Fruits and vegetables are the most utilized commodities among all horticultural crops. They are consumed raw, minimally processed, as well as processed, due to their nutrients and health-promoting compounds. With the growing population and changing diet habits, the production and processing of horticultural crops, especially fruits and vegetables, have increased very significantly to fulfill the increasing demands. Significant losses and waste in the fresh and processing industries are becoming a serious nutritional, economical, and environmental problem. For example, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that losses and waste in fruits and vegetables are the highest among all types of foods, and may reach up to 60%. The processing operations of fruits and vegetables produce significant wastes of by-products, which constitute about 25% to 30% of a whole commodity group. The waste is composed mainly of seed, skin, rind, and pomace, containing good sources of potentially valuable bioactive compounds, such as carotenoids, polyphenols, dietary fibers, vitamins, enzymes, and oils, among others. These phytochemicals can be utilized in different industries including the food industry, for the development of functional or enriched foods, the health industry for medicines and pharmaceuticals, and the textile industry, among others. The use of waste for the production of various crucial bioactive components is an important step toward sustainable development. This review describes the types and nature of the waste that originates from fruits and vegetables, the bioactive components in the waste, their extraction techniques, and the potential utilization of the obtained bioactive compounds.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1541-4337.12330

Fruit and Vegetable Waste: Bioactive Compounds, Their Extraction, and Possible Utilization.

Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater: including bottom sediments and sludges , Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater: including bottom sediments and sludges , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی

Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater: including bottom sediments and sludges

Globally, rates of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae are rising We undertook a literature review, and present the temporal trends in blaCTX-M epidemiology, showing that blaCTX-M-15 and blaCTX-M-14 have displaced other genotypes in many parts of the world Explanations for these changes can be attributed to: (i) horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of plasmids; (ii) successful Escherichia coli clones; (iii) ESBLs in food animals; (iv) the natural environment; and (v) human migration and access to basic sanitation We also provide explanations for the changing epidemiology of blaCTX-M-2 and blaCTX-M-27 Modifiable anthropogenic factors, such as poor access to basic sanitary facilities, encourage the spread of blaCTX-M and other antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, such as blaNDM, blaKPC and mcr-1 We provide further justification for novel preventative and interventional strategies to reduce transmission of these AMR genes

/pdf/global-epidemiology-of-ctx-m-b-lactamases-temporal-and-urp2whoowq.pdf

Global epidemiology of CTX-M β-lactamases: temporal and geographical shifts in genotype.

Silver nanoparticles in the environment: Sources, detection and ecotoxicology.

This chapter surveys the role of the IEA as a key component of the international energy security system. First, it gives an overview of the nature of the energy security challenges and the key governance regimes that have been set up historically to manage these challenges, including the IEA. Then, it elaborates on the specific roles taken up by the IEA in global energy governance, particularly in light of the dramatic changes that characterize the global energy security system. Finally, it gives a comparative overview of the three oil market interventions that the IEA has so far coordinated, before presenting the conclusions.

The international energy agency

Cancer is the second leading cause of deaths worldwide. Despite concerted efforts to improve the current therapies, the prognosis of cancer remains dismal. Highly selective or specific blocking of only one of the signaling pathways has been associated with limited or sporadic responses. Using targeted agents to inhibit multiple signaling pathways has emerged as a new paradigm for anticancer treatment. Icariside II, a flavonol glycoside, is one of the major components of Traditional Chinese Medicine Herba epimedii and possesses multiple biological and pharmacological properties including anti-inflammatory, anti-osteoporosis, anti-oxidant, anti-aging, and anticancer activities. Recently, the anticancer activity of Icariside II has been extensively investigated. Here, in this review, our aim is to give our perspective on the current status of Icariside II, and discuss its natural sources, anticancer activity, molecular targets and the mechanisms of action with specific emphasis on apoptosis pathways which may help the further design and conduct of preclinical and clinical trials. Icariside II has been found to induce apoptosis in various human cancer cell lines of different origin by targeting multiple signaling pathways including STAT3, PI3K/AKT, MAPK/ERK, COX-2/PGE2 and β-Catenin which are frequently deregulated in cancers, suggesting that this collective activity rather than just a single effect may play an important role in developing Icariside II into a potential lead compound for anticancer therapy. This review suggests that Icariside II provides a novel opportunity for treatment of cancers, but additional investigations and clinical trials are still required to fully understand the mechanism of therapeutic effects to further validate it in anti-tumor therapy.

/pdf/targeting-apoptosis-and-multiple-signaling-pathways-with-2d15k012no.pdf

Targeting Apoptosis and Multiple Signaling Pathways with Icariside II in Cancer Cells

A variety of multidimensional anthropogenic activities, especially of industrial level, are contaminating our aquatic and terrestrial environments with a variety of metallic and non-metallic pollutants. The metallic and non-metallic pollutants addressed specifically in this review are heavy metals and various compound forms of sulfates, respectively. Direct and indirect deleterious effects of the both types of pollutants to all forms of life are well-known. The treatment of such pollutants is therefore much necessary before their final discharge into the environment. This review summarizes the productive utility of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) for economical and concomitant treatment of the above mentioned wastes. Utilization of agro-industrial wastes and some environmental contaminants including hydrocarbons, as economical growth substrates for SRB, is also suggested and proved efficient in this review. Mechanistically, SRB will utilize sulfates as their terminal electron acceptors during respiration while utilizing agro-industrial and/or hydrocarbon wastes as electron donors/carbon sources and generate H2S. The biogenic H2S will then react vigorously with dissolved metals present in the wastewaters thus forming metal sulfide. The metal sulfide being water insoluble and heavier than water will settle down in the water as precipitates. In this way, three types of pollutants i.e., metals, sulfates and agro-industrial and/or hydrocarbon wastes will be treated simultaneously.

/pdf/exploited-application-of-sulfate-reducing-bacteria-for-5171bcwp5v.pdf

Exploited application of sulfate-reducing bacteria for concomitant treatment of metallic and non-metallic wastes: a mini review

Summary Protease production by alkalophilic B. licheniformis N-2 was investigated in 50 mL of the growth medium consisting of (in g/L): glucose 10.0, soybean meal 10.0, K2HPO4 3.0, MgSO4·7H2O 0.5, NaCl 0.5 and CaCl2·2H2O 0.5 at pH=10. Different carbon and nitrogen sources in the form of fine powder of organic, inorganic and defatted meals were studied to select the suitable substrate for alkaline protease production. The highest level of alkaline protease (677.64 U/mL) was obtained in the medium containing glucose followed by soluble starch and wheat bran. Among various nitrogen sources, defatted soybean meal was found to be the best inducer of alkaline protease, while inorganic nitrogen sources in the form of ammonium salts repressed the enzyme activity up to 96 %. Thermostability studies showed that the enzyme in the presence of 10 mM Ca 2+ ions retained its residual activity up to 80 % even after incubation at 40 °C for 12 h. The enzyme was found stable over a broad range of pH (8–11) and lost 52 % of its residual activity at pH=12. After the treatment with Tween 20, Tween 45, Tween 65, Triton X-405, H2O2 and sodium perborate, each at 1.0 % concentration, the enzyme showed residual activity of 105, 82, 116, 109, 135 and 126 %, respectively. The application of alkaline protease for removal of blood stains from cotton fabric also indicates its potential use in detergent formulations.

/pdf/effect-of-medium-composition-on-commercially-important-3tz1gqo5pv.pdf

Effect of medium composition on commercially important alkaline protease production by Bacillus licheniformis N-2.

Purpose : This paper was mainly aimed to investigate drug resistance of the various urinary tract infection (UTI) pathogens from patients of different gender and age groups of Pakistanis. Method : For these purposes, urine samples of 109 patients were analyzed. Samples were screened on CLED agar. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method. Isolated colonies were processed for biochemical characterization and antibiotic sensitivity to ampicillin, amikacin, augmentin, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxin, imipenem, meropenem, tazocine, trimethoprim, gentamicin and nitrofuratoin. Result : E.Coli was found to be the most frequent causative agent of UTIs (66%) followed by Enterococci (8.3%), Candida spp. and Pseodomonas spp. (7.3% each), Klebsiella spp. (5.5%) and Enterobacter spp. (2.7%). Proteus. and Morgenella species were found in less than 1% of the cases. E.coli showed variable antimicrobial resistance to different antibiotics as 92%, 86%, 80%, 62%, 47%, 20% and 4% of the isolates were found to be resistant to ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxin, gentamicin, nitrofuratoin and amikacin, respectively. Conclusion : The most effective in vitro agents were found to be amikacin followed by gentamicin (among the parenterals), and ciprofloxin among the orally administratered ones. A higher prevalence of UTIs was observed in the female population and E.coli showed no resistance to nitrofuratoin in age groups of 50 + and 70 + in both genders.

/pdf/diversity-of-urinary-tract-pathogens-and-drug-resistant-upeuvwk7rv.pdf

Diversity of urinary tract pathogens and drug resistant isolates of escherichia coli in different age and gender groups of pakistanis

In this study, a novel thermophilic strain was isolated from soil and used for cellulase production in submerged fermentation using potato peel as sole carbon source. The bacterium was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology. Central composite design was applied for enhanced production using substrate concentration, inoculum size, yeast extract and pH as dependent variables. Highest enzyme titer of 3.50 ± 0.11 IU/ml was obtained at 2% substrate concentration, 2% inoculum size, 1% yeast extract, pH 5.0, incubation temperature of 50 °C for 24 h of fermentation period. The crude enzyme was characterized having optimum pH and temperature of 7.0 and 50 °C, respectively. The efficiency of enzyme was checked by enzymatic hydrolysis of acid/alkali treated pine needles which revealed that 54.389% saccharification was observed in acid treated pine needles. These results indicated that the cellulase produced by the Bacillus subtilis K-18 (KX881940) could be effectively used for industrial processes particularly for bioethanol production.

/pdf/carboxymethyl-cellulase-production-optimization-from-newly-13gq0hd751.pdf

Carboxymethyl cellulase production optimization from newly isolated thermophilic Bacillus subtilis K-18 for saccharification using response surface methodology

Javed Iqbal Qazi

Papers

Targeting Apoptosis and Multiple Signaling Pathways with Icariside II in Cancer Cells

Exploited application of sulfate-reducing bacteria for concomitant treatment of metallic and non-metallic wastes: a mini review

Effect of medium composition on commercially important alkaline protease production by Bacillus licheniformis N-2.

Diversity of urinary tract pathogens and drug resistant isolates of escherichia coli in different age and gender groups of pakistanis

Carboxymethyl cellulase production optimization from newly isolated thermophilic Bacillus subtilis K-18 for saccharification using response surface methodology