Additive facilitated co-composting of lignocellulosic biomass waste, approach towards minimizing greenhouse gas emissions: An up to date review.

Although the composting of lignocellulosic biomass is an emerging waste-to-wealth approach towards organic waste management and circular economy, it still has some environmental loopholes that must be addressed to make it more sustainable and reliable. The significant difficulties encountered when composting lignocellulosic waste biomass are consequently discussed in this study, as well as the advances in science that have been achieved throughout time to handle these problems in a sustainable manner. It discusses an important global concern, the emission of greenhouse gases during the composting process which limits its applicability on a broader scale. Furthermore, it discusses in detail, how different organic minerals and biological additives modify the physiochemical and biological characteristics of compost, aiming at developing eco-friendly compost with minimum odor, greenhouse gases emission and an optimum C/N ratio. It brings novel insights by demonstrating the effect of additives on the microbial enzymes and their pathways involved in the degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. This review also highlights the limitations of the application of additives in composting and suggests possible ways to overcome these limitations in the future for the sustainable and eco-friendly management of agricultural waste. The present review concludes that the use of additives in the co-composting of lignocellulosic biomass can be a viable remedy for the ongoing issues with the management of lignocellulosic waste.

Evaluation of plant species for air pollution tolerance and phytoremediation potential in proximity to a coal thermal power station: implications for smart green cities.

In metropolitan areas, air pollution poses a significant threat, and it is crucial to carefully select plant species that can tolerate such conditions. This requires a scientific approach based on systematic evaluation before recommending them to executive bodies. This study aimed to determine the air pollution tolerance index (APTI), dust retention capacity, and phytoremediation ability of 10 plant species growing in and around a lignite-based coal thermal power station. The results showed that Ficus benghalensis L. had the highest APTI, followed by Mimusops elengi L., Ficus religiosa L., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., and Annona reticulata L. F. benghalensis also showed the highest pH of leaf extract, relative water content, total chlorophyll, and ascorbic acid content, as well as the highest dust capturing capacity. Among the ten plant species, F. benghalensis, M. elengi, F. religiosa, A. indica and F. racemosa were identified as a tolerant group that can be used for particulate matter suppression and heavy metal stabilization in and around thermal power plants. These findings can inform the selection of plants for effective green infrastructure in smart green cities, promoting the health and well-being of urban populations. This research is relevant to urban planners, policymakers, and environmentalists interested in sustainable urban development and air pollution mitigation.

Wildfire-induced pollution and its short-term impact on COVID-19 cases and mortality in California.

Globally, wildfires have seen remarkable increase in duration and size and have become a health hazard. In addition to vegetation and habitat destruction, rapid release of smoke, dust and gaseous pollutants in the atmosphere contributes to its short and long-term detrimental effects. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as a public health concern worldwide that primarily target lungs and respiratory tract, akin to air pollutants. Studies from our lab and others have demonstrated association between air pollution and COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. However, current knowledge on the impact of wildfire-mediated sudden outburst of air pollutants on COVID-19 is limited. In this study, we examined the association of air pollutants and COVID-19 during wildfires burned during August-October 2020 in California, United States. We observed an increase in the tropospheric pollutants including aerosols (particulate matter [PM]), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by approximately 150%, 100% and 20%, respectively, in 2020 compared to the 2019. Except ozone (O3), similar proportion of increment was noticed during the peak wildfire period (August 16 - September 15, 2020) in the ground PM2.5, CO, and NO2 levels at Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco, cities with largest active wildfire area. We identified three different spikes in the concentrations of PM2.5, and CO for the cities examined clearly suggesting wildfire-induced surge in air pollution. Fresno and Sacramento showed increment in the ground PM2.5, CO and NO2 levels, while San Diego recorded highest change rate in NO2 levels. Interestingly, we observed a similar pattern of higher COVID-19 cases and mortalities in the cities with adverse air pollution caused by wildfires. These findings provide a logical rationale to strategize public health policies for future impact of COVID-19 on humans residing in geographic locations susceptible to sudden increase in local air pollution.

An inter-district analysis of health infrastructure disparities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Achieving socioeconomic growth can be done by enhancing national health. The availability and provision of health infrastructure in an administrative territory affect the health of ordinary people. People's access to healthcare is inversely correlated with the availability of a region's health infrastructure. This study investigates inter-district health infrastructure disparities in the newly created Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir. Using principal component analysis, this study developed a district-level health infrastructure index (HII) for 2018-2019. The study demonstrates the existence of inter-district disparities in the Union Territory's health infrastructure. Regarding health infrastructure, Doda has the highest HII and has been designated a 'developed' district. Doda is followed by Jammu, Kishtwar, Udhampur, Ramban, Samba, Reasi and Kulgam, which also fall into the 'developed' districts category. Backward districts include Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch, Budgam, Shopian, Kupwara, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Bandipora, and Anantnag. Srinagar district, with the lowest HII, was identified as the most backward district in the Jammu and Kashmir UT. All of the districts of the Kashmir division, apart from Kulgam, are classified as being 'backward' or 'very backward'. Therefore, it is evident that the Jammu division of UT has a better health infrastructure than the Kashmir division.

Eco-friendly dual-edged management of fly ash and its antagonistic interplay with Meloidogyne incognita on beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.).

Fly ash (FA) management is a key concern of ecologists around the world, so its potential as a nutritional supplement for agro-ecosystems needs to be explored. Therefore, alternate techniques that are eco-friendly to manage this emerging dual-edged waste are preferable in this field. The current study sought to determine the soil-modifying, crop yield improvement, and nematicidal properties of FA. In this study, beetroot seeds were sown in pots comprising field soil amended with differing proportions of FA (w/w) revealed the bio-fold properties of FA. Biomineralization and mapping of elements revealed that increased nutritional elements in soil supplemented with 15% FA induced growth-performance and yield of beetroot. Molecularly and morphologically characterized Meloidogyne incognita was used as nematode in this study for optimization of nematicidal properties FA. Plant growth performance, photosynthetic pigments, and yield of beetroot were significantly reduced owing to M. incognita as compared to control (un-treated and un-inoculated), and 15% FA reversed the negative effect of M. incognita significantly (P < 0.05) as compared to control plants. Confocal laser microscopy confirmed that 15% FA augmented in soil reduced nematode-juvenile invasion in beetroot as compared with control. The PCA (principal component analysis) accounted for 98.63% and 98.8% for the total-data variability in plants without nematodes and total data variability in treated plants (M. incognita + FA) respectively, which showed fit for a significant correlation between the various studied parameters in present study.

Heavy metal phyto-accretion, biochemical responses and non-carcinogenic human health risks of genetically diverse wheat genotypes cultivated with sewage of municipal origin.

Current study explored the effects of municipal sewage (MS) irrigation on heavy metal phyto-accretion, biochemical responses and human health risks of diverse wheat genotypes along with recycled municipal sewage (RMS). Mean concentrations of PO43-, NO3--N, chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, K, Co, Cu, Cd, Cr and Ni were found higher in MS than irrigation criteria. This led to significant increase in heavy metal contents in roots, stem and grains of MS irrigated wheat genotypes compared to RMS and control treatments. No adverse health risk effects for individual or multiple metals were recorded in RMS irrigated wheat genotypes on grounds of lowest heavy metal accumulation. Multivariate techniques i.e. principal component analyses (PCA) and hierarchical agglomerative cluster analyses (HACA) identified tolerant (inefficient metal accumulators) and sensitive (efficient metal accumulators) wheat genotypes in MS and RMS. Tolerant wheat genotypes showed lowest accumulation of heavy metals, efficient biochemical mechanisms to combat oxidative stress and lower health risks to adults/children. Cultivation of identified tolerant wheat genotypes is recommended in areas receiving municipal wastes to reduce human and environmental health risks. Moreover, genetic potential of identified tolerant wheat genotypes from MS and RMS can be utilized in breeding heavy metal tolerant wheat germplasm worldwide.

Exploiting fly ash as an ecofriendly pesticide/nematicide on Abesmoschus esculuntus: Insights into soil amendment-induced antioxidant fight against nematode mediated ROS.

Conventional pest control measures, such as chemical pesticides and nematicides, have limited efficacy and raise environmental concerns, necessitating sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives for pest management. Therefore, to find a complementary eco-friendly pesticide/nematicide, this study investigated the role of fly ash (FA) in managing a notorious pest, Meloidogyne javanica and its impact on the growth and physiology of Abelmoschus esculentus. Molecular characterization using SSU and LSU rDNA gene markers confirmed the identity of Indian M. javanica as belonging to the same species. Biotic stress induced by nematode infection was significantly alleviated (P < 0.05) by FA application at a 20% w/v, regulating of ROS accumulation (44.1% reduction in superoxide anions and 39.7% reduction in hydrogen peroxide content) in the host plant. Moreover, FA enhanced antioxidant defence enzymes like superoxide dismutase (46.6%) and catalase (112%) to combat nematode induced ROS. Furthermore, the application of FA at a 20% concentration significantly improved the biomass and biochemical attributes of okra. Fly ash also upregulated the activity of the important osmo-protectant proline (11.5 µmol/g FW) to mitigate nematode stress in host cells. Suppression of disease indices like gall index and reproduction factor, combined with in-vitro experiments, revealed that FA exhibits strong nematode mortality capacity and thus can be used as a sustainable and eco-friendly control agent against root-knot nematodes.

Microbes vs. Nematodes: Insights into Biocontrol through Antagonistic Organisms to Control Root-Knot Nematodes.

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are sedentary endoparasites that cause severe economic losses to agricultural crops globally. Due to the regulations of the European Union on the application of nematicides, it is crucial now to discover eco-friendly control strategies for nematode management. Biocontrol is one such safe and reliable method for managing these polyphagous nematodes. Biocontrol agents not only control these parasitic nematodes but also improve plant growth and induce systemic resistance in plants against a variety of biotic stresses. A wide range of organisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoans live in their natural mode as nematode antagonists. Various review articles have discussed the role of biocontrol in nematode management in general, but a specific review on biocontrol of root-knot nematodes is not available in detail. This review, therefore, focuses on the biocontrol of root-knot nematodes by discussing their important known antagonists, modes of action, and interactions.

Juglans regia Linn.: A Natural Repository of Vital Phytochemical and Pharmacological Compounds.

Juglans regia Linn. is a valuable medicinal plant that possesses the therapeutic potential to treat a wide range of diseases in humans. It has been known to have significant nutritional and curative properties since ancient times, and almost all parts of this plant have been utilized to cure numerous fungal and bacterial disorders. The separation and identification of the active ingredients in J. regia as well as the testing of those active compounds for pharmacological properties are currently of great interest. Recently, the naphthoquinones extracted from walnut have been observed to inhibit the enzymes essential for viral protein synthesis in the SARS-CoV-2. Anticancer characteristics have been observed in the synthetic triazole analogue derivatives of juglone, and the unique modifications in the parent derivative of juglone have paved the way for further synthetic research in this area. Though there are some research articles available on the pharmacological importance of J. regia, a comprehensive review article to summarize these findings is still required. The current review, therefore, abridges the most recent scientific findings about antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-fungal, and anticancer properties of various discovered and separated chemical compounds from different solvents and different parts of J. regia.

Current research trends on emerging contaminants pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs): A comprehensive review.

Pharmaceutical and personnel care products (PPCPs) from wastewater are a potential hazard to the human health and wildlife, and their occurrence in wastewater has caught the concern of researchers recently. To deal with PPCPs, various treatment technologies have been evolved such as physical, biological, and chemical methods. Nevertheless, modern and efficient techniques such as advance oxidation processes (AOPs) demand expensive chemicals and energy, which ultimately leads to a high treatment cost. Therefore, integration of chemical techniques with biological processes has been recently suggested to decrease the expenses. Furthermore, combining ozonation with activated carbon (AC) can significantly enhance the removal efficiency. There are some other emerging technologies of lower operational cost like photo-Fenton method and solar radiation-based methods as well as constructed wetland, which are promising. However, feasibility and practicality in pilot-scale have not been estimated for most of these advanced treatment technologies. In this context, the present review work explores the treatment of emerging PPCPs in wastewater, via available conventional, non-conventional, and integrated technologies. Furthermore, this work focused on the state-of-art technologies via an extensive literature search, highlights the limitations and challenges of the prevailing commercial technologies. Finally, this work provides a brief discussion and offers future research directions on technologies needed for treatment of wastewater containing PPCPs, accompanied by techno-economic feasibility assessment.

Interactive effect of Meloidogyne incognita and fly ash on the growth, physiology, and antioxidant properties of carrot (Daucus carota L.).

Alternative methods are needed to replace chemical nematicides because they have the potential to damage beneficial soil microbial diversity. Therefore, the present work was done to elucidate the soil ameliorative, plant-growth-promoting, and nematicidal properties of fly ash. A random block-designed pot experiment was conducted during the period, December 2018-February 2019. Seeds of carrot (Daucus carota L.) were sown under natural conditions in clay pots containing a growth medium comprising of field soil amended with different levels of fly ash. Plants were inoculated with Meloidogyne incognita that were molecularly characterized using 18S and D2/D3 fragments of 28S rDNA and morphologically through perineal pattern arrangement. The results revealed that fly ash application improved the soil's important physicochemical characteristics. The inoculation of M. incognita significantly reduced the plant growth, yield, and pigment content of carrot compared to the untreated uninoculated plants. Carrot grown in 15% fly ash (85:15 w/w field soil:fly ash) growth substrate had significantly (P ≤ 0.05) improved plant growth, yield, and pigment content as compared to the untreated inoculated plants. Moreover, the proline content and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were enhanced by applying 15% fly ash. Fly ash amendment to the soil not only improved plant growth and yield but also reduced the gall index and egg mass index per root system of the carrot as well. Our results, therefore, suggest that 15% fly ash can be used in a sustainable way to improve the growth, yield, and resistance of carrot against the infection of M. incognita.

Analysing the role of gender and place of residence in acceptability and satisfaction towards e-learning among university students' during COVID-19 pandemic in India.

This paper has two broad objectives; the first is to examine the challenges of e-learning faced by the students keeping in view their place of residence and gender in India, particularly during the second-wave of Covid-19. The second objective is to examine the role of place of residence and gender of students in the acceptance and satisfaction towards e-learning. The data has been obtained through an online survey of the students of University of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India, in which a total of 490 students participated. Selection of students has been done through stratified sampling technique. Initially the obtained data was analysed and discussed through simple statistical analysis. Later, a chi-square test of independence was applied to find out the dependency of psychological stress, level of acceptance and level of satisfaction towards e-learning on the place of residence and the gender. The major finding of the paper reveals that the gender and the place of residence of the students is significantly associated with their psychological stress, acceptance and satisfaction towards e-learning. Extra money spent on the purchase of online learning resources was greater in case of rural students.

Spatio-temporal analysis of air quality and its relationship with major COVID-19 hotspot places in India.

The COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide, such as wind, with more than 400,000 documented cases as of March 24th, 2020. In this regard, strict lockdown measures were imposed in India on the same date to stop virus spread. Thereafter, various lockdown impacts were observed, and one of the immediate effects was a reduction in air pollution levels across the world and in India as well. In this study, we have observed approximately 40% reduction in air quality index (AQI) during one month of lockdown in India. The detailed investigations were performed for 14 major hotspot places where the COVID-19 cases were >1000 (as of 1st June 2020) and represents more than 70% associated mortality in India. We assessed the impact of lockdown on different air quality indicators, including ground (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, O3, and AQI) and tropospheric nitric oxide (NO2) pollutants, through ground monitoring stations and Sentinel-5 satellite datasets respectively. The highest reductions were noticed in NO2 (-48.68%), PM2.5 (-34.84%) and PM10 (-33.89%) air pollutant (unit in µg/m3) post-lockdown. Moreover, tropospheric NO2 (mol/m2) concentrations were also improved over Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Thane, and Ahmedabad metro cities. We found strong positive correlation of COVID-19 mortality with PM10 (R2 = 0.145; r = 0.38) and AQI (R2 = 0.17; r = 0.412) pollutant indicators that significantly improved next time point. The correlation finding suggests that long-term bad air quality may aggravate the clinical symptoms of the disease.

Challenges of unrestricted assignment-based examinations (ABE) and restricted open-book examinations (OBE) during COVID-19 pandemic in India: An experimental comparison.

COVID-19 pandemic has affected every sphere of life specially the education sector observing a paradigm shift in the nature of pedagogy from offline face-to-face to online-virtual mode of learning. The biggest challenge in online-learning was the conduction of online examination for student's assessment specially in Indian context where digital divide is rampant. Thus, present study examines and compares the challenges faced by the students in two most widely accepted modes of examination by Indian universities and institutes of higher learning, that is, take home/unrestricted/assignment-based examination (ABE) and highly time restricted/open-book examination (OBE). Primary data was collected through questionnaires prepared by using Google forms to measure adaptability, satisfaction, and challenges using 5-point Likert's scale. Cronbach's α test was performed on question items to check the reliability and internal consistency of the items. χ 2 test has been applied in order to check whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the gender and place of residence in the acceptability of ABE and OBE. The findings suggest that both modes of examination have their own challenges largely governed by the digital and economic divide. The acceptance level of ABE and OBE is not associated with gender. However, we found the level of acceptance association of ABE with the place of residence of the students but not with OBE.

Metal accumulation potential, human health risks, and yield attributes of hundred bread wheat genotypes on irrigation with municipal and remediated wastewater.

This study was carried out to screen historical diversity panel of bread wheat against municipal wastewater (MW) and remediated wastewater (RW) irrigation to find tolerant and sensitive genotypes and their impact on yield attributes. The experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three water treatments, i.e., tap water (TW), RW, and MW. Yield attributes, health risk assessment, water and soil chemistry were recorded. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify tolerant and sensitive genotypes of wheat on the basis of metal accumulation. Metal accumulation in grains increased in pattern K > Fe > Zn in all irrigation treatments. Tolerant genotypes in MW showed lowest hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) values (adults 0.62; children 0.67) for Fe and Zn as compared to sensitive genotypes (adults 1.53; children 1.70). However, HI values in sensitive and tolerant genotypes of RW were recorded < 1. Mean values of yield attributes, i.e., plant height, spike length, spikelet per spike, grains per plant, biological yield, grain yield, and thousand kernel weight, were recorded in pattern, i.e., MW > RW > TW. In this study, yield attributes and human health are affected in both cases of higher and lower concentration of Fe and Zn metal. It is suggested that tolerant genotypes can prove useful for cultivation in areas receiving MW and also provide molecular breeding opportunities for seeking tolerance against metal stresses.