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Background: Older adults of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have a higher prevalence of mental health disorders compared to high-income countries, which can be attributed to a combination of social factors (such as isolation and loss of spouse), declining physical well-being, and the cumulative impact of life stressors, all of which contribute to an increased vulnerability in mental health. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the pooled prevalence of mental health disorders among older adults in LMICs and to identify community-based mental health intervention measures to tackle mental health problems in LMICs. Methods: Articles will be retrieved from databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Central using MeSH terms, keywords, and text words for each concept. Preprint search servers (MedRx, Cogprints, IndiaRxiv, medRxiv, and SSRN) will also be accessed. Data analysis will be conducted as per guidelines provided in the Handbook of Cochrane Systematic Review. RevMan version 5.4 software will be used for pooled analysis. Expected outcome: This systematic review will be able to identify the pooled prevalence of mental health among older adults and will also identify the evidence-based mental health intervention measures in community settings among older adults of LMICs.

The present study focuses on removing hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) using indigenous metal-resistant bacterial strains isolated from a common industrial effluent treatment plant, a contaminated site in Vishakhapatnam. Three high metal-resistant isolates were screened by growing them in nutrient agar media containing different Cr(VI) concentrations for 24 h at 35 ± 2 °C. The three strains’ minimum inhibitory concentrations of Cr(VI) were examined at neutral pH and 35 ± 2 °C temperature. Morphological, biochemical, and molecular characterizations were carried out, and the strains were identified as Bacillus subtilis NITSP1, Rhizobium pusense NITSP2, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa NITSP3. Elemental composition and functional group analysis of the native and metal-loaded cells were done using energy-dispersive spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The operating conditions were optimized using a one-factor-at-a-time analysis. When compared with three bacterial isolates, maximum Cr(VI) removal (80.194 ± 4.0%) was observed with Bacillus subtilis NITSP1 with an initial Cr(VI) concentration of 60 mg/L, pH 7.0, an inoculum size of 2% (v/v), and an incubation period of 24 h. The logistic model was used to predict the variation of biomass growth with time. The present study can be extended to remove heavy metals from industrial wastewater in an environmental-friendly manner. HIGHLIGHTS Cr(VI), being ranked 17th in the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's list, was eliminated via a microbial route.; Three metal-resistant bacterial strains that were isolated from a common industrial effluent treatment plant in Vishakhapatnam, India, effectively removed Cr(VI).; Energy-dispersive spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the metal-binding capability.; The logistic model predicted biomass growth variations over time. Bacillus subtilis NITSP1 exhibited the highest Cr(VI) removal.;

Abstract Background Removal of Cr(VI) from wastewater is essential as it is potentially toxic and carcinogenic in nature. Bioremediation of heavy metals using microalgae is a novel technique and has several advantages such as microalgae remove metals in an environmentally friendly and economic manner. The present study deals with modeling and optimization of the phycoremediation of Cr(VI) from synthetic wastewater. The initial concentration of Cr(VI), initial pH, and inoculum size were considered as input factors, and the percentage removal of Cr(VI) was chosen as a response. Results An accurate data-driven genetic programming model was developed with the experimental data of other scientists to find a relation between the percentage removal of Cr(VI) and all input parameters. To maximize the removal of Cr(VI), the grey wolf optimization technique was applied to determine the optimal values of input parameters. Conclusion These optimum input parameters are difficult to get through experimentation using the trial-and-error method. The established modelling and optimization technique is generic and can be applied to any other experimental study. Graphical Abstract

Abstract Background Being the most widely used construction material, concrete health is considered a very important aspect from the structural point of view. Microcracks in concrete cause water and chlorine ions to enter the structure, causing the concrete to degrade and the reinforcement to corrode, posing an unacceptable level of structural risk. Hence repair of these cracks in an eco-friendly and cost-effective way is in the interest of various researchers. Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is an effective way considered by various researchers to heal those concrete cracks along with an important environmental contribution of CO2 (carbon dioxide) sequestration in the process. Main content As the current concentration of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere is about 412 ppm, it possesses a deadly threat to the environmental issue of global warming. The use of bacteria for MICP can not only be a viable solution to repairing concrete cracks but also can play an important role of CO2 arrestation in carbonate form. This will help in carbon level management to lessen the adverse effects of this greenhouse gas on the atmospheric environment, particularly on the climate. To overcome the insufficiency of studies concentrating on this aspect, this review article focuses on the metabolic pathways and mechanisms of MICP and highlights the value of MICP for CO2 arrestation/sequestration from the atmosphere during the process of self-healing of concrete cracks, which is also the novelty of this work. An overview of recent studies on the implementation of MICP in concrete crack repair is used to discuss and analyse the factors influencing the effectiveness of MICP in the process, including various approaches used for CO2 sequestration. Furthermore, this investigation concentrates on finding the scope of work in the same field for the most effective ways of CO2 sequestration in the process of self-healing cracks of concrete. Conclusion In a prospective study, MICP can be an effective technology for CO2 sequestration in concrete crack repair, as it can reduce adverse environmental impacts and provide greener environment. This critical study concludes that MICP can bear a significant role in arrestation/sequestration of CO2, under proper atmospheric conditions with a cautious selection of microorganisms and its nutrient for the MICP procedure. Graphical Abstract

Abstract In the present study, the waste part of the banana tree was used as a precursor, and copper chloride salt was used as an impregnating agent for the preparation of adsorbent to remove both cyanide and phenol from synthetic wastewater. Initially, thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the rate of carbonization of the material with temperature, and thus, the optimum temperature (370 °C) and time of carbonization (35 min) were assessed. Different samples of adsorbents were prepared next by varying the weight ratio of pseudo-stem of waste banana tree to copper salt from 1:1 to 30:1. All the samples were then tested for removal of both the pollutants, and the ratio (20:1) corresponding to maximum removal of both the pollutants was considered as optimum. Therefore, further studies were conducted with the adsorbent prepared at optimum ratio, temperature and time and such adsorbent was termed as copper impregnated activated banana tree (CIABT). One variable at a time approach was followed to find out the most effective condition based on the maximum removal of pollutants. Maximum removal of 95.99 ± 1.03% and 97.33 ± 0.04% was achieved for cyanide (initial concentration: 100 ppm) and phenol (initial concentration: 450 ppm), respectively, at an optimum contact time of 150 min, the particle size of 90 μ, the adsorbent dosage of 10 g/L, pH 8.0 using CIABT at 25 °C. Hybrid artificial neural network–particle swarm optimization were employed for modelling-optimization of removal of both the pollutants while achieving 91.4–99.99% and 86.43–99.99% removal of cyanide and phenol, respectively, from simulated wastewater.

This article focuses on the phycoremediation of pollutants from secondary treated coke-oven effluent through a green and economical route. A microalgal sample was collected and identified as a consortium of Chlorella sp. and Synechococcus sp. The culture cost was reduced by using poultry litter extract as supplementary material to BG-11 medium. Since the major pollutants present in real secondary treated coke-oven wastewater are phenol, ammoniacal-N (NH4+) and cyanide, several matrices were designed with these three major pollutants by varying their initial concentrations such as phenol (2–10 mg/L), cyanide (0.3–1 mg/L) and NH4+ (100–200 mg/L), termed as simulated secondary treated coke-oven wastewater. Maximum removal was observed with individual solutions of phenol (4 mg/L), cyanide (0.6 mg/L) and NH4+ (175 mg/L), while maximum removal in simulated secondary treated coke-oven wastewater was observed at higher concentrations of phenol (8 mg/L) and cyanide (0.8 mg/L) and the same concentration of NH4+ (175 mg/L). A consortium was found effective to meet statutory limits of pollutants. Kinetic model was developed for predicting growth of consortium and observed that the poultry litter extract-enriched BG-11 medium showed higher values of maximum specific growth rate (0.56 per day) and carrying capacity (1,330 mg/L) than that in BG-11 medium only. HIGHLIGHTS A consortium was identified for tertiary treatment of coke-oven wastewater.; Poultry litter extract was found effective as a growth medium for consortium.; Phycoremediation of NH4+, phenol and cyanide was examined with the present consortium.; Biomass and biomolecules were extracted and estimated.; A consortium was found effective for real wastewater treatment.;

The present study evaluated short-time effect of steam modified biochar with rhamnolipid solution on the removal of different volatile organic and inorganic compounds (acetone, xylene, ammonia) in biofilter with capillary system. Modification of pine wood biochar with steam governed better treatment of pollar acetone and ammonia compounds from the air stream with removal efficiencies of 93% and 96%, respectively. It was related to biochar’s higher average capillary radius, moisture content and lower air velocity. However, removal of xylene was much lower and reached 72% in the case of modified biochar. It can be explained by its higher Henry’s constant, hydrophobicity and non-polarity.

The paper systematically presents a survey of the literature on algal biofuel by a bibliometric assessment. Based on 10,201 articles extracted from the Science Citation Index Expanded database during 1980–2019, a knowledge-generating system about algal biofuel has been established through analysis of publication performance, social networks, citations analysis and keywords analysis. Annual publication output in algal biofuel research has rapidly increased, particularly over the past decade. “Bioresource Technology” is the most outstanding journal when all analysis indices have been taken into account. The USA ranks 1st with 2,151 publications and has a high supremacy in international research collaborations. Through the analysis of keywords, the research trends of algae biofuel in algae selection, cultivation, harvesting, extraction, conversion and bioproducts are reviewed. The future of algal biofuel is quite promising, however, for its commercial production, several technical challenges like large-scale algal biomass production, cheap harvesting technology, etc. have to be met a-priori.

Abstract In reverse osmosis seawater treatment process, membrane fouling can be mitigated by degrading organic pollutants present in the feed seawater. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of employing solar photocatalysis using TiO2/ZnO/H2O2 to pretreat reverse osmosis (RO) feed seawater under solar irradiation. Process optimisation and performance evaluation were undertaken using response surface methodology-desirability function and RSM integrated with genetic algorithm (RSM-GA). Statistical analysis was performed to determine the interactive relationships and main effects of input factors such as TiO2 dosage, H2O2 dosage, pH, reaction time and ZnO dosage. The performance evaluation was determined in terms of percentage removal of total organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The obtained optimum values using RSM-GA evaluation for TOC and COD removal were found to be 76.5% and 63.9%, respectively. The predicted RSM-GA results correspond well with the experimental results (TOC removal = 73.3%, COD removal = 61.2%). Utilization of renewable solar energy coupled with optimum utilisation of nanophotocatalysts enables this technique to be a unique treatment process for RO pretreatment of seawater and membrane fouling mitigation.

Background: High resolution ultrasonography (USG) is the first-line investigation in evaluation of euthyroid nodules. Thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TIRADS) is an USG-based risk stratification system for classifying thyroid nodules. Subjects with high-risk category of TIRADS undergo fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and FNAC findings are reported according to Bethesda classification. Bethesda categories are used for determining risk of malignancy. Data regarding sonographic classification of thyroid nodule and its cytological association with respect to final histopathological diagnosis remains scarcely available in India. Aims and Objective: The study evaluated euthyroid nodules for risk of malignancy and compared sonographic features and FNAC (Bethesda classification) findings with histopathology of excised samples. Material and Methods: This was a single-center observational study on 137 consecutive subjects of solitary euthyroid nodule. All subjects underwent USG according to TIRADS and FNAC where applicable. Surgical biopsy report was used as a gold standard. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive and negative predictive value of FNAC were 80%, 90%, 85%, 86%, and 86.6% and TIRADS were 80%, 47.2% 61%, 51.3%, and 77.3%, respectively. FNAC classification was equally sensitive and more specific than TIRADS. Among individual USG parameters, micro-calcification was most sensitive (80%) and specific (86%). Irregular margin and taller-than-wider shape had a specificity of 89% and 92%, respectively. 3 patients (14.28%) with benign cytology and suspicious USG features (specifically TIRADS 4 & 5) undergoing surgery had malignancy in final HPE. Conclusions: USG and FNAC are equally sensitive in diagnosing malignant thyroid nodule but FNA is more specific (90%). It's a minimally invasive method which can be used to distinguish malignant from benign lesions with a high degree of accuracy (85%). In patient having high risk feature on USG, a benign cytology needs to be repeat FNAC and they should undergo surgical biopsy for confirmation.

Abstract The present study is devoted for eliminating cyanide from wastewater through adsorption onto a surface impregnated with iron. It is seen that the impregnation of iron improves the removal efficacy of cyanide. Ferric nitrate nonahydrate has been used as impregnating agent, and Corncob, a waste material, has been used as a progenitor for the preparation of adsorbent. For determining the optimum conditions for impregnation of iron, response surface methodology has been employed. Combined effect of weight ratio, time, and temperature has been tested, and optimum condition has been obtained with weight ratio (1.0), time (1.50 h), and temperature (400 °C), and the sample made at this condition is named as iron-impregnated activated carbon (IIAC). While studying the adsorptive behavior of IIAC in contrast to activated Corncob without impregnation (ACWI), it has been found that for a cyanide solution of 50 mg L−1, ACWI can remove only 61% of cyanide and IIAC is able to remove around 91% at a constant adsorbent dosage of 10 g L−1. The minimum (− 1) and maximum (+ 1) level of particle sizes (45–150 µm), adsorbent dosage (5–20 g L−1), and initial concentration (IC) of cyanide (5–50 mg L−1) on cyanide removal have been examined using ANOVA, at room temperature (25 °C) for knowing the dependence on the same. Maximum cyanide removal (99.58%) has been achieved at an optimum particle size of 100 µm, adsorbent dosage of 3.95 g L−1, IC of 27.5 mg L−1 at pH 7.5 with IIAC. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models have been used for analyzing equilibrium data where Freundlich isotherm has been suitable. Different kinetic models have been employed to fit the data. Pseudo-second-order kinetic model has been found to be most applicable.

Altered expression of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), longer than 200 nucleotides without potential for coding protein, has been observed in diverse human diseases including viral diseases. It is largely unknown whether lncRNA would deregulate in SARS-CoV-2 infection, causing ongoing pandemic COVID-19. To identify, if lncRNA was deregulated in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells, we analyzed in silico the data in GSE147507. It was revealed that expression of 20 lncRNA like MALAT1, NEAT1 was increased and 4 lncRNA like PART1, TP53TG1 was decreased in at least two independent cell lines infected with SARS-CoV-2. Expression of NEAT1 was also increased in lungs tissue of COVID-19 patients. The deregulated lncRNA could interact with more than 2800 genes/proteins and 422 microRNAs as revealed from the database that catalogs experimentally determined interactions. Analysis with the interacting gene/protein partners of deregulated lncRNAs revealed that these genes/proteins were associated with many pathways related to viral infection, inflammation and immune functions. To find out whether these lncRNAs could be regulated by STATs and interferon regulatory factors (IRFs), we used ChIPBase v2.0 that catalogs experimentally determined binding from ChIP-seq data. It was revealed that any one of the transcription factors IRF1, IRF4, STAT1, STAT3 and STAT5A had experimentally determined binding at regions within -5kb to +1kb of the deregulated lncRNAs in at least 2 independent cell lines/conditions. Our analysis revealed that several lncRNAs could be regulated by IRF1, IRF4 STAT1 and STAT3 in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and lncRNAs might be involved in antiviral response. However, these in silico observations are necessary to be validated experimentally.

Background: Though DSM no longer considers homosexuality as a clinical condition, it still remains a contentious issue across social, legal, and religious paradigms. Collectivistic and traditional societies (eg, India) are more reticent in accepting the multifaceted nature of sexuality. This study thereby tries to arrive at a collective understanding about homosexuality. Methods: The study was conducted in the following 3 parts: Focus group discussion (FDG) to unravel the collective understanding of homosexuality in heterosexual young adults. In-depth personal interviews with 3 homosexual persons. In-depth personal interview with 3 heterosexual peers of homosexual persons. Results: Qualitative analysis of the FGDs revealed that the participants share a collective opinion that “lack of acceptance and negative stereotyping of homosexuality” to be a predominant social phenomenon in India. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of the personal interviews of the homosexual persons revealed experience of social ostracization and unique personal journey toward self-acceptance and adaptation. IPA of the personal interviews of the heterosexual peers disseminate that these people have the agonizing vicarious experience of seeing their friends being discriminated against and also personal experiences of social rejection on account of having a homosexual friend. Conclusion: This study is unique in that it tried to recognize homosexuality from multiple perspectives. Findings suggest that heteronormative hegemony operates insidiously and pervades the boundary of the self-generating “self-doubt.” Understanding these dimensions might help address their unmet needs and identities as well as mitigate stigma surrounding the same.

Abstract Proper treatment of heavy metal ions present in wastewaters is a major concern. With extensive usage in various industries, Cr(VI) contamination has become threatening for the environment. Biosorption is a favorable technique for heavy metals removal. In the present study, dried cyanobacterial consortium of Dinophysis caudata and Dinophysis acuminata were used to assess its biosorption capability. The surface texture and morphology of the biosorbent were obtained through scanning electron microscopy. The presence of different chemical bonds, namely hydroxyl, C–H and C–N, was confirmed through FTIR study. Pseudo-second-order Mckay-Ho model was found to perform best to fit the kinetic data. Temkin adsorption isotherm model fit best to the equilibrium data. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize Cr(VI) abatement. Effect of initial concentration (IC) of metal ion, temperature, pH variation and amount of adsorbent (AD) were studied during batch study. Maximum Cr(VI) abatement after 5 min contact time was 80.77% for an IC of Cr(VI) of 25 mg/L, at pH 11 and 45 °C with the AD of 2.5 g/L. The optimum removal conditions as shown by RSM study were IC of Cr(VI): 15 mg/L, AD: 1 g/L, pH: 11, and the removal was predicted as 81.72%. Artificial neural network-based model was further developed based on experimental points which indicated that the model can predict abatement of Cr(VI) for various operating conditions with reasonably high accuracy.

Abstract. Innovation is one of the key elements of countries’ competitiveness. In the face of continuous world economic changes, the Triple Helix Model (University-Industry-Government) relationship allows many countries to improve and accelerate their innovation processes. In developing countries, which are in transition towards innovation-based economies, such as Malaysia, Triple Helix (TH) can serve as a tool to speed up this transition. This paper explores the implementation of Triple Helix to discover the extent of collaboration between companies and universities both on a global scale and particularly in Malaysia. The study uses a quantitative methodology based on an integrative analysis of literature, secondary data and results of a survey, conducted among four Malaysian research based universities. The research finds that the average performance of Malaysian research based public universities in the Triple Helix system is generally good. For individual universities this study finds that the National University of Malaysia (UKM) has performed above average, while University of Malaya (UM) shows below average performance among major research universities in Malaysia. The findings of this research highlight the need to solve the identified problems in parallel with implementation of the open innovation concept in university-industry collaborations. Keywords: Triple Helix, Research University (RU), Technology Commercialisation, Innovation, Malaysia