Classification of e-waste using machine learning-assisted laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.

Waste management and the economy are intertwined in various ways. Adopting sustainable waste management techniques can contribute to economic growth and resource conservation. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based classification is very crucial for rapid and contactless classification of metals in electronic waste (e-waste) management. In the present research work, five types of aluminium alloys, because of their extensive use in structural, electrical and thermotechnical functions in the electronics industry, were taken. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a spectral identifier technique, was employed in conjunction with machine learning (ML) classification models of AI. Principal component analysis (PCA), an unsupervised ML classifier, was found incapable to differentiate LIBS data of alloys. Supervised ML classifier was then trained (for 10-fold cross-validation) on randomly selected 80% and tested on 20% spectral data of each alloy to assess classification capacity of each. In most of the tested variants of K nearest neighbour (kNN) the resulting accuracy was lower than 30% but kNN ensembled with random subspace method showed improved accuracy up to 98%. This study revealed that an AI-based LIBS system can classify e-waste alloys rather effectively in a non-contactless mode and could potentially be connected with robotic systems, hence, minimizing manual labour.

Pinus Roxburghii essential oil anticancer activity and chemical composition evaluation.

The present study was conducted to appraise the anticancer activity of Pinus roxburghii essential oil along with chemical composition evaluation. MTT assay revealed cytotoxicity induction in colon, leukemia, multiple myeloma, pancreatic, head and neck and lung cancer cells exposed to essential oil. Cancer cell death was also observed through live/dead cell viability assay and FACS analysis. Apoptosis induced by essential oil was confirmed by cleavage of PARP and caspase-3 that suppressed the colony-forming ability of tumor cells and 50 % inhibition occurred at a dose of 25 µg/mL. Moreover, essential oil inhibited the activation of inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB and inhibited expression of NF-κB regulated gene products linked to cell survival (survivin, c-FLIP, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, c-Myc, c-IAP2), proliferation (Cyclin D1) and metastasis (MMP-9). P. roxburghii essential oil has considerable anticancer activity and could be used as anticancer agent, which needs further investigation to identify and purify the bioactive compounds followed by in vivo studies.

Chemical composition, antioxidant, antitumor, anticancer and cytotoxic effects of Psidium guajava leaf extracts.

Context Psidium guajava L. (Myrtaceae) leaves are used in traditional medicines for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and other ailments. Objective The current study explores scientific validation for this traditional medication. Materials and methods We used ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazil (DPPH) assays to estimate antioxidant activity of P. guajava leaf extracts (methanol, hexane and chloroform). Antitumour and in vivo cytotoxic activities were determined using potato disc assay (PDA) and brine shrimp lethality assay, respectively. Three human carcinoma cell lines (KBM5, SCC4 and U266) were incubated with different doses (10-100 µg/mL) of extracts and the anticancer activity was estimated by MTT assay. NF-κB suppressing activity was determined using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Chemical composition of the three extracts was identified by GC-MS. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were measured by colorimetric assays. Results and discussions The order of antioxidant activity of three extracts was methanol > chloroform > hexane. The IC50 values ranged from 22.73 to 51.65 µg/mL for KBM5; 22.82 to 70.25 µg/mL for SCC4 and 20.97 to 89.55 µg/mL for U266 cells. The hexane extract exhibited potent antitumour (IC50 value = 65.02 µg/mL) and cytotoxic (LC50 value = 32.18 µg/mL) activities. This extract also completely inhibited the TNF-α induced NF-κB activation in KBM5 cells. GC-MS results showed that pyrogallol, palmitic acid and vitamin E were the major components of methanol, chloroform and hexane extracts. We observed significant (p < 0.05) difference in total phenolic and flavonoid contents of different solvent extracts. Conclusion The present study demonstrates that P. guajava leaf extracts play a substantial role against cancer and down-modulate inflammatory nuclear factor kB.

Antioxidant, antimicrobial, antitumor, and cytotoxic activities of an important medicinal plant (Euphorbia royleana) from Pakistan.

The aim of present study was to evaluate antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antitumor activities of methanol, hexane, and aqueous extracts of fresh Euphorbia royleana. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were estimated as gallic acid and querectin equivalents, respectively. Antioxidant activity was assessed by scavenging of free 2,2'- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals and reduction of ferric ions, and it was observed that inhibition values increase linearly with increase in concentration of extract. The results of ferric reducing antioxidant power assay showed that hexane extract has maximum ferric reducing power (12.70 ± 0.49 mg gallic acid equivalents/g of plant extract). Maximum phenolic (47.47 ± 0.71 µg gallic acid equivalents/mg of plant extract) and flavonoid (63.68 ± 0.43 µg querectin equivalents/mg of plant extract) contents were also found in the hexane extract. Furthermore, we examined antimicrobial activity of the three extracts (methanol, hexane, aqueous) against a panel of microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtillis, Pasteurella multocida, Aspergillus niger, and Fusarium solani) by disc-diffusion assay, and found the hexane extract to be the best antimicrobial agent. Hexane extract was also observed as to be most effective in a potato disc assay. As hexane extract showed potent activity in all the investigated assays, it was targeted for cytotoxic assessment. Maximum cytotoxicity (61.66%) by hexane extract was found at 800 µg/mL. It is concluded that investigated extracts have potential for isolation of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds for the pharmaceutical industry.

Antitumour and antioxidant potential of some selected Pakistani honeys.

Antitumour potential of honey is attributed to its excellent antioxidant activity which in turn depends on the geographical origin. The present study focuses on exploration of antioxidant and antitumour potential as well as total phenolic contents (TPC) of 58 Pakistani honeys involving spectrochemical techniques and potato disk assay. Agrobacterium tumefaciens was used to induce tumours in potato disks. All analysed honey samples exhibited 1.33±0.00-155.16±0.98mg/100g of TPC, 50% 2,2-diphenyl picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) inhibition, ⩾7.36±0.43-39.86±2.34mg/100g qurecitin equivalent antioxidant contents, ⩾13.69±0.91-65.50±1.37mg/100g ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant contents, 64.65±0.43-1780.74±11.79mM ferric reducing antioxidant power and 60% peroxide inhibition. Antitumour activity observed for 43 natural and 10 commercial samples was ⩾20%. Two samples from Faisalabad region showed 87.50±5.50% and 79.00±5.56% antitumour activity which were reference standard. It was concluded that Pakistani honeys possessed excellent antioxidant and antitumour potential overall.

Proximate composition and antioxidant potential of leaves from three varieties of Mulberry (Morus sp.): a comparative study.

In this study, leaves of three indigenous varieties of Mulberry namely, Morus alba L., Morus nigra L. and Morus rubra L. were investigated for their antioxidant potential and their proximate composition was determined. The yields of 80% methanolic extracts ranged between 8.28-13.89%. The contents of total phenolics (TPC), total flavonoids (TFC) and ascorbic acid (AA) ranged between 16.21-24.37 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g, 26.41-31.28 mg rutin equivalent (RE)/g and 0.97-1.49 mg/g, respectively. The antioxidant activity of leaf extracts was evaluated by measuring 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH(•)) radical scavenging actity, 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS(•+)) radical cation scavenging capacity and ferric ion reducing power and values ranged between 1.89-2.12, 6.12-9.89 and 0.56-0.97 mM Trolox equivalent/g of dried leaves, respectively. The investigated features reveal good nutritive and antioxidant attributes of all the varieties with mutually significant differences.

Respiratory effects in people exposed to arsenic via the drinking water and tobacco smoking in southern part of Pakistan.

In this study, a survey has been conducted during 2005-2007 on surface and groundwater arsenic (As) contamination and its impact on the health of local population, of villages located on the banks of Manchar lake, southern part of Sindh, Pakistan. We have also assessed the relationship between arsenic exposure through respiratory disorders in male subjects with drinking water and smoking cigarettes made from tobacco grown in agricultural land irrigated with As contaminated lake water. The biological samples (blood and scalp hair) were collected from As exposed subjects (100% smokers) and age matched healthy male subjects (40.2% smoker and 59.8% non smokers) belong to unexposed areas for comparison purposes. The As concentration in drinking water (surface and underground water), agricultural soil, cigarette tobacco and biological samples were determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The range of As concentrations in lake water was 35.2-158 microg/L (average 97.5 microg/L), which is 3-15 folds higher than permissible limit of World Health Organization (WHO, 2004). While the As level in local cigarette tobacco was found to be 3-6 folds higher than branded cigarettes (0.37-0.79 microg/g). Arsenic exposed subjects (with and without RD) had significantly elevated levels of As in their biological samples as compared to referent male subject of unexposed area. These respiratory effects were more pronounced in individuals who had also As induced skin lesions. The linear regressions showed good correlations between As concentrations in water versus hair and blood samples of exposed subjects with and without respiratory problems.

Effect of zinc supplementation on the zinc level in serum and urine and their relation to thyroid hormone profile in male and female goitrous patients.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Zinc (Zn) is an essential element involved in many basic biochemical reactions in thyroid. The aims of present study is to evaluate the Zn status in biological samples and thyroid hormones levels in 60 goitrous male (GMPs) and 72 female patients (GFPs), before and after 6 months treatment with Zn supplementation and compared with non-goitrous subjects of both genders (M=106, F=120) of age range 16-30 years. METHODS: The biological samples were analyzed for Zn concentration using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer, following their microwave assisted acid digestion. Quality control for the methodology was established with certified samples and with those obtained by conventional wet acid digestion method on the same CRMs and real samples. RESULTS: The results showed that the significantly lower mean values of Zn in serum, while high level urine samples of GMPs and GFPs were observed as compared to control subjects (p<0.005 and 0.007) respectively. The mean values of free triiodothyronine and thyroxin were found to be lower in goitrous patients of both genders than in the age matched healthy control (p<0.006 and 0.002) respectively, in contrast high mean values of thyroid stimulating hormone were detected in GMPs and GFPs (p<0.009). CONCLUSION: It was observed that Zn status and serum thyroid hormone levels were improved in goitrous patients after six months treatment with Zn supplementation.

Arsenic fractionation in sediments of different origins using BCR sequential and single extraction methods.

The arsenic (As) contaminated sediment serves as a long-term source of arsenic because its mobility and transport in the environment are strongly influenced to associated solid phase. A single extraction method based on the reagents employed in the BCR three steps sequential extraction scheme (BCR-SES) for partitioning of arsenic (As) in sediment samples has been developed. The single-step extraction enabled a reduction of extraction times, yielding extractable contents in accordance with those obtained by application of the BCR-SES, which can be regarded as a standard method and validated by using certified reference material BCR 701. The extractable As content associated with different phases in sediment samples were analysed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The extraction efficiency of As by single-step extraction was slightly higher than BCR-SES, ranged (100-104%), while difference was not significant at 95% confidence limit with <10% precision. The sediment samples from different origins varied in their physico-chemical properties and total As content. The relative mobility of As obtained from different origins was found in increasing order as: acid soluble fraction

Status of essential trace metals in biological samples of diabetic mother and their neonates.

OBJECTIVE: There is accumulating facts that the metabolism of essential trace elements is altered in diabetic patients. The aim of present study was to compare the status of essential trace elements, chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) in biological samples (whole blood, urine and scalp hair) of insulin dependent diabetic mothers (age ranged 30-40) and their newly born infants (n = 76). An age matched 68 non-diabetic mothers and their infants, residing in the same locality, were selected as referents. For a comparative study, the biological samples of non-diabetic and diabetic pregnant and non pregnant of same age group and socio-economics status were also analysed. METHODOLOGY: The biological samples (scalp hair, blood and urine) were collected from study and referent groups. The Cr, Mn and Zn concentrations in all three biological samples were determined by a flame/electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometer, prior to microwave assisted acid digestion. The validity and accuracy of the methodology was checked by certified reference materials (CRMs) and using conventional wet acid digestion method on same CRMs. RESULTS: The mean values of Cr, Mn and Zn in scalp hair and blood samples of diabetic mothers and their infants were significantly lower as compared to the referent mothers-infants pairs (p < 0.01), while urinary excretion of all these elements were high in diabetic mother-infant pair samples. CONCLUSION: The deficiencies of essential trace elements, Cr, Mn and Zn in biological samples of diabetic women, may play role in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus and impacts on their neonates.

Evaluation of arsenic and other physico-chemical parameters of surface and ground water of Jamshoro, Pakistan.

Arsenic contamination in water has caused severe health problems around the world. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the geological and anthropogenic aspects of As pollution in surface and groundwater resources of Jamshoro Sindh, Pakistan. Hydride generator atomic absorption spectrophotometry (HG-AAS) is employed for the determination of arsenic in water samples, with detection limit of 0.02 microg l(-1). Arsenic concentrations in surface and underground water range from 3.0 to 50.0, and 13 to 106 microg l(-1), respectively. In most of the water samples As levels exceeded the WHO provisional guideline values 10 microg l(-1). The high level of As in under study area may be due to widespread water logging from Indus river irrigation system which causes high saturation of salts in this semi-arid region and lead to enrichment of As in shallow groundwater. Among the physico-chemical parameters, electrical conductivity, Na(+), K(+), and SO(4)(2-) were found to be higher in surface and ground water, while elevated levels of Ca(2+) and Cl(-) were detected only in ground water than WHO permissible limit. The high level of iron was observed in ground water, which is a possible source of As enrichment in the study area. The multivariate technique (cluster analysis) was used for the elucidation of high, medium and low As contaminated areas. It may be concluded that As originate from coal combustion at brick factories and power generation plants, and it was mobilized promotionally by the alkaline nature of the understudy groundwater samples.

The correlation of arsenic levels in drinking water with the biological samples of skin disorders.

Arsenic (As) poisoning has become a worldwide public health concern. The skin is quite sensitive to As and skin lesions are the most common and earliest nonmalignant effects associated to chronic As exposure. In 2005-2007, a survey was carried out on surface and groundwater arsenic contamination and relationships between As exposure via the drinking water and related adverse health effects (melanosis and keratosis) on villagers resides on the banks of Manchar lake, southern part of Sindh, Pakistan. We screened the population from arsenic-affected villages, 61 to 73% population were identified patients suffering from chronic arsenic toxicity. The effects of As toxicity via drinking water were estimated by biological samples (scalp hair and blood) of adults (males and females), have or have not skin problem (n=187). The referent samples of both genders were also collected from the areas having low level of As (<10 microg/L) in drinking water (n=121). Arsenic concentration in drinking water and biological samples were analyzed using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The range of arsenic concentrations in lake surface water was 35.2-158 microg/L, which is 3-15 folds higher than World Health Organization [WHO, 2004. Guidelines for drinking-water quality third ed., WHO Geneva Switzerland.]. It was observed that As concentration in the scalp hair and blood samples were above the range of permissible values 0.034-0.319 microg As/g for hair and <0.5-4.2 microg/L for blood. The linear regressions showed good correlations between arsenic concentrations in water versus hair and blood samples of exposed skin diseased subjects (R2=0.852 and 0.718) as compared to non-diseased subjects (R2=0.573 and 0.351), respectively.

Estimation of toxic metals in scalp hair samples of chronic kidney patients.

The determination of toxic metals (TMs) in the biological samples of human beings is an important clinical screening procedure. The aim of this work is to determine total content of TMs, aluminum (Al), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) in scalp hair samples of chronic kidney male patients (CKPs) on maintenance hemodialysis, during the period of 2005-2007. The study included 115 CKPs (all smokers) and 150 controls or referents [82 (nonsmokers) and 68 (smokers)]. Both controls and patients (males) were of the same age group (ranged 25-55 years), socioeconomic status, localities, and dietary habits. The scalp hair samples were analyzed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometer, prior to microwave-induced acid digestion. The accuracy of the total Al, Cd, Ni, and Pb measurements was tested by simultaneously analyzing certified reference material (human hair NCS ZC81002). No significant differences were observed between the analytical results and the certified values (paired t test at p > 0.05). The levels of TMs in scalp hair samples of patients were found to be higher as compared to control nonsmoker and smokers. Moreover, the study shows that levels of Al, Cd, Ni, and Pb in scalp hair samples may be useful to evaluate the impact of cigarette smoking in kidney failure patients.

Evaluation of iron in serum and urine and their relation with thyroid function in female goitrous patients.

In many developing countries, women are at high risk of goiter and iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Iron deficiency adversely affects thyroid metabolism and may decrease the efficiency of thyroid hormones in areas of endemic goiter. The aim of the present study was to compare the level of iron (Fe) in biological samples (serum and urine) and serum thyroid hormones, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free thyroxin (FT4) of goitrous female patients (GFPs; n = 69) with those of nongoitrous women as control subjects (n = 117), age range 21-45 years. The biological samples were analyzed for Fe concentration using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer, prior to microwave-assisted wet acid digestion. The validity and accuracy of the method was checked by the certified sample and with those obtained by conventional wet acid digestion method on the same CRM and real samples. The overall recoveries of Fe in serum and urine were found in the range of 97.2-98.6% of certified values. The results of this study showed that the mean values of Fe in serum and urine samples of GFPs were significantly reduced as compared to control subjects (p = 0.002 and p = 0.015, respectively). The mean values of FT3 and FT4 were found to be lower in GFPs than in the age-matched healthy control women; in contrast, high mean values of TSH were detected in GFPs (p = 0.003). There was a positive correlation between serum Fe concentration and TSH (r = 0.85, p = 0.01), FT3 (r = 0.95, p = 0.003), and FT4 levels (r = 0.98, p = 0.007) in GFPs. It was observed that iron deficiency is prevalent in GFPs, so the need of Fe supplementation will be required to improve the efficacy of thyroid metabolism in goitrous women.

A multivariate study: variation in uptake of trace and toxic elements by various varieties of Sorghum bicolor L.

The aim of present study was to evaluate the variation in uptake of elements (As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb and Zn) by different varieties of Sorghum bicolor L., plants grown in soil amended with untreated industrial waste water sewage sludge (SUIS), on same experimental plots. The power of chemometrics was also used in exploring the potential natural and/or anthropogenic sources responsible for elemental contents in different varieties of sorghum. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to explore the different variety of sorghum grouping according to corresponding their SUIS samples as additional information to the output obtained by principal component analysis. Significant genotypic variation was detected in the fourteen elements concentrations in sorghum grains, indicating the possibility to reduce the concentration of toxic elements in grains through breeding approach. It was observed that high tolerance limit of toxic elements was observed in sorghum variety PARC-SV-1.

Evaluation of status of toxic metals in biological samples of diabetes mellitus patients.

There is accumulating evidence that the metabolism of several trace elements is altered in diabetes mellitus and that these nutrients might have specific roles in the pathogenesis and progress of this disease. The aim of present study was to compare the level of toxic elements, lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) in biological samples (whole blood, urine, and scalp hair) of patients having diabetes mellitus type-2 age ranged (31-60) (n=238), with those of age matched non-diabetics (ND) as control subjects (n=196), of both genders. The concentrations of elements were measured by means of an atomic absorption spectrophotometer after microwave-assisted acid digestion. The validity and accuracy was checked by conventional wet acid digestion method and using certified reference materials. The overall recoveries of all elements were found in the range of 98.1-99.4% of certified values. The results of this study showed that the mean values of Pb, Cd and, As were significantly higher in scalp hair samples of smoker and non-smoker diabetic patients as compared to control subjects (p<0.001). The concentration of understudy toxic metals was also high in blood and urine samples of DM patient but difference was more significant in smoker DM patients. These results are consistent with those obtained in other studies, confirming that toxic metals may play a role in the development of diabetes mellitus.

Hazardous impact of toxic metals on tobacco leaves grown in contaminated soil by ultrasonic assisted pseudo-digestion: multivariate study.

Tobacco leaves (Nicotiana tabacum L.), agricultural soil and pollute irrigated lake water samples were collected during 2005--2006 and analyzed for Cd and Ni by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). A simple and efficient procedure was investigated for the complete decomposition of tobacco leaves using ultrasonic assisted acid pseudo-digestion method (UPDM). A Plackett-Burman experimental design was used as a multivariate strategy for the evaluation of seven factors/variables at once, while central composite were used to found optimum values of significant variables. The accuracy of the proposed methods was assessed by analyzing certified reference (CRM); Virginia tobacco leaves (CTA-VTL-2). The results being compared with those obtained by conventional wet acid digestion method. The result obtained by optimized method showed good agreement with the certified values and sufficiently high recovery 97.8 and 98.7% for Cd and Ni, respectively. Under optimal conditions, the detection limits (3sigma) were evaluated to be 0.019 microg g(-1) for Cd and 0.37 microg g(-1) for Ni. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of Cd and Ni in raw, processed tobacco and different branded cigarettes samples.

Distribution of zinc, copper and iron in biological samples of Pakistani myocardial infarction (1st, 2nd and 3rd heart attack) patients and controls.

BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of some heart diseases has been associated with changes in the balance of certain trace elements. We examined the association of iron, copper and zinc between biological samples (scalp hair, whole blood and urine) and mortality from myocardial infarction (MI) patients of (first, second and third heart attack). METHODS: The biological samples were from 130 MI patients (77 male and 53 female, age range 45-60 years) and 61 healthy age-matched controls (33 male and 28 female). The metals in the biological samples were measured by the flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry, prior to microwave assisted acid digestion. The validity of the methodology was checked by the biological certified reference materials. RESULTS: During this study, 78% of the 32 patients aged >50 years, registered after the third MI attack died. In these subjects the concentration of Fe and Cu were increased by 0.83% and 3.12% in the scalp hair while in blood samples 9.7% and 22.5% were enhanced respectively, as compared to those who tolerated 3rd MI attack (p=0.072). The concentrations of Zn in whole blood and scalp hair samples were lower in MI patients as compared to normal subjects. CONCLUSION: Deficiency of zinc and high concentration of copper and iron may play a role in the development of heart disease.