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For accurate and reliable analysis of microplastics (MPs) in wastewater (WW), it is imperative to comprehend the significance of pre-treating WW before analysis. The suspended solids (SS) in the matrix tend to adhere to the MPs during filtration, which interferes with the detection of the MPs. In this regard, the present study aims to develop and optimize a pretreatment method to improve the extraction efficiency of MPs from WW by reducing the SS. A combination of the Fenton reaction and ultrasonication, ferro-sonication (Fe-UlS), was proposed to digest and eliminate the SS from WW. This hybrid pretreatment, Fe-UlS, was optimized for ultrasonication amplitude, treatment time, and hydrogen peroxide dose using response surface methodology (RSM) with a Box-Behnken design, achieving a desirability of 0.984. The optimum conditions for the Fe-UlS, such as the (1:1) Fenton reagent ratio (0.05 M FeSO 4 : 30 % H 2 O 2 ), ultrasonication amplitude (31 %), and total process time (30 min) were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). The developed method was then employed for the extraction of spiked polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) MPs in real WW and found efficient in removing 83 % of the TSS present in the primary influent were in 30 min at a temperature of 45 °C. Also, the method did not affect the physio-chemical characteristics of the MPs; however, the thermal analysis of PE and PP MPs showed a statistically significant decrease in the melting temperature, as proven by paired t-test analysis. Further, a non-targeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis proved that Fe-UlS is a stable process, as it did not cause any leaching of MPs under the optimum pretreatment conditions. Finally, Laser Direct-Infrared Imaging (LD-IR) analysis was conducted to validate the developed Fe-UlS pretreatment approach for MP analysis in real WW. About 3434 MPs were detected in 100 mL of WW primary influent, within the size range of 9 to 500 μm. This hybrid pretreatment approach not only streamlines WW sample processing but also reduces the required concentration of Fenton reagent and processing time, yielding accurate and reliable results for monitoring MPs in WW., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Satinder Kaur Brar reports financial support was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Satinder Kaur Brar reports financial support was provided by James and Joanne Love Chair in Environmental Engineering. If there are other authors, they 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 B.V. All rights reserved.)

Given the persistence and toxicity of long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and their rising concentrations, there is an urgent need for effective removal strategies. This study investigated the adsorptive removal of PFCAs, specifically perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), using biochar derived from wood and compost. Factors such as biochar size, weight, and initial PFCA concentrations were analyzed to assess their impact on adsorption efficiency over time. The adsorption of PFDA and PFNA reached 90.13% and 85.8%, respectively, at an initial concentration of 500 μg/L. Advanced machine learning techniques, specifically deep neural networks, were employed to model adsorption behavior, incorporating noise injection to account for data uncertainties and preventing overfitting. Results demonstrated the superior performance of compost-derived biochar due to its higher aromaticity and functional group availability. The longer chain length of PFDA contributed to its higher adsorption efficiency compared to PFNA., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Rhodosporidium toruloides has emerged as an excellent option for microbial lipid production due to its ability to accumulate up to 70 % of lipids per cell dry weight, consume multiple substrates such as glucose and xylose, and tolerate toxic compounds. Despite the potential of Rhodosporidium toruloides for high lipid yields, achieving these remains is a significant hurdle. A comprehensive review is essential to thoroughly evaluate the advancements in processes and technologies to enhance lipid production in R. toruloides. The review covers various strategies for enhancing lipid production like co-culture, adaptive evolution, carbon flux analysis, as well as different modes of fermentation. This review will help researchers to better understand the recent developments in technologies for sustainable and scalable lipid production from R. toruloides and simultaneously emphasize the need for developing an efficient and sustainable bioprocess., Competing Interests: Declarations of Competing Interest The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.)

Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is a clinical condition characterized by hypokalemia, muscle paralysis, and hyperthyroidism. TPP can be challenging to diagnose due to its low disease prevalence and the similarity of paralysis to other common conditions. Through this case report, we highlight the importance of considering hyperthyroidism as a cause of recurrent attacks of muscle paralysis, particularly in the setting of other signs of hyperthyroidism. A 32-year-old Hispanic man with a history of recurrent episodes of muscle weakness presented to the hospital with the acute onset of bilateral lower extremity weakness and an inability to ambulate. Additionally, the patient was experiencing symptoms of hyperthyroidism, including heat intolerance, weight loss, anxiety, and tremors. Lab evaluation showed hypokalemia, and the thyroid panel indicated hyperthyroidism due to Graves disease. His symptoms resolved after the replacement of potassium orally and intravenously, and he was discharged home on methimazole and propranolol. The presented case emphasizes that endocrinological and metabolic causes should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute flaccid paralysis. The symptoms of hyperthyroidism can be subtle in many cases, which can make the diagnosis very challenging., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Renganathan et al.)

In a bid to explore the on-site biorefinery approach for conversion of forestry residues, lignocellulosic biomass into value-added products was studied. The bark white pine wood was subjected to the microwave technique of fast and slow hydrolysis under varying acid and biomass concentrations to produce levulinic acid (LA). The HCl (2% v/v) and plant biomass (1% w/v) were identified as the optimum conditions for fast wood hydrolysis (270 ºC for 12 sec), which led to maximum LA yield of 446.68 g/kg PB . The proposed sustainable approach is mild, quick, and utilized a very low concentration of the HCl for the production of LA. The hydrolysate was used as a medium for Kluyveromyces marxianus growth to produce 2-phenylethanol (2-PE). K. marxianus used 74-95% of furfural from hydrolysate as a co-substrate to grow. The proposed model of the integrated biorefinery is an affordable on-site approach of using forest waste into localized solutions to produce LA and 2-PE., 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. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

India's livestock industry is grappling with a shortage of green fodder, necessitating concerted efforts to boost organized production and ensure a sufficient supply of high-quality forages, crucial for formulating nutritionally balanced, cost-effective, and rumen-healthy animal diets. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the plant growth-promoting characteristics of liquid microbial inoculants and their impact on the yield of forage pearl millet. The bacterial cultures utilized included Sphingobacterium sp., Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and an isolate from vegetable cowpea, subsequently identified as Burkholderia seminalis. These cultures were initially characterized for their plant growth-promoting traits at different temperature and physiological conditions. All the bacterial cultures were found promising for PGPR traits over varied temperature conditions and the optimum activity was recorded at 40 °C, with tolerance to saline and drought stresses as well as wide pH and temperature ranges. A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2020 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and Punjab Agricultural University, Regional Research Station, Bathinda, involving combinations of liquid microbial inoculants along with 100% Recommended Dose of Fertilizer (RDF). It was observed that the treatment including B. seminalis + S. maltophilia along with RDF yielded the highest green fodder and dry matter yield, In conclusion, it is evident that the utilization of these liquid microbial inoculants holds significant potential for playing a pivotal role in the integrated nutrient management of forage pearl millet, thereby contributing to heightened productivity and sustained soil health., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

In mining industries, biomining (comprising biooxidation and bioleaching) is implemented to extract metals from specific ores and waste streams with less environmental effect and expense. Usually, micron-sized gold particles are held in a crystal lattice of iron sulfide minerals and expensively extracted using common approaches. Researchers and industries are interested in developing recent technology and biologically sustainable methods in both pretreatment and further extraction steps for extracting this valuable metal from ores. Diverse studies in biooxidation, as a conventional pretreatment, and biocyanidation, as a new proposed biotechnological method in the downstream gold extraction step, have addressed scientific and technological issues in the extraction of this metal. These two methods have become economically practical by merging high-throughput microbiological data, extraction and recovery process knowledge, and theory validation. However, there is still a gap in the implementation of both the pretreatment method and extraction method due to the consistency and their compatibility with operational recovery conditions. This review brings out the recent biooxidation and biocyanidation improvements, innovation, industry and academic research, and obstacles to gold extraction with a brief explanation to address the recent developments., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

The occurrence of antibiotic residues in diverse water sources has long been acknowledged as a potential health concern due to the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes. However, there have been limited studies into the presence of antibiotic-metal complexes (AMCs) in real-time wastewater matrices, and their impact on wastewater microbial communities. The present work, in this regard, investigated the stability of Imipenem-metal complexes (Me = Mg (II), Ca (II), Fe (II), Cu (II), and Al (III)) with computational studies, stoichiometry with potentiometric measurements, and their antibacterial activity towards wastewater model microorganisms- Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) and Escherichia coli (E. Coli) by Colony Forming Unit (CFU) method. The lower energy of Imipenem-metal complexes than the parent antibiotic- Imipenem, during energy optimization using density functional (DFT) methods, revealed that metal interactions of Imipenem stabilize the drug by minimizing its energy. Further, CFU studies indicated that these complexes display higher antimicrobial activity than parent antibiotics. The electron delocalization over the entire chelated system (AMCs) reduces polarity and increases the lipophilicity of the complexes, thereby facilitating stronger interaction between AMCs and the bacterial cell membrane. Results indicate increased antibacterial activity of Imipenem-metal complexes for both E. coli and B. subtilis. The antibacterial activity, was however, more pronounced in B. subtilis, with >97% growth inhibition for metal complexes of Imipenem (at a Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of 20 nM or 6 ppb (i.e., MIC90)), for both the stoichiometric ratios (metal to ligand) ratios (M: L 1: 1 and 2: 1). All around, with increased stability and toxicity, AMCs are emerging as contaminants of concern and demand immediate attention to devise methods for their removal., 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 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Enzymes have great potential in bioprocess engineering due to their green and mild reaction conditions. However, there are challenges to their application, such as enzyme extraction and purification costs, enzyme recovery, and long reaction time. Enzymatic reaction rate enhancement and enzyme immobilization have the potential to overcome some of these challenges. Application of high pressure (e.g., hydrostatic pressure, supercritical carbon dioxide) has been shown to increase the activity of some enzymes, such as lipases and cellulases. Under high pressure, enzymes undergo multiple alterations simultaneously. High pressure reduces the bond lengths of molecules of reaction components and causes a reduction in the activation volume of enzyme-substrate complex. Supercritical CO 2 interacts with enzyme molecules, catalyzes structural changes, and removes some water molecules from the enzyme's hydration layer. Interaction of scCO 2 with the enzyme also leads to an overall change in secondary structure content. In the extreme, such changes may lead to enzyme denaturation, but enzyme activation and stabilization have also been observed. Immobilization of enzymes onto silica and zeolite-based supports has been shown to further stabilize the enzyme and provide resistance towards perturbation under subjection to high pressure and scCO 2 ., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Energy and resource intensive mechanical and chemical pretreatment along with the use of hazardous chemicals are major bottlenecks in widespread lignocellulosic biomass utilization. Herein, the study investigated different pretreatment methods on spruce wood namely supercritical CO 2 (scCO 2 ) pretreatment, ultrasound-assisted alkaline pretreatment, and acetosolv pulping-alkaline hydrogen peroxide bleaching, to enhance the enzymatic digestibility of wood using optimized enzyme cocktail. Also, the effect of scCO 2 pretreatment on enzyme cocktail was investigated after optimizing the concentration and temperature of cellulolytic enzymes. The impact of scCO 2 and ultrasound-assisted alkaline pretreatments of wood were insignificant for the enzymatic digestibility, and acetosolv pulping-alkaline hydrogen peroxide bleaching was the most effective pretreatment that showed the release of total reducing sugar yield (TRS) of ∼95.0 wt% of total hydrolyzable sugars (THS) in enzymatic hydrolysis. The optimized enzyme cocktail showed higher yield than individual enzymes with degree of synergism 1.34 among the enzymes, and scCO 2 pretreatment of cocktail for 0.5-1.0 h at 10.0-22.0 MPa and 38.0-54.0 °C had insignificant effect on the enzyme's primary and global secondary structure of cocktail and its activity., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2023 The Authors.)

The rapid, inexpensive, and on-site detection of bacterial contaminants using highly sensitive and specific microfluidic sensors is attracting substantial attention in water quality monitoring applications. Cell-imprinted polymers (CIPs) have emerged as robust, cost-effective, and versatile recognition materials with selective binding sites for capturing whole bacteria. However, electrochemical transduction of the binding event to a measurable signal within a microfluidic device to develop easy-to-use, compact, portable, durable, and affordable sensors remains a challenge. For this paper, we employed CIP-functionalized microwires (CIP-MWs) with an affinity towards E. coli and integrated them into a low-cost microfluidic sensor to measure the conductometric transduction of CIP-bacteria binding events. The sensor comprised two CIP-MWs suspended perpendicularly to a PDMS microchannel. The inter-wire electrical resistance of the microchannel was measured before, during, and after exposure of CIP-MWs to bacteria. A decline in the inter-wire resistance of the sensor after 30 min of incubation with bacteria was detected. Resistance change normalization and the subsequent analysis of the sensor's dose-response curve between 0 to 10 9 CFU/mL bacteria revealed the limits of detection and quantification of 2.1 × 10 5 CFU/mL and 7.3 × 10 5 CFU/mL, respectively. The dynamic range of the sensor was 10 4 to 10 7 CFU/mL where the bacteria counts were statistically distinguishable from each other. A linear fit in this range resulted in a sensitivity of 7.35 μS per CFU/mL. Experiments using competing Sarcina or Listeria cells showed specificity of the sensor towards the imprinted E. coli cells. The reported CIP-MW-based conductometric microfluidic sensor can provide a cost-effective, durable, portable, and real-time solution for the detection of pathogens in water.

Monoaromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o, m, and p-xylenes (BTEX) are high-risk pollutants because of their mutagenic and carcinogenic nature. These pollutants are found with elevated levels in groundwater and soil in Canada at several contaminated sites. The intrinsic microbes present in the subsurface have the potential to degrade pollutants by their metabolic pathways and convert them to non-toxic products. However, the low subsurface temperature (5-10 °C) limits their growth and degradation ability. This study examined the feasibility of subsurface heat augmentation using geothermal heating for BTEX bioremediation. Novel potent BTEX-degrading bacterial strains were isolated from soil at 3.0, 42.6, and 73.2 m depths collected from a geothermal borehole during installation and screened using an enrichment technique. The selected strains were identified with Sanger sequencing and phylogenetic tree analysis, revealing that all the strains except Bacillus subtilis are novel with respective to BTEX degradation. The isolates, Microbacterium esteraromaticum and Bacillus infantis showed the highest degradation with 67.98 and 65.2% for benzene, 72.8 and 71.02% for toluene, 77.52 and 76.44% for ethylbenzene, and 74.58 and 74.04% for xylenes respectively. Further, temperature influence at 15 ± 1 °C, 28 ± 1 °C and 40 ± 1 °C was observed, which showed increased growth by two-fold and on average 35-49% more biodegradation at higher temperatures. Results showed that temperature is a positive stimulant for bioremediation, hence geothermal heating could also be a stimulant for in-situ bioremediation., 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 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in plastic used for medical purposes such as personal protective equipment and packaging materials. A very low share of plastics is recycled while the majority is sent to landfills. This plastic may degrade over time to form microplastics which may pollute land, air, and water sources. An increase in microplastics can increase the disease risk in human well-being's. The ultimate fate of microplastic is accumulation inside the human body posing the risk of different health conditions like cancer, diabetes, and allergic reactions. Hence, proper detection and disposal methods should be devised to deal with the rise in microplastic pollution., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Whey is a dairy residue generated during the production of cheese and yogurt. Whey contains mainly lactose and proteins, contributing to its high chemical oxygen demand (COD). Current environmental regulations request proper whey disposal to avoid environmental pollution. Whey components can be transformed by yeast into ethanol and biomolecules with aroma and flavor properties, for example, 2-phenyethanol (2PE), highly appreciated in the industry due to its organoleptic and biocidal properties. The present study aimed to valorize agri-food residues in 2PE by developing suitable bioprocess. Cheese whey was used as substrate source, whereas crab headshells, residual soy cake, and brewer's spent yeast (BSY) were used as renewable nitrogen sources for the yeasts Kluyveromyces marxianus and Debaryomyces hansenii . The BSYs promoted the growth of both yeasts and the production of 2PE in flask fermentation. The bioprocess scale-up to 2 L bioreactor allowed for obtaining a 2PE productivity of 0.04 g 2PE /L·h, twofold better productivity results compared to the literature. The bioprocess can save a treatment unit because the whey COD decreased under the detection limit of the analytical method, which is lower than environmental requirements. In this way, the bioprocess prevents environmental contamination and contributes to the circular economy of the dairy industry.

As an efficient method to remove contaminants from highly polluted sites, enzyme biodegradation addresses unresolved issues such as bioremediation inefficiency. In this study, the key enzymes involved in PAH degradation were brought together from different arctic strains for the biodegradation of highly contaminated soil. These enzymes were produced via a multi-culture of psychrophilic Pseudomonas and Rhodococcus strains. As a result of biosurfactant production, the removal of pyrene was sufficiently prompted by Alcanivorax borkumensis. The key enzymes (e.g., naphthalene dioxygenase, pyrene dioxygenase, catechol-2,3 dioxygenase, 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoate hydroxylase, protocatechuic acid 3,4-dioxygenase) obtained via multi-culture were characterized by tandem LC-MS/MS and kinetic studies. To simulate in situ application of produced enzyme solutions, pyrene- and dilbit-contaminated soil was bioremediated in soil columns and flask tests by injecting enzyme cocktails from the most promising consortia. The enzyme cocktail contained about 35.2 U/mg protein pyrene dioxygenase, 61.4 U/mg protein naphthalene dioxygenase, 56.5 U/mg protein catechol-2,3-dioxygenase, 6.1 U/mg protein 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoate hydroxylase, and 33.5 U/mg protein protocatechuic acid (P3,4D) 3,4-dioxygenase enzymes. It was found that after 6 weeks, the average pyrene removal values showed that the enzyme solution could be effective in the soil column system (80-85% degradation of pyrene)., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Microbial production of 2,3-butanediol (BDO) has received considerable attention as a promising alternate to fossil-derived BDO. In our previous work, BDO concentration >100 g/L was accumulated using brewer's spent grain (BSG) via microbial routes which was followed by techno-economic analysis of the bioprocess. In the present work, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for BDO production from the fermentation of BSG to identify the associated environmental impacts. The LCA was based on an industrial-scale biorefinery processing of 100 metric tons BSG per day modeled using ASPEN plus integrated with pinch technology, a tool for achieving maximum thermal efficiency and heat recovery from the process. For the cradle-to-gate LCA, the functional unit of 1 kg of BDO production was selected. One-hundred-year global warming potential of 7.25 kg CO 2 /kg BDO was estimated while including biogenic carbon emission. The pretreatment stage followed by the cultivation and fermentation contributed to the maximum adverse impacts. Sensitivity analysis revealed that a reduction in electricity consumption and transportation and an increase in BDO yield could reduce the adverse impacts associated with microbial BDO production., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Despite recent attention being paid to the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold environments, scale-up studies of biodegradation are lacking. Herein, the effect of scale-up on the enzymatic biodegradation of highly contaminated soil at low temperatures was studied. A novel cold-adapted bacteria (Arthrobacter sp. S2TR-06) was isolated that could produce cold-active degradative enzymes (xylene monooxygenase (XMO) and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (C2,3D)). Enzyme production was investigated on 4 different scales (lab to pilot scale). The results showed a shorter fermentation time, and the highest production of enzymes and biomass (107 g/L for biomass, 109 U/mL, and 203 U/mL for XMO and C2,3D after 24 h) was achieved in the 150-L bioreactor due to enhanced oxygenation. Multi-pulse injection of p-xylene into the production medium was needed every 6 h. The stability of membrane-bound enzymes can be increased up to 3-fold by adding FeSO 4 at 0.1% (w/v) before extraction. Soil tests also showed that biodegradation is scale-dependent. The maximum biodegradation rate decreased from 100% at lab-scale to 36% in the 300-L sand tank tests due to limited access of enzymes to trapped p-xylene in soil pores, low dissolved oxygen in the water-saturated zone, soil heterogeneity, and the presence of the free phase of p-xylene. The result demonstrated that formulation of enzyme mixture with FeSO 4 and direct injection of enzyme mixture (third scenario) can increase the efficiency of bioremediation in heterogeneous soil. In this study, it was demonstrated that cold-active degradative enzyme production can be scaled up to an industrial scale and enzymatic treatment can be used to effectively bioremediate p-xylene contaminated sites. This study could provide key scale-up guidance for the enzymatic bioremediation of mono-aromatic pollutants in water-saturated soil under cold conditions., 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 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Due to their widespread occurrence and the inadequate removal efficiencies by conventional wastewater treatment plants, emerging contaminants (ECs) have recently become an issue of great concern. Current ongoing studies have focused on different physical, chemical, and biological methods as strategies to avoid exposing ecosystems to significant long-term risks. Among the different proposed technologies, the enzyme-based processes rise as green biocatalysts with higher efficiency yields and lower generation of toxic by-products. Oxidoreductases and hydrolases are among the most prominent enzymes applied for bioremediation processes. The present work overviews the state of the art of recent advances in enzymatic processes during wastewater treatment of EC, focusing on recent innovations in terms of applied immobilization techniques, genetic engineering tools, and the advent of nanozymes. Future trends in the enzymes immobilization techniques for EC removal were highlighted. Research gaps and recommendations on methods and utility of enzymatic treatment incorporation in conventional wastewater treatment plants were also discussed., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Purpose: The present study aimed to record the prevalence, risk factors, molecular identification, and phylogeny of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis found in the small intestine of the lesser bandicoot rat, Bandicota bengalensis, a wild rodent species., Methods: A total of 100 bandicoot rats live trapped at two commensal urban locations (50 each), i.e., a fish market and railway station, in Ludhiana, Punjab State (India), from November 2020 to October 2021, were analysed for the presence of N. brasiliensis, a nematode parasite of zoonotic importance., Result: Overall, the small intestine of 43.00% of the rats was found severely infected with bright red coloured adult N. brasiliensis of both sexes (total of 1439 specimens). Faecal samples contained ellipsoidal and thin-shelled eggs measuring 62.25-74.70 m in length and 33.20-37.35 m in breadth. No significant (P > 0.05) effect of host age, sex, or season was observed on the rate of infection. The parasite intensity and mean abundance ranged from 27.68-38.04 and 10.52-18.26, respectively, indicating a high risk of disease transmission. Based on the morphology, the nematode parasite was identified as Nippostrongylus sp. Molecular identification was confirmed through PCR amplification of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene, which showed a single band of approximately 355 bp. A comparison of the present isolate with the available sequences of Nippostrongylus species across the globe showed 100% nucleotide homology with N. brasiliensis sequences available in GenBank from Japan (AP017690), the USA (U57035), and New Zealand (NC033886)., Conclusion: The study indicates that B. bengalensis inhabiting commensal urban areas is a reservoir host for N. brasiliensis, which if transmitted to humans and animals visiting the area may pose a potential health risk. The study thus suggests proper rodent population management close to human habitations to avoid the transmission of disease-causing agents., (© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Witold Stefański Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences.)

A bioinspired device was fabricated as a sustainable remedial method and its performance as a membrane-enzyme reactor with cyclic ultrafiltration was investigated. The body of the jellyfish-like device was composed of two parts: 1) Jellyfish arms: Mono and co-axial electrospinning have been utilized to synthesize the flexible parts (e.g., multilayer membrane PS-PVDF/PAN/PS-PVDF) used for immobilization of aliphatic degrading enzymes, and 2) Jellyfish tentacles: Hollow fiber membranes were selected for physical immobilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degrading enzymes. To study the behavior of the membrane/enzyme reactor, the hollow fiber enzyme reactor with pulsation was operated by recycling an enzyme solution to assess ultrafiltration efficiency. A mathematical model was suggested to describe the experimental data obtained in this study to predict the effectiveness of the reactor for PAH removal. When testing the performance of the jellyfish-like device, those equipped with nanofibers with an oil sorption capacity of (10. ±0.7gdilbit/gfiber) were more effective at removing oil particles before they touched the hollow fiber membrane surface. Moreover, the reaction rate measured in a free soluble enzyme and a recirculating immobilized enzyme solution exhibited a slight difference in the kinetic parameter, K m (0.03 and 0.021 mM) due to the internal diffusional resistance. Based on biodegradation studies, a synergistic effect between membrane adsorption, enzymatic degradation, and ultrafiltration was proposed for the removal of anthracene from the column of water., 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 © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Abstracts: Metastasis to salivary glands from the secondary source outside the head and neck region is extremely rare and Carcinoma Lung is one of the rarest sources of distant spread to salivary glands. Owing to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis, accurate identification of clinical and pathological aspects of these metastatic lesions remains a challenging task. Many studies regarding metastasis to the oral cavity have been already documented in the literature, but very little research work has been done to analyse the cases of lung cancer metastasis as the sole primary source, particularly to salivary glands. Thus this review was conducted to analyse the published cases of lung cancer metastasizing to salivary glands as the only primary source till date. An electronic search of the published literature was performed without publication year limitation in PubMed/ Medline, Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Science direct, Embase, and Research gate databases, using Mesh keywords like (Lung cancer', OR 'Lung carcinoma), AND (Metastasis OR Metastases), And (Salivary glands OR Parotid gland OR Submandibular gland OR Sublingual gland). We also searched all related journals manually. The reference list of all articles was also checked. Our research revealed 34 relevant papers between 1965-2022 with a total of 44 patients. The most prevalent diagnosed metastatic Lung cancer was Small cell lung cancer. Parotid was the most common gland involved in metastasis. 48% of patients died of metastasis with a mean survival time of 2.2 years. Salivary gland metastasis from Lung cancer is very rare and has a poor prognosis. More cases need to be published in order to raise awareness of these lesions and gain a better understanding of their characteristics., (Copyright © 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics.)

The cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were produced from spruce wood using less hazardous and toxic reagents with understanding of influence of process parameters on CNCs properties. This study employed acetosolv pulping followed by alkaline-peroxide bleaching, eliminating highly reactive chemicals such as Na-chlorites and Na-sulfite for cellulose pulp extraction from spruce wood. Cellulose pulp yield of 41.5 ± 0.7 wt% of dry wood was obtained from pulping followed by bleaching treatment. Cellulose pulp was hydrolyzed with 59.0-65.0 wt% sulfuric acid followed by ultrasonic treatment to produce CNCs. CNCs yield of 8.0 ± 3.2 wt% of dry wood was obtained at 65 wt% acid concentration and yield of 25.1 ± 0.7 wt% at 62 wt% acid concentration. The optimization of acid hydrolysis and ultrasonic treatment resulted in CNCs with high aspect ratios (length/width) up to 48.1. It was demonstrated that higher acid concentration requires lower intensity of ultrasonic treatment for CNCs dispersion, and that higher intensity could enhance aspect ratio without impacting the crystallinity index. However, ultrasonic treatment for longer than 5 min led to destruction of the whisker morphology of CNCs. The extracted CNCs possess high crystallinity index of 80.8 ± 1.7 %, low residual hemicellulose (<2.0 %) and lignin (<0.7 %), and high-char content of 26.7 wt% from thermal degradation., 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 research paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

In the present study, yard waste was pretreated by thermo-chemo-sonic pretreatment prior to anaerobic digestion to improve its anaerobic biodegradability. First, the pretreatment conditions were optimized using Box-Behnken design based response surface methodology for the maximum organic matter solubilisation. Then, the possible mechanism of delignification by thermo-chemo-sonic pretreatment was discussed. Moreover, the anaerobic digestion performance of untreated yard waste (UYW) and pretreated yard waste (PYW) was compared. The optimum pretreatment condition based on the increase in soluble COD and volatile solids (VS) was: 2997 kJ/kgTS ultrasonic energy, 74 °C, and 10.1 pH. The highest methane yield of 374 ± 28 mL/gVS added for the PYW at the optimum condition was achieved, which was 37.5 % higher than the UYW (272 ± 16 mL/gVS added ). Finally, the environmental impacts associated with anaerobic digestion of both UYW and PYW were compared. The life cycle assessment confirmed a positive environmental impact of pretreatment., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this research, a novel CoFe 2 O 4 -GO (Graphen Oxide) resulting from the combination of high applicable magnetic and organic base materials and synthesized with a simple and fast co-precipitation route was synthesized for the REEs (Rare Earth Elements) extraction. This adsorbent could remove the La 3+ , Ce 3+ , Nd 3+ and Eu 3+ by maximum adsorption capacity of 625, 626, 714.2, 1111.2 mg/g at optimized pH = 6, respectively. A data-driven model was obtained using Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH)-based Neural Network to estimate the adsorption capacity of these LREEs as a function of time, pH, temperature, adsorbent ζ (zeta)- potential, initial concentration of lanthanides ions, and ε which is defined by the physico-chemical properties of lanthanides. The results clearly indicated that the model estimate the experimental values with good deviation (mostly less than 10%) and it can be used for the prediction of the results from other similar researches with less than 25% deviation. The results of sensitivity analysis indicated that the adsorption capacity is more sensitive to pH of the solution, temperature, and ε. Finally, the desorption studies showed an excellent removal efficiency (97%) at least for three adsorption-desorption cycles. These results claimed that the CoFe 2 O 4 -GO is a highly efficient adsorbent for the REEs extraction., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The presence of furfural in the hydrolysates obtained from lignocellulosic biomass sources represents an enormous challenge during their fermentation because furfural is a toxic compound for different microorganisms. Rhodosporidium toruloides-1588 can grow and accumulate lipids using wood hydrolysate as a substrate containing up to 1 g/L of furfural. In this study, the capacity of R. toruloides-1588 to grow and accumulate lipids using furfural without glucose in the media has been observed. R. toruloides-1588 degraded up to 3 g/L of furfural into furfuryl alcohol (1.8 g/L) and 2-furoic acid (0.9 g/L). Furthermore, R. toruloides-1588 accumulated 52% and 30% of its dry weight into lipids using YM media and YM media without glucose, respectively. Fatty acids such as palmitic, stearic and oleic were the most abundant. Finally, R. toruloides-1588 could potentially utilize furfural as a carbon source., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In order to identify the most environmental-friendly pretreatment for pyrolsis of wood residue to levoglucosan (LG), for the first time a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out for hot water treatment (HWT), torrefaction, acid pretreatment (AP) and salt pretreatment (SP) pathways. Since LG production can facilitate both resource recovery (RR) and wood residue handling (WRH), two different functional units (FUs), i.e., 1 kg LG production and 1 kg wood residue handling were considered. AP was found to generate the least global warming potential of 134.60 kg CO 2 -eq and human carcinogenic toxicity of 0.59 kg 1,4-dichlorobenzene-eq. for RR perspective. However, for WRH perspective, HWT was found to be the best pretreatment (6.39 kg CO 2 -eq; 0.03 kg 1,4-dichlorobenzene-eq.). Sensitivity analysis revealed that a reduction in electricity consumption by 15% could reduce the overall impacts by 14.00-14.82 %. This study also highlights the impact of goal and FU selection on LCA., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Acidogenic fermentation of food waste using mixed microbial cultures can produce carboxylates [or volatile fatty acids (VFA)] as high-valued bioproducts via a complex interplay of microorganisms during different stages of this process. However, the present fermentation systems are incapable of reaching the industrially relevant VFA production yields of ≥50 g/L primarly due to the complex process operation, competitive metabolic pathways, and limited understanding of microbial interplays. Recent reports have demonstrated the significant roles played by microbial communities from different phyla, which work together to control the process kinetics of various stages underlying acidogenic fermentation. In order to fully delineate the abundance, structure, and functionality of these microbial communities, next-generation high-throughput meta-omics technologies are required. In this article, we review the potential of metagenomics and metatranscriptomics approaches to enable microbial community engineering. Specifically, a deeper analysis of taxonomic relationships, shifts in microbial communities, and differences in the genetic expression of key pathway enzymes under varying operational and environmental parameters of acidogenic fermentation could lead to the identification of species-level functionalities for both cultivable and non-cultivable microbial fractions. Furthermore, it could also be used for successful gene sequence-guided microbial isolation and consortium development for bioaugmentation to allow VFA production with high concentrations and purity. Such highly controlled and engineered microbial systems could pave the way for tailored and high-yielding VFA synthesis, thereby creating a petrochemically competitive waste-to-value chain and promoting the circular bioeconomy.Research HighlightsMixed microbial mediated acidogenic fermentation of food waste.Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics based microbial community analysis.Omics derived function-associated microbial isolation and consortium engineering.High-valued sustainable carboxylate bio-products, i.e. volatile fatty acids.

This work evaluated a green route for developing an eco-friendly flowsheet to regenerate base and precious metals from waste printed circuits boards (WPCBs). Copper (as nanoparticles with an average diameter of 50 nm) and other base metals were extracted via oxidative acid leaching with high efficiency. Thiocyanate was employed for the first time as a green and economical reagent for the extraction of gold from pretreated WPCB. The effect of various parameters, including reagent dosage and temperature, was evaluated on the gold leaching rate, and 100% gold dissolution was achieved at the optimal condition. It was found that ferric iron concentration as the gold leaching oxidant has a notable effect on gold extraction. Also, at temperatures above room temperature, the recovery rate increases in a short period and then decreases continuously. The activation energy of the optimum gold thiocyanate leaching was found to be 42.84 kJ/mol, indicating chemical reaction to be the rate-controlling step. Gold extraction from the thiocyanate medium was carried out by employing activated carbon, where 100% gold adsorption was achieved in 2 h. Toxicity assessment of final residue revealed that it could be categorized as an environmentally safe waste with negligible risk., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the recent years, endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) has received increasing attention due to their significant toxic effects on human beings and wildlife by affecting their endocrine systems. As an important group of emerging pollutant, EDCs have been detected in various aquatic environments, including surface waters, groundwater, wastewater, runoff, and landfill leachates. Their removal from water resources has also been an emerging concern considering growing population as well as reducing access to fresh water resources. EDC removal from wastewaters is highly dependent on physicochemical properties of the given EDCs present in each wastewater types as well as various aquatic environments. Due to chemical, physical and physicochemical diversities in these parameters, variety of technologies consisting of physical, biological, electrochemical, and chemical processes have been developed for their removal. This review highlights that the effectiveness of EDC removal is highly dependent of selecting the appropriate technology; which decision is made upon a full wastewater chemical characterization. This review aims to provide a comprehensive perspective about all the current technologies used for EDCs removal from various aquatic matrices along with rising challenges such as the antimicrobial resistance gene transfer during EDC treatment., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) is of paramount importance for environmental sustainability. A two-stage process involving AMD remediation and simultaneous lipid production represents a highly efficient approach with zero-waste generation. Alkaline (NaOH) treatment of AMD at pH 8.0, 10.0, and 12.0 had significantly reduced metal loads (copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn)) compared to the acidic pH range (4.0 and 6.0). The concentration levels of sulfates (SO 4  = 4520 mg/L), iron (Fe = 788 mg/L), aluminum (Al = 310 mg/L), and manganese (Mn = 19.4) were reduced to 2971 mg/L, 10.3 mg/L, 16.4 mg/L, and 1.3 mg/L, respectively at pH value 8.0. AMD with a pH value of 8.0 was later chosen as an ideal medium to favor the lipid accumulation by Chlorella vulgaris. Algal biomass was increasing to 5.5 g/L from 0.6 g/L of AMD-based medium within 15 days of cultivation. The FTIR and SEM-EDS studies revealed significant morphological changes in the microbial cell wall. The metals might positively impact lipid production in microalgae, where lipid yield achieved 0.18 g/g of glucose with lipid content of 0.35 g/g of biomass. The fatty acid profile presented 53.4% of saturated fatty acid content with a cetane value of 60.7. Thus, the efficiency of C. vulgaris was demonstrated with AMD treatment proving it to be a good candidate for bioenergy production., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The global cannabis ( Cannabis sativa ) market was 17.7 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach up to 40.6 billion by 2024. Canada is the 2nd nation to legalize cannabis with a massive sale of $246.9 million in the year 2021. Waste cannabis biomass is managed using disposal strategies (i.e., incineration, aerobic/anaerobic digestion, composting, and shredding) that are not good enough for long-term environmental sustainability. On the other hand, greenhouse gas emissions and the rising demand for petroleum-based fuels pose a severe threat to the environment and the circular economy. Cannabis biomass can be used as a feedstock to produce various biofuels and biochemicals. Various research groups have reported production of ethanol 9.2-20.2 g/L, hydrogen 13.5 mmol/L, lipids 53.3%, biogas 12%, and biochar 34.6% from cannabis biomass. This review summarizes its legal and market status (production and consumption), the recent advancements in the lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) pre-treatment (deep eutectic solvents (DES), and ionic liquids (ILs) known as "green solvents") followed by enzymatic hydrolysis using glycosyl hydrolases (GHs) for the efficient conversion efficiency of pre-treated biomass. Recent advances in the bioconversion of hemp into oleochemicals, their challenges, and future perspectives are outlined. A comprehensive insight is provided on the trends and developments of metabolic engineering strategies to improve product yield. The thermochemical processing of disposed-off hemp lignin into bio-oil, bio-char, synthesis gas, and phenol is also discussed. Despite some progress, barricades still need to be met to commercialize advanced biofuels and compete with traditional fuels., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022.)

p-Xylene is considered a recalcitrant compound despite showing a similar aromatic structure to other BTEXs (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene isomers). This study evaluated the p-xylene biodegradation potential of three psychrophilic Pseudomonas strains (Pseudomonas putida S2TR-01, Pseudomonas synxantha S2TR-20, and Pseudomonas azotoformans S2TR-09). The p-xylene metabolism-related catabolic genes (xylM, xylA, and xylE) and the corresponding regulatory genes (xylR and xylS) of the selected strains were investigated. The biodegradation results showed that the P. azotoformans S2TR-09 strain was the only strain that was able to degrade 200 mg/L p-xylene after 60 h at 15 °C. The gene expression study indicated that the xylE (encoding catechol 2,3-dioxygenase) gene represents the bottleneck in p-xylene biodegradation. A lack of xylE expression leads to the accumulation of intermediates and the inhibition of biomass production and complete carbon recovery. The activity of xylene monooxygenase and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase was significantly increased in P. azotoformans S2TR-09 (0.5 and 0.08 U/mg, respectively) in the presence of p-xylene. The expression of the ring cleavage enzyme and its encoding gene (xylE) and activator (xylS) explained the differences in the p-xylene metabolism of the isolated bacteria and can be used as a novel biomarker of efficient p-xylene biodegradation at contaminated sites., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Enzymatic bioremediation is a sustainable and environment-friendly method for the clean-up of contaminated soil and water. In the present study, enzymatic bioremediation was designed using cold-active enzymes (psychrozymes) which catalyze oxidation steps of p-xylene biodegradation in highly contaminated soil (initial concentration of 13,000 mg/kg). The enzymes were obtained via co-culture of two psychrophilic Pseudomonas strains and characterized by kinetic studies and tandem LC-MS/MS. To mimic in situ application of enzyme mixture, bioremediation of p-xylene contaminated soil was carried out in soil column (140 mL) tests with the injection (3 pore volume) of different concentrations of enzyme cocktails (X, X/5, and X/10). Enzyme cocktail in X concentration contained about 10 U/mL of xylene monooxygenase (XMO) and 20 U/mL of catechol 2, 3 dioxygenases (C2,3D). X/5 and X/10 correspond to 5x and 10x dilution of enzyme cocktail respectively. The results showed that around 92-94% p-xylene removal was achieved in the treated soil column with enzyme concentration X, X/5 after second enzyme injection. While the p-xylene removal rate obtained by X/10 concentration of enzyme was less than 30% and near to untreated soil column (22.2%). The analysis of microbial diversity and biotoxicity assay (root elongation and seed germination) confirmed the advantage of using enzymes as a green and environmentally friendly approach for decontamination of pollutants with minimal or even positive effects on microbial community and also enrichment of soil after treatment., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ciprofloxacin (CIP), a widely used antibiotic, is frequently detected in the environment due to insufficient wastewater and water treatment. Hence, novel, green and cost-effective technologies are required to enhance the removal of these pollutants. The potency of crude enzymes, especially laccases, produced by white-rot fungi was tested to assess their effectiveness to degrade CIP from water. Crude laccase alone could not oxidize CIP. The addition of syringaldehyde, a redox mediator, resulted in a decrease in antibiotic concentration up to 68.09±0.12% in 24 h, which was the highest removal efficiency achieved with 0.15 mg/mL syringaldehyde and 2 mg/mL of crude laccase (0.1 U/ml). Crude laccase oxidation of CIP was inhibited after 6 h of treatment. To compare, a pure enzyme with the same activity as the crude one removed 86% of CIP in 24 h. No inhibitory effect during the treatment was observed. The estimation of antimicrobial efficiency revealed that after 6 h of treatment, the toxicity towards Escherichia coli decreased by 30%. The wastewater treatment by the crude laccase-mediated system was estimated to significantly reduce the cost of enzymatic treatment., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic dermatosis frequently located over labial, perineal, and perianal areas. The etiology is multifactorial and includes genetic, autoimmune, hormonal, and infectious aspects., Materials and Methods: A series of twenty genital LS patients was carried out to evaluate the signs, symptoms, complications, and affliction of quality of life., Results: Eighteen out of twenty patients were female between 30 and 73 years and showed smooth, glistening, and whitish plaques. The mean duration was 8.4 years. Itching and burning was the most common symptom (75%) corresponding to excoriation and fissuring of genitalia (75%). Malignancy was seen in two cases (10%). The mean Vulvar Quality of Life Index was 9.2, higher in younger patients., Discussion: LS is a disorder of older age group with female preponderance. It is a source of significant morbidity, and long-standing cases predispose to vulvar malignancy., Conclusion: To conclude, early diagnosis with proper counselling of the patient and his/her partner regarding various aspects of disease are essential for a wholesome approach., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2022 Indian Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS.)

Plastics use is growing due to its applications in the economy, human health and aesthetics. The major plastic particles in the form of microplastics (MPs) released into the environment are made up of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinylchloride (PVC), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Tremendous usage and continuous accumulation of MPs in the environment pose a global threat to ecosystems and human health. The current knowledge of biotechnological, aerobic and aerobic biodegradation approaches emphasizes the microbial culture's potential towards MPs removal. This review selectively provides recent biotechnological advances such as biostimulation, bioaugmentation and enzymatic biodegradation that can be applied for MPs removal by biodegradation and bioaccumulation. This review summarizes the knowledge and the research exploration on the biodegradation of synthetic organic MPs with different biodegradability. However, further research is still needed to understand the underlying mechanism of MPs biodegradation in soil and water systems, leading to the development of an effective method for MPs removal., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Though many studies pertaining to soil bioremediation have been performed to study the microbial kinetics in shake flasks, the process efficiency in column tests is seldom. In the present study, soil columns tests were carried out to study the biodegradation of soil contaminated with a high concentration of diesel (≈19.5 g/kg) petroleum hydrocarbons expressed as C 10 -C 50 . Experiments were done with crude enzymatic cocktail produced by the hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium, Alcanivorax borkumensis. A. borkumensis was grown on a media with 3% (v/v) motor oil as the sole carbon and energy source. The effects of the enzyme concentration, treatment time and oxidant on the bioremediation efficiency of C 10 -C 50 were investigated. A batch test was also carried out in parallel to investigate the stability of the enzymes and the effect of the biosurfactants on the desorption and the bioconversion of C 10 -C 50 . Batch tests indicated that the biosurfactants significantly affected the desorption and alkane hydroxylase and lipase enzymes, maintained their catalytic activity during the 20-day test, with a half-life of 7.44 days and 8.84 days, respectively. The crude enzyme cocktail, with 40 U/mL of lipase and 10 U/mL of alkane hydroxylase, showed the highest conversion of 57.36% after 12 weeks of treatment with a degradation rate of 0.0218 day -1 . The results show that the soil column tests can be used to optimize operating conditions for hydrocarbon degradation and to assess the performance of the overall bioremediation process., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pressures from anthropogenic activities are causing degradation of estuarine and coastal ecosystems around the world. Trace metals are key pollutants that are released and can partition in a range of environmental compartments, to be ultimately accumulated in exposed biota. The level of pressure varies with locations and the range and intensity of anthropogenic activities. The present study measured residues of trace metals in Mytilus mussel species collected from a range of locations around the world in areas experiencing a gradient of anthropogenic pressures that we classified as low, moderate, or high impact. The data showed no grouping/impact level when sampling sites in all countries were incorporated in the analysis, but there was significant clustering/impact level for most countries. Overall, high-impact areas were characterized by elevated concentrations of zinc, lead, nickel, and arsenic, whereas copper and silver were detected at higher concentrations in medium-impact areas. Finally, whereas most metals were found at lower concentrations in areas classified as low impact, cadmium was typically elevated in these areas. The present study provides a unique snapshot of worldwide levels of coastal metal contamination through the use of Mytilus species, a well-established marine biomonitoring tool. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:3434-3440. © 2021 SETAC., (© 2021 SETAC.)

The global concern over the possible consequences of the downsizing of plastic to microplastics (MPs) and nano plastics (NPs) needs to be addressed with a new conceptual framework. The transformation of plastics to MPs and NPs can be discussed in terms of fundamental physics principles applicable to micro and nanophase matter and colloidal science principles. Further, accurate and reliable detection and characterization of MPs and NPs are crucial for an extensive understanding of their environmental and ecological impacts. The other decisive factor that can classify MPs and NPs as hazardous to existing nanomaterials is discussing the cytotoxicity study on human cell lines. The human health risk assessment that might arise from the ingestion of MPs and NPs can be addressed about contrast agents used for medical imaging. However, the lack of standard analytical techniques for MPs and NPs measurement is an emerging challenge for analytical scientists due to their complex physicochemical properties, especially in environmental samples. This review article navigates readers through the point of origin of MPs and NPs and their interdisciplinary aspects. Biomedical applications of plastics and concerns over the toxicity of MPs and NPs are further analyzed. Moreover, the analytical challenges of MPs and NPs have been discussed with critical inputs. Finally, the worldwide efforts being made for creating a common platform of discussion on a different aspect of plastic pollution were taken into account., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Renewable biofuel has a great potential in replacing the conventional transportation fuels as well as aiding the current issue of climate change and global warming. In the present scenario, tremendous initiatives have been implemented to encourage large-scale biofuel production and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the information on the current biofuel status specifically in Canada and where it lacks in biofuel production, tax rebate and policies in comparison with other countries is limited. In this sense, the current work focuses on the liquid biofuel status, recent advancements and evaluation of programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in coming years. Additionally, the role of private and government programs in scaling up the projects is elaborated using several examples of successful as well as failed attempts to commercialize biofuels. Moreover, the Canadian government regulations and policies for greenhouse gas mitigation, and biofuel blending policies are also briefly described. In summary, future aspects and suggestions to further increase biofuel production are portrayed in this review.

Rapid, inexpensive, and laboratory-free diagnostic of viral pathogens is highly critical in controlling viral pandemics. In recent years, nanopore-based sensors have been employed to detect, identify, and classify virus particles. By tracing ionic current containing target molecules across nano-scale pores, nanopore sensors can recognize the target molecules at the single-molecule level. In the case of viruses, they enable discrimination of individual viruses and obtaining important information on the physical and chemical properties of viral particles. Despite classical benchtop virus detection methods, such as amplification techniques (e.g., PCR) or immunological assays (e.g., ELISA), that are mainly laboratory-based, expensive and time-consuming, nanopore-based sensing methods can enable low-cost and real-time point-of-care (PoC) and point-of-need (PoN) monitoring of target viruses. This review discusses the limitations of classical virus detection methods in PoN virus monitoring and then provides a comprehensive overview of nanopore sensing technology and its emerging applications in quantifying virus particles and classifying virus sub-types. Afterward, it discusses the recent progress in the field of nanopore sensing, including integrating nanopore sensors with microfabrication technology, microfluidics and artificial intelligence, which have been demonstrated to be promising in developing the next generation of low-cost and portable biosensors for the sensitive recognition of viruses and emerging pathogens.

Background: Rodents harbour a number of parasites of public health importance, thus, they threaten human health and livestock., Aims: The present study aimed to characterize two helminthic species found in commensal rodents and record histo-physiological alterations induced by them., Methods: A total of 300 synanthropic rodents of three species: Rattus rattus (n=201), Bandicota bengalensis (n=90), and Mus musculus ( n=09 ) were live trapped and necropsied in different seasons during November 2017 to October 2019 at Ludhiana, Punjab, India., Results: Liver of two species B. bengalensis (72.22%) and R. rattus (65.67%) were found infected with two helminthic parasites Taenia taeniaeformis , and Calodium hepaticum . These endoparasites were present either alone (4.33-6.33%) or as mixed infection (65.55%). The level of total proteins and liver marker enzymes including aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were found significantly higher in the liver of rodent species infected with single and mixed infection compared to those with no infection. In histopathological assay, granulomatous liver lesions and necrosis of hepatocytes were seen which were associated with eggs and adults of C. hepaticum and inflammatory reaction in hepatic parenchyma adjoining to cysts of T. taeniaeformis . Based upon scanning electron microscopy (SEM) identification and molecular characterization using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) region, the metacestodes in whitish cysts were confirmed to be of T. taeniaeformis for the first time in Punjab, India., Conclusion: The study highlights an alarmingly high infection of rodents with zoonotic parasites and suggests immediate pest (rodent) control to check the dissemination of zoonotic diseases by helminth species under study.