Biogenic nanoparticles are the smartest weapons to deal with the multidrug-resistant “superbugs” because of their broad-spectrum antibacterial propensity as well as excellent biocompatibility. The aqueous biogenic silver nanoparticles (Aq-bAgNPs) and ethanolic biogenic silver nanoparticles (Et-bAgNPs) were synthesized using aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Andrographis paniculata stem, respectively, as reducing agents. Electron microscopic images confirmed the synthesis of almost spherical shaped biogenic silver nanoparticles (bAgNPs). The zeta potentials of the nanoparticles were negative and were −22 and −26 mV for Aq-bAgNPs and Et-bAgNPs, respectively. The antibacterial activity of bAgNPs was investigated against seven pathogenic (i.e., enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae, Enterococcus faecalis, Hafnia alvei, Acinetobacter baumannii) and three nonpathogenic (i.e., E. coli DH5α, E. coli K12, and Bacillus subtilis) bacteria at different time points (i.e., 12, 16, 20, and 24 h) in a dose-dependent manner (i.e., 20, 40, and 60 μg) through broth dilution assay, disk diffusion assay, CellToxTM Green uptake assay, and trypan blue dye exclusion assay. The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration value for both the bAgNPs was 0.125 μg. Et-bAgNPs showed the highest antibacterial activity against S. aureus at 60 μg after 16 h and the diameter of inhibited zone was 28 mm. Lipid peroxidation assay using all the bacterial strains revealed the formation of malondialdehyde–thiobarbituric acid adduct due to the oxidation of cell membrane fatty acids by bAgNPs. The bAgNPs showed excellent hemocompatibility against human as well as rat red blood cells. Furthermore, there was no significant toxicity observed when the levels of rat serum ALT, AST, γ-GT (i.e., liver function biomarkers), and creatinine (i.e., kidney function biomarker) were determined.

This study indicates that a targeted stigma reduction intervention can rapidly improve provider attitudes and increase service satisfaction among young people. More funding to scale up these interventions is needed.

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.