Traditional treatment approaches for cancer involve intravenous chemotherapy or other forms of drug delivery. These therapeutic measures suffer from several limitations such as nonspecific targeting, poor biodistribution, and buildup of drug resistances. However, significant technological advancements have been made in terms of superior modes of drug delivery over the last few decades. Technical capability in analyzing the molecular mechanisms of tumor biology, nanotechnologyparticularly the development of biocompatible nanoparticles, surface modification techniques, microelectronics, and material scienceshas increased. As a result, a significant number of nanostructured carriers that can deliver drugs to specific cancerous sites with high efficiency have been developed. This particular maneuver that enables the introduction of a therapeutic nanostructured substance in the body by controlling the rate, time, and place is defined as the nanostructured drug delivery system (NDDS). Because of their versatility and ability to incorporate features such as specific targeting, water solubility, stability, biocompatibility, degradability, and ability to reverse drug resistance, they have attracted the interest of the scientific community, in general, and nanotechnologists as well as biomedical scientists. To keep pace with the rapid advancement of nanotechnology, specific technical aspects of the recent NDDSs and their prospects need to be reported coherently. To address these ongoing issues, this review article provides an overview of different NDDSs such as lipids, polymers, and inorganic nanoparticles. In addition, this review also reports the challenges of current NDDSs and points out the prospective research directions of these nanocarriers. From our focused review, we conclude that still now the most advanced and potent field of application for NDDSs is lipid-based, while other significantly potential fields include polymer-based and inorganic NDDSs. However, despite the promises, challenges remain in practical implementations of such NDDSs in terms of dosage and stability, and caution should be exercised regarding biocompatibility of materials. Considering these aspects objectively, this review on NDDSs will be particularly of interest for small-to-large scale industrial researchers and academicians with expertise in drug delivery, cancer research, and nanotechnology.

In small- and large-scale industries, manipulable optical characteristics are desired. In this regard, rare-earth oxides (REOs) have been providing pragmatic attributes in terms of successful implementations and promising prospects throughout the last few decades. Currently, there is no comprehensive literature review on REOs that can aid researchers in focusing on industry-relevant emerging materials. Therefore, this review reports studies that have been able to experimentally utilize the physical, chemical, thermal, electronic, spectroscopic, and photocatalytic properties of REOs in the optical field. The brief and focused review finds that the most pronounced applications of REOs in the optical field are in white light and laser, while the prospective ground likely lies in optoelectronics, fiber optic applications, and miscellaneous repertoires that incorporate an innovative utilization of an electronic configuration of REOs. From the perspective of this review, the versatility of an REO in the optical field has become prominent and quantified by the successful implementations of REOs in white light and nonwhite light applications. Furthermore, the innovative applications of REOs include but are not limited to the development of solid-state optical devices, optoelectronic systems, and photocatalytic agents. Specifically, their futuristic applications are likely to be led by the development of stronger emission devices and the obtaining of flexible doping characteristics by several ions such as Li+, Eu3+, Dy3+, Nd3+, La3+, Yb3+, etc. at different levels, which will render the pathway for further exploration in this regard. However, the improvement in terms of methodological attributes requires a serious consideration of overcoming the limitation of thermal stability, lack of exploration of several types of lights, photodarkening in critical applications, lack of applicability at a wide range of temperatures, and so on. From an industrial perspective, it can be conjectured from the reported literature that the challenges will be overcome at a large scale within a few years due to the expedited technological advancements of the experimental repertoires, rendering the REO applications in the optical field reasonably economic and commercially viable. In short, this is the first review that objectively considers the applications and prospects of REOs, which will essentially invoke several studies to investigate the specific properties and viability of REOs in the optical field.

Rare earth oxides (REOs) are deemed important from both industrial implementation and research insight perspectives. One of the most conspicuous attributes of REOs is sensing, which contributes significantly to the development of diversified and robust systems of sensors and detector devices. However, there has not been any organized review that has pointed out critical insights from the sensor, detector, and electronic device perspectives that can invoke further studies to investigate the prospective and commercially relevant areas to date. To address this limitation, this review undertakes a focused report approach. From this concise yet comprehensive review, it has been prominent that the most significant contributions to the sensing and detecting fields by the REOs are in electrochemical, temperature, humidity, radiation, gas, and biosensors. Moreover, in terms of electronic device development, REOs have had a significant impact on memory devices, metal oxide semiconductors, dielectric materials, capacitors, energy storage devices, and so on. Furthermore, one of the key findings of the study is that the REOs have flexible doping (e.g., Er3+, Yb3+, Y3+, etc.) capability combined with other host materials such as HfO2 film, SiO2 stacks, TiO2, SnO2 nanostructures, etc., which will likely make REO-based electrochemical sensor and biosensor development the most promising sector in the coming years. Despite the impressive aspects, biocompatibility issues in several biological and biomedical systems along with the hygroscopic nature of REOs in electronic devices remain as concerns. However, these issues can be addressed by the advancement of intricate technologies such as targeted manipulation of the electronic configuration of REOs, multifarious doping experiments to obtain alternative mechanisms, etc. to obtain superior biocompatibility, and device development systems that are noninvasive to the environment. From the commercialization front, memory devices and energy storage devices will be the focusing points for large-scale investors due to improved mechanical (i.e., Young’s modulus, intrinsic stress, etc.) and electrical (i.e., high dielectric constant, resistivity, relative permittivity, etc.) properties, while REO-based metal oxide semiconductor and capacitor development is likely to be research-oriented for the next few years before making the eventual move to futuristic applications at a large industrial scale. In short, this review reports a substantial number of relevant studies that will pave the way for further experimental and computational investigations on REOs and their sensor, detector, and electronic device aspects.

To date, rare earth oxides (REOs) have proven to be key components in generating sustainable energy solutions, ensuring environmental safety and economic progress due to their diverse attributes. REOs' exceptional optical, thermodynamic, and chemical properties have made them indispensable in a variety of sophisticated technologies, including electric vehicle magnets, portable energy devices, fuel cell catalysts, radiation shielding, dosimetry, and many others. Therefore, the successful incorporation of rare earth elements (REEs) into host materials in controlled concentrations offers competitive advantages to fabricate portable energy devices, radiation sensors, and radiation shielding glasses, as well as to improve the performance of existing photovoltaic cells, which is of great interest to both researchers and industry. As the global demand for REEs grows rapidly, it is critical to comprehend the underlying physics as well as the wider consequences of REEs on sustainable energy and nuclear technologies, both in the near and long term. However, despite their relevance, a focused review on the applications, prospects, and challenges of REOs in photovoltaics, nuclear, and energy devices is still unavailable. To this effort, this review succinctly reports recent experimental studies on eight REOs (R 2 O 3 , R = Yb, Er, Sm, Eu, Y, Gd, Dy, and Ce) and their specific applications and industrial aspects. While several subdomains are reported, the applications of REOs in next-generation solar cells and photovoltaic devices for promoting zero-emission clean energy and rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) are the most pioneering ones. Furthermore, REOs' chemical stability and compositional versatility allow them to be used in a variety of high-efficiency energy converters, including solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). From the perspective of thermodynamic and structural stability, the gamma and neutron absorptivity of REO-doped (such as Dy 3+ , Eu 3+ , Sm 3+ , Nd 3+ , etc.) glasses shows improved shielding performance in radiation domains. Aside from the applications, the prospects of REOs presented in this article are likely to encourage current and future scholars to pursue a wide range of important studies in the fields of energy and nuclear systems. This review also reports the key challenges (i.e., material degradation, phase transformation, magnetic entropy shift, etc.) associated with REOs in a standalone section. These challenges demand the immediate attention of scientists and engineers for efficient, costeffective, and environmentally sustainable solutions. At the end, future advancement pathways for REO applications are also suggested.

Research on the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the aging process has advanced significantly over the last two decades. In light of recent findings, ROS takes part in the aging process of cells along with contributing to various physiological signaling pathways. Antioxidants being cells' natural defense mechanism against ROS-mediated alteration, play an imperative role to maintain intracellular ROS homeostasis. Although the complete understanding of the ROS regulated aging process is yet to be fully comprehended, current insights into various sources of cellular ROS and their correlation with the aging process and age-related diseases are portrayed in this review. In addition, results on the effect of antioxidants on ROS homeostasis and the aging process as well as their advances in clinical trials are also discussed in detail. The future perspective in ROS-antioxidant dynamics on antiaging research is also marshaled to provide future directions for ROS-mediated antiaging research fields.

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The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2, a ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus that emerged less than two years ago but has caused nearly 6.1 million deaths to date. Recently developed variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been shown to be more potent and expanded at a faster rate. Until now, there is no specific and effective treatment for SARS-CoV-2 in terms of reliable and sustainable recovery. Precaution, prevention, and vaccinations are the only ways to keep the pandemic situation under control. Medical and scientific professionals are now focusing on the repurposing of previous technology and trying to develop more fruitful methodologies to detect the presence of viruses, treat the patients, precautionary items, and vaccine developments. Nanomedicine or nanobased platforms can play a crucial role in these fronts. Researchers are working on many effective approaches by nanosized particles to combat SARS-CoV-2. The role of a nanobased platform to combat SARS-CoV-2 is extremely diverse (i.e., mark to personal protective suit, rapid diagnostic tool to targeted treatment, and vaccine developments). Although there are many theoretical possibilities of a nanobased platform to combat SARS-CoV-2, until now there is an inadequate number of research targeting SARS-CoV-2 to explore such scenarios. This unique mini-review aims to compile and elaborate on the recent advances of nanobased approaches from prevention, diagnostics, treatment to vaccine developments against SARS-CoV-2, and associated challenges.