Vulnerabilities Prompting Use of Technology and Screen by Mothers of Autistic Children in India: Lived Experiences and Comparison to Scientific Literature.

Technology and screen media has its place in every home, yet the influences of the same are less known. This research aims to explore the vulnerabilities that prompt the mothers to use screen media for their children, prior to a diagnosis of autism for their child. It also aims to explore literature the influence of screen media on speech and language development in children. This study combined semi-structured interviews with 16 mothers of autistic children in Southern India and a scoping literature review that resulted in 24 articles. The literature refers to a positive influence when co-viewing with the child, and it predominantly highlights improvements in speech and not in language. The interviews revealed that screens were used as a means of support, a language and learning development tool, or as a calming technique. Thus, the study shows that the mothers resorted to screen use for their children more out of helplessness, and not as an informed choice. Mothers of autistic children clearly express their vulnerabilities and indicate feelings of being lost without advice, with regard to use of screen-time. This suggests a need for more research into how they can be supported.

Advances in metal-organic frameworks for water remediation applications.

Rapid industrialization and agricultural development have resulted in the accumulation of a variety of harmful contaminants in water resources. Thus, various approaches such as adsorption, photocatalytic degradation and methods for sensing water contaminants have been developed to solve the problem of water pollution. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of coordination networks comprising organic-inorganic hybrid porous materials having organic ligands attached to inorganic metal ions/clusters via coordination bonds. MOFs represent an emerging class of materials for application in water remediation owing to their versatile structural and chemical characteristics, such as well-ordered porous structures, large specific surface area, structural diversity, and tunable sites. The present review is focused on recent advances in various MOFs for application in water remediation via the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of water contaminants. The sensing of water pollutants using MOFs via different approaches, such as luminescence, electrochemical, colorimetric, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic techniques, is also discussed. The high porosity and chemical tunability of MOFs are the main driving forces for their widespread applications, which have huge potential for their commercial use.

Correction: Advances in metal-organic frameworks for water remediation applications.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D3RA07982A.].

Potential diagnostics and therapeutic approaches in COVID-19.

The most important aspect of controlling COVID-19 is its timely diagnosis. Molecular diagnostic tests target the detection of any of the following markers such as the specific region of the viral genome, certain enzyme, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the structural proteins such as surface spike glycoprotein, nucleocapsid protein, envelope protein, or membrane protein of SARS-CoV-2. This review highlights the underlying mechanisms, advancements, and clinical limitations for each of the diagnostic techniques authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (USA). Significance of diagnosis triaging, information on specimen collection, safety considerations while handling, transport, and storage of samples have been highlighted to make medical and research community more informed so that better clinical strategies are developed. We have discussed here the clinical manifestations and hospital outcomes along with the underlying mechanisms for several drugs administered to COVID-19 prophylaxis. In addition to favourable clinical outcomes, the challenges, and the future directions of management of COVOD-19 are highlighted. Having a comprehensive knowledge of the diagnostic approaches of SARS-CoV-2, and its pathogenesis will be of great value in designing a long-term strategy to tackle COVID-19.

The accompanying adult: authority to give consent in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Children may be accompanied by various people when attending for dental treatment. Before treatment is started, there is a legal requirement that the operator obtain informed consent for the proposed procedure. In the case of minors, the person authorized to give consent (parental responsibility) is usually a parent. AIM: To ascertain if accompanying persons of children attending the Department of Paediatric Dentistry at the Eastman Dental Hospital, London were empowered to give consent for the child's dental treatment. DESIGN: A total of 250 accompanying persons of children attending were selected, over a 6-month period. A questionnaire was used to establish whether the accompanying person(s) were authorized to give consent. RESULT: The study showed that 12% of accompanying persons had no legal authority to give consent for the child's dental treatment. CONCLUSION: Clinicians need to be aware of the status of persons accompanying children to ensure valid consent is obtained.

Consent in dentistry.

This article aims to provide fundamental information regarding consent when providing dental care and a review of the current literature. The change in attitude of patients with emphasis on being involved and informed of every aspect of care is not only apparent in adults but also when providing care for children and young adults. It is important for dentists to be well informed of the fundamental process of consent, which exist under the law (affecting both adults and minors) in order to provide care within the legal framework.