Nanomaterials stand as transformative elements across diverse domains, ranging from biotechnology, aircraft, aviation, and space exploration to medicine, health, environmental preservation, resources, energy, and aerospace. This issue, comprising nine original research articles and two insightful reviews, we embark on a journey to unravel the multifaceted uses of nanomaterials, with a special emphasis on their contributions to environmental protection and medicine. Delving into the unique traits of various nanomaterials, our aim is to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding that transcends conventional boundaries, fostering a deeper appreciation for the impact of nanomaterials.

Context: Noise in the work environment, in all types of productive activities, represents a hazard and has not really been valued in its real dimension. Little has been seen that stakeholders have determined the urgency of managing noise control programs. Therefore, losses resulting from medical treatment and absenteeism, represented in health care and social services, result in hidden work-related costs that directly affect the gross domestic product in any country.

Method: This article compiles different case studies from around the world. The studies were divided for review into general studies on the effects of workforce noise and then particularized according to the effects of industrial noise on workers’ health. At a control level, the assessment and measurement of noise is defined through the use of tools such as noise maps and their respective derivations, in addition to spatial databases.

Results: According to the collection of information and its analysis, we observe that in the medium term, the economies will be diminished in an important percentage due to the consequences generated by the exposure to noise. Specific information can be found in the development of the article.

Conclusions: The data provided by the case studies point to the need for Colombia, a country that is no stranger to this phenomenon, and which additionally has the great disadvantage of not having significant studies in the field of noise analysis, should strengthen studies based on spatial data as a mechanism for measurement and control.

Financing: Fundación universitaria Los Libertadores.

Global warming is a thermodynamic problem. When excess heat is added to the climate system, the land warms more quickly than the oceans due to the land’s reduced heat capacity. The oceans have a greater heat capacity because of their higher specific heat and the heat mixing in the upper layer of the ocean. Thermodynamic Geoengineering (TG) is a global cooling method that, when deployed at scale, would generate 1.6 times the world’s current supply of primary energy and remove carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. The cooling would mirror the ostensible 2008–2013 global warming hiatus. At scale, 31,000 1-gigawatt (GW) ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plants are estimated to be able to: a) displace about 0.8 watts per square meter (W/m²) of average global surface heat from the surface of the ocean to deep water that could be recycled in 226-year cycles, b) produce 31 terawatts (TW) (relative to 2019 global use of 19.2 TW); c) absorb about 4.3 Gt CO₂ per year from the atmosphere by cooling the surface. The estimated cost of these plants is $2.1 trillion per year, or 30 years to ramp up to 31,000 plants, which are replaced as needed thereafter. For example, the cost of world oil consumption in 2019 was $2.3 trillion for 11.6 TW. The cost of the energy generated is estimated at $0.008/KWh.

This study focused on the formulation and characterization of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) functionalized with d-limonene. The nanoparticles were functionalized by phase inversion and the synthesis of the nanoparticles was performed in situ; particle size was determined by laser diffraction, zeta potential and optical colloidal stability using Multiscan 20 for a period of 24 hours at 37 °C; the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the formulated material on Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Klebsiella oxytoca ATCC 700324, Enterococcus casseliflavus ATCC 700327, Escherichia coli BLEE, carbapenem-resistant Pseudomona aeruginosa were determined. The nanoparticles showed colloidal stability at a d-limonene concentration of 3.93%, silver ions at 1.61 × 10⁻³%, non-ionic adjuvant at 24% and ascorbic acid at 5.88%; citric acid/citrate (1:1) 0.48M for a pH of 4.5 was used as a buffer system. The formulation was classified as a polydisperse system (PD = 0.0851), with a zeta potential of −11.6 mV and average particle size of 81.5 ± 0.9 nm. A particle migration velocity of −0.199 ± 0.006 mm∙h⁻¹, a constant transmission profile and backscattering profile with variations of 10% were evidenced, which represents a stable formulation. The nanoparticles presented an MIC and an MBC of 28 μg∙mL⁻¹ (5.6 × 10⁻²% d-limonene and 4.7 × 10⁻⁵% AgNP) against all tested bacteria.

Stress has evolutionary roots that help human beings evolve and survive. Existing workplace mental health models typically view stress as the direct cause of poor mental health. Such models focus on strategies to eliminate it. Guided by O’Connor and Kirtley’s integrated motivational-volitional (IMV) model, we posit that demanding jobs and high-stress environments do not directly impact an individual’s mental health but trigger a “sense of self” moderator (SSM), which then leads to mental health outcomes. This moderator is modified by the workplace’s organizational design and individual’s traits. We propose a Workplace Mental Health (WMH) Model, which suggests that by addressing these SSM modifiers through evidence-based interventions at organizational and individual levels, even in high-stress environments, organizations can have mentally healthy workforces and build high-performance workplaces. This paper assumes that stress is an inalienable part of any work environment and that a secular reduction in stress levels in modern society is infeasible. Although some individuals in high-stress job environments develop mental illness, many do not, and some even thrive. This differential response suggests that stress may act as a trigger, but an individual’s reaction to it is influenced more by other factors than the stress itself.