The electrospinning of rhodamine B (RhB)-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is presented as a promising technique for processing photoluminescent nanofibers. Nanofibers with concentrations of RhB in PMMA between 0.05 and 2.0 wt. % were studied. The FTIR spectrum, fiber morphology, thermal properties and optical properties of the nanofibers were investigated. Smooth, bead-free and nonporous nanofibers were obtained. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results revealed that the glass transition temperature of the PMMA (T g ) increased with the increasing of RhB content up to 0.5 wt. % and thereafter decreased. The laser induced fluorescence (LIF) technique was used to study the fluorescence properties of the nanofibers. The maximum fluorescence emission was observed at a concentration of RhB of 0.2 wt. %.

Stressful events experienced during early life are associated with increased vulnerability of developing psychopathology in adulthood. In the present study, we exposed 9-day-old Wistar rats to 24 h maternal deprivation (MD) with the aim to investigate the impact of early life stress (ELS) on morphological, biochemical, and functional aspects of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a brain region particularly sensitive to stress. We found that in the superficial medial orbital cortex (MO), young adult male rats had reduced density of GAD67 and CCK immunopositive cells, while the rostral part of the ventral lateral orbital cortex (roVLO) showed a decrease in the density of GAD67 immunopositive cells in both superficial and deep layers. In addition, the superficial rostral part of area 1 of the cingulate cortex (roCg1) and deep prelimbic cortex (PrL) was also affected by MD indicated by the reduction in PV immunopositive cellular density. Furthermore, MD induced upregulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), while it did not affect the overall expression of Iba1 in neonatal or young adult PFC as measured by Western blot, however, microglial activation in young adult MD rats was detected immunohistochemically in deep layers of MO and infralimbic cortex (IL). Interestingly, when young adult male rats were subjected to a behavioral flexibility test in a T-maze, MD rats showed a subtle impairment in T-maze reversal learning indicating a mildly affected PFC function. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that MD reduced the density of interneurons and induced microglial activation, in particular, PFC areas at young adulthood, and could alter synaptic plasticity accompanied by PFC dysfunction.

Goal of this work is to establish technical feasibility and fundamentals of producing activated carbon from plane tree seeds (PTS) biomass for porous materials derivation. Bio-chars produced via carbonization from PTS precursor were activated in CO 2 at 750 and 850 ºC, during various residence times. Their surface area and porosity were characterized by N 2 adsorption at 77 K. Surface areas of activated carbons can be correlated with kinetics mechanism and activation energy magnitudes of oxidation reaction by CO 2 , which are closely related to applied activation temperature. Result showed that high temperature activated carbon had higher gas adsorption as compared to activated carbon obtained from lower temperature during two hour residence time. Breakthrough behavior was detected at 850 o C where surface reactions dominate, and it is characterized by autocatalytic kinetic model under designed conditions. Both, temperature and CO 2 concentration in vicinity of solid surface affect on breakthrough time of adsorbent. Derived bio-chars are converted into high quality activated carbons, with surface area of 776.55 m 2 g-1 , where micropores with pore diameters less than 2 nm prevail. Produced activated carbons have properties comparable with commercially available activated carbons, which can be successfully used for removal of harmful gaseous pollutants toward air purification.