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Background: The prevalence of mental health issues among youth is significantly high globally. This article presents findings from a survey that examined psychological distress, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and health and social indicators among college students in India.Methods: The study recruited 8,542 students from 30 universities spanning nine Indian states, utilizing a questionnaire that included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) to measure depression and anxiety symptoms. It also examined the prevalence of suicidal thoughts, attempts, non-suicidal self-injury, and other health and social factors.Results: Findings indicate that 18.8% and 12.4% of students had considered suicide over their lifetime and in the past year, respectively, with 6.7% having attempted it at some point in their lives. Among those with lifetime suicidal thoughts, more than one-third (38.1%) reported having previously disclosed these thoughts to someone, with friends being the most common confidants. Furthermore, one-third (33.6%) of participants reported moderate to severe symptoms of depression, and one-quarter (23.2%) reported moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety.Conclusions: The study revealed a significant prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as suicidal thoughts and attempts among college students in India. The study underscores the critical need for interventions aimed at improving mental health and supporting this demographic.

The halogen, bromine (Br) doped layered graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) nanosheets are constructed for a novel electrochemical detection of dopamine (DA). The Br is successfully immobilized in the gCN host lattice, in which Br provides an N-vacancy for -C-N bonding to improve electron transfer and enhance its electrocatalytic properties. The prepared nanosheets are studied by various analytical analyses and the electrochemical behavior of the designed electrode is studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The Br-gCN decorated screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) has superior electrochemical activity and is stable during exposure to varied pH, however, exhibited better catalytic activity at pH 7. The Br-gCN/SPEC electrodes and their high electrocatalytic performance are used for the detection of dopamine with a lower limit of detection (LoD) of 5 nM concentration. The Br-gCN decorated electrodes exhibited satisfactory results for cyclic stability (up to 100th cycle), repeatability (up to 6 cycles), reproducibility of similarly constructed 6 electrodes, and their electrochemical performance. Furthermore, the fabricated sensor also exhibited a better recovery (>80%) for real-time urine sample analyses.

Selective and sensitive detection of highly toxic chemicals by a suitable, fast, inexpensive, and trustworthy method is vital due to its serious health threats to humankind and breach of public security caused by unexpected terrorist attacks and industrial accidents. Phosgene or carbonyl dichloride is widely employed in many chemical industries and pharmaceuticals, and in pesticide production, which is extremely toxic by severe (short-term) inhalation exposure. Because of the non-existence of a phosgene sensor in aqueous solution and the immense emphasis gained by nanomaterials, especially carbonaceous materials, augmented attention has been given to the development of a fluorophore-functionalized carbon-based method to detect this noxious substance. In this study, surfactant free 1,8-diaminonaphthalene (DAN)-functionalized graphene quantum dots (DAN-GQDs) were prepared to detect phosgene in aqueous solution. The FESEM (field emission scanning electron microscopy) and HRTEM (high-resolution transmission electron microscopy) analyses confirm the as-prepared DAN-GQD morphology as nanobuds (NBs) with an average diameter of ca. 35–40 nm. The crystalline nature, elemental composition, and chemical state of DAN-GQDs were analyzed by standard physiochemical techniques. The edge-termination at the carboxyl functional group of GQDs with DAN was examined by XPS, Raman, FT-IR, and 1H NMR spectroscopy analyses. The aqueous solution of DAN-GQDs (4.89 × 10–9M) exhibits a strong emission peak at 423 nm upon excitation at 328 nm. The addition of the phosgene molecule (0 → 88 μL) quenches the initial fluorescence intensity of DAN-GQDs (ΦF53.6 → 34.6%) through the formation of a stable six-membered cyclized product. The DAN-GQDs displayed excellent selectivity and sensitivity for phosgene (Ka= 3.84 × 102M–1and LoD (limit of detection) = 2.26 ppb) over other competing toxic pollutants in water. The time-resolved fluorescence analysis confirms that the quenching of DAN-GQDs follows nonradiative relaxation of excited electrons. Furthermore, bioimaging experiments of phosgene in living human breast cancer (HeLa) cells and cell viability test successfully demonstrated the practicability of DAN-GQDs.

The low absorption and bioavailability of daidzein (DZ) limits its effective antiosteoporosis activity. In the current study, the carbon material graphene oxide (GO) was used to conjugate the DZ in order to improve the oral availability and bone formation activity. More specifically, the DZ flavonoid has been decorated with GO to form nano GO-DZ complex through adsorption methods. The conjugation of GO-DZ nano complex was well characterised using UV–Vis spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared analysis (FTIR), zeta potential and scanning electron microscopy analysis. The ratio of drug formulation was estimated using drug loading studies. The biocompatibility of GO-DZ nano complex was examined using hemolytic and anti-inflammatory assay. The GO-DZ complex (100 μg/mL) was found to be having high biocompatibility and effective. The in vitrodrug release assay demonstrated a stable and regulated manner of release of DZ from GO-DZ complex. The in vitrocytotoxicity assessment of GO-DZ complex towards human osteosarcoma cell lines (MG-63) demonstrated the bone forming ability and low cytotoxicity. Further in vivoinvestigation of GO-DZ (100 μg/mL) in zebrafish larvae demonstrated no embryotoxicity, mitigates oxidative stress, reduces apoptosis and bone forming activity through increased alkaline phosphatase activity, increased calcium mineralisation (p < 0.001), regulation of RANK/RANKL/OPG system. Thus, GO-DZ nano formulation could be used as an efficient antioxidant and antiosteoporotic medication with improved pharmacokinetic property and as an efficient oral drug.

The “To carry two faces under one hood” technique is used in this article to study how hazardous environmental contaminants are removed by photocatalysis and electrochemistry. By the thermal decomposition approach, nanosheets of F-doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) are synthesized using varying weight percentages of NH4F (1, 2, and 3 wt %). Various characterization techniques are applied to study the physiochemical properties of the synthesized F/g-C3N4nanosheets. The electrochemical characteristics of F/g-C3N4nanosheets are investigated by decorating a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) with F/g-C3N4and successfully utilizing it for the detection of the organic water effluent metol. F/g-C3N4exhibits excellent sensitivity, stability, repeatability, and reproducibility toward the detection of metol with a lower limit of detection (7.483 nM) in the linear range of 0.2–40 μM. The real-time potential application of the decorated electrode for the detection of metol in various real water samples shows excellent recovery percentages. F/g-C3N4(2 wt %) has a lower band gap with better charge-transfer properties when compared to bulk g-C3N4and F/g-C3N4(1 and 3 wt %). A higher photocatalytic degradation efficiency of 80% is obtained within a short treatment time (60 min) using F2/g-C3N4. The visible light-assisted metol degradation process follows pseudo-first-order kinetics. Moreover, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis further validates the degradation response and proposes potential degradation pathways. Investigating the toxicity of the treated water using green gram seeds shows that the treated water is safe to consume and does not contain any toxins. In this respect, F/g-C3N4nanosheets are outstanding electrophotocatalytic materials that are extremely effective and have a wide range of applications.

Background: Herbal plants are potent in curing various ailments of ancient times as they have comparatively lesser side effects. The demands for natural drugs, mostly from plant sources, are increasing over the past few decades. Because of their potent antioxidant activity, Acacia species are used to treat a variety of diseases. One of the species Acacia ferruginea, an endangered medicinal plant, is widely used in the traditional medicine system, and it is considered that standardization would be beneficial. The present study investigates the physicochemical parameters, preliminary phytochemical screening, trace metals by SEM–EDS, and fluorescence properties of various extracts (non-polar to polar) of leaf and bark parts. Standard spectrophotometric methods (UV–Vis, FT-IR, fluorescence spectroscopy) are employed to analyze the functional groups, and the DPPH and total antioxidant methods are used to assess antioxidant potential. Results: The ethyl acetate extract of leaves and ethanol extract of the bark are found to be the highest in yield, 16.32% and 2.54%. Results reveal that the total ash percentage and moisture content are of bark and the water-soluble ash of leaves is higher (10.3 ± 0.85, 7.6 ± 0.34, 3.22 ± 0.24%). The bark polar extract contained more macro-elements such as Na, K, Mg, Ca, S, and Cl. Phytochemical analysis reveals the polar extracts of leaves and bark show saponins, flavonoids, steroids, phenolic compounds, and non-polar extracts show mild positive. The total alkaloids, phenolics, and terpenoids (1.58 ± 0.08%; 0.56 ± 0.11; 0.75 ± 0.15) are found to be higher in A. ferruginealeaves. The FT-IR result shows the presence of alkanes, alkenes, aromatic compounds, aldehydes, phenolics and does not contain any toxic substances since there is no peak observed in the region between 2220 and 2260 cm−1. The in vitro antioxidant activity of the species demonstrated that both the leaf and bark parts have prominent antioxidant properties. Conclusions: The results obtained from the preliminary standardization of A. ferrugineaare very helpful in the determination of the quality and purity of the crude drug. The refurbished findings of A. ferrugineaare promising, and further research is important to identify the bioactive compounds, thereby developing nutritional supplements and medications through therapeutic compound isolation. Graphical Abstract: