Carbon Dots-Embedded Silica Tubes: An Excitation-Independent Yellow-Emitting Turn-On Probe for Simultaneous Detection and Removal of Inorganic Arsenic with In Vivo Tracking in Living Organisms.

The environmental monitoring and remediation of highly toxic inorganic arsenic species in natural water are needed for the benefit of the ecosystem. Current studies on arsenic detection and removal often employ separate materials, which exhibit blue luminescence with fluorescence quenching, making them unsuitable for biological and environmental samples. In this study, carbon dot-embedded mesoporous silica tubes functionalized with melamine are synthesized to address these limitations and enable specific and turn-on probing of inorganic arsenic. The newly synthesized material demonstrates excitation-independent yellow luminescence and can effectively detect both As (III) and As (V) at low detection limits (11 × 10-9 m, 11.2 × 10-9 m), well below the prescribed threshold limits in drinking water. It also exhibits a high adsorption capacity (≈125, 159 mg g-1 ) with fast kinetics. The material's applicability in environmental samples is validated through the successful quantification of arsenic in real samples with satisfactory recoveries. Moreover, the material shows recyclability for reuse, as demonstrated by its arsenic adsorption and desorption for several cycles under basic conditions. Additionally, the material's capability for monitoring arsenic in a biological sample (Artemia salina) is demonstrated through fluorescence imaging. The encouraging outcomes underscore the material's potential use in monitoring and mitigating arsenic in aqueous systems.

Recyclable Functionalized Material for Sensitive Detection and Exceptional Sorption of Hexavalent Chromium and Permanganate Ions with Biosensing Applications.

Environmental remediation with a single platform for selective sensing and removal of toxic analytes with recyclability of the material has always been a desirable system for sustainability. However, materials comprising all the abovementioned advantages are rarely known for oxoanions. We herein developed a fluorogenic napthalimide-based functionalized mesoporous silica material (SiO2@NBDBIA) as a signaling and remediation system for oxoanions (CrO42-, Cr2O72-, and MnO4-) from a pool of several anions. The fluorescence quenching of the SiO2@NBDBIA material in the presence of CrO42-, Cr2O72-, and MnO4- ions gives the limit of detection (LOD) values of 6.23, 25.2, and 20.32 ppb, respectively, which are well below the maximum contaminant level demarcated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The maximum adsorption capacities of the material for the abovementioned oxoanions are found to be 352, 363, and 330 mg/g, respectively, which are well above those mentioned in the literature reports. Contrary to the literature-dominated irreversible ion-exchange mechanism, the reversible hydrogen-bonded binding of the material with the oxoanions leads to the recyclability of the material easily, which is very rare in the literature. The DFT calculations were performed to examine the interactions between the material and oxoanions. For real applications, this material was also used as a fluorescence probe to detect these oxoanions in the actual water samples, and more interestingly, used as a biosensing probe for these oxoanions in the living organism Artemia salina through fluorescence imaging. Thus, the SiO2@NBDBIA material is a unique example of recyclable material for detecting and remediating oxoanions.

Anticholinergics May Carry Significant Cognitive and Gait Burden in Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Anticholinergic drugs are associated with significant cognitive and other adverse events in older adults, including those with Parkinson's disease (PD). Anticholinergic effects are considered lesser in younger individuals and the burden and outcomes in younger patients with PD are unknown. OBJECTIVES: To determine the cumulative anticholinergic burden in a cohort of younger of patients with PD and to correlate the same with cognitive impairment and freezing of gait (FOG). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study to identify the cumulative anticholinergic burden from medications prescribed to patients with PD. Two standard scales, the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale and the ACB score, were used to calculate the anticholinergic burden from prescriptions. We identified commonly prescribed drugs contributing to anticholinergic effects and correlated the cumulative ACB score with cognitive impairment (Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale item 1.1) and FOG (Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale items 2.13 and 3.11). RESULTS: We recruited 287 patients with PD (68.9% male) with a mean age of 56.9 ± 11.8 years and a duration of symptoms 6.3 ± 6.9 years. Median ACB score was 4 (range 0-12). A total of 164 (58.4%) patients had total ACB score > 3. ACB score > 3 was independently associated with cognitive impairment (Odds Ratio, 2.55; 95% confidence interval, 1.43-4.53; P < 0.001) and FOG using patient-reported measures (Odds Ratio, 3.192; 95% Confidence Interval, 1.68-6.07; P < 0.001) and objective measures (odds ratio, 2.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.27-4.6, P = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Patients with PD are exposed to significant anticholinergic burden from drugs prescribed for PD and non-PD indications. Higher anticholinergic burden is associated with cognitive impairment and FOG even in younger patients with PD.