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This study highlights the separation of hydrogen from H

This article aims to present historical rate of decoupling and based on that determine the scope for India to increase its mitigation beyond the NDC commitment. Empirical evidence on nature and rate of decoupling between energy related emission and economic growth for the period 1990–91 to 2012–13 in India is presented. In addition to estimating the magnitude of decoupling elasticity, decomposition analysis is also applied to understand how the four factors: activity growth, energy intensity change, structural change and fuel mix change, are driving the change in emission in India. Decoupling elasticity and Log Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) methods are used for decomposition. The results indicate presence of relative decoupling in India. The industrial sector leads among the four sectors -agriculture, industry, services and power generation in achieving this relative decoupling, mostly through improvement in energy efficiency and some structural changes. Results show that even in the business as usual scenario if India acts upon individual sector level mitigation potentials, it has the potential to raise mitigation ambition beyond current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) without adversely impacting economic growth. With continued high share of coal in the energy mix it is going to be difficult to achieve absolute decoupling.

Background: Thyroid nodules are quite common in the general population of India with increasing incidence of malignancy worldwide. Fine Needle Aspiration [FNA] has been the primary modality of pre-operative diagnosis of such lesions till date. But it has got its own share of fallacies and pit-falls. Cell-block [CB] can be done in the same sitting and it gives the advantage of architectural assessment with easy subjectivity to immuno-cytochemical [ICC] staining. Material and methods: FNA was done in all patients and CB was prepared by formalin method. ICC stains were used in cases with provisional diagnosis of malignancy and in all follicular neoplasm cases. SPSS v.20 was used for analysis. Sensitivity and specificity of cell block was calculated. Diagnostic correlation of both FNA and CB with respect to histopathological examination was done by using student t-test with confidence interval of 95%. Results: CB showed a correlation coefficient of 0.704 and a p value of 0.0001while FNA showed a correlation coefficient of .464 and a p-value of .001. So, CB showed a strong positive correlation and a high statistical significance. Cell block helped in diagnosing almost all the cases showing discordance in FNA except that of papillary carcinoma where the cellular yield was poor due to cystic degeneration. Sensitivity of cell block was 89.5% and Specificity was 96.9%. Conclusions: Cell block is definitely a good ancillary examination for thyroid nodular lesions in addition to FNA. It should be routinely performed in all thyroid cases as it improves the diagnostic yield and accuracy of cytological diagnosis.

In this study, for the first time, the small pore size (0.28 × 0.37 nm) Li–aluminosilicate zeolite membrane was synthesized for separation of CO2 from H2–CO2 and H2–CO2–N2–CO (simulated blast furnace gas) gas mixtures. Li–aluminosilicate membranes were prepared on porous clay alumina tubes by sonication mediated hydrothermal method using pre synthesized zeolite powders as seeds. The zeolite formation was confirmed by X-ray diffraction pattern and FESEM analysis. The scanning electron micrograph of the membrane, suggested the uniformity of the dense structure of the membrane. Single-gas and mixed-gas permeation experiments through membranes were carried out at 25 °C using H2, CO2 and N2 single-component gases and mixture of H2–CO2, H2–CO2–N2–CO for simulated blast furnace gas composition. Synthesized Li–aluminosilicate zeolite shows appreciable CO2 adsorption capacity at liquid nitrogen temperature compared with other reported zeolites. In case of single gas permeation, membrane shows usual pattern of permeation. For mixture gas, separation efficiency of Li–zeolite membrane increased abruptly compared to the other zeolite membranes. The maximum CO2–H2, CO2–N2 and CO2–CO separation selectivities were found to be 78, 8.7 and 67.3 respectively, with permeance of H2, CO2 and N2 2.21 × 10−7, 1.01 × 10−7 and 0.8 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1 at 25 °C respectively.

Climate Change has an overwhelming health impact on all, especially on the women, constituting around 49. 58% of the global population. There is ample literary evidence in support of the claim that a changing climate has a differentiated impact on humanity and that it is not “gender neutral”. Climate driven food scarcity, poor air quality, rising temperature and extreme weather events (floods, droughts, heat waves etc. ), acute water shortage, increasing incidence of vector borne diseases make the situation all the more dreadful for women in particular. And this vulnerability gets even more critical because of various biological, political, social and cultural factors that historically contributed against women and their empowerment. Though women are reservoirs of indigenous knowledge about how to deal with the aftermath of climatic changes, yet they remain largely untapped. However the importance of gender based climate action plan was long absent in arena of international climate negotiation. It was only in COP7 (2001) where women’s involvement in climate action had first caught global attention and subsequently nodal international bodies are working on formulating programmes and appropriate policies for promoting gender balance. However, the progress on this has been limited in comparison to the magnitude of impacts of climatic changes on women’s health and hence much more needs to be done on the policy front so as to promote gender equity and women’s participation in various adaptation and mitigation policies.

This study evaluated a potential transition of India’s power sector to 100% wind and solar energy sources. Applying a macro-energy IDEEA (Indian Zero Carbon Energy Pathways) model to 32 regions and 114 locations of potential installation of wind energy and 60 locations of solar energy, we evaluated a 100% renewable power system in India as a concept. We considered 153 scenarios with varying sets of generating and balancing technologies to evaluate each intermittent energy source separately and their complementarity. Our analysis confirms the potential technical feasibility and long-term reliability of a 100% renewable system for India, even with solar and wind energy only. Such a dual energy source system can potentially deliver fivefold the annual demand of 2019. The robust, reliable supply can be achieved in the long term, as verified by 41 years of weather data. The required expansion of energy storage and the grid will depend on the wind and solar energy structure and the types of generating technologies. Solar energy mostly requires intraday balancing that can be achieved through storage or demand-side flexibility. Wind energy is more seasonal and spatially scattered, and benefits from the long-distance grid expansion for balancing. The complementarity of the two resources on a spatial scale reduces requirements for energy storage. The demand-side flexibility is the key in developing low-cost supply with minimum curtailments. This can be potentially achieved with the proposed two-level electricity market where electricity prices reflect variability of the supply. A modelled experiment with price signals demonstrates how balancing capacity depends on the price levels of guaranteed and flexible types of loads, and therefore, can be defined by the market.

In recent years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been collaborating with Indian institutions to organise outreach events. This essay draws on the perspective of participants, speakers and organisers of 17 in-person outreach events conducted across India in 2018 and 2020, to share insights and recommendations for future IPCC events in India and other developing country contexts. The formats analysed in this essay range from panel events with very large public audiences to more focused workshops, meetings and seminars. Target audiences covered both academic and non-academic audiences and included researchers, teachers, students, industry and NGOs. The events, while achieving their main objective of communicating the findings of IPCC reports, also provided a platform for open discussion of localised climate impacts and good practices in adaptation and mitigation. There are, however, notable challenges to public outreach in India, specifically in terms of attracting an adequate number of participants, experts’ availability, communicating to a diverse audience and translation into local languages. The biggest challenge faced by speakers was a lack of knowledge about the number of attendees and the composition of the audience prior to an event. It is our recommendation that future outreach events in India are designed to be interactive, tailored to the regional context and complemented by simplified communication materials. Speakers should be provided with audience information and background prior to the event, and greater reach into rural areas, including school children, could be achieved with material in local languages. Additionally, event organisers often require logistical and operational support to host outreach events.

The existence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air is an escalating concern worldwide because of their ability to cause cancer and induce permanent changes in the genetic material. Growing evidence implies that during early life-sensitive stages, the risk of progression of acute and chronic diseases depends on epigenetic changes initiated by the influence of environmental cues. Several reports deciphered the relationship between exposure to environmental chemicals and epigenetics, and have known toxicants that alter the epigenetic states. Amongst PAHs, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) is accepted as a group 1 cancer-causing agent by the International Agency for the Research on Cancer (IARC). B[a]P is a well-studied pro-carcinogen that is metabolically activated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)/cytochrome P450 pathway. Cytochrome P450 plays a pivotal role in the stimulation step, which is essential for DNA adduct formation. Accruing evidence suggests that epigenetic alterations assume a fundamental part in PAH-promoted carcinogenesis. This interaction between PAHs and epigenetic factors results in an altered profile of these marks, globally and locus-specific. Some of the epigenetic changes due to exposure to PAHs lead to increased disease susceptibility and progression. It is well understood that exposure to environmental carcinogens, such as PAH triggers disease pathways through changes in the genome. Several evidence reported due to the epigenome-wide association studies, that early life adverse environmental events may trigger widespread and persistent variations in transcriptional profiling. Moreover, these variations respond to DNA damage and/or a consequence of epigenetic modifications that need further investigation. Growing evidence has associated PAHs with epigenetic variations involving alterations in DNA methylation, histone modification, and micro RNA (miRNA) regulation. Epigenetic alterations to PAH exposure were related to chronic diseases, such as pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, endocrine disruptor, nervous system disorder, and cancer. This hormetic response gives a novel perception concerning the toxicity of PAHs and the biological reaction that may be a distinct reliance on exposure. This review sheds light on understanding the latest evidence about how PAHs can alter epigenetic patterns and human health. In conclusion, as several epigenetic change mechanisms remain unclear yet, further analyses derived from PAHs exposure must be performed to find new targets and disease biomarkers. In spite of the current limitations, numerous evidence supports the perception that epigenetics grips substantial potential for advancing our knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of environmental toxicants, also for predicting health-associated risks due to environmental circumstances exposure and individual susceptibility.

India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) aim to increase the share of non-fossil fuel, especially renewables, in power generation. But at the same time, it mentions that coal is likely to dominate the power generation in the short and medium term to meet the increase in demand and support the intermittency of renewable energy-based power generation. Thus, additional efforts to transform the thermal power generation to a more efficient and less emitting one in the near term by increasing the use of natural gas (a fossil fuel with a lower emission factor than coal) may be planned towards achieving India’s additional mitigation commitments. The paper presents the implications of a proposed increase in the share of natural gas in thermal power generation of India by looking into the trade-off between emission mitigation and energy security. Along with a Reference Scenario, three alternative emission scenarios are proposed to understand the likely impacts of increased penetration of natural gas in power generation on India’s projected emission profile up to 2050. Results suggest that higher mitigation potential can be achieved through fuel-switch in thermal generation and technological up-gradation to enhance energy use efficiency. The energy security due to the increased share of natural gas imports can be dealt with by diversifying import sources. Shifts can achieve this in the emphasis on long-term contracts.

Pore surface modification of zeolite membrane is a challenging area to combat the trade-off between the high flux and high selectivity of the gas separation membrane. Herein we report facile method of pore along with defects modification of NaX zeolite membrane by incorporating graphite amine (Ga) into the membrane structure. Permeation properties of different membranes were evaluated by single gas permeance of H2, CO2 and separation factors for mixed gas H2-CO2 with different mixture ratio. These studies were done at room temperature and 100–300 kPa feed pressure. The results show that Ga is not only active for defect removal of NaX membrane but also enhanced the formation of NaX zeolite from mother sol. In addition, presence of graphite amine into NaX zeolite membrane increase the permeance of H2 from 5.1 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 kPa−1 to 36.5 × 10−7 moll m−2 s−1 kPa−1 with increase of feed pressure 100–300 kPa feed pressure due to its hydrophobic properties and separation factor of H2-CO2 enhanced up to 31 for H2-CO2 mixture gas compared to literature reported value 6.5 for FAU membrane over 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane functionalized alumina. Herein for the first time we report that graphite amine catalyzes for the formation of NaX zeolite in addition to pore modification in zeolite membrane.

This article theoretically revisits the issue of how trade openness and inflation are interconnected in the light of conduct and optimal design of monetary policy. Central banks in open economies all over the world face a problematic dilemma when it comes to providing a nominal anchor to the economy in the sense that they have to choose between monetary targeting and inflation targeting. The experience has been varied worldwide with respect to these alternative policies in containing inflation. Different dimensions of openness like fully flexible exchange rate and capital mobility have also had significant impacts on the outcomes of policy changes. In this paper, we have constructed two theoretical open macro-economy models using the AD-AS framework under regressive expectations. The first model considers interest-rate targeting incorporating Taylor rule, whereas the second one deals with monetary targeting. The models show that alternate monetary policy rules do not change the basic results of different macroeconomic policies, although the underlying transmission mechanisms are quite different. JEL Codes: E12, E31, E43, E52, F41

Food-borne Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, exposure is one of the major concerns associated with a risk of cancer development. The aggregative environmental pollution has increased B[a]P contamination in grilled and barbecued meat, vegetables, oils, grain and cereals, fruits, smoked fish, and seafood leading to a high dietary intake in the worldwide human population. B[a]P activation through cytochrome P450 leads to generate active metabolites that directly react with DNA and form adducts causing mutations to initiate carcinogenesis. Moreover, B[a]P-dependent reactive oxygen species production and mitochondrial damage cause apoptosis and induce autophagy, which results in the disruption of cellular homeostasis and neoplastic transformation. Further, B[a]P alters cell signals regulating proliferative and survival pathways that drive cancer cell migration and metastasis; however, the precise mechanisms underlying its carcinogenic properties remain yet to be thoroughly defined. The elevated levels of exposure of B[a]P result in the alteration of immune cell function and immunosuppression making suitable conditions for tumor development. This review presents the details of B[a]P occurrence in food, total daily intake of B[a]P, and the level of B[a]P associated with a cancer risk. In conclusion, we have focused on the role of B[a]P contamination in food for cancer risk and the possible molecular mechanism of cancer development, which could provide a way to reduce cancer incidence either by regulatory efforts or modifying food processed technology.

In this work, sodium aluminosilicate zeolite powder and membranes were synthesized by ultrasonic irradiation at room temperature using montmorillonite clay as precursor material. For comparison, same zeolite powder and membranes were synthesized at 100 °C also. The synthesized zeolites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) spectral analysis, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). XRD and IR results showed that phase pure mainly LTA phase was formed after 15 days of aging at room temperature. By using the zeolite powders as seeds, membranes were synthesized on clay alumina support tubes at room temperature and also at 100 °C. In both the cases membranes were formed on support surface. The membrane thickness was found to be 15 μm. The performances of the membranes were evaluated by single gas as well as mixture gas permeation measurement for H2-CO2 and CO2-CH4 respectively. The H2–CO2 and CO2-CH4 separation selectivity for the mixture gas of the membrane was found to 16.2 and 20.9 at room temperature respectively. To the best of our knowledge, there is no report of synthesis of zeolite membrane at room temperature using clay as raw materials. For the first time we have reported the synthesis of alumino-silicate zeolite membrane on clay alumina support surface using clay as starting material by sonochemical method at room temperature.

India has been collaboratively hosting public dissemination events to communicate climate change science and knowledge using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports since 2007. All three special reports from Sixth Assessment cycle have been presented in multiple outreach events in various states of India. The primary aim has been to satisfy the growing appetite among various social groups for reliable scientific understanding of climate change and the solution space. The study includes insights from 18 physical outreach events conducted in India. The format ranged from very large public events with mixed stakeholder presence in the audience with presence of national/subnational policy makers; workshops, meetings and seminars with implementing sectors and investors, financial institutions, NGOs and a third category with knowledge generators, researchers, teachers and students. The follow up mass media and social media coverage have been a positive spin off. The events provided platform for open discussion on bottom-up local good practices, very localised impacts and connection to climate systems and reasons for concern and action. Feedback received is rich and rewarding. Face to face outreach events have enormous co benefits and trust building scope as side talks, coffee time talks, small side meetings, casual clarifications all help in providing space to participants for dispelling doubts, build long term research collaborations and they become ambassadors and adopters of IPCC science. Overall, the events were hugely successful, however many more such events, especially in local languages are needed to ensure messages of the IPCC reach the wider stakeholders.

As current action remains insufficient to meet the goals of the Paris agreement let alone to stabilize the climate, there is increasing hope that solutions related to demand, services and social aspects of climate change mitigation can close the gap. However, given these topics are not investigated by a single epistemic community, the literature base underpinning the associated research continues to be undefined. Here, we aim to delineate a plausible body of literature capturing a comprehensive spectrum of demand, services and social aspects of climate change mitigation. As method we use a novel double-stacked expert—machine learning research architecture and expert evaluation to develop a typology and map key messages relevant for climate change mitigation within this body of literature. First, relying on the official key words provided to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by governments (across 17 queries), and on specific investigations of domain experts (27 queries), we identify 121 165 non-unique and 99 065 unique academic publications covering issues relevant for demand-side mitigation. Second, we identify a literature typology with four key clusters: policy, housing, mobility, and food/consumption. Third, we systematically extract key content-based insights finding that the housing literature emphasizes social and collective action, whereas the food/consumption literatures highlight behavioral change, but insights also demonstrate the dynamic relationship between behavioral change and social norms. All clusters point to the possibility of improved public health as a result of demand-side solutions. The centrality of the policy cluster suggests that political actions are what bring the different specific approaches together. Fourth, by mapping the underlying epistemic communities we find that researchers are already highly interconnected, glued together by common interests in sustainability and energy demand. We conclude by outlining avenues for interdisciplinary collaboration, synthetic analysis, community building, and by suggesting next steps for evaluating this body of literature.

What did it mean to be a stranger in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England? How were other nations, cultures, and religions perceived? What happened when individuals moved between languages, countries, religions, and spaces? Keywords of Identity, Race, and Human Mobility analyses a selection of terms that were central to the conceptualisation of identity, race, migration, and transculturality in the early modern period. In many cases, the concepts and debates that they embody – or sometimes subsume – came to play crucial roles in the articulation of identity, rights, and power in subsequent periods. Together, the essays in this volume provide an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the development of these formative issues.

This chapter presents a smart healthcare monitoring system for patients by implanting wireless sensors on the body which collect different vital physiological parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, glucose level etc. The sensors are controlled by the Internet of Things devices and communicate the patient’s health record to the monitoring station using 5G services. This 5G service helps to enable the immediate treatment for the critical patient with no time. In addition, the rate of detection of the critical condition of the patient is enhanced with the application of machine learning models for better and efficient prediction. Therefore, the improvement of healthcare monitoring system enhances human life value by integrating advanced and cutting edge technologies as a consequence of which the frequent visit of patients to the hospitals or emergency units can be reduced.

Many developing countries including Bangladesh and India will need fast growth through the next two decades in gross domestic product (GDP) to meet basic aspirations for decent living standards for their people. This will mean increased need for energy resources. However, global carbon emission limits put additional constraints on these fast-growing countries of this century adversely compared to their predecessors as latter had more unrestricted options to use fossil fuel. However, India’s energy-efficient economic growth path in industry sector, penetration of renewables in energy mix and alternative innovative agricultural practices in addition to dietary choice with low meat consumption are helping the country to maintain low per capita emissions. Bangladesh with unique positive social development is well positioned now to build energy infrastructure for faster economic growth. Power supply capacity that will grow by a factor of 3 now can leapfrog moving beyond gas to new cleaner fuels such as hydrogen and geothermal using its gas drilling and distribution infrastructure besides adding solar energy. The country has almost full untapped potential of energy efficiency improvements in energy demand sectors. International cooperation is necessary for such transitions and which can happen within Paris agreement and SDG framework.

On March 16, 2020, Kolkata, a megacity located in the eastern part of India announced partial lockdown due to COVID-19 crisis ahead of the India-wide lockdown pronouncement with effect from March 25, 2020. This study presents an analysis for multiple pollutants with special focus on NO2 and O3, based on data from different monitoring stations located across Kolkata city, for the period of 16 March- 17 May 2020. A comparison was done with the pre-lockdown period of 1st February – 15th March 2020. Most significant reduction was observed in the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) (- 76.8%), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (- 69.5%), PM10 (- 64.6%) and PM2.5 (- 60.9%). A lower percentage reduction was found for CO, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ammonia (- 48.6%, - 41.7% and – 41.1% respectively). However, during partial lockdown, Lockdown Phase-1, Phase -2, and Phase -3 surface-level ozone (O3) has changed respectively by 31.72%, 31.13%, -14.28% and -14.05% ; which resulted in an overall increase of 8.17% in the entire study period. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Kolkata which was poor or very poor in the past even during lockdown period it failed to attain the ‘good’ standard. This needs special attention in human health impact assessment and public health management. We recommend that for policy attention and education/awareness-building efforts additional attention needs to be drawn towards stickiness in O3 which have adverse human health and which went up during lockdown period compared to pre-lockdown period. We highlight some major policy implications of the observed trends to combat city air pollution along with climate co-benefits by shifting transport fuel and related infrastructure. These observations over several months provide a good database for any future air pollution control policy formulation and many more future research.

Background: Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is characterized by hamartomatous gastrointestinal polyposis, mucocutaneous pigmentation and cancer predisposition. The clinical features of PJS manifest in first two decades of life; however, neonatal presentation is uncommon. Case report: We present a five day old girl with PJS that presented with obstructive hamartomatous polyps in the sigmoid colon. At colostomy closure at six months, an incidental ovarian sex-cord tumor with annular tubules (SCTAT) was detected. It showed predominantly a solid pattern with limited tubule formation and was composed of lipid-rich cells. She had no hormonal symptoms. Conclusion: SCTAT can occur as young as six months of age in PJS, and may show histologic overlap with lipid-rich Sertoli cell tumors.

Macro-autophagy (herein referred to as autophagy) is considered a major degradation pathway for damaged organelles, aggregate-prone proteins, and pathogens. There is substantial evidence stating that dysfunctional autophagy is the cause of the manifestation of multifarious degenerative diseases and cancer. Xenobiotics (here, the known group I carcinogens), substances considered foreign to the human body, are associated with inciting multiple stresses such as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, mitochondrial stress, and dysfunctional lysosome. Furthermore, autophagy exhibits a dichotomous role in cancer, although a detailed description of the modulation of autophagy by the known important carcinogens is provided only by a limited number of reports. The pro-tumorigenic role of carcinogen-induced autophagy/mitophagy has been explored which maintains homeostasis in cancer. On the contrary, the association of carcinogens with the induction of autophagic cell death has been reported. In addition, certain xenobiotics for protecting cells through dampening of necrosis, inflammation, and maintenance of genome integrity have been proposed. So far, only a few studies exploring the xenobiotic-associated autophagy modulation, both in vitro and in vivo, have been reported. The synergistic effect of environmental carcinogens in relation to autophagy has been explored, although quite little was discovered. Besides describing autophagy modulation by xenobiotics in the normal cells, there are reports illuminating how autophagy modulation could be utilized as an effective therapeutic approach for the impediment of carcinogenesis and to rescue cells from cytotoxicity. In addition, the application of chemopreventive compounds for autophagy modulation mitigating cellular toxicity and carcinogenesis have been described to achieve a safer and healthier human life.

The stranger was everywhere in early modern England. Part of a larger project about sixteenth and seventeenth century English perceptions of identity, human mobility, and belonging, this article shows how the Comedy of Errors unfolds against the backdrop of the city of London’s own troubled relationship with ‘strangers’.

In the present report, mesoporous silica SBA-15 was synthesized by different methods such as room temperature aging, hydrothermal, and sonication-mediated hydrothermal methods. The effect of different time and temperature on the synthesis method was investigated by conventional characterization techniques. The powders synthesized by different methods showed different properties, mainly in morphology and pore volume. In comparison to others, the powder synthesized by the hydrothermal method at 100 degrees C for 48 hours showed exceptionally high surface area of 3274 m(2)/g. To date, as per our knowledge, no such value was reported in literature. Finally, the powders were characterized by H-2 storage capacity by the adsorption-desorption method using 99.999% H-2. The hydrogen adsorption capacity of the same powder was observed at 6.02 wt%. Also, this value seems to be the highest H-2 adsorption capacity in comparison to other powders described in literature.

This investigation entails our continued research on calcium aluminate coated graphite for application in alumina-carbon monolithic refractories. Surface treatment of graphite flakes by a scalable sol-gel route has been utilized to develop stable bonds between ceramic phases with the functionalized graphite sheets. This study has been primarily conducted to differentiate between the coating evolution pattern at green and calcined conditions. In this regard, C-H-N analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) with Rietveld analysis, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and zeta potential studies of three kinds of graphites had been compared and critically estimated. These results were supplemented with thermogravimetry (TG), pore size distribution, oxidation resistance and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of selected samples. A schematic outline of the work has also been proposed. An appreciable improvement of bulk density, apparent porosity and crushing strength of the respective castable has been correlated with the compatibility of the coating to the reactive matrix constituents of the refractory in wide temperature region (110-1500 degrees C).

In the present report, composite membranes (CM) were prepared from a resin, derived from phenol and formaldehyde as matrix and mesoporous silica SBA-15 as filler on the clay-alumina tubular support. Membrane matrix was formed by in-situ cross-linking of phenol (P) and formaldehyde (F) at room temperature. The structural changes of membrane matrix with curing time influence the final properties of the membranes. The surface morphology and the filler-polymer interaction i.e. surface silanol group of SBA-15 and –CH 2 OH/–OH group of P–F resin of composite membrane were established by FESEM and Fourier transformation of infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) respectively. Thermal stability of the membranes was characterized by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA). Finally, the permeability and the separation efficiencies of the developed composite membranes were studied in details with varying curing time of resin at room temperature, feed pressure and different gas compositions for CO 2 /H 2 and CO 2 /CH 4 mixture gases. For CO 2 /H 2 ‘reverse selectivity’ was observed with the membrane. The highest separation factor of CO 2 /H 2 and CO 2 /CH 4 were achieved upto 16.6 and 62.4 for 67:33 (CO 2 /H 2 ) and 45:55 (CO 2 /CH 4 ) feed composition respectively. The room temperature cross-linking of P–F resin modified the interfacial defect of membrane and its effect on the CO 2 separation efficiencies is the unique observation of the present work. The obtained permeability and selectivity values of different gases were surpassing the 2008 Robeson upper bound line.

Mitophagy, a special type of autophagy, plays an important role in the mitochondria quality control and cellular homeostasis. In this study, we examined the molecular mechanism of mitophagy induction with benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), a ubiquitous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, which acts as a prosurvival response against apoptotic cell death. Our study showed that B[a]P displayed higher cytotoxicity in autophagy-deficient HaCaT cells as compared to control. Further, we showed that B[a]P triggered the Beclin-1-dependent autophagy through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. Moreover, our study indicated that the B[a]P-induced autophagy was initiated through the activation of cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) and the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in HaCaT cells. Intriguingly, the B[a]P-induced Beclin-1-mediated mitophagy was suppressed in CYP1B1 and AhR knockdown HaCaT cells, indicating a crucial role of B[a]P activation in the mitophagy induction to regulate cell death. B[a]P was shown to increase the mitochondrial dysfunction and decrease the mitochondrial membrane potential, resulting in depletion of ATP level along with the inhibition of the oxygen consumption rate in HaCaT cells. Importantly, the supplementation of methyl pyruvate compensated for the B[a]P-induced drop in the ATP level and mitigated the reactive oxygen species burden and autophagy. Mechanistically, B[a]P inhibited the manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) activity and we found that the activated mitochondrial CYP1B1 interacted with MnSOD, inflicting mitophagy to protect from B[a]P-induced apoptosis. In summary, our study reveals mitophagy induction as a cellular protection mechanism against B[a]P-triggered toxicity and carcinogenesis.

Oral cancer, a type of head and neck cancer, is ranked as one of the top most malignancies in India. Herein, we evaluated the anticancer efficacy of Abrus agglutinin (AGG), a plant lectin, in oral squamous cell carcinoma. AGG selectively inhibited cell growth, and caused cell cycle arrest and mitochondrial apoptosis through a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated ATM-p73 dependent pathway in FaDu cells. AGG-induced ROS accumulation was identified as the major mechanism regulating apoptosis, DNA damage and DNA-damage response, which were significantly reversed by ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Moreover, AGG was found to interact with mitochondrial manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase that might inhibit its activity and increase ROS in FaDu cells. In oral cancer p53 is mutated, thus we focused on p73; AGG resulted in p73 upregulation and knock down of p73 caused a decrease in AGG-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, AGG-dependent p73 expression was found to be regulated by ROS, which was reversed by NAC treatment. A reduction in the level of p73 in AGG-treated shATM cells was found to be associated with a decreased apoptosis. Moreover, administration of AGG (50 μg/kg body weight) significantly inhibited the growth of FaDu xenografts in athymic nude mice. In immunohistochemical analysis, the xenografts from AGG-treated mice displayed a decrease in PCNA expression and an increase in caspase-3 activation as compared to the controls. In conclusion, we established a connection among ROS, ATM and p73 in AGG-induced apoptosis, which might be useful in enhancing the therapeutic targeting of p53 deficient oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Documents may contain multiscript and recognition of those documents is really a challenging task. Earlier OCR (Optical Character Recognition) was developed for documents containing only English or regional languages. Documents containing multiple scripts are also needed to be kept protected for later use. So it needs more effort of the OCR designers for improving the accuracy rate for multi script OCR. In this paper we describe the character recognition process for printed documents containing Roman and Odia texts. The separation of the script has been performed at line level. We discuss a detailed description on the segmentation scheme using X-Y-Cut algorithm which isolates the text image into individual Odia and Roman line. To distinguish between the Roman and the Odia script, along with line height, we have considered the features of both the scripts. Most of the Roman character is linear as well as circular in nature and Odia characters are circular occupying more width as compared to Roman characters. We emphasize on Upper and lower Matras associated with Odia and absent in English. After extracting the individual scripts from the bilingual documents line wise, we send them to their individual OCR for recognition. Thus an algorithm has been proposed for identification of Odia and Roman scripts.

The third section of closed loop Iodine Sulphur (IS) thermochemical cycle, dealing with HI x processing, suffers from low equilibrium decomposition of HI to hydrogen with a conversion value of only ∼22% at 700 K. Here, we report a significant enhancement in conversion of HI into hydrogen (up to ∼95%) using a zeolite membrane reactor for the first time. The all silica DDR (deca dodecasil rhombohedral) zeolite membrane with dense, interlocked structure was synthesized on the seeded clay alumina substrate by sonication mediated hydrothermal process. The synthesized membranes along with seed crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Corrosion studies were carried out by exposing the membrane samples to simulated HI decomposition reaction environment (at 450 °C) for different durations of time upto 200 h. The FESEM, EDX and XRD analyses indicated that no significant changes occurred in the morphology, composition and structure of the membranes. Iodine adsorption on to the membrane surface was observed which got increased with the exposure duration as confirmed by secondary ion mass spectrometry studies. A packed bed membrane reactor (PBMR) assembly was fabricated with integration of in-house synthesized zeolite membrane and Pt-alumina catalyst for carrying out HI decomposition studies. The tube side was chosen as reaction zone and the shell side as the permeation zone. The HI decomposition experiments were carried out for different values of temperature and feed flow rates. DDR zeolite based PBMR was found to enhance the single-pass conversion of HI up to ∼95%. The results indicate that for achieving optimal performance of PBMR, it should be operated with space velocities of 0.2–0.3 s −1 and temperature in the range of 650 K–700 K with permeate side vacuum of 0.12 kg/cm 2 . It is believed that the in-house developed zeolite PBMR shall be a potential technology augmentation in making the IS thermochemical cycle energy efficient.

Three different types of zeolite having pore sizes in the range 0.26-0.74 nm, (NaP, NaA, and NaY) powders and membranes are synthesized with different Si: Al ratio on low cost clay alumina tubular support. The results of the permeation and separation studies showed that the NaP zeolite powder and membrane removes maximum As(III) from the water solution (more than 80%) compared to other zeolites. The removal of As(III) to achieve drinking water standard, by zeolite membrane, in a single step process does not seem to have been reported before the present investigation. These are the novelty achieved.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) comprise the major class of cancer-causing chemicals and are ranked ninth among the chemical compounds threatening to humans. Moreover, interest in PAHs has been mainly due to their genotoxic, teratogenic, mutagenic and carcinogenic property. Polymorphism in cytochrome P450 (CYP450) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) has the capacity to convert procarcinogens into carcinogens, which is an imperative factor contributing to individual susceptibility to cancer development. The carcinogenicity potential of PAHs is related to their ability to bind to DNA, thereby enhances DNA cross-linking, causing a series of disruptive effects which can result in tumor initiation. They induce cellular toxicity by regulating the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which arbitrate apoptosis. Additionally, cellular toxicity-mediated apoptotic and autophagic cell death and immune suppression by industrial pollutants PAH, provide fertile ground for the proliferation of mutated cells, which results in cancer growth and progression. PAHs play a foremost role in angiogenesis necessary for tumor metastasization by promoting the upregulation of metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) in human cancer cells. This review sheds light on the molecular mechanisms of PAHs induced cancer development as well as autophagic and apoptotic cell death. Besides that authors have unraveled how phytotherapeutics is an alternate potential therapeutics acting as a savior from the toxic effects of PAHs for safer and cost effective perspectives.

Conventional therapeutics are often frequented with recurrences, refraction and regimen resistance in oral cavity cancers which are predominantly manifested by cancer stem cells (CSCs). During oncoevolution, cancer cells may undergo structural and functional reprogramming wherein they evolve as highly tolerant CSC phenotypes with greater survival advantages. The CSCs possess inherent and exclusive properties including self-renewal, hierarchical differentiation, and tumorigenicity that serve as the basis of chemo-radio-resistance in oral cancer. However, the key mechanisms underlying the CSC-mediated therapy resistance need to be further elucidated. A spectrum of dysfunctional cellular pathways including the developmental signaling, apoptosis, autophagy, cell cycle regulation, DNA damage responses and epigenetic regulations protect the CSCs from conventional therapies. Moreover, tumor niche shelters CSCs and creates an immunosuppressive environment favoring the survival of CSCs. Maintenance of lower redox status, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), metabolic reprogramming and altered drug responses are the accessory features that aid in the process of chemo-radio-resistance in oral CSCs. This review deals with the functional and molecular basis of cancer cell pluripotency-associated resistance highlighting the abrupt fundamental cellular processes; targeting these events may hold a great promise in the successful treatment of oral cancer.

This review considers Dramatic Geography: Romance, Intertheatricality, and Cultural Encounter in Early Modern Mediterranean Drama.

Background/Objective: India is the world's most biodiverse region and is undergoing a period of dramatic social and economic change. Due to population's explosion, climate change and lax implementation of environmental policies, the incidence of breast cancer is increasing. From population-based cancer registry data, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in urban registries where it constitutes more than 30% of all cancers in females. We conducted a meta-analysis of all breast cancer case–control studies conducted in India during 1991–2018 to find pooled estimates of odds ratio (OR). Materials and Methods: Eligible studies were identified through a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and HINARI databases from 1991 to January 2018. This analysis included 24 observational studies out of 34 that reported the case–control distribution of reproductive factors, body mass index (BMI) and type of residence. The analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 (Review Manager, 2017) applying the random-effects model. Results: A total of 21,511 patients (9889 cases and 11,622 controls) were analyzed, resulting in statistically significant association between breast cancer and the following reproductive factors: never breastfeed (OR: 3.69; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.70, 8.01), menopausal age >50 years (OR: 2.88; 95% CI: 1.85, 3.85), menarche age 25 years (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.37, 1.80). Family history (FH) of breast cancer (OR: 5.33; 95% CI: 2.89, 9.82), obesity (OR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.42), and urban residence (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.44) were also found to be significant risk factors. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis are indicative of significant associations between reproductive factors and breast cancer risk, profoundly so among women experiencing menopause after the age of 50, women who never breastfeed and FH of breast cancer.