrhea, anemia, and absolute CD4+T cells. In three patients, biopsies of the colon showed chronic noncrypt-destructive colitis. GI problems pose a high morbidity to CVID patients and are second only to respiratory complications. CVID patients are at increased risk of infectious and inflammatory conditions in the GI tract. Early diagnosis of these complications improves the quality of life and well-being of patients.