ABSTRACT
Conventional petroleum-derived polymers are valued for their versatility and are widely used, owing to their characteristics such as cost-effectiveness, diverse physical and chemical qualities, lower molecular weight, and easy processability for large-scale production. However, the extensive accumulation of such plastics leads to serious environmental issues. To combat this existing situation, an alternative lies in the production of bioplastics from natural and renewable sources such as plants, animals, microbes, etc. Bioplastics obtained from renewable sources are compostable and susceptible to degradation caused by microbes hydrolyzing to CO2, CH4, and biomass. Also, certain additives are reinforced into the bioplastic films to improve their physicochemical properties and degradation rate. However, on degradation, the bio-microplastic (BM) produced could have positive as well as negative impact on the soil health. This article thus focuses on the degradation of various fossil based as well as bio based biodegradable plastics such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polyhydroxy butyrate (PHB), polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene succinate (PBS), polycaprolactone (PCL), and polysaccharide derived bioplastics by mechanical, thermal, photodegradation and microbial approaches. The degradation mechanism of each approach has been discussed in detailed for different bioplastics. How the incorporation or reinforcement of various additives in the biodegradable plastics effects their degradation rates has also been discussed. In addition to that, the impact of generated bio-microplastic on physicochemical properties of soil such as pH, bulk density, carbon, nitrogen content etc. and biological properties such as on genome of native soil microbes and on plant nutritional health have been discussed in detailed.
ABSTRACT
Background Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder and can be early detected with the aid of screening tools. Chandigarh autism screening instrument (CASI) is a newly developed tool to screen autistic symptoms among children aged between 1.5 to 10 years in the north Indian Hindi speaking population. Objective In this study, we evaluated the caregiver report of autistic symptoms in preschool children (3-6 years) attending selected schools of Rohtak. Materials and Methods The index study was conducted among 225 caregivers of school-going children aged between 3 to 6 years. Social and communication disorders checklist (SCDC-Hindi) and CASI was used to measure autistic symptoms. The modified Kuppuswamy scale was used for assessing the socioeconomic status of the caregivers. Results The autistic symptoms varied from 2.2 to 18.7%, depending upon the CASI (cutoff score of 10) and SCDC (cutoff score of 9) measurements. The items in the shorter four-item version (CASI Bref) of CASI were found to be the predictors of autistic symptoms in this population. Children's gender, age, and socioeconomic status were not found to have any association with autistic symptoms in this setting. Conclusion The study provides preliminary evidence in relation to the CASI-linked screening for autistic symptoms among preschool children. The shorter version of CASI (CASI Bref) can be an efficient quick screener for autistic traits, but the full version of CASI needs to be validated as per age-appropriate autism screening tools.
ABSTRACT
"Nanocellulose" have captivated the topical sphere of sturdily escalating market for sustainable materials. The review focuses on the comprehensive understanding of the distinct surface chemistry and functionalities pertaining to the renovation of macro-cellulose at nanodimensional scale to provide an intuition of their processing-structure-function prospective. The abundant availability, cost effectiveness and diverse properties associated with plant-based resources have great economical perspective for developing sustainable cellulose nanomaterials. Hence, emphasis has been given on nanocellulose types obtained from plant-based sources. An overarching goal is to provide the recent advancement in the preparation routes of nanocellulose. Considering the excellent shear thinning/thixotropic/gel-like behavior, the review provids an assemblage of publications specifically dealing with its application as rheology modifier with emphasis on its use as bioink for 3D bioprinting for various biomedical applications. Altogether, this review has been oriented in a way to collocate a collective data starting from the historical perspective of cellulose discovery to modern cellulosic chemistry and its renovation as nanocellulose with recent technological hype for broad spanning applications.
