Anaerobic digestion (AD) of industrial wastewater has drawn researchers’ attention due to biofuel’s recovery in the form of biomethane. This study introduced two anaerobic semi-continuous reactors (ASCR)- R1 and R2 for bioremediation of the rice mill wastewater (RMWW). The alkali treatment of the substrate in reactors R1 and R2 was done by dry NaOH and Ca(OH)2, respectively. Both reactors were loaded with 80% of the RMWW and 20% of the cow-dung-fed biogas plant sludge (BGPS) for 16 days of stabilization at mesophilic temperatures (18℃ to 42℃). A small amount of jaggery and white rot fungi (Phanerochaete chrysosporium) were also added into both reactors for the bacterial growth and removal of the biorefractory organics (lignin and phenol) present in RMWW, respectively. The impact of variations in the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and organic loading rate (OLR) upon the anaerobic biodegradation of RMWW was studied in three operating phases (OP) I, II, and III. The highest BOD, COD, lignin, and phenol removal achieved in reactors R1 and R2 were 94%, 92%, 84%, and 82%, as well as 93%, 91%, 82%, and 80%, respectively, in OP I. The highest biomethane yield in both reactors was 0.005 L.g-1 COD in OP II. The results of the three operating phases reveal that a high HRT and low OLR give the maximum pollutant removal efficiency and the highest biomethane yield. The novelty of this research paper is the significant removal of the biorefractory organics lignin and phenol from the RMWW with the help of white rot fungi and specific bacterial strains Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Enterobacter sp., Actinomycetes sp. and Streptomycetes sp. present in the inoculum. The digestates from reactors were rich in macro and micronutrients viz., N, P, K, Cu, Zn, Fe, etc., essential for plant growth.

Because of the superior qualities of biosurfactants over their equivalents derived from fossil fuels, they have recently attracted more attention. Although production costs are still a major barrier to biosurfactants’ superiority over synthetic surfactants, biosurfactants are expected to grow in market share over the next several decades. Glycolipids, a class of low-molecular-weight biosurfactants, are particularly sought-after for a variety of surfactant-related applications due to their effective reduction of surface and interfacial tension. Rhamnolipids, trehalose lipids, sophorolipids, and mannosyl erythritol lipids are the primary types of glycolipids. Glycolipids are made of hydrophilic carbohydrate moieties joined to hydrophobic fatty acid chains by ester bonds. This review addresses the unique glycolipid production and the wide range of goods available in the global market, as well as the present state of the glycolipid industry. Applications include food processing, petroleum refining, biomedical usage, bioremediation, and boosting agricultural productivity. With biosurfactants, their beneficial Ness in releasing oil encased in rock, a need for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Another crucial biotechnological component in anti-corrosion procedures is biosurfactants, which stop Crude oil transportation in pipelines and are made easier by incrustations and the growth of biofilms on metallic surfaces. They are also employed in the production of emulsifiers and demulsifies and have other cutting-edge uses in the oil sector. Natural surfactants can be used to lessen pollution produced by chemical solvents or synthetic detergents without compromising the oil industry’s financial gains. Consequently, it is imperative to invest in biotechnological processes. It is anticipated that natural surfactants will take over the global market in the not-too-distant future and prove to be economically feasible. It is likely possible to substitute synthetic surfactants used in agricultural product composition with biosurfactants. Because biosurfactants can benefit crops without harming the environment, they hold great potential as a useful tool in the fight against pesticide use. Furthermore, by making hazardous and leftover pesticides more soluble and thus accessible for biodegradation by other microbes, their potential as bioremediation agents can help to improve the health of soil systems. This article is based on the explanation of various applications of Biosurfactants.

This study aims to analyze the Penta helix collaboration model for involving reserve component personnel in disaster resilience in Malang Regency. A qualitative approach was used with an in-depth interview method involving nine informants from various Penta helix actors, namely academia, business, the community, government, and the Media. The main findings indicate that the Penta helix collaboration model has the potential to enhance disaster resilience in Malang Regency. Its strengths lie in inclusive participation, transparency, clear leadership, and the commitment of stakeholders. However, there are still weaknesses, such as a lack of coordination, limited resources, and suboptimal role understanding that hinder the involvement of reserve component personnel. Each actor makes significant contributions: academics provide knowledge, businesses aid in logistics, communities engage in mitigation and emergency response, the government formulates policies, and the media disseminates information. Major challenges include a lack of coordination, limited resources, miscoordination, bureaucracy, insufficient training, and unclear legal frameworks. Improvement efforts include strengthening coordination, increasing resource capacity, clarifying roles, developing guidelines, and enhancing training. In conclusion, the Penta helix collaboration model in Malang Regency has great potential but requires improvements to enhance its effectiveness, providing insights for stakeholders to strengthen disaster resilience in the region.

Aphids are important insect pests and are considered a major threat to various crops. In the laboratory experiment, our objective is to assess the toxicity level of some newer synthetic insecticides, viz. Imidacloprid, Flonicamid, and Spirotetramat against different species of aphids viz. maize leaf aphids (Rhopalosiphum maidis), green peach aphids (Myzus persicae), and mustard aphids (Liphaphis erysimi). The leaf dip bioassay was conducted to evaluate the LC50 and LT50 values. Among these novel molecules, Spirotetramat was the most toxic insecticide against R. maidis and M. persicae, with median lethal concentrations (LC50) of 0.68 and 3.99 ppm, and Flonicamid was the most toxic against L. erysimi with an LC50 value of 5.79 ppm. The median lethal concentrations for the Imidacloprid, Flonicamid, and Spirotetramat are different for each species of aphids. The LT50 values of the given insecticides revealed that the Imidacloprid has the potential for giving effective control of R. maidis, M. persicae, and L. erysimi species, as evidenced by the shorter time required for 50% mortality with LT50 values of 44.53, 49.19 and 44.90 hrs respectively with median lethal concentrations of 4.20, 5.14 and 10.86 ppm. The results indicated variations in toxicity among these different chemicals against different insect species.

Community Health Centers are small-scale hospitals that serve community medicine in Indonesia. These activities generate wastewater containing various contaminants, such as pathogens, chemicals, and nutrients, which can pollute the environment and endanger human health. So, efforts are needed to reduce their impact through wastewater treatment. This research applies an anaerobic-aerobic biofilter system with Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) technology combined with activated carbon and chlorine in treating wastewater. The treatments in the study were different service capacities and wastewater treatment, with three replicates in each treatment. The residence time of wastewater in the system is 4 h. The results showed that combining MBBR technology, activated carbon, and chlorine could reduce temperature, TSS, pH, BOD5, COD, NH3, and Coliform values in wastewater in three Community Health Center services. Thus, it can be concluded that the different services and wastewater treatment efforts, combined with MBBR, activated charcoal, and chlorine, have been proven to affect and improve the quality of wastewater from the Community Health Center to meet the effluent quality standards.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized utilizing various methods, including bioreducing agents. The synthesis involved the use of silver nitrate (AgNO3) as the precursor and banana frond extract as the bioreducing agent, with different volume ratios being tested. Subsequently, the most optimal variant of AgNPs was immobilized onto activated carbon (AC) derived from soybean seeds. The AgNPs/SAC composite was subjected to thorough characterization using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). A series of degradation experiments were then conducted using methylene blue, with the reaction duration following a specific protocol. A comparison of methylene blue concentrations before and after the photodegradation process was made to assess the reaction’s efficacy. The findings revealed that the ideal ratio between the bioreducing agent and precursor was 9:30 (v/v). The AgNPs/SAC composite exhibited a peak absorption at a wavelength of 420-440 nm. The UV-DRS characterization of AgNPs/SAC unveiled a band gap energy of 1.52 eV. The AgNPs supported on AC displayed a peak absorption wavelength of 5,438.5 nm, showcasing a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure. The AgNPs/SAC effectively decreased the concentration of methylene blue through a combination of adsorption and photodegradation mechanisms, achieving efficiencies of 35.3813% and 81.1636%, respectively. The AgNPs/SAC composite demonstrates significant potential for efficient and sustainable water treatment.

Noble metal decorated metal oxide composites have proved to have Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) as a notable approach for efficient light absorption. Herein present work, a new sonochemical method is proposed for in-situ synthesis of noble metal-based CeO2 composites for the sonophotocatalytic degradation of commercial Acephate solution. Pristine CeO2 and Ag@CeO2 with different Ag contents viz. 4, 6 and 8 wt. % were successfully synthesized by a facile in-situ sonochemical approach. The as-synthesized CeO2 and Ag@CeO2 nanocomposites were characterized by various physicochemical characterization techniques, including XRD, FTIR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, BET, and FESEM-EDS. Further, these CeO2 and Ag@CeO2 nanocomposites were employed for photocatalytic, sonocatalytic, and sonophotocatalytic degradation of commercial Acephate solution. Experimental results revealed that the photocatalytic and sonocatalytic processes follow a pseudo-first-order model, whereas the sonophotocatalytic process had a more substantial rate constant compared to the photocatalytic and sonocatalytic one. Further, the kinetics of the study were examined by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. Overall, the sonophotocatalytic degradation involving as-synthesized Ag@CeO2 with 6 wt. % Ag content has shown to be the most effective method for the effective degradation of a commercial acephate solution.

Effective treatment of industrial wastewater effluents before discharging them to the soil and water bodies has always been one of the paramount environmental concerns. The pollutants in untreated wastewater effluents have hazardous implications for human health and the ecosystem. Conventional physical and chemical processes of industrial wastewater treatment have many complications and they often fall short in the treatment of new and diverse varieties of pollutants. Several microbial strains in nature have shown their remediation property, but they possess limited efficiency in breaking down pollutants into non-toxic components. Synthetic biology is a perfect amalgam of two fields – biological science and engineering, and it has transformed our ways of understanding the functioning of complex biological systems. Researchers have reported that some engineered microbes can achieve remediation efficiency of up to 100% in specific pollutants such as heavy metals and hydrocarbons. For example, microbes like Pseudomonas veronii have been shown to reduce cadmium concentrations by up to 100%, and Pseudomonas putida has been shown to reduce phenol concentrations by 92%. Synthetic biology-based biosensors are also being developed for pollution monitoring and control of industrial wastewater. In this review, we discuss these advancements of synthetically engineered microorganisms in the treatment of industrial wastewater.

This study investigates the use of thermal indexes, specifically Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), to determine outdoor comfort in the Bogor Botanical Gardens (KRB). This park is centrally located in Bogor city, with elevations ranging from 215-260 m above sea level. The thermal sensation was determined using seven references: PET in Europe, Taiwan, Tianjin, Tel Aviv, and UTCI in the Mediterranean, Tianjin, and general contexts. The study involved 284 visitors surveyed for their thermal comfort perceptions. Findings indicate that, based on thermal sensation criteria from the seven references, KRB is generally not within the comfort zone throughout the year, except for the PET in Taiwan, which is comfortable year-round. In-situ measurements show an average daily PET of 33.8°C and UTCI of 34.4°C. According to the Taiwan PET range, the thermal sensation is categorized as somewhat warm to warm (uncomfortable). However, 69.4% of visitors reported feeling comfortable, likely due to the environmental conditions, with 70.3% tree coverage in the 54.7 ha park area.

Improper disposal of solid waste obstructs drainage systems and pollutes surface water. Additionally, the dumping of unsorted garbage generates emissions and leachate, which harm local ecosystems and contribute to climate change. With Rewari City’s growing population, effective municipal solid waste management, including landfill site selection, is crucial. This study employs Geographic Information System (GIS), Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), and Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) methodologies to determine appropriate sites for landfills. The FAO, ALOS PALSAR DEM, Sentinel 2B images, Google Earth Pro, and interviews were employed to gather data. The results of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) indicate that 35.4% of the parameters under consideration are associated with Land Use Land Cover (LULC), whereas roads rank as the second most significant criterion, accounting for 24.0%. The WLC technique determined that 4.65 square kilometers were inappropriate for dump sites, while 0.11 square kilometers were extremely favorable. These findings can assist decision-makers in determining the order of importance for variables when selecting a landfill location.