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Background: According to 2012 data, the prevalence rate of OA in both rural and urban India was ranging from 33% to 46% of the older adult population where females were more affected than men. Participants with knee OA frequently need to perform strengthening exercises since they have weaker muscles due to decreased physical activity and pain tolerance. Purpose: The Purpose of the study is to find out the efficacy of Muscle energy technique and strengthening exercise in pain management to improve ROM in knee osteoarthritis. Materials and methods: This study included a sample of 196 between the age group of 45- 60 years were taken from Shri Shakthi's centre for pain relief and rehabilitation according to selection criteria for this experimental study which was divided into two groups, strengthening exercise group (n=98) and muscle energy technique group (n=98) . Interventions were given as 5 sessions a week and continued for 2 weeks. Study period: March 2023 to July 2023. Result: The Pre-test and post-test values were analysed, pain score was decreased and functional outcome was improved significantly in strengthening exercise groups when compared to muscle energy technique. Conclusion: The study shows that strengthening exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee in older adults is more effective than muscle energy technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inthis work, we present an interesting method for the adsorption ofHg(II) involving its interaction with cellulose and mercaptobenzothiazole(MBT). This affinity could be realized with cellulose and MBT actingas host and guest in the first instance followed by the subsequentcomplexation of Hg(II) with MBT. The soft–soft interactionbetween Hg(II) and sulfur enhances the effective complexation withMBT. The favorable experimental conditions, isotherm models, mechanismof interaction, and thermodynamics are discussed. The negative valuesof free energy obtained at various temperatures and the endothermicadsorption process affirms the spontaneity of adsorption. FT-IR, SEM,EDS, and XRD techniques were utilized to characterize the MBT impregnatedcellulose as well as the Hg(II)-loaded adsorbent. With a high adsorptioncapacity of 204.08 mg g–1a sample volume of 500mL could be quantitatively treated by column method. Potassium thiocyanatefunctions as a valuable reagent for the desorption of Hg(II). Thepractical application was tested for the adsorption of mercury vaporemanating from a used Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clay materials have hogged the limelight for their effectivenessin environmental remediation. In this paper, we report an effectivesolid phase extraction method for mercury based on the adsorptionof tetrachloromercurate(II) anion with trioctylamine intercalatedonto sodium montmorillonite. The adsorption is facile in acidic medium,and the adsorbent was well characterized by diverse physicochemicaland spectroscopic techniques. Various isotherm models were employedto correlate the experimental adsorption data. The electrostatic interactionbetween HgCl42-and the protonated amineis well supported by a Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorptioncapacity of 140.84 mg g–1. The ordered transitionstate that arises due to the proximity of the HgCl42-and the positively charged amine is accompanied bya decrease in the translational entropy of the system. The N2adsorption–desorption isotherm study revealed the mesoporousnature of the adsorbent, and the thermodynamically favorable adsorptionprocess resonates well with the ensuing negative free energy and enthalpychanges in accordance with the sorption mechanism. Packed bed columnstudy demonstrated the scale up to 800 mL sample volume at 10 mg L–1Hg(II) concentration, and the adsorbent could beregenerated and reused for 10 cycles with thiourea as the eluent.The removal of mercury from a coal fly ash sample validated the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the contemporary context, executing light-oxidant- and reductant-driven reactions in solution-phase processes remains challenging mainly due to the lack of general tools for understanding the reactive potential of nano-functional catalysts. In this study, dual-active nanometals (Au and Cu doped with Au) capped within soy lecithin (SL), were developed and characterized, combining flexibility with the catalytic advantages and stability of liquid-phase catalysts. The as-synthesized SL-Au (LG) and SL-Au-Cu (LGC) catalysts were efficiently degraded rhodamine B (RB, 100%) in the presence of H 2 O 2 under light irradiation (350 W lamp) at wide pH range (3-7) within 4.5 h and p-nitrophenol (p-NP, >90% degradation at pH 7) in the presence of NaBH 4 under normal stirring with slower kinetics (∼72 h). RB degradation followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model with a higher r 2 , and p-NP degradation followed first-order kinetics. The active sites embedded within the structural order of SL arrangement displayed elevated catalytic activity, which was further enhanced by the movement of intermediate/excited states and charged elements within the metal suspended in the phospholipid (LG and LGC). The self-regulating tunability of the physicochemical characteristics of these catalysts provides a convenient and generalizable platform for the transformation of modern dual-active (redox) catalysts into dynamic homogeneous equivalents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Herein, titanium (IV) oxide (TiO 2 ) loaded into montmorillonite (MK10) and sand is presented as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the degradation of 1,4-dichlorobenzene (DCB) as a model organic pollutant in the aqueous phase. The catalyst was synthesized by incorporating titanium isopropoxide as a precursor into MK10 through a simple solvent impregnation method, followed by direct calcination. The same protocol was applied to a clean quartz matrix. The resulting catalysts were characterized in detail using a variety of techniques. The TiO 2 deposited MK10 and sand exhibited photochemical removal of DCB (>99% of 100 mg L -1 ) from the aqueous phase; this process followed a pseudo second-order kinetic model values in the range of Q e :111-113 mg g -1 and K 2 : 4-5 × 10 -4  g mg -1  min -1 . The kinetic plots indicate that after 30 min, the intermediates start to decrease and complete degradation occurs in 180 min. The modified materials showed fast DCB degradation kinetics under photochemical reaction conditions and adsorption under dark reaction conditions. The unmodified matrix adsorbed 99.12-99.88% of the DCB under both dark and light reaction conditions. These photocatalysts are stable, reusable, and least amount of titanium leaching. The simple two step synthesis, and high photocatalytic performance (with 10 mg of the catalyst without any oxidants) of our catalysts can be promising in environmental applications to treat similar organic pollutants in wastewater. These catalysts have enhanced activity and durability for environmental catalytic pollutant degradation reactions and can provide insights beyond single metal oxide catalysts for heterogeneous catalysis at diverse operating conditions., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We present the synthesis of new composite materials based on copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) deposited onto montmorillonite (MK10) and quartz sand, for degradation of atrazine, in the context of an advanced oxidation process (AOP). The synthesis involves a first step in which polyethylenimine (PEI) capped Cu NPs (PEI_Cu NPs) are prepared, and then deposited onto, separately, MK10 and sand, through a solvent impregnation method. The resulting products are characterized in detail; the copper is found to exist as a mixture of copper (I, II) oxide. The degradation of atrazine follows a second-order kinetic model with constant values of K 2  = 1.7957 g mg -1 min -1 for MK10_PEI_Cu NPs and K 2  = 0.8133 g mg -1 min -1 for sand_PEI_Cu NPs. The reaction rate is linked to Cu 2 O and CuO redox-active species within the layers, pores and surface of the host materials. A degradation mechanism is found with application of these composite materials in the presence of H 2 O 2 ; adsorption occurs in the absence of H 2 O 2 . In contrast, the unmodified MK10 and sand exhibit adsorption in both of the above reaction conditions. Finally, the stability of the Cu NPs following degradation is evaluated, and no significant amount of copper leaching is found.