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Countries that do not have oil and natural gas but are forced to reduce pollution due to combustion have stimulated and developed new technologies for absorption, storage, and energy creation based on nanotechnology. These new technologies are up-and-coming because they will solve the problem without additional environmental burden. The first technology is based on phase change materials (PCMs) that store the thermal energy produced by the sun and release it when requested. In the context of this article, there is a discussion about some devices that arise from this technology. The second technology is based on light nano-traps that convert solar energy into heat, which is then stored by heating water or other methods. The third practice is to absorb solar energy from nanoparticles, producing electricity. These technologies’ principles will be discussed and analyzed to understand their perspectives.

The self-healing of cementitious materials can be achieved by precipitation of calcium carbonate through the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea. When a crack appears in cement, the damage can be repaired by allowing bacteria to encounter the water seeping through the crack. This forms a calcium carbonate, which heals the cracks. This occurs because microorganisms begin metabolizing and precipitating the mineral, healing the damage caused by the crack. Then, bacteria are incorporated into various containers, which release microorganisms by crushing, leading to the precipitation of calcium carbonate. In addition, this paper references the superabsorbent polymers (SAP) used for self-healing and hybrid organic-inorganic core–shell SAPs, a recently developed, state-of-the-art self-healing technology for cementitious materials.

If a person is diagnosed with cancer, doctors recommend surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy [...]

Recently, a subcategory of nanotechnology—nano-, and microcontainers—has developed rapidly, with unexpected results. By nano- and microcontainers, we mean hollow spherical structures whose shells can be organic or inorganic. These containers can be filled with substances released when given an excitation, and fulfill their missions of corrosion healing, cancer therapy, cement healing, antifouling, etc. This review summarizes the scattered innovative technology that has beneficial effects on improving people’s lives.

Improved corrosion barrier coatings (CBCs) to protect metals will allow future metal structures to operate for extended periods, ensuring improved safety by reducing environmental pollution and maintenance costs. Many production methods and design of corrosion barrier coatings (CBCs) have been developed. This review focuses only on CBCs made with chemistry techniques. These CBCs can be passive and active with remarkable performance. Today, most of the work focuses on the discovery and application of “smart nanomaterials,” which, if incorporated into “passive CBCs,” will turn them into “active CBCs,” giving them the phenomenon of “self-healing” that extends their service life. Today, many efforts are focused on developing sensors to diagnose corrosion at an early stage and CBCs that self-diagnose the environment and respond on demand. In addition, recent technological developments are reviewed, and a comprehensive strategy is proposed for the faster development of new CBC materials.

By March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had reached Greece, forcing the Greek government to enforce lockdown for two months. While governmental measures included banning citizens' mobility, except for a six-bullets catalogue, the church was excluded, remaining open for its believers. That resulted in an official clash, having on the one side, the state and the scientists, while on the other was the official church. After the decline in the number of COVID-19 cases during the summer period, the governmental decision of enforcing the use of masks indoors triggered the rise of anti-systemic and anti-governmental rhetoric. Having the above in mind, we aim to apply a grounded theory methodology, drawing our data from two derivations: the official announcements of the church and the Greek government during the examined period; and the scientific approach to the Church's and anti-mask supporters stand. Consequently, our main research question attempts to answer how the anti-systemic rhetoric of Greek society has been transformed during the pandemic crisis.

The current state of the art in active corrosion prevention is based on the use of macromolecular containers that can store and release corrosion inhibitors particularly to the surface when corrosion develops. These corrosion inhibitor-containing nano- or microcontainers are subsequently infused into coatings, allowing them to self-heal. Especially, nanocontainers for self-healing coatings with controlled corrosion inhibitors, energy storage, cement fracture repair, and antifouling metal protection have recently been developed. Incorporating these nanocontainers into materials in small amounts (e.g., 5–10 wt% in paints) provided anticorrosion protection that was incomparably better than the current approaches. Furthermore, the materials developed had multifunctional properties, including self-healing, antibacterial, and antimicrobial properties. The primary goal of this review was to compile the different research studies that have been published in a variety of publications so that the reader may better understand the potential of these new types of nanotechnology and the prospects for nanocontainers.

Lipoprotein glomerulopathy (LPG) is a dominant inherited kidney disorder characterized by lipoprotein thrombi in glomerular capillaries. Single-amino-acid mutations in apoE have been associated with the development of the disease, although the mechanism is unknown. In an effort to gain mechanistic insight linking the presence of such mutations and the development of LPG, we evaluated the effects of three of the most common apoE3 variants associated with this disease, namely R145P(Sendai), R147P(Chicago), and R158P(Osaka or Kurashiki), on the structural and conformational integrity of the protein. All three variants were found to have significantly reduced helical content, to expose a larger portion of hydrophobic surface to the solvent, and to be significantly thermodynamically destabilized, often lacking functionally relevant unfolding intermediates. Furthermore, all variants were aggregation prone and had enhanced sensitivity to protease digestion. Finally, although the variants were able to form discoidal lipoprotein particles, discrete subpopulations of poorly formed or aberrant particles were evident. Furthermore, these lipoprotein particles were thermodynamically destabilized and aggregation prone. Overall, our data suggest that these mutations induce a generalized unfolding of the N-terminal domain of apoE3 toward a molten-globule-like structure. ApoE3 N-terminal domain unfolding due to mutation may constitute a common mechanism underlying the protein's association with the pathogenesis of LPG.

Abstract  Ceria nanocontainers were synthesized through a two-step process and then loaded with 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ). The size of the containers was 110 nm as determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) showed that the ceria nanocontainers were of the cerianite crystalline phase. The presence of 8-HQ in the nanocontainers was confirmed with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The loading of the inhibitor in the nanocontainers was estimated with differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The loading amount of 8-HQ was 4.28% w/w. Based on the size of the nanocontainers and the assumption that they are not broken, we deduced that there were approximately 6.0 × 105 molecules of 8-HQ per container. Furthermore, release of 8-HQ in a corrosive environment was studied by potentiodynamic measurements, showing that the inhibitor is released from the nanocontainers, suppressing the corrosion activities by a strong barrier effect. SEM and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements confirmed that the nanocontainers are not significantly agglomerated and maintain their shape after suspension in 0.5 M NaCl solution for more than 72 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron spins of molecular magnets are promising candidates for large scale quantum information processing because they exhibit a large number of low-lying excited states. In this paper X-band pulse electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy is used to determine the intrinsic relaxation times T1 and T2 of a molecular magnet with an S = 1/2 ground state, namely the neutral trinuclear oxo-centered iron(iii) complex, [Fe3(µ3-O)(O2CPh)5(salox)(EtOH)(H2O)]. The temperature dependence of the spin–lattice relaxation time T1 between 4.5 and 11 K shows that the Orbach relaxation process is dominant with the first excited state lying 57 cm−1 above the ground state, whereas the phase memory time TM is of the order of 2.6 µs and exhibits a modest temperature dependence. These results together with previous magnetic measurements give further insight into the magnetic properties of the complex. The coherent manipulation of the electron spins is also examined by means of transient nutation experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]