Soil potassium (K) supplement depends intensively on the application of chemical fertilizers, which have substantial harmful environmental effects. However, some bacteria can act as inoculants by converting unavailable and insoluble K forms into plant-accessible forms. Such bacteria are an eco-friendly approach for enhancing plant K absorption and consequently reducing utilization of chemical fertilization. Therefore, the present research was undertaken to isolate, screen, and characterize the K solubilizing bacteria (KSB) from the rhizosphere soils of northern India. Overall, 110 strains were isolated, but only 13 isolates showed significant K solubilizing ability by forming a halo zone on solid media. They were further screened for K solubilizing activity at 0 °C, 1 °C, 3 °C, 5 °C, 7 °C, 15 °C, and 20 °C for 5, 10, and 20 days. All the bacterial isolates showed mineral K solubilization activity at these different temperatures. However, the content of K solubilization increased with the upsurge in temperature and period of incubation. The isolate KSB (Grz) showed the highest K solubilization index of 462.28% after 48 h of incubation at 20 °C. The maximum of 23.38 µg K/mL broth was solubilized by the isolate KSB (Grz) at 20 °C after 20 days of incubation. Based on morphological, biochemical, and molecular characterization (through the 16S rDNA approach), the isolate KSB (Grz) was identified as Mesorhizobium sp. The majority of the strains produced HCN and ammonia. The maximum indole acetic acid (IAA) (31.54 µM/mL) and cellulase (390 µM/mL) were produced by the isolate KSB (Grz). In contrast, the highest protease (525.12 µM/mL) and chitinase (5.20 µM/mL) activities were shown by standard strain Bacillus mucilaginosus and KSB (Gmr) isolate, respectively.

An experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of different mineral fertilizers on mineral contents in turmeric rhizomes and soil enzyme activities and soil properties under field conditions in Uzbekistan. The present study is the first report on the impact of mineral fertilizers in turmeric rhizomes and soil enzymes and soil properties in Uzbekistan. The experiment was carried out with four treatments: T1—Control, T2—N75P50K50 kg/ha, T3—N125P100K100 kg/ha, and T4—N100P75K75 + B3Zn6Fe6 kg/ha. Turmeric rhizomes and soil samples were collected from field experiments at the Surkhandarya scientific experimental station of the vegetable, melon crops and potato research institute, Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan. The data showed that T3—the NPK (125:100:100 kg/ha) and T4—the NPK + BZnFe (100:75:75:3:6:6 kg/ha) treatments significantly enhanced K content by 27–21%, Ca content by 43–38%, and P content by 54–17% in turmeric rhizomes as compared to control without fertilizer. A maximum of turmeric rhizome microelements content was recorded with T4, which also resulted in improved Fe, Zn, Cu, Cr, and Mo contents in turmeric rhizomes and mineral contents of soil compared to other treatments. This treatment significantly enhanced active P content by 34%, active K content by 25%, total P content by 62%, total K content by 14%, and the activities of soil urease, invertase, catalase, and phosphatase over those in the control. The present study results suggest that the application of NPK + BZnFe (100:75:75:3:6:6 kg/ha) improves macro and micronutrient contents in turmeric rhizomes and activities of soil enzymes and physicochemical properties of soil.

This study aims to assess the deterioration aspects of a historical manuscript dating back to the 14th century that was deposited in the Library of the Arabic Language Academy, Cairo, Egypt. The study aims at the exploration of the role of various fungal strains that had colonized this deteriorated manuscript in its biodeterioration through their efficacy in the secretion of various hydrolytic enzymes. To evaluate the deterioration, various techniques, including visual inspection, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), color change, and pH value, were utilized. The fungal strains linked to the historical document were isolated, identified, and evaluated for their deterioration activities. The findings demonstrate that the manuscript exhibits a variety of deterioration signs including color change, brittleness and weakness, erosion, and removal of the grain surface pattern in leather binding. According to the ATR-FTIR, the chemical composition of the historical paper and leather underwent some alterations. The historical paper has a lower level of cellulose crystallinity than the control sample. Penicillium chrysogenum (two isolates), P. citrinum (four isolates), Aspergillus ustus (three isolates), A. terreus (two isolates), A. chinensis (one isolate), Paecilomyces sp. (one isolate), and Induratia sp. (one isolate) were among the fourteen fungal strains identified as being associated with the historical manuscript. These fungal strains produced several hydrolytic enzymes with high activity, such as cellulase, amylase, gelatinase, and pectinase, which play a key role in biodegradation.

This study aims to evaluate the functionalization of chitosan biopolymer with heterocyclic moieties of 2-thioxodihydropyrimidine-4,6(1H,5H)-dione used for enhancing the sorption of Cr ions from aqueous solution. A synthesized sorbent is a nanoscale particle (around 5–7 nm), which explains the fast kinetics of sorption. The sorbent is specified using elemental analysis (EA), FTIR, BET (nitrogen sorption desorption isotherms), TGA, and SEM-EDX analyses. Sorption properties are investigated using ultraviolet emission (UV) but also using visible light (L). In the sorption diagram, the high sorption uptake and fast kinetics observed using ultraviolet conditions are shown. This work is conducted by removing Cr ions from highly contaminated tannery effluents, which have a high concentration of Cr associated with other poisonous elements such as Cd(II) and Pb(II). Under the selected conditions, complete sorption is performed during the first 60 and 45 min with a capacity of 2.05 and 2.5 mmol Cr g⁻¹ for the crosslinked chitosan (without functionalization) in L and UV, respectively. This sorption is enhanced by functionalizing to 5.7 and 6.8 mmol Cr g⁻¹ at the L and UV, respectively, as well as improving the sorption kinetics to 35 and 30 min for both techniques, respectively. The PFORE, and (Langmuir and Sips equations) fit the kinetics and isotherms, respectively.

The synthesis and developments of magnetic chitosan nanoparticles for high efficiency removal of the cadmium ions from aquatic medium are one of the most challenging techniques. Highly adsorptive composite (MCH-ATA) was produced by the reaction of chitosan with formaldehyde and amino thiazole derivative. The sorbent was characterized by FTIR, elemental analyses (EA), SEM-EDX, TEM analysis, TGA and titration (volumetric). The modified material includes high nitrogen and sulfur contents (i.e., 4.64 and 1.35 mmol g⁻¹, respectively), compared to the pristine material (3.5 and 0 mmol g⁻¹, respectively). The sorption was investigated for the removal of Cd(II) ions from synthetic (prepared) solution before being tested towards naturally contaminated groundwater in an industrial area. The functionalized sorbent shows a high loading capacity (1.78 mmol Cd g⁻¹; 200 mg Cd g⁻¹) compared to the pristine material (0.61 mmol Cd g⁻¹; 68.57 mg Cd g⁻¹), while removal of about 98% of Cd with capacity (6.4 mg Cd g⁻¹) from polymetallic contaminated groundwater. The sorbent displays fast sorption kinetics compared to the non-modified composite (MCH); 30 min is sufficient for complete sorption for MCH-ATA, while 60–90 min for the MCH. PFORE fits sorption kinetics for both sorbents, whereas the Langmuir equation fits for MCH and Langmuir and Sips for MCH-ATA for sorption isotherms. The TEM analysis confirms the nano scale size, which limits the diffusion to intraparticle sorption properties. The 0.2 M HCl solution is a successful desorbing agent for the metal ions. The sorbent was applied for the removal of cadmium ions from the contaminated underground water and appears to be a promising process for metal decontamination and water treatment.

In ferromagnetic semiconductors, the coupling of magnetic ordering with semiconductor character accelerates the quantum computing. The structural stability, Curie temperature (T_c), spin polarization, half magnetic ferromagnetism and transport properties of ZnX₂Se₄ (X = Ti, V, Cr) chalcogenides for spintronic and thermoelectric applications are studied here by density functional theory (DFT). The highest value of T_c is perceived for ZnCr₂Se₄. The band structures in both spin channels confirmed half metallic ferromagnetic behavior, which is approved by integer magnetic moments (2, 3, 4) μ_B of Ti, V and Cr based spinels. The HM behavior is further measured by computing crystal field energy $\Delta E$_crystal, exchange energies $\Delta$_x(d), $\Delta$_x (pd) and exchange constants (N_o$\alpha$ and N_o$\beta$). The thermoelectric properties are addressed in terms of electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and power factor in within a temperature range 0–400 K. The positive Seebeck coefficient shows p-type character and the PF is highest for ZnTi2Se4 (1.2 × 10¹¹ W/mK²) among studied compounds.