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The consumption of contaminated vegetables has a great impact on human health. Due to this fact, we conduct the study to estimate the heavy metals in groundwater, soil, and vegetables by using the atomic adsorption spectroscopy (AAS) and find out the health risk using THQ and TCR caused by using these vegetables. The mean concentrations of As (0.015–0.40 mg/L), Cd (0.02–0.029 mg/L), Co (0.31–0.38 mg/L), Cr (1.02–1.09 mg/L), Cu (2.14–2.17 mg/L), and Hg (0.01–0.04 mg/L) are high in groundwater from threshold values given by WHO. The mean concentrations of As (22.17–23.14 mg/kg), Cd (4.21–4.54 mg/kg), Cu (21.24–24.36 mg/kg), and Pb (32.12–33.48 mg/kg) are high in soil samples from threshold values given by WHO. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Cr, Fe, Hg, and Mn values exceeded the recommended values with concentration ranges: 1.75–4.56, 0.41–0.67, 2.12–3.12, 1.44–4.56, 87.12–135.25, 2.09–2.64, and 33.41–129.32 mg/Kg, respectively. The vegetable sample’s average concentration of heavy metals was in decreasing order cabbage ˃ brinjal ˃ okra ˃ tomato. The EDI values for As, Co, and Hg calculated for both adults and children is high. The target hazard quotients (THQ) for As, Co, and Hg are greater than the threshold value by consuming vegetables, which indicated the health risk for both adults and children. Similarly, HI due to tomato, cabbage, okra, and brinjal’s consumption is ˃ 1, with HI values 8.1975, 15.3077, 8.7312, and 10.2306, respectively. This advised the possible health effect in this area by using these vegetables. Target Cancer risk (TCR) exposed the adverse cancer risk persuaded by As, Cr, and Hg as their values exceeded the normal range by USEPA by consumption of these vegetables. This study concluded that vegetables imply the total health risk on local people, and regular monitoring of heavy metals is strongly suggested in this region. Article Highlights Heavy metals distribution in this study area is under the impact of urbanization, industrialized and agricultural activities. BCF showed the transfer of Fe and Hg from soil to edible parts of vegetables. TCR for As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb shows the toxicological risk in this region.

Fluoride contamination in water is a key problem facing the world, leading to health problems such as dental and skeletal fluorosis. So, we used low-cost multifunctional tea biochar (TBC) and magnetic tea biochar (MTBC) prepared by facile one-step pyrolysis of waste tea leaves. The TBC and MTBC were characterized by XRD, SEM, FTIR, and VSM. Both TBC and MTBC contain high carbon contents of 63.45 and 63.75%, respectively. The surface area of MTBC (115.65 m2/g) was higher than TBC (81.64 m2/g). The modified biochar MTBC was further used to remediate the fluoride-contaminated water. The fluoride adsorption testing was conducted using the batch method at 298, 308, and 318 K. The maximum fluoride removal efficiency (E%) using MTBC was 98% when the adsorbent dosage was 0.5 g/L and the fluoride concentration was 50 mg/L. The experiment data for fluoride adsorption on MTBC best fit the pseudo 2nd order, rather than the pseudo 1st order. In addition, the intraparticle diffusion model predicts the boundary diffusion. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubnin–Radushkevich isotherm models were fitted to explain the fluoride adsorption on MTBC. The Langmuir adsorption capacity of MTBC = 18.78 mg/g was recorded at 298 K and decreased as the temperature increased. The MTBC biochar was reused in ten cycles, and the E% was still 85%. The obtained biochar with a large pore size and high removal efficiency may be an effective and low-cost adsorbent for treating fluoride-containing water.

The improved wear and corrosion resistance of gray cast iron (GCI) with enhanced mechanical properties is a proven stepping stone towards the longevity of its versatile industrial applications. In this article, we have tailored the microstructural properties of GCI by alloying it with titanium (Ti) and tungsten (W) additives, which resulted in improved mechanical, wear, and corrosion resistance. The results also show the nucleation of the B-, D-, and E-type graphite flakes with the A-type graphite flake in the alloyed GCI microstructure. Additionally, the alloyed microstructure demonstrated that the ratio of the pearlite volume percentage to the ferrite volume percentage was improved from 67/33 to 87/13, whereas a reduction in the maximum graphite length and average grain size from 356 ± 31 µm to 297 ± 16 µm and 378 ± 18 µm to 349 ± 19 µm was detected. Consequently, it improved the mechanical properties and wear and corrosion resistance of alloyed GCI. A significant improvement in Brinell hardness, yield strength, and tensile strength of the modified microstructure from 213 ± 7 BHN to 272 ± 8 BHN, 260 ± 3 MPa to 310 ± 2 MPa, and 346 ± 12 MPa to 375 ± 7 MPa was achieved, respectively. The substantial reduction in the wear rate of alloyed GCI from 8.49 × 10−3 mm3/N.m to 1.59 × 10−3 mm3/N.m resulted in the upgradation of the surface roughness quality from 297.625 nm to 192.553 nm. Due to the increase in the corrosion potential from −0.5832 V to −0.4813 V, the impedance of the alloyed GCI was increased from 1545 Ohm·cm2 to 2290 Ohm·cm2. On the basis of the achieved experimental results, it is suggested that the reliability of alloyed GCI based on experimentally validated microstructural compositions can be ensured during the operation of plants and components in a severe wear and corrosive environment. It can be predicted that the proposed alloyed GCI components are capable of preventing the premature failure of high-tech components susceptible to a wear and corrosion environment.

Residential coal combustion is a major source of air pollution in developing countries, including China. Indeed, precisely measuring the real-time emission of major air pollutants is often challenging and can hardly be repeated at a lab-scale. In this study, for the first time, two clean coals initiated from raw bituminous coal were burned for real-time estimation of air pollution characteristics and their thermal efficiencies in different stoves. Moreover, thermodynamic equilibrium simulations were investigated for slagging parameters using Factsage 7.1 at reaction temperature 800~1600 °C. Results revealed that the firepower of clean coals (Briquetted coal and Semi-coke) was much higher (2.2 kW and 2.1 kW) than raw coal (1.8 kW) in a traditional stove. However, the thermal efficiencies were remarkably increased (13.3% and 13.5%) in an improved stove for briquetted coal and semi-coke, respectively. The emission of major air pollutants including carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) from both coal and semi-coke was significantly reduced. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations indicate that briquetted coal is not susceptible to slagging under the reaction conditions in the household stove. The current study provides guidance for the selection of alternative and efficient clean coal fuels in rural areas for household purposes coupled with public health and safety.

The present paper aims at utilizing the 3-wire electroslag welding (ESW) to join high-speed pearlitic rail steels where microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The welded joint has produced an improved fracture force of 1396KN. WM was consisted of ferrite and pearlite having hardness of 27HRC, tensile strength of 748MPa and toughness of 12J, successively. HAZ was composed of pro-eutectoid ferrite and pearlite, where austenite grain size and pearlite colony size were reduced by moving away from the fusion line. In HAZ, near to the fusion line, the austenite grain size was 143±19μm, pearlite colony size was 52±9μm and pearlite interlamellar spacing was 90±27nm, which has produced hardness of 43.5HRC, tensile strength of 1228MPa, and toughness of 8J, successively. The entire investigation concludes that 3-wire ESW is an optimum and viable method, which has provided fine pearlite microstructure along with improved hardness and tensile strength.

Objective: Heme oxygenase (HO-1) plays a critical role in adipogenesis and it is important to understand its function in obesity. Many studies have shown that upregulation of HO-1 can affect the biologic parameters in obesity-mediated diabetes, hypertension and vascular endothelial cell function. Thus, we aimed to explore the hypothesis that upregulation of HO-1, using a pharmacologic approach as well as gene targeting, would improve both adiposity and endothelial cell dysfunction by direct targeting of endothelial cells. Our second aim was to compare the short-term effect of a HO-1 inducer, cobalt-protoporphrin IX (CoPP), with the long-term effects of gene targeted therapy on vascular and adipocyte stem cells in obese mice. Method: We examined the effect of CoPP on fat pre-adipocytes and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). We also used a lentiviral construct that expressed heme oxygenase (HO-1) that was under the control of an endothelium specific promoter, vascular endothelium cadherin (VECAD) heme oxygenase (VECAD-HO-1). We targeted endothelial cells using vascular endothelium cadherin/green fluorescent protein fusion construct (VECAD-GFP) as the control. Conditioned media (CM) from endothelial cells (EC) was added to fat derived adipocytes. Additionally, we treated renal interlobar arteries with phenylephrine and dosed cumulative increments of acetylcholine both with and without exposure to CoPP. We did the same vascular reactivity experiments with VECAD-HO-1 lentiviral construct compared to the control. Results: CoPP improved vascular reactivity and decreased adipogenesis compared to the control. MSCs exposed to CM from EC transfected with VECAD-HO-1 showed decreased adipogenesis, smaller lipid droplet size and decreased PPAR-γ, C/EBP and increased Wnt 10b compared to the control. HO-1 upregulation had a direct effect on reducing adipogenesis. This effect was blocked by tin mesoporphrin (SnMP). EC treated with VECAD-HO-1 expressed lower levels of ICAM and VCAM compared to the control, suggesting improved EC function. This also improved ACH induced vascular reactivity. These effects were also reversed by SnMP. The effect of viral transfection was much more specific and sustained than the effects of pharmacologic therapy, CoPP. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that a pharmacological inducer of HO-1 such as CoPP improves endothelial cell function while dampening adipogenesis, but long-term HO-1 expression by direct targeting of endothelial cells by gene transfer therapy may offer a more specific and ideal solution. This was evidenced by smaller healthier adipocytes that had improved insulin sensitivity, suggesting increased adiponectin levels. HO-1 upregulation reestablished the “crosstalk” between perivascular adipose tissue and the vascular system that was lost in the chronic inflammatory state of obesity. This study demonstrates that gene targeting of EC may well be the future direction in treating obesity induced EC dysfunction, with the finding that targeting the vasculature had a direct and sustained effect on adipogenesis.

The effect of cooling rate, ranging from 6 to 1 °C/s, on microstructure and mechanical properties in the coarse-grained heat affected zone (CGHAZ) of electroslag welded pearlitic rail steel has been investigated by using confocal scanning laser microcopy (CSLM) and Gleeble 3500 thermo-mechanical simulator. During heating, the formed austenite was inhomogeneous with fractions of untransformed ferrite, which has influenced the pearlite transformation during cooling by providing additional nucleation sites to pearlite. During cooling, at 6 °C/s, the microstructure was composed of martensite and bainite with little pearlite. From 4 to 1 °C/s, microstructures were completely pearlite. Lowering the cooling rate of the CGHAZ from 4 to 1 °C/s increased the pearlite start temperature and reduced the pearlite growth rate. Meanwhile, this increase in pearlite start temperature enlarged the pearlite interlamellar spacing. Alternatively, increasing pearlite interlamellar spacing in the CGHAZ by lowering the cooling rate from 6 to 1 °C/s reduced the hardness and tensile strength, whereas toughness was found unaffected by the pearlite interlamellar spacing. It has been found that a cooling rate of 4 °C/s leads to the formation of pearlite with fine interlamellar spacing of 117 nm in the CGHAZ of electroslag welded pearlitic rail steel where hardness is 425 HV, tensile strength is 1077 MPa, and toughness is 9.1 J.

Purpose Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Patients with an amplification of the MTHFD2 gene have a particularly poor prognosis. MTHFD2 signaling has been associated with migration, metastasis, and proliferation of lung cancer cells mediated through ERK signaling. Although the enzymatic activity of the MTHFD2 protein is well understood, little is known about its larger role in chemoresistance. Methods Seventy-nine of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples with clinical follow-up were subjected to immunohistochemical staining for MTHFD2 and sequenced using next generation sequencing (NGS) to determine EGFR status. MTHFD2 gene was knocked down in two NSCLC cell lines with wild type EGFR gene (HCC44 and H1993) where MTHFD2 signaling and chemotherapy resistance against pemetrexed were evaluated. Results MTHFD2 expression data revealed a strong prognosis relevance in adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Immunoblotting of cell lines showed a MTHFD2 dependent and cell type specific ERK signaling in EGFR wild type cells. MTHFD2 expression induced proliferation of NSCLC cells and their resistance against pemetrexed. Knocking down the MTHFD2 gene induced cycle arrest, however, it did not activate apoptosis signaling within HCC44 cell line. Conclusions MTHFD2 expression is strongly associated with prognosis in LUAD patients, as well as with increased cellular proliferation and resistance to pemetrexed in LUAD patients with wild-type EGFR . These findings suggest that MTHFD2 could serve as a valuable biomarker for predicting treatment outcomes in LUAD. Further studies are needed to fully explore the clinical implications and potential combination therapies targeting MTHFD2 in LUAD.

Lead (Pb) is a biologically non-essential element in the soil that brutally affects plants and other living organisms in soil; hence, its removal has become a worldwide concern. In this work, a multifunctional nanoscale zerovalent-iron assisted biochar (nFe°/BC) was used to minimize the Pb bioavailability in soil with aim of alleviating the Pb-induced toxicity in sunflower. Results revealed that nFe°/BC treatment had significantly improved plant growth (58%), chlorophyll contents (66%), intracellular permeability (60%), and ratio factor (93%), while decreasing the Pb uptake (78%) in plants. The Pb-immobilization and transformation mechanisms were proposed, suggesting that the presence of organic functional groups over the nFe°/BC surface might induce the complex formation with Pb by the ions exchange process in soil solution. The XPS analysis confirmed that surface-active components (Fe + , O 2− , O*, C═O) were the key factor for high Pb-immobilization within soil matrix. In addition, 87% of stable Pb species, including PbCO 3 , PbO, Pb (OH) 2 , and Pb-O-Fe were found in the soil surface. Current findings have exposed the diverse functions of nFe°/BC on plant health and established a phenomenon that nFe°/BC application could improve the plant agronomic attributes by regulating the homeostasis of antioxidants and Pb uptake.

Cadmium (Cd) is a readily available metal in the soil matrix, which obnoxiously affects plants and microbiota; thus, its removal has become a global concern. For this purpose, a multifunctional nanoscale zerovalent—iron enriched biochar (nZVI/BC) was used to alleviate the Cd—toxicity in maize. Results revealed that the nZVI/BC application significantly enhanced the plant growth (57%), chlorophyll contents (65%), intracellular permeability (61%), and biomass production index (76%) by restraining Cd uptake relative to Cd control. A Cd stabilization mechanism was proposed, suggesting that high dispersion of organic functional groups (C–O, C–N, Fe–O) over the surface of nZVI/BC might induce complex formations with cadmium by the ion exchange process. Besides this, the regular distribution and deep insertion of Fe particles in nZVI/BC prevent self-oxidation and over-accumulation of free radicals, which regulate the redox transformation by alleviating Cd/Fe+ translations in the plant. Current findings have exposed the diverse functions of nanoscale zerovalent-iron-enriched biochar on plant health and suggest that nZVI/BC is a competent material, feasible to control Cd hazards and improve crop growth and productivity in Cd-contaminated soil.