The textile sector is 14% of total industrial production in India and contributes to about 4% of the gross domestic product and earns about 27% of India's total foreign exchange. Worldwide, up to 10,000 dyes are available and their annual production is above 7 × 10⁵ metric tons, which are being used not only in textile sector but also applied in paper, food and pharmaceutical industries. Textile industries in India have been consuming more than 100 L of water to process 1 kg of textiles, and have contributed heavily in polluting surface and ground water resources in many regions of the country. The toxic and carcinogenic effect of untreated textile effluent is well understood. The decolorization and detoxification of industrial dye effluents is most important aspect and is major concern to meet environmental regulations. This paper presents a review of literature on the significance of bioremediation technologies over other physico-chemical methods for efficient removal of textile dyes from industrial waste effluents to improve the fragile ecosystems in different regions of the world. The present review paper (a) symbolizes the applications of existing conventional physical and chemical approaches for the decolorization/degradation of textile dyes, (b) describes their merits and demerits, (c) emphasizes on the existing literature on microbial decolorization of textile dyes precisely by using bacteria (aerobic and anaerobic conditions), fungi and algae, and (d) involvement of various enzymes from different biological sources for the decolorization of various textile dyes and their mechanism of action. Over the years, researchers have developed several bioremediation technologies to treat textile effluents, but little effort has been made to put the entire literature review of these technologies in one refereed paper, our review paper is an attempt to compile the existing information on various treatment technologies of textile effluent, so that these technologies can be shared widely for site specific situations.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious pregnancy complication, affecting about 5–7% of pregnancies worldwide and is characterized by hypertension and damage to multiple maternal organs, primarily the liver and kidneys. PE usually begins after 20 weeks’ gestation and, if left untreated, can lead to serious complications and lifelong disabilities—even death—in both the mother and the infant. As delivery is the only cure for the disease, treatment is primarily focused on the management of blood pressure and other clinical symptoms. The pathogenesis of PE is still not clear. Abnormal spiral artery remodeling, placental ischemia and a resulting increase in the circulating levels of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1), also called soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), are believed to be among the primary pathologies associated with PE. sFlt-1 is produced mainly in the placenta during pregnancy and acts as a decoy receptor, binding to free VEGF (VEGF-A) and placental growth factor (PlGF), resulting in the decreased bioavailability of each to target cells. Despite the pathogenic effects of increased sFlt-1 on the maternal vasculature, recent studies from our laboratory and others have strongly indicated that the increase in sFlt-1 in PE may fulfill critical protective functions in preeclamptic pregnancies. Thus, further studies on the roles of sFlt-1 in normal and preeclamptic pregnancies are warranted for the development of therapeutic strategies targeting VEGF signaling for the treatment of PE. Another impediment to the treatment of PE is the lack of suitable methods for delivery of cargo to placental cells, as PE is believed to be of placental origin and most available therapies for PE adversely impact both the mother and the fetus. The present review discusses the pathogenesis of PE, the complex role of sFlt-1 in maternal disease and fetal protection, and the recently developed placenta-targeted drug delivery system for the potential treatment of PE with candidate therapeutic agents.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) has gained a lot of interest in the last few years for the process production of hydrochar from the different kinds of bio

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has rattled global public health, with researchers struggling to find specific therapeutic solutions. In this context, the present study employed an in silico approach to assess the inhibitory potential of the phytochemicals obtained from GC-MS analysis of twelve Clerodendrum species against the imperative spike protein, main protease enzyme M^pro and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of SARS-CoV-2. An extensive molecular docking investigation of the phytocompounds at the active binding pockets of the viral proteins revealed promising inhibitory potential of the phytochemicals taraxerol, friedelin and stigmasterol. Decent physicochemical attributes of the compounds in accordance with Lipinski’s rule of five and Veber’s rule further established them as potential therapeutic candidates against SARS-CoV-2. Molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) binding free energy estimation revealed that taraxerol was the most promising candidate displaying the highest binding efficacy with all the concerned SARS-CoV-2 proteins included in the present analysis. Our observations were supported by robust molecular dynamics simulations of the complexes of the viral proteins with taraxerol for a timescale of 40 nanoseconds. It was striking to note that taraxerol exhibited better binding energy scores with the concerned viral proteins than the drugs that are specifically targeted against them. The present results promise to provide new avenues to further evaluate the potential of the phytocompound taraxerol in vitro and in vivo towards its successful deployment as a SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor and combat the catastrophic COVID-19. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

The composition and the organization of soil are changing rapidly by the diverged mankind activities, leading to the contamination of environment. Several methods are employed to clean up the environment from these kinds of contaminants, but most of them are costly and ineffective to yield optimum results. Phytoremediation is a natural green technology, which is eco-friendly for the removal of toxic metals from the polluted environment. Phytoremediation is a cost-effective technique through which the cleanup of contaminated soil laced with heavy metals is performed by wild weeds and small herbal plants. The phytoremediation technique provides a promising tool for hyperaccumulation of heavy metals; arsenic, lead, mercury, copper, chromium, and nickel, etc., by the wild weeds and that has been discussed here in detail in case of Cannabissativa, Solanum nigrum and Rorippa globosa. In general, weeds that have the intrinsic capacity to accumulate metals into their shoots and roots, have the ability to form phytochelates and formation of stable compound with ions. This behavior of accumulation along with chelate and stable compound formation is utilized as a tool for phytoremediation activity.

A high number of leucocytes reside in the human endometrium and are distributed differentially during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. During early pregnancy, decidual natural killer (dNK) cells are the most common type of natural killer (NK) cells in the uterus. The increase in the number of uterine NK (uNK) cells during the mid-secretory phase of the menstrual cycle, followed by further increase of dNK cells in early pregnancy, has heightened interest in their involvement during pregnancy. Extensive research has revealed various roles of dNK cells during pregnancy including the formation of new blood vessels, migration of trophoblasts, and immunological tolerance. The present review article is focused on the significance of NK cells during pregnancy and their role in pregnancy-related diseases. The article will provide an in-depth review of cellular and molecular interactions during pregnancy and related disorders, with NK cells playing a pivotal role. Moreover, this study will help researchers to understand the physiology of normal pregnancy and related complications with respect to NK cells, so that future research work can be designed to alleviate the complications.