Magnetic particles precipitated onto wheat husk for removal of methyl blue from aqueous solution

Magnetic particles prepared via co-precipitation and impregnated onto wheat husk (MN-WH) were used for the removal of methyl blue (MB) from aqueous solution. Experiments were conducted in a batch mode for optimization regarding pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentrations, and temperature. Maximum adsorption (98%) was achieved at pH 5. The adsorption data were fitted into pseudo-first, pseudo-second, intraparticle diffusion, and Elovich equation revealing that adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The four most common isotherm models, i.e. the Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin, and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R), were used to evaluate the data, with the best fit to a Langmuir isotherm (R² = 0.996), followed by a Freundlich isotherm (R² = 0.995), indicating monolayer adsorption of MB on the surface of MN-WH. Thermodynamic parameters calculated from the Van't Hoff equation revealed that the adsorption is exothermic (ΔHº = ?19.7 kJ mol^?1).     

Proteomics study of Southern Punjab Pakistani cobra (Naja naja: formerly Naja naja karachiensis) venom

Because of the potential of significant geographic variation in the compositions of snake venoms, much insight can be gained by examining individuals originating from diverse locations, and detailed characterization of any species can only be done by including animals from the entire range. Pakistani N. naja (formerly N. naja karachiensis) venom was decomplexed by applying diverse techniques and found a concoction of proteins (a total of 43 venomous proteins comprising 11 super families) from 6 to 200 kilodaltons in size. Among them three finger toxins (58%), phosphoplipses A₂ (19%), snake venom metalloproteinases (5%), l-amino acid oxidases (5%), helvepryns (3%), vespryns (2%), cobra venom factor (2%), 5′-nucleotidases (2%), venom nerve growth factor (2%), and Kunitz type serine protease inhibitor (2%) were included. It is the first report that this venom possesses significantly higher percentage of three finger toxins belonging to the cytotoxins (32% overall) and α‐neurotoxins (32% overall, predominately long chain neurotoxins, 24% overall) compared to N. naja from other geographic locations. Better understanding of intraspecific variations in venom can improve the development of location-specific anti-venoms. Furthermore, this pool of diverse toxins could potentially be a source of novel drug candidates for the treatment of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors mediated nervous disorders.     

Scalp hair metal analysis in the assessment of the occupational exposure of arc welders

Eleven metals (Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni and Pb) were estimated in hair samples of metal arc welders and a control group with the same socioeconomic background. Nitric acid–perchloric acid wet digestion procedure was adopted for the estimation of endogenous metal contents by ICP-AE technique. The study exhibited the following increasing order of the metal concentrations: Cd??1, dry weight, respectively. On average, the levels of Mn, Ni, Pb and Fe were found to be 1.5–2.4 times higher in the hair of welders compared with controls. Besides age and exposure which were strongly correlated, Cu–Mg, Mn–Mg, Ca–Co and Cd–Zn also showed significantly positive correlations. The identification of metal sources, done by cluster and principal component analyses, revealed four factors: age and exposure; Cu, Mg, Mn and Fe; Ca and Co; Cd, Zn, Ni and Pb. High levels of Fe were found to have a depleting impact on Co levels. The arc welders were feared to accumulate heavy metals in their bodies due to long-term endogenous exposure.     

Microwave-Induced Modification of Physical and Functional Characteristics and Antioxidant Potential of Alkali-Soluble Cell Wall Polysaccharides of Nelumbo nucifera Rhizome

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The alkali-soluble cell wall polysaccharides (CWPs), extracted from Nelumbo nucifera rhizome flour (NNRF), were treated with microwave radiation to modify...     

Seed maturity indices in Aisandra butyracea--a multipurpose tree species of lower Himalaya

Fruits of Aisandra butyracea (Roxb.) Lamb. were collected from two sites located at different altitudes in Kumaun Himalaya for analyzing the seed maturity in relation to various fruit and seed characters. The mean seed size (length x width) across the collection dates varied between 186.44 +/- 0.05 and 238.17 +/- 0.5 mm2 across both the elevations. The fruit colour changed from dark green in the beginning to pale yellow on the maturity. The range of seed moisture content (62.83 +/- 1.33 to 63.46 +/- 0.89%) coincided with maximum germination. The colour change and seed moisture content appear to be the major indicators of seed maturation in A. butyracea.     

The nexus between financial development,globalization, and environmental degradation: Fresh evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Global warming and greenhouse gas emissions have become a severe threat to our ecosystem. Prior studies on environment posit that ample exhaustion of...     

End-Of-Life Textiles as Reinforcements in Biocomposites

A number of attempts have been made to recycle cotton/polyester blend woven fabrics after use; however, most of these fabrics are disposed of in landfills. Major part of these blend fabrics are not recycled due to complexity of the fibre arrangement and cannot be separated economically. This study shows that these discarded woven fabrics could be directly used as reinforcements in composites without fibre separation. Uniform alignment in the woven fabric provided consistent properties to the composites. The fabrics were reinforced by soybean-based-bioresins to produce biocomposites. The composites were analysed for mechanical, thermal, viscoelastic and morphological properties. Porosity and wettability of the composites were also evaluated. Results demonstrate that the tensile strength and modulus of over 100 and 10 MPa, respectively, can be obtained without any fibre treatment. Furthermore, impact strength over 70 kJ/m² was obtained without any chemical treatment on fibres. The porosity of the composites produced was less than 9 vol%. Additionally, the fabrics were treated with alkali in order to improve the fibre–matrix interface and the composite properties were studied. From the economical perspective, these composites can be produced at a low cost as the major component is available for free or low cost.     

Bacillus safensis with plant-derived smoke stimulates rice growth under saline conditions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Salinity is a worldwide environmental problem of agricultural lands. Smoke and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPR) are individually used to improve...     

Future-year ozone prediction for the United States using updated models and inputs

The relationship between emission reductions and changes in ozone can be studied using photochemical grid models. These models are updated with new information as it becomes available. The primary objective of this study was to update the previous Collet et al. studies by using the most up-to-date (at the time the study was done) modeling emission tools, inventories, and meteorology available to conduct ozone source attribution and sensitivity studies. Results show future-year, 2030, design values for 8-hr ozone concentrations were lower than base-year values, 2011. The ozone source attribution results for selected cities showed that boundary conditions were the dominant contributors to ozone concentrations at the western U.S. locations, and were important for many of the eastern U.S. locations. Point sources were generally more important in the eastern United States than in the western United States. The contributions of on-road mobile emissions were less than 5 ppb at a majority of the cities selected for analysis. The higher-order decoupled direct method (HDDM) results showed that in most of the locations selected for analysis, NOx emission reductions were more effective than VOC emission reductions in reducing ozone levels. The source attribution results from this study provide useful information on the important source categories and provide some initial guidance on future emission reduction strategies.

Implications: The relationship between emission reductions and changes in ozone can be studied using photochemical grid models, which are updated with new available information. This study was to update the previous Collet et al. studies by using the most current, at the time the study was done, models and inventory to conduct ozone source attribution and sensitivity studies. The source attribution results from this study provide useful information on the important source categories and provide some initial guidance on future emission reduction strategies.