I read this book the same weekend that the Packers took on the Rams, and the experience of the latter event, obviously, colored my judgment. Although I abhor anything that smacks of being a handbook (like, \"How to Earn a Merit Badge in Neurosurgery\") because too many volumes in biomedical science already evince a boyscout-like approach, I must confess that parts of this volume are fast, scholarly, and significant, with certain reservations. I like parts of this well-illustrated book because Dr. Sj6strand, without so stating, develops certain subjects on technique in relation to the acquisition of judgment and sophistication. And this is important! So, given that the author (like all of us) is somewhat deficient in some areas, and biased in others, the book is still valuable if the uninitiated reader swallows it in a general fashion, realizing full well that what will be required from the reader is a modulation to fit his vision, propreception, adaptation and response, and the kind of problem he is undertaking. A major deficiency of this book is revealed by comparison of its use of physics and of chemistry to provide understanding and background for the application of high resolution electron microscopy to problems in biology. Since the volume is keyed to high resolution electron microscopy, which is a sophisticated form of structural analysis, but really morphology in a modern guise, the physical and mechanical background of The instrument and its ancillary tools are simply and well presented. The potential use of chemical or cytochemical information as it relates to biological fine structure , however, is quite deficient. I wonder when even sophisticated morphol-ogists will consider fixation a reaction and not a technique; only then will the fundamentals become self-evident and predictable and this sine qua flon will become less mystical. Staining reactions (the most inadequate chapter) ought to be something more than a technique to selectively enhance contrast of morphological elements; it ought to give the structural addresses of some of the chemical residents of cell components. Is it pertinent that auto-radiography gets singled out for more complete coverage than other significant aspects of cytochemistry by a high resolution microscopist, when it has a built-in minimal error of 1,000 A in standard practice? I don't mean to blind-side (in strict football terminology) Dr. Sj6strand's efforts for what is \"routinely used in our laboratory\"; what is done is usually well done. It's just that …

Methods in Enzymology.

▶ Addresses a wide range of timely environment, economic and energy topics ▶ A forum to review, analyze and stimulate the development, testing and implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies at regional, national and global scales ▶ Contributes to real-time policy analysis and development as national and international policies and agreements are discussed and promulgated ▶ 94% of authors who answered a survey reported that they would definitely publish or probably publish in the journal again

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change

The current demands of the world’s biotechnological industries are enhancement in enzyme productivity and development of novel techniques for increasing their shelf life. These requirements are inevitable to facilitate large-scale and economic formulation. Enzyme immobilization provides an excellent base for increasing availability of enzyme to the substrate with greater turnover over a considerable period of time. Several natural and synthetic supports have been assessed for their efficiency for enzyme immobilization. Nowadays, immobilized enzymes are preferred over their free counterpart due to their prolonged availability that curtails redundant downstream and purification processes. Future investigations should endeavor at adopting logistic and sensible entrapment techniques along with innovatively modified supports to improve the state of enzyme immobilization and provide new perspectives to the industrial sector.

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Enzyme immobilization: an overview on techniques and support materials.

This research is focused on the ultrasound-assisted removal of Auramine-O (AO) dye from aqueous solutions using ZnS:Cu nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon (ZnS:Cu-NP-AC) as an adsorbent. ZnS:Cu nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized using FESEM (Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) analysis. The experiments were designed by response surface methodology. A quadratic model was used to predict the variables. Analysis of variance was used for investigation of variables and interaction between them. High F-value (48.91), very low P-value (<0.00001), non-significant lack of fit, and the determination coefficient (R2 = 0.977) demonstrate good correlation between experimental and predicted values of the response. The highest removal percent attained was 99.76%, and the optimum parameters achieved are: adsorbent amount (0.02 g), initial dye concentration (20 mg L−1), sonication time (3 min) and pH = 7. Adsorption processes of AO by ZnS:Cu-NP-AC could be well described by a Langmuir isotherm and a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The maximum adsorption capacity of AO by ZnS:Cu-NP-AC was determined as 183.15 mg g−1, suggesting a highly promising potential for ZnS:Cu-NP-AC to be used as a new adsorbent.

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Removal of basic dye Auramine-O by ZnS:Cu nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon: optimization of parameters using response surface methodology with central composite design

Removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution with magnetite loaded multi-wall carbon nanotube: kinetic, isotherm and mechanism analysis.

Coke-oven wastewater contains an array of hazardous pollutants like cyanide, phenol, ammoniacal-N, etc. The main objective of the present study is to assess the effectiveness of phycoremediation technique as tertiary treatment for simultaneous removal of three model pollutants such as phenol, ammoniacal-N, and cyanide from secondary treated coke-oven wastewater. A green route was employed for the treatment of coke-oven wastewater via the use of Tetraspora sp. NITD 18, collected from a contaminated site. Strain susceptibility was tested for the growth in the simulated solution of phenol (10−300 mg/L), ammoniacal-N (100−800 mg/L), and cyanide (1−10 mg/L), and subsequently, optimum concentration was assessed as 100 mg/L, 400 mg/L, and 2 mg/L, respectively. pH 7 and inoculum concentration 10 % was found suitable for the removal of phenol (79.02 ± 6.93 %), ammoniacal-N (74.7 ± 5.07 %), and cyanide (80.4 ± 0.015 %) from their individual solution at optimal initial concentrations after 14 days. For solutions of individual pollutants, preferred pollutants were examined on the basis of production of biomass with respect to time, and found the following order: ammoniacal-N > phenol > cyanide. The solution of mixed pollutants was prepared by mixing the said pollutants at their optimal level of initial concentrations at a suitable pH (7). Such a solution was termed as simulated coke-oven wastewater (SCOW). While the present investigation deals with co-current removal of pollutants from simulated coke-oven wastewater (SCOW) and real secondary treated coke-oven wastewater at laboratory scale, the continuous study on real wastewater at industrial scale with the isolated algal strain is the scope of the future work.

Phycoremediation of pollutants from coke-oven wastewater using Tetraspora sp. NITD 18 and estimation of macromolecules from spent biomass

Low-cost water defluoridation technique is one of the most important issues throughout the world. In the present study, shale, a coal mine waste, is employed as novel and low-cost adsorbent to abate fluoride from simulated solution. Shale samples were collected from Mahabir colliery (MBS) and Sonepur Bazari colliery (SBS) of Raniganj coalfield in West Bengal, India, and used to remove fluoride. To increase the adsorption efficiency, shale samples were heat activated at a higher temperature and samples obtained at 550 °C are denoted as heat-activated Mahabir colliery shale (HAMBS550) and heat-activated Sonepur Bazari colliery shale (HASBS550), respectively. To prove the fluoride adsorption onto different shale samples and ascertain its mechanism, natural shale samples, heat-activated shale samples, and their fluoride-loaded forms were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction study, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The effect of different parameters such as pH, adsorbent dose, size of particles, and initial concentration of fluoride was investigated during fluoride removal in a batch contactor. Lower pH shows better adsorption in batch study, but it is acidic in nature and not suitable for direct consumption. However, increase of pH of the solution from 3.2 to 6.8 and 7.2 during fluoride removal process with HAMBS550 and HASBS550, respectively, confirms the applicability of the treated water for domestic purposes. HAMBS550 and HASBS550 show maximum removal of 88.3 and 88.5 %, respectively, at initial fluoride concentration of 10 mg/L, pH 3, and adsorbent dose of 70 g/L.

A comparative study of removal of fluoride from contaminated water using shale collected from different coal mines in India.

Removal of methylene blue dye using immobilized bacillus subtilis in batch & column reactor

Biodegradable capsules of size around 350 nm were prepared by layer-by-layer (L-b-L) assembly of oppositely charged chitosan and dextran sulfate on silica particles and the subsequent removal of template. The resulting capsules were loaded with rifampicin, an anti-tuberculosis drug under modest conditions, as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Maximum encapsulation of rifampicin was found to be about 82 μg at 25 °C and pH of 3. Release studies were done in-vitro mode by semiautomatic release protocol, with different pH solutions in water and phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The microcapsules exhibited a slow and sustained release over 72 hours and maximum release was obtained at a pH of 1.2 in water and a pH of 7.4 in PBS. The size of silica particle was analyzed by dynamic light scattering method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements showed the surface morphology of the hollow capsules. UV spectroscopy was employed to monitor the drug release processes in both solutions. The kinetics of drug release mechanism was studied using Ritger-Peppas and Higuchi models.

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Studies on encapsulation of Rifampicin and its release from chitosan-dextran sulfate capsules

The aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness of Gondwana shale for the removal of phenol from coke-oven wastewater The phenol concentration in coke-oven plant effluent varies from 2 mg/L to 10 mg/L depending on the extent of final treatment in the effluent treatment plant Kinetics of the removal of phenol from industrial effluent having different initial phenol concentration using Gondwana shale has been studied in a batch contactor by varying different parameters Morris Webber model has been found to fit the kinetic data Langmuir isotherm model has been found to fit the equilibrium data with value of 0986 and adsorption capacity of 00334 mg g−1 Response surface methodology has been employed to optimize the removal condition of phenol using shale The spent shale obtained by removing phenol at optimum condition is used for recovery study Finally, to see whether the shale is efficient with much higher concentration of phenol, it is contacted with untreated industrial wastewater com

Susmita Dutta

Papers

Phycoremediation of pollutants from coke-oven wastewater using Tetraspora sp. NITD 18 and estimation of macromolecules from spent biomass

A comparative study of removal of fluoride from contaminated water using shale collected from different coal mines in India.

Removal of methylene blue dye using immobilized bacillus subtilis in batch & column reactor

Studies on encapsulation of Rifampicin and its release from chitosan-dextran sulfate capsules

Adsorptive removal of phenol from coke-oven wastewater using Gondwana shale, India: experiment, modeling and optimization