No abstract

The assessment of groundwater is essential for the estimation of suitability of water for safe use. An attempt has been made to study the groundwater at the district level of Punjab, Pakistan. These samples were analyzed for various water quality parameters like pH, color, odor, conductance, total suspended solids, trace metals (Fe, cu, B, Ba, Al, Cr, Cd, Ni, Mn and Se), ionic concentration (HCO 3 , CO 3 , Cl, SO 4 , Na, K, Ca, Mg, NO 3 , NO 2 , NH 4 , F, PO 4 and CN) and for microbiological enumeration (total viable count, total and fecal coliforms Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Pseudomonas spp.). The data was analyzed with WHO guidelines/ recommendations. The results of physical analysis indicated that all samples are safe except the groundwater of Kasur and Khanewal District. About 66.67% samples are out of total suspended solids (TSS) limit. Microbiologically, only six groundwater of Punjab districts are found potable according to WHO limits. In the trace metals analysis, highest level of iron was detected in Jhang while the groundwater of three districts were not potable due to high level of boron and nickel but the groundwater of all districts was found safe with respect to Ba, Al and Cr. As far as ionic concentration is concerned, 11 districts were found not to be within WHO limit in the case of bicarbonates, seven in phosphates, five in floride, and eight in calcium and potassium. Only 10 districts fall within the limit of chlorine and all samples showed satisfactory results in the case of CN, CO 3 , NO 2 , NO 3 , Mg, SO 4 and NH 4.

Whey is the by‐product of cheese making which can be manipulated into edible films and coatings, it relies on its high viscosity, high hydrophobicity, and antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. In the present study, titanium‐based whey protein nanoparticles (WPNFs/TNPs) and whey protein isolates (WPI) were prepared and edible coatings and films were developed and characterized. The antimicrobial activity against common foodborne pathogens (S. aureus, E. coli, S. typhi, A. niger, P. expansum, and P. variotii) were conducted followed by their efficacy on six different chilled products analyzed on beef, chicken meat, mutton and fish meat, cheddar cheese and mozeralla cheese were selected for efficacy studies. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (Socaciu, Fogarasi et al.) revealed long and linear fibrils of WPNFs and with the addition of TNPs, the fibrils became denser. Fibril emulsions were expected to be more stable because of their high viscosity. Both the WPNFs/TNPs and WPI were smooth and homogenous surfaces without cracks or pore. The WPNFs/TNPs showed various degrees of antimicrobial activities against all the microbial strains and with the addition of nanoparticles, their interaction increased which further enhanced the quality of the product. Each film and coating had clear zones against all the desired microbes. The inhibition zones of WPI/TNPs were smaller than those of WPNFs/TNPs films. The addition of TNPs into with the nanofibrils enhanced the activity of nanofibrils and also it showed better and larger inhibition zones. The DPPH Radical‐scavenging activity of WPNFs/TNPs‐based samples was greater than that of the WPI/TNPs based samples. The highest was observed against the fish and mutton samples, followed by chicken and beef. The WPNFs/TNPs edible coatings decreased the microbial growth throughout storage for serval weeks. Our results may provide a basic understanding of the use of whey protein as an alternative for food safety of chilled food products.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the adherence potential of indigenous probiotic bacteria and to improve the gastrointestinal survival of these cultures by adopting the double microencapsulation technique. The mean with standard deviation of triplicate experiments for the cell surface hydrophobicity, aggregation, and Cell adhesion evaluation of indigenous probiotics revealed that there was no significant difference in the hydrophobicity of both solvents (n-hexadecane and Xylene). A mixed trend was observed in the estimation for hydrophobicity; the indigenous Lactobacillus acidophilus was found with highest cell surface hydrophobicity (56.3%) and the lowest was found in Lactobacillus reuteri (28.1%). The Ca-alginate and prebiotics amalgum was used in double treatment and compared with control (free) and single encapsulated (Ca-alginate) cells in the stimulated gastric juice (SGJ) and stimulated intestinal juice (SIJ). The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) results show that the double microencapsulation technique has significant effects (P< 0.05) on the survival of bacterial cells during 6 weeks storage. A negligible reduction was found on day 42 in case of double microencapsulated cells as compared to significant adverse effects on the free cell. The loss was higher in single microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus paracasei and zero loss for Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus. While a slight revival was observed in the free and single encapsulated bacteria in SIJ. Thus, combination of Ca-alginate and prebiotics significantly improves the viability and stress response of probiotics in the harsh GI conditions.

This prospective study was conducted at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital over a period of three years. All patients presenting with colorectal carcinoma were studied and included in the study. Age of the patients included in the study ranged from 18 to 74 years. Gender distribution was 12 males and 17 females. The lesions were identified in the anal canal in 3 cases and in the rectum in 9 cases. At the rectosigmoid junction in 1 case, in the splenic flexure, transverse colon and ascending colon had lesions in 3, 5, 2 cases respectively. Six lesions were identified in the caecum. All of these patients were managed surgically according to the lesion location.