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Cobalt oxide nanoparticles (Co3O4-NPs) and cobalt sulfide nanoparticles (Co9S8-NPs) have shown extensive potential in electrochemical sensing, catalysis, specific drug targeting, and resonance imaging. However, Co9S8-NPs have been rarely explored for biomedical applications as compared to their oxide counterparts. Thus, in the current study, biocompatible PEGylated Co9S8-NPs and Co3O4-NPs are explored and compared for biological and photocatalytic properties. PEGylation of both the NPs is achieved using a simple chemical co-precipitation method followed by characterization using UV visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and pH-responsive dispersion study. After thorough characterization, the NPs are evaluated and compared for various biological applications including antibacterial, antifungal, antileishmanial, antioxidant, and biocompatibility as well as photo-catalytic dye degradation studies. Both the NPs have shown excellent biological applications; however, Co9S8-NPs exhibit comparatively better antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant properties except antileishmanial potential where Co3O4-NPs show slight superiority. Furthermore, Co3O4-NPs indicate a higher degradation potential of methylene blue (MB) up to 46.93%. In comparison, Co9S8-NPs have a degradation ability of up to 42%, at 20 mg/ml within 3 h, which indicates considerable remediation potential of the NPs. Interestingly, both the NPs exhibit non-hemolytic behavior, thus demonstrating a compatible and bio-safe nature of both the NPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiative balance, local climate, and human health are all significantly influenced by aerosol. Recent severe air pollution over Lahore, a city in Pakistan calls for more thorough research to determine the negative impacts brought on by too many aerosols. To study regional aerosol characteristics and their differences from various aspects, in-depth and long-term (2007–2020) investigations of the columnar aerosol properties over the urban environment of Lahore were carried out by using AERONET data. The Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD400) and Angstrom Exponent (AE400–870) vary from low values of 0.10 to a maximum value of 4.51 and from 0.03 to 1.81, respectively. The huge differences in the amount of AOD440 as well as AE440–870 show the large fluctuation of aerosol classes because of various sources of their emission. During the autumn and winter seasons, the decreasing trend of the optical parameters of aerosols like Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) and Asymmetry Parameter (ASY) with increasing wavelength from 675 to 1020 nm indicates the dominance of light-absorbing aerosols (biomass burning (BB) and industrial/urban (UI). Due to the long-distance dust movement during spring, summer, and autumn, coarse mode particles predominated in Lahore during the study period. Dust type (DD) aerosols are found to be the dominant one during spring (46.92%), summer (54.31%), and autumn (57.46%) while urban industry (BB/UI) was dominant during the winter season (53.21%). During each season, the clean continental (CC) aerosols are found to be in negligible amounts, indicating terrible air quality in Lahore City. The present research work fills up the study gap in the optical properties of aerosols in Lahore and will help us understand more fully how local aerosol fluctuation affects regional climate change over the urban environment of Lahore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa belongs to the family Rutaceae is generally known as "bael fruit tree" occuring across the south Asian countries. The current investigation screened the main derivatives from crude ethanolic extracts of the Bael tree leaf and evaluated activity effects on the larvae and adults of Aedes aegypti (L.) Dengue vector mosquito and a non-target aquatic predator. The GC-MS results showed that the peak area was found to be profound in N-methyl-1-adamantaneacetamide (N-M 1a) followed by oleic acid (OA) with 63.08 and 11.43% respectively. The larvicidal activity against the fourth instar larvae and the crude Ex-Am showed prominent mortality rate (93.60%) at the maximum dosage of 100 ppm. The mortality rate of N-M 1a and OA was occurred at 10 ppm (97.73%) and 12 ppm (95.4%). The repellent activity was found to be prominent at crude Ex-Am (50 ppm) as compared to the pure compounds (N-m 1a and OA) with maximum protection time up to 210 min. The non-target screening of Ex-Am, N-M 1a, and OA on mosquito predator Tx. splendens showed that they are scarcely toxic even at the maximum dosage of 1000 ppm (34.13%), 100 ppm (27.3%), and 120 ppm (31.3%) respectively. Thus, the present investigation clearly proved that the crude Ex-Am and their major derivatives Nm 1-a and OA showed their acute larval toxicity as well as potential mosquito repellent against the dengue mosquito and eco-safety against the mosquito predator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Seaweeds harbour a wide array of bioactive compounds shown to be effective in support of sustainable agricultural practices. The green seaweed Chaetomorpha antennina found in abundance in coastal areas of India has been reported with various bioactivities. Owing to the requirement of alternative and economical natural pest control method to be applied in sustainable agronomic strategies, the current study attempts to evaluate the efficacy of chemical toxins from C. antennina, as insecticidal agents, by inspecting their effects on the physiology, biochemistry, immune system, and histology of one of the most important insect pests of agricultural crops in the Asian tropics, the polyphagous lepidopteran Spodoptera litura. Results: The active fraction 5 isolated from C. antennina using methanol extraction produced significant mortality rates of S. litura among all the other fractions obtained. GC–MS analysis revealed the presence of various pesticide compounds. The toxin compounds (active fraction 5) were found to negatively influence the pest's immune system performance at sub-lethal concentrations (LC50 38.73and LC90 53.60 ppm), affecting insect development, reducing the haemocyte count (69.24%) and reduced the activity of major defence enzyme phenoloxidase decreased post-treatments. Digestive phosphatase enzymes, acid phosphatase, ACP, alkaline phosphatase, ALP, and ATPase were demodulated by 37.5, 39, and 23.9% compared with untreated. Increase in detoxification enzymes coupled with mid-gut collapse are indicative of the toxicity of the compounds. Earthworms exposed to seaweed compounds displayed no debarring effects. Conclusion: Extracted seaweed compounds produced significant lethal effect on the insect larvae, affecting the immune as well as digestive systems of the pest. However, no such toxicity was observed in earthworms treated with the seaweed fraction supporting their environmentally benign nature. Since the insect immune system is responsible for the development of resurgence against pesticides, suppression of immunological activities by seaweed toxins indicate the long-term applicability of these compounds as prospective pesticides. The results support the potential of chemicals from C. antennina for biopesticide development to manage economically important agricultural pests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation was done for the assurance of potassium amassing in four assortments of maize (grains, shoot and root), soil, and water and in seven tissues of chickens (kidney, liver, heart, bone, gizzard, breast meat). The analysis of variance showed significant differences for potassium concentration in water in all sources of water; however, the season and variety significantly influenced the quantity of potassium in cereals. The corn varieties MMRI, Sadaf, and Pearl behaved differently when treated with water from various sources. Water taken from sewage had a higher concentration of potassium compared to canal and groundwater that is why the maize plants irrigated with this water had a higher grouping. Data regarding potassium concentration in different body parts of chicken showed that season and treatment have a significant effect on the potassium concentration in chicken organs. The variety was non-significant for the potassium concentration only in the bone. Season × Variety interaction was only significant in blood, meat heart, and gizzard. Season × Treatment and Variety × Treatment interactions were significant in the heart, kidney, and gizzard. The potassium contents were higher in the chicken body parts that were reared on grains irrigated with sewage water as compared to other groups. The potassium contents were higher in the chicken meat (96.23 ± 0.00) reared on grains of the Pearl variety raised with the sewage water. In a nutshell, the irrigation of grains with sewage water led to accumulation of nutrients greater than those irrigated with ground or canal water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instant endeavor was undertaken to monitor copper (Cu) contents in water, soil, forage, and cow's blood impacted by heavy automobiles in Sahiwal town of district Sargodha, Pakistan. The samples were collected in triplicates with a total of 120 soil and water samples with corresponding forage samples. For the analysis of metal concentration in cows, 60 blood samples were collected from the cows feeding on these forages on selected sites. Metal contents were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results showed that water samples contained mean values of Cu concentration ranged from 1.01 to 0.444 mg/kg at all sites. It was maximum at site 3 and minimum at site 6. The soil samples of all the forage fields showed Cu mean values concentration ranged from 1.94 to 0.286 mg/kg at all sites. It was maximum in Trifolium alexandrinum grown field at site 2, and minimum in Avena sativa at site 2. All the forage samples showed the mean value of Cu concentration ranged from 0.151 to 1.86 mg/kg at all sites. The concentration of Cu was maximum in Zea mays grown at site 5 and minimum in Trifolium alexandrinum at site 4. The cow blood samples showed the mean concentration of Cu ranged from 1.368 to 0.53 mg/kg at all sites. It was maximum at site 2 and minimum at site 6. Owing to the results of pollution index and transfer factors, metal content was found to be in permissible range in forages as well as animal samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dry matter partitioning is the product of the flow of assimilates from the source organs (leaves and stems) along the transport route to the storage organs (grains). A 2-year field experiment was conducted at the agronomy research farm of the University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan during 2015–2016 (Y1) to 2016–2017 (Y2) having semiarid climate. Four summer crops, pearl millet (Pennisetum typhoidum L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) and pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) and four winter crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), fababean (Vicia faba) and rapeseed (Brassica napus) were grown under two irrigation regimes (full vs. limited irrigation) with the pattern of growing each crop either alone as sole crop or in combination of two crops in each intercropping system under both winter and summer seasons. The result showed that under full irrigated condition (no water stress), all crops had higher crop growth rate (CGR), leaf dry weight (LDW), stem dry weight (SDW), and spike/head dry weight (S/H/PDW) at both anthesis and physiological maturity (PM) than limited irrigated condition (water stress). In winter crops, both wheat and barley grown as sole crop or intercropped with fababean produced maximum CGR, LDW, SDW, S/H/PDW than other intercrops. Among summer crops, sorghum intercropped either with pigeon pea or with mungbean produced maximum CGR, LDW, SDW, and S/H/PDW at both growth stages. Sole mungbean and pigeon pea or pigeon pea and mungbean intercropping had higher CGR, LDW, SDW, S/H/PDW than millet and sorghum intercropping. On the other hand, wheat and barley grown as sole crops or intercropped with fababean produced maximum CGR, LDW, SDW, and S/H/PDW than other intercrops. Fababean grown as sole crop or intercropped with wheat produced higher CGR, LDW, SDW, and S/H/PDW at PM than intercropped with barley or rapeseed. From the results it was concluded that cereal plus legume intercropping particularly wheat/fababean in winter and sorghum/pigeon pea or sorgum/mungbean in summer are the most productive intercropping systems under both low and high moisture regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-temperature synthesis of the graphene oxide–wrapped perovskite-type strontium titanate nanocomposites (GO@SrTiO3-NC) is reported for the electrochemical sensing of organochlorine pesticide 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) detection. The as-prepared GO@SrTiO3 nanocomposites provide a large surface area, excellent conductivity, and active sites, which are more favorable to the catalysis of TCP. The synergistic effect between the GO and the perovskite SrTiO3 results in the extended working range of 0.01 to 1.47 and 1.47 to 434.4 μM with a very low detection limit of 3.21 nM towards TCP detection. Moreover, the prepared sensor possessed good selectivity and long-term stability. Finally, the practical applicability of the sensor was tested in environmental samples of river water and soil, exhibiting adequate recovery values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-performance imipramine (IMPR) sensor has been developed based on metal chalcogenide-carbon composite materials. The antimony telluride-graphite nanofiber (Sb2Te3-GNF, hereafter SBT-GNF) composite was synthesized by the hydrothermal method and confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) pattern. The morphology, crystalline lattice, and chemical states were characterized by HRTEM, SAED, and XPS analysis. The characterizations confirmed the formation of an effective composite, SBT-GNF. The SBT-GNF was fabricated as a disposable sensor electrode with a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) and examined for the detection of IMPR by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The electroanalytical results of SBT-GNF are compared with the SBT and GNF, and the rational design of effective composite is discussed. SBT-GNF/SPCE showed a good linear range (0.01‑51.8 μM), sensitivity (1.35 ± 0.1 μA μM−1 cm−2), and low LOD (4 ± 2 nM). Moreover, the SBT-GNF/SPCE revealed high selectivity and high tolerance limit against potential interfering compounds in blood serum and urine samples. Therefore, this electrochemical sensor can be applicable for the detection of tricyclic antidepressant drug IMPR in clinical and pharmaceutical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrene, a toxic four-benzene-ring that persists in the ecosystem, is highly resistant to degradation. The goal of the research is to screen, isolate, and identify pyrene-degrading filamentous fungi via the molecular biological identification method. The capabilities of identified isolates in biodegradation and transformation of pyrene were also evaluated. Based on the morphological characterization and sequence alignments, results of neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree from 18S rRNA of F03 revealed that genetic similarity had achieved 99% of homology percentage and identified as Trichoderma sp. Trichoderma sp. F03 was able to degrade pyrene (78%) when culture conditions were set at 100 mg/L initial pyrene concentration in culture medium with pH 5 at 27 °C, the use of glucose as a carbon source and polyethylene glycol sorbitan monooleate as a biosurfactant without agitation. Finally, three metabolites, benzoic acid, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, and acetic acid, were detected during the pyrene degradation process by using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GCMS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to environmental concern, the research to date has tended to focus on how textile dye removal can be carried out in a greener manner. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the decolorization and biotransformation pathway of Mordant Orange-1 (MO-1) by Cylindrocephalum aurelium RY06 (C. aurelium RY06). Decolorization study was conducted in a batch experiment including the investigation of the effects of physio-chemical parameters. Enzymatic activity of C. aurelium RY06 during the decolorization was also investigated. Moreover, transformation and biodegradation of MO-1 by C. aurelium RY06 were observed using the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Manganese peroxidase, lignin peroxidase, laccase, 1,2-dioxygenase, and 2,3-dioxygenase enzymes were detected during the decolorization. In general, the present work concluded that the MO-1 was successfully degraded by C. aurelium RY06 and transformed to be maleic acid and to be isophtalic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic aromatics hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous and toxic pollutants that are dangerous to humans and living organism in aquatic environment. Normally, PAHs has lower molecular weight such as phenanthrene and naphthalene that are easy and efficient to degrade, but high-molecular-weight PAHs such as chrysene and pyrene are difficult to be biodegraded by common microorganism. This study investigated the isolation and characterization of a potential halophilic bacterium capable of utilizing two high-molecular-weight PAHs. At the end of the experiment (25–30 days of incubation), bacterial counts have reached a maximum level (over 40 × 1016 CFU/mL). The highest biodegradation rate of 77% of chrysene in 20 days and 92% of pyrene in 25 days was obtained at pH 7, temperature 25 °C, agitation of 150 rpm and Tween 80 surfactant showing to be the most impressive parameters for HMWPAHs biodegradation in this research. The metabolism of initial compounds revealed that Hortaea sp. B15 utilized pyrene to form phthalic acid while chrysene was metabolized to form 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid. The result showed that Hortaea sp. B15 can be promoted for the study of in situ biodegradation of high molecular weight PAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we systematically reported the capability of T. harzianum RY44 for decolorization of Mordant orange-1. The fungi strains were isolated from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia tropical rain forest. For initial screening, the decolorization was conducted using 50 strains of the fungi for 20 days incubation time and the best performance was selected. Then, the decolorization capability and fungal biomass were evaluated using different dye concentrations, namely, 0, 50, 75 and 100 ppm. Effects of the carbon sources (fructose, glucose, and galactose), nitrogen sources (ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate and yeast extract), surfactant (tween 80), aromatic compounds (benzoic acid, catechol and salicylic acid), and pH on the decolorization efficiency were examined. This study has found that the employed carbon sources, nitrogen sources, and aromatic compounds strongly enhance the decolorization efficiency. In addition, increasing the surfactant volume and pH generally decreased the decolorization efficiencies from 19.5 to 9.0% and 81.7 to 60.5%, respectively. In the mechanism philosophy, the present work has found that Mordant orange-1 were initially degraded by T. harzianum RY44 to benzoic acid and finally transformed into salicylic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The online version of the original article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14021-2 A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14021-2 B Correction to: Environ Sci Pollut Res b https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14021-2 We extend our appreciation to the Researchers supporting project number (RSP-2021/193), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for funding this work. Publisher's note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. [Extracted from the article]

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13137-9 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are considerably high toxic, and have bioaccumulation potential and chronic adverse impact on both wildlife and human. This study focuses on the fate and metabolic degradation, which is the potential to be more efficient, economic, and safe compared to the aforementioned conventional methods. By these positive attributes, the present work then investigates the capability of newly isolated pathogenic yeast Pichia kluyveri FM012 for biodegradation of DDT in aquatic culture. Pichia kluyveri FM012 mycelia were cultured in a mineral liquid medium consisting of the solution of DDT (40 mg/l) with some experimental conditions such as the initial pH of the culture (5–8), agitation speed (0–150 rpm), and various carbon and nitrogen sources. The highest biodegradation of DDT by Pichia kluyveri FM012 was shown in the culture with pH 5 and 150 rpm agitation. Moreover, the use of glucose and yeast offers the best performance for the degradation compared to other carbon and nitrogen sources. The highest enzyme activity during the decolorization process was dioxygenase. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and GC-MS profile showed that the transformation of DDT has occurred. The present DDE and DDD as metabolites of DDT were confirmed by GCMS at a retention time of 17.8 and 16.6 min. The outcomes of this study have several important implications for future practice, for instance in providing an alternative biodegradation agent to remove some organochlorine pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This aim of the study is to investigate a halophilic bacterium Hortaea sp. B15, isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil for biodegradation of phenanthrene. Hortaea sp. B15 has the ability to completely degrade phenanthrene (100 mg/L) under salinity 10% within 1-week incubation. The metabolitic product of phenanthrene was identified and assayed by using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer and mass spectral analysis. Result revealed that Hortaea sp. B15 metabolized phenanthrene to form 9,10-phenanthrene quinone, salicylic acid, and gentisic acid. Hortaea sp. B15 has an efficient utilization of phenanthrene in high-saline liquid medium. All the results indicated that the fungus has a promising application for the study of high-molecular-weight PAH biodegradation and contaminated saline-alkali soil bioremediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of manganese diselenide nanoparticles (MnSeNPs) was synthesized by using a hydrothermal method. Their surface morphology, crystallinity and elemental distribution were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy which scrutinize the formation of the NPs. The NPs were coated on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry were applied to study the electroanalytical properties towards the oxidation of the food additive capsaicin. The modified GCE displays lower charge transfer resistance (Rct = 29.52 Ω), a larger active surface area (0.089 cm2/g, and more efficient electrochemical oxidation of capsaicin compared to a MnS2/GCE and a bare GCE. The oxidation peak potential is 0.43 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) which is lower than that of previously reported GCEs. The sensor has a detection limit as low as 0.05 μM and an electrochemical sensitivity of 2.41 μA μM−1 cm−2. The method was applied to the determination of capsaicin in pepper samples.Electrochemical determination of capsaicin in pepper extract by using MnSeNPs modified electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]