Microorganisms play an important role in the bioremediation of heavy metal-contaminated wastewater and soil. In this research, isolation of heavy metal-resistant fungi was carried out from wastewater-treated soil samples of Hudiara drain, Lahore. The purpose of the present investigation was to observe fungal absorption behavior toward heavy metal. The optimum pH and temperature conditions for heavy metal removal were determined for highly tolerant isolates of Aspergillus spp. along with the initial metal concentration and contact time. Biosorption capacity of A. flavus and A. niger was checked against Cu(II) and Pb(II), respectively. The optimal pH was 8-9 for A. flavus and 4-5.4 for A. niger, whereas optimal temperature was 26 and 37 • C, respectively. Moreover, the biosorption capacity of A. flavus was 20.75-93.65 mg g −1 for Cu(II) with initial concentration 200-1400 ppm. On the other hand, biosorption capacity of A. niger for Pb(II) ranged from 3.25 to 172.25 mg g −1 with the same range of initial metal concentration. It was also found that equilibrium was maintained after maximum adsorption. The adsorption data were then fitted to Langmuir model with a coefficient of determination >0.90. The knowledge of the present study will be helpful for further research on the bioremediation of polluted soil.

In the present study the tolerance level of different fungi (Aspergil lus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus versicolor, Scopulariop sis sp., Curvularia sp., Helminthosporium sp., Humicola grisea sp., Nannizzia sp., and Fusarium sp.) were investigated towards heavy metals which were isolated from contaminated peri-urban agricultural soils of Faisalabad.The concentration of heavy metals in soil is determined by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The degree of tolerance of fungi was measured by minimum inhibitory concentration in the presence of different concentrations of heavy metals (Cr and Pb) and compared to control sample. Tolerance analysis depicts that growth rate of fungal isolates decreased with increase in concentrations and few isolates are tolerant, some are moderately tolerant and some are sensitive towards metal concentrations of Cr and Pb. Most of the isolates were tolerant to metals. Among all tested fungal strains, few isolates of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger, Fusarium were tolerant to Cr and Pb. Thus these tolerant isolates can be used for the purpose of bioremediation in future.

Bi III -MOFs 1-4 were prepared via solvothermal method using four organic linkers; 2-mercapto-3-methyl-4-thiazoleacetic acid (H 2 MMTA), 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (2,6-NDA), 4,6-dihydroxy-2-mercaptopyrimidine (H 2 DMP), and 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (H 2 MBA), respectively. The resulting MOFs were structurally/morphologically characterized by UV/Vis, AAS/ICP-MS, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), 1 H NMR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and powder * Dr. M. Imran E-Mail: Imran_inorganic@yahoo.com [a]

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay for the detection of M. tuberculosis in pulmonary and extrapulmonary specimens and to compare it with conventional techniques.Methods:During a period of 10 months from December 2012 through September 2013, two hundred and forty five clinically TB suspects were enrolled for Xpert MTB\RIF assay. The cohort comprised of 205 suspects of pulmonary TB and 40 of extrapulmonary TB (EPTB). The 40 EPTB samples included pus aspirated from different sites of the body (n=19), pleural fluid (n=11), ascitic fluid (n=7), pericardial fluid, CSF and urine one each. Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) Stained smear microscopy, culture on LJ media and Xpert MTB/RIF assay was performed on samples from these patients.Results: M. tuberculosis (MTB) were detected by Xpert MTB/RIF test in 111 (45.3%) out of 245 samples. Of these, 85 (34.7%) were smear positive on ZN staining and 102 (41.6%) were positive on LJ cultures. Rifampicin resistance was detected in 16 (6.5%) patients. Nine out of 19 pus samples (47.3%) were positive for MTB by Gene Xpert, 03 (15.8%) on ZN staining and 04 (21%) on LJ culture. MTB could not be detected in any other extrapulmonary sample.Conclusion:Xpert MTB/RIF is a sensitive method for rapid diagnosis of Tuberculosis, especially in smear negative cases and in EPTB as compared to the conventional ZN staining. Among EPTB cases the highest yield of positivity was shown in Pus samples. For countries endemic for TB GeneXpert can serve as a sensitive and time saving diagnostic modality for pulmonary and EPTB.

Objectives:To evaluate the diagnostic validity of GeneXpert for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in pericardial and pleural effusions samples.Methods:A cross sectional study was conducted at the Mycobacteriology Laboratory, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. A total of 286 (158 pleural and 128 pericardial fluids) samples were received from tuberculosis (TB) suspects between January 2014 and August 2016. Every sample was processed for Ziehl-Neelsen (Zn) smear, Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) culture, GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay according to standard protocols. Validity of GeneXpert assay for the detection of MTB was evaluated using LJ culture as gold standard.Results:Out of 286 effusions samples, MTB was isolated by LJ culture in 51 (17.8%) samples followed by GeneXpert in 43 (15%), and acid- fast bacilli (AFB) was detected by Zn smear microscopy in 11 (3.8%) samples. GeneXpert showed high sensitivity (84.3%), specificity (100%), with positive predictive value (100%), and negative predictive value (96.7%), while Zn smear showed sensitivity 18.3%, specificity 99.1%, positive predictive value 81.8%, and negative predictive value 85.4%. A strikingly high sensitivity of 72.2% was observed for pericardial fluid by GeneXpert.Conclusion:GeneXpert assay is an innovative tool, for prompt detection of MTB and drug resistance. It is definitely an attractive point of care test, with high sensitivity and specificity along with turn around time of 2 hours, which facilitates timely diagnosis and appropriate management of TB pleuritis and pericarditis.