In this work, pure TiO₂ and binary nanocomposites of Fe₃O₄/TiO₂ and Ag/TiO₂ were synthesized in order to improve photocatalytic performance of these samples for degradation of 2, 4-dichlorophenol (2, 4-DCP) as an organic pollutant. A range of analytical techniques including XRD, DRS, SEM/EDX, and elemental mapping were employed to reveal the crystal structure, morphology and property of the nanocomposites. XRD data demonstrated that the prepared samples are purely in TiO₂ anatase phase and cubic spinel Fe₃O₄ exist in the synthesized nanocomposite. We calculated the TiO₂ crystal size from XRD patterns, in the range of 8.35-11.09 nm. The presence of Ag, Fe, O, and Ti atoms in the synthesized nanocomposites was confirmed by SEM/EDX. We obtained 30.43, 32.02 and 42.40 % degradation of 2, 4-DCP (100 ml 2, 4-DCP 40 ppm and 0.01 g catalyst) for pure TiO₂, Fe₃O₄/TiO₂ and Ag/TiO₂, respectively, after 180 min of irradiation under visible light. Similar conditions were employed for 2, 4-DCP degradation under UV irradiation, we obtained 53.05, 51.00 and 71.50 % degradation of 2, 4-DCP pure TiO₂, Fe₃O₄/TiO₂ and Ag/TiO₂, respectively. Thus, the synthesized binary nanocomposites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity compared to pure TiO₂ under visible light.

Abnormal Tau phosphorylation and aggregation into neuronal paired helical filaments and neurofibrillary tangles cause tauopathies, a class of neurodegenerative diseases, that include Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17, progressive supranuclear palsy, Pick's disease, and corticobasal degeneration. Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) is the most critical kinase to phosphorylate Tau. We have developed the linoleic acid derivative 8-[2-(2-pentyl-cyclopropylmethyl)-cyclopropyl]-octanoic acid (DCP-LA), with cyclopropane rings instead of cis-double bonds, as an anti-dementia drug. DCP-LA serves as a selective activator of PKCε and a potent inhibitor of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B). DCP-LA prevents Tau phosphorylation due to PKCε-mediated direct inactivation of GSK-3β, to PKCε/Akt-mediated inactivation of GSK-3β, and to receptor tyrosine kinase-mediated inactivation of GSK-3β in association with PTP1B inhibition. DCP-LA targeting GSK-3β, thus, could become a valid drug for treatment of tauopathies.

The high reliable correlations between CBR and DCP in general proposed are presented in this paper. We analyzed the test data and correlations from many researchers to find the best equation for prediction the CBR from DCP test. The findings show that all correlations from existing paper are based on local material and cannot apply to soil in a different location in general purpose. New correlations between CBR and DCP were proposed and validated in this paper for general uses. The validation confirmed that these new correlations can predict well with higher R2.