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River Yamuna is one of the most sacred major tributaries of river Ganga. This study aimed to assess the level of heavy metals in monsoon and non-monsoon season in river Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh, India and to assess the possible source of contamination and its associated health risk. Except for iron (Fe), the mean levels of all metals were within drinking water safe limits in both seasons. Except for chromium (Cr), lower values were observed for other metals in the monsoon season could be attributed dilution effect. Multivariate analysis indicated that both geogenic and anthropogenic sources contribute to heavy metals in river Yamuna in monsoon and non-monsoon seasons. The health risk in terms of hazard index (HI) and fuzzy-logic hazard index (FHI) demonstrated that both HI and FHI values among children exceeded the safe limit in most of the sites in non-monsoon seasons and in few in monsoon season. For adults, HI and FHI values were within safe limit.

Heavy metals are persistent and bio-accumulative, and pose potential risk to human health and ecosystem. We reviewed the current state of heavy metal contamination, the ecotoxicological and human health risk of heavy metals reported in urban road dust from various cities in different continents (Asia, Europe, Africa, America, and Australia). We compared and synthesized the findings on the methods related to sample collection, extraction, analytical tools of heavy metals, their concentrations, level of contamination, ecological risk, non-carcinogenic risk, and carcinogenic risk in road dust. Concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Mn, and Fe were found to be higher than their background values in soil. As expected, the contamination levels of the heavy metals varied extensively among cities, countries, continents, and periods. A high level of contamination is observed for Pb and Cd in road dust due to operating leaded gasoline and the old vehicle population. The highest Zn contamination was observed from road dust in Europe, followed by Asia, Africa, Australia, and America (North America and South America). Cu contamination and the pollution load index ( PLI ) is found to be the highest in Europe and lowest in Africa, with in-between values of PLI in American and African cities. The potential ecological risk on different continents was observed highest in Asia, followed by Europe, Australia, America, and Africa. A comparative assessment of non-carcinogenic risk for children indicated that Australia is the most susceptible country due to high heavy metal exposure in road dust, followed by Asia. However, there is no susceptible risk in European, African, and American cities. We did not observe any potential risk to adults due to non-carcinogenic metals. Carcinogenic risk to all age groups was within the threshold limit range for all the regions worldwide.

The present study was carried out to determine the contamination levels of heavy metals in road dust of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), India and its consequent effect on human and environment. The levels of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Mn, and Fe) in 9 districts (Z1–Z9) of NCT were monitored and the corresponding human health risk was estimated. District-wise evaluation of heavy metal pollution in the road dust was performed. The mean concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Mn, and Fe in the road dust samples over the study area were 164.2 ± 53.2, 200.7 ± 45.3, 99.9 ± 64.8, 24.7 ± 5.7, 57.7 ± 25.9, 241.4 ± 39.8, and 11113.9 ± 1669.7 mg kg −1 , respectively. PLI showed a high pollution load in the monitored nine locations, indicating an alarming condition and the urgent need for immediate remedial actions. Ecological risk assessment depicted that a 74% risk was attributed to Pb. Hazard quotient (HQ) values indicated that ingestion was the major pathway of road dust heavy metal exposure to human beings. Hazard index values showed that there was no probable non-carcinogenic risk of the heavy metals present in the road dust of the area. Children were found vulnerable to the risks of road dust metals. The findings of this study showed the alarming status of heavy metal contamination to road dust in NCT and the associated risk to human health.

The rising concentration of global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has severely affected our planet’s homeostasis. Efforts are being made worldwide to curb carbon dioxide emissions, but there is still no strategy or technology available to date that is widely accepted. Two basic strategies are employed for reducing CO2 emissions, viz. (i) a decrease in fossil fuel use, and increased use of renewable energy sources; and (ii) carbon sequestration by various biological, chemical, or physical methods. This review has explored microalgae’s role in carbon sequestration, the physiological apparatus, with special emphasis on the carbon concentration mechanism (CCM). A CCM is a specialized mechanism of microalgae. In this process, a sub-cellular organelle known as pyrenoid, containing a high concentration of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco), helps in the fixation of CO2. One type of carbon concentration mechanism in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the association of pyrenoid tubules with thylakoids membrane is represented through a typical graphical model. Various environmental factors influencing carbon sequestration in microalgae and associated techno-economic challenges are analyzed critically.

This study aimed to assess heavy metals in the surface sediments of the Bharalu river, India. Metal concentrations ranged from 6.65−54.6 mg/kg for Ni, 25.2−250.0 mg/kg for Zn, 83.3−139.1 mg/kg for Pb, and 11940.0−31250.0 mg/kg for Fe. The level of metal contamination was assessed using sediment quality guidelines, geo-accumulation index (I geo ), enrichment factor (EF), pollution Load Index (PLI),Nemerow’s pollution index (PIN), and potential ecological risk index. Pb exceeded the sediment quality guidelines at all sites indicating a potential threat to the river ecosystem. (I geo ) and EF also showed moderate to severe enrichment for Pb. Potential ecological risk (RI) showed low risk in the sediments, and Pb is the major contributor to ecological risk. Overall, pollution indices revealed comparably higher contamination of the sediments in the downstream sites than in the upstream site. PCA and correlation matrix analysis indicated both anthropogenic and natural origins for metals. Among anthropogenic sources, urban discharges and waste dumping could be mainly attributed to metal contamination in the river sediments. These findings may aid in developing future river management methods explicitly aimed at tackling heavy metal pollution to prevent further damage to the river ecosystem.

The present study investigates the supplemental effects of chia seed oil (CSO) on the growth performance and modulation of intestinal microbiota in Labeo rohita fingerlings. Four diets were formulated with graded levels of CSO: 1.0%, 2.0%, and 3.0% represented as CSO (1), CSO (2), and, CSO (3) groups alongside a control group without CSO. L. rohita fingerlings ( n  = 180) (mean weight = 19.74 ± 0.33 g) were randomly distributed in triplicates for 60 days to these treatment groups. The results depicted significant improvements ( p  < 0.05) in weight gain (WG) %, specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) in the group supplemented with the lowest level of CSO. Gut microbial analysis evidenced the ability of CSO at 1.0% to augment the relative abundance of bacterial phyla such as Verrucomicrobiota, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidota, Fusobacteria and Firmicutes, as well as genera Luteolibacter and Cetobacterium , indicating higher alpha diversity compared to the control. Principle coordinate analysis (PCoA) demonstrated a distinct composition of microbial communities in CSO-supplemented groups relative to the control ( p  < 0.001). Correlation analysis further revealed a significant ( p  < 0.05) association of specific microbial taxa with growth performance parameters. The predictions of metabolic pathways suggested the involvement of carbohydrate and amino acid metabolic pathways in the CSO (1) group, indicating improved nutrient transport and metabolism. Overall, the findings highlight the beneficial effects of 1.0% CSO supplementation on growth performance and modulation of gut microbiota in L. rohita fingerlings.

The present study aimed to evaluate the dietary supplementary effects of black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ) (BSF) meal on the bacterial communities in the distal gut, immune response and growth of freshwater crayfish, marron ( Cherax cainii ) fed poultry-by-product meal (PBM) as an alternative protein source to fish meal (FM). A total of 64 marron were randomly distributed into 16 different tanks with a density of four marron per tank. After acclimation, a 60-days feeding trial was conducted on marron fed isonitrogenouts and isocalorific diets containing protein source from FM, PBM, and a combination of FM + BSF and PBM + BSF. At the end of the trial, weight gain and growth of marron were found independent of any dietary treatment, however, the two diets supplemented with BSF significantly ( P < 0.05) enhanced haemolymph osmolality, lysozyme activity, total haemocyte counts, and protein and energy contents in the tail muscle. In addition, the analysis of microbiota and its predicted metabolic pathways via 16s rRNA revealed a significantly ( P < 0.05) higher bacterial activity and gene function correlated to biosynthesis of protein, energy and secondary metabolites in PBM + BSF than other dietary groups. Diets FM + BSF and PBM + BSF were seen to be associated with an up-regulation of cytokine genes in the intestinal tissue of marron. Overall, PBM + BSF diet proved to be a superior diet in terms of improved health status, gut microbiota and up-regulated expression of cytokine genes for marron culture.

Field portable X-ray fluorescence (FP-XRF) has tremendous potential in geoenvironmental engineering as a qualitative assessment tool. Identification of the elevated concentrations of the selected elements (Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in various geomaterials like soil-like-material (SLM), incinerated bottom ash (IBA), construction and demolition waste (CDW), zinc tailings (ZT) and fly ash (FA) was performed by FP-XRF and compared with the local soil–Delhi silt. Comparably higher concentrations (mg/kg) of Cr (401.0), Cu (499.0), Pb (532.0), Zn (608.0) in SLM, Cr (195.0), Cu (419.0), Ni (93.0), Pb (931.0), Zn (771.0) in IBA and Cr (195.0), Cu (4000.0), Pb (671.0), Zn (7122.0) in ZT were observed. CDW and FA showed similar concentrations range as in local soils. FP-XRF was also used in-situ on local soil at 11 sites to examine its ability to identify the elements with significant variations in concentrations. The results showed high variability in Cl and S concentration values across the 11 sites attributed to the changing moisture content and dissolved salts. The concentration range for the remaining elements were similar at all sites. The verification of the detected elements through visual inspection of the spectrum was also carried out.

Carbon sources are considered as critical input for the health and immunity of aquatic animals. The present study investigated the impact of different carbon sources on water quality parameters, carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio and microbial community in sediments, and health responses of marron ( Cherax cainii ) under laboratory conditions. Following one week of acclimation, 120 marron were randomly assigned to 12 experimental tanks. There were four treatments including one untreated control and three groups with carbon addition to maintain a C/N ratio of 12 maintained in culture water. Carbon supplementation groups included corn flour (CBC12), molasses (MBC12) and wheat flour (WBC12). At the end of the 60-day trial, MBC12 resulted in the highest sediment C/N ratio, followed by CBC12. Weight gain and specific growth rate were higher in MBC12, compared to control. The protease activity in marron hepatopancreas, total haemocyte count and lysozyme activity in haemolymph were highest in MBC12. Analysis of 16S rRNA sequence data of tank sediments revealed increased bacterial alpha diversity in MBC12 and WBC12. Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum in MBC12 (88.6%), followed by control (82.4%) and CBC12 (72.8%). Sphingobium and Novosphingobium were the most abundant genera in control and MBC12 groups, respectively. Higher Aeromonas abundance in CBC12 and Flavobacterium in WBC12 were observed. Overall results indicated that MBC12 led to improved water quality, retaining high C/N ratio and enriched the bacterial populations in sediments resulting in improved growth and immune performance of marron.

The aim of this investigation was to develop and optimize the Sustained release Matrix formulations of Repaglinide (RLD) using response surface methodology by employing a 3-factor, 3-level Box–Behnken statistical design. The independent variables studied were the amount of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC K4M), Ethyl cellulose (EC) and PVP K30. The Swelling index (Y1), drug release at 8 hr and 12hr were the target responses. The response surface methodology and multiple response optimizations utilizing a polynomial equation were used to search for the optimal formulation with a specific release rate at different time intervals. The results showed that the effect of combination of HPMC K4M and EC was the most influencing factor on the drug release from ER matrix tablets. The mechanism of drug release from RLD Matrix tablets was dependent on the added amount of EC. Validation of the optimization technique demonstrated the reliability of the model. The optimized formulation containing 50mg of HPMC K4, 35mg of EC, and 30mg of PVP K30 was prepared according to the software determined levels. DSC and FTIR studies combined with the stability study of the optimized formulation proved the integrity of the developed formulation. The Box–Behnken experimental design facilitated the formulation and optimization of extended release hydrophilic matrix systems of RLD in a short period of time and with the fewest number of experiments. The optimized Matrix tablet of Repaglinide showed good pharmacokinetic result over conventional formulation.