Effect of Water and Salt on the Colloidal Stability of Latex Particles in Ionic Liquid Solutions

The colloidal stability of sulfate (SL) and polyimidazolium-modified sulfate (SL-IP-2) latex particles was studied in an ionic liquid (IL) of ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) and its water mixtures. Aggregation rates were found to vary systematically as a function of the IL-to-water ratio. Repulsive electrostatic interactions between particles dominated at low IL concentrations, while they were significantly screened at intermediate IL concentrations, leading to destabilization of the dispersions. When the IL concentration was further increased, the aggregation of latex particles slowed down due to the increased viscosity and finally, a striking stabilization was observed in the IL-rich regime close to the pure IL solvent. The latter stabilization is due to the formation of IL layers at the interface between particles and IL, which induce repulsive oscillatory forces. The presence of the added salt in the system affected differently the structure of the interfaces around SL and SL-IP-2 particles. The sign of the charge and the composition of the particle surfaces were found to be the most important parameters affecting the colloidal stability. The nature of the counterions also plays an important role in the interfacial properties due to their influence on the structure of the IL surface layers. No evidence was observed for the presence of long-range electrostatic interactions between the particles in pure ILs. The results indicate that the presence of even low concentrations of water and salt in the system (as undesirable impurities) can strongly alter the interfacial structure and thus, the aggregation mechanism in particle IL dispersions.

Use of Thyroid Hormones in Hypothyroid and Euthyroid Patients: A 2020 THESIS Questionnaire Survey of Members of the Swedish Endocrine Society

BackgroundThe standard treatment of hypothyroidism is levothyroxine (LT-4). However, there are several controversies regarding treatment of hypothyroid patients.AimTo investigate the Swedish endocrinologists’ use of thyroid hormones in hypothyroid and euthyroid individuals.MethodsPhysician members of the Swedish Endocrine Society (SEF) were invited by e-mail to participate in an online survey investigating this topic.ResultsOut of the eligible 411 members, 116 (28.2%) responded. The majority (98.9%) stated that L-T4 is the treatment of choice. However, around 50% also prescribed liothyronine (L-T3) or a combination of L-T4+L-T3 in their practice. Combination therapy was mostly (78.5%) used in patients with persistent hypothyroid symptoms despite biochemical euthyroidism on L-T4 treatment. Most respondents prescribed L-T4 tablets and did not expect any major changes with alternative formulations such as soft-gel capsules or liquid formulations in situations influencing the bioavailability of L-T4. In euthyroid patients, 49.5% replied that treatment with thyroid hormones was never indicated, while 47.3% would consider L-T4 for euthyroid infertile women with high thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibody levels.ConclusionThe treatment of choice for hypothyroidism in Sweden is L-T4 tablets. Combination therapy with L-T4+L-T3 tablets was considered for patients with persistent symptoms despite biochemical euthyroidism. Soft-gel capsules and liquid solutions of L-T4 were infrequently prescribed. Swedish endocrinologists’ deviation from endocrine society guidelines merits further study.

An automated framework for high-throughput predictions of NMR chemical shifts within liquid solutions

Identifying stable speciation in multicomponent liquid solutions is of fundamental importance to areas ranging from electrochemistry to organic chemistry and biomolecular systems. However, elucidating this complex solvation environment is a daunting task even when using advanced experimental and computational techniques. Here, we introduce a fully automated, high-throughput computational framework for the accurate and robust prediction of stable species present in liquid solutions by computing the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts of molecules. The framework automatically extracts and categorizes hundreds of thousands of atomic clusters from classical molecular dynamics (CMD) simulations to identify the most stable speciation in the solution and calculate their NMR chemical shifts via DFT calculations. Additionally, the framework creates an output database of computed chemical shifts for liquid solutions across a wide chemical and parameter space. This task can be infeasible experimentally and challenging using conventional computational methods. To demonstrate the capabilities of our framework, we compare our computational results to experimental measurements for a complex test case of magnesium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide Mg(TFSI)2 salt in dimethoxyethane (DME) solvent, which is a common electrolyte system for Mg-based batteries. Our extensive benchmarking and analysis of the Mg2+ solvation structural evolutions reveal critical factors such as the effect of force field parameters that influence the accuracy of NMR chemical shift predictions in liquid solutions. Furthermore, we show how the framework reduces the efforts of performing and managing over 300 13C and 600 1H DFT chemical shift predictions to a single submission procedure. By enabling more efficient and accurate high-throughput computations of NMR chemical shifts, our approach can accelerate theory-guided design of liquid solutions for various applications.

Silver Nanoparticles - Preparation Methods and Anti-Bacterial/Viral Remedy Impacts against COVID 19

Silver has been an influential segment of pharmaceutical utilization for remedies & hygiene in the latest era. The first topic reviews the study on air sanitization ventilation & air sanitizer systems using laser ablated silver nanoparticles (inspired by 2020 Pandemic) directing to contamination of deadly biological particles. Intention of this investigation is to validate possible antiviral silver nanoparticles construction to be distributed by retention, to abate the aggravation of breathing organs flu. The underlying description of investigation consists of bibliometric reasoning of the review of the outcome of silver nanoparticles on the sterilization of viral ailments. The investigation will deliberate the approach of use of laser ablated silver nanoparticles for anti-actions. The chapter outcomes in the fascinating utilization of silver nanoparticles for pharmaceutical purposes for contagious diseases, viruses or bacteria and devotes to the upgradation of therapeutic education to safeguard health care workers from threatening viruses at therapeutic organizations. Morally, the investigation will obtain a hygienic scheme, which might be installed at every communal or individual places cost-effectively including silver nanoparticles (because of their therapeutic properties). The second section of investigation considers distinct techniques for manufacturing silver nanoparticles. The various schemes have been compared based on their pros & cons. The method of laser ablation for generating nanoparticles underwater is briefed. The intention of this part is to disclose the current & anticipation probabilities of the process - laser ablation, as a profitable and eco-favorable innovation for manufacturing silver nanoparticle in liquid solutions. The chapter is motivated by two of our reviewed papers i.e., “Antibacterial and anti-viral effects of silver nanoparticles in medicine against covid 19” and “Methods for obtaining silver nanoparticles”.

Metal Doping Silicates as Inorganic Ion Exchange Materials for Environmental Remediation

Titano-silicate (TiSi) and in-situ dopped composites were obtained by precipitation technique. The composition of these materials was established by IR, XRD, TGA&DTA, and XRF. The capacity for Co(II), & Cd(II) ions revealed that Co-TiSi & Cd-TiSi is a higher capacity than those obtained for TiSi by 1.81, & 1.41 values, respectively. To explore the separation potentiality of Co-TiSi for studied cations distribution coefficients in HNO3 were estimated. Langmuir isotherm model is the most representative for discussing the sorption process with a maximum sorption capacity of 16.02, and 10.96 mg/g for Co(II), & Cd(II) ions, respectively. Co-TiSi is suitable for the column technique for the recovery of studied cations. The investigation proved that Co-TiSi composite is suitable for the uptake of the studied ions from liquid solutions and could be considered as potential material for the refining of effluent polluted with these ions.