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Origin, ecotoxicity, and analytical methods for microplastic detection in aquatic systems
Over the decades, interaction of microplastics with other pollutants in a dynamic environmental set up was observed to increase their toxic effects. This scenario is worse in aquatic environments due to the entry of huge loads of microplastic components into the waterbodies through direct plastic dumping and those delivered from effluents originating from various treatment plants. Although extensive research was done to understand the issue associated with microplastic contamination of various aquatic environments, a huge research gap still exists in areas like their ecotoxicology, fate, distribution, and detection methods in aquatic environments. Moreover, the combined deleterious effect of microplastics in association with other environmental pollutants is not widely studied and requires more research focus. The major scope of this review is to present a comprehensive outlook on the recent studies carried out to understand the types, origin, distribution, transport, fate, and toxicity of microplastics in aquatic environments, both fresh water and marine. The review summarizes the ecotoxicological effects of microplastic contaminants in aquatic environment like the oxidative damage, neurotoxicity and decreased reproductive potential. An in-depth discussion regarding the ability of the microplastics in combination with other pollutants to serve as potentially hazardous agents in aquatic environment is also elaborated in the review. Further a summary on various microplastic detection methods, challenges associated with microplastic detection and management is carefully reviewed and compiled in this work. The need for proper awareness programs to general public highlighting the toxicity of microplastics and strict regulations regarding their continuous assessment and management in waterbodies are essential factors in controlling their adverse effect on aquatic environment. 2023 Elsevier B.V. -
Commercialization potential of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) recycled nanomaterials: A review on validation parameters
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is a polymer which is considered as one of the major contaminants to the environment. The PET waste materials can be recycled to produce value-added products. PET can be converted to nanoparticles, nanofibers, nanocomposites, and nano coatings. To extend the applications of PET nanomaterials, understanding its commercialization potential is important. In addition, knowledge about the factors affecting recycling of PET based nanomaterials is essential. The presented review is focused on understanding the PET commercialization aspects, keeping in mind market analysis, growth drivers, regulatory affairs, safety considerations, issues associated with scale-up, manufacturing challenges, economic viability, and cost-effectiveness. In addition, the paper elaborates the challenges associated with the use of PET based nanomaterials. These challenges include PET contamination to water, soil, sediments, and human exposure to PET nanomaterials. Moreover, the paper discusses in detail about the factors affecting PET recycling, commercialization, and circular economy with specific emphasis on life cycle assessment (LCA) of PET recycled nanomaterials. 2024 Elsevier Ltd -
Emerging challenges for the agro-industrial food waste utilization: A review on food waste biorefinery
Modernization and industrialization has undoubtedly revolutionized the food and agro-industrial sector leading to the drastic increase in their productivity and marketing thereby accelerating the amount of agro-industrial food waste generated. In the past few decades the potential of these agro-industrial food waste to serve as bio refineries for the extraction of commercially viable products like organic acids, biochemical and biofuels was largely discussed and explored over the conventional method of disposing in landfills. The sustainable development of such strategies largely depends on understanding the techno economic challenges and planning for future strategies to overcome these hurdles. This review work presents a comprehensive outlook on the complex nature of agro-industrial food waste and pretreatment methods for their valorization into commercially viable products along with the challenges in the commercialization of food waste bio refineries that need critical attention to popularize the concept of circular bio economy. 2022 -
Microplastics in food: Occurrence, toxicity, green analytical detection methods and future challenges
The pervasive presence of microplastics (MPs) in the environment has raised significant concerns about their infiltration into the human food chain. In current review, the occurrence and distribution of MPs in various food matrices such as seafood, drinking water, fruits, vegetables, and beverages are discussed along with their potential routes of MPs entry into the human food chain. The toxicity of MPs on human health and different organs are discussed in brief. Current technological advancement and green analytical methods for the detection of MPs in food samples are compared, discussing their advantages and limitations. Green analytical methods, including stereomicroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and enzymatic digestion, are evaluated for their efficacy and environmental impact. The Analytical Eco-Scale is used to assess the greenness of these methods. Challenges associated with MPs detection in food, such as complex food matrices, pretreatment methods, and variability in MPs concentrations, are addressed. 2024 The Author(s) -
Micropollutants characteristics, fate, and sustainable removal technologies for landfill leachate: A technical perspective
Waste disposal in landfills has gained momentum in the last few decades as it is one among the easy and cost-effective method for waste management for the accelerating global population. Heterogenous nature of the waste ending up in landfills makes it difficult to predict the fate of these pollutants making it difficult for its biomonitoring and specific treatment. Among the major issues associated with landfill treatment, liquid percolation from this heterogenous waste substrate collectively referred as leachate poses the greater risk to environment through soil and ground water pollution. The diversity of micropollutants presents in landfill leachates ranging from microbial pathogens, pesticides, microplastics, pharmaceuticals and other harmful chemicals calls for crucial attention towards improving methods used for their treatment and removal. This review summarizes the key components of landfill leachates with specific emphasize on micropollutant content of leachate. Further the features of most recent and advanced technologies that were successfully explored for micropollutant removal from landfill leachates are presented in this review. 2023 Elsevier Ltd -
Toxicity analysis of endocrine disrupting pesticides on non-target organisms: A critical analysis on toxicity mechanisms
Endocrine disrupting compounds are the chemicals which mimics the natural endocrine hormones and bind to the receptors made for the hormones. Upon binding they activate the cascade of reaction which leads to permanent activating of the signalling cycle and ultimately leads to uncontrolled growth. Pesticides are one of the endocrine disrupting chemicals which cause cancer, congenital birth defects, and reproductive defects in non-target organisms. Non-target organisms are keen on exposing to these pesticides. Although several studies have reported about the pesticide toxicity. But a critical analysis of pesticide toxicity and its role as endocrine disruptor is lacking. Therefore, the presented review literature is an endeavour to understand the role of the pesticides as endocrine disruptors. In addition, it discusses about the endocrine disruption, neurological disruption, genotoxicity, and ROS induced pesticide toxicity. Moreover, biochemical mechanisms of pesticide toxicity on non-target organisms have been presented. An insight on the chlorpyrifos toxicity on non-target organisms along with species names have been presented. 2023 Elsevier Inc. -
Lignocellulosic biomass for biochar production: A green initiative on biowaste conversion for pharmaceutical and other emerging pollutant removal
Lignocellulosic waste generation and their improper disposal has accelerated the problems associated with increased greenhouse gas emissions and associated environmental pollution. Constructive ways to manage and mitigate the pollution associated with lignocellulosic waste has propelled the research on biochar production using lignocellulose-based substrates. The sustainability of various biochar production technologies in employing lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock for biochar production not only aids in the lignocellulosic biomass valorization but also helps in carbon neutralization and carbon utilization. Functionalization of biochar through various physicochemical methods helps in improving their functional properties majorly by reducing the size of the biochar particles to nanoscale and modifying their surface properties. The usage of engineered biochar as nano adsorbents for environmental applications like dye absorption, removal of organic pollutants and endocrine disrupting compounds from wastewater has been the thrust areas of research in the past few decades. This review presents a comprehensive outlook on the up-to-date research findings related to the production and engineering of biochar from lignocellulosic biomass and their applications in environmental remediation especially with respect to wastewater treatment. Further a detailed discussion on various biochar activation methods and the future scope of biochar research is presented in this review work. 2024 Elsevier Ltd -
Synthesis and characterization of chitosan nanofibers for wound healing and drug delivery application
Chitosan has emerged as a biodegradable, absorbable, non-toxic, biocompatible biopolymer for wound healing and drug delivery applications. Chitosan can be converted to nanofibers which have higher potential for wound healing and drug delivery applications as compared to chitosan nanoparticles and nanocomposites. Due to these properties chitosan nanofiber has emerged as a promising candidate for biomedical research. In the recent decades it has been observed that several studies reported about the production and medical applications of chitosan nanofibers. Although, preparation and application of chitosan nanofibers is easy. But there are several challenges and bottlenecks associated with its practical application and large-scale production. The presented review is a comprehensive discussion on the major challenges and bottlenecks associated with chitosan nanofibers synthesis and their practical applications in biomedical research. It discusses critically about the issues related to the chitosan nanofibers solubility, stability, mechanical strength, absorption and drug release properties, and its scale up hinderances. Moreover, the review presents an insight into the future recommendations on considering the parameters associated for development of an efficient, sustainable, and promising biopolymer. 2023 Elsevier B.V. -
Microbial engineering strategies for synthetic microplastics clean up: A review on recent approaches
Microplastics are the small fragments of the plastic molecules which find their applications in various routine products such as beauty products. Later, it was realized that it has several toxic effects on marine and terrestrial organisms. This review is an approach in understanding the microplastics, their origin, dispersal in the aquatic system, their biodegradation and factors affecting biodegradation. In addition, the paper discusses the major engineering approaches applied in microbial biotechnology. Specifically, it reviews microbial genetic engineering, such as PET-ase engineering, MHET-ase engineering, and immobilization approaches. Moreover, the major challenges associated with the plastic removal are presented by evaluating the recent reports available. 2022 Elsevier B.V. -
Environmental Pollutants as Emerging Concerns for Cardiac Diseases: A Review on Their Impacts on Cardiac Health
Comorbidities related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and environmental pollution have emerged as serious concerns. The exposome concept underscores the cumulative impact of environmental factors, including climate change, air pollution, chemicals like PFAS, and heavy metals, on cardiovascular health. Chronic exposure to these pollutants contributes to inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction, further exacerbating the global burden of CVDs. Specifically, carbon monoxide (CO), ozone, particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), heavy metals, pesticides, and micro- and nanoplastics have been implicated in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality through various mechanisms. PM2.5 exposure leads to inflammation and metabolic disruptions. Ozone and CO exposure induce oxidative stress and vascular dysfunction. NO2 exposure contributes to cardiac remodeling and acute cardiovascular events, and sulfur dioxide and heavy metals exacerbate oxidative stress and cellular damage. Pesticides and microplastics pose emerging risks linked to inflammation and cardiovascular tissue damage. Monitoring and risk assessment play a crucial role in identifying vulnerable populations and assessing pollutant impacts, considering factors like age, gender, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle disorders. This review explores the impact of cardiovascular disease, discussing risk-assessment methods, intervention strategies, and the challenges clinicians face in addressing pollutant-induced cardiovascular diseases. It calls for stronger regulatory policies, public health interventions, and green urban planning. 2025 by the authors. -
Design considerations of an inductive sensor for segmented mirror telescopes
The Segmented mirror technology has become natural choice for any optical telescope larger than 8 meter in size, where small mirror segments are aligned and positioned with respect to each other to an accuracy of few tens of nanometer. Primary mirror control system with the help of edge sensor and soft linear actuator maintains that alignment which changes due to gravity and wind loading. For any segmented mirror telescope edge-sensor plays very critical role. It should have very high spatial resolution (few nanometer), large range, multidimensional sensing, high temporal stability as well as immunity towards relative change in temperature and humidity. Though capacitive sensors are widely used for this purpose, however, their inherent sensitivity towards humidity and dust make them unsuitable for telescopes operating at humid low altitude regions. Whereas, inductance based sensors, working on the principal of mutual inductance variation between two planar inductor coils, produce promising results in such a situation. Looking at stringent requirements, design and development of a planar inductive sensor is a challenge. As a first step toward sensor development, we have explored the design aspects of it. The inductive coils are first simulated and analyzed using electromagnetic FEA software for different coil parameters. The design considerations include optimization of coil parameters such as geometry of coils, trace densities, number of turns, etc. and operational requirements such as number of degree of freedoms to be sensed, range of travel, spatial resolution, as well as required sensitivity. The simulation results are also verified through experimentation. In this first paper we report the design and analysis results obtained from FEA simulations. 2018 SPIE. -
Commercialization potential of agro-based polyhydroxyalkanoates biorefinery: A technical perspective on advances and critical barriers
The exponential increase in the use and careless discard of synthetic plastics has created an alarming concern over the environmental health due to the detrimental effects of petroleum based synthetic polymeric compounds. Piling up of these plastic commodities on various ecological niches and entry of their fragmented parts into soil and water has clearly affected the quality of these ecosystems in the past few decades. Among the many constructive strategies developed to tackle this global issue, use of biopolymers like polyhydroxyalkanoates as sustainable alternatives for synthetic plastics has gained momentum. Despite their excellent material properties and significant biodegradability, polyhydroxyalkanoates still fails to compete with their synthetic counterparts majorly due to the high cost associated with their production and purification thereby limiting their commercialization. Usage of renewable feedstocks as substrates for polyhydroxyalkanoates production has been the thrust area of research to attain the sustainability tag. This review work attempts to provide insights about the recent developments in the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates using renewable feedstock along with various pretreatment methods used for substrate preparation for polyhydroxyalkanoates production. Further, the application of blends based on polyhydroxyalkanoates, and the challenges associated with the waste valorization based polyhydroxyalkanoates production strategy is elaborated in this review work. 2023 Elsevier B.V. -
A critical assessment of technical advances in pharmaceutical removal from wastewater A critical review
Use of pharmaceutical products has seen a tremendous increase in the recent decades. It has been observed that more than thirty million tons of pharmaceuticals are consumed worldwide. The used pharmaceutical products are not completely metabolized in human and animal body. Therefore, they are excreted to the environment and remain there as persistent organic chemicals. These compounds emerge as toxic contaminants in water and affect the human metabolism directly or indirectly. This literature review is an endeavour to understand the origin, applications and current advancement in the removal of pharmaceuticals from the environment. It discusses about the pharmaceuticals used in medical applications such diagnosis and disease treatment. In addition, it discusses about the recent approaches applied in pharmaceutical removal including microbial fuel cells, biofiltration, and bio nanotechnology approaches. Moreover, the challenges associated with pharmaceutical removal are presented considering biological and environmental factors. The review suggest the potential recommendations on pharmaceutical removal. 2023 The Authors -
HMOSHSSA: a novel framework for solving simultaneous clustering and feature selection problems
In real-life scenarios, information about the number of clusters is unknown. Due to this, clustering algorithms are unable to generate the valuable partitions. Beside this, the appropriate and optimal number of features is also required to produce the good quality clusters. The selection of optimal number of clusters and feature is a challenging task in the clustering. To resolve these problems, an automatic multi-objective-based clustering approach called HMOSHSSA is proposed in this paper. In HMOSHSSA, the spotted hyena and salp swarm algorithms are hybridized to obtain a better trade-off between these algorithms intensification and diversification capabilities. Two novel concepts for encoding and threshold setting are incorporated in the HMOSHSSA. The encoding scheme is used to choose the optimal number of clusters and features during the optimization process. The variance of dataset is used for setting the threshold values for both clusters and features. A novel fitness function is proposed to improve the optimization process. The suggested algorithms performance is evaluated using eight well-known real-world datasets. The statistical significance of HMOSHSSA is measured through t-tests. Results reveal that the proposed approach is able to detect the optimal number of clusters and features from a given dataset without user intervention. This approach is also deployed for solving microarray data analysis and image segmentation problems. HMOSHSSA outperformed the other considered algorithms in terms of performance measures. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024. -
Energy-Efficient Cluster in Wireless Sensor Network Using Life Time Delay Clustering Algorithms
Through Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) formation, industrial and academic communities have seen remarkable development in recent decades. One of the most common techniques to derive the best out of wireless sensor networks is to upgrade the operating group. The most important problem is the arrangement of optimal number of sensor nodes as clusters to discuss clustering method. In this method, new client nodes and dynamic methods are used to determine the optimal number of clusters and cluster heads which are to be better organized and proposed to classify each round. Parameters of effective energy use and the ability to decide the best method of attachments are included. The Problem coverage find change ability network route due to which traffic and delays keep the performance to be very high. A newer version of Gravity Analysis Algorithm (GAA) is used to solve this problem. This proposed new approach GAA is introduced to improve network lifetime, increase system energy efficiency and end delay performance. Simulation results show that modified GAA performance is better than other networks and it has more advanced Life Time Delay Clustering Algorithms-LTDCA protocols. The proposed method provides a set of data collection and increased throughput in wireless sensor networks. 2022 CRL Publishing. All rights reserved. -
Strategic Management During a Pandemic
The COVID- 19 pandemic changed world dynamics, working scenarios, as well as professional and emotional dimensions. The virus has emerged as a significant threat for the continuity of business. Keeping the gravity of the problem in mind, companies must understand the need for change and must now update their strategy to account for pandemics. The next pandemic may be more severe than the current one, meaning that organizations need to devise mechanisms and business models to fight with these situations and maintain business continuity. They should not only look forward to saving plants, machinery and infrastructure, but also concentrate on employee welfare, customer engagement and satisfaction during this crisis time. The book will not only present the evidence of various effective solutions to run a business in the time of a pandemic, but also put forward the new models and practices of business being followed by people at the time of crisis. It aims to create a bridge between existing business models and proposed business solutions, focusing on existing theories and most importantly case studies from the recent happenings. This rich collection of chapters will provide insights regarding the business challenges, opportunities and practices during pandemic situations like COVID- 19, making it particularly valuable to researchers, academics and students in the fields of strategic management, leadership and disaster management. 2022 selection and editorial matter, Vikas Kumar and Gaurav Gupta. -
Advanced Sentiment Analysis: From Lexicon-Enhanced BERT to Dimensionality Reduction Using NLP
Social media platforms serve as vital connections for communication, generating massive quantities of data that represent an array of perspectives. Efficient sentiment analysis is necessary for understanding public opinion, particularly in domains such as product reviews and socio-political discussion. This paper develops a novel sentiment analysis model that is customized for social media data by integrating machine learning algorithms, language processing techniques with part-of-speech tagging, and dimensionality reduction methods. The model will improve sentiment analysis performance by tackling challenges like noise and data domain variations. To further improve sentiment representation, it includes convolutional neural networks (CNNs), BERT embeddings, N-grams, and sentiment lexicons. The model's effectiveness is determined on a variety of datasets, which enhances sentiment analysis in social media discussion. This paper goes beyond sentiment analysis in code-mixed, multilingual text and highlights the importance of careful data before treatment and an extensive variety of ML algorithms. This study attempts to explain the nuances of sentiment analysis and its use in social media discussions through methodical research. 2024 IEEE. -
Potential of banana based cellulose materials for advanced applications: A review on properties and technical challenges
Biocompatibility, biodegradability, and toxicity issues of synthetic polymers have propelled the search for environmentally friendly and non-toxic alternatives. In this context, biobased materials have gained much popularity due to their non-toxic, biodegradable, and sustainable nature. Bananas are considered as one of such natural material which fulfil the requirements to be tailored as a biocompatible biopolymer. Banana derived wastes can be used for extraction of commercially important biopolymers like starch, cellulose, nanocellulose and their subsequent utilization in wide variety of applications. Banana derived biopolymers and their bio composites and widely used for medical applications such as wound healing, fabrication of bone plates, cellulose based gate dielectrics, and capacitors for insulin pumps, and pacemakers. In addition, banana based nanocellulose can be used in tissue engineering, biosensing, drug delivery, bioimaging, wound healing, enzyme immobilization and preparation of tablets for oral administration. Moreover, banana-based polymers can be employed in applications such as food packaging, biofuel production, and production of multilayered papers. Considering the potential applications of banana-based nanomaterials, this review work is framed to understand the process of extraction of starch, cellulose, nanocellulose and biopolymers from banana derived wastes with specific emphasis on their extraction methods and composite preparation methods. In addition, it discusses in detail the promising and potential applications of the derived materials in health and environmental sectors. The presented review is a comprehensive discussion on banana-based waste conversion strategies to produce value added products useful in medical and environmental applications. 2023 The Author(s) -
Extensive long-term verbal memory training is associated with brain plasticity
The human brain has a remarkable capacity to store a lifetime of information through visual or auditory routes. It excels and exceeds any artificial memory system in mixing and integrating multiple pieces of information encoded. In this study, a group of verbal memory experts was evaluated by multiple structural brain analysis methods to record the changes in the brain structure. The participants were professional Hindu pandits (priests/scholars) trained in reciting Vedas and other forms of Hindu scriptures. These professional Vedic priests are experts in memorization and recitation of oral texts with precise diction. Vedas are a collection of hymns. It is estimated that there are more than 20,000 mantras and shlokas in the four Vedas. The analysis included the measurement of the grey and white matter density, gyrification, and cortical thickness in a group of Vedic pandits and comparing these measures with a matched control group. The results revealed an increased grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) in the midbrain, pons, thalamus, parahippocampus, and orbitofrontal regions in pandits. The whole-brain corelation analysis using length ofpost-training teachingduration showed significant correlation with the left angular gyrus. We also found increased gyrification in the insula, supplementary motor area, medial frontal areas, and increased cortical thickness (CT) in the right temporal pole and caudate regions of the brain. These findings, collectively, provide unique information regarding the association between crucial memory regions in the brain and long-term practice of oral recitation of scriptures from memory with the proper diction that also involved controlled breathing. 2021, The Author(s).