Parametric optimization of yield percent of chitosan extracted from fish scale (Labeo rohita) through central composite design approach

358-373Fish scales have been extensively reported as waste material that takes a lot of time to degrade, causing environmental pollution. This work has been substantiated to summarize a sequence of chemical processes (demineralization, deproteinization, and deacetylation) used for the extraction of useful product like chitosan from fish scale (Labeo rohita). The obtained chitosan have been efficiently characterized by SEM, FTIR, XRD, TGA, XRF, and proximate analysis. The small particle size (3.3748 μm) and the high surface area (4.046 m2/g) of the produced cost-effective chitosan (0.26 USD/g) have justified its applicability as an antimicrobial filler. The degree of deacetylation have been reported to be 52.11% along with a high capacity of water binding (160%) and fat binding (457%), indicating its biodegradable nature. The individual effect of the essential parameters like deacetylation time, deacetylation temperature, and amount of NaOH added, influencing the yield percent have been studied using the central composite design approach of response surface methodology. The maximum yield percent have been reported to be 29.63% for the optimized conditions of 4.48% of NaOH content, 6.624 hr deacetylation time, and 58.2°C deacetylation temperature

Parametric optimization of yield percent of chitosan extracted from fish scale (Labeo rohita) through central composite design approach

Fish scales are extensively found waste materials that take a lot of time to degrade, thereby causing environmental pollution. A sequence of chemical processes involving Demineralization, Deproteinization, and Deacetylation can be effectively used to extract chitosan from the waste fish scale. This study elaborates on the extraction of chitosan from Labeo rohita. The obtained chitosan is efficiently characterized by SEM, FTIR, XRD, TGA, XRF and proximate, analysis. The small particle size (3.3748 µm) and the high surface area (4.046 m2/g) of the produced cost-effective chitosan (0.26 USD/g) justified its use as an antimicrobial filler in producing food-grade plastic. The degree of deacetylation is found to be 52.11%. The biodegradability is explained by its high capacity for water binding (160%) and fat binding (457%). The individual effect of the essential parameters like deacetylation time, deacetylation temperature, and amount of NaOH added, influencing the yield percent,is studied using Central Composite Design approach of Response Surface Methodology. The influence of autolysis time and the ratio of fish scale to HCl acid is also visualized. ANOVA (Analysis of variance) study suggested that the obtained equation for the maximum yield percent is quadratic in nature and is significant for the process. The maximum yield percent of 29.63% is found at optimized conditions of 4.48% of NaOH content, 6.624 hrdeacetylation time and 58.2°C deacetylation temperature

A rare case of progressive disseminated histoplasmosis with bone marrow involvement in an immunocompetent patient

Histoplasmosis is a rare entity in India and very few cases have been reported from eastern region of India like West Bengal and rarely cases from southern India as well. We hereby report a case of progressive disseminated histoplasmosis (PDH) from a non-endemic region of India (Eastern Utter Pradesh) and that too in an immunocompetent individual.

A case of rocky mountain spotted fever without eschar as a cause of pyrexia with multiple organ failure

Rocky mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a rickettsia disease frequently reported from North America and Europe and transmitted by tick bite. This disease is very rare in India and other parts of South East Asia. Fever with rash and thrombocytopenia are the hallmark clinical presentations of viral hemorrhagic fever but other diseases like malaria, typhoid, Leptospira and rickettsia diseases should also be considered in differential diagnosis. Knowledge of geographical distribution, evidence of exposure to the vector and a high degree of clinical suspicion of rickettsia diseases are very important for early differentiation from other diseases to prevent lethal complications and institute initial treatment. We report a rare case of rocky mountain spotted fever (RMSF) from New Delhi, which was confirmed by specific indirect immunofluorescence assay (IIF).

Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus and its relationship with various risk factors in a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal with special reference to tribal population, India

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the most common medical complication and metabolic disorder of pregnancy. The aim and objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of GDM and its relationship with various risk factors with special reference to tribal population.Methods: The study was done in 200 patients between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation, attending antenatal outdoor in a tertiary care hospital of West Bengal.  These patients were given 75gm oral glucose irrespective of the last meal and their plasma glucose was estimated at 2hours. Patients with plasma glucose values ≥140 mg/dl were labelled as GDM. Patients who were diabetic before pregnancy or whose pre pregnancy body mass index was not known or was in labour or had chronic disease, were not included in the study.Results: Prevalence of GDM was 11% in whole population while it was 14.63% and 10.06% in tribal and non-tribal population respectively.  Prevalence of GDM and its correlation with most of risk factors in previous pregnancies was found to be significant in both non-tribal and tribal population. Family history of diabetes mellitus was the most prevalent risk factor in both non-tribal (9.4%) and tribal population (14.63%). There was no single most common risk factor among GDM patients found as there were multiple risk factors present with same frequency in both tribal and non-tribal population.Conclusions: The prevalence of GDM is 14.63% in the tribal population and 10.06% in non-tribal population which is not statically significant (P<0.407). The relation between the prevalence of GDM and risk factors was found to be significant for most of the risk factors

Effect of high-energy ball milling on the electrical properties of NaTaO3 ceramic

In this work, the effect of high energy milling time on the structural and electrical properties of NaTaO3 (NT) ceramics synthesized using standard solid-state reaction method was investigated. X-ray diffraction studies indicated that the unit cell structure for all samples is orthorhombic (space group: Pnma). FTIR spectra also confirmed the formation of NT without any new phase. The NT ceramics prepared with 10 h milled powder showed the formation of small grain sizes (∼1.2 µm) which is beneficial for dielectric applications in high density integrated devices. The NT ceramics prepared with the 10 h milled powder exhibited superior dielectric properties, i.e. enhancement in ε′ value (from 290 to 1270) and reduction in tg δ (from 0.59 to 0.23) at 1 kHz compared to the ceramics prepared with the unmilled powder. Impedance analysis indicated the negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTCR) character with non-Debye type of dielectric relaxation. The correlated barrier hopping model successfully explains the mechanism of charge transport in the present ceramic samples. The values of remnant polarization and coercive field of the poled samples prepared with the unmilled and 10 h milled powders were found to be 0.71 µC/cm2 and 2.03 kV/cm and 8.74 µC/cm2 and 4.14 kV/cm, respectively. The field dependent polarization studies at room temperature indicated that NT is a promising lead-free electrostrictive material for industrial applications