Nanocatalysts Containing Direct Electron Transfer-Capable Oxidoreductases: Recent Advances and Applications

Direct electron transfer (DET)-capable oxidoreductases are enzymes that have the ability to transfer/receive electrons directly to/from solid surfaces or nanomaterials, bypassing the need for an additional electron mediator. More than 100 enzymes are known to be capable of working in DET conditions; however, to this day, DET-capable enzymes have been mainly used in designing biofuel cells and biosensors. The rapid advance in (semi) conductive nanomaterial development provided new possibilities to create enzyme-nanoparticle catalysts utilizing properties of DET-capable enzymes and demonstrating catalytic processes never observed before. Briefly, such nanocatalysts combine several cathodic and anodic catalysis performing oxidoreductases into a single nanoparticle surface. Hereby, to the best of our knowledge, we present the first review concerning such nanocatalytic systems involving DET-capable oxidoreductases. We outlook the contemporary applications of DET-capable enzymes, present a principle of operation of nanocatalysts based on DET-capable oxidoreductases, provide a review of state-of-the-art (nano) catalytic systems that have been demonstrated using DET-capable oxidoreductases, and highlight common strategies and challenges that are usually associated with those type catalytic systems. Finally, we end this paper with the concluding discussion, where we present future perspectives and possible research directions.This article belongs to the Special Issue State of the Art and Future Trends in Nanostructured Biocatalysi

The problem of state institutions to apply recourse order in claiming for the compensation for the damage, caused by illegal actions of civil servants, that had been already covered

Jau nuo seno žinoma tiesa, kad kiekvienas žmogus turi atsakyti už savo veiksmus. Šis teisinis principas yra įtvirtintas ir Lietuvos Respublikos teisės aktuose. Tačiau Lietuvos Respublikos teisės aktai numato, kad valstybės tarnautojo žalos padarymo atveju civilinės atsakomybės subjektas yra ne konkretus tarnautojas, o valstybė, todėl valstybė turi atlyginti padarytą žalą, nepaisydama konkretaus valstybės tarnautojo ar pareigūno veiksmų ar neveikimo. Nors įstatymų leidėjas ir yra numatęs išimtis, kad jų neteisėtais veiksmais padarytą žalą atlygina valstybė, nepaisydama jų kaltės, tačiau Lietuvos teisės aktai numato, kad valstybė, atlyginusi žalą, padarytą valstybės tarnautojų veiksmais, įgyja reikalavimo perėjimą trečiajam (valstybės tarnautojui ar pareigūnui) asmeniui regreso tvarka. Problema yra ta, kad valstybės ir savivaldybių institucijų vadovai nesinaudoja šia, jiems priskirta, teise. Kadangi nėra įtvirtintos tinkamos imperatyvios teisės normos, kuri užtikrintų efektyvų regreso instituto teisinį sureguliavimą Lietuvos Respublikos įstatymų naujausios pataisos, reglamentuojančios valstybės tarnautojų atsakomybę, siekė įgyvendinti didesnį tarnautojų atsakomybės sugriežtinimą. Šios pataisos turi esminių spragų, kurios leidžia valstybės tarnautojams likti nenubaustiems. Kai valstybės atlygina valstybės tarnautojų veiksmais turtinę ar neturtinę žalą ir valstybė taikydama regreso teisę reikalauja atlyginti visą žala, valstybė ar atitinkama institucija turi pareigą įrodyti valstybės tarnautojo tyčinius veiksmus, nes įstatymų leidėjas yra numatęs įstatymo išimtį – valstybės tarnautojo ir pareigūno kaltė nėra preziumuojama. Remiantis Lietuvos teismų praktika ir darbo autoriui pateiktos teisingumo ministerijos ataskaita, konstatuotina, kad valstybės tarnautojų tyčinius veiksmus įrodyti beveik neįmanoma, nes tarnautojai, prisidengdami pačios valstybės jiems suteikta teise veikti savo nuožiūra, argumentuoja, kad jie tam tikroje situacijoje veikė savo giliu įsitikinimu ir įstatymų ribose, o žala atsirado ne dėl jų tyčinių veiksmų, bet dėl neatsargumo. Tokiu būdu diskrecijos teisė tampa valstybės tarnautojų alibi. Šiame darbe iškelta hipotezė, kad Lietuvos Respublikos teisinis reglamentavimas, kai valstybės ar savivaldybių institucijos ar įstaigos turi teisę regreso (atgręžtinio reikalavimo) tvarka išieškoti visą žalą iš prasižengusių valstybės tarnautojų ar pareigūnų tik tada, jeigu teismas įrodys, kad tas tarnautojas ar pareigūnas tą žalą padarė tyčia, nėra veiksmingas, yra patvirtinta.The civil service is one of the main parts of the government apparatus with the purpose to protect human rights and freedoms and guarantee the public interest. These fundamental objectives of public service are realized through the implementation of public servants, who are representatives of governmental institutions and therefore perform an important role in many people's lives. Their importance stems from the special role of public servants being intermediaries between citizens and public policy position, and their functions performed by the implementation of formulated policies. The public servant not only comply public functions appointed by the state, more then that the servant him/herself is the subject of fundamental rights and freedoms. The state delegates special rights to public officers to act on their own because the civil servants are supposed to a perform not a merely executive functions, but the functions of management, mainly through regulation, that is achieved by transferring certain legislation and even judicial powers to public servants. Naturally the role of the public servant needs high degree of confidence – he/she is supposed to be honest and understand his public mission and responsibilities for the good of society; Public servant must keep priority to public interest, not to violate people's personal and property rights and interests. Unfortunately, it often happens that officials misuse their special right of discretions, going astray from the goals of their entrusted mission – in these cases the right of discretion itself can become dangerous and detrimental to the privilege. In this final work all the attention is centered on the most difficult and acute situation of cases, when no violation of procedure is being observed, also the considered questions correspond to the area of competence of the institution, - nevertheless administration can abuse its powers. In other words, although it would seem that public servant was acting according to one’s jurisdiction, however he/she issues inappropriate, unwarranted and unfair decision. Of course, it can happen that inappropriate decision has been caused by inadequate competence of public servant or inability to asses the situation properly. However it often happens that public servants maliciously transgress the limits of their discretion – through inappropriate action, lack of action or selfish motives, thereby making the material and moral damage not only the public authority, but a specific individual or group of persons. The law of Lithuania Republic provides that the cases of damage caused by public servants are considered to have the state as subject of liability, not a particular servant. In addition, the damage caused by the actions of public servant is the subject of civil, not of administrative liability. The settlement of public servant's legal action is prudent, because the claims of natural or legal person are provided with better protection by the ability of the state to guarantee eventual compensation. State, local government and their institutions on their turn have the right to recover compensation from the perpetrators of public servant’s unlawful decisions, in order not to be the detriment of all citizens, as taxpayers – but the considered official having performed illegal decision. Lithuania legislature provides also material liability of civil servants, one of the means to ensure the collateral liability is the right of regress to a public servant or official. But the problem is in the fact that the Lithuanian law does not set out mandatory standards to properly regulate and provide for redress of a particular offender state staff, applying the right of recovery Institute. State and municipal authorities in control of the supervising bodies and the courts of Republic of Lithuania, can not effectively implement the actions of public servants damage recovery, because Lithuania laws and recent amendments governing responsibilities of civil servants have major gaps, which allows civil servants to remain non-penalized. Therefore, state and local budgets for institutions suffer heavy losses, are not covered. Therefore, the society has a legitimate question – why the citizens of Lithuania, who are true owners of financial and other property of the state must cover the unlawful actions of public servants caused the damage? Since the citizens are true owners of financial resources and other property of the state, they are entitled to know how the assets are managed.Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Nanocatalysts containing direct electron transfer-capable oxidoreductases: recent advances and applications

Direct electron transfer (DET)-capable oxidoreductases are enzymes that have the ability to transfer/receive electrons directly to/from solid surfaces or nanomaterials, bypassing the need for an additional electron mediator. More than 100 enzymes are known to be capable of working in DET conditions; however, to this day, DET-capable enzymes have been mainly used in designing biofuel cells and biosensors. The rapid advance in (semi) conductive nanomaterial development provided new possibilities to create enzyme-nanoparticle catalysts utilizing properties of DET-capable enzymes and demonstrating catalytic processes never observed before. Briefly, such nanocatalysts combine several cathodic and anodic catalysis performing oxidoreductases into a single nanoparticle surface. Hereby, to the best of our knowledge, we present the first review concerning such nanocatalytic systems involving DET-capable oxidoreductases. We outlook the contemporary applications of DET-capable enzymes, present a principle of operation of nanocatalysts based on DET-capable oxidoreductases, provide a review of state-of-the-art (nano) catalytic systems that have been demonstrated using DET-capable oxidoreductases, and highlight common strategies and challenges that are usually associated with those type catalytic systems. Finally, we end this paper with the concluding discussion, where we present future perspectives and possible research directions

Laser-Assisted Selective Fabrication of Copper Traces on Polymers by Electroplating

The selective deposition of metals on dielectric materials is widely used in the electronic industry, making electro-conductive connections between circuit elements. We report a new low-cost laser-assisted method for the selective deposition of copper tracks on polymer surfaces by electroplating. The technique uses a laser for the selective modification of the polymer surface. The electrical conductivity of some polymers could be increased due to laser irradiation. Polyimide samples were treated using nanosecond and picosecond lasers working at a 1064 nm wavelength. An electro-conductive graphene-like layer was formed on the polymer surface after the laser treatment with selected parameters, and the copper layer thickness of 5–20 µm was deposited on the modified surface by electroplating. The selective laser-assisted electroplating technology allows the fabrication of copper tracks on complex shape dielectric materials. The technology could be used in the manufacturing of molded interconnect devices (MID)