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Zeolitic Imidazolate (metal organic) Frameworks (ZIFs) and Prussian Blue Analogues (PBAs) are promising materials in electrochemical sensing due to their unique properties. In this study, a composite material comprising NiFe-PBA and ZIF-67 was synthesized and made to form a uniform layer onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to enhance electrochemical performance for furazolidone (FZD) detection. The synthesized NiFe-PBA/ZIF-67 composite exhibited excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and stability towards FZD detection, with a low limit of detection (LOD). The electrochemical behaviour of FZD on the NiFe-PBA/ZIF-67/GCE electrode was investigated, revealing a diffusion-controlled process. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) analysis demonstrated the synergetic effect of the PBA/MOF core-shell structure in enhancing FZD electro-reduction. The sensor exhibited exceptional LOD of 0.007 μM. Selectivity studies confirmed the sensor's ability to distinguish FZD from potential interferents. Extensive evaluations demonstrated the sensor's reproducibility, repeatability, and long-term stability, affirming its practical utility. Real sample analysis further validated the sensor's excellent analytical capabilities in diverse matrices., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The cultivation of forage crops on wastewater-irrigated soils, while common in many developing countries, poses significant risks due to heavy metal pollution, particularly Lead (Pb) and Nickel (Ni). This practice, aimed at addressing water scarcity challenges and providing affordable irrigation, was investigated for its ecological and human health implications across three diverse sites (site A, site B, and site C). Our study unveiled increases in Pb concentrations in contaminated soil, cultivated with Sesbania bispinosa showing the highest Pb accumulation. The Ni concentrations ranged from 5.34 to 10.43 across all forage crop samples, with S. fruticosa from site C displaying the highest Ni concentration and S. bicolor from site A exhibiting the lowest. Trace element concentrations in the specimens were determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The Pb levels in the blood, hair, and feces of farm ruminants (cows, buffaloes, and sheep) varied across the sites, with buffaloes consistently displaying the highest Pb levels. Insights into daily Pb intake by ruminant's highlighted variations influenced by plant species, animal types, and sites, with site C, the cows exhibiting the highest Health Risk Index (HRI) associated with lead exposure from consuming forage crops. Soil and forage samples showed Pb concentrations ranging from 8.003 to 12.29 mg/kg and 6.69-10.52 mg/kg, respectively, emphasizing the severe health risks associated with continuous sewage usage. Variations in Ni concentrations across animal blood, hair, and feces samples underscored the importance of monitoring Ni exposure in livestock, with sheep at site B consistently showing the highest Ni levels. These findings highlight the necessity of vigilance in monitoring trace element (Pb and Ni) exposure in forage crops and livestock, to mitigate potential health risks associated with their consumption, with variations dependent on species, site, and trace element concentrations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The medicinal Dendrobium species of Orchidaceae possess significant pharmaceutical value, and modern pharmacological research has shown that Dendrobium contains many important active ingredients. Alkaloids, the crucial components of medicinal Dendrobium, demonstrate beneficial healing properties in cardiovascular, cataract, gastrointestinal, and respiratory diseases. Members of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP) gene family play essential roles in alkaloid synthesis, participating in alkaloid terpene skeleton construction and subsequent modifications. Although studies of the CYP family have been conducted in some species, genome-wide characterization and systematic analysis of the CYP family in medicinal Dendrobium remain underexplored. In this study, we identified CYP gene family members in the genomes of four medicinal Dendrobium species recorded in the Pharmacopoeia: D. nobile, D. chrysotoxum, D. catenatum, and D. huoshanense. Further, we analyzed the motif composition, gene replication events, and selection pressure of this family. Syntenic analysis revealed that members of the clan 710 were present on chromosome 18 in three medicinal Dendrobium species, except for D. nobile, indicating a loss of clan 710 occurring in D. nobile. We also conducted an initial screening of the CYP genes involved in alkaloid synthesis through transcriptome sequencing. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR showed that the expression of DnoNew43 and DnoNew50, homologs of secologanin synthase involved in the alkaloid synthesis pathway, was significantly higher in the stems than in the leaves. This result coincided with the distribution of dendrobine content in Dendrobium stems and leaves, indicating that these two genes might be involved in the dendrobine synthesis pathway. Our results give insights into the CYP gene family evolution analysis in four medicinal Dendrobium species for the first time and identify two related genes that may be involved in alkaloid synthesis, providing a valuable resource for further investigations into alkaloid synthesis pathway in Dendrobium and other medicinal plants., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that may have influenced the work reported in this study., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The main aim of this study was to assess the presence of microplastics in the water and sediments of the Surakarta city river basin in Indonesia. In order to accurately reflect the river basin, a deliberate selection process was employed to choose three separate sampling locations and twelve sampling points. The results of the study revealed that fragments and fibers were the primary types of microplastics seen in both water and sediment samples. Furthermore, a considerable percentage of microplastics, comprising 53.8 % of the total, had dimensions below 1 mm. Moreover, the prevailing hues identified in the water samples were blue and black, comprising 45.1 % of the overall composition. In contrast, same color categories accounted for 23.3 % of the microplastics found in the soil samples. The analysis of microplastic polymers was carried out utilizing ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, which yielded the identification of various types including polystyrene, silicone polymer, polyester, and polyamide., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

In this present research, we succeeded in synthesizing nanostructured silver particles (NS-AgPs) using bio active agent present in the leaf extracts of Cleome gynandra (CG) under green synthesis. While adding silver nitrate (AgNO 3 ) solution in green extracts of CG leaf containing bio compound, the mixture turns from yellow to reddish brown, as a consequence of existence of nanostructured silver particles (NS-AgPs) and later UV instrument is used to obtain the Ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) spectra to confirm existing nanostructured silver particles (NS-AgPs) in aqueous solutions (synthesized sample). To confirm existing functional groups in NS-AgPs, the fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study is carried throughout this research. The scanning and tunneling of wave like nature of electrons passing through powdered NS-AgPs sample gives Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images respectively, which are carried out to find out the 2-dimensional size and shape distribution of NS-AgPs. Further dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential studies are used to confirm the size and good stability of NS-AgPs respectively. It is evident that NS-AgPs exhibits a strong toxic activity against microorganism and to confirm this mechanism the antibacterial (against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) study is carried out., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

During the decomposition of trashes, leachate is created and leaching is gradually pollutes the surface and groundwater. Thus, the most severe ecological impact is the risk of ground water pollution because of collection of leachate from unlined insecure landfills. Due to the low biodegradable organic strength, irregular productivity and composition, the environmentally neglected landfill leachate treatment is challenging. This work was conducted on a synthetically effective bimetallic surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) nanosensor by gold/silver-bimetallic nanoparticles (Au/Ag-NPs), and used for the specific detection of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill leachate in groundwater. The optical study of Au/Ag-NPs led to reflections from Ag cores and small Au shells. The structural studies represent the FCC structure of Au/Ag-NPs. The core-shell nanocrevice NPs with particle size of 23 nm played an important role with plasmonic behaviour enhances the electromagnetic excitation to achieve SERS detection and plasmonic photocatalysis. Thus, obtained results clearly show that Au was successfully added to Ag-NPs, and its existence can also be confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDAX). The prepared SERS based sensors have the potential to detect aromatic hydrocarbon, pesticides and heavy metals from environmentally ignored MSW landfill leachate. In general, the application of this new synergetic strategy of the photocatalytic degradation of leachate was irradiated by visible wavelength with the rate constant of 0.0036/min, 0.0047/min and 0.005/min by Ag-NPs, Au-NPs and Au/Ag-NPs respectively. Overall, this is the only study achieved efficiently with photocatalytic degradation and SERS detection of environmentally ignored real sample (leachate) to make pollutant free homeland aquifers., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and AuNPs functionalized by β-cyclodextrin (β-CD/AuNPs) were prepared successfully through chemical reduction method. The structural, morphological, optical, compositional and vibrational studies for the AuNPs and β-CD/AuNPs were carried out. Functionalization of AuNPs by β-CD was confirmed with FT-IR results. The UV-visible absorption spectra exhibit a red-shift with decreasing average particle size. This sustains the enhancement in surface area (SA) to volume (V) ratio that is one of the peculiar characteristics of nanoparticles. TEM results show that β-CD/AuNPs formed were monodispersed and self assembled. Also it shows a decrease in average particle size and improved distribution. The use of β-CD in the synthesis of AuNPs are revealed not only create uniform small sized nanoparticles but these water soluble nanoparticles have very good antibacterial action by inhibiting the growth of bacteria commonly found in water and sensing activity for sensing the concentration of toxic metals in water. The sensitivity of the system towards copper (Cu) concentration was found as 1.788/mM for β-CD/AuNPs and 1.333/mM for AuNPs. The photocatalytic action of the obtained nanoparticles increases with decreasing average particle size. The k app value of this photocatalytic degradation of textile dyeing waste water in presence of AuNPs was 0.002/min and β-CD/AuNPs was 0.005/min. This is a non-toxic and eco-friendly approach., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Heterostructured transition metal oxide hybrid have more attention in energy saving and environmental related field due to their higher electro-catalytic activity. In this work, we demonstrated SnO decorated with NiO nanocrystal electrocatalyst is successfully synthesized through solvothermal method and well characterized by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Physical characterizations confirm that spherical shape of SnO nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed on the surface of NiO. The kinetic study of catalytic performance towards urea oxidation reaction were measured by liner sweep voltammetry and chronoamprometry. As proposed catalyst to facilitate the rate of urea oxidation reaction can increase by SnO doped NiO catalyst. The urea oxidation on SnO-NiO nanostructured modified electrode exhibits lower onset potential of 1.12 V and enhancement of current with tafel slope of 150 mV dec -1 . The obtained results demonstrated the synthesized SnO-NiO anode material could be promising electrode for urea-rich containing wastewater remediation and hydrogen production from wastewater., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In the present study, Allium cepa leaf extract was utilized to reduce the silver nitrate into the nanoscale range of silver ions (Ag NPs). The biosynthesized Ag NPs were extensively characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Dynamic light scattering analysis (DLS), UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The antioxidant activity of synthesized Ag NPs was verified by DPPH assay. From the results obtained from XRD and DLS studies, the size of Ag NPs was determined to be around 54.3 nm. The measured zeta potential value of -19.1 mV confirms the excellent stability of biosynthesized Ag NPs. TEM analyses reveal that the biosynthesized Ag NPs have a spherical structure of 13 nm in size. The presence of various functional groups was confirmed through FTIR studies and EDAX verifies the weight percentage of silver content in biosynthesized nanoparticles to be 30.33%. In the present study, anti-cancer activity was carried out by using breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Further, silver nanoparticles exhibited antimicrobial effectiveness against gram-positive Bacillus cereus and gram-negative Escherichia coli. The MTT assay also showed better cytotoxic activity against the MCF- 7 cell line., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Biofilm forming ability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa make them vulnerable, because it makes them recalcitrant against various antibiotics. Quorum sensing (QS) is cell density based signaling that helps in bacterial cell-cell communication, which regulated various virulence factors such as pigment and biofilm formation that contribute in the establishment of chronic infections. The interruption of QS is one of the effective approach to control various virulence factors. Present study was intended with the aim to authenticate antibiofilm potential in different solvents based extracts of selected medicinal plant species viz. Berginia ciliata, Clematis grata and Clematis viticella traditionally used by the inhabitants of Himalayan region of Pakistan to treat various pathogenic diseases. P. aeruginosa PAO1, an opportunistic pathogen and involves in various life-threatening infections specifically in immune deficient patients was used as a model pathogen., Methods: Plants were extracted in various organic (ethanol, methanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, hexane, chloroform) as well as in aqueous solvents and their ability to inhibit biofilm was measured. Biofilm of PAO1 was grown in Jensen's medium while growing at 30°C and crystal violet assay was performed to assess the biofilm inhibiting activity of plant extracts., Results: Solvents play a vital role in extraction of plant components and it was found that the plants in various solvents exhibit different activity against the PAO1 biofilm. Comparatively, 1% methanolic extract of B. ciliata (rhizome with skin), showed more than 80% inhibition of biofilm formation without effecting on the growth of the bacterium. Significant correlation between flavonoids content and antibiofilm activity in methanolic extract revealed the contribution of secondary metabolites in P. aeruginosa (PAO1) biofilm inhibition., Conclusion: Our study revealed that plants under investigation more specifically B. ciliata could be a potential candidate for drug discovery to treat P. aeruginosa PAO1, induced infectious diseases especially for its biofilm treatment., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: The interaction of specially designed nanoparticles with proteins is the basis of formation of a nanoparticle-protein corona. Silver nanoparticles and molecules have been used in many fields due to their strong antimicrobial activity against pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast and fungi. E. coli is a Gram-negative bacteria that has the genome completely sequenced and determined majority of its protein 3D structures. Nitrate Reductase A is a cellular protein often found in many bacteria that uses nitrate as an electron acceptor during anaerobic growth. The enzyme is composed of three different chains α, β and γ, all having properties of metal binding regions and domains., Methods: Bioinformatics tools were used to investigate the structure, domains, interactomes, and docking sites of E. coli Nitrate Reductase A in order to predict the possible site of interaction of silver nitrate AgNO 3 with the protein. The 3D structure of the NAR A protein was predicted with the Phyre2 protein modeling software. The generated structures from Phyre2 were validated and evaluated by analysis of Ramachandran plots using RAMPAGE online software. To understand the evolutionary relationships between the subunits of Nitrate Reductase A, a phylogenetic tree was constructed using Phylogeny.fr., Results: All cysteine and histidine residues in amino acid sequences were identified; 3D structure of subunits predicted together with Ramachandran plots, and the electrostatic potential was computed using various bioinformatics tools. The reactive cationic property of silver ion leads to attachment to specific anionic regions and active sites of the three subunits causing in many prokaryotic cells deactivation of nitrate reductase. Obtained results showed the possible sites of attachment of silver ions and their reactivity with domains that have metal bonding properties. In silico analysis of silver nanoparticles and nitrate reductase is helpful to treat various infections diseases caused by E. coli., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

We have reported an effective electrochemical sensor for assorted pesticide (i.e., Fenitrothion). Exact tracking of these pesticides has become more important for protecting the environment and food resources owing to their high toxicity. Hence, the development of compatible sensors for the real-time detection of pesticides is imperative to overcome practical limitations encountered in conventional methodologies. In this regard, the role of the novel, advanced functional materials such as niobium carbide (NbC) supported on molybdenum nanoparticles (NbC@Mo) has drawn great consideration in conventional sensory systems because of their numerous advantages over other nanomaterials. The nanocomposite was characterized by XRD, XPS, HR-TEM, and EIS. Under optimized working conditions, the modified electrode NbC@Mo/SPCE responds linearly as 0.01-1889 μM concentration range and the detection limit is 0.15 nM. Most importantly, the method was successfully demonstrated in fruit samples., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)