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Abstract In recent years, biochar is being widely considered as an effective and low cost biosorbent in water and wastewater treatment processes. Various biomasses can be effectively used for biochar production, and this study investigates the use of a novel biochar derived from pistachio green hull to remove Cu(II) from aqueous solutions. The biochar was analyzed by FTIR, SEM-WDX, and SEM-EDX. The efficacy of several experimental factors was investigated in a number of batch adsorption experiments. The sorption kinetics of copper on the biochar were satisfactorily described by a pseudo–second order model. The adsorption isotherms were well described by the Langmuir model. The analysis of experimental results suggested that the Cu(II) sorption onto biochar could mainly be ascribed to cation exchange, surface precipitation, and surface complexation with oxygen-containing functional groups. Overall, it can be concluded that biochar derived from pistachio green hull is valuable as a green cost-effective sorbent for Cu(II) removal from water. Graphical abstract fx1 Highlights • Pistachio green hull, an agricultural byproduct, used to produce biochar. • Pistachio derived biochar showed very promising Cu(II) sorption characteristics. • Different sorption mechanisms: ion exchange, precipitation, surface complexation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous biosorption of malachite green (MG) and crystal violet (CV) on biosorbent Yarrowia lipolytica ISF7 was studied. An appropriate derivative spectrophotometry technique was used to evaluate the concentration of each dye in binary solutions, despite significant interferences in visible light absorbances. The effects of pH, temperature, growth time, initial MG and CV concentration in batch experiments were assessed using Design of Experiment (DOE) according to central composite second order response surface methodology (RSM). The analysis showed that the greatest biosorption efficiency (>99% for both dyes) can be obtained at pH 7.0, T =28 °C, 24 h mixing and 20 mg L −1 initial concentrations for both MG and CV dyes. The quadratic constructed equation ability for fitting experimental data is judged based on criterions like R 2 values, significant p and lack-of-fit value strongly confirm its high adequacy and applicability for prediction of revel behavior of the system under study. The proposed model showed very high correlation coefficients ( R 2 =0.9997 for CV and R 2 =0.9989 for MG), while supported by closeness of predicted and experimental value. A kinetic analysis was carried out, showing that for both dyes a pseudo-second order kinetic model adequately describes the available data. The Langmuir isotherm model in single and binary components has better performance for description of dyes biosorption with maximum monolayer biosorption capacity of 59.4 and 62.7 mg g −1 in single component and 46.4 and 50.0 mg g −1 for CV and MB in binary components, respectively. The surface structure of biosorbents and the possible biosorbents–dyes interactions between were also evaluated by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The values of thermodynamic parameters including ΔG° and ΔH° strongly confirm which method is spontaneous and endothermic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnosis of gastrointestinal nematodes in livestock and companion animals has been neglected for years and there has been an historical underinvestment in the development and improvement of diagnostic tools, undermining the undoubted utility of surveillance and control programmes. However, a new impetus by the scientific community and the quickening pace of technological innovations, are promoting a renaissance of interest in developing diagnostic capacity for nematode infections in veterinary parasitology. A cross-cutting priority for diagnostic tools is the development of pen-side tests and associated decision support tools that rapidly inform on the levels of infection and morbidity. This includes development of scalable, parasite detection using artificial intelligence for automated counting of parasitic elements and research towards establishing biomarkers using innovative molecular and proteomic methods. The aim of this review is to assess the state-of-the-art in the diagnosis of helminth infections in livestock and companion animals and presents the current advances of diagnostic methods for intestinal parasites harnessing (i) automated methods for copromicroscopy based on artificial intelligence, (ii) immunodiagnosis, and (iii) molecular- and proteome-based approaches. Regardless of the method used, multiple factors need to be considered before diagnostics test results can be interpreted in terms of control decisions. Guidelines on how to apply diagnostics and how to interpret test results in different animal species are increasingly requested and some were recently made available in veterinary parasitology for the different domestic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]