Graphene-Based Composites and Hybrids for Water Purification Applications

The increasing water demand and the worldwide shortage of clean water call for new technologies for wastewater treatment, of which sorption is recognized as simplest and efficient method for all major water pollutants, including heavy metal ions, organic dyes and organic solvents. In this context, graphene, an atomically thin two-dimensional hexagonal arrays of carbon atoms, and its analogs have been visualized as ultimate materials for the separation of pollutants from water due to properties such as superhydrophobicity, superoleophilicity, chemical-environmental-thermal stability, chemical manipulability, controllable morphology, texture, porosity and accessible surface area, facile processing, low density, biocompatibility and low-cost synthesis from a variety of abundant carbonaceous precursors. This chapter begins with an introduction of water purification, related processes and fundamentals of adsorption and absorption phenomenon. The next section emphasizes the importance and advantages of graphene as sorbent, brief about its synthesis, types of graphene-based composites/hybrid systems and their synthesis strategies. The last section throws light on the performance of graphene-based foams, aerogels and composites/hybrids for the separation of metal ions, organic dyes and various oils/organic solvents, supported by comprehensive literature account. Finally, the chapter concludes with the comments on the current status, major challenges and future scope in the direction

Determination of defect density, crystallite size and number of graphene layers in graphene analogues using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy

In this study, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopic techniques have been wielded for determination of number of graphene layers per domain, crystallite size, interlayer spacing and defect density in bulk samples of chemically synthesized graphitic oxide (GrO) and reduced GrO (RGrO). Particularly, the ready to use and general mathematical equations have been presented for obtaining above mentioned parameters directly using the full width half maxima (FWHM) of XRD peaks and intensity ratios of Raman D- and G-bands. The results reflect that upon reduction, crystallites shrink in dimensions ultimately leads to decrease in number of graphene layers per domain and apparent increase in defect density

Carbon Nanotube-Based Polymer Composites: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

The present chapter covers the designing, development, properties and applications of carbon nanotube-loaded polymer composites. The first section will provide a brief overview of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), their synthesis, properties and functionalization routes. The second section will shed light on the CNT/polymer composites, their types, synthesis routes and characterization. The last section will illustrate the various applications of CNT/polymer composites; important properties, parameters and performance indices backed by comprehensive literature account of the same. The chapter concludes with the current challenges and future aspects

Rhodosporidium Toruloides as Robust Yeasts for Advanced Biofuel Production Using Wood Hydrolysate

In response to increasing global energy demand as well as greenhouse emissions from petroleum fuels, sustainable and renewable sources have been intensely researched to produce biofuel. For instance, microbial lipids have been recognized as a potential feedstock for biofuel production due to their similarities with vegetable oils in terms of fatty acids. Typically, microorganisms capable of accumulating more than 20% lipids are known as oleaginous microorganisms. These microorganisms can thrive on various renewable substrates and biochemically convert excess carbon into lipids. One such example of a renewable substrate is lignocellulosic biomass, which produces hydrolysate containing hexoses and pentoses sugars upon pre-treatment and saccharification, and thus could be employed as a potential substrate for microbial lipids. However, wood hydrolysate presents several challenges such as low consumption of pentose sugars, and the presence of microbial growth inhibitors such as furans, organic acids and phenols. In this sense, Rhodosporidium toruloides, an oleaginous yeast, could be employed to produce lipids due to its ability to accumulate 50-70% of lipids, consume C5 sugars, and tolerate inhibitors. Thus, the present thesis explores the ability of R. toruloides-1588 to thrive on undetoxified hydrolysate derived from forestry residues (hardwood and softwood sawdust) and accumulate lipids. Additionally, several strategies were employed to increase the lipid titer such as carbon and nitrogen ratios, fed-batch fermentation, and carbohydrate supplementation such as crude glycerol, which resulted in maximum lipid accumulation of 56.3% (w/w) along with more than 90% consumption of carbohydrates. A life cycle assessment has been also performed to identify the hotspots in terms of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission, and waste produced during the lipid production process. Lastly, the strain was accessed for its ability to thrive on microbial growth inhibitor such as furfural and use it as an energy source. Based on the above findings, the current dissertation concludes that R. toruloides-1588 can thrive on undetoxified wood hydrolysate, accumulate lipids that can serve as a feedstock for biofuel production and provide aid in the further development of biorefinery industries

Assessment of prescription writing practices in a government tertiary care hospital in Haryana by using WHO prescribing indicators

Background: Writing a prescription is a combination of science and art. Good quality prescriptions are a sign of prescriber’s expertise. World Health Organization has defined certain parameters to promote rational drug use in all countries. This study was designed to assess the prescription writing practices in a government tertiary care hospital in Haryana by using WHO prescribing indicators.Methods: A total of 2155 prescriptions were evaluated. Each prescription was evaluated for average number of drugs prescribed per patient per encounter, percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name, percentage of encounters with an antibiotic prescribed, percentage of encounters with an injection prescribed and percentage of medicines from Essential drug list prescribed. These indicators help us to check polypharmacy, practice of prescribing drugs by brand names, antibiotic overuse, preference of injectables and non-adherence to Essential drug list.Results: The average number of drugs prescribed per patient per encounter was calculated to be 3.25±0.24. The percentage of medicines prescribed by generic names was 35.89%. Percentage of encounters with an antibiotic prescribed was 48.21 % and with an injection prescribed was 1.85%. The percentage of medicines form NLEM was 76.36%.Conclusions: The values of WHO prescribing indicators obtained from this study show that there are some areas where the prescribers need to improve their prescribing practices

Interactive Segmentation of Radiance Fields

Radiance Fields (RF) are popular to represent casually-captured scenes for new view generation and have been used for applications beyond it. Understanding and manipulating scenes represented as RFs have to naturally follow to facilitate mixed reality on personal spaces. Semantic segmentation of objects in the 3D scene is an important step for that. Prior segmentation efforts using feature distillation show promise but don't scale to complex objects with diverse appearance. We present a framework to interactively segment objects with fine structure. Nearest neighbor feature matching identifies high-confidence regions of the objects using distilled features. Bilateral filtering in a joint spatio-semantic space grows the region to recover accurate segmentation. We show state-of-the-art results of segmenting objects from RFs and compositing them to another scene, changing appearance, etc., moving closer to rich scene manipulation and understanding. Project Page: https://rahul-goel.github.io/isrf/Comment: Project Page: https://rahul-goel.github.io/isrf

Green Tobacco Sickness: A Review

It is still an unknown fact among many that tobacco harvesters are at a potential at a risk of suffering from “Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS)”, with its prevalence seen mostly among Asian and South American tobacco harvesters. These harvesters working in hot, wet conditions are likely to develop GTS,  as in such climatic conditions, the wetness and high humidity causes nicotine to reside on the surfaces of the leaves, while the high ambient temperature increases skin absorption, thereby increasing plasma nicotine concentrations by 30-45%. Patients suffering from GTS report nausea, vomiting, pallor, dizziness, headaches, increased perspiration, chills, abdominal pain, diarrhea, increased salivation, prostration, weakness, cough with or without expectoration, breathlessness and occasional reduction in blood pressure or heart rate. GTS is self-limiting and of short duration and hence treatment is not always necessary and not often sought by the harvesters. This review educates readers about GTS as well as encourages their participation in making tougher regulations in their respective countries for the control of this disease

For investigate the role of ultrasound and platelets count as an important marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of dengue patients

Background: Dengue is although self limiting viral disease but if severe complications take place than it becomes lethal. Plasma leakage is main pathology which results in fluid deposits in various organs. This plasma leakage is related to platelet count. Most important thing in treating dengue patient is to know the complications at the earliest. And ultrasound is the most sensitive and easily approachable, cost effective investigation for detecting the complications.Methods: This cross-sectional observational pilot study was carried out in the department of radiodiagnosis, pandit bhagwat dayal Sharma institute of medical sciences, Rohtak. One hundred and two patients with serologically confirmed dengue fever were included in this study. Ultrasound examinations were carried out by ultrasound machine with 5-13 MHZ probe by radiologists. Abdomen and thorax scanning were done thoroughly. Important findings like Gall bladder thickening hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, free fluid which are pathological markers for dengue were specially seen. Then these findings are relate to the age group and platelet count.Results: By applying chi square test we found that there is statistically difference in number of patients in age group 16-30 yrs having gall bladder wall thickening, hepatomegaly, free fluid, splenomegaly and pleural effusion as compared to other age groups (p<0.05) an also in patients having less than 20,000 platelets, only gall bladder thickening, ascites and hepatomegaly were statistically more significant as compared to other groups having more number of platelets (p<0.05).Conclusions: So, ultrasound and platelet count are important markers for diagnosis and prognosis of dengue patients. Ultrasound and Platelets count are important markers for the diagnosis as well as prognosis of dengue patients

Antibiotics-related adverse drug reactions at a tertiary care hospital in North India

Background: Antibiotics are considered to be commonly used drugs in hospital setting due to higher prevalence of infectious diseases especially in India. So, the present study was conducted to assess the incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) due to antibiotics and analyze for causality of adverse drug events reported.Methods: The present retrospective and observational, study was conducted in BPS GMC for women, Khanpur Kalan, Sonepat, Haryana which is a 500 bedded government medical hospital situated in rural area between March 2016 to February 2019 (i.e., 3 years). Patients of either sex or age who developed ADRs by any route were included in the study.Results: 300 (38.65%) cases were reported due to antibiotics out of total 776 ADR cases. 3% cases were serious. Adults (65%) were found to be most commonly affected by ADRs. Among antibiotics, cephalosporins and penicillins (15.98%) were the major culprit to cause adverse events followed by nitroimidazoles (15.2%) and antitubercular drugs and fluoro quinolones (13.16%). The most affected organ system was skin (49.33%) followed by the gastrointestinal system (33%). As per WHO scale of causality assessment, 33.33% and 67.67% reported cases were found to probably and possibly related to adverse events respectively.Conclusions: Antibiotics are most commonly prescribed drugs so its monitoring regarding ADRs may benefit the clinicians in early identification and management of ADRs so that quality of life of patient can be safeguarded at an earliest

A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF DRUG PRESCRIBING PRACTICES OF DOCTORS AND COMPLETENESS OF PRESCRIPTION IN A GOVERNMENT MEDICAL COLLEGE IN NORTHERN INDIA

Objective: This study was designed to analyze the drug prescribing practices of doctors and completeness of prescriptions in a government medical college in Northern India. Methods: A total of 2155 prescriptions were evaluated for adequacy of information related to prescribed drugs and completeness of information related to patients and doctors. Results: The weight of the patient was written only in 1.90% prescriptions. The diagnosis was not written on 43.85% prescriptions. A total number of drugs prescribed in all the prescriptions was 6998. The average number of drugs per prescription was found to be 3.25±0.24. Out of these, 64.10% were prescribed by brand names. About 69.14% of drugs were prescribed in the form of tablets. Route of administration was not found to be mentioned for 86.08% drugs. For 53.90% drugs, dose was not mentioned. The name of the prescribing doctor was mentioned in 1.95% prescriptions only. Conclusion: The study revealed that many prescriptions lacked crucial components of information pertaining to the drugs prescribed and the prescribing doctor. There is a vast scope for improvement by the prescribers