Navigating neurological disorders: harnessing the power of natural compounds for innovative therapeutic breakthroughs.

Novel treatments are needed as neurological issues become more frequent worldwide. According to the report, plants, oceans, microorganisms, and animals contain interesting drug discovery compounds. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and stroke reviews emphasize neurological disorders' complexity and natural substances' safety. Learn about marine-derived and herbal substances' neuroprotective characteristics and applications. Molecular pathways show these substances' neurological healing effects. This article discusses clinical usage of Bryostatin-1, Fucoidan, Icariin, Salvianolic acid, Curcumin, Resveratrol, etc. Their potential benefits for asthma and Alzheimer's disease are complex. Although limited, the study promotes rigorous scientific research and collaboration between traditional and alternative medical practitioners. Unexplored natural compounds, quality control, well-structured clinical trials, and interdisciplinary collaboration should guide future study. Developing and employing natural chemicals to treat neurological illnesses requires ethical sourcing, sustainability, and public awareness. This detailed analysis covers natural chemicals' current state, challenges, and opportunities in neurological disorder treatment. See also the graphical abstract(Fig. 1).

Alumina Incorporation in Self-Supported Poly(ethylenimine) Sorbents for Direct Air Capture.

Self-supported branched poly(ethylenimine) scaffolds with ordered macropores are synthesized with and without Al2O3 powder additive by cross-linking poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) with poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE) at -196 °C. The scaffolds' CO2 uptake performance is compared with a conventional sorbent, i.e., PEI impregnated on an Al2O3 support. PEI scaffolds with Al2O3 additive show narrow pore size distribution and thinner pore walls than alumina-free materials, facilitating higher CO2 uptake at conditions relevant to direct air capture. The PEI scaffold containing 6.5 wt % Al2O3 had the highest CO2 uptake of 1.23 mmol/g of sorbent under 50% RH 400 ppm of CO2 conditions. In situ DRIFT spectroscopy and temperature-programmed desorption experiments show a significant CO2 uptake contribution via physisorption as well as carbamic acid formation, with lower CO2 binding energies in PEI scaffolds relative to conventional PEI sorbents, likely a result of a lower population of primary amines due to the amine cross-linking reactions during scaffold synthesis. The PEI scaffold containing 6.5 wt % Al2O3 is estimated to have the lowest desorption energy penalty under humid conditions, 4.6 GJ/tCO2, among the sorbents studied.

Discovery and development of COVID-19 vaccine from laboratory to clinic.

The world has recently experienced one of the biggest and most severe public health disasters with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) which is one of the most widespread and powerful infections affecting human lungs. Current figures show that the epidemic had reached 216 nations, where it had killed about 6,438,926 individuals and infected 590,405,710. WHO proclaimed the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD), in 2014 that killed hundreds of people in West Africa. The development of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 becomes more difficult due to the viral mutation in its non-structural proteins (NSPs) especially NSP2 and NSP3, S protein, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Continuous monitoring of SARS-CoV-2, dynamics of the genomic sequence, and spike protein mutations are very important for the successful development of vaccines with good efficacy. Hence, the vaccine development for SARS-CoV-2 faces specific challenges starting from viral mutation. The requirement of long-term immunity development, safety, efficacy, stability, vaccine allocation, distribution, and finally, its cost is discussed in detail. Currently, 169 vaccines are in the clinical development stage, while 198 vaccines are in the preclinical development stage. The majority of these vaccines belong to the Ps-Protein subunit type which has 54, and the minor BacAg-SPV (Bacterial antigen-spore expression vector) type, at least 1 vaccination. The use of computational methods and models for vaccine development has revolutionized the traditional methods of vaccine development. Further, this updated review highlights the upcoming vaccine development strategies in response to the current pandemic and post-pandemic era, in the field of vaccine development.

Distribution and Transport of CO2 in Hyperbranched Poly(ethylenimine)-Loaded MCM-41: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Approach.

Fossil fuel use is accelerating climate change, driving the need for efficient CO2 capture technologies. Solid adsorption-based direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 has emerged as a promising mode for CO2 removal from the atmosphere due to its potential for scalability. Sorbents based on porous supports incorporating oligomeric amines in their pore spaces are widely studied. In this study, we investigate the intermolecular interactions and adsorption of CO2 and H2O molecules in hyperbranched poly(ethylenimine) (HB-PEI) functionalized MCM-41 systems to understand the distribution and transport of CO2 and H2O molecules. Density Functional Theory (DFT) is employed to compute the binding energies of CO2 and H2O molecules with HB-PEI and MCM-41 and to develop force field parameters for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The MD simulations are performed to examine the distribution and transport of CO2 and H2O molecules as a function of the HB-PEI content. The study finds that an HB-PEI content of approximately 34 wt % is thermodynamically favorable, with an upper limit of HB-PEI loading between 45 and 50 wt %. The distribution of CO2 and H2O molecules is primarily determined by their adsorptive binding energies, for which H2O molecules dominate the occupation of binding sites due to their strong affinity with silanol groups on MCM-41 and amine groups of HB-PEI. The HB-PEI content has a considerable impact on the diffusion of CO2 and H2O molecules. Furthermore, a larger number of water molecules (higher relative humidity) reduces the correlation of CO2 with the MCM-41 pore surface while enhancing the correlation of CO2 with the amine groups of the HB-PEI. Overall, the presence of H2O molecules increases the CO2 correlation with the amine groups and also the CO2 transport within HB-PEI-loaded MCM-41, meaning that the presence of H2O enhances the CO2 capture in the HB-PEI-loaded MCM-41. These findings are consistent with experimental observations of the impact of increasing humidity on CO2 capture while providing new, molecular-level explanations for the macroscopic experimental findings.

Distribution and Transport of CO2 in Hydrated Hyperbranched Poly(ethylenimine) Membranes: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Approach.

Hyperbranched poly(ethylenimine) (HB-PEI) has been distinguished as a promising candidate for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture. In this study, we investigate the distribution and transport of CO2 molecules in a HB-PEI membrane at various hydration levels using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. For this, model structures consisting of amorphous HB-PEI membranes with CO2 molecules are equilibrated at various hydration levels. Under dry conditions, the primary and secondary amines are highly associated with CO2, indicating that they would participate in CO2 capture via the carbamate formation mechanism. Under hydrated conditions, the pair correlations of CO2 with the primary and secondary amines are reduced. This result suggests that the carbamate formation mechanism is less prevalent compared to dry conditions, which is also supported by CO2 residence time analysis. However, in the presence of water molecules, it is found that the CO2 molecules can be associated with both amine groups and water molecules, which would enable the tertiary amine as well as the primary and secondary amines to capture CO2 molecules via the bicarbonate formation mechanism. Through our MD simulation results, the feasibilities of different CO2 capture pathways in HB-PEI membranes are demonstrated at the molecular level.