Integrated biorefinery processes for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to value added materials: Paving a path towards circular economy.

Lignocellulosic biomass is an effective and sustainable alternative for petroleum-derived fuels and chemicals to produce biofuels and bio-based products. Despite the high availability, the degradation of biomass is a substantial challenge. Hence, it is necessary to integrate several unit processes such as biochemical, thermochemical, physical, and catalytic conversion to produce wide range of bio-based products. Integrating these processes enhances the yield, reduces the reaction time, and can be cost-effective. Process integration could significantly lead to various outcomes which guides towards the circular economy. This review addresses integration of several biorefinery processes for the production of multifaceted products. In addition, modern and sustainable biorefinery technologies are discussed to pave the path towards circular economy through the closed-loop approach.

Health threats for the inhabitants of a textile hub (Tiruppur region) in southern India due to multipath entry of fluoride ions from groundwater.

The main objective of the study is to assess the groundwater quality based on water quality index and health threats associated with fluoride contamination in the Tiruppur region of southern India. Totally 40 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for various physicochemical parameters such as pH, EC, TDS, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl-, HCO3-, SO42-, NO3- and F-. The dominance of major cations and anions conforms to the following order Ca2+> Na+> K+> Mg2+ and Cl- > HCO3- > SO42-> NO3- > F-, respectively. About 48% of the groundwater samples indicated Ca-Mg-Cl water type in the Piper trilinear diagram. The Gibbs plot indicated that all the water samples fell under rock dominance. Water quality index (WQI) results showed that 22.5, 75 and 2.5% of the samples represented good, poor and very poor quality water types, respectively. The fluoride ions in groundwater of this region ranged from 0.1 to 2.70 mg/L with a mean of 1.33 mg/L. About 50% of the groundwater samples experienced fluoride concentration exceeding the permissible limit of 1.5 mg/l. Hazard quotient (HQ) and total hazard index (THI) were computed based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) guidelines to evaluate the health threats for infants, children, teens, women and men. The THI ranged from 0.14 to 3.76, 0.11 to 3.01, 0.07 to 1.93, 0.06 to 1.64 and 0.06 to 1.50 for infants, children, teens, women and men, respectively. The percentages of risks in terms of THI were respectively 78, 75, 55, 33 and 23% for infants, children, teens, women and men respectively. The health risk assessment indicated that infants are most vulnerable to fluoride intake in this region. Therefore, proper treatment should be done by the government organizations to provide safe groundwater for the inhabitants.

Ectopia cordis with endocardial cushion defect: Prenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis with autopsy correlation.

The prenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis of ectopia cordis associated with a complex intra-cardiac defect (common atrium, common atrioventricular valve with single ventricle) is illustrated in a 32-week gestation fetus. The fetus showed associated features of amniotic band disruption sequence. The cardiac autopsy findings correlated with the antenatal diagnosis. The association of ectopia cordis with amniotic band disruption is rare and infrequently reported in literature.

Prenatal diagnosis of left ventricular aneurysm.

Fetal cardiac anomalies involving the ventricular and atrial septa, outflow tracts, chambers, and valves are often encountered in routine screening. However, the prenatal detection of a fetal left ventricular aneurysm is rare. This report describes the case of a left ventricular aneurysm that was diagnosed at 24 weeks of gestation; the diagnosis was later confirmed by postnatal echocardiography. This case is reported because of its rarity and the characteristic echocardiographic findings. An early specific antenatal USG diagnosis helps in prognostication and in counseling of the parents.

Range--a technique for lumbar computerized tomography.

Range is a simple, technically reproducible, fast, comfortable and diagnostically reliable method for high resolution CT of the spine. The 5 mm slices at 3 mm intervals provide parallel overlapping slices which display the pathology in more than one slice, providing the abnormality is not seen only in the first or last cut at the L5-S1 or L4-L5 interspace, thus decreasing false positives due to artifact of normal anatomic structures.