Cost-effective remedial to microfiber pollution from wash effluent in Kolkata and Ranaghat

The microfibers generated from Polyester and Nylon based materials during washing cause serious environmental pollution by both contaminating the aquatic environment and the livelihood of the underwater creatures as well. This study aims at investigating the microfiber-pollution in wash effluents collected from different regions of Kolkata which is believed to be one of the microfiber-polluted cities in the South-east Asia in recent times. In this work, packed bed microfiltration (PBMF) was adopted in an economic and eco-friendly manner to arrest adequate amounts of microfibers and non-biodegradable matters present in the water samples collected from different regions of Kolkata and its surrounding areas. Moreover, effective parameters such as packed bed height to diameter ratio (H/D), mess size of the adopted filtration unit were varied from 0.71 to 2.85 and 60 to 100, respectively to understand the efficacy of the approach and to justify the potential of such alternative in order to alleviate the concern as well. The present study reveals that the microfiltration efficiency of the proposed PBMF unit was achieved maximum 93.5% for sample A and 92.2% for sample D respectively to reduce the microfiber count from 7614 to 543 in an hour operation at a flow rate of 60 L h^-1. Besides, the cost of such system was found to be promising as much as 5 US$ on a yearly basis.

Affective symptoms as a predictor of internet addiction among young adults

OBJECTIVES

Mental health difficulties have been found to be associated with internet addiction, which makes it a multifaceted problem. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between internet addiction and affective states (depression, anxiety, and stress).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study sample consisted of 731 individuals (403 males and 328 females) ranging in age from 18 to 25 years. We used an observational survey design to study participants with an internet addiction test and depression, anxiety, and stress scale.

RESULTS

The mean age ± standard deviation of the sample was 22.58 ± 2.80 years. Stress and depression were found to play a major role in internet addiction in the regression analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The study supports the association between internet use and stress and depression. The findings imply the need for early identification and intervention of affective states in the context of unhealthy internet use.

Doomsurfing and doomscrolling mediate psychological distress in COVID-19 lockdown: Implications for awareness of cognitive biases

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a significant increase in the consumption of the internet for work, leisure time activities, and has also generated substantial amounts of anxiety, and uncertainty, which has lead individuals to spend a lot of time surfing the internet for the latest news on developments in the COVID-19 crisis. This ends up as scrolling or surfing through a lot of pessimistic news items. This search for information during COVID-19 is apparently influenced by a number of cognitive biases as well as mediated by poor affect regulation skills. Thus, there is a need to address these cognitive biases and promote affect regulation strategies across health settings.

Constructing the understanding of teenagers deviant use of cyberspace

Cyberspace provides a completely different platform for the expression of one's needs in comparison to the face-to-face world. The use of cyberspace by teenagers is becoming a major concern due to the emergence of engagement in deviant use of internet applications inclusive of engagement in sexting; excessive and addictive use of the internet, consumption of pornography, and as well as phenomena of internet chat rooms. The online disinhibition, anonymity, personality factors, sensation-seeking behavior, impulsivity, deviant socialization processes, and absence of social systems to educate adolescents about gender sensitivity and sex appear to predispose teenagers for indulgence in deviant usage of cyberspace. There is an urgent need to understand the factors related to deviant use of cyberspace and for offering programs for parents and adolescents on gender sensitivity, sexuality, sex, consent in relationships, and deviant use of internet applications. Such initiatives will help to offer opportunities for a corrective experience through appropriate socialization experiences and enhance cyberliteracy among children and adolescents.

Case-Based Evidence for Screening Pornography in Marital Therapy

Pornography has become a modality to experience sexual expression. It is used in a recreational manner to enhance sexual life. However, in some cases, excessive usage can lead to distress in the other partner. In this case, the client sought help at the specialty clinic for management of pornography use. A clinical interview was used to get details of the patterns of porn use and dysfunctions caused by the same. Beck’s Depression Inventory was used for the assessment of associated depression. The results highlight the presence of distress in the female partner due to excessive pornography consumption in the other partner. This report has implications for developing sensitization and intervention program to address these issues within the marital context.

Pathways of migration from gaming to gambling

Gaming and gambling have been studied in terms of similarity of its manifestations. There is a dearth of empirical-based evidence for the exploration of pathways to understand the shift from gaming to gambling. A 23-year-old male from a nuclear family was assessed using clinical interview for the pathways for shifting from gaming to gambling. The pathways were personality predispositions, maladaptive coping, interpersonal distress, peer pressure, variable reward anticipation, addiction characteristics in the form of craving, loss of control and use despite having consequences. These findings suggest that there is a need to create awareness among young adults about these potential causes related to transition from gaming to gambling.

A study of CBS gene polymorphism, plasma H2S levels and their association in type-2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S), in recent years, is getting significant attention, as more evidences are emerging about its diverse biological roles. There are evidences of H2S having anti-inflammatory, neuro-modulator, vasodilator, anti-apoptotic and mitochondrial protective roles in various tissues. Among different tissues, β-cells of pancreas, according to some recent studies, get significantly affected by the imbalance in H2S homeostasis, leading to β-cell dysfunction and Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Cystathionine- β-synthase (CBS) enzyme is involved in the synthesis of H2S from cysteine in various tissues. Among various possible mutations in the CBS gene, a particular 833T-C mutation, has been found to be associated with various diseases. Aims and Objectives: The present study was aimed to determine the extent of abnormality of H2S homeostasis in type-2 DM patients, and to find out presence and association (if any) of 833T-C mutation in CBS gene, in the patients of type-2 DM, in comparison to healthy control subjects, in the Indian population. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was done with 40 clinically and biochemically diagnosed DM type II patients attending OPD of Endocrinology department of NRS Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, and 40 age and gender matched non-diabetic control subjects. DNA was isolated from EDTA blood of all the study subjects, PCR done and results compared. Plasma H2S was measured by the N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylene-diamine method. Plasma glucose and serum insulin were measured by standardized commercial kits. Results: Our study found the plasma H2S levels in the patients of type II DM to be significantly higher(P<0.001) than the control subjects. The results also found significant positive correlation between plasma H2S level with fasting serum Insulin level (P<0.001) and fasting plasma glucose level (P<0.001) in the diabetic patients. Among 40 DM patients, only two were heterozygous for the mutation, and had both mutated allele (242bp) and normal allele (174bp). Rest of the patients and all the control subjects were homozygous for the normal allele (174bp). This marginal difference in the incidence of mutated allele was not found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: our study shows significant association of H2S dys-regulation with the type-2 Diabetes Mellitus in Indian population. The marginal but insignificantly higher incidence of 833T-C mutation in CBS gene, found in our study, warrants further research with higher number of study population, to more conclusively infer about the role of this mutation in the pathogenesis of type-2 DM.