Environmental Science

University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a collegiate public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.&nbsp;Within India it is recognized as a &quot;Five-Star University&quot; and accredited &quot;A&quot; Grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

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The University of Calcutta has secured the Fifth position among the Universities of India in the prestigious &quot;Indian University Ranking 2019&quot; list, released by the NIRF of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

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It was established on 24 January 1857, and was one of the first institutions in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary and Western-style university. Its alumni and faculty include several heads of state, heads of government, social reformers, prominent artists, only academy award winner and Dirac medal winner in India, many Fellows of the Royal Society and five Nobel laureates as of 2019 which is highest in South Asia.

University Of Calcutta

Purpose: Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune disorder affecting primarily the thyroid gland. The most common extrathyroidal manifestation of GD is known as Graves’ orbitopathy (GO). Bone marrow-derived fibrocytes represent a subset of monocytes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), infiltrate the orbital tissues, and contribute to the pathogenesis of GO. Hence objectives of the study included whether the concentration of fibrocytes in peripheral blood was higher in GO, whether TSHR m RNA expression and TSHR surface expression in peripheral blood were higher in GO in comparison to Graves’ Disease (GD) and Control subjects. Methods: The percentage of circulating fibrocytes (FC) along with TSHR on its cell surface (CD 34+, CD 45+, CXCR4+, Collagen 1+, TSHR+) were assessed by flow cytometry of 50 patients with GD and GO and 15 healthy donors (Control). TSHR mRNA expression was measured by q RT PCR. Result: The concentration of circulating fibrocytes was significantly higher in GO compared to GD and control [GO 17% vs GD 3% vs control 0.7% (p &lt; 0.05)]. Moreover, these fibrocytes express a significantly higher level of TSHR in GO. This was corroborated by the measure of TSH mRNA; in GD it was 2.3-fold higher and in GO it was 3.9 fold higher than in control, in GO this transcript level was 1.7fold higher than GD (p &lt; 0.05). TSHR+ fibrocytes were significantly positively correlated with CAS (p = 0.004) and negatively correlated with age (p = 0.01) and duration of disease (p = 0.01) in GO. Conclusion: This study sheds further light on the pathogenesis of GO. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

World University root node

Endocrine

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells - Can they provide a clue to the pathogenesis of Graves’ Orbitopathy?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a multifactorial endocrinopathy of indistinguishable etiopathogenesis that is liable to entail genetic and environmental machinery synergistically interacting with its phenotypic expression. It has been hypothesized that the environment secondarily interacts with genes to define the quantifiable phenotype in a primary, genetically determined, hyper-androgenic ovarian defect. The severity and prevalence of the disease are escalating due to uncontrolled diet and lifestyle, the influence of multiple environmental factors as well as genetic disorders. Many candidate genes have been identified to be one of the causes of PCOS. Different studies have been carried out to find the genetic correlation of PCOS. The mutational landscape analysis scans the entire genes for SNPs which usually occurs more frequently in patients and not in healthy individuals. In this study, an extensive computational analysis of all reported nsSNPs of the 27 selected PCOS-related genes was performed to infer the most pathogenic forms associated with PCOS. As a result, 28 genetic variants from 11 genes were predicted to be most harmful. Results of the present study can be useful for building an integrative genotype–phenotype database for further studies. © 2021, Society for Reproductive Investigation.

Reproductive Sciences

Mutational Landscape Screening Through Comprehensive In Silico Analysis for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome–Related Genes

Archives of Microbiology

Different soil salinity imparts clear alteration in rhizospheric bacterial community dynamics in rice and peanut

Rapid urbanization has resulted in the discharge of large amounts of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) into the environment. Due to PAH-associated health hazards, their presence in water bodies has attracted increasing concern worldwide. Hence, it is necessary to device, new, efficient, and cost-effective technologies for their removal. The present work reports the fabrication of a novel chitosan linked activated carbon-nano-bentonite composite (AC-NB-C) membrane removal of acenaphthene (ACE) and naphthalene (NAP) from aqueous solutions containing both PAHs individually as well as a mixture (MP). The formulated membrane was characterized using SEM, TEM, EDS, FT-IR, XRD, and BET. The PAH removal efficiency of the membrane was evaluated in terms of varying process parameters such as initial PAH concentration, pH, and feed pressure. Process optimization was conducted using the central composite design (CCD) feature of response surface methodology (RSM). Reusability potential and antifouling property of the membrane was also evaluated. Under optimized conditions, the AC-NB-C membrane demonstrated a mixed PAH (MP) rejection of approximately 99.3%. The BET surface area and total pore volume of the membrane were observed to be 482.07 m2g–1 and 0.251 cm3g–1 respectively. The FT-IR analysis suggested π-π interaction and H-bonding as possible mechanisms guiding PAH uptake. A 4.9% reduction in flux ratio indicated good antifouling potential of the AC-NB-C membranes. Moreover, the membrane could be regenerated and reused for 7 consecutive cycles of filtration without any decline in its efficiency. Also, the optimum membrane performance recorded at pH 6 established its immense potential for large-scale treatment of municipal wastewater whose pH values are normally between 6 and 8. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

Biopolymer linked activated carbon-nano-bentonite composite membrane for efficient elimination of PAH mixture from aqueous solutions

Environmental Quality Management

Impact of COVID‐19 lockdown on the elemental profile of PM10 present in the ambient aerosol of an educational institute in Kolkata, India

Applied Radiation and Isotopes

Studies on radiation stability of natural caffeine

Journal of Earth System Science

Ecotoxicological response of potentially toxic metal (PTM) pollution in estuarine mangrove habitat of Indian Sundarban

Marine Environmental Research

{Understanding potentially toxic metal (PTM) induced biotic response in two riparian mangrove species Sonneratia caseolaris and Avicennia officinalis along river Hooghly, India {\ldots}}

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic pollutants with known health hazards and have been reported worldwide in many water sources. The present study reports the easy and green formulation of KOH-modified biochar from Sterculia foetida shells capable of adsorbing acenaphthene and naphthalene from water. To elevate process efficiency, response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the sorption process. Batch study data were also analysed to understand the process isothermal, thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics. Characterization of the biochar was done using SEM, EDS, BET, FT-IR and XRD. The results display that the formulated biochar was able to remove approximately 92% and 94% of acenaphthene and naphthalene respectively from aqueous solutions. Further the process was found to follow Langmuir and Temkin isotherms and pseudo-second-order kinetics. The thermodynamic study suggested that the adsorption was endothermic and spontaneous in nature. The activation energy of the process suggested that chemical adsorption was the mode of PAH removal. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Fuel

Biochar from waste Sterculia foetida and its application as adsorbent for the treatment of PAH compounds: Batch and optimization

Phytomedicine Plus

A review on potential bioactive phytochemicals for novel therapeutic applications with special emphasis on mangrove species