Resource recovery from legacy waste dumpsites in India: A path towards sustainable waste management.

Legacy waste dumpsites have been a significant environmental concern in India for many years. These dumpsites are characterized by the uncontrolled disposal of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and have led to various types of pollution and disease outbreaks. As India faces the challenges of rapid urbanization and increased waste generation and with over 3000 legacy waste dumpsites in the country, the need to address these legacy waste dumpsites has become paramount. As we continue to struggle extensively for waste management as well as space, landfill mining has been recognized as a promising way of recovering resources in our country by employing various technological and engineering advancements to extract valuable materials and energy from legacy waste streams. Unlike existing waste management approaches, this review explores the application of a novel Recovery Potential Index (RPI) for legacy waste dumpsites in India, which evaluates the feasibility of waste treatment facilities based on waste compositions and recovered material quantities. Depending on the RPI, recovered fine fractions can be sold as city compost or used as fill material, while recyclable, combustible, and inert fractions could be directed towards appropriate recycling or landfill uses. Unscientific and uncontrolled landfill mining practices could lead to unanticipated impacts on the nearby environment in the form of heavy contamination, thereby presenting this practice as a challenge in addition to the immense opportunities it provides.

Integration of Control Strategies to Optimize Management of Ambrosia Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) and Phytophthora Root Rot (Peronosporales: Peronosporaceae) in Flowering Dogwoods (Cornalaes: Cornaceae) After Simulated Flooding.

Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) and Phytophthora root rot (Peronosporales: Peronosporaceae) cause significant damage to the ornamental industry in the United States. In this study, mefenoxam (fungicide), permethrin (insecticide), and charcoal + kaolin were used in different combinations with Phytophthora cinnamomi (Rands: Peronosporales: Peronosporaceae) inoculated and noninoculated plants to optimize the management of ambrosia beetles and Phytophthora root rot. Treatment applications were performed in two trials on 1 (mefenoxam, drench), 18 (P. cinnamomi inoculation), or 19 (permethrin, spray) days before instigating flood stress or 2 d after flood stress (charcoal + kaolin, spray), respectively. Flooding was maintained for 21 d. Ambrosia beetle attacks and plant growth data were recorded. Tree roots were rated at study end for disease severity and root samples were plated on PARPH-V8 medium to determine the percentage of pathogen recovery. In both trials, the combination of mefenoxam + permethrin treatment had reduced disease severity and ambrosia beetle attacks compared to the inoculated controls. Permethrin-treated trees had shorter galleries compared to controls in trial 1 and no gallery formation in trial 2. In both trials, no differences were observed among the treatments in numbers of galleries with eggs and adults, but mefenoxam + charcoal + kaolin had significantly fewer galleries with larvae among the noninoculated trees compared with the respective control in trial 1. Overall, treatments containing combinations of mefenoxam + permethrin had reduced disease severity and ambrosia beetle attacks.

Putrescence to Quintessence: An Atypical Presentation of Multiple Osteoporotic Spinal Fractures Masquerading as Multiple Myeloma.

A 64-year-old male patient presented with multiple osteoporotic spinal fractures of unknown origin. He was provisionally diagnosed with multiple myeloma based on biochemical and radiological findings. The patient presented in a very frail condition with a questionable outcome but showed a remarkable recovery from being frail to relatively fit. His baseline characteristics including magnetic resonance imaging of the dorsolumbar spine, beta 2 microglobulins, and C-reactive protein improved. The diagnosis was later changed to multiple spinal osteoporotic fractures. In this case report, we highlight that, although it is a good practice to have a single working diagnosis, when the diagnosis is challenging, a holistic approach should be followed to prevent medical and diagnostic miscalculations.

Effect of calcium chloride on abating inhibition due to volatile fatty acids during the start-up period in anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste.

Biomethanation of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a slow process and the yield of biogas is usually low. The present study was carried out to examine the effect of calcium chloride (CaCl2) on anaerobic digestion of MSW. Three anaerobic digesters with different concentrations of CaCl2, namely sample without additives (Control), sample with 2.5 g/L CaCl2 (R1) and sample with 5 g/L CaCl2 (R2) were studied separately and the significant results are presented. From the experimental results, it was observed that pH decreased with an increase in the dosage of CaCl2. Total solids and volatile solids reduction percentage in digester R2 was considerably lower than Control and R1 digesters. The significant positive correlation with small increments in volatile solids and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction were observed with an increase in pH. The cumulative biogas production in all the three digesters (Control, R1 and R2) were observed to be 35.38, 46.46 and 37.56 L, respectively. It was also observed that the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) removal efficiency in digester R1 was the best among all the three digesters. A comparison of the effluent characteristics revealed improvement in the overall performance of the digester R1 amended with 2.5 g/L CaCl2 over the other two digesters.

Evaluation of canine retraction following periodontal distraction using NiTi coil spring and implants - A clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the amount of canine retraction with periodontal distraction using miniscrew implants and NiTi coil spring. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Sample comprised of 25 patients who were scheduled for all 1st premolar extraction (13 males and 12 females), in the age range of 16-22 years with mean age 18.8 ± 2.7 years. For each patient left side served as control side (Group I) and right side as experimental side (Group II). At the time of first premolar extraction, periodontal distraction was performed only on the experimental side, followed by retraction of canine from mini-implant by closed NiTi coil spring on both the sides. "Nemotech" software was used to evaluate the amount of canine retraction for a period of 3 months. RESULTS: Significantly higher amount of tooth movement was seen from T0-T1 and from T1-T2 in Group II for the maxillary parameters 3C-5C, 6CF-3C, 3C-I/3C-J and for the mandibular parameter 6CF″-3C″. Whereas no significant amount of tooth movement was observed for maxillary and mandibular parameters between T2-T3 except for 6CF″-3C″ (p ≤ 0.01) which was significantly higher for the Group II. CONCLUSION: There was accelerated canine retraction on the periodontal distraction side as compared to the control side, with negligible anchorage loss.

Antimicrobial and anti-adherence activity of various combinations of coffee-chicory solutions on Streptococcus mutans: An in-vitro study.

CONTEXT: Several studies have demonstrated the activity of natural plants on the dental biofilm and caries development. But few studies on the antimicrobial activity of coffee-based solutions were found in the literature. Further there was no study available to check the antimicrobial effect of coffee solutions with different percentages of chicory in it. AIMS: To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of different combinations of coffee-chicory solutions and their anti-adherence effect on Streptococcus mutans to glass surface. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Test solutions were prepared. For antimicrobial activity testing, tubes containing test solution and culture medium were inoculated with a suspension of S. mutans followed by plating on Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) agar. S. mutans adherence to glass in presence of the different test solutions was also tested. The number of adhered bacteria (CFU/mL) was determined by plating method. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Statistical significance was measured using one way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test. P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Pure chicory had shown significantly less bacterial count compared to all other groups. Groups IV and V had shown significant reduction in bacterial counts over the period of 4 hrs. Regarding anti-adherence effect, group I-IV had shown significantly less adherence of bacteria to glass surface. CONCLUSIONS: Chicory exerted antibacterial effect against S. mutans while coffee reduced significantly the adherence of S. mutans to the glass surface.