In recent years, there has been considerable interest in icariin (ICA) and its derivates, icariside II (ICS) and icaritin (ICT), due to their wide range of potential applications in preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, delaying the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, treating erectile dysfunction, etc. However, their poor water solubility and membrane permeability, resulting in low bioavailability, dampens their potential beneficial effects. In this regard, several strategies have been developed, such as pharmaceutical technologies, structural transformations, and absorption enhancers. All these strategies manage to improve the bioavailability of the above-mentioned flavonoids, thus increasing their concentration in the desired places. This paper focuses on gathering the latest knowledge on strategies to improve bioavailability for enhancing the efficacy of icariin, icariside II, and icaritin. We conclude that there is an opportunity for many further improvements in this field. To the best of our knowledge, no such review articles scoping the bioavailability improvement of icariin and its derivates have been published to date. Therefore, this paper can be a good starting point for all those who want to deepen their understanding of the field.
Using solar panels is one of the cleanest ways to generate electricity ever created by mankind. The efficiency of rapidly expanding solar panels decreases during their lifetime for several reasons, such as photodegradation, hot spots, potentially induced degradation, etc. Dirt and debris accumulation on the surface of the solar panels can also significantly contribute to their performance degradation due to the diminishing of the solar radiation reaching their active surfaces. Numerous degradation mitigation methods are cited in the literature. This article briefly outlines these basic measures.
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