Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

About: Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science is a education organization based out in Kolkata, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Excited state & Catalysis. The organization has 3867 authors who have published 10457 publications receiving 220098 citations.

Cellular versus viral microRNAs in host–virus interaction

Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) mark a new paradigm of RNA-directed gene expression regulation in a wide spectrum of biological systems. These small non-coding RNAs can contribute to the repertoire of host-pathogen interactions during viral infection. This interplay has important consequences, both for the virus and the host. There have been reported evidences of host-cellular miRNAs modulating the expression of various viral genes, thereby playing a pivotal role in the host-pathogen interaction network. In the hide-and-seek game between the pathogens and the infected host, viruses have evolved highly sophisticated gene-silencing mechanisms to evade host-immune response. Recent reports indicate that virus too encode miRNAs that protect them against cellular antiviral response. Furthermore, they may exploit the cellular miRNA pathway to their own advantage. Nevertheless, our increasing knowledge of the host-virus interaction at the molecular level should lead us toward possible explanations to viral tropism, latency and oncogenesis along with the development of an effective, durable and nontoxic antiviral therapy. Here, we summarize the recent updates on miRNA-induced gene-silencing mechanism, modulating host-virus interactions with a glimpse of the miRNA-based antiviral therapy for near future.

Adsorption behavior of rhodamine B on Rhizopus oryzae biomass.

Abstract: The removal of a carcinogenic dye rhodamine B (C I 45170) from wastewater by biomass of different moulds and yeasts is described Among all of the fungal species tested, the biomass of Rhizopus oryzae MTCC 262 is found to be the most effective Dye adsorption reaches maximum with the biomass harvested from the early stationary phase of growth The optimum temperature and pH for adsorption are observed to be 40 °C and 70, respectively The adsorption rate is very fast initially and attains equilibrium after 5 h The adsorption isotherm follows the Langmuir isotherm model satisfactorily within the studied dye concentration range Of the different metabolic inhibitors tested, 2,4-ditrophenol (DNP) and N,N‘-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) decrease dye adsorption by ∼30% suggesting the role of energy metabolism in the process Spectrophotometric study indicates that the removal of rhodamine B by R oryzae biomass involves an adsorption process Scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopic inve

Reduced Graphene Oxide-Silver Nanoparticle Composite as Visible Light Photocatalyst for Degradation of Colorless Endocrine Disruptors

Abstract: Sunlight-induced degradation of organic pollutants is an ideal approach for environmental pollution control and wastewater treatment. Although a variety of photocatalysts have been designed toward this goal, efficient degradation of colorless organic pollutants by visible light is a challenging issue. Here, we show that a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based composite with silver nanoparticle (rGO–Ag) can act as an efficient visible-light photocatalyst for the degradation of colorless organic pollutants. We have developed a simple, large-scale synthesis method for rGO–Ag and used it for the degradation of three well-known endocrine disruptors (phenol, bisphenol A, and atrazine) under UV and visible light. It is found that photocatalytic efficiency by rGO–Ag under visible light is significantly higher compared to that of rGO or silver nanoparticles. It is proposed that Ag nanoparticles offer visible-light-induced excitation of silver plasmons, and conductive rGO offers efficient charge separation and thus in...

Ascorbate-assisted growth of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures: sphere, spindle, and flower and their catalytic properties.

Abstract: A simple solution-based method to prepare mainly flowerlike zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures using the ascorbate ion as a shape-directing/capping agent at relatively low temperature (ca. 30 and 60 °C) was described. However, we observed that different shapes of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures such as flowerlike, spindlelike, and spherical could be obtained with an increase in the synthesis temperature from 60 to 90 °C. The effects of other organic capping agents on the shape of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures were also studied. FTIR, FESEM, and XRD characterization were performed on the formed ZnO nanostructures to understand the role of ascorbate in the growth of flowerlike morphology. The nucleation and growth process can regulate by changing the metal precursor and ascorbate ion concentrations. We were able to identify intermediate nanostructures such as spherical/quasi-spherical and spindle that are very much on the pathway of formation of large, flowerlike ZnO nanostructures. Electron microscopy resul...

Periodic thermodynamics of isolated quantum systems.

Abstract: The nature of the behavior of an isolated many-body quantum system periodically driven in time has been an open question since the beginning of quantum mechanics. After an initial transient period, such a system is known to synchronize with the driving; in contrast to the nondriven case, no fundamental principle has been proposed for constructing the resulting nonequilibrium state. Here, we analytically show that, for a class of integrable systems, the relevant ensemble is constructed by maximizing an appropriately defined entropy subject to constraints, which we explicitly identify. This result constitutes a generalization of the concepts of equilibrium statistical mechanics to a class of far-from-equilibrium systems, up to now mainly accessible using ad hoc methods.