Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) bioanalysis has become increasingly important in various fields from bioanalysis to clinical diagnosis due to its outstanding merits, including low background signal, high sensitivity, and simple instrumentation. Quantum dots (QDs) are a significant theme in ECL bioanalysis since their excellent optical, electrochemical properties, and ease of functionalization endow them with versatile roles and new mechanisms of signal transduction in ECL. Herein, this review details recent advances of QDs-based ECL bioanalysis by using QDs as ECL emitters, coreactants, or ECL resonance energy transfer donors/acceptors, mainly focused on their optical and electrochemical properties and ECL reaction mechanism. In the end, we will discuss the current limitations and future developments in QDs ECL bioanalysis to address the requirement about selectivity, sensitivity, toxicity, and emerging applications.

We review processes by which different sounds, such as meditation music, mantra, kindness, or hatred expressions, and noises induce responses from cells and their components. We define \'good\' or \'bad\' sounds as those enhancing or inhibiting the cell\'s biological activity, respectively. It is highlighted that the cellular dynamics results in a coherent organization with the formation of ordered patterns due to long-range correlations among the system constituents. Due to coherence, in the framework of quantum field theory, extended domains become independent of quantum fluctuations. Non-dissipative energy transfer on macromolecule chains is briefly discussed. Observed fractal features are analyzed by the fast Fourier transform and a linear relationship between logarithms of conjugate variables is observed. The fractal relation to the generation of forms (morphogenesis) and to the transition from form to form (metamorphosis) is commented. The review is also motivated by the suggestions coming from the cells\' responses, which show their ability to move from the syntactic level of the sound component frequencies to the semantic level of their collective envelope. The process by which sounds are selected to be good or bad sounds sheds some light on the problem of the construction of languages.

The recognition and sensing of various analytes in aqueous and biological systems by using fluorometric or colorimetric chemosensors possessing high selectivity and sensitivity, low cost has gained enormous attention. Furthermore, thiophene derivatives possess exceptional photophysical properties compared to other heterocycles, and therefore they can be employed in chemosensors for analyte detection. In this review, we have tried to explore the design and detection mechanism of various thiophene-based probes, practical applicability, and their advanced models (design guides), which could be thoughtful for the synthesis of new thiophene-based probes. This review provides an insight into the reported chemosensors (2008-2020) for thiophene scaffold as effective emission and absorption-based chemosensors.

BACKGROUND: Shock-attenuating pylons are commonly fitted to prostheses in order to compensate for the anatomical and biomechanical shock-absorbing features of the lower limb removed upon amputation. However, studies concerning their shock-attenuating capacity are highly variable and, to date, have not yet been reviewed, making them difficult to interpret and apply in clinical practice.
OBJECTIVE: To synthesise and appraise the available literature examining the effectiveness of shock-attenuating pylons in attenuating shock upon limb loading compared to rigid pylons among lower limb amputees.
METHODS: Systematic review.
METHODS: A comprehensive search of seven databases was conducted using search terms concerning amputation level, shock-attenuating and rigid pylons as well as measures of shock attenuation. All studies yielded were screened against established inclusion and exclusion criteria before eligible articles were appraised using the Quality Assessment Standard for Crossover Studies adapted from the Cochrane handbook.
RESULTS: Nine articles were eligible for inclusion. While there was a trend among studies to indicate only a limited positive effect of shock-attenuating pylons in attenuating transient impact forces, limitations to the study designs, namely, in sampling, poor reporting of methodological details and heterogeneity of outcomes made conclusive interpretation of results difficult.
CONCLUSIONS: While the current body of literature does not reconcile with claims made by manufacturers of shock-attenuating pylons, it is insufficient to conclusively determine how effective shock-attenuating pylons are, in comparison with conventional rigid pylons, in attenuating transient impact forces among lower limb amputees. Higher quality research is required to better guide decisions regarding prescription of shock-attenuating componentry in clinical practice. Clinical relevance When delivered well, research can provide clinicians with objective and reliable data that can be applied in their practice to guide prescription of componentry. However, methodological limitations to research may compromise the reliability of findings, thereby producing potentially misleading outcomes. These limitations must be recognised and appreciated such that findings may be interpreted accurately and applied appropriately.

Despite the increased interest in exoskeleton research in the last decades, not much progress has been made on the successful reduction of user effort. In humans, biarticular elements have been identified as one of the reasons for the energy economy of locomotion. This document gives an extensive literature overview concerning the function of biarticular muscles in human beings. The exact role of these muscles in the efficiency of human locomotion is reduced to three elementary functions: energy transfer towards distal joints, efficient control of output force direction and double joint actuation. This information is used to give an insight in the application of biarticular elements in bio-inspired robotics, i.e. bipedal robots, exoskeletons, robotic manipulators and prostheses. Additionally, an attempt is made to find an answer on the question whether the biarticular property leads to a unique contribution to energy efficiency of locomotion, unachievable by mono-articular alternatives. This knowledge is then further utilised to indicate how biarticular actuation of exoskeletons can contribute to an increased performance in reducing user effort.

Kinetic and thermodynamic compensations have been reported in many chemical, physical, biological and food processes. Kinetic compensation can be found for any process and when it takes place, it gives information about the reaction mechanism and whether the reaction is controlled by enthalpy or entropy. It consists of the linear relationship between the logarithm of the frequency factor (lnk0) and the activation energy (Ea), both previously obtained from the Arrhenius equation for different values of an environmental variable (e.g. pH, concentration of any substance not involved in the process, pressure, water activity, etc.). A mathematical consequence of kinetic compensation is the isokinetic temperature, this being the temperature at which the kinetic constant should be the same regardless of the environmental variable. Thermodynamic compensation can be found for any process involving an equilibrium and consists of the linear relationship between the variation of enthalpy and entropy, both previously obtained from the Van\'t Hoff equation for different values of an environmental variable. A mathematical consequence of thermodynamic compensation is the isoequilibrium temperature, this being the temperature at which the equilibrium constant should be the same regardless of the environmental variable. According to the transition state theory, some kinetic constants can be related to the equilibrium constant of the initial equilibrium stage between the reagents and the transition state. For these cases, it can be concluded that both compensations are related mathematically and therefore not only does the existence of one kind of compensation imply the existence of the other, but the isokinetic and isoequilibrium temperatures should both be the same, or at least very close to each other. However, there is no reason that forces the linearities that cause either kind of compensation. So, some processes have shown these linear relationships while others have not. Moreover, some authors have reported that, due to the fact that the estimates of the parameters for the couples lnk0-Ea and ΔH≠-ΔS≠ being correlated with each other, there is a statistic compensation that consists of the propagation of experimental errors, and this effect has to be considered before concluding kinetic and/or thermodynamic compensations. This work reviews how to deal with kinetic and thermodynamic compensations physically, mathematically and statistically, prior to a second part that reviews the food processes for which one or both of these compensations have been studied.

There is an urgent need to find an environment friendly and sustainable technology for alternative energy due to rapid depletion of fossil fuel and industrialization. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) have operational and functional advantages over the current technologies for energy generation from organic matter as it directly converts electricity from substrate at ambient temperature. However, MFCs are still unsuitable for high energy demands due to practical limitations. The overall performance of an MFC depends on microorganism, appropriate electrode materials, suitable MFC designs, and optimizing process parameters which would accelerate commercialization of this technology in near future. In this review, we put forth the recent developments on microorganism and electrode material that are critical for the generation of bioelectricity generation. This would give a comprehensive insight into the characteristics, options, modifications, and evaluations of these parameters and their effects on process development of MFCs.

Concerns in the last few decades regarding the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the dependence on fossil fuels have resulted in calls for more renewable and alternative energy sources. This has led to recent interest in copyrolysis of biomass and coal. Numerous reviews have been found related to individual pyrolysis of coal and biomass. This review deals mainly with the copyrolysis of coal and biomass and then compares their results with those obtained using coal and biomass pyrolysis in detail. It is controversial whether there are synergistic or additive behaviours when coal and biomass are blended during copyrolysis. In this review, the effects of reaction parameters such as feedstock types, blending ratio, heating rate, temperature, and reactor types on the occurrence of synergy are discussed. Also, the main properties of the copyrolytic products are pointed out. Some possible synergistic mechanisms are also suggested. Additionally, several outlooks based on studies in the literature are also presented in this paper.

For a long time microscopic physical descriptions of biological processes have been based on quantum mechanical concepts and tools, and routinely employed by chemical physicists and quantum chemists. However, the last ten years have witnessed new developments on these studies from a different perspective, rooted in the framework of quantum information theory. The process that more, than others, has been subject of intense research is the transfer of excitation energy in photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes, a consequence of the unexpected experimental discovery of oscillating signals in such highly noisy systems. The fundamental interdisciplinary nature of this research makes it extremely fascinating, but can also constitute an obstacle to its advance. Here in this review our objective is to provide an essential summary of the progress made in the theoretical description of excitation energy dynamics in photosynthetic systems from a quantum mechanical perspective, with the goal of unifying the language employed by the different communities. This is initially realized through a stepwise presentation of the fundamental building blocks used to model excitation transfer, including protein dynamics and the theory of open quantum system. Afterwards, we shall review how these models have evolved as a consequence of experimental discoveries; this will lead us to present the numerical techniques that have been introduced to quantitatively describe photo-absorbed energy dynamics. Finally, we shall discuss which mechanisms have been proposed to explain the unusual coherent nature of excitation transport and what insights have been gathered so far on the potential functional role of such quantum features.

This review discusses the photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of halosulfate phosphors developed by us. Halosulfate phosphors KCaSO4 Cl:X,Y (X = Eu or Ce; Y = Dy or Mn) and Na6 (SO4 )2 FCl (doped with Dy, Ce or Eu) were prepared using a solid-state diffusion method. The mechanism of energy transfer from Eu(2+) →Dy(3+) , Ce(3+) →Dy(3+) and Ce(3+) →Mn(2+) has also been studied. Dy(3+) emission in the host at 475 and 570 nm is observed due to (4) F9/2 →(6) H15/2 and (4) F9/2 →(6) H13/2 transition, whereas the PL emission spectra of Na6 (SO4 )2 FCl:Ce phosphor shows Ce(3+) emission at 322 nm due to 5d→4f transition of the Ce(3+) ion. The main property of KCaSO4 Cl is its very high sensitivity, particularly when doped by Dy, Mn or Pb activators. This review also discusses the PL characteristics of some new phosphors such as LiMgSO4 F, Na6 Pb4 (SO4 )6 Cl2 , Na21 Mg(SO4 )10 Cl3 and Na15 (SO4 )5 F4 Cl.