Resistant bacteria and their biofilms reduce the efficacy of conventional antibiotic therapies. To address this, a nanoplatform consisting of silver nanoparticles coated with chitosan and dual-loaded with thymol and luteolin (AgNPs@CS-TH-LU) was prepared and evaluated through in vitro and in vivo assays. The nanocomposite showed a well-dispersed spherical morphology with an average particle size of 69 nm and a zeta potential of +38 mV in deionized water. Well diffusion assays showed inhibition zones of ∼28 mm against S. aureus, E. coli, S. agalactiae, and P. aeruginosa, with MIC values as low as ∼0.30 μg mL−1 (total nanocomposite concentration) and ∼ 98% biofilm inhibition. The release profile was prolonged and pH-responsive over 24 h. Hemolysis was low ∼2.33% at 400 μg mL−1 under the tested conditions. In mice, AgNPs@CS-TH-LU showed reduced toxicity compared with bare AgNPs, with liver enzymes and organ weights close to control values, and in vivo wound-healing trials exhibited complete wound closure in 11 days with enhanced collagen deposition. These findings suggest AgNPs@CS-TH-LU is a promising nanocomposite with enhanced antibacterial activity, reduced toxicity relative to bare AgNPs, and accelerated wound healing in mice under the tested conditions.
Traditional solar stills have low evaporation rates and low thermal efficiency which limits their practical applicability in decentralized production of freshwater. Corrugated absorber designs have become a promising passive approach to improve heat transfer through the augmentation of the effective surface area and by encouraging the evaporation of thin films. A systematic review (2020-2026) conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines is presented in the study, which combines experimental evidence with a single mathematical modeling approach that adds a corrugation factor (ϕ) to measure geometry-enhanced heat transfer. It has been shown by the analysis that corrugated absorbers are much more effective than the traditional flat-plate designs, and the productivity of these absorbers improves by 28-300%. Hybrid systems with V-corrugated absorbers with nanofluids and phase change materials attain thermal and exergy efficiencies of up to 78 and 93% respectively. Economically, levelized water prices are 0.0038‐0.042 $/L, payback period is frequently less than 1.5 years, which proves a high cost-effectiveness. Environmental analysis also underscores the huge potential of CO2 mitigation and the attendant carbon credit incentive. The review finds that corrugated absorber solar stills, especially when combined with novel materials like nano-enhanced phase change materials, nanofluids, and wicking structures are highly efficient economically feasible and scalable alternative to sustainable desalination. Other important research gaps such as geometry optimization, multi-physics model, and intelligent control strategies are also outlined to inform future development.
Because water is needed more around the world, new ways of using solar stills, a type of sustainable desalination, should be created to improve their performance. This review looks at how reflectors work in several types of solar stills to improve the overall performance. Inclined solar stills that have top and bottom reflectors had the highest water productivity of 4.2 kg m−2, and water generated from PV-solar stills with reflectors and cooling was much higher than before, showing a 40.98
Silver nanoparticle-based hydrogels are receiving increasing attention as wound dressings due to their antimicrobial activity and ability to promote tissue regeneration. In this study, a green synthesis approach was employed to develop a bioactive silver nanoparticle hydrogel using Punica granatum peel extract combined with red light photo-stimulation. Silver nanoparticles were produced through an aqueous plant-mediated method and characterized using various morphological and physicochemical characterization techniques. The synthesized nanoparticles showed a stable, well-dispersed morphology with particle sizes ranging from 20 to 80 nm, and a zeta potential of approximately + 72.1 mV, indicating good colloidal stability. The silver nanoparticles were incorporated into a biocompatible hydrogel and evaluated in vivo using a full-thickness excision wound model ( 200 mm²) in 30 female mice divided into six treatment groups. Two photo-modulation strategies using 660 nm red light for 3 min exposure were compared: irradiation of the hydrogel before application and irradiation after application. Wound healing was monitored for 15 days through wound-contraction analysis and histopathological examination. A significant correlation was observed between wound healing percentage and histopathological scores (Spearman’s r = 0.899, p = 0.015). Antibacterial assays demonstrated enhanced inhibition against Escherichia coli (14–20 mm) and Staphylococcus aureus (17–23 mm) when the silver nanoparticle hydrogel was combined with red light exposure. The pre-irradiated pomegranate peel-derived silver nanoparticles hydrogel showed the most effective therapeutic outcome, achieving a wound-healing mean of 97.58
An accurate medium-term streamflow forecast is one of the significant functions for managing and planning water resources. Considering the characteristics of trend, periodicity, and stochasticity of streamflow into account. So, this research aims to develop a new strategy, including a singular spectrum analysis (SSA) technique and a linear autoregressive (AR) model to predict monthly Tigris River streamflow data with three scenarios. The first scenario applies the SSA to decompose the normalised and cleaned time series into different signals (i.e., trend, seasonal, stochastic, and noise), then reconstruct the signals without noise and use the AR model to simulate the new time series. The second scenario employs the AR model to forecast each signal of streamflow without noise separately. The simulated time series was obtained by summing each predicted signal. The third scenario uses the AR model to simulate the raw data. Based on several statistical tests, the comparative analysis reveals that the first and second scenarios were much more accurate than the third ones. The second scenario is the best, reaching RMSE = 0.1223 (m3/s) and MAE = 0.0913 (m3/s) in the testing phase. The novelty of this study lies in the comparative evaluation of three SSA-AR modelling scenarios and the finding that forecasting decomposed components individually leads to superior accuracy compared to conventional approaches. The results are of substantial significance to the Ministry of Water Resources in managing and planning freshwater resources amid growing water demand.
