Recent progress in gelatin hydrogel nanocomposites for water purification and beyond

Innovative characteristics of hydrogels such as swellability, modifiability and hydrophilicity make them materials of choice for water treatment and other applications. Hydrogels have shown excellent adsorptive performance for different types of water pollutants comprising toxic dyes, nutrients and heavy metals. Among different types of hydrogel based materials, hydrogel-nanomaterials combination represent a highly viable method to further improve the properties of hydrogel for numerous applications. The combination of hydrogel and nanomaterials leads to the development of hybrid hydrogel with multifunctional network. This novel combination gives synergistic effect to the newly formed novel hydrogel materials. In this article, we briefly review the recent progress in gelatin based hydrogel nanocomposites with particular emphasis on wastewater treatment along with biomedical applications

Recent progress in gelatin hydrogel nanocomposites for water purification and beyond

Innovative characteristics of hydrogels such as swellability, modifiability and hydrophilicity make them materials of choice for water treatment and other applications. Hydrogels have shown excellent adsorptive performance for different types of water pollutants comprising toxic dyes, nutrients and heavy metals. Among different types of hydrogel based materials, hydrogel-nanomaterials combination represent a highly viable method to further improve the properties of hydrogel for numerous applications. The combination of hydrogel and nanomaterials leads to the development of hybrid hydrogel with multifunctional network. This novel combination gives synergistic effect to the newly formed novel hydrogel materials. In this article, we briefly review the recent progress in gelatin based hydrogel nanocomposites with particular emphasis on wastewater treatment along with biomedical applications

Progress in lignin hydrogels and nanocomposites for water purification: Future perspectives

Lignin is one of the most abundant natural polymers after cellulose and has attracted great attention in academia as well as in industry for miscellaneous applications. Lignin also exhibits very high potential as a renewable sustainable resource for a galaxy of high value biochemicals. Due to the typical structure of lignin, it can be converted into different types of useful products. From a ligno-cellulose bio-refinery prospective point of view, it can be regarded as an economic bio product and can also be used as filler in several polymers to form blends or composites. Recently lignin-based hydrogels have shown excellent performance for removal of various pollutants from water. The adsorption properties of lignin based hydrogels can further be improved by using a combination of nanomaterials and lignin that results in promising hydrogel nanocomposites. In nature, the most abundant structures are formed by the combination of lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses. In this article, we have attempted to comprehensively review the research work carried out in the direction of usage of lignin-based hydrogel for removal of toxic pollutants including metal ions and dyes

Expression of NES-hTERT in Cancer Cells Delays Cell Cycle Progression and Increases Sensitivity to Genotoxic Stress

Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase associated with cellular immortality through telomere maintenance. This enzyme is activated in 90% of human cancers, and inhibitors of telomerase are currently in clinical trials to counteract tumor growth. Many aspects of telomerase biology have been investigated for therapy, particularly inhibition of the enzyme, but little was done regarding its subcellular shuttling. We have recently shown that mutations in the nuclear export signal of hTERT, the catalytic component of telomerase, led to a mutant (NES-hTERT) that failed to immortalize cells despite nuclear localization and catalytic activity. Expression of NES-hTERT in primary fibroblast resulted in telomere-based premature senescence and mitochondrial dysfunction. Here we show that expression of NES-hTERT in LNCaP, SQ20B and HeLa cells rapidly and significantly decreases their proliferation rate and ability to form colonies in soft agar while not interfering with endogenous telomerase activity. The cancer cells showed increased DNA damage at telomeric and extra-telomeric sites, and became sensitive to ionizing radiation and hydrogen peroxide exposures. Our data show that expression of NES-hTERT efficiently counteracts cancer cell growth in vitro in at least two different ways, and suggest manipulation with the NES of hTERT or its subcellular shuttling as a new strategy for cancer treatment

Perceived Stress and Impact on Role Functioning in University Students with Migraine-Like Headaches during COVID-19

Migraines, a chronic disease, can be debilitating in university students, affecting their academic performance, attendance, and social interactions. The purpose of this study was to identify the impact of COVID-19 on the role functioning and perceived stress levels of students suffering from migraine-like headaches. Methods: Two identical cross-sectional surveys were sent to students in Fall 2019 and Spring 2021 at a mid-sized university in the U.S. The students were queried on the headache impact scale (HIT-6) and perceived stress scale (PSS-10). Associations between the migraine-like headaches, severity of the headaches, stress levels, and headache impacts on the individuals’ role functioning were analyzed. Results: The average age of the respondents (n = 721) was 20.81 ± 4.32 years in 2019 and (n = 520) 20.95 ± 3.19 years in 2021. A difference (p = 0.044) was found in the HIT-6 score <49 category. The other categories of the HIT-6 and the PSS-10 were not significant. Conclusions: During COVID-19, more students answered that their migraine-like headaches had lower impacts on their role functioning, thus suggesting that the students were having less severe migraines. A trend was seen for student’s stress levels, indicating a decrease from 2019 to 2021. Furthermore, our results showed that the impact of headaches and stress levels slightly declined throughout the pandemic