Heavy metal remediation of aqueous streams is of special concern due to recalcitrant and persistency of heavy metals in environment. Conventional treatment technologies for the removal of these toxic ...heavy metals are not economical and further generate huge quantity of toxic chemical sludge. Biosorption is emerging as a potential alternative to the existing conventional technologies for the removal and/or recovery of metal ions from aqueous solutions. The major advantages of biosorption over conventional treatment methods include: low cost, high efficiency, minimization of chemical or biological sludge, regeneration of biosorbents and possibility of metal recovery. Cellulosic agricultural waste materials are an abundant source for significant metal biosorption. The functional groups present in agricultural waste biomass viz. acetamido, alcoholic, carbonyl, phenolic, amido, amino, sulphydryl groups etc. have affinity for heavy metal ions to form metal complexes or chelates. The mechanism of biosorption process includes chemisorption, complexation, adsorption on surface, diffusion through pores and ion exchange etc. The purpose of this review article is to provide the scattered available information on various aspects of utilization of the agricultural waste materials for heavy metal removal. Agricultural waste material being highly efficient, low cost and renewable source of biomass can be exploited for heavy metal remediation. Further these biosorbents can be modified for better efficiency and multiple reuses to enhance their applicability at industrial scale.
Menopausal transition among midlife women is accompanied by the issues of hot flushes, mood swings as well as sleep disturbances, night sweats, urogenital diminution and cognitive changes. The ...present cross-sectional study is an attempt to recognize the cognitive differences associated with various stages of reproductive aging.
The study included women (N = 404) aged between 40 and 65 years from rural areas of Punjab (North India). The Mini-Mental State Examination (Hindi version) was used to evaluate orientation, registration, attention, recall, language and visual spatial skills domains of the global cognitive functioning of all participants.
The results of the present study exhibited a decline in cognitive scores across successive menopausal transitional stages in most of the cognitive domains except registration. The results of multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that illiteracy, vegetarian diet, perimenopause and late postmenopause phase were significantly associated with lower global cognitive scores.
With increased longevity, early identification of potential risk factors associated with cognitive decline among women during their midlife can be beneficial in improving the mental health of postmenopausal women.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
A new image encryption method based on permutation–diffusion architecture is proposed. Permutation and diffusion operations are performed row-wise and column-wise on input image. To permute and ...diffuse the pixels, Lorenz-like chaotic system with varying bifurcation parameter is used to generate six random sequences. Initially, three sequences help in change the pixel’s position and next three used to diffuse the pixels. The main benefit of this method is that it is more sensitive to input image. Since input parameters required for secure key generation depend upon the input image.
Aims
This study aimed at isolating endophytic fungi from Citrus limon (L.) possessing antioxidative and genoprotective potential.
Methods and Results
Endophytic fungi were screened for antioxidant ...activity using 2,2‐diphenyl,1‐picryl hydrazyl radical scavenging assay and maximum activity (79·70%) was exhibited by culture MP1 identified to be Penicillium oxalicum on the basis of morphological and molecular characteristics. The ethyl acetate extract of MP1 was subjected to silica column chromatography followed by LH 20 column chromatography for purification of active metabolites. The partially purified active fraction of P. oxalicum MP1 possessed good antioxidant activity as detected using various assays. It also exhibited a strong DNA damage protection potential on pUC19 plasmid DNA treated with Fenton reagent. On exposure to active fraction of MP1 significant reduction (P < 0·05) in nuclear deformities (like nuclear buds, micronuclei, nuclear ridges and binucleated cells) was observed in human lymphocytes pretreated with a toxic concentration of H2O2. In vivo genoprotectivity studies were conducted in fresh water fish Channa punctatus pretreated with a damaging compound 4‐nonyl phenol. The active fraction of P. oxalicum MP1 caused a reduction of 94·7 and 66·60% in micronuclei and aberrant cell formation, respectively. A significant reduction (P < 0·05) in tail length and tail DNA parameters was also observed in comet assay.
Conclusion
The endophytic P. oxalicum isolated in this study has the potential to produce metabolites possessing antioxidant and genoprotective activities.
Significance and Impact of the Study
The isolated culture can be exploited in the field of therapeutics by virtue of its in vitro and in vivo genoprotective potential.
