Acharya Prafulla Chandra College

Introduction/ Objective: Gut wellness is becoming the postulate of overall well-being that promotes digestion, immunity, and mental health. Although awareness among the population has increased, it is not matched with evidence-based practice, especially in Indian communities. The research aimed to assess the level of knowledge, perceptions, and behaviours on gut health with special attention to the integration of dietary supplements in two metropolitan cities in India, Mumbai and Chandigarh. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey comprising a 20-item Likert-scale instrument was conducted; 110 participants participated. The questionnaire encompassed the gut health awareness, perceptions of diet therapy, and willingness to adopt supplements. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, student t-tests, and Pearson correlation were employed using MINITAB 17. Results: The study revealed a moderate level of awareness of gut health concepts, with a high level of agreement in the roles of digestion, but limited knowledge of prebiotics and the diversity of the microbiome. A significant correlation was found between perceptions of gut health roles and functions of diet in gut health, with perceptions and willingness of supplement adoption (p = 0.000). We found no significant associations between knowledge level and demographic factors, with the exception of gender. Discussion: Results indicate that there is a gap in understanding and behaviour of gut health. Although awareness exists, there exist a lot of misconceptions, especially about the role of probiotics and dietary interventions.Conclusion Targeted educational programs and culturally relevant public health interventions are essential to bridge this gap and promote evidence-based use of supplements in urban India.

The present investigation offers a novel approach by scientifically revalidating traditional beliefs surrounding the medicinal value of Bengal amloki (Phyllanthus emblica L.) through comprehensive physicochemical, spectroscopic and chromatographic analyses. This study aimed to determine the bioactive potential and establish traditional beliefs within the framework of scientific interpretation, and to characterize the physicochemical and spectroscopic properties of the fruits of Bengal amloki. The fruits' chemical analysis was done to assess their bioactive potential as a source of alternative medicine and their ability to treat ailments. The nutritious fruits of Bengal amloki (also known as amla or Indian gooseberry) revealed C, H, O and N contents of 48.773 +/- 0.211%, 4.858 +/- 0.222%, 42.411 +/- 0.447% and 1.844 +/- 0.057%, respectively. Based on Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) results, strong bonds between C-O, O-H, N-H, O=C=O, C-H, and O-H molecules supported the presence of primary alcohol, carboxylic acid, alkene, carbon dioxide, alkane and phenol, respectively. Several significant bioactive phyto-constituents have also been detected by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) screening, whose bioactivities are believed to be useful in the management of various disorders. The results showed that biomass with high fixed carbon (FC), high volatile matter (VM) and low Compositional analysis (CA) had the best efficiency, antioxidant properties, and potential for converting energy.

Two new thiocyanato-bridged copper(ii) complexes of 1D polymeric chains of molecular formula [Cu(L1)(mu 1,3-NCS)]n (1) and [Cu(L2)(mu 1,3-NCS)]n (2) [HL1 = N-propyl-N-(5-bromosalcylidine)ethane-1,2-diamine; HL2 = N-propyl-N-(5-chlorosalcylidine)ethane-1,2-diamine] have been synthesized and characterized. Characterizations of 1 and 2 have been accomplished by several physicochemical techniques, including single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. X-ray diffraction analyses of 1 and 2 reveal that the monomeric units of the 1D polymers are bridged and interconnected via the mu 1,3-thiocyanato group. The coordination geometry around the Cu centers in 1 and 2 can be best described as a distorted square pyramidal environment. The current-voltage characteristics of the Al/1/ITO and Al/2/ITO structures have been analysed by considering the thermionic emission theory of the Schottky barrier diode. Employing a conventional method, the barrier height and ideality factor have been calculated to be 0.89 eV and 3.84 for 1, and 0.84 eV and 3.75 for 2, respectively. The series resistances have been obtained graphically as 4.24 x 103 Omega for Al/1/ITO and 2.65 x 103 Omega for Al/2/ITO structures using the modified Norde's technique. Both complexes 1 and 2 show moderate catecholase activity as observed by examining the oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol (3,5-DTBC) to 3,5-di-tert-butylquinone (3,5-DTBQ). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations, including HOMOs and LUMOs, were carried out to acquire the Fukui function values at the Cu centers in 1 and 2 to understand that the substrate 3,5-DTBC most likely binds with the Cu(ii) for its activation during the catalytic process. However, a comparative assessment of their catecholase activities indicates that 2 (kcat = 29.76 h-1) has superior catalytic efficacy in comparison to 1 (kcat = 11.15 h-1).

Thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves recorded from real samples generally comprise several component peaks originating from different trapping and recombination centres. The degree of overlapping of the component peaks imposes complications and intricacies in the accurate determination of kinetic parameters and charge trafficking mechanism such as activation energy (E), frequency factor (s), order of kinetics (b) etc. The conventional approach in TL analysis is to resolve a complex glow curve into distinct component peaks and subsequently carry out glow curve analysis on each of the peaks using various methods. A significant challenge in this process arises when the overlapping of two (or, in principle, more) TL peaks is so strong that they appear as a single peak, even after deconvolution. For obvious reasons, such a deception introduces gross mistake in overall glow curve analysis. The present work addresses this issue and investigates the nature of completely overlapped complex TL peaks appearing as a single peak. We consider the overlap of two constituent TL peaks for which Two Trap One Recombination centre (TTOR) model has been adopted for data simulation. The derivative analysis has been performed and various established methods are employed to extract the trapping parameters from these TL curves. This study requires the application of TL data simulated in General Order Kinetics (GOK) model and One Trap One Recombination centre (OTOR) model also. Our study reveals that ‘Area’ method, if applied in a judicious manner after deconvolution by considering different zones of each of the component glow peaks, can be quite useful in detecting whether a glow curve is truly single.

Dinoflagellates are an important community of phytoplankton in estuaries and respond strongly to seasonal environmental changes. Regular field sampling was conducted to document species composition, seasonal fluctuations, dinoflagellate diversity, and various environmental factors in the tropical Hooghly River estuarine water (West Bengal, India). The pre-monsoon season revealed maximum diversity (H' = 2.603) and species richness (D = 3.605), while the highest dinoflagellate species observations were made in the post-monsoon season. Non–metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination revealed clear spatial heterogeneity among the study sites, with Site 3 being ecologically distinct and relatively more productive in terms of environmental conditions and dinoflagellate species composition. Spearman's correlation analyses showed temperature (ρ = −0.894, p < 0.001), salinity (ρ = 0.476, p < 0.001), TDS (ρ = 0.553, p < 0.001), nitrate content (ρ = −0.748, p < 0.001), and Chl-a (ρ = 0.833, p < 0.001) were strongly correlated with the numerical abundance of all dinoflagellates. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed how changes in physicochemical parameters across all seasons affect dinoflagellate assemblage, seasonal distribution, and composition in Hooghly estuarine waters. Temperature, salinity, and nutrient contents are the primary factors influencing the regulation and proliferation of different dinoflagellate species. Presence of potentially toxic (Dinophysis spp.) and harmful dinoflagellate species (Tripos fusus, Tripos furca, Pyrophacus spp.) remains a concern for Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB). A consistent rise in salinity levels in the river water poses an alarming threat to the ecological health of the estuary and its long-term viability.