Utilization of Integrative Technique for Partial Recovery of Proteases from Soil Microbes

Aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) is an efficient, cost effective, fast, simple and ecofriendly method for the recovery of biomolecules. In the present study, an ATPS composed of polyethylene glycol and ammonium sulphate (NH4)2SO4 was used for the partial purification of proteases from microbial source. The effects of different parameters such as molecular weight of PEG (4000, 6000 and 10000), concentration of PEG (15, 17.5 and 20 %) and concentration of (NH4)2SO4 (7.5, 8.3, 9.1 and 9.9 %) on the partitioning behavior of proteases at room temperature were investigated. Generally, increasing the concentration of PEG and (NH4)2SO4 moved the protease to the top i.e., polymer-rich phase. Increasing the molecular weight of PEG from 4000 to 10000 the partition coefficient decreased subsequently. The highest partition coefficient i.e., 3.32 and maximum activity i.e., 16.06 soxhlet unit was found in an optimum system composed of 20 % PEG 4000 and 9.9 % (NH4)2SO4

Digital Signal Processing Research Program

Contains table of contents for Section 2, an introduction, reports on twenty-two research projects and a list of publications.Sanders, a Lockheed-Martin Corporation Contract BZ4962U.S. Army Research Laboratory Contract DAAL01-96-2-0001U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-93-1-0686National Science Foundation Grant MIP 95-02885U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-96-1-0930National Defense Science and Engineering FellowshipU.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F49620-96-1-0072U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-95-1-0362National Science Foundation Graduate Research FellowshipAT&T Bell Laboratories Graduate Research FellowshipU.S. Army Research Laboratory Contract DAAL01-96-2-0002National Science Foundation Graduate FellowshipU.S. Army Research Laboratory/Advanced Sensors Federated Lab Program Contract DAAL01-96-2-000

Simultaneous Electrochemical Detection of Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ in Pig Farm Wastewater

In recent years, the rapid development of pig farming has led to a large quantity of heavy metal-polluted wastewater. Thus, it was desirable to develop a simple heavy metal detection method for fast monitoring of the wastewater from the pig farms. Therefore, there was an urgent need to develop a simple method for rapidly detecting heavy metal ions in pig farm wastewater. Herein, a simple electrochemical method for simultaneous detection of Cu2+ and Zn2+ was developed and applied to pig farm wastewater. With a glassy carbon electrode and anodic stripping voltammetry, simultaneous detection of Cu2+ and Zn2+ in water was achieved without the need for complicated electrode modification. Furthermore, it was found that the addition of Cd2+ can enhance the response current of the electrode to Zn2+, which increased the signal by eight times. After systematic optimization, the limit of detection (LOD) of 9.3 μg/L for Cu2+ and 45.3 μg/L for Zn2+ was obtained. Finally, it was successfully applied for the quantification of Cu2+ and Zn2+ with high accuracy in pig farm wastewater. This work provided a new and simple solution for fast monitoring of the wastewater from pig farms and demonstrated the potential of electrochemical measurement for application in modern animal husbandry

Assessment of Biochemical Parameters and Genotoxicity of Rice (Oryza sativa) Variation Treated with Zinc Sulfate and Boric Acid

Zinc sulfate and boric corrosive are transcendently utilized as manufactured composts for rice cropping system in Pakistan. The present research work was conducted to investigate the adverse effects of these fertilizers at 150 and 350 mg/L concentrations in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The biochemical and molecular parameters of NIAB-IR9 and KSK-282 varieties of rice were studied being treated with the selected fertilizers' concentrations. Both fertilizers showed positive effects on the biochemical parameters (total soluble sugars, chlorophyll a and b, total carotenoid) of rice seedlings as compared to controls. However, both fertilizers' concentrations with exception of zinc sulfate (150 mg/L) caused more cell membrane injuries and genotoxic effects in to rice seedlings. Zinc sulfate at 150 mg/L significantly decreased the cell membrane injury in the shoots (1.07 mu s/cm) and roots (2.0 mu s/cm) of KSK-282 as compared to the shoots (1.9 mu s/cm) and roots (3.7 mu s/cm) of control, respectively. Similarly, zinc sulfate at its lower concentration remained non-toxic for the genome of rice seedlings. Therefore, it can be concluded that zinc sulfate at 150 mg/L can be the suitable fertilizer's concentration to both rice varieties subjected to further field trials. (C) 2018 Friends Science Publishers

Table1_Potentially harmful elements and health risk assessment in groundwater of urban industrial areas.docx

Groundwater quality was investigated in three urban semi-arid multi-industrial metropolitan areas i.e. (Hayatabad Industrial Estate, Peshawar (HIEP), Gadoon Industrial Estate, Swabi (GIES) and Hattar Industrial Estate, Haripur (HIEH). The main aim of the study was to determine their physicochemical parameters, potentially harmful elements (PHEs) concentration, pollution sources and public health risks in semi-arid multi-industrial metropolitan areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. The physicochemical parameters (pH, TDS and EC), PHEs (Cd, Zn, Pb, Cr and Ni) concentrations and Mg in drinking water sources were found within the permissible limits, except Fe, which exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) acceptable limit. Among PHEs, Zn had the highest contribution rates of 69.6%, 58.2% and 67.64% in HIEP, GIES and HIEH, respectively, while Cd showed the lowest contribution rates (3.15%, 1.98% and 2.06%) for HIEP, GIES and HIEH respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed significant correlations between parameters, with contributions of industrial effluents and wastewater discharge (46.81%), mixed sources (34.05%) and geo-genic sources (19.14%) for drinking water in the study area. The carcinogenic risk (CR) for Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb, were found within the acceptable threshold value of 1 × 10−4. This study suggests that urban groundwater should also be regularly monitored for PHEs contamination as over-extraction, industrialization and informal E-waste recycling events surges the public health risks globally, facing related environmental contamination difficulties of the urban groundwater.</p