Air pollution has become a threat to human life around the world since researchers have demonstrated several effects of air pollution to the environment, climate, and society. The proposed research ...was organized in terms of National Air Quality Index (NAQI) and air pollutants prediction using data mining algorithms for particular timeframe dataset (01 January 2019, to 01 June 2021) in the industrial eastern coastal state of India. Over half of the study period, concentrations of PM
2.5
, PM
10
and CO were several times higher than the NAQI standard limit. NAQI, in terms of consistency and frequency analysis, revealed that moderate level (ranges 101–200) has the maximum frequency of occurrence (26–158 days), and consistency was 36%–73% throughout the study period. The satisfactory level NAQI (ranges 51–100) frequency occurrence was 4–43 days with a consistency of 13%–67%. Poor to very poor level of air quality was found 13–50 days of the year, with a consistency of 9%–25%. Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Bagged Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) and Bayesian Regularized Neural Networks (BRNN) are the data mining algorithms, that showed higher efficiency for the prediction of PM
2.5
, PM
10
, NO
2
and SO
2
except for CO and O
3
at Talcher and CO at Brajrajnagar. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between observed and predicted values of PM
2.5
(ranges 12.40–17.90) and correlation coefficient (r) (ranges 0.83–0.92) for training and testing data indicate about slightly better prediction of PM
2.5
by RF, SVM, bagged MARS, and BRNN models at Talcher in comparison to PM
2.5
RMSE (ranges 13.06–21.66) and r (ranges 0.64–0.91) at Brajrajnagar. However, PM
10
(RMSE: 25.80–43.41; r: 0.57–0.90), NO
2
(RMSE: 3.00–4.95; r: 0.42–0.88) and SO
2
(RMSE: 2.78–5.46; r: 0.31–0.88) at Brajrajnagar are better than PM
10
(RMSE: 35.40–55.33; r: 0.68–0.91), NO
2
(RMSE: 4.99–9.11; r: 0.48–0.92), and SO
2
(RMSE: 4.91–9.47; r: 0.20–0.93) between observed and predicted values of training and testing data at Talcher using RF, SVM, bagged MARS and BRNN models, respectively. Taylor plots demonstrated that these algorithms showed promising accuracy for predicting air quality. The findings will help scientific community and policymakers to understand the distribution of air pollutants to strategize reduction in air pollution and enhance air quality in the study region.
The present study was focused on the potentiality of agro-based residues for the production of pectinase to meet the growing market demand by improving the yield with low cost of production. Among ...the agro-based residues used for the production of pectinase, apple pomace was able to produce the maximum of 1366.30 ± 36.71 U/ml using Aspergillus parvisclerotigenus KX928754 in liquid static surface fermentation, followed by sugarcane bagasse (973.12 ± 22.43 U/ml) and used tea (686.7 ± 45.06 U/ml). The process parameters optimization using a single variable at a time affirmed that pH 7.0, incubation period of 168 h, 30°C temperature, sucrose 2% as carbon source and peptone 3% as nitrogen source was found to be optimum for better production. The crude filtrate was purified by precipitation, dialyzed, eluted on Sephadex G-100 column followed by lyophilization and stored at −20°C. A. parvisclerotigenus KX928754 pectinase was purified to 2.10-fold, 2.91% of yield rate and having a specific activity of 1081.66 U/mg. Moreover, the electrophoretic analysis through sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) revealed 37.4 kDa of protein from the purified pectinase. Thus, the use of apple pomace as a substrate for scaling up pectinase with efficient recovery could reduce the price of the enzyme and increase its avenue for different industrial exploitation.
In the present study, the structural, chemical and elemental changes of sweet potato flour after hydrolysis by α-amylase (liquefaction) and a mixture of α-amylase and glucoamylase (saccharification) ...were investigated. Thin layer chromatography (TLC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier-transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) were used to study the properties of the hydrolyzed sweet potato starch. Efficient hydrolysis was evidenced from both TLC and HPLC that the thermostable α-amylase was able to yield the simple forms of sugar such as glucose, fructose, maltose and maltotriose whereas, only glucose is depolymerized after the combined effect of α-amylase and glucoamylase. SEM analysis of raw, liquefied and saccharified sweet potato root flour (SPRF) showed the various porous starch granules with a high degree of structural changes in saccharified samples in comparison to others, which indicates the active involvement of tested the enzymes. The saccharified SPRF were fermented by
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
and
Zymomonas mobilis
separately and the results confirmed that
Z. mobilis
was able to produce more stretching vibration of –OH than
S. cerevisiae
, suggesting better production of bioethanol. In addition, the elemental analysis was carried out to evaluate the impact of
S. cerevisiae
and
Z. mobilis
with respect to elemental constituents. The results of the elemental analysis showed increase in the concentrations of S, Cl, Ca, Mn, Fe and Zn and decrease in the concentrations of P and K in the fermented residue of
S. cerevisiae
and
Z. mobilis
, however more variation was observed in
Z. mobilis
.
Graphic Abstract
The cytotoxic effects of low doses (20 to 100 µM) of nickel ions (Ni) and cadmium ions (Cd) as well as antioxidative enzyme changes in Allium cepa roots were studied. Heavy metal induced oxidative ...damage showed significant reduction in root length, mitotic index, total protein content and catalase (CAT) activity and increased cell abnormality index as well as proline content. Enhanced antioxidative enzyme activities were noticed to minimize oxidative stress by increasing guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) activity of the tissue. The effect of toxicity was found to be dose dependent in antioxidative enzyme level and more pronounced in root systems. Evans blue uptake by the root cells showed the cell death parameter which served as an indicator of cytotoxicity. Recovery experiments till 48 h showed significant changes in antioxidative enzyme systems of the cells reverting back to normal. Treatment of Ni and Cd led to spindle abnormalities like multipolarity, sticky bridge in anaphase, early separation, clumping of chromosomes, late separation as well as direct chromosomal damage with chromosome break, chromosome erosion, laggard chromosomes. This experiment explains the role of reactive oxygen in heavy metal toxicity and their DNA damage, cell death and adaptive responses to genotoxic challenges of the cells amelioration.
The effects on genotoxicity of AgNO3 (10 µM, 20 µM and 50 µM) in Allium cepa L. were studied under 6 h of treatment followed by recovery experiments. The oxidative damage caused by AgNO3 reduced the ...root length, catalase (CAT) activity and mitotic index. Enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities were noticed in ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity to scavenge the oxidative stress. The effect of toxicity was found to be dose dependent in antioxidative enzyme level and more pronounced in root systems than shoot. Evan’s blue uptake was more in the treated root cells over control as a cell death parameter that indicates cytotoxicity. Recovery experiments of 48 h showed significant changes of antioxidative enzymes towards normalization of cell. AgNO3 treated tissues produced H2O2 and O2− that damaged the somatic chromosomes, leading to formation of spindle abnormalities (multipolarity, sticky bridge in anaphase, early separation, clumping of chromosomes, late separation, laggard chromosome) and direct chromosomal damage, i.e., chromosome break and chromosome erosion. Recovery experiments revealed reduction of abnormalities from ca. 48% of the dividing cell to ca. 3.5% in metaphase and ca. 36.5% to ca. 5.5% in anaphase cells that was near to control. Our results indicate that short exposure of low doses of Ag-induced oxidative damage can be reversible in antioxidant enzyme and chromosomal level by repairing the cell damage. This experiment elucidates the role of reactive oxygen intermediates in silver (Ag)-induced DNA damage, cell death and oxidative cell damage.
Amino acid transporters (AATs) play a crucial role in facilitating the movement of amino acids across cellular membranes, which is vital for the growth and development of plants. Amino acid permease ...(AAP), which belongs to the AAT family, has been the subject of extensive functional research in plants. Although its importance is recognized, a comprehensive grasp of this family’s dynamics in indica rice remains lacking. In this investigation, a total of 27 AAP genes were identified in the genome of indica rice. Further, the phylogenetic analysis unveiled that the 69 AAP genes from both the model species and other plant species could be classified into 16 distinct subfamilies. The analysis of chromosomal mapping revealed an uneven distribution of the 27 OsAAP genes across the 12 rice chromosomes. Notably, the OsAAP family displayed a total of 10 duplicated gene pairs, along with the identification of numerous conserved motifs. The examination of cis-elements within OsAAP genes unveiled that their promoters contain cis-elements related to phytohormones, plant growth and development, as well as stress responses. Additionally, transcriptome profiling demonstrated that a substantial portion of these genes exhibited responsiveness to various hormones, with their activation spanning multiple tissues and developmental stages in rice. The study identified miRNAs with a specific affinity for OsAAP genes. Out of the 27 OsAAP genes investigated, seventeen were discovered to be targeted by a total of forty-three miRNAs. Furthermore, the aus allele of OsAAP3 that we named OsAAP17 was validated for its effect on productive tillers and yield, and seventeen genetic variants of OsAAP17 were found to be associated with a culm number in indica rice. In addition, indica rice varieties were monomorphic, while aus genotypes displayed polymorphism for OsAAP17 gene-specific in/dels. Moreover, in Season II (rabi season), it was found that the aus allele of OsAAP17 increased the number of productive tillers and the single plant yield by 22.55% and 9.67%, respectively, in a recombinant inbred population created by crossing N22 and JR 201. Remarkably, this enhancement was more pronounced during the dry cultivation season, highlighting the influence of environmental factors in the regulation of tiller numbers mediated by OsAAP17. The discoveries presented here lay a strong foundation for further exploration into the roles of OsAAP family genes across a range of developmental processes. Therefore, the identified allelic variations in the utilization of OsAAP17 has the potential to enhance rice crop production via molecular breeding in the changing climate scenario.
Volatile organic compounds including benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX) in the atmosphere have severe health and environmental implications. These variables are trace elements in the ...atmosphere. There are not enough measurement and analysis studies related to atmospheric BTEX variation globally, and studies are even less in developing countries like India. The present study analyses BTEX variations over an eastern Indian site, Bhubaneswar. The continuous measurement of BTEX is first of its kind over Bhubaneswar. The study analyses 2 years of BTEX data (2017–2018), and attempts to find the relation with meteorological parameters, the significance of the ratio between components, along with the analysis of transported air masses. To account for the pattern of emissions in association with BTEX variability over Bhubaneswar, we have also developed emission details from the transportation sector for the year 2018 and analyzed the emission patterns of CO and NOx for the year 2018. The results indicated that BTEX concentrations are maintained at the site via transportation from other regions, with significant local generation of BTEX, which is smaller in comparison to the transported emission.
Lemon grass plants grown in Cr rich over burden soil of Sukinda chromite mine (India) countered Cr toxicity and oxidative stress with the production of reactive oxygen species and induced ...antioxidative defense system. Varied percentage of Cr rich over burden soil was applied to lemon grass pants to evaluate the actions of oxidative inhibitors enzymes extracted and assayed from both roots and shoots. The study also assessed the oil content and its composition in response to the different percentage of Cr available in over burden soil. In order to evaluate the defense system of a plant against oxidative stress and determine the level of reactive oxygen species, the experiments were undertaken in the presence and absence of Cr in soils. The results indicated that the action of oxidative inhibitor enzymes increased significantly in roots as compared to shoots with increasing concentration of Cr in overburden soil. Higher concentration of Cr in soils inhibited the enzyme activity both in roots and shoots. The level of ROS in plants also enhanced with the increase in the concentration of Cr in the soil. In order to control the oxidative damage in plants, lemon grass can be considered defensive in nature to build up the antioxidant system which can scavenge the reactive oxygen species (ROS).
•Lemon grass has antioxidative defense system to cope up with oxidative damage induced by Cr.•Oil, Citral-a, and Citral-b content of lemon grass leave increased with increase in the soil chromium concentration up to a certain limit.•The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants also enhanced with rise in the concentration of chromium in soil.•The lemon grass plants can propagate in Cr rich over burden soil without significant negative effects on plant growth and oil quality and quantity.•The fibrous root system of lemon grass plants helps for bioaccumulation of Cr from contaminated soils through its rhizofiltration activity.
The addition of toxic chromium in agrarian soils from mine overburden dump is of serious concern. To combat the toxicity of chromium an experiment was carried out at the Department of Botany, Utkal ...University, India by taking the chromium rich overburden dump (OBD) from Sukinda chromite mine, India. Different proportions of chromium rich OBD (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 70% and 100% OBD) were supplied to garden soil and plants of legume and non-legume categories (Sesbania sesban L. and Brachiaria mutica L.) were grown for assessment of phytoaccumulation ability of chromium, tolerance index, chlorophyll, protein and proline and the activity of oxidative inhibitors enzymes. After 60 days of experimentation, Cr phytotoxicity on physiological and biochemical parameters were assessed. The outcome of the results showed that the activity of antioxidant enzymes enhanced considerably in roots as compared to shoots with enhancing concentration of chromium. To compare the phytoaccumulation ability, the tolerance index (TI), bio-concentration factor (BCF) and transportation index (Ti) were measured in two different species. The results showed that at 100% OBD the TI, BCF and Ti of S. sesban have 22.30, 0.45 and 71.06 and B. mutica have 20.83, 0.43 and 42.45 respectively. The result showed that S. sesban not only had the highest bioaccumulation capacity of chromium but also have high tolerance index and transportation index as compared to B. mutica. Hence S. sesban can be recommended for phytostabilization programme to alleviate toxic chromium from chromite overburden mining sites.
Relative distribution of Cr content in soils and plant parts after 60 days of growth with different soil amendements (T0-T7). Display omitted
•Two different plant species (Leguminous and Non-leguminous) in terms of ability to accumulate chromium from overburden dump of Sukinda chromite mine, India.•Stress tolerance index (STI) and tolerance index (TI) were used to compare the endurance of the plants in chromium stress conditions.•Bio-concentration factor (BCF) and transportation index (Ti) were applied to compare bioaccumulation ability.•Based on BCF and Ti results, Sesbania sesban was chosen as a potential green tool for alleviation of chromium from contaminated sites.
Numerical oil spill trajectory modelling aims at predicting and forecasting the movement of the oil spill. This paper discusses trajectory oil spill modelling for the hypothetical oil spills in the ...Bay of Bengal, off the Odisha coast. The models have been simulated in different locations of Odisha offshore for various weather conditions. The result showed that the northeast monsoon drives the slick faster than the southwest monsoon. A spill from 85 to 110 km away from the beach reached the coastline with higher speed in the cyclonic period. At the same time, the spill location at 70 km away from the coast could not reach the coast; this implies direction and speed of the wind and current play a critical role in spill movement. The fate budget of spill oil shows about 36% of evaporation happened in each case which shows that the period of spill and distance are not impacting the fate of oil. The direction of oil slick movement and speed are essential to understand the beaching of the oil pollutant at the shore. The study concluded that wind and ocean currents significantly influence oil spill movement.
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