Bone is a specialized form of connective tissue that forms the skeleton of the body and is built at the nano and microscale levels as a multi-component composite material consisting of a hard inorganic phase (minerals) in an elastic, dense organic network. Mimicking bone structure and its properties present an important frontier in the fields of nanotechnology, materials science and bone tissue engineering, given the complex morphology of this tissue. There has been a growing interest in developing artificial bone-mimetic nanomaterials with controllable mineral content, nanostructure, chemistry for bone, cartilage tissue engineering and substitutes. This review describes recent advances in bionanomaterials for bone tissue engineering including developments in soft tissue engineering. The significance and basic process of bone tissue engineering along with different bionanomaterial bone scaffolds made of nanocomposites and nanostructured biopolymers/bioceramics and the prerequisite biomechanical functions are described. It also covers latest developments in soft-tissue reconstruction and replacement. Finally, perspectives on the future direction in nanotechnology-enabled bone tissue engineering are presented.

This review provides a comprehensive reflection of the recent advances in nanomaterials and processes for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and conversion. It is divided into two sections: carbon capture, and conversion into useful by‐products. The latest developments in nanotechnology‐enabled carbon capture processes along with an overview of the conventional technologies for carbon capture are described. Descriptions of by‐product conversion include conversion into important chemicals, liquid fuels, and hydrocarbon such as carbonate, methane, methanol, and formic acid. Finally, perspectives on the future directions in carbon capture and storage technology are presented. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Recent advances have led to the development of multifunctional bionanomaterials that can target a bone tumor and deliver therapeutic drugs or genes. Bionanomaterial-based bone cancer treatment offers hope for treating bone cancer and provides many exciting possibilities to enable important new therapeutic outcomes. Physicists, chemists, engineers, biologists, and clinicians will continue to address research questions at the level of fundamental biology and science to develop novel biomaterials and systems, particularly enabling cost-effective and large-scale production of multifunctional nanomaterial systems.This review provides a comprehensive reflection of the recent advancements in bionanomaterials for use in bone cancer treatment. The review examines in detail different bionanomaterials (hydroxyapatite nanocrystals and nanometals, nanoscale conjugated copolymer, selenium and liposome) that have been researched and developed over the last six years for bone tissue engineering. It also discusses an important area of researchthe use of engineered bone scaffolds in cancer treatment. Recently, bone scaffolds have been identified as potential targets for metastatic spread as well as a means by which escape from tumor dormancy can be studied. This review also includes discussions of a highly potent new class of anticancer compounds, e.g., geminal bisphosphonates, that has been shown to have strong affinity towards various hydroxyapatite-based bone scaffolds with controlled adsorption and release for anticancer activity. Finally, perspectives on future directions in nanotechnology-enabled bone tumor treatment are presented.

Numerous UK universities are experiencing financial instability; with an increasingly competitive and maturing market, reliance has grown on international students to offset institutional shortfalls. Dependency on international student tuition revenue has over-exposed the market to dramatic shifts in political policies, both domestic and internationally, that could significantly impact operational success. UK higher education institutions (HEIs) ability to promote their institutions as they are intertwined with the UK government; thus, controversial policies create a backlash, drawing HEIs into disputes as unwanted participants yet recipients of significant economic disruption. Government policies on domestic tuition caps, Brexit, and increasing geopolitical disputes with China have had a considerable impact on institutional operations. This paper recommends HEIs, principally lower-tabled universities, take a more aggressive strategic realignment to best adapt to the marketplace’s uncertainty. By reemphasising institutional specialisation, variable tuition rates for under-represented growth markets, financial support for EU students, increased distance education presence, and intense market-wide lobbying of government MPs, this paper seeks to open a discussion on how to identify existing problems and target opportunities for growth. The complexity of market conditions and the decreasing solvency of many institutions will not be solved by a single recommendation or a short-term policy but by a complete realignment and robust industry-wide initiatives. If universities cease operations or collapse under market conditions’ financial strain, it will impact the overall market’s reputation, reducing UK institutions’ overall desirability as a major exporter of education.

The complexities of adapting traditional educational courses to a virtual setting highlighted numerous inequalities within the current United States’ K12 school system. Students in low socioeconomic communities have suffered a more significant academic slide in core competencies due to poor lesson integration, online learning fatigue, poor learning environments, and low technological proficiency. Policymakers, believing achievement gaps result from teaching performance, have argued for additional academic controls that promote rigorous standardized instruction to reduce existing achievement gaps. However, a state-mandated textbook-driven curriculum that prioritizes test-taking strategies will only exasperate previous educational deficiencies. As numerous schools face significant financial constraints, technological and resource investment is severally limited, and teacher professional development is marginalized. Without appropriate tools or skills to adapt curriculum, classes devolve into simple rote-learning of textbook content lacking any semblance of differentiated instruction. Students in impoverished communities disassociate with taught content as textbooks lack a multicultural presentation; thus they perceive school environments as unwelcoming and hostile towards their lived-experiences. Performance-based funding through high-stakes accountability further incentifies underfunded schools to abandon student-centric learning designs and prioritize a textbook dependent ‘one-size-fits-few’ strategy to avoid sanctions to meet state benchmarks. While a return to traditional classroom instruction may signal a return to normal, without increased state funding, reduced emphasis on standardized testing, improved teacher professional development, and incorporation of multivoiced textbooks, a return to normal will additionally signal a return to existing educational inequalities in the US.