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Healthcare as Complex, Entropic and Ethical
Published in Lesley Kuhn, Kieran Le Plastrier, Managing Complexity in Healthcare, 2022
Lesley Kuhn, Kieran Le Plastrier
To explain the logic of this novel theoretical framing, we employ and integrate concepts from the complexity sciences, thermodynamics and the ethical thinking of Emmanuel Levinas. Firstly, we make use of the complexity sciences to present a conceptual framing of the structure of relations between stakeholders in healthcare. Secondly, we draw on the second principle (or law) of thermodynamics as it is understood to operate in complex living organisms, to describe the structure of relations in terms of energetic transactions, transformations and management of entropy. Thirdly, we turn to the ethical thinking of Levinas to explain a relation of responsibility between the patient and healthcare practitioner as the impetus for enabling action within the structure of relations (why the person suffering illness/trauma turns to healthcare for help and why the practitioner cares). Bringing together complexity, entropy and ethics, we refer to our conceptualisation as the ComEntEth (Complex Entropic Ethical) model of healthcare.
Energy balance and its regulation
Published in Geoffrey P. Webb, Nutrition, 2019
When we digest and metabolise food, the oxidation of fats, carbohydrates, protein and alcohol releases chemical energy that can be used for body functions. The first law of thermodynamics states that “energy can neither be created nor destroyed but only changed from one form to another”. This means that all of the energy released during the oxidation of the macronutrients in food (the metabolisable energy) must be accounted for. It must be used to keep the bodies’ internal systems functioning (this is ultimately lost from the body as heat energy), to do external work (e.g. move something, including the body) or be stored within the body (e.g. as fat in adipose tissue).
Basic Thermal Physics: Heat Exchange and Infrared Radiation
Published in Kurt Ammer, Francis Ring, The Thermal Human Body, 2019
The first law of thermodynamics states that the various forms of energy can be changed from one form to another but cannot be created or destroyed. In other words, the total sum of the energy is stable over time irrespective of number of energy transformations. If a system has received, say, mechanical energy, W, and if its internal energy, E, has not changed, the system must has lost an equivalent amount of some other energy, e.g. heat, Q. There is always a balance between the energy gained, which is counted positively, and the energy lost, which is scored negatively:
The prediction of protein–ligand unbinding for modern drug discovery
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 2022
Qianqian Zhang, Nannan Zhao, Xiaoxiao Meng, Fansen Yu, Xiaojun Yao, Huanxiang Liu
The thermodynamics and kinetics information of protein–ligand binding has always occupied an important position in modern drug discovery. Thermodynamics information mainly focuses on the binding free energy between a protein and a ligand and has also become one of the main research fields in the history of medicinal chemistry [1]. In recent years, the research on protein–ligand binding kinetics has gradually entered people’s field of view and attracted wide attention [2]. The residence time (RT) or the inverse of the dissociation rate constant (koff), a characterization of the lifetime of the association between a drug and its target, has been proven to be an important parameter in predicting the efficacy and safety of drugs in vivo [3,4]. In the early stage of drug discovery, the accurate prediction of RT (1/koff) not only guided the design of molecules but also improved the success rate of drugs in clinical trials [5]. Some experimental methods have been used in kinetic studies on biological interactions [6]. However, determining the kinetic parameters of a large number of molecules remains difficult due to the high cost of these technologies.
Mercury(II) decontamination using a newly synthesized poly(acrylonitrile-acrylic acid)/ammonium molybdophosphate composite exchanger
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2022
Adel A. El-Zahhar, Abubakr M. Idris
This research demonstrates the preparation of the polymeric composite adsorbent-exchanger P(AN-AA)/AMP and P(AN-AA) as well as characterization and application for the removal of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions. The surface characterization of both P(AN-AA)/AMP and P(AN-AA) indicates a significant improvement in surface pores, surface area thermal stability of P(AN-AA)/AMP than P(AN-AA) by the inclusion of AMP. The FTIR spectra of P(AN-AA)/AMP show characteristic peaks for ammonium molybdophosphate in the composite resin. The adsorption results illustrate that P(AN-AA)/AMP has an effective removal for Hg(II) from aqueous solutions with qmax of 221.23 mg/g. The adsorption process was found to be pH-dependent. The isothermal and kinetic studies show that the experimental results fit well with the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, which reflect a favored process with the participation of strong chemical adsorption. The thermodynamic study indicates a favored endothermic adsorption process and free energy within the range of chemical adsorption. The reusability study address that the prepared resin could be regenerated and applied in repeated adsorption cycle with significant efficiency up to the third cycle with a removal percentage of more than 80%.
Enhanced toxic thallium (I) removal from water using novel AgNPs/sawdust nanocomposite
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2021
Fatemeh Sabermahani, Zahra Ganjehkaviri
In this article, a novel Nanocomposite AgNPs/SD was successfully prepared by green synthesis method and applied for removal of toxic Tl(I) ions. In the first, silver nanoparticles were synthesized using Buxus leaf extract as the reducing agent and then the nanocomposite prepared with incorporation sawdust. The SPR peaks revealed the Ag particles are nanoscale. Further, shape, the size, and morphology were examined with XRD and SEM. The functional groups present in nanocomposite were identified by FT-IR and finally the new sorbent was tested for removal of toxic Tl+ from aqueous mediums using batch mode experiments. The optimum adsorbent dosage was 0.1 g at pH = 7.5. The maximum sorption capacity calculated from Langmuir model was 26.11 mg/g. pseudo-second order model is best fitted to Tl+ adsorption. The endothermic nature of the adsorption was confirmed by thermodynamic studies. The main advantages of the proposed adsorbent are:Sawdust is easily available and low cost.Desorption is high using diluted acid (99.69%).The AgNPs/SD nanocomposite has high efficiency, rapid uptake, and easy re-usability.The employed synthesis technique is an environmentally friendly and green.