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There has been a significant rise in the levels of heavy metals (Pb, As, Hg and Cd) due to their increased industrial usage causing a severe concern to public health. The accumulation of heavy metals generates oxidative stress in the body causing fatal effects to important biological processes leading to cell death. Therefore, there is an imperative need to explore efficient and effective methods for the eradication of these heavy metals as against the conventionally used uneconomical and time consuming strategies that have numerous environmental hazards. One such eco-friendly, low cost and efficient alternative to target heavy metals is bioremediation technology that utilizes various microorganisms, green plants or enzymes for the abolition of heavy metals from polluted sites. This review comprehensively discusses toxicological manifestations of heavy metals along with the detailed description of bioremediation technologies employed such as phytoremediation and biosorption for the potential removal of these metals. It also updates readers about recent advances in bioremediation technologies like the use of nanoparticles, non-living biomass and transgenic crops.

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In this study, adsorption potential of soya bean adsorbent for lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) has been assessed in order to consider its suitability for purification of wastewater containing heavy metals. The main focus of study was on Pb and As. Batch experiments were performed to study the adsorption of Pb and As on soya bean absorbent. The effect of various experimental parameters (adsorbent dose, contact time, temperature and pH) was studied, and optimal conditions were determined. The effect of adsorbent dose on the biosorption of Pb and As from aqueous solution was studied at 37 °C by varying the adsorbent amount from 1 g/100 ml to 4 g/100 ml. Highest amount of Pb and As was adsorbed at sorbent amount of 3 g/100 ml. The optimum pH for removal of As and Pb was found to be 2.0 and 4.0 ± 0.26. Maximum biosorption of Pb and As was achieved at 37 °C. The maximum percentage removal of Pb and As was attained at 60 min of shaking time. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were utilized for equilibrium studies. It was found that biosorption by soya bean adsorbent was exothermic in nature. The thermal degradation analysis suggested that the degradation occurs in two steps and adsorbent is thermally stable.Keywords Biosorption · Soya bean adsorbent · Lead and arsenic · Sorption isotherm and thermal analysis of biosorbent

A 56-year-old kidney transplant recipient presented with a progressive cauliflower-like growth on the plantar surface of the right foot and on workup found to have chromoblastomycosis, which was successfully treated by antifungal agent and surgical excision with no recurrence. Chromoblastomycosis belongs to the heterogeneous group of subcutaneous mycoses. It is caused by various pigmented (dematiaceous) fungi, which gain entry into the skin via traumatic implantation. The case is of interest because it has so far not been reported from the northwest arid zone of India in kidney transplant recipients.

Original Research ArticleA study in prevalence of diabetic nephropathy in recently detected cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus as evidenced by altered creatinine clearance, urinary albumin and serum creatinine, with special emphasis on hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and obesity Vitan Patel, Minal Shastri*, Nisha Gaur, Prutha Jinwala, Abhishek Y. Kadam INTRODUCTIONDiabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the commonest diseases in the world, especially the industrialized world. But recently, the "Silent epidemic" of diabetes has been spreading like a wild fire through the developing world. India has earned the dubious distinction of being termed the "Diabetes capital of the world" with number of patients expected to cross 79.4 million by year 2030. 1The dangerous fact about diabetes is that it is a "Silent killer". By the time patient is diagnosed to have diabetes, he/she is already affected with complications like diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy and neuropathy. This is especially worse in India, where various factors delay the ABSTRACT Background: Diabetic nephropathy is one of the commonest and most dreaded complications of Diabetes. The Aim was to evaluate the significance of microalbuminuria and creatinine clearance for detecting incipient diabetic nephropathy, and to find out the prevalence of nephropathy among freshly detected Type 2 diabetic patients with vs. those without hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and/or obesity. Methods: In this prospective study, 100 recently diagnosed diabetics were studied. Group A had 50 patients with at least one risk factor are hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and obesity. Group B had 50 patients without any of the aforementioned factors. Patients were investigated for presence of Diabetic nephropathy with abnormal serum Creatinine, creatinine clearance and urinary albumin levels. Results: As many as 43 out of 100 patients were found to have Diabetic nephropathy. The number was significantly higher in group A compared to group B (34/50 vs. 9/50). Incidence of nephropathy was higher with higher number of associated risk factors. Urinary microalbuminuria was the commonest abnormality, Serum creatinine was found in only 30.23% of total positive cases. Conclusions: Incidence of diabetic nephropathy is much larger than imagined in freshly diagnosed/new onset cases of DM type 2. Author also conclude that hypertension, obesity and hypercholesterolemia can contribute to development of nephropathy (68% vs. 18% in those who had the factors vs. those who didn't). Also, urinary microalbuminuria appears to be much more sensitive than serum creatinine as screening tool. While prevalence of nephropathy in diabetes has been extensively studied in past, very few studies have taken to determine how much prevalence is at the time of detection already. This becomes even more important when we take into account how delayed the diagnosis is in Indian patients. And presence of other complicating factors may worsen this. A study is indicated looking for how these factors impact the prevalence of di...

In this study,the water samples were collected from 31 sites of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India (North-Eastern Himalaya), during the winter season to check the suitability of water for drinking and irrigation purposes.The study scientifically demonstrates the estimation of Water quality index (WQI) andhydrogeochemical characteristics of surface water samples by utilizing multivariate statistical methods. The main water quality parameters considered for this study were TDS, conductivity, salinity, pH, hardness, cations and anions. WQI was calculated in order to find out the deviation in the water quality parameters particularly with respect to BIS permissible limits.The major influencing factors responsible for the variation in these parameters were derived by using Principal component analysis (PCA) and Correlation matrix.To check the suitability of water for drinking purpose, hydrogeochemical facies and rock water interaction was derived by using well established methods such as Piper Plot (determine water type), WQI (Quality monitoring), and saturation index (for mineral dissolution). The results revealed that the silicate weathering was the main ionic source in comparison to carbonate weathering which is due to the higher dissolution capacity of silicate minerals.The results of the scattered plot between (Ca2+ + Mg2+)–(HCO3ˉ + SO42ˉ) versus (Na+ + K+)–Clˉ (meq/L) highlighted thation exchange occurs between Mg2+ and Ca2+ofsurface water with Na+ and K+of rock /soil. This means that calcium ion was getting adsorbed, and sodium ion was getting released. The Ca2+–Mg2+–HCO3ˉ, Na+–HCO3ˉand Na+–Clˉ type of surface water suggested permanent and temporary hardness respectively in the studied region. The dominant cations of this study were Na+ and Ca2+ while the dominant anions were HCO3ˉ and SO42ˉ. In order to check the suitability of water sources for irrigation, parameters like, Magnesium hazard (MH), Total hardness (TH), Permeability Index (PI), Kelly Index (KI), Sodium adsorption rate (SAR), Sodium percentage (Na%), and Residual sodium carbonate (RSC) were determined. The results showed that 93% of the samples had PI score < 75, which indicates the suitability of the water for irrigation. Also the WQI calculation showed an average WQI value of 82.49, amongst which 61% samples were in the range of 0–50 being considered as good for drinking, while 39% were catageorised as unsuitable for drinking showing a value of > 50. Hence the above findings reveal that geogenic activities play a major role in influencing the water quality of Tawang region. Hence suitable water treatment technologies or methods might be used to eliminate thenon desirable elements and minerals present in surface water.

The presence of lignin and its derivatives in pulp effluent increases the pollution load on the environment. With an aim of better degradation and decolourization of wastewater, this study proposes the utilization of different ligninolytic enzymes from novel bacterial strains. Four novel bacterial strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae strains NITW715076, NITW715076_1, NITW715076_2 and NITW715076_3) were isolated and identified. The ligninolytic enzymes were characterized by plate assay method. For the optimization of various process parameters of effluent sample, different approaches were used like one factor at a time and statistical optimization through response surface methodology (RSM). Further to validate the above data, enzyme activity, total phenolic concentration, GC-MS analysis and seed germination test were also performed. The ligninolytic enzymes produced were characterized as laccase and Manganese peroxidase (MnP). In lignin degradation and decolourization studies, consortia 1 (K. pneumoniae NITW715076_2 + K. pneumoniae NITW715076_1) (82.31%) was found more effective when compared to axenic culture (K. pneumoniae NITW715076_2) (74.1%). In RSM studies, Laccase and MnP activities were increased by 20% and 18%, respectively, as compared to one factor at a time optimization method. In addition, the enzyme activity for laccase and MnP after prediction by RSM was found 53338 IU/L and 147900 IU/L, respectively. The R 2 values for both the enzymes were found to be significant. Further, GC-MS analysis also showed the degradation of different organic pollutants in effluent. Lastly, the seed germination test using consortia 1 corroborated the evidence of detoxification of industrial effluent. Effluent treated by consortia 1 showed better results in degradation and decolourization of lignin and their derivatives. Therefore, consortia 1 can be used for various industrial purposes like fruit juice clarification, diagnostic purposes and enhanced bioethanol production.