The Diwali festival: short-term high effect of fireworks emissions on particulates and their associated empirically calculated health risk assessment at Bhubaneswar city.

This article elucidates the role of the short-term combustion of firecrackers and sparklers as a significant source of atmospheric pollutants that deteriorate ambient air quality and increase health risks during the popular Diwali festival. The study was conducted at Bhubaneswar during the festive celebration in early November 2021 (4th Nov) and late October 2022 (24th Oct) to assess the level of particulates (PM and PM mass concentration) and the relative health risks associated with them. PM (113.

GQD@NiFe-LDH Nanosheets for Photocatalytic Activity towards Textile Dye Degradation via Lattice Contraction.

The functionalized NiFe-LDH with photosensitized GQDs were synthesized through the hydrothermal route by differing the amount of GQDs solution and studied its efficacy towards the mineralization of textile dyes under visible light. The synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, DRUV-Vis, RAMAN, XPS, and BET. The combined effect of the hexagonal carbon lattice in GQD and open layered porous structure of NiFe-LDH nanosheets results in the contraction of the lattice.

Evaluating the filtration efficiency of commercial facemasks' materials against respiratory aerosol droplets.

Respiratory droplets serve as a viable transmission mechanism for many viruses and other pathogens. Facemasks are commonly used to minimize the risk of this transmission. However, information on the size-resolved filtration efficiency of commonly available commercial facemasks is not readily available in the literature.

DBCOVP: A database of coronavirus virulent glycoproteins.

Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-1 (2002), novel coronaviruses have emerged periodically like the MERS- CoV (2012) and now, the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak which has posed a global threat to public health. Although, this is the third zoonotic coronavirus breakout within the last two decades, there are only a few platforms that provide information about coronavirus genomes. None of them is specific for the virulence glycoproteins and complete sequence-structural features of these virulence factors across the betacoronavirus family including SARS-CoV-2 strains are lacking.

dEMBF v2.0: An Updated Database of Enzymes for Microalgal Biofuel Feedstock.

In light of increasing algal genomics data and knowledge of biosynthetic pathways responsible for biofuel production, an integrated resource for easy access to all information is essential to improve our understanding of algal lipid metabolism. Against this backdrop, dEMBF v2.0, a significantly updated and improved version of our database of microalgae lipid biosynthetic enzymes for biofuel production, has been developed.

Heavy metal resistance in algae and its application for metal nanoparticle synthesis.

The ungenerous release of metals from different industrial, agricultural, and anthropogenic sources has resulted in heavy metal pollution. Metals with a density larger than 5 g cm have been termed as heavy metals and have been stated to be potentially toxic to human and animals. Algae are known to be pioneer organisms with the potential to grow under extreme conditions including heavy metal-polluted sites.

Influence of Synthesis Temperature on the Growth and Surface Morphology of Co₃O₄ Nanocubes for Supercapacitor Applications.

A facile hydrothermal route to control the crystal growth on the synthesis of Co₃O₄ nanostructures with cube-like morphologies has been reported and tested its suitability for supercapacitor applications. The chemical composition and morphologies of the as-prepared Co₃O₄ nanoparticles were extensively characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Varying the temperature caused considerable changes in the morphology, the electrochemical performance increased with rising temperature, and the redox reactions become more reversible.

Synthesis of Surface-Modified Iron Oxides for the Solvent-Free Recovery of Bacterial Bioactive Compound Prodigiosin and Its Algicidal Activity.

Prodigiosin (PG) is a bioactive compound produced by several bacterial species. Currently, many technologies are being developed for the production of PG by fermentation processes. However, new challenges are being faced with regard to the production of PG in terms of the recovery and purification steps, owing to the labile nature of PG molecules and the cost of the purification steps.

Alteration of selectivity in rhodamine based probes for Fe(III) and Hg(II) ion induced dual mode signalling responses.

The probes for metal ion induced chromo- and fluorogenic signalling responses alter their selectivity depending upon the nature of substituent as well as a function of solvent medium. 2 has shown selectivity towards Fe(III) ion, 4 towards Hg(II) ion while 3 is responsive towards both Fe(III) and Hg(II) ions.

Phytostabilisation potential of lemon grass (Cymbopogon flexuosus (Nees ex Stend) Wats) on iron ore tailings.

The present pot culture study was carried out for the potential phytostabilisation of iron ore tailings using lemon grass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) a drought tolerant, perennial, aromatic grass. Experiments have been conducted by varying the composition of garden soil (control) with iron ore tailings. The various parameters, viz.