A comprehensive review on the removal of noxious pollutants using carrageenan based advanced adsorbents

Rapid industrial development is associated with high discharge of toxic pollutants into the environment. The industries discharge their wastewater containing organic pollutants directly into the water system without treating them that has posed many serious threats to environmental protection. The use of bioadsorbents for the removal of such toxic pollutants from the waste water due to its simple synthesis, easy operation, effectiveness, and economic viability have emerged a new dimension in the wastewater treatment approaches. Various adsorbents have been prepared to examine their adsorption capacity against different adsorbates, but, to attain sustainability, biocompatibility, and biodegradation, bio-adsorbents have been found to won the battle. Seaweed derived polysaccharide; Carrageenan (CR) has been proven to be an excellent adsorbent for the wastewater treatment. It has been successfully modified with various components to form CR based-magnetic composites, hydrogels, nanoparticle modified CR composites and many others to enrich and diversify its properties. In this review, we have explained the adsorption behaviour of various carrageenan based adsorbents for the removal of different dyes. The influence of various parameters such as the effect of initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH, temperature, and ion concentration on dye adsorption is well explained. This paper also summarizes the structure, morphology, swelling ability, and thermal stability of carrageenan. The data also expounds on the adsorption capacity, kinetic model, isotherm model, and nature of the adsorption process. Different types of solvents are used for the regeneration and reusability of carrageenan adsorbents and their regeneration studies and desorption efficiency is well-explained. The adsorption mechanism of dyes onto carrageenan based adsorbents has been well described in this review. This review provides a deep insight about the use of carrageenan based adsorbents for the wastewater treatment

Single-stranded DNA binding protein from human malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum is encoded in the nucleus and targeted to the apicoplast

Apicoplast, an essential organelle of human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum contains a ∼35 kb circular genome and is a possible target for therapy. Proteins required for the replication and maintenance of the apicoplast DNA are not clearly known. Here we report the presence of single–stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) in P falciparum. PfSSB is targeted to the apicoplast and it binds to apicoplast DNA. A strong ssDNA binding activity specific to SSB was also detected in P. falciparum lysate. Both the recombinant and endogenous proteins form tetramers and the homology modelling shows the presence of an oligosaccharide/oligonucleotide-binding fold responsible for ssDNA binding. Additionally, we used SSB as a tool to track the mechanism of delayed death phenomena shown by apicoplast targeted drugs ciprofloxacin and tetracycline. We find that the transport of PfSSB is severely affected during the second life cycle following drug treatment. Moreover, the translation of PfSSB protein and not the transcription of PfSSB seem to be down-regulated specifically during second life cycle although there is no considerable change in protein expression profile between drug-treated and untreated parasites. These results suggest dual control of translocation and translation of apicoplast targeted proteins behind the delayed death phenomena

The CMS Outer Hadron Calorimeter

The CMS hadron calorimeter is a sampling calorimeter with brass absorber and plastic scintillator tiles with wavelength shifting fibres for carrying the light to the readout device. The barrel hadron calorimeter is complemented with a outer calorimeter to ensure high energy shower containment in CMS and thus working as a tail catcher. Fabrication, testing and calibrations of the outer hadron calorimeter are carried out keeping in mind its importance in the energy measurement of jets in view of linearity and resolution. It will provide a net improvement in missing \et measurements at LHC energies. The outer hadron calorimeter has a very good signal to background ratio even for a minimum ionising particle and can hence be used in coincidence with the Resistive Plate Chambers of the CMS detector for the muon trigger

The Cost of Universal Health Care in India: A Model Based Estimate

Introduction: As high out-of-pocket healthcare expenses pose heavy financial burden on the families, Government of India is considering a variety of financing and delivery options to universalize health care services. Hence, an estimate of the cost of delivering universal health care services is needed. Methods: We developed a model to estimate recurrent and annual costs for providing health services through a mix of public and private providers in Chandigarh located in northern India. Necessary health services required to deliver goo

Appropriate DevR (DosR)-Mediated Signaling Determines Transcriptional Response, Hypoxic Viability and Virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Background: The DevR(DosR) regulon is implicated in hypoxic adaptation and virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The present study was designed to decipher the impact of perturbation in DevR-mediated signaling on these properties. Methodology/Principal Findings: M. tb complemented (Comp) strains expressing different levels of DevR were constructed in Mut1 * background (expressing DevR N-terminal domain in fusion with AphI (DevRN-Kan) and in Mut2DdevR background (deletion mutant). They were compared for their hypoxia adaptation and virulence properties. Diverse phenotypes were noted; basal level expression (,5.362.3 mM) when induced to levels equivalent to WT levels (,25.869.3 mM) was associated with robust DevR regulon induction and hypoxic adaptation (Comp 9 * and 10*), whereas low-level expression (detectable at transcript level) as in Comp 11 * and Comp15 was associated with an adaptation defect. Intermediate-level expression (,3.361.2 mM) partially restored hypoxic adaptation functions in Comp2, but not in Comp1 * bacteria that coexpressed DevRN-Kan. Comp * strains in Mut1 * background also exhibited diverse virulence phenotypes; high/very low-level DevR expression was associated with virulence whereas intermediate-level expression was associated with low virulence. Transcription profiling and gene expression analysis revealed up-regulation of the phosphate starvation response (PSR) in Mut1 * and Comp11 * bacteria, but not in WT/Mut2DdevR/other Comp strains, indicating a plasticity in expression pathways that is determined by the magnitude of signaling perturbation through DevRN-Kan

May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk

Design, Performance, and Calibration of the CMS Hadron-Outer Calorimeter

The CMS hadron calorimeter is a sampling calorimeter with brass absorber and plastic scintillator tiles with wavelength shifting fibres for carrying the light to the readout device. The barrel hadron calorimeter is complemented with an outer calorimeter to ensure high energy shower containment in the calorimeter. Fabrication, testing and calibration of the outer hadron calorimeter are carried out keeping in mind its importance in the energy measurement of jets in view of linearity and resolution. It will provide a net improvement in missing \et measurements at LHC energies. The outer hadron calorimeter will also be used for the muon trigger in coincidence with other muon chambers in CMS