An overview and critical evaluation of the mechanisms and applications of the inorganic approach in protein imprinting strategies.

Rice is a crucial food source and an important economic activity globally. Rice fields provide habitats for birds and other organisms but also serve as ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, including potential vectors such as Culex, Aedes, and Anopheles. There is an urgent need to manage mosquitoes associated with rice crops, as they are important pests and vectors of diverse pathogens. Effective management should rely on cost-effective, legislative, and environmentally sustainable approaches. We gathered information from various sources on surveillance, phenology, mosquito nuisance, vector-borne diseases and control measures in the main rice paddies of the five major rice-producing regions in Europe: Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, and France. Mosquito problems in rice paddies are prevalent across most analyzed regions, with entomological and virological surveillance efforts varying in intensity and timing. Aedes caspius mosquitoes significantly contribute to nuisance levels, while recent West Nile virus (WNV) circulation poses the most serious threat, as these habitats support high densities of mosquito vectors such as Culex pipiens, Culex modestus, and Culex perexiguus. Different mosquito control strategies are applied, ranging from centralized programs to localized interventions funded by public entities and implemented by public or private companies. Biological larviciding with Bacillus thuringiensis serovar. israelensis is the primary method used, supplemented by adulticiding during epidemic outbreaks in nearby urban areas. These management approaches reflect diverse regional contexts and highlight the importance of adaptive strategies in addressing mosquito-related challenges across rice paddies in Europe.

Ordered mesoporous materials and their modification with multiple functional groups are of wide scientific interest for many applications involving interaction with biological systems and biomolecules (e.g., catalysis, separation, sensor design, nano-science or drug delivery). In particular, the immobilization of enzymes onto solid supports is highly attractive for industry and synthetic chemistry, as it allows the development of stable and cheap biocatalysts. In this context, we developed novel silylated amino acid derivatives (Si-AA-NH₂) that have been immobilized onto SBA-15 materials in biocompatible conditions avoiding the use of toxic catalyst, solvents or reagents. The resulting amino acid-functionalized materials (SBA-15@AA) were characterized by XRD, TGA, EA, Zeta potential, nitrogen sorption and FT-IR. Differences of the physical properties (e.g., charges) were observed while the structural ones remained unchanged. The adsorption of the enzyme lysozyme (Lyz) onto the resulting functionalized SBA-15@AA materials was evaluated at different pHs. The presence of different functional groups compared with bare SBA-15 showed better adsorption results, for example, 79.6 nmol of Lyz adsorbed per m² of SBA-15@Tyr compared with the 44.9 nmol/m² of the bare SBA-15.