Topic Review
Triterpenes as Bioactive Natural Products
Natural products (NP) are one of the main sources of diverse pharmacologically active compounds. NPs and NP-scaffolds comprise a large portion of current-day pharmaceutical agents (over 70% of FDA-approved drugs). 
  • 623
  • 11 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Mineral Characterization Using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a powerful tool in the domains of materials science, mining, and geology owing to its enormous potential to provide unique insight into micro and nanoscale worlds. The rapid pace of technological development requires a detailed study of minerals to a further extent to meet the unprecedented material demands of the evolving world. There are more than 5956 species of minerals known today, and the number of new identifications is evolving, with as many as 50 new types identified each year. Quantitative measurements and qualitative analyses of mineral compositions within mining ores and reservoirs have valuable importance with practical applications. Comprehensive and accurate information can be gathered for the identification of rocks and minerals, including structural characteristics and mineral composition, which can provide worthy information about pore structure and reservoir heterogeneity.
  • 622
  • 29 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Thermo-chemotherapy; Magnetic Hyperthermia and 5-fluorouracil
Limitations of current cancer therapies require more effective therapeutic strategies. Single-modality therapies such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy are not efficient enough to overcome complicated forms of cancer. Conversely, multimodal approaches like combinatorial hyperthermia and chemotherapy have shown promising therapeutic results. Multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) enable the application of local magnetic hyperthermia and the delivery of chemotherapeutics into tumors. This study demonstrates the potential of using MNPs for the application of a combination of magnetic hyperthermia and 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy to treat colorectal cancer in tumor-bearing mouse models.
  • 622
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Marine Verongiid Demosponge Lanthella Basta
Marine sponges were among the first multicellular organisms on our planet and have survived to this day thanks to their unique mechanisms of chemical defense and the specific design of their skeletons, which have been optimized over millions of years of evolution to effectively inhabit the aquatic environment. Ianthella basta (Pallas, 1766) is one of the largest, fan-shaped marine demosponges that can reach up to 2.5 m both in height; and the body of which is a micro-reticular, durable structure that determines the ideal filtration function of this organism. Calcite biomineral is responsible for nano-tuning the chitinous skeletal fibers of this sponge species.
  • 622
  • 07 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Heterogeneous Catalysis for Biomass Valorization and Fine-Chemicals Production
Heterogeneous catalysts are progressively expanding their field of application, from high-throughput reactions for traditional industrial chemistry with production volumes reaching millions of tons per year, a sector in which they are key players, to more niche applications for the production of fine chemicals. These novel applications require a progressive utilization reduction of fossil feedstocks, in favor of renewable ones. Biomasses are the most accessible source of organic precursors, having as advantage their low cost and even distribution across the globe. Unfortunately, they are intrinsically inhomogeneous in nature and their efficient exploitation requires novel catalysts.
  • 622
  • 17 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Self-Healing Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications
Self-healing is the remarkable ability of living organisms to repair their own damage by themselves. Inspired from nature, the great challenge for researchers is to create and develop polymers and composites with high potential for self-healing, offering alternatives to the current options and moving toward materials with extended service lifetime for various applications. Most of recent publications in this area concern innovative (bio)materials with excellent healing performance, such as ionomers, semiconductors, self-assembling systems, hydrogels, micro- and nanoparticles, coatings, films and membranes, capsules, vascular networks, shape memory or stimuli-induced self-healing materials, etc. They are able to spontaneously repair themselves after damage or degradation, recovering structural integrity and functionality by increasing the rate of healing versus the rate of damage. A recent published approach  (Polymers 2022, 14, 130) is a synergetic combination of the polymer characteristics with those of proteins/peptides in order to prepare stable networks with high elasticity and self-healing ability, suitable for biomedical applications.
  • 622
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Polyunsaturated Fat
Polyunsaturated fats are fats in which the constituent hydrocarbon chain possesses two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Polyunsaturated fat can be found mostly in nuts, seeds, fish, seed oils, and oysters. "Unsaturated" refers to the fact that the molecules contain less than the maximum amount of hydrogen (if there were no double bonds). These materials exist as cis or trans isomers depending on the geometry of the double bond. Saturated fats have hydrocarbon chains which can be most readily aligned. The hydrocarbon chains in trans fats align more readily than those in cis fats, but less well than those in saturated fats. In general, this means that the melting points of fats increase from cis to trans unsaturated and then to saturated. See the section about the chemical structure of fats for more information. The position of the carbon-carbon double bonds in carboxylic acid chains in fats is designated by Greek letters. The carbon atom closest to the carboxyl group is the alpha carbon, the next carbon is the beta carbon and so on. In fatty acids the carbon atom of the methyl group at the end of the hydrocarbon chain is called the omega carbon because omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega-3 fatty acids have a double bond three carbons away from the methyl carbon, whereas omega-6 fatty acids have a double bond six carbons away from the methyl carbon. The illustration below shows the omega-6 fatty acid, linoleic acid. While it is the nutritional aspects of polyunsaturated fats that are generally of greatest interest, these materials also have non-food applications. Drying oils, which polymerize on exposure to oxygen to form solid films, are polyunsaturated fats. The most common ones are linseed (flax seed) oil, tung oil, poppy seed oil, perilla oil, and walnut oil. These oils are used to make paints and varnishes.
  • 622
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Magnetic Oxide Nanoparticle
Magnetic oxide nanoparticles are novel building blocks and vehicle for wastewater detoxification; their stable nature makes them preferable to their metallic counterparts. The inherent properties of magnetic oxide nanoparticles such as facile preparation, ease of recovery and functionalization, reusability, promotes their biocompatibility and adaptation in wastewater treatment. 
  • 621
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Carbonic Anhydrase in Cerebral Ischemia
Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. The only pharmacological treatment available to date for cerebral ischemia is tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and the search for successful therapeutic strategies still remains a major challenge. The loss of cerebral blood flow leads to reduced oxygen supply and a subsequent switch to the glycolytic pathway, which leads to tissue acidification. Carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) is the enzyme responsible for converting carbon dioxide into a protons and bicarbonate, thus contributing to pH regulation and metabolism, with many CA isoforms present in the brain. Recently, numerous studies have shed light on several classes of carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (CAI) as possible new pharmacological agents for the management of brain ischemia. 
  • 621
  • 21 May 2021
Topic Review
Pharmaceuticals Removal from Water
Pharmaceuticals (PhCs) hold a special place since their presence even at low concentrations can cause irreversible damage to the ecosystem and human health. PhCs can be divided into various categories concerning their characteristics such as anti-inflammatory (e.g., diclofenac), antiepileptic (e.g., carbamazepine), stimulant (e.g., caffeine), β-blockers (e.g., propranolol), antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole), psychiatric (e.g., venlafaxine), antimicrobials (e.g., triclosan), etc.
  • 621
  • 10 Sep 2021
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