Evaluation of Novel Bio-friendly Two-step Process in the Removal of Heavy Metals from the Wastewater

Two-step treatment technique was developed for the treatment of water by Pseudomonas aeroginosa in a bioreactor in a first phase and then the bacterial treated water was treated with the vetiver grass, cattails and water hyacinth in second phase. Two-step process of bioremediation of 13 days was found to be satisfactory for As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn in compared to the direct treatments with vetiver grass, cattails and water hyacinth in 20 days. As the plants cannot work or tolerate the higher concentrations of heavy metals, so with the first step on an average 52.48% reduction of heavy metals were done within 5 days. It was observed that 100% removal of Pb was found by two-step process of Pseudomas aeroginosa with cattails and water hyacinth, respectively in 13 days, while 98.16% removal of Pb was found by direct plant treatment of water hyacinth in 20 days. It was clear that the two-step treatment for vetiver grass, cattails and water hyacinth were found as the most effective treatments

An electron-deficient triosmium cluster containing the thianthrene ligand: Synthesis, structure and reactivity of [Os₃(CO)₉(μ3-η2-C₁₂H₇S₂)(μ-H)]

Reaction of [Os₃(CO)₁₀(CH₃CN)₂] with thianthrene at 80 °C leads to the nonacarbonyl dihydride compound [Os₃(CO)₉(μ-3,4-η²-C₁₂H₆S₂)(μ-H)₂] (1) and the 46-electron monohydride compound [Os₃(CO)₉(μ₃-η²-C₁₂H₇S₂)(μ-H)] (2). Compound 2 reacts reversibly with CO to give the CO adduct [Os₃(CO)₁₀(μ-η²-C₁₂H₇S₂)(μ-H)] (3) whereas with PPh₃ it gives the addition product [Os₃(CO)₉)(PPh₃)(μ-η²-C₁₂H₇S₂)(μ-H)] (4) as well as the substitution product 1,2-[Os₃(CO)₁₀ ((PPh₃)₂] (5) Compound 2 represents a unique example of an electron-deficient triosmium cluster in which the thianthrene ring is bound to cluster by coordination of the sulfur lone pair and a three-center-two-electron bond with the C(2) carbon which bridges the same edge of the triangle as the hydride. Electrochemical and DFT studies which elucidate the electronic properties of 2 are reported

Selection Criteria for Posterior Circulation Stroke and Functional Outcome Following Mechanical Thrombectomy

Objective: 20% of all acute ischemic strokes (AIS) are caused by posterior circulation strokes, which carry an intensified mortality touching 95%. Early recanalization improves outcome as shown by several reports; however, safety, patient selection, and prognostic factors remain lacking. An investigation of the safety and prognostic factors for posterior circulation mechanical thrombectomy (MT) was performed. Methods: A retrospective review of patients presenting with posterior circulation AIS, who underwent MT between 2010 and 2018. Results: Of 443 patients who underwent MT for AIS, 83 patients had posterior circulation strokes. 95% of procedures were conducted under general anesthesia. The median NIHSS upon admission was 19.1. Half of the patients underwent MT 8 hours from symptom onset, and half required a salvage contact thrombus aspiration after a stent retriever trial with an average of two passes for successful recanalization. The time to achieve revascularization was 61.6 minutes. Mortality rate was 28%, and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) \u3c 2 at three months was seen in 40.1% of surviving patients. A higher functional outcome trend (mRS\u3c2) was seen in patients who underwent MT within 8 hours of symptom onset. The overall complication rate was 28%. Regression analysis showed that stroke subtype, baseline NIHSS, and posterior circulation Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (pc-ASPECTS) before thrombectomy were independent predictive factors of positive clinical outcomes. Conclusions: MT is an effective intervention for posterior circulation strokes, and long-term functional independence relies upon proper patient selection. Baseline NIHSS and pc-ASPECTS are independent predictive factors

Knowledge, attitude and practice of basic life support among junior doctors and students in a tertiary care medical institute

Background: Basic life support (BLS) is an integral part of health care. However, teaching of BLS is not yet a part of protocolized curriculum and uniform throughout. The present study is designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of BLS and compare it among trained and untrained medical students and junior doctors in a medical institute.Methods: After approval from Institute Ethical Committee and informed consent from the participant, the present study was conducted among the undergraduate-level medical and nursing students and junior doctors. A questionnaire consisting of 30 questions based on knowledge, attitude and practice of BLS was used to collect data which is evaluated as per scale defined for this study. Statistical significance was assessed using INSTAT software (GraphPad Software, Inc., La Zolla, USA).Results: Only 16.41% of all participants and 52% of doctors have received class and/or hands on training. The untrained participants have scored poorly as compared to trained participants in theoretical knowledge and practice of BLS (24.36 % and 53.45% versus 9.25 % and 24.07%) respectively. The mean score for both theoretical knowledge and practice of BLS for trained students was higher than that of the untrained participants and the statistical difference was highly significant - p<0.0001. Most of the participants of both trained and untrained group were having very good attitude towards BLS.Conclusions: Knowledge and practice skills of BLS/CPR are poor in medical and nursing students. A significant portion of trainees do not acquire adequate knowledge in a single session of training. An organised curriculum for BLS and its protocolized training is the need of the hour in medical education.

Synthesis of Titania Doped Copper Ferrite Photocatalyst and Its Photoactivity towards Methylene Blue Degradation under Visible Light Irradiation

This paper reports the photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue (MB) over titania doped copper ferrite, CuFe2O4/TiO2 with 50 wt% loading, synthesized via sol-gel method. The synthesized photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-vis diffuse reflectance, and photoluminescence, Mott-Schottky (MS) analysis and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The catalyst loadings were varied from 0.25 – 1.0 g/L and the optimum catalyst loading found to be 0.5 g/L. At the optimum loading, the conversion achieved was 83.7%. The other loadings produced slightly lower conversions at 82.7%, 80.6% and 80.0%, corresponding to 0.25, 1 and 0.75 g/L after 3 hours of irradiation. The study on the effect of initial concentration indicated that 20 ppm as the optimum concentration, tested with 0.5 g/L catalyst loading. The spent catalyst was used for the recyclability test and demonstrated a high longevity with a degradation efficiency less than 6 % for each time interval. The novelty of this study lies on the new application of photocatalytic material, CuFe2O4/TiO2 on thiazine dye that shows remarkable activity and reusability performance under visible light irradiation. Copyright © 2019 BCREC Group. All rights reserve

Morphological and physiological variation among different isolates of Alternaria spp. from Rapeseed-Mustard

To find out the Morphological variation on growth and sporulation of Alternaria species of Alternaria leaf blight of mustard from 10 representative geographical locations of Bangladesh, this experiment was conducted at Plant Pathology Laboratory, Oilseed Research center, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Inistitute (BARI), Joydevpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh. All the isolates showed high level of variability in in-vitro in respect of radial mycial growth, colony colour, sub surface colour, colony shape, colony texture, zonation (surface and sub surface), length and width of conidia, beak length and number of septa. The maximum and minimum radial mycial growth was recorded 90 mm in isolate NATAb and 83.67 mm in isolate GAZAb, respectively at 14 days after incubation. Significant variation in conidial length, width, beak and no. of conidia observed in all isolates. The length of conidia ranged from 41.56 to 117.54µm with 3 to 11 transverse and 0 to 3 vertical septa. The width and beak length varied from 10.34 to 23.12 µm and 16.78 to 72.65 µm ,respectively. Surface colour were olivacious green to black and circular shaped colonies were observed in all isolates on PDA medium. Colony texture were cottony to velvety. Subsurface colour varied from light brown to black and pinkish. Zonation found in some isolates and some did not produce on both surface and subsurface. All conidia were murifrom and light brown to deep brown in colour. Potato Carrot Dextrose Agar medium (PCDA) and 25 o C temperature were found optimum for different isolates for mycelial growth and sporulation

Technical challenges to surgical clipping of aneurysmal regrowth with coil herniation following endovascular treatment – a case report

In recent years, technical developments have made endovascular procedures attractive therapeutic options and enabled the endovascular surgeon to redefine the management of cerebral aneurysms. However, as the number of aneurysms undergoing endovascular therapy has grown, so has the number of patients with incompletely treated aneurysms who are presenting for further management. In cases of failure of endovascular treatment caused by either incomplete occlusion or regrowth of the aneurysm, a complementary treatment is often necessary. Surgical treatment of these patients is challenging. We present a case of a ruptured posterior cerebral artery aneurysm treated initially with endovascular coiling that left behind significant residual aneurysmal sac. Regrowth of the aneurysm documented on follow-up was treated surgically. At surgery, the coil was found to have herniated through the aneurysmal sac into the subarachnoid space, and the aneurysm was successfully clipped without removing the coils. We review the regrowth of aneurysms following endovascular therapy and potential problems and challenges of surgically managing these lesions

Single and two-particle energy gaps across the disorder-driven superconductor-insulator transition

The competition between superconductivity and localization raises profound questions in condensed matter physics. In spite of decades of research, the mechanism of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) and the nature of the insulator are not understood. We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations that treat, on an equal footing, inhomogeneous amplitude variations and phase fluctuations, a major advance over previous theories. We gain new microscopic insights and make testable predictions for local spectroscopic probes. The energy gap in the density of states survives across the transition, but coherence peaks exist only in the superconductor. A characteristic pseudogap persists above the critical disorder and critical temperature, in contrast to conventional theories. Surprisingly, the insulator has a two-particle gap scale that vanishes at the SIT, despite a robust single-particle gap.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures (plus supplement with 4 pages, 5 figures