Ever increasing population, urbanization and modernization are posing problems of sewage disposal and contamination of surface waters like lakes. Natural water gets contaminated due to weathering of rocks, leaching of soils and mining processing, etc. Various types of problems in lake which cause nutrient enrichment in lake have been reviewed. Land use change and longer growing seasons could increase the use of fertilizers with subsequent leaching to watercourses, rivers and lakes, increasing the risk of eutrophication and loss of biodiversity. Water quality can be assessed by various parameters such as BOD, temperature, electrical conductivity, nitrate, phosphorus, potassium, dissolved oxygen, etc. Heavy metals such as Pb, Cr, Fe, Hg, etc. are of special concern because they produce water or chronic poisoning in aquatic animals. Harmful algal blooms are becoming increasingly common in freshwater ecosystems globally. Pollution by plastic debris is an increasing environmental concern in water bodies, where it affects open-water, shoreline and benthic environments. Surface water densities of plastics are as high as those reported for areas of litter accumulation within oceanic gyres. Different methods have been used to analyse the water quality of lake such as Hyperion, water quality index and hazard quotient. It is recommended that pollution prevention and water re-use should be adopted in combination with the recycling of nutrients in controlled urban agriculture.

The aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides has been associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Here, we report the use of a luminescent dipyridophenazine ruthenium(II) complex to monitor Aβ fibrillization. This complex is not photoluminescent in aqueous solution nor in the presence of monomeric Aβ, but it presents a strong photoluminescence in the presence of Aβ fibril aggregates. One of the advantages of this metal complex is its large Stokes shift (180 nm). Furthermore, the long-lived photoluminescence lifetime of this ruthenium complex allows its use for the detection of fibrillar proteins in the presence of short-lived fluorescent backgrounds, using time-gating technology. We will present evidence of the advantages of dipyridophenazine ruthenium(II) complexes for monitoring protein fibrillization in highly fluorescent media.

The dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in the presence of water soluble polypyridyl complexes of the general formula [Ru(x)(bpy)(y)L](2+) (L = dppz, dppn, tpphz) is reported. These ligands have extended planar π systems, which aid in the solubilization of SWCNTs via π-π interactions.

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are RNA viruses that cause human respiratory infections. Zoonotic transmission of the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus caused the recent COVID‐19 pandemic, which led to over 2 million deaths worldwide. Elevated inflammatory responses and cytotoxicity in the lungs are associated with COVID‐19 severity in SARS‐CoV‐2‐infected individuals. Bats, which host pathogenic CoVs, operate dampened inflammatory responses and show tolerance to these viruses with mild clinical symptoms. Delineating the mechanisms governing these host‐specific inflammatory responses is essential to understand host–virus interactions determining the outcome of pathogenic CoV infections. Here, we describe the essential role of inflammasome activation in determining COVID‐19 severity in humans and innate immune tolerance in bats that host several pathogenic CoVs. We further discuss mechanisms leading to inflammasome activation in human SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and how bats are molecularly adapted to suppress these inflammasome responses. We also report an analysis of functionally important residues of inflammasome components that provide new clues of bat strategies to suppress inflammasome signaling and innate immune responses. As spillover of bat viruses may cause the emergence of new human disease outbreaks, the inflammasome regulation in bats and humans likely provides specific strategies to combat the pathogenic CoV infections.

No abstract

Fe2O3 is an attractive catalyst for CO oxidation because of its low cost and reducible nature. Modification in reducible oxide by a noble metal enhances its reducibility. In this work, the effect of noble metal (NM: Pt, Pd) impregnation and substitution on the reaction mechanism for CO oxidation has been studied. Detailed ex situ (X-ray diffraction, XRD; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, XPS; and transmission electron microscopy, TEM) and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) characterization were performed along with kinetic studies to develop mechanistic models. Remarkably, the Fe2O3-supported NM exhibited superior catalytic activity than the NM-substituted Fe2O3. Consequently, XPS, photoluminescence, and DRIFTS studies were performed to understand this behavior. Fe2O3-supported NM showed the formation of metal carbonyl bands in DRIFTS studies, however, carbonates were only observed over Fe2O3-supported Pt. On the basis of the spectroscopic evidence and kinetic studies, the Eley–Rideal mechanism was proposed for pristine Fe2O3, whereas noncompetitive and competitive Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanisms were proposed for Fe2O3-supported Pt and Pd, respectively.

Dissociation constants of pyrophosphoric acid have been obtained at 25, 50, 60, 65 and 70°C and at ionic strengths, 0.05, 0.10, 0.42, 1-00 and 1.14, from pH-titration curves of tetramethyl ammonium pyrophosphate against hydrochloric acid. Tetramethyl ammonium bromide was used to adjust the ionic strength. From the dissociation constants, enthalpies and entropies of dissociation have been calculated.

The purpose of this article is to report a case of esthesioneuroblastoma involving the bilateral paranasal sinuses, which was excised using an endoscopic-assisted transfacial approach. A patient presented with nasal swelling and left-sided nasal obstruction, epistaxis, and diplopia. Examination revealed broadening of the nasal dorsum with a fleshy pink mass in both nasal cavities. Computed tomographic scan showed a mass involving the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses on both sides. The tumor was diagnosed as group C esthesioneuroblastoma. The mass was excised by bilateral medial maxillectomy and bilateral frontoethmoidectomy. Using a 0 degrees endoscope, the attachment of the tumor to the cribriform plate was identified and resected using a motordrill. On Waroff staining, Hispathology slides suggested esthesioneuroblastoma. The patient was asymptomatic for 1 year, following which he developed infection of the nasal cavity for which he had no form of treatment. He subsequently developed maggots in the nasal cavity after which he died. An endoscopic resection of the cribriform plate from the nasal cavity without a formal craniofacial resection can be safely performed with oncologic safety.