Removal of Fluoride from Ground Water by Adsorption using Agricultural Waste (Rice Husk Ash)

Maitra Chakraborty Gargi, Das Saroj Kumar and Mandal Sailendra Nath*

The fluoride removal ability of widely available i.e. inexpensive agricultural waste (rice husk ash) especially West Bengal from ground water was studied at different concentrations, contact times, reaction temperatures, adsorbent dosage, coexisting anions and pH of the solution. The rate constants of adsorption, intraparticle transport have been calculated at 303K. The empirical model has been tested at various concentrations for the present system. The removal of fluoride is favourable at low concentration (5 mgL-1), high temperature (313K) and under highly acidic conditions. The batch adsorption process fitted well the Langmuir isotherm and the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order rate equation.

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Prevalence of Arsenicosis in Arsenic contaminated Tube wells of 24 North Parganas (West Bengal)

Padmanabhan D. and Kavitha S.*

Arsenic contamination in drinking source is the major global problem. Gangetic plains of north-eastern India are known for serious impact of arsenic poisoning on the human population. The first report of arsenic in drinking water (ground water) was reported during later 90’s. The inorganic form of arsenic is more toxic than the organic form. Trivalent As(III) and pentavalent As(V) are the toxic and prevalent form of arsenic found in the groundwater of West Bengal. A community-based arsenic toxicity study in the population of 24 N Parganas in Kolkata (West Bengal) through the prevalence of arsenicosis and its arsenic-containing tube wells source showed a higher concentration of arsenic as 460 µg/L (well-1) and 870 µg/L (well-2).

The incidence of inorganic arsenic interaction with the lipid metabolism which leads to the development of arsenicosis is evidently reported in this study. Population with lung cirrhosis and lung cancer along with the skin lesion indicated the severity of arsenic exposure in the study area.

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Amplification of Gene Encoding 16s RNA and Antibiotic Resistance Testing for Bacteria causing Upper Respiratory Tract Infection Pneumonia in Patient Sputum Sample

Rostinawati Tina*, Subarnas Anas and Ekawati Risrina Nur

The use of various antibiotics to treat bacteria causing upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) pneumonia had led bacteria to resistant strains. This study aims to identify the bacteria in URTI pneumonia patient sample and test resistance to some antibiotics. The bacteria were isolated from sputum sample of outpatients in a hospital in Garut West Java Indonesia and tested for gram staining. Then, isolation of bacterial chromosome and amplification of gene encoding 16 r RNA was performed with Polymerase Chain Reaction Method. The isolated bacteria were analyzed for antibiotic resistance to amoxicillin 30 µg/10 µg, cefadroxil 30 µg/10 µg, trimethoprim 5 µg/10 µg, sulfametoxazole 300 µg/10 µg, seftriaxone 30 µg/10 µg and cefotaxime 30 µg/10 µg.

The fragment of the gene encoding 16 rRNA showed 100% homology with 16s RNA gene database in http: //blast.ncbi.nlm i.e. Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Resistance test showed no inhibition zones of amoxicillin, cefadroxil, trimethoprim, sulfametoxazole, seftriaxone against isolated bacteria while inhibition zone of cefotaxime was 5.02 mm. The isolated P. aeruginasa from patients with URTI Pneumonia has been resistant to amoxicillin, cefadroxil, trimethoprim, sulfametoxazole, seftriaxone and greatly reduced its sensitivity to cefotaxime.

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Time efficient microwave mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles using leaf extract of Vinca rosea and its antibacterial activity

Saxena Varsha, Bhardwaj Pooja and Arora Neena*

The objective of this study was to develop time efficient microwave mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles of Vinca rosea leaf extract and to study their antibacterial study. The shade dried leaves of Vinca rosea were subjected to extraction with the help of microwave using water as solvent. The flavanoids and proteins present in plant extract act both as reducing agent as well as capping agent. The method is time efficient as compared to conventional method of Soxhlet extraction which takes more than 24 hours whereas the same task was accomplished in less than 5 minutes. The compounds present in the aqueous leaf extract were identified by their phytochemical analysis. Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by adding 0.01 M silver nitrate solution.

The change in colour from light green to reddish brown confirmed the formation of nanoparticles. It was further characterized by SPR at 410 nm and zeta potential of 17.4 mV. The biosynthesised time efficient silver nanoparticles showed promising antibacterial activities against S.mutans bacteria which is responsible for tooth decay.

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Suitability of groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes of Guwahati city, Assam, India: An assessment of its quality

Kalita Suravi, Barman Niva, Sultana Rizuana and Devi Arundhuti*

Groundwater is one of the primary sources of water for meeting the urban and rural needs. Hydrological, physical, chemical and biological factors influence the quality of water. But in recent years, the tremendous increase in population, agriculture and industrialization has put this source under stress. In this study, various physicochemical parameters along with the metal contents were assessed for the collected water samples from 26 different sites in and around Guwahati city, Assam. The collection of samples and determination of various physicochemical parameters and metal concentration was done by following standard protocol. The obtained results were compared with national and international desirable limits. The pH of the water samples showed an alkaline trend.

The study also revealed that few sites of Guwahati are having a higher concentration of Total Solids, Total Dissolved Solids, Total Hardness, Fluoride and Calcium. The AAS results showed the prevalence of heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and iron in the study area. The applied irrigation indices confirmed the suitability of the groundwater for irrigation purposes. The evaluation of the collected groundwater samples for drinking purpose in this study indicates the need for pre-treatment of groundwater before consumption.

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Synthesis, biological and liquid crystalline evaluation of new substituted flavones

Periyala Acharyulu V.N.* and Lanka Murthy N.

Flavones constitute a group of oxygen heterocyclic compounds which have shown significant biological activities. On the other side fatty acid esters of flavones exhibit liquid crystalline properties. 7,2’,3’,4’ – tetrahydroxy flavone was synthesized as antibacterial agent and a series of fatty acid ester analogues of the parent flavones were prepared. All the derivatives were screened for phase transition temperatures and mesophases.

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Utilization of carbonized cotton seed as an efficient alternative for the sequestration of malachite green from aqueous solution

Shireesha T., Sumithra S.*, Madakka M. and Tasleem Banu S.

Adsorption of malachite green from aqueous solution onto carbonized cotton seed was studied by batch method. The process of removal has been optimized for different parameters like initial concentration of dye solution, contact time, pH and adsorbent dose. At optimum values of the above-mentioned parameters, more than 94% removal efficiency was obtained within100 min at adsorbent dose of 300 mg/g for initial dye concentration of 10 mg/L. The pseudo second order kinetic model fitted well in correlation to the experimental results.

The equilibrium of adsorption was modeled by using the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubnin–Radushkevich isotherms. The results showed maximum adsorption capacity of 14.7 mg/g based on Langmuir isotherm. The results of malachite green adsorption on carbonized cotton seed revealed its application in wastewater treatment.

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Microbial Liquefaction and Saccharification of starch

Jain Deepali and Katyal Priya*

Liquefaction of starch is generally considered to be difficult to achieve. Earlier, acid hydrolysis was done to hydrolyse starch but it has some disadvantages like the processing conditions required high temperatures and highly acidic environment. Enzymatic hydrolysis helps to overcome these limitations as enzymes can be used at milder conditions than chemical catalysts and hence preferred to the chemicals. Microbial amylolytic enzymes are used to hydrolyse starch to simple sugars which can be easily fermented to produce ethanol. A combination of bacterial α-amylase and fungal gluco-amylase are required for liquefaction and saccharification of starch.

The former liquefies starch and the latter hydrolyses it further into sugars. Bacillus sp. is among the most broadly exploited bacterial species for the production of α-amylases. Among Bacilli, the most important species are B. amyloliquefaciens and B. licheniformis. Most of the industrially important fungal amylases are produced by Aspergillus species.

Gluco-amylases of A. niger, A. awamori and Rhizopus oryzae have great industrial value. Fungal gluco-amylases have various applications in food industry like in baking process, ethanol production, textile processing, pulp and paper industry, brewing and pharmaceutical industries. Purified enzymes are being produced commercially but these are very expensive. To decrease the cost of hydrolysis, intrinsic strains need to be assessed for liquefaction and saccharification of starch. This review focuses on different microbes producing amylolytic enzymes, pathway of starch degradation, different parameters affecting starch degradation and optimization of physico-chemical parameters for amylase production.

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