Efficacy of Sub-Gingivally Delivered Propolis Nanoparticle in Non-Surgical Management of Periodontal Pocket: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Naturally sourced products like propolis are commonly employed for the non-surgical treatment of periodontal pockets. The use of nanoparticle formulations of these natural remedies has the potential to improve treatment outcomes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of sub-gingivally delivered propolis nanoparticles in the non-surgical management of periodontal pockets. Forty patients diagnosed with periodontitis presenting at least one periodontal pocket with a probing pocket depth between 4 and 6 mm were selected. Patients were randomly assigned into the control group (n = 20), which received scaling and root planing (SRP) and saline (SRP + Saline), and the test group (n = 20), which received SRP and sub-gingivally delivered propolis nanoparticles (PRO) into the periodontal pocket (SRP + PRO). The clinical parameters recorded were plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), relative attachment loss (RAL), probing pocket depth (PPD), and bleeding on probing (BOP). They were assessed at baseline, one month, and three months post therapy. The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in clinical parameters (p < 0.05) in the test sites compared with the control sites at the end of the study. The gingival index at one month and three months was found to be significantly better in the SRP + PRO group than the SRP + Saline group, with a p value of <0.001. The BOP, PPD, and RAL showed significant improvement with the SRP + PRO group at the end of the 3-month follow-up with p values of 0.0001, 0.001, and 0.05, respectively. The subgingival delivery of propolis nanoparticles showed promising results as an adjunct to SRP in patients with periodontitis presenting periodontal pockets.

Enhanced exciton binding energy, Zeeman splitting and spin polarization in hybrid layered nanosheets comprised of (Cd, Mn)Se and nitrogen-doped graphene oxide: implication for semiconductor devices.

The exciton properties of (Cd,Mn)Se-NrGO (nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide) hybrid layered nanosheets have been studied in a magnetic field up to 10 T and compared to those of (Cd,Mn)Se nanosheets. The temperature dependent photoluminescence reveals the hybridization of inter-band exciton and intra-center Mn transition with enhancement of the binding energy of exciton-Mn hybridized state (80 meV with respect to 60 meV in (Cd,Mn)Se nanosheets) and increase of exciton-phonon coupling strength to 90 meV (with respect to 55 meV in (Cd,Mn)Se nanosheets). The circularly polarized magneto-photoluminescence at 2 K provides evidence for magnetic field induced exciton spin polarization and the realization of excitonic giant Zeeman splitting withgeffas high as 165.4 ± 10.3, much larger than in the case of (Cd,Mn)Se nanosheets (63.9 ± 6.6), promising for implementation in spin active semiconductor devices.

Single Mn Atom Doping in Chiral Sensitive Assembled Gold Clusters to Molecular Magnet.

Chiral stirred optical and magnetic properties, through the doping of assembled ultrasmall metal clusters (AMCs), are promising discernment to rivet the molecule-like quantum devices. Here, the single manganese (Mn) atom doping and assembly of the gold cluster (Au8), leading to the chirality driven magnetism, has been achieved through a ligand-mediated growth. The X-ray absorption near edge structure and electron paramagnetic resonance studies corroborate the tetrahedral coordinated local structure of Mn dopant in the Au host. The optical and vibrational circular dichroic analysis affirms the modulation of chirality (negative to positive) in the presence of the Mn. A distinct ferromagnetic hysteresis loop at 300 K shows Mn ridden chiral sensitive ferromagnetism in contrary to the ligand influenced superparamagnetic undoped AMCs. The spin-polarized density functional theory level of calculations reveal the partial overlapping of spin-up and -down density of states in the doped AMCs, attributing to the ferromagnetic nature as like a molecular magnet suitable for the opto-spintronics application.

Stimulation of electrocatalytic oxygen reduction activity on nitrogen doped graphene through noncovalent molecular functionalisation.

Molecular doping on graphene, through noncovalent functionalization offers a great opportunity to tune charge density on graphene for catalytic applications. Although enhanced oxygen reduction activity has been reported in heteroatom doped graphene, the synergistic advantage of molecular and heteroatom co-doping has not yet been studied. Here, we report the remarkably enhanced catalytic activity of benzoate or 1-pyrenebutyrate functionalized N-doped graphene (BA-NrGO/PB-NrGO) towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline medium. An efficient 4e(-) reduction process with a more positive onset potential (Eonset = 0.85 V vs. RHE) and high ORR activity (Jk = 3.16 mA cm(-2) at 0.65 V) has been observed in BA-NrGO. DFT studies show that the stimulated ORR activity is due to functionalisation induced increased charge density on active sites.