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Memory deficits are observed across psychiatric disorders ranging from the prodrome of psychosis to common mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, and dissociative disorders. Memory deficits among patients recovering from psychiatric disorders could be directly related to the primary illness or secondary to the adverse effect of a treatment such as Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). The trouble in the meaningful integration of working-memory and episodic memory is the most commonly affected domain that requires routine assessments. An update on the recent trends of methods of assessment of memory deficits is the first step towards understanding and correcting these deficits to target optimum recovery. A systematic literature search was conducted from October 2018 to October 2022 to review the recent methods of assessment of memory deficits in psychiatric disorders. The definition of 'Memory deficit' was operationalized as 'selective processes of memory, commonly required for activities of daily living, and affected among psychiatric disorders resulting in subjective distress and dysfunction'. We included 110 studies, most of them being conducted in western countries on patients with schizophrenia. Other disorders included dementia and mild cognitive impairment. Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia, Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery, California Verbal Learning Test, Trail Making Test Part A and B, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Wechsler Memory Scale, Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale-IV were the most common neuropsychological assessments used. Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment were the most common bedside assessment tools used while Squire Subjective Memory Questionnaire was commonly used to measure ECT-related memory deficits. The review highlights the recent developments in the field of assessment of memory deficits in psychiatric disorders. Findings recommend and emphasize routine assessment of memory deficits among psychiatric disorders in developing countries especially severe mental illnesses. It remains interesting to see the role of standardized assessments in diagnostic systems given more than a decade of research on memory deficits in psychiatric disorders.
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Tungsten disulfide (WS2) exhibits intriguing tribological properties and has been explored as an excellent lubricious material in thin-film and solid lubricants. However, the poor dispersibility of WS2 has been a major challenge for its utilization in liquid lubricant applications. Herein, a top-down integrated approach is presented to synthesize oxygenated WS2 (WS2-O) nanosheets via strong acid-mediated oxidation and ultrasound-assisted exfoliation. The ultrathin sheets of WS2-O, comprising 4-7 molecular lamellae, exhibit oxygen/hydroxyl functionalities. The organosilanes having variable surface-active leaving groups (chloro and ethoxy) are covalently grafted, targeting the hydroxyl/oxygen functionalities on the surface of WS2-O nanosheets. The grafting of organosilanes is governed by the reactivity of chloro and ethoxy leaving groups. The DFT calculations further support the covalent interaction between the WS2-O nanosheets and organosilanes. The alkyl chain-functionalized WS2-O nanosheets displayed excellent dispersibility in mineral lube base oil. A minute dose of chemically functionalized-WS2 (0.2 mg.mL-1) notably enhanced the tribological properties of mineral lube oil by reducing the friction coefficient (52%) and wear volume (79%) for a steel tribopair. Raman analysis of worn surfaces revealed WS2-derived lubricious thin film formation. The improved tribological properties are attributed to ultralow thickness, stable dispersion, and low shear strength of chemically functionalized WS2 nanosheets, along with protective thin film formation over the contact interfaces of a steel tribopair. The present work opens a new avenue toward exploiting low-dimensional nanosheets for minimizing energy losses due to high friction.
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The present investigation demonstrates a green and scalable chemical approach to prepare aminoborate-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (rGO-AmB) for aqueous lubricants. The chemical, structural, crystalline, and morphological features of rGO-AmB are probed by XPS, FTIR, Raman, XRD, and HRTEM measurements. The spectroscopic analyses revealed the multiple interaction pathways between rGO and AmB. rGO-AmB exhibited long-term dispersion stability and improved the thermal conductivity of water by 68%. The thermal conductivity increased with increasing concentration of rGO-AmB and temperature. rGO-AmB as an additive to water (0.2%) enhanced the tribological properties of a steel tribopair under the boundary lubrication regime by the significant reduction in friction (70%) and wear (68%). The tribo-induced gradual deposition of an rGO-AmB-based thin film facilitated the interfacial sliding between the steel tribopair and protected it from the wear. The ultralow thickness, excellent dispersibility in water, high thermal conductivity, intrinsic low frictional properties, and good affinity toward the tribo-interfaces make rGO-AmB a potential candidate for aqueous lubricants.
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Incommensurate stacking between two different types of two-dimensional layered materials furnished the weak interfacial interaction due to the mismatch of their lattice structure, which can be harnessed for development of new generation lubricant additives. Herein, a facile approach is presented to synthesize the ZnO-decorated reduced graphene oxide/MoS2 (Gr-MS-Zn) nanosheets. The Fourier transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic, Raman, and transmission electron microscopic analyses confirmed the preparation of Gr-MS-Zn heterostructure. The MoS2 nanosheets having 3-7 molecular lamellae are thoroughly distributed over the graphene skeleton via weak interfacial interaction. The curved and bent structure of MoS2 nanosheets grown over the graphene lamellae subsidized the cohesive interaction and furnished the stable dispersion of Gr-MS-Zn in the fully formulated engine oil. The minute dose of Gr-MS-Zn as a nano-additive to engine oil significantly enhanced the tribological performance between the steel-steel tribopair by decreasing the friction (37%) and the wear volume (87%). The microscopic and spectroscopic analyses revealed the formation of a Gr-MS-Zn-based surface protective tribo thin film of low shear strength. The enhanced tribo performance is collectively attributed to (a) uninterrupted supply of ultrathin Gr-MS-Zn nanosheets to tribo-interfaces, (b) stable dispersion of Gr-MS-Zn, and (c) the significantly low shear strength, arising from weak interfacial interaction between the incommensurately stacked graphene and MoS2 nanosheets.
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Two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides possess inherent structural characteristics that can be harnessed for enhancement of tribological properties by making them dispersible in lube media. Here, we present a hydrothermal approach to preparing MoS2 nanosheets comprising 4-10 molecular lamellae. A structural-defect-mediated route for grafting of octadecylamine (ODA) on MoS2 nanosheets is outlined. The unsaturated d orbitals of Mo at the sulfur vacancies on the MoS2 surface are coupled with the electron-rich nitrogen center of ODA and yield ODA-functionalized MoS2 (MoS2-ODA). The MoS2-ODA nanosheets exhibit good dispersibility in lube base oil and are used as an additive (optimized dose: 0.1 mg·mL-1) to mineral oil. It is shown that even at low concentration, MoS2-ODA nanosheets significantly reduce the friction (48%) and wear (44%). Microscopy (field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)) and spectroscopy (Raman and elemental mapping) analyses of worn scars revealed the formation of MoS2-based protective thin films for lowering of friction and wear. This work, therefore, presents a pathway for low-friction lubricants by deploying functionalized low-dimensional material systems.
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Hexagonal boron nitride nanoplatelets (h-BNNPs), which are structurally analogous to graphene, were prepared via the ultrasound-assisted exfoliation of h-BN powder using N-methyl pyrrolidone as the solvent. The alkylamines with variable alkyl chains and electron-rich nitrogen atoms were grafted onto the boron sites of the h-BNNPs based on Lewis acid-base chemistry. The grafting of the alkylamines onto the h-BNNPs was confirmed using FTIR, XPS, TGA and (13)C SSNMR analyses. The crystalline and structural features of the alkylamine-functionalized h-BNNPs were studied using XRD and HRTEM analyses. The TGA and FTIR results revealed a higher grafting of octadecylamine (ODA) on the h-BNNPs compared to trioctylamine (TOA). The cohesive interaction between the alkyl chains grafted onto the h-BNNPs and the hydrocarbon chains of mineral lube base oil facilitates the dispersion of the alkylamine-functionalized h-BNNPs. The TOA-grafted h-BNNPs (h-BNNPs-TOA) exhibited long-term dispersion stability compared to the ODA-grafted h-BNNPs and this was attributed to a higher degree of van der Waals interactions between the octyl chains of the TOA molecules grafted onto the h-BNNPs and the hydrocarbon chains of the mineral lube base oil. The tribo-performance of the h-BNNPs-TOA as an additive to mineral lube base oil was evaluated in terms of the coefficient of friction and wear using ball-on-disc contact geometry. A minute dosing (0.02 mg mL(-1)) of h-BNNPs-TOA significantly improved the lubrication characteristics of the mineral lube base oil and showed a 35 and 25% reduction of friction and wear, respectively. The presence of boron and nitrogen on the worn scar of an aluminium disc, as deduced from elemental mapping, confirmed the formation of a tribo-chemical thin film of h-BN lamellae on the contact interfaces, which not only reduced the friction but also protected the contact interfaces against undesirable wear events.
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Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), an isoelectric analogous to graphene multilayer, can easily shear at the contact interfaces and exhibits excellent mechanical strength, higher thermal stability, and resistance toward oxidation, which makes it a promising material for potential lubricant applications. However, the poor dispersibility of h-BN in lube base oil has been a major obstacle. Herein, h-BN powder was exfoliated into h-BN nanoplatelets (h-BNNPs), and then long alkyl chains were chemically grafted, targeting the basal plane defect and edge sites of h-BNNPs. The chemical and structural features of octadecyltriethoxysilane-functionalized h-BNNPs (h-BNNPs-ODTES) were studied by FTIR, XPS, XRD, HRTEM, and TGA analyses. The h-BNNPs-ODTES exhibit long-term dispersion stability in synthetic polyol ester lube base oil because of van der Waals interaction between the octadecyl chains of h-BNNPs-ODTES and alkyl functionalities of polyol ester. Micro- and macrotribology results showed that h-BNNPs-ODTES, as an additive to synthetic polyol ester, significantly reduced both the friction and wear of steel disks. Elemental mapping of the worn area explicitly demonstrates the transfer of h-BNNPs-ODTES on the contact interfaces. Furthermore, insight into the lubrication mechanism for reduction in both friction and wear is deduced based on the experimental results.
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Plant essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile organic compounds, which play indispensable roles in the environment, for the plant itself, as well as for humans. The potential biological information stored in essential oil composition data can provide an insight into the silent language of plants, and the roles of these chemical emissions in defense, communication and pollinator attraction. In order to decipher volatile profile patterns from a global perspective, we have developed the ESSential OIL DataBase (EssOilDB), a continually updated, freely available electronic database designed to provide knowledge resource for plant essential oils, that enables one to address a multitude of queries on volatile profiles of native, invasive, normal or stressed plants, across taxonomic clades, geographical locations and several other biotic and abiotic influences. To our knowledge, EssOilDB is the only database in the public domain providing an opportunity for context based scientific research on volatile patterns in plants. EssOilDB presently contains 123 041 essential oil records spanning a century of published reports on volatile profiles, with data from 92 plant taxonomic families, spread across diverse geographical locations all over the globe. We hope that this huge repository of VOCs will facilitate unraveling of the true significance of volatiles in plants, along with creating potential avenues for industrial applications of essential oils. We also illustrate the use of this database in terpene biology and show how EssOilDB can be used to complement data from computational genomics to gain insights into the diversity and variability of terpenoids in the plant kingdom. EssOilDB would serve as a valuable information resource, for students and researchers in plant biology, in the design and discovery of new odor profiles, as well as for entrepreneurs--the potential for generating consumer specific scents being one of the most attractive and interesting topics in the cosmetic industry. Database URL: http://nipgr.res.in/Essoildb/
