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In this paper, we describe the biochemical reconstitution of a cysteine salvage pathway and the biochemical characterization of each of the five enzymes involved. The salvage begins with amine acetylation of S-alkylcysteine, followed by thioether oxidation. The C–S bond of the resulting sulfoxide is cleaved using a new flavoenzyme catalytic motif to give N-acetylcysteine sulfenic acid. This is then reduced to the thiol and deacetylated to complete the salvage pathway. We propose that this pathway is important in the catabolism of alkylated cysteine generated by proteolysis of alkylated glutathione formed in the detoxification of a wide range of electrophiles.

The present work successfully establishes the degradation of metformin, an antidiabetic drug, using vortex flow-based hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and process intensification. Studies were carried out on a pilot plant (1 m3/h) and for high initial concentrations, 10–20 mg/L. Effects of intensifications using aeration and the addition of hydrogen peroxide on various process parameters were evaluated. A low degradation (3–5%) by HC at ΔPof 1 bar could be improved by process intensification using hydrogen peroxide (33%). Importantly, a very high 95% metformin degradation was obtained at pH 4 with excellent cavitational yields up to 162 × 10–5mg/J, further extending to 100% the degradation using HC+H2O2, an order of magnitude enhancement of 900%. The synergy can be drastically enhanced by process modifications. Per pass degradation enhancement was huge, 100 times, corresponding to an order of magnitude cost reduction compared to conventional hydrodynamic cavitation. The established strategy can have positive implications for industrial wastewater treatment.

Turner syndrome (TS) is the most common form of sex chromosome aneuploidy in women.Most women with TS have primary amenorrhoea, although some women with mosaic TS may have spontaneous menarche but have a significantly reduced ovarian reserve.Women with TS face higher obstetric and neonatal risks in pregnancy, and pregnancy may be contraindicated for some.Natural conception can occur in up to 8% of women with TS. For those with TS, assisted reproductive techniques using the woman's own eggs is possible for those with ovarian activity. For women with premature ovarian insufficiency, the use of donor gametes/embryos is possible, or surrogacy is an option for those with an underdeveloped uterus.Fertility preservation is possible for affected women with good ovarian reserve and offers an opportunity to achieve pregnancy when they are physically and psychologically ready. To understand the underlying pathophysiology of the impact of TS on reproductive life.To be aware of the specific risks women with TS face during pregnancy.To be able to counsel women with TS regarding their available options for parenthood. Does refusing fertility treatment to women with TS who have contraindications to pregnancy violate patient autonomy, or is it unethical to proceed with fertility treatment because it risks maternal death?Can girls with TS who have not yet reached the legal age of consent undergo oocyte freezing (if post‐pubertal) or ovarian tissue freezing (if pre‐pubertal)?

The harmful impact on the environment due to SOxemissions from fuels and increasingly strict norms over the years have amplified deep-desulfurization challenges, consequently enhancing attractiveness of adsorptive separations. The present work focuses on investigating metal modifications and process intensification using acoustic cavitation for improving sulfur removal behavior and selectivity. The proof of concept was elucidated using two model adsorbents: one commercial Shirasagi TAC adsorbent and another newer adsorbent derived from Cassia fistulabiomass. Single- and double-metal modifications were studied using zinc, cobalt, nickel, and copper. An attempt was made to further improve the sulfur removal using process intensification using acoustic cavitation coupled with adsorption. The removal of three refractory sulfur compounds (viz. thiophene, benzothiophene, and dibenzothiophene) was studied, and the performance was compared for both single- and double-metal modifications apart from process intensification. In the case of TAC, a high capacity for sulfur removal, up to 23 mg S/g, was obtained, especially for dibenzothiophene. Process intensification using cavitation coupled with adsorption further improved sulfur removal to the extent of 100%, and for metal-modified TAC, a capacity increase up to 38 mg S/g for dibenzothiophene was obtained. The results indicate that the combined effect of metal modification and process intensification can substantially improve the sulfur-removal efficiency of carbon adsorbents.

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is an effective treatment option for couples and individuals with fertility problems.A number of key steps, including pituitary downregulation, controlled ovarian stimulation, final follicular maturation trigger, oocyte retrieval, fertilisation, embryo transfer and luteal support constitute a conventional ART cycle.Individualised treatment protocols according to each couple's specific characteristics may optimise treatment outcome and reduce safety concerns.Multidisciplinary team management is essential when managing patients with complex medical and ethical issues. To learn what is meant by ART and the available evidence in managing various steps involved in an ART cycle.To appreciate the need for pituitary downregulation and understand the various downregulation protocols.To understand the importance of ovarian reserve assessment to determine the appropriate controlled ovarian stimulation protocol and to learn about the most accepted methods to monitor controlled ovarian stimulation.To understand the use of hormonal agents for luteal phase support.

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and multiple pregnancy risks are the two key complications of assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment.There appears to be no direct association between ART treatment and an increased risk of invasive cancer in infertile women, but there may be a small increased risk of borderline ovarian tumours.There is suggestive, yet unconvincing, evidence that ART treatment may increase several risks, including childhood cancer risk to children.A slight increase in the risk of some adverse perinatal outcomes following ART treatment may be caused by the underlying fertility problem.Female age, ovarian reserve markers and previous obstetric history are the best predictors of ART success.Currently, there is insufficient evidence to recommend the routine use of some of the interventions to improve reproductive outcome. To have an overview of different iatrogenic complications for women undergoing ART and the child or children born following ART treatment.To understand the evidence‐based synopsis of factors affecting ART success.To appreciate the limited or conflicting nature of available evidence for certain interventions used to maximise ART treatment outcome. Should ART treatment be offered to older women?What are the long‐term safety implications of some of the ‘adjuvants’ used to improve ART success?

AbstractWastewaters from chemical fertilizer industry mainly contain organics, alcohols, ammonia, nitrates, phosphorous, heavy metals such as cadmium and suspended solids. The nature of effluent streams varies in terms of its constituents and complexity. The present work attempts to fill the void in the literature that mostly reports synthetic wastewater treatment studies, by evaluating effluent treatment solutions and comparison of different methods for real wastewaters from the fertilizer industry. An attempt has been made to devise suitable methodology mainly using a new device in the form of vortex diode for hydrodynamic cavitation and also using adsorption, for several real wastewater streams from different locations in one major fertilizer industry of Maharashtra, India. The strategy involved characterization of wastewaters, studies on the effective removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and devising solutions for effective reduction in ammoniacal nitrogen—a more serious issue in the fertilizer industry. The characterization of wastewaters from different streams revealed huge variation in COD from 50 to 140,000 ppm and ammoniacal nitrogen from 6 to 1,700 ppm. Some effluent streams contained alcohol up to 5%. Hydrodynamic cavitation using vortex diode and adsorption with modified carbons were used to treat these streams. Cavitation studies were carried out on a pilot plant and the effect of pressure drop, cavitating device and process intensification were studied. It was observed that the effluent treatment strategy requires careful identification and application of suitable treatment method on the basis of the nature of the effluent. Also, hydrodynamic cavitation, using vortex diode appears to be techno-economically attractive option in treating fertilizer wastewaters giving a very high reduction in COD and ammoniacal nitrogen (up to 85%), similar to adsorption. The results clearly identify potential of newer methodologies in the treatment of effluents in the fertilizer industry.

The masonry arch bridges are treated as a separate class of structures for the structural assessment. Till date a number of methods for the assessment of masonry arch bridges exist but every method has got its own limitations of use, and none of them are generally accepted. Among the problems of development of such an approach, the problem of selection of a suitable failure criterion for the prediction of the collapse load is critical. The interaction of the axial force and the moments play a key role in the failure of arch bridges. In view of this experimentally investigated results of the axial force moment interaction are reported here, along with the implementation of the same through a developed FORTRAN program for the prediction of load carrying capacity of the masonry arch bridges. The application of the method has been demonstrated on the bridges tested in field, and the load carrying capacity has been compared with the other available methods of the assessment as reported in the literature.