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Background: Curcuma longa L is a herbaceous plant of zingiberaceae family. Curcumin and its derivatives possess a vast varieties of biological activities like antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, antirheumatic etc. Looking into the biological significance of curcumin and its derivatives, we have decided to synthesize novel derivatives of curcumin and their coordinated Copper (II) complexes and evaluate their pharmacological activities like antioxidant, antibacterial etc. Methods: Targeted derivatives of curcumin were prepared in good yield (95%) by the condensation reaction of carbohydrazide(1), Curcumin(2), in presence of copper salts using classical heating methods in the presence of absolute ethanol. Results: The targeted derivatives of Curcumin were evaluated for their collaborative antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. The zone of inhibition was measured by considering the disc diffusion method. In-vitro minimum inhibitory concentrations of targeted compounds were measured using the broth micro-dilution method. In addition to this, the invitro antioxidant activity of target compounds was also evaluated by adopting the DPPH method using ascorbic acid as a standard substance. Most of the compounds showed fascinating antibacterial and antioxidant activities as a contrast to pure curcumin. Conclusion: In conclusion, the present work explains the synthesis, characterization and evaluation of biological activities of novel derivatives of curcumin and their coordinated Copper (II) complexes. All the targeted compounds were screened for their pharmacological evaluation against selected human pathogenic bacteria. Antioxidant activity of the synthesized compounds was also evaluated against DPPH and ascorbic acid standard substances. Among the designed molecules, most of the compounds showed fascinating antibacterial and antioxidant activities as compared to pure curcumin.

Fossil fuels are sharing a large portion of energy demand. Conventional energy sources emit a huge amount of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, which creates energy and environmental challenges for the ecosystem. To fulfill the world energy demand and to support environmental as well as economic development in a sustainable way, with the utilization of technological advancement of renewable energy resources, algae are presently believed as most adaptable feedstock materials for bioenergy production. Algae has a high fixation rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide which supports to fast growth rate with high productivity per unit area in the form of renewable algal biomass. The present article aims to elaborate on the three generations of biofuels, sustainable microalgae biomass production, cultivation systems, and a wide range of growth parameters. The microalgae harvesting methods and their challenges are also discussed, with a special focus on lipid extraction methods and future r recommendations. The upstream and downstream processes of microalgae could help to harness the microalgae energy in an eco-friendly manner and will help in achieving overall sustainable development.

Population detonation and inflated demand for agricultural products have resulted in the rampant use of pesticides in recent years. These pesticides are used to reduce the number of pesticides by different mechanisms. They have been utilized in agriculture to expand agrarian profit, crop yield, quality, and storage life. The incessant and extensive use of resistant pesticides has contaminated the water bodies, fields, crops, and aquatic biota as well as poses a threat to human health. As a result, stringent regulations and limits are established to monitor the pesticide matrix. The current review focuses on pesticide contamination in the food chain, particularly from the aquatic bodies to fishes and humans. It also discusses strict regulations and limits including maximum residual limits for food items, acceptable daily intake, theoretical maximum daily intake, and estimated carcinogenicity/non-carcinogenicity for fishes and human health risks. In addition to conferring the negative effects of pesticides, this article discusses cost-effective remediation techniques such as phytoremediation, adsorption, the Fenton oxidation method, microalgal/high-rate algal ponds, and nanotechnology with the comparison of their remediation cost.

Dairy wastewaters (DWW) are rich in several pollutants, including high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), and their unsafe disposal may cause damage to the environment. In this study, Chlorella vulgaris (identified as NIES:227 strain based on 28s rRNA sequencing) was isolated from the freshwater habitat of the Ganga River at Haridwar, India, and further tested for its efficacy in treating DWW. The phycoremediation experiments were conducted using three different DWW concentrations (0, 50, and 100%), operating temperatures (20, 25, and 30 °C), and light intensities (2000, 3000, and 4000 lx) using response surface methodology. Results showed that after 16 days of experiments, a significant (P 0.05) reduction in BOD (96.65%) and COD (87.50%) along with a maximum biomass production of 1.757 g/L was achieved using 57.72% of dairy industry wastewater, 24.16 °C of reactor temperature, and 3874.51 lx of light intensity. The RSM models had coefficient of determination (R

Lignocellulosic biomass generated from different sectors (agriculture, forestry, industrial) act as biorefinery precursor for production of second-generation (2G) bioethanol and other biochemicals. The integration of various conversion techniques on a single platform under biorefinery approach for production of biofuel and industrially important chemicals from LCB is gaining interest worldwide. The waste generated on utilization of bio-resources is almost negligible or zero in a biorefinery along with reduced greenhouse gas emissions, which supports the circular bioeconomy concept. The economic viability of a lignocellulosic biorefinery depends upon the efficient utilization of three major components of LCB—cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The heterogeneous structure and recalcitrant nature of LCB is main obstacle in its valorization into bioethanol and other value-added products. The success of bioconversion process depends upon methods used during pre-treatment, hydrolysis and fermentation processes. The cost involved in each step of the bioconversion process affects the viability of cellulosic ethanol. The lignocellulose biorefinery has ample scope, but much-focused research is required to fully utilize major parts of lignocellulosic biomass with zero wastage. The present review entails lignocellulosic biomass valorization for ethanol production, along with different steps involved in its production. Various value-added products produced from LCB components were also discussed. Recent technological advances and significant challenges in bioethanol production are also highlighted in addition to future perspectives. Graphical abstract

Green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles using plant sources has become an excellent substitute for conventional chemical synthetic methods. Nowadays, nano biotechnology is growing at a very fast rate due to its various possible application in the pharmaceutical biomedical, textile, paper industries. In our study, we have reported the green synthesis of chalcogenide nanostructure pharmacologically active chromium oxide (Cr2O3) nanoparticles using synthesized chromium (III) complex as a single route precursor. The synthesized chromium (III) complex was reacted with an aqueous extract of cinnamon bark for the green synthesis of Cr2O3 nanoparticles. In the present study, we aimed to synthesize chromium oxide nanoparticles (Cr2O3 NPs) through a facile low-cost, eco-friendly route. In this method, we use the aqueous environment for green synthesize of Cr2O3 NPs because the use of an aqueous medium plays a very important role in reducing time, reducing minimum possibilities of side reactions and proper execution of conversions of synthesized Cr(III) complex into a good quality of Cr2O3 NPs in a very less time. The synthesized chromium (III) complex and green synthesized Cr2O3 NPs were thoroughly analyzed through various structural, morphological, electronic, vibrational and pharmacological characterization techniques. Powdered X-ray diffraction studies confirm the formation of well-defined equip spaced crystalline nanoparticles of chromium oxide. Transmission electron microscopy exhibits oval-shaped structure of Cr2O3 NPs with an average particle size of 48 nm. Sharp electronic absorptions ends at 345nm for Cr(III) complex and at 429nm indicates the synthesis of good quality of chromium(III) complex and Cr2O3 NPs. The FT-IR spectral studies confirmed the presence of Cr-O stretching, N-H bonding and C=O stretching vibrations in synthesized Cr(III) complex was performed to investigate the thermal stability of the complex. The Cr(III) complex is stable up to 350ºC. The effective pharmacological activities like in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities explained the presence of strong electron-withdrawing and electronwithdrawing groups in synthesized chromium (III) complex. The green synthesis of Cr2O3 NPs via aqueous extract of cinnamon back in proper stoichiometric ratio is a good method for synthesizing highly effective bioactive agents which will be considered as a good drug candidate for various biological applications in future for various biomedical applications

Transition metal complexes of Ni (II) with schiff base ligand (HL) derived from condensation of 3-Bromo benzaldehyde and hydrazine monohydrate were successfully synthesized , characterized and isolated .The schiff base ligand and its Ni(II) complexes prepared were characterized by melting point /decomposition temperature, solubility, conductivity/ Molar conductance, UV- visible, FT-IR, XRD, TGA and elemental analysis results. In the UV-Vis study, a bathochromic shift of approximately 60 nm indicating the formation of coordinated Ni(II) complexes by more than one coordinating sites . IR spectra of the free ligand showed a band at 1660cm-1 which is assigned to the (-C=N-) stretching vibration of the azomethine functional group. These bands were observed at lower frequencies in the spectra of Ni(II) complexes which indicates complexation process between schiff base ligand and Ni2+ ion . Low conductance (7-9 ohm-1 cm2 Mol-1) measurement indicated that the Ni (II) complexes are non electrolytic in nature whereas elemental analysis result revealed 1:1 Nickel-schiff base ratio. TGA analysis showed the presence of two coordinated water molecules on the basis of physico chemical measurements the following empirical formulas have been assigned to coordinated Ni(II) complex : [ Ni(HL)2 ] 2Cl. 2H2O, [ Ni(HL)2 ] SO4 .2H2O. The antioxidant activities of schiff base ligand and Ni(II) complexes were evaluated by using DPPH reagent ie, 2, 2’- diphenyl -1-picrylhydrazyl free radical assay which showed that coordinated Ni(II) complexes have a higher antioxidant activities than that of Schiff base ligand. All compounds have been evaluated for invitro anti microbial activities against isolated bacterial strains of E. coli (MTCC-1687), E. faecalis (MTCC-439), S. aureus (MTCC-737) and MR S. aureus (Indigenous) .All compounds showed mild to moderate antibacterial activities. The minimum inhibitory concentration values ranged from 50 g/ml to 3.125 g/ml. All compounds displayed invitro anti bacterial activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains. It may be proved that the antibacterial activity of compounds is related to the cell wall structure of the tested bacterial stain. The synthesis of Ni(II) complexes via template method is a good method for obtaining very efficient bioactive agents as a good drug candidates for various biological applications in future for humans. As well as schiff base molecular adducts of Ni(II) complexes are also promising material in different cutting edge research areas like applications in preparation of solar cells, super capacitors, catalysts and electrode materials. Keywords: Schiff base ligands, Ni(II) complexes, Spectroscopic analysis, antioxidant activities, Antimicrobial activities, DPPH, 3-Bromobenzaldelyde

The escalation in demand for textile products increased the use of fresh water and treatment of wastewater; which escalates the search for suitable and energy-efficient technology for wastewater treatment. Solar assisted technology ( i.e. solar desalination) for the textile industry wastewater treatment is proved to be an affordable technology. The only drawback of solar desalination is its low productivity which is the major hindrance in the global acceptance of the system. In the present study, an ingenious improvement in form of a parabolic concentrator-based solar desalination system (PCB-SDS) is designed to overcome low productivity, and the simultaneous use of source textile industry wastewater for its treatment makes this study more realistic. The performance of the designed system was examined for three different brine depths i.e. 20%, 40%, and 60% for two different processing step i.e. Dyeing and Degumming. System performance was evaluated in terms of energetic, exergetic, pollutant removal, and economic analysis. The maximum output of the system was found to be around 7440 and 8330 mL/day on clear sunny days with textile dyeing wastewater (TDyWW) and textile degumming wastewater (TDgWW) at 60% depth respectively. Daily average energy and exergy efficiency of system varies in the range 39.8–51.9 and 3.6–4.8% respectively. The degumming wastewater shows 85% COD removal, whereas, around 90% of TDS and hardness removal was also recorded. The dyeing processed wastewater showed 80% COD removal efficiency, ≅90% TDS, and hardness removal. The cost per liter of distillate output produced from designed PCB-SDS was found to be 0.014 $/L.

Most studies on intimate partner violence (IPV) and its drivers have focused on individual-and household-level characteristics of the victim. Recent studies have acknowledged that it is a community-level phenomenon, using spatial analytical methods to analyze community-level determinants of IPV and its geographic dimensions. Such studies provide mixed evidence on the impact of different factors and need to be supplemented by similar studies—particularly in South Asian countries where IPV is common. The present study examines district-level variations in the incidence of various forms of IPV and identifies its determinants in India, a fast-growing South Asian country with poor gender indicators. The study combines data from the National Family Health Survey, District Level Household Survey, and the decadal Census. It applies spatial analytical methods such as the Global Moran’s I, Getis-ord statistic, and Multivariate Local Geary to determine the nature of the spatial distribution of different categories of IPV. Spatial regression models are used to identify the community-level predictors of each category of IPV. The study finds non-random overlapping spatial clusters in the eastern part of India. The study also finds that neighborhoods characterized by low empowerment levels, and with a high child sex ratio, road connectivity, and proportion of socially marginalized groups are more likely to exhibit high levels of all types of IPV—although the impact of these determinants varies across districts. Furthermore, spill-overs in the incidence of IPV between neighboring districts are also observed. The study concludes by recommending the use of localized policies, rather than broad national or state policies, in reducing IPV.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed In this review article, waste materials (biogenic/non-biogenic) are focused as the flocculants for harvesting of algal biomass. Chemical flocculants are widely utilized for the effective harvesting of algal biomass at a commercial scale while the high cost is a major drawback. The waste materials-based flocculants (WMBF) are started to utilize as one of the cost-effective performance for dual benefits of waste minimization and reuse for sustainable recovery of biomass. The novelty of the article is articulated with the objective that presents an insight of WMBF, classification of WMBF, preparation methods of WMBF, mechanisms of flocculation, factors affecting flocculation-mechanism, challenges and future recommendations that are required for harvesting of algae. The WMBF are shown similar flocculation mechanisms and flocculation efficiencies as chemical flocculants. Thus, the utilization of waste material for the flocculation process of algal cells minimizes the waste load into the environment and transforms the waste materials into valuable resources.

Earlier investigations on biological methods of wastewater treatment have revealed that algal based wastewater treatment could be a green, cost effective and efficient approach for the removal of heavy metals. So, this study aimed to assess the potential of microalga Chlorella pyrenoidosa for remediation of heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Mn, and Ni) from varying concentration (25%, 50%, 75 and 100%) of wastewater collected from Common Effluent Treatment Plant. Heavy metals such as Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Mn, and Ni have been removed significantly from the wastewater, with percentage removal ranging from 73%, 60%, 75%, 66%, 87%, 83%, and 74% with 50% test solution, 57%, 59%, 70%, 56%, 72%, 66%, and 62% with 75% test solution, and 47%, 55%, 56%, 71%, 61%, 77%, and 72% with 100% test solution respectively. Studies on biochemical assay (protein, carbohydrate, and pigment) of Chlorella pyrenoidosa were also an important part of the present investigation to understand the interaction of heavy metals with algal biochemical compounds using Pearson correlation co-efficient. Biomass grown in CETP wastewater can be used for synthesis of various fruitful value-added end products like bio-diesel, pharmaceutical products, cosmetic products, bio-adsorbent etc.

The efficient management and treatment of pharmaceutical industry wastewater (PIWW) have become a serious environmental issue due to its high toxicity.To overcome this problem, the present study deals with the phycoremediation of PIWW using Chlorella vulgaris microalga isolated from the Ganga River at Haridwar, India. For this, response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) tools were used to identify the best reduction of total phosphorus (TP) and total Kjeldahl’s nitrogen (TKN) based pollutants along with lipid production efficiency of C. vulgaris. Three different concentrations of pharmaceutical wastewater (0, 50, and 100%), operating temperatures (20, 25, and 30°C), and light intensity (2000, 3000, and 4000 lx)were used to design the phycoremediation experiments. Findings revealed thatC.vulgaris was good enough to remove maximum TP (90.35%), TKN (83.55%) along 20.88% of lipid yield at 25.62℃ temperature, 60.73% PIW concentration, and 4000 lx of light intensity, respectively.Based on the model performance and validation results, ANN showed more accuracy as compared to the RSM tool. Therefore, the findings of this study showed thatC.vulgarisis capable of treating PIWW efficiently along with significant production of lipid content which can further be used in various applications including biofuels production.

In India, flowers are widely used as an offering to Deities at religious places. Flower waste (FW) is rich in several nutrients and organic matter, therefore, can be utilized for the production of organic compost. This study investigated the potential of temple FW along with cow dung (CD) for the production of compost through aerobic valorization (AV) for 60 days. The FW was collected from the Mahan Shiv Parvati temple of Jammu, India. For this, laboratory-scale AV was done using a 1:3 mixture of FW and CD in a 20 kg capacity bin facilitated with aeration. The result showed that there was a significant increase (P 0.8805), respectively. This study showed that the AV process of FW and CD mixture gave compost of good quality which presents a sustainable waste management approach.

Coal based thermal power plant expels pollutants consisting hazardous gases that result in to degradation of ecosystem. On the contrary, gasification technologies offer the potential for clean and efficient energy. At optimum gasifier pressure of 2 bar and steam–fuel ratio of 0.25, mole fraction of synthesis gas is analysed for increasing gas–fuel ratio of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0. With increasing gas–fuel ratio from 0.25 to 1.0, the mole fraction of components of synthesis gas does not vary, whereas the heating value and cold-gas efficiency of synthesis gas produced decreases. Considering the emissions, simulated results present co-gasification as better option over conventional systems. Reduction of two-third in kg of CO2 released per kg of fuel was observed with almost three-fourth decrement in kg of CO2 per kWh of power produced. Also, zero SOx and NOx emissions were observed compared to coal based thermal power plants. Simulation of the gasification cycle with varying parameters is carried out using Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB).

The current study focused on the pollution remediation of textile industry wastewater by using Chlorella pyrenoidosa in two different physical forms: free algal biomass and immobilized algal biomass. The hypothesis behind the present study was to analyze the pollution reduction efficiency of immobilized algal biomass and free algal biomass on comparative scale on the basis of the adsorption process which is directly proportional with the surface area of the adsorbate. So, in this context the immobilized form of algae could enhance the pollution reduction efficiency due to availability of more surface area. So, the textile industry wastewater was treated by both free algal biomass and immobilized algal biomass and the major wastewater contributors like nitrate, phosphate, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) were assessed before and after the treatment process. To conclude the optimum comparative results, the pH of wastewater was maintained constant, as it can capitalize or moderate the adsorption process (initial pH of was 8.2 ± 0.1, but it was maintained to 8). The contamination remediation was found to be effective with immobilized algal biomass (46.7% of nitrate, 59.4% of phosphate, 83.1% BOD and 83.0% of COD) than free algal biomass (43.2% of nitrate, 56.7% of phosphate, 71.4% of BOD and 78.0% COD).

Pollution-free rivers give indication of a healthy ecosystem. The stretch of Tawi river particularly in the Jammu city is experiencing pollution load and the quality is degraded. The present study highlights the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the water quality of Tawi river in Jammu, J&K Union Territory. Water quality data based upon the real-time water monitoring for four locations (Below Tawi Bridge, Bhagwati Nagar, Belicharana and Surajpur) have been obtained from the web link of Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Board. The important parameters used in the present study include pH, alkalinity, hardness, conductivity, BOD and COD. The river was designated fit for bathing in all the monitoring locations except Bhagwati Nagar which recorded a BOD value >5 mg/L because of domestic sewage and municipal waste dumping. The overall water quality in the river during lockdown was good and falls in Class B with pH (7.0-8.5), alkalinity (23.25-185.0 mg/L), hardness (84.25-177.5 mg/L), conductivity (117-268 ms/cm). The improved water quality obtained during lockdown is never long-lasting as evident from the BOD and COD values observed during Unlock 1.0 due to accelerated anthropogenic activities in response to overcoming the economic loss, bringing the river water quality back to the degraded state. The statistical analysis known as cluster analysis has also been performed to evaluate the homogeneity of various monitoring sites based on the physicochemical variables. The need of the hour is to address the gaps of rejuvenation strategies and work over them for effective river resiliency and for sustainable river basin management.

Challenges in the course of sustainable development, predominantly dearth of natural resources and waste management have suggested scientific community across the globe to seek novel processes to reduce ecological disturbances. For this purpose, microbial leaching process; a commercial application of bio-hydrometallurgy, could be a better option as it serves as a potential candidate for the retrieval of precious metals from low grade ores containing very low metal concentration, and sulfide minerals. It can also effectively remove excess of metals from soil and sediments and even recover metals from discarded solid waste. The present article intends to highlight the valuable metals which are being recovered by the process of microbial leaching from various kind of solid waste, the mechanism by which metals are mobilized, commercially used bioleaching processes along with their benefits and shortcomings, conditions and factors necessary for the optimization of the microbial leaching process. Emphasis is also being given to the extraction of metals from metal polluted soil and sediments using leaching organisms. It is to be concluded that microbial leaching is a revolutionizing technique bringing out both recovery of metals from solid materials including metal contaminated soil as well as remediation of soil using micro-organisms.

Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is an X-linked recessive disorder involving mutation of the dystrophin gene. Cardiac involvement in BMD is frequent and represents the foremost cause of mortality. Two male siblings with severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and presence of deletion in the dystrophin gene underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, which revealed typical but varying imaging findings. The CMR revealed dilated left ventricle with severe global hypokinesis with preserved right ventricular (RV) function. Few patchy areas of septal edema were seen with typical epicardial enhancement along the LV lateral wall and the RV side of septum in one sibling. Both the siblings revealed an elevated myocardial native T1 values. CMR has the potential to detect cardiac involvement early by identifying and quantifying fibrosis, before wall motion abnormalities set in and determine prognosis in patients with muscular dystrophy and BMD carriers.