Humic Substances: Its Toxicology, Chemistry and Biology Associated with Soil, Plants and Environment

In recent decades, scientists in different disciplines have been increasingly concerned about the fate of natural organic matter, and in particular of humic substances (HS). The term humic substances (HS) incorporates refractory autochthonous and terrestrial organic matter in the soil and aquatic ecosystem, and are one of the key fractions of natural organic matter. These substances are important chelators of trace elements constituting complex class of molecular structures that occur naturally, consisting of aggregation and assembly processes in which biomolecules derived from plant and animal residues are gradually transformed through biotic and abiotic tracts. Since these organic compounds are bound by or linked with soil mineral fractions, they must be physically or chemically separated from the inorganic components by an extraction method before their physico-chemical study. This chapter focuses on the chemo-toxicological, molecular aspects of humic compounds and their derivatives such as humins, fulvic acids, humic acids etc., with their agricultural, biomedical, environmental and biochemical applications. In addition to studying their impact on plant physiology and soil microstructure to expand our understanding about humic compounds

Evaluation of long-term operational and treatment performance of a high-biomass submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating abattoir wastewater

Although anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR) are widely used in high-strength wastewater treatment and resource recovery, membrane operational performance and membrane fouling control remain critical issues. In this study, the operational and treatment performance of a high-biomass (18 ≤ MLSS (g/L) ≤ 35) submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (HBSAnMBR) was assessed at organic loading rates (OLR) of 1.05–5 kg-COD/ m3 /d to treat abattoir wastewater (AWW). The correlation between kinetic parameters representing biomass yield and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) was thoroughly investigated using mathematical models. It was found that the yield of biomass and EPS correlated positively with applied OLR and were found in the range of 0.13–0.31 g-MLSS/g-COD and 0.00001–0.000013 g-EPS/g-MLSS, respectively. This study also systematically examined the cake layer fouling mechanisms of HBSAnMBR due to EPS and the influence of soluble microbial products (SMP) on membrane pore blocking. OLR above 4 kg-COD/m3 /d negatively affected the performance in terms of TMP, filtration resistance, EPS/SMP production, and COD removal suggesting that HBSAnMBR can be operated sustainably at OLR 4 kg-COD/m3 /d. The membrane autopsy analyses and foulant characterization found that cake layer foulants were primarily composed of polysaccharides and proteins, while the membrane did not experience pore-blocking. At the same time, sodium, phosphorous, and calcium triggered inorganic fouling. The efficient treatment of abattoir wastewater showed that the HBSAnMBR system could be applied to treat trade wastewater containing high-organic content

Recovery of biomethane from a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating domestic wastewater blended with semi-solid organic wastes discharged from residential establishments

Recent research studies on the innovative concept of submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) technology have demonstrated superior treatment and operational performance for treating a broad range of waste streams discharged from various industries. This study aimed to investigate the treatment and recovery of biomethane (bio-CH4) performance of ceramic ultrafiltration (UF) coupled with ”co-digestion based SAnMBR”, which was not previously studied by others, for treating an organic fraction of food waste (OFFW) blended with domestic wastewater (DWW) at surge organic loading rates (OLRs) disposed at modern high-rise establishments and similar residential clusters. The SAnMBR was operated in five phases (Phase 1–5), with different organic loading rates (OLRs) varying from 0.49 to 22.57 kg-COD/m3/d. All bio-CH4, mixed liquor sludge, and treated permeate samples were analyzed using standard methods. The key parameters representing the cumulative bio-CH4 yield during each phase were estimated using sigmoidal models, and the simulated results were validated using ANOVA. It was found that the SAnMBR produced high-quality, low-turbid reclaimed water showing an increasing trend in yield of bio-CH4 with an increase of OLR. It was also observed that the SAnMBR demonstrated stable and superior treatment performance at shock-loads of organics. The maximum bio-CH4 yield recorded during the study was 73.06 ± 6.48%. The findings of this study confirmed the suitability of applying this novel concept of ”co-digestion-based SAnMBR” towards sustainable and efficient waste management in modern-high rise establishments

Trajectory Data to Improve Unsupervised Learning and Intrinsic

The three primary components of machine learning (ML) are reinforcement learning, unstructured learning, and structured learning. The last level, reinforcement learning, will be the main topic of this study. We'll cover a few of the more well-liked reinforcement learning techniques, though there are many more. Reinforcement agents are software agents that make use of reinforcement learning to optimize their rewards within a specific context. The two primary categories of rewards are extrinsic and intrinsic. It's a certain result we obtain after abiding by a set of guidelines and achieving a particular objective. An even better illustration of an intrinsic reward than money is the agent's enthusiasm to learn new skills that could come in handy later on

EVALUATION OF NEPHROPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF MENTHA ARVENSIS IN CISPLATIN INDUCED NEPHROTOXICITY

Present study was performed to evaluate the effect of Mentha arvensis on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats. The M. arvensishydroalcoholic extract (MAHE) was administered orally at two dose levels (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg). The kidney function test (estimation of serumcreatinine, total protein, blood urea nitrogen [BUN], and urea), oxidative stress study (estimation of superoxide dismutase [SOD] activity, glutathionecontent, and lipid peroxides [LPO]), and histological studies were also conducted. MAHE was found effective at both doses, although high dose(400 mg/kg) was found more effective, which was evidenced by decrease in serum creatinine, total protein, BUN, urea, and LPO and increased in SODactivity. Histopathological studies were also confirmed the nephroprotective action of MAHE. Present investigation revealed that M. arvensis showednephroprotective effect on cisplatin nephrotoxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats which may be due to the presence of flavonoids and related compounds.Keywords: Mentha arvensis, Pudina, Nephroprotective activity, Nephrotoxicity

Herbicidal effects of chenopodium murale and coronopus didymus Sm. residues against germination and early growth of hordeum vulgare

This study reports the common problems of weed species that adversely affect the crop productivity of the agriculture crops at a large scale. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of dried application of Chenopodium murale and Coronopus didymus on seed germination and early growth of Hordeum vulgare. The experiment was performed in a randomised block design with three replications under the greenhouse condition in pot culture. Shoots and roots materials were separately dried in shade for 15–20 days, dry powdered shoot and root residues of C. murale and C. didymus were applied at 5 and 10g kg-1 doses to barley seeds in 6” pots with control for three weeks. C. didymus (10g) shoot residues were most inhibitive against germination (31.16%), GVI (0.85), SVI (4.90) and leaf area (3.94 cm2) of barley while 5 g root residues of the weed had least pronounced effect. Root length, shoot length, and dry biomass were most inhibited by C. murale 10 g in both shoot and root residue treatments. Shoot residues were more inhibitive of germination and growth than root residues of both weeds. Chlorophyll accumulation patterns showed mixed results with some treatments even stimulating their concentrations. Root treatments were in general more inhibitive than shoot treatments. All treated seedlings exhibited higher levels of proline accumulation compared to control. At lower dose, C. murale treatments were more inhibitive than C. didymus treatments. There is a great scope of research on these species to isolate and identify the active factors and also to understand their implication in the biocontrol of weeds apart from their potential negative effects on agricultural crops, especially cereal crops, which can be useful to increasing crop production in northern India, namely in Uttar Prades