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Biomass production has been increasing steeply with rise in population across the globe. Majority of the produced biomass has been un-utilized and thrown to landfill or discarded without proper disposal. Due to production of greenhouse gasses, possible land, and groundwater contamination due to presence of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs), various countries across the globe have implemented stringent regulations or even banned landfill for waste deposition. On the other hand, depletion in available resources and ever-increasing product demand, utilization of waste to recover value added products has been need of the hour across the globe. Biomass, a low-cost and abundant nutrient resource having a tremendous potential for replacement for fossil fuels dependence. Pre-treatments like physical, chemical, and biological were applied on biomass for product specific application recovery. However, commercialization of recovered value-added products by utilizing biomass is still far from being achieved because of social unacceptability (i.e., public acceptance) due to the presence of contaminants. So, this review discusses about utilization of various pre-treatments for recovery of commodity chemicals from biomass and it addresses how the presence of TrOCs in biomass influences the recovery of products during their conversion.

Seaweed polysaccharides are compounds with promising chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic activities. In this study, polysaccharides isolated from Sargassum seaweeds were tested for their efficiency in cancer therapy. Polysaccharides were isolated, purified, and characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR); and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometric (MALDI-MS). It was found that the polysaccharides from Sargassum sp. branches are sulfated galactose-fucose disaccharides and sulfated galactose monosaccharides attached to the main chain through (1-4) linkages. Further, the polysaccharides were tested for cytotoxicity and anticancer activity against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7) using the Annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) staining method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancement in smartwatch sensors and connectivity features demands low latency communication with a wide bandwidth. ISM bands below 6 GHz are reaching a threshold. The millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum is the solution for future smartwatch applications. Therefore, a compact dual-band antenna operating at 25.5 and 38 GHz is presented here. The characteristics mode theory (CMT) aids the antenna design process by exciting Mode 1 and 2 as well as Mode 1–3 at their respective bands. In addition, the antenna structure generates two traverse modes, TM10 and TM02, at the lower and higher frequency bands. The antenna measured a bandwidth (BW) of 1.5 (25–26.5 GHz) and 2.5 GHz (37–39.5 GHz) with a maximum gain of 7.4 and 7.3 dBi, respectively. The antenna performance within the watch case (stainless steel) showed a stable |S11| with a gain improvement of 9.9 and 10.9 dBi and a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 0.063 and 0.0206 W/kg, respectively, at the lower and higher bands. The link budget analysis for various rotation angles of the watch indicated that, for a link margin of 20 dB, the antenna can transmit/receive 1 Gbps of data. However, significant fading was noticed at certain angles due to the shadowing effect caused by the watch case itself. Nonetheless, the antenna has a workable bandwidth, a high gain, and a low SAR, making it suitable for smartwatch and IoT applications.

Heart failure (HF) is a widespread cardiovascular condition that poses significant risks to a wide spectrum of age groups and leads to terminal illness. Although our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of HF has improved, the available treatments still remain inadequate. Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as crucial players in cardiac function, showing possibilities as potential targets for HF therapy. These versatile molecules interact with chromatin, proteins, RNA, and DNA, influencing gene regulation. Notable lncRNAs like Fendrr, Trpm3, and Scarb2 have demonstrated therapeutic potential in HF cases. Additionally, utilizing lncRNAs to forecast survival rates in HF patients and distinguish various cardiac remodeling conditions holds great promise, offering significant benefits in managing cardiovascular disease and addressing its far-reaching societal and economic impacts. This underscores the pivotal role of lncRNAs in the context of HF research and treatment.

In this paper, the effect of surface roughness and pressure-dependent viscosity over couple-stresses squeeze film lubrication between circular stepped plates is studied. The modified average Reynolds equation is derived for the onedimensional roughness structures, namely the radial roughness pattern and azimuthal roughness pattern. Modified equations for the nondimensional pressure, load-carrying capacity, and nondimensional squeeze film time are obtained. Also, the obtained results of our study for some special cases are compared with the previously published smooth surface case, and the results are found to be in very good agreement. It is observed that, one-dimensional azimuthal (radial) roughness pattern on the rough circular stepped plate increases (decreases) the load-carrying capacity and the squeeze film time as compared to the smooth case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“Thamira parpam” (TP), a copper-based herbometallic oxide (copper (II) oxide) nanodrug has been used in Siddha medicine for centuries because of its anti-ulcerogenic property. However, the physicochemical properties and in vivo toxicity of TP still remain elusive. Rigorous clinical translation requires deciphering these vital properties. We have synthesized TP following a gold standard protocol in the traditional Siddha methodology. We assessed the size, phase, elemental constituents, and thermal stability of TP by SEM and TEM, XRD, EPR, and EDAX analyses, respectively. The results depicted the conversion of metallic copper into copper (II) oxide in the final stages of TP preparation and exhibited nanodimensions ranging between 10 and 50 nm. The XPS spectra revealed the presence of oxygen-deficient state and a carbonaceous coating was found on the surface of TP using TEM analysis. In vivo safety was studied in rat toxicity models by adopting OECD guidelines. Body weight changes, feed, and water intake were unaltered upon TP administration. Hematological, biochemical profiling, and histopathological findings also suggested its nontoxic nature with no abnormalities in major organs and its functions. Interestingly, we found that the metal toxicity could have been subdued because of the carbonaceous coating around the nanoparticle copper (II) oxide, confirming that the drug is safe at a low dose. Overall, our study has enlightened the safety of TP supporting the use of Siddha formulations.

In this article, Ramanujan defined am,n[3], Dharmendra. B. N and S. Vasanth Kumar defined Em,n[5] for any positive real numbersm and n involving Ramanujan’s product of theta-functions. We established new relation between am,n and Em,n and explicit evaluations of Em,n.

In this study, Pleurotus dryinus was grown on municipal biosolids (BS) as the substrate to produce laccase for the removal of pesticides (fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides) from wastewater. Among the various types of BS tested, sterilized biosolids were the most promising substrate for laccase production by P. dryinus with a maximal laccase activity (162.1 ± 21.1 U/g dry substrate), followed by hygenized biosolids (96.7 ± 17.6 U/g dry substrate), unsterilized biosolids (UBS) (31.9 ± 1.2 U/g dry substrate), and alkali-treated biosolids (8.2 ± 0.4 U/g dry substrate). The ultrasound-assisted extraction of this enzyme from fermented UBS was carried out with 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 7.0, which increased the enzyme activity of the crude extract by 30%. To test the catalytic potential of the biocatalyst in real matrices, 1 U/ml of recovered crude laccase extract was applied for 24 h for the removal of 29 pesticides (nine fungicides, 10 herbicides, and 10 insecticides) either separately or as a mixture from spiked biologically treated wastewater effluent. When treated with crude enzyme extract, high-priority herbicides metolachlor and atrazine were completely removed, while 93%–97% of the insecticides aldicarb, spinosad, and azinphos-methyl and up to 91% of kresoxim-methyl were removed. Promising results were obtained with BS-derived crude enzyme extract exhibiting improved pesticides removal, which may be due to the mediator effect resulting from the catalytic transformation of other molecules in the cocktail. The results demonstrated a promising integrated bioprocess for the removal of pesticides in wastewater using crude laccase obtained from BS.

Biosolids (BS) are organic dry matter produced from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The current yearly worldwide production of BS is estimated to be around 100–125 million tons and is expected to continuously increase to around 150–200 million tons by 2025. Wastewater treatment industries across the globe strive to achieve a green and sustainable manufacturing base for the management of enormous amounts of municipal BS, which are rich in nutrients and organic dry matter along with contaminants. The management of these organic-rich wastes through environmentally friendly recovery technologies is a major challenge. The need to improve waste biomass disposal by biological development and develop more economically viable processes has led to a focus on the transformation of waste resources into value-added products (VAP). This paper assesses the leading disposal methods (based on volume and contaminant reduction) and reviews the state of biotechnological processes for VAP recovery from municipal wastewater sludge (untreated solid waste residual) and BS (stabilized solid waste which meets criteria for its use in land). A review of the anaerobic and aerobic digestion processes is presented to provide a holistic overview of this growing research field. Furthermore, the paper also sheds light on the pollutant reduction and resource recovery approaches for enzymes, bioflocculants, bioplastics, biopesticides, and biogas as a mean to represent BS as a potential opportunity for WWTPs. However, only a few technologies have been implemented for VAP resource recovery and a shift from WWTPs to waste resource recovery facilities is still far from being achieved.

ABSTRACT: The study was carried out to estimate the burden and pattern of antibiotic resistance and to identify antibiotic resistance genes with focus on ESBL producers, plasmid mediated quinolone resistance, and tetracycline efflux genes, in faecal bacterial isolates collected from poultry farms of coastal Southern Karnataka, India. High resistance to fluoroquinolones was observed with 94% Escherichia coli and 80% Klebsiella pneumoniae being resistant to both ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. All the Escherichia coli strains were resistant to tetracycline (100%). qnrB (38%) was the most common gene detected followed by qnrS (27%) and qnrA (21.5%). All Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates resistant to tetracycline harbored tetA gene. Most of the isolates in our study had high MAR indices indicating rampant use of antibiotics.

Background: Cancer that arises from epithelial cells of the esophagus is called esophagus squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and is mostly observed in developing nations. Evaluation of cancer genomes and its regulation into proteins plays a predominant role in understanding the cancer progressions. Mass-spectrometry-based proteomics is a consequential tool to estimate proteomic variation and posttranslational modifications (PTMs) from standard protein databases. Post-translational modifications play a crucial role in protein folding and PTMs can be accounted for as a biological signal to interpret the structural changes and transition order of proteins. Functional validation of cancer-related mutations can explain the effects of mutations on genes and the identification of Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Therefore, we present a study on protein variations to interpret the structural changes and transition order of proteins in ESCC carcinogenesis. Methodology: We are using a bottom-up proteomics approach with Galaxy-P framework and RNA sequence data analysis to generate the sample-specific databases containing details of RNA splicing and variant peptides. Once the database generated with information on variable modification, only the curated PTMs at specific positions are considered to perform spectral matching. Proteogenomics mapping was performed to identify protein variations in ESCC. Results: RNA-sequence proteogenomics with G-PTM (Global Post-Translational Modification) searching strategy has revealed proteomic events including several peptides that contain single amino acid variations, novel splice junction peptides and posttranslationally modified peptides. Proteogenomic mapping exhibited the splice junction peptides mapped predominantly for Malic enzyme exon type (ME-3) and MCM7 protein-coding genes that promote cancer progression, found to be exhibited in ESCC samples. Approximately 25 ± types of PTM modifications were recorded, and Protein Phosphorylation was largely noted. Conclusion: ESCC cancer prognosis at the molecular level enables a better understanding of cancer carcinogenesis and protein modifications can be used as potential biomarkers.