Advances in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides-based sensors for environmental, food, and biomedical analysis: A review.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are versatile two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials used in biosensing applications due to their excellent physical and chemical properties. Due to biomaterial target properties, biosensors' most significant challenge is improving their sensitivity and stability. In environmental analysis, TMDCs have demonstrated exceptional pollutant detection and removal capabilities. Their high surface area, tunable electronic properties, and chemical reactivity make them ideal for sensors and adsorbents targeting various contaminants, including heavy metals, organic pollutants, and emerging contaminants. Furthermore, their unique electronic and optical properties enable sensitive detection techniques, enhancing our ability to monitor and mitigate environmental pollution. In the food analysis, TMDCs-based nanomaterials have shown remarkable potential in ensuring food safety and quality. These nanomaterials exhibit high specificity and sensitivity for detecting contaminants, pathogens, and adulterants in various food matrices. Their integration into sensor platforms enables rapid and on-site analysis, reducing the reliance on centralized laboratories and facilitating timely interventions in the food supply chain. In biomedical studies, TMDCs-based nanomaterials have demonstrated significant strides in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Their biocompatibility, surface functionalization versatility, and photothermal properties have paved the way for novel disease detection, drug delivery, and targeted therapy approaches. Moreover, TMDCs-based nanomaterials have shown promise in imaging modalities, providing enhanced contrast and resolution for various medical imaging techniques. This article provides a comprehensive overview of 2D TMDCs-based biosensors, emphasizing the growing demand for advanced sensing technologies in environmental, food, and biomedical analysis.

Biotransformation of Raw Mango Seed Waste into Bacterial Hydrolytic Enzymes Enhancement Via Solid State Fermentation Strategy.

Solid waste generation is a huge contributor to environmental pollution issues, and food wastes are prominent in this category due to their large generation on a day-to-day basis. Thus, the settlement of daily food waste is one of the major constraints and needs innovative manufacturing sheme to valorize solid waste in sustainable manner. Moreover, these food wastes are rich in organic content, which has promising scope for their value-added products. In the present study, raw mango seed waste has been biotransformed to produce bacterial hydrolytic enzymes as feedstock. On investigating the impact of substrate, the highest bacterial cellulase production was recorded to be 18 IU/gds FP (filter paper) in 24 h of microbial incubation at 5 g of substrate in solid-state fermentation (SSF). Furthermore, at 40 °C and pH 6.0, 23 IU/gds FP enzyme could be produced in 24 h of SSF. Beside this, on comparing the influence of inorganic and organic nitrogen sources, urea has been found to provide better cellulase production, which yielded 28 IU/gds FP in 24 h of incubation, along with 77 IU/gds BG (ß-glucosidase) and 89 IU/gds EG (endoglucanase). On the other hand, Tween-40 and Tween-80, two different surfactants, were employed at a 1.0% concentration for 24 h of incubation. It was noticed that Tween-80 showed complete enzyme activity at 24 h, which was found to be relatively superior to that of Tween-40. This study may have potential utility in enzyme production using mango seed as a food waste for various industrial applications.

Proximate Content Monitoring of Black Soldier Fly Larval (Hermetia illucens) Dry Matter for Feed Material using Short-Wave Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging.

Edible insects are gaining popularity as a potential future food source because of their high protein content and efficient use of space. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are noteworthy because they can be used as feed for various animals including reptiles, dogs, fish, chickens, and pigs. However, if the edible insect industry is to advance, we should use automation to reduce labor and increase production. Consequently, there is a growing demand for sensing technologies that can automate the evaluation of insect quality. This study used short-wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging to predict the proximate composition of dried BSFL, including moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, and crude ash content. The larvae were dried at various temperatures and times, and images were captured using an SWIR camera. A partial least-squares regression (PLSR) model was developed to predict the proximate content. The SWIR-based hyperspectral camera accurately predicted the proximate composition of BSFL from the best preprocessing model; moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, and crude ash content were predicted with high accuracy, with R2 values of 0.89 or more, and root mean square error of prediction values were within 2%. Among preprocessing methods, mean normalization and max normalization methods were effective in proximate prediction models. Therefore, SWIR-based hyperspectral cameras can be used to create automated quality management systems for BSFL.

Sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride: Tailored nanostructures for photocatalytic, sensing, and energy storage applications.

Rapid globalization and industrialization have led to widespread pollution and energy crises, necessitating the development of innovative solutions. Metal-free g-C3N4-based polymeric materials have unique properties but face limitations such as low surface area and inefficient light absorption. Doping, especially sulfur doping, is a prevalent technique to enhance their optical and electronic properties. This comprehensive review focuses on the synthesis techniques employed for sulfur doping of g-C3N4 (S-CN), highlighting the complexities associated with S-doping and the advantages of co-doping. Additionally, the review encompasses the diverse applications of S-CN in catalysis, photocatalysis, sonocatalysis, pollutant remediation, and electrochemical sensing. By incorporating sulfur into the g-C3N4 structure, various desirable properties can be achieved, including improved light absorption efficiency and enhanced charge carrier separation and migration. These advancements have broadened the application potential of S-CN in a range of important fields. S-CN has shown promise as a catalyst, facilitating various chemical reactions, as well as a photocatalyst, harnessing solar energy for environmental remediation and energy conversion processes. Moreover, S-CN exhibits potential in sonocatalysis for ultrasound-mediated reactions, pollutant remediation, and electrochemical sensing applications.

Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Activity of Malva sylvestris L: A Detailed Insight.

Malva sylvestris L., is commonly referred to as Mallow and is found in Europe, Asia and Africa. This has been traditionally used for inflammation, gastrointestinal disturbances, skin disorders, menstrual pains, and urological disorders. This review covers phytoconstituents and Pharmacological activities of M. sylvestris. The plant contains a large number of phytochemical constituents having diverse pharmacological activities. The plant contains many phenolic compounds responsible for its strong antioxidant activity. Coumarins from Mallow have a potential anticancer activity. Malva sylvestris also contains essential as well as non-essential elements and minerals. Many researchers have provided evidence that Malva sylvestris is a good candidate for use as a medicinal herb and has good nutritional value. The leaves, in particular, offer properties like anticancer, skin whitening, and anti-aging. Furthermore, the aqueous extract was recently shown to have an anti-ulcerogenic effect. Malva sylvestris has a high potential for use in cosmetics such as skin whitening and anti-aging treatments. Methanolic extracts of Malva sylvestris leaves, and flowers showed strong antibacterial activity against a common plant pathogen bacterium. The plant also contains Malvone A, which is responsible for antibacterial action. The plant also possesses anti-inflammatory, analgesic, wound healing properties and various other activities.

Prevalence of pediatric sepsis in hospitalized children of Maiwand Teaching Hospital, Kabul, Afghanistan.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a clinical syndrome associated with a systemic reaction to infection that is seen as a bacteremia with systemic symptoms. Sepsis is one of the most important problems in children and is associated with many deaths, so recognizing this disease and it's causing factors and identifying the predisposing factors for it is of great importance. Globally, the prevalence and occurrences of sepsis and septic shock are increasing, while the incidence of deaths from them has decreased with the improvement of diagnostic and treatment facilities. According to a 2015 World Health Organization report, approximately 5.9 million children under 5 years old have lost their lives due to sepsis worldwide, the majority of which have occurred in developing countries. METHODS: This study was conducted in the pediatric department of Maiwand Teaching Hospital (MTH) in 2020 as a descriptive cross-sectional study. All children who were admitted to the pediatric department of Maiwand Teaching Hospital during 2020 were included in the research. Among them, the prevalence of sepsis in children with respect to age and sex was studied. The study included children over the age of 28 days who were admitted to the Maiwand Teaching Hospital pediatrics department in 2020. However, in this study, patients have been categorized into five categories according to age: less than two months, two months to one year, one to three years, three to five years old, and older than five years old. RESULTS: This study was conducted in the pediatric department of Maiwand Teaching Hospital in 2020 as a descriptive cross-sectional study, and it was found that the prevalence of sepsis in children who were admitted to the pediatric department at this year was 50.5%, including the highest prevalence in males (65.75%) and at the age of two months to one year (37.9%). In this study, it was found that the prevalence of sepsis was higher (88.46%) among urban children than children who were living in villages (11.53%). In this study, the mortality rate was 2.44% for patients admitted to Maiwand Teaching Hospital. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, it was found that the prevalence of sepsis was 50.5% in children admitted to the pediatrics department of Maiwand Teaching Hospital, of whom 67.75% were boys, 37.94% were aged two months to three years old, and it was more prevalent (88.46%) among children living in cities. The mortality rate was 2.44%.

Advancement of non-destructive spectral measurements for the quality of major tropical fruits and vegetables: a review.

The quality of tropical fruits and vegetables and the expanding global interest in eating healthy foods have resulted in the continual development of reliable, quick, and cost-effective quality assurance methods. The present review discusses the advancement of non-destructive spectral measurements for evaluating the quality of major tropical fruits and vegetables. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Near-infrared (NIR), Raman spectroscopy, and hyperspectral imaging (HSI) were used to monitor the external and internal parameters of papaya, pineapple, avocado, mango, and banana. The ability of HSI to detect both spectral and spatial dimensions proved its efficiency in measuring external qualities such as grading 516 bananas, and defects in 10 mangoes and 10 avocados with 98.45%, 97.95%, and 99.9%, respectively. All of the techniques effectively assessed internal characteristics such as total soluble solids (TSS), soluble solid content (SSC), and moisture content (MC), with the exception of NIR, which was found to have limited penetration depth for fruits and vegetables with thick rinds or skins, including avocado, pineapple, and banana. The appropriate selection of NIR optical geometry and wavelength range can help to improve the prediction accuracy of these crops. The advancement of spectral measurements combined with machine learning and deep learning technologies have increased the efficiency of estimating the six maturity stages of papaya fruit, from the unripe to the overripe stages, with F1 scores of up to 0.90 by feature concatenation of data developed by HSI and visible light. The presented findings in the technological advancements of non-destructive spectral measurements offer promising quality assurance for tropical fruits and vegetables.

Production of fermentable glucose from bioconversion of cellulose using efficient microbial cellulases produced from water hyacinth waste.

The economic production of cellulase enzymes for various industrial applications is one of the major research areas. A number of broad industrial applications, for example, in cellulosic biomass hydrolysis for simple sugars such as glucose and subsequent biofuel production, make these enzyme systems the third most demanding enzymes. Nevertheless, due to their production on commercial substrates, cellulases fall into the category of costly enzymes. Therefore, the goal of the present work is to evaluate the enhancement of cellulase production and its utilization in the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass using low-cost cellulosic substrate, which is abundant and widely available. In this context, waste biomasses of water hyacinth (WH), including leaves and stems, have been used as feedstock to produce cellulases via solid-state fermentation (SSF) in the current study, which improves its production as well as activity. Furthermore, the impact of process parameters like temperature and pH has been investigated for improved cellulase production. At optimum concentration using 10 g of feedstock, 22 IU/gds of FP, 92 IU/gds of BGL, and 111 IU/gds of EG have been noticed in day 5 of SSF. Herein, 40 °C has been identified as the optimum temperature for cellulase production, whereas 50-55 °C has been recorded as the optimum reaction temperature for cellulase enzyme activity. Additionally, pH 5.5 has been identified as the optimum pH for cellulase enzyme production, whereas this enzyme was thermally stable (55 °C) at pH 5.0 up to 3.5 h. Further, the cellulosic biomass hydrolysis of WH leaves via an optimized crude enzyme has been performed, and this could release 24.34 g/L of glucose in 24 h of the reaction. The current findings may have potential for developing cellulases for mass-scale production using WH-based waste bioresources for numerous biorefinery applications.

Facile pretreatment strategies to biotransform Kans grass into nanocatalyst, cellulolytic enzymes, and fermentable sugars towards sustainable biorefinery applications.

The present investigation is targeted towards the facile fabrication of a carbon-based nanocatalyst (CNCs) using Kans grass biomass (KGB) and its sustainable application in microbial cellulase enhancement for the alleviation of enzymatic hydrolysis for sugar production. Different pretreatments, including physical, KGB extract-mediated treatment, followed by KOH pretreatment, have been applied to produce CNCs using KGB. The presence of CNCs influences the pretreatment of KGB substrate, fungal cellulase production, stability, and sugar recovery in the enzymatic hydrolysis of KGB. Using 1.0% CNCs pretreated KGB-based solid-state fermentation, 33 U/gds FPA and 126 U/gds BGL were obtained at 72 h, followed by 107 U/gds EG at 48 h in the presence of 0.5% CNCs. Further, 42 °C has been identified as the optimum temperature for cellulase production, while the enzyme showed thermal stability at 50 °C up to 20 h and produced 38.4 g/L sugar in 24 h through enzymatic hydrolysis of KGB.

Deep Learning-Based Quantitative Assessment of Melamine and Cyanuric Acid in Pet Food Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy.

Melamine and its derivative, cyanuric acid, are occasionally added to pet meals because of their nitrogen-rich qualities, leading to the development of several health-related issues. A nondestructive sensing technique that offers effective detection must be developed to address this problem. In conjunction with machine learning and deep learning technique, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was employed in this investigation for the nondestructive quantitative measurement of eight different concentrations of melamine and cyanuric acid added to pet food. The effectiveness of the one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D CNN) technique was compared with that of partial least squares regression (PLSR), principal component regression (PCR), and a net analyte signal (NAS)-based methodology, called hybrid linear analysis (HLA/GO). The 1D CNN model developed for the FT-IR spectra attained correlation coefficients of 0.995 and 0.994 and root mean square error of prediction values of 0.090% and 0.110% for the prediction datasets on the melamine- and cyanuric acid-contaminated pet food samples, respectively, which were superior to those of the PLSR and PCR models. Therefore, when FT-IR spectroscopy is employed in conjunction with a 1D CNN model, it serves as a potentially rapid and nondestructive method for identifying toxic chemicals added to pet food.

Coconut waste valorization to produce biochar catalyst and its application in cellulose-degrading enzymes production via SSF.

Solid waste management and waste valorization are key concerns and challenges around the globe. Solid wastes generated by food industries are found in a diverse variety, are key sources of enormously valuable compounds, and can be effectively transformed into useful products for broad industrial applications. Biomass-based catalysts, industrial enzymes, and biofuels are some of the very prominent and sustainable products that are developed using these solid wastes. The aims of the current study are therefore centered on the multiple valorizations of coconut waste (CWs) to develop biochar as a catalyst and its application in fungal enzyme production in solid-state fermentation (SSF). Biochar as a catalyst using CWs has been prepared via a calcination process lasting 1 h at 500 °C and characterized through X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope techniques. The produced biochar has been implemented for boosting enzyme production through SSF. In addition, studies have been performed on enzyme production with varying time and temperature, and it is found that the maximum 92 IU/gds BGL enzyme could be produced at a 2.5 mg concentration of biochar-catalyst at 40 °C in 72 h.

Bacterial cellulase production via co-fermentation of paddy straw and Litchi waste and its stability assessment in the presence of ZnMg mixed-phase hydroxide-based nanocomposite derived from Litchi chinensis seeds.

Co-fermentation via co-cultured bacterial microorganisms to develop enzymes in solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a promising approach. This strategy is imperative in a series of sustainable and effective approaches due to superior microbial growth and the use of a combination of inexpensive feedstocks for enzyme production wherein mutually participating enzyme-producing microbial communities are employed. Moreover, the addition of nanomaterials to this technique may aid in its prominent advantage of enhancing enzyme production. This strategy may be able to decrease the overall cost of the bioprocessing to produce enzymes by further implementing biogenic, route-derived nanomaterials as catalysts. Therefore, the present study attempts to explore endoglucanase (EG) production using a bacterial coculture system by employing two different bacterial strains, namely, Bacillus subtilis and Serratia marcescens under SSF in the presence of a ZnMg hydroxide-based nanocomposite as a nanocatalyst. The nanocatalyst based on ZnMg hydroxide has been prepared via green synthesis using Litchi waste seed, while SSF for EG production has been conducted using cofermentation of litchi seed (Ls) and paddy straw (Ps) waste. Under an optimized substrate concentration ratio of 5:6 Ps:Ls and in the presence of 2.0 mg of nanocatalyst, the cocultured bacterial system produced 1.6 IU/mL of EG enzyme, which was ~1.33 fold higher as compared to the control. Additionally, the same enzyme showed its stability for 135 min in the presence of 1.0 mg of nanocatalyst at 38 °C. The nanocatalyst has been synthesized using the green method, wherein waste litchi seed is used as a reducing agent, and the nanocatalyst could be employed to improve the production and functional stability of crude enzymes. The findings of the present study may have significant application in lignocellulosic-based biorefinaries and cellulosic waste management.

Electrochemical Sensing of H2O2 by Employing a Flexible Fe3O4/Graphene/Carbon Cloth as Working Electrode.

We report the synthesis of Fe3O4/graphene (Fe3O4/Gr) nanocomposite for highly selective and highly sensitive peroxide sensor application. The nanocomposites were produced by a modified co-precipitation method. Further, structural, chemical, and morphological characterization of the Fe3O4/Gr was investigated by standard characterization techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The average crystal size of Fe3O4 nanoparticles was calculated as 14.5 nm. Moreover, nanocomposite (Fe3O4/Gr) was employed to fabricate the flexible electrode using polymeric carbon fiber cloth or carbon cloth (pCFC or CC) as support. The electrochemical performance of as-fabricated Fe3O4/Gr/CC was evaluated toward H2O2 with excellent electrocatalytic activity. It was found that Fe3O4/Gr/CC-based electrodes show a good linear range, high sensitivity, and a low detection limit for H2O2 detection. The linear range for the optimized sensor was found to be in the range of 10-110 µM and limit of detection was calculated as 4.79 µM with a sensitivity of 0.037 µA µM-1 cm-2. The cost-effective materials used in this work as compared to noble metals provide satisfactory results. As well as showing high stability, the proposed biosensor is also highly reproducible.

A challenging high-risk surgery for necrotizing pneumonia in a right bilobed lung.

BACKGROUND: Necrotizing pneumonia is rare in children and is one of the most serious complications of a lung infection caused by antibiotic failure. We present a 12-year-old leukopenic child with a long-lasting lung infection, presenting as having a lung hydatid cyst, but diagnosing with necrotizing pneumonia in the right bilobed lung. Failure to medical treatment and ongoing leukopenia justified surgical intervention with positive results. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was referred to our teaching hospital's pediatric surgery department. He had previously been diagnosed with intestinal tuberculosis (TB) and received anti-TB treatment. On referral to our hospital, the patient was suffering from restlessness, frequent coughing, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. Following the completion of the clinical work-up, a blood test revealed leukopenia (white blood cell count of 2100/microliter), a normal platelet count, and a lesion in the right lung. Computerized tomography scanning (CT-Scan) image reported a lung hydatid cyst. In the pediatrics ward, a broad-spectrum antibiotics regimen with triple-antibiotic therapy (linezolid, vancomycin, and metronidazole) was instituted and continued for a week with no response, but worsening of the condition. In the pediatric surgery ward, our decision for surgical intervention was due to the failure of medical treatment because of a pulmonary lesion. Our team performed right lung upper lobe anterior segment wedge resection due to necrotizing pneumonia and followed the patient 45 days post-operation with a reasonable result. CONCLUSION: Living in remote rural areas with low resources and inaccessibility to proper and specialized diagnostic and treatment centers will all contribute to an improper diagnosis and treatment of lung infection. In total, all of these will increase the morbidity and mortality due to lung necrosis in the pediatric population, regardless of their age. In low-resource facilities, high-risk patients can benefit from surgical intervention to control the ongoing infection process.

Hyperspectral reflectance imaging for nondestructive evaluation of root rot in Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer).

Root rot of Panax ginseng caused by Cylindrocarpon destructans, a soil-borne fungus is typically diagnosed by frequently checking the ginseng plants or by evaluating soil pathogens in a farm, which is a time- and cost-intensive process. Because this disease causes huge economic losses to ginseng farmers, it is important to develop reliable and non-destructive techniques for early disease detection. In this study, we developed a non-destructive method for the early detection of root rot. For this, we used crop phenotyping and analyzed biochemical information collected using the HSI technique. Soil infected with root rot was divided into sterilized and infected groups and seeded with 1-year-old ginseng plants. HSI data were collected four times during weeks 7-10 after sowing. The spectral data were analyzed and the main wavelengths were extracted using partial least squares discriminant analysis. The average model accuracy was 84% in the visible/near-infrared region (29 main wavelengths) and 95% in the short-wave infrared (19 main wavelengths). These results indicated that root rot caused a decrease in nutrient absorption, leading to a decline in photosynthetic activity and the levels of carotenoids, starch, and sucrose. Wavelengths related to phenolic compounds can also be utilized for the early prediction of root rot. The technique presented in this study can be used for the early and timely detection of root rot in ginseng in a non-destructive manner.

Integrated Computational Approaches for Inhibiting Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin in Male Infertility by Screening Potent Phytochemicals.

Male infertility is significantly influenced by the plasma-protein sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Male infertility, erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer, and several other male reproductive system diseases are all caused by reduced testosterone bioavailability due to its binding to SHBG. In this study, we have identified 345 phytochemicals from 200 literature reviews that potentially inhibit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Only a few studies have been done using the SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors to identify the SHBG inhibitor, which is thought to be the main protein responsible for male infertility. In virtual-screening and molecular-docking experiments, cryptomisrine, dorsilurin E, and isoiguesterin were identified as potential SHBG inhibitors with binding affinities of -9.2, -9.0, and -8.8 kcal/mol, respectively. They were also found to have higher binding affinities than the control drug anastrozole (-7.0 kcal/mol). In addition to favorable pharmacological properties, these top three phytochemicals showed no adverse effects in pharmacokinetic evaluations. Several molecular dynamics simulation profiles' root-mean-square deviation, radius of gyration, root-mean-square fluctuation, hydrogen bonds, and solvent-accessible surface area supported the top three protein-ligand complexes' better firmness and stability than the control drug throughout the 100 ns simulation period. These combinatorial drug-design approaches indicate that these three phytochemicals could be developed as potential drugs to treat male infertility.

Impact of Positive Culture Reports of E. coli or MSSA on De-Escalation of Antibiotic Use in a Teaching Hospital in Pakistan and the Implications.

Background: Antibiotic de-escalation is a key element of antimicrobial stewardship programs that restrict the spread and emergence of resistance. This study was performed to evaluate the impact of positive culture sensitivity reports of E. coli or Methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) on de-escalation of antibiotic therapy. Methods: This prospective observational study was performed on 256 infected patients. The samples were obtained principally from the pus of infected sites for the identification of pathogens and culture-sensitivity testing. The data were collected from patient medical files, which included their demographic data, sample type, causative microbe and antimicrobial treatment as empiric or definitive treatment based on cultures. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: Of 256 isolated microbes, 138 (53.9%) were MSSA and 118 were E. coli (46.1%). MSSA showed 100% sensitivity to cefoxitin, oxacillin, vancomycin, fosfomycin, colistin and more than 90% to linezolid (95.3%), tigecycline (93.1%), chloramphenicol (92.2%) and amikacin (90.2%). E. coli showed 100% sensitivity to only fosfomycin and more than 90% to colistin (96.7%), polymyxin-B (95.1%) and tigecycline (92.9%). The high use of cefoperazone+sulbactam (151), amikacin (149), ceftriaxone (33), metronidazole (30) and piperacillin + tazobactam (22) was seen with empiric prescribing. Following susceptibility testing, the most common antibiotics prescribed for E. coli were meropenem IV (34), amikacin (34), ciprofloxacin (29) and cefoperazone+sulbactam (25). For MSSA cases, linezolid (48), clindamycin (30), cefoperazone+ sulbactam IV (16) and amikacin (15) was used commonly. Overall, there was 23% reduction in antibiotic use in case of E. coli and 43% reduction in MSSA cases. Conclusion: Culture sensitivity reports helped in the de-escalation of antimicrobial therapy, reducing the prescribing of especially broad-spectrum antibiotics. Consequently, it is recommended that local hospital guidelines be developed based on local antimicrobial susceptibility patterns while preventing the unnecessary use of broad-spectrum antibiotics for empiric treatment.

Impact of nanomaterials on sustainable pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for biofuels production: An advanced approach.

Biomass to biofuels production technology appears to be one of the most sustainable strategies among various renewable energy resources. Herein, pretreatment is an unavoidable and key step to increase free cellulose availability and digestibility to produce green fuels. Various existing pretreatment technologies of lignocellulosics biomasses (LCBs) face distinct challenges e.g., energy consuming, cost intensive, may lead partial removal of lignin, complex inhibitors production as well as may cause environmental pollutions. These, limitations may be overcome with the application of nanomaterials, employed as nanocatalysts during the pretreatment process of LCBs. In this prospect, the present review focuses and summarizes results of numerous studies and exploring the utilizations of magnetic, carbon based nanostructure, and nanophotocatalysts mediated pretreatment processes along with their possible mechanisms to improve the biofuels production compared to conventional chemical based pretreatment approaches. Furthermore, different aspects of nanomaterials based pretreatment methods with their shortcomings and future prospects have been discussed.

Enhancement in functional stability of microbial endoglanases produced using paddy straw via treatment with manganese oxide based porous nanocomposite synthesized from mixed fruit waste.

Microbial cellulases are the enzymes used in numerous industrial biotechnological applications. Efficiency of celluloytic cocktails plays a key role in the conversion of biomass into biofuels, but limited production, high cost and low efficiency are the main obstacles to sustainable biorefining. The current work aims to establish a feasible approach for boosting the production of fungal endoglucanse (EG) and its functional stability utilizing nanocomposite materials based on manganese oxide. Herein, aqueous extract from mixed fruit waste was used to synthesize the nanocomposite sample, which was subsequently subjected to several characterization techniques for analysis. Following the solid-state fermentation of paddy straw, and by employing 75 mg nanocomposite, 192 IU/gds EG was produced under the optimal conditions, while 19 IU/gds FP and 98 IU/gds BGL production were recorded. The crude EG enzyme treated with nanocomposite also shows complete stability at pH 5.0 for 3.5 h while retaining thermal activity at 70 °C for 4 h.

Cell-Free Supernatants (CFSs) from the Culture of Bacillus subtilis Inhibit Pseudomonas sp. Biofilm Formation.

Biofilm inhibition has been identified as a novel drug target for the development of broad-spectrum antibiotics to combat infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria. Although several plant-based compounds have been reported to have anti-biofilm properties, research on the anti-biofilm properties of bacterial bioactive compounds has been sparse. In this study, the efficacy of compounds from a cell-free supernatant of Bacillus subtilis against a biofilm formation of Pseudomonas sp. was studied through in vitro, in vivo and in silico studies. Here, in well diffusion method, Bacillus subtilis demonstrated antibacterial activity, and more than 50% biofilm inhibition activity against Pseudomonas sp. was exhibited through in vitro studies. Moreover, molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation gave insights into the possible mode of action of the bacterial volatile compounds identified through GC-MS to inhibit the biofilm-formation protein (PDB ID: 7M1M) of Pseudomonas sp. The binding energy revealed from docking studies ranged from -2.3 to -7.0 kcal mol-1. Moreover, 1-(9H-Fluoren-2-yl)-2-(1-phenyl-1H-ttetrazole5-ylsulfanyl)-ethanone was found to be the best-docked compound through ADMET and pharmacokinetic properties. Furthermore, MD simulations further supported the in vitro studies and formed a stable complex with the tested protein. Thus, this study gives an insight into the development of new antibiotics to combat multi-drug-resistant bacteria.