Recent Advancement in Rational Design Modulation of MXene: A Voyage from Environmental Remediation to Energy Conversion and Storage.

Use of MXenes (Ti3 C2 Tx ), which belongs to the family of two-dimensional transition metal nitrides and carbides by encompassing unique combination of metallic conductivity and hydrophilicity, is receiving tremendous attention, since its discovery as energy material in 2011. Owing to its precursor selective chemical etching, and unique intrinsic characteristics, the MXene surface properties are further classified into highly chemically active compound, which further produced different surface functional groups i. e., oxygen, fluorine or hydroxyl groups. However, the role of surface functional groups doesn't not only have a significant impact onto its electrochemical and hydrophilic characteristics (i. e., ion adsorption/diffusion), but also imparting a noteworthy effect onto its conductivity, work function, electronic structure and properties. Henceforth, such kind of inherent chemical nature, robust electrochemistry and high hydrophilicity ultimately increasing the MXene application as a most propitious material for overall environment-remediation, electrocatalytic sensors, energy conversion and storage application. Moreover, it is well documented that the role of MXenes in all kinds of research fields is still on a progress stage for their further improvement, which is not sufficiently summarized in literature till now. The present review article is intended to critically discuss the different chemical aptitudes and the diversity of MXenes and its derivates (i. e., hybrid composites) in all aforesaid application with special emphasis onto the improvement of its surface characteristics for the multidimensional application. However, this review article is anticipated to endorse MXenes and its derivates hybrid configuration, which is discussed in detail for emerging environmental decontamination, electrochemical use, and pollutant detection via electrocatalytic sensors, photocatalysis, along with membrane distillation and the adsorption application. Finally, it is expected, that this review article will open up new window for the effective use of MXene in a broad range of environmental remediation, energy conversion and storage application as a novel, robust, multidimensional and more proficient materials.

Inhibitory effect of post-micellar SDS concentration on thermal aggregation and activity of papain.

Papain, a cysteine protease isolated from the latex of Carica papaya, is known to undergo irreversible thermal unfolding. In this study, we found that thermal unfolding of papain is accompanied by a simultaneous self-assembly process where this protein is observed to aggregate above 50°C. The extent of aggregation increased with increasing protein concentration from 3-40 µM. The aggregation was confirmed by enhanced turbidity, light scattering intensity, 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) fluorescence intensity and by transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, we noted that post-micellar concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) remarkably suppresses the thermal aggregation of papain. Far-UV circular dichroism studies revealed that SDS significantly enhances α-helical content of the protein and also tends to prevent its unfolding, and thus inhibits aggregation. Additionally, papain showed maximal activity at 65°C in neutral buffer. However, in the presence of 6 mM SDS (above its critical micellar concentration), the enzyme lost activity by about 10-fold. Thus, promoting the helical propensity of the protein does not appear to be a suitable strategy to overcome the aggregation related problems of industrially important proteins such as papain, which are not only required to be protected against aggregation but also need to remain functionally active in the presence of aggregation inhibitors.

Digital health technology for remote care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.

COVID-19 pandemic has forced the emergency deployment of digital health technology (DHT) to provide remote care. DHT is a promising option to enable telehealth, and, by the same token, it contributes to the implementation of social distance measures. The objective of this scoping review is to investigate existing DHT solutions that have been put in place to enable remote care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Structured literature searches were performed in Medline (Ovid), Scopus and CINAHL with Full Text (EBSCOhost), with a mix of keywords and controlled vocabulary unique to each database. The librarian utilized the search strategy on respiratory pandemics created in April 2020 for Medline (Ovid) by Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health (CADTH). An additional search for grey literature was performed including pre-prints and reports in Google Advanced, LitCovid and MedRx. Two independent reviewers assessed the articles retrieved from the databases (n=131) based on pre-established inclusion criteria and included six articles. Analysis of the results revealed six different types of DHT, including 5 dedicated to telemedicine and one used to track activity of people who were confined to their homes. The results showed positive health-related outcomes and user behavior outcomes. This review revealed that there is limited literature on the use of DHT to enable remote care in response to a pandemic and therefore calls for more documentation of the ongoing deployment of DHTs to support patient safety and the delivery of quality care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Multilocular cyst of kidney with embryonic tissue.

A case of a multilocular cyst in a child is documented, and a brief review of reported cases of multilocular cysts in pediatric age groups is presented. These cases can be divided into two subgroups based on the presence or absence of embryonic tissue within the cysts. The significance of this embryonic tissue with regard to histogenesis and prognosis of the multilocular cysts is discussed.