Bangladeshi Migration to India—The Causal Factors at the Origin

Migration that involves the crossing of international borders of sovereign countries is a major issue that affects international relations. Illegal Bangladeshi migration to India is one such issue. Bangladeshi migration to India is a result of many factors – environmental, economic, social, and political—each one acting alone or in combination, causing migration. Factors that cause Bangladeshi migration to India are many. Scholars categorise them broadly into “Push” and “Pull” factors. Bangladesh is a country where millions of people are displaced every year due to natural disasters like floods, cyclones, riverbank erosions, and salinity. Added to it, poor economic conditions in Bangladesh and the resultant economic distress have pushed people to cross over to India. The minority communities of Bangladesh, mainly the Hindus, have migrated to India, faced with communal tension and religious discrimination as a result of the Islamisation of the society and polity of Bangladesh. This paper examines the factors that induce migration at the origin—Bangladesh. It also argues that India’s effort to stop illegal migration will be successful only if there is a perceptible change in the migration inducing factors at the origin

Discriminating quantum-optical beam-splitter channels with number-diagonal signal states: Applications to quantum reading and target detection

We consider the problem of distinguishing, with minimum probability of error, two optical beam-splitter channels with unequal complex-valued reflectivities using general quantum probe states entangled over M signal and M' idler mode pairs of which the signal modes are bounced off the beam splitter while the idler modes are retained losslessly. We obtain a lower bound on the output state fidelity valid for any pure input state. We define number-diagonal signal (NDS) states to be input states whose density operator in the signal modes is diagonal in the multimode number basis. For such input states, we derive series formulas for the optimal error probability, the output state fidelity, and the Chernoff-type upper bounds on the error probability. For the special cases of quantum reading of a classical digital memory and target detection (for which the reflectivities are real valued), we show that for a given input signal photon probability distribution, the fidelity is minimized by the NDS states with that distribution and that for a given average total signal energy N_s, the fidelity is minimized by any multimode Fock state with N_s total signal photons. For reading of an ideal memory, it is shown that Fock state inputs minimize the Chernoff bound. For target detection under high-loss conditions, a no-go result showing the lack of appreciable quantum advantage over coherent state transmitters is derived. A comparison of the error probability performance for quantum reading of number state and two-mode squeezed vacuum state (or EPR state) transmitters relative to coherent state transmitters is presented for various values of the reflectances. While the nonclassical states in general perform better than the coherent state, the quantitative performance gains differ depending on the values of the reflectances.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. This closely approximates the published version. The major change from v2 is that Section IV has been re-organized, with a no-go result for target detection under high loss conditions highlighted. The last sentence of the abstract has been deleted to conform to the arXiv word limit. Please see the PDF for the full abstrac

Effectiveness of Quercetin and Its Derivatives Against SARS CoV2 -In silico Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic that erupted in November 2019 is continuing, with no effective antiviral agent to date. Synthetic antiviral agents have limitations such as a narrow range of therapeutic effectiveness of the activity, toxicity, and resistant viral strains and traditional antiviral medicines at large seem not to have these limitations. Here, some of the existing phytochemicals are cherry-picked for repurposing against the enzyme or protein targets of SARS CoV2, by the principles of structure-based drug design based on molecular docking studies. The most important drug targets of SARS CoV2 namely, Mpro protease (6LU7), RdRp polymerase (7BTF), and Spike glycoprotein of SARS CoV2(6VSB) were employed for docking analysis with chosen phytochemicals and binding affinity was calculated using PRODIGY software and docking sites determined using Chimera software. For docking studies, 160 phytochemicals were selected from a large pool of phytochemicals. Based on the binding affinity values, 61 phytoconstituents were selected for further in-silico screening which resulted in 15 phytochemicals, with higher binding affinity to spike glycoprotein of SARS CoV2. Moreover, Guaijaverin, Quercetin, Quercitrin, Quinic acid, and spiraeoside binds both to the spike glycoprotein of SARS Cov2 and the host receptor of human ACE2. Hence these compounds may serve as two-pronged drug candidates for SARS CoV2. In nutshell, we present a few phytochemical candidates with higher binding affinity to the Spike protein of SARS CoV2, which needs to be further optimized by in vitro studies to minimize the cytotoxicity and increase or retain the binding affinity, towards an effective antiviral drug against COVID 19

Animal hygiene and sustainable livestock production: impact of ground water contamination with arsenic

There is a growing concern all over the world about contamination of ground water with Arsenic. One of the major repercussions of arsenic contamination is degradation of animal hygiene that ultimately affects sustainable livestock production. The reports suggest that concentration of Arsenic in ground water of twenty one countries is well above the guideline values. Use of such contaminated water for animal husbandry and livestock production compromises with the hygienic value of animal products. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop low cost treatment technologies for reducing the level of arsenic in ground water to maintain the hygiene and sustainability of livestock production. Most of the traditional treatment technologies are costly and less effective in reducing arsenic concentration to safer limits. Therefore, during present study, an attempt was made to design a low-cost algal adsorbent based filtration unit consisting of polyurethane columns with entrapped algal adsorbents. The column was made of adsorbents of algal origin like agar-agar, alginic acid, calcium alginate and Spirulina platensis biomass entrapped in polyurethane foam matrix. The performance of the column was assessed in terms of removal efficiency and the quantity of metal sequestered in unit time interval. The results from the study the show that algal biosorbents and S. platensis biomass combination has a capacity to adsorbed arsenic from aqueous solution. The simple design, easy fabrication and no energy requirement for the operation of the filtration unit developed under the present study is suitable to rural areas where arsenic contamination of ground water is adversely affecting the animal hygiene and sustained livestock production

Growth performance of Spirulina (Arthrospira) platensis in a low cost medium: An assessment

The unialgal culture of Spirulina platensis was sub-cultured in Zarrouk’s medium under photoautotrophic conditions. Initially, indoor batch cultivation was carried out for a week in four different types of cultivation media viz., Zarrouk’s, Modified Zarrouk’s, prescribed Nallayam Research Centre (NRC), and Modified NRC. In modified medium, urea and phosphoric acid of NRC medium were replaced with sodium nitrate and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (anhydrous) and concentration of ferrous sulphate heptahydrate was reduced. The batch and airlift indoor culture experiments were carried out with an illumination of 3500±100 lux, photoperiod of 12:12 hour light and dark periods and temperature of 24±1°C. The specific growth rate value was 5.7 % higher in Zarrouk’s medium as compared to modified NRC medium. However, the cost of modified NRC medium was considerably lower than Zarrouk’s medium; therefore, modified NRC medium was selected for outdoor studies. The outdoor mass cultivation was done under natural conditions with the solar radiation reaching the surface of culture was between 2160 and 8450 lux and temperature ranged from 27 to 34°C. An assessment of the performance of growth in batch, airlift and FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) tanks revealed that culture grown in airlift units showed best growth which was evident from higher specific growth rate and number of doublings per day. There was a 3.4-fold increase in cell density (in terms of turbidity at 750 nm) of the cultures in such units. The growth in outdoor FRP tanks was also comparable to the airlift cultures

Green Tea Catechin, Epigallocatechin Gallate, Suppresses Signaling by the dsRNA Innate Immune Receptor RIG-I

The Innate immune system constitutes the first line of defense against pathogen infections. The Retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) receptor recognizes triphosphorylated ssRNAs and dsRNA to initiate downstream signaling of interferon response. However, unregulated activity of these receptors could lead to autoimmune diseases. We seek to identify small molecules that can specifically regulate RIG-I signaling.Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a polyphenolic catechin present in green tea, was identified in a small molecule screen. It was found to bind RIG-I and inhibits its signaling at low micromolar concentrations in HEK293T cells. Furthermore, EGCG dose-dependently inhibited the ATPase activity of recombinant RIG-I but did not compete with RIG-I interaction with RNA or with ATP. EGCG did not inhibit signaling by Toll-like receptors 3, 4, 9 or constitutive signaling by the adapter protein IPS-1. Structure activity relationship analysis showed that EGCG, its epimer GCG and a digallate-containing compound, theaflavin 3,3' digallate (TFDG) were potent RIG-I inhibitors. EGCG also inhibited IL6 secretion and IFN- β mRNA synthesis in BEAS-2B cells, which harbors intact endogenous RIG-I signaling pathway.EGCG and its derivatives could have potential therapeutic use as a modulator of RIG-I mediated immune responses

Success stories of model sea-cage farm Sippikulam fishervillage, Thoothukudi district

Success stories of model sea-cage farm Sippikulam fishervillage, Thoothukudi distric

Analysis of prescription pattern of antihypertensive medication and adherence to Beers criteria in geriatric department of a tertiary care hospital in Mysuru

Background: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the prescription pattern of anti-hypertensive drugs and adherence to Beers’ criteria in geriatric department of JSS Hospital, Mysuru.Methods: An observational, prospective, cross-sectional study was carried out in geriatric department. The basic demographic information and prescriptions of geriatric patients were studied. Descriptive analysis was used to present the results, prescriptions were analysed and checked for adherence to Beers’ criteria.Results: Out of 485 patients, 82.68% received monotherapy, 15.87% received 2-drug combination therapy and 1.4% received 3-drug combination therapy. Among patients receiving monotherapy, angiotensin receptor blockers (49.06%) was the commonest antihypertensive class of drug prescribed. Telmisartan (38.96%) was the commonest drug prescribed. Among 2-drug combination therapy angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor and Calcium channel blockers were combined commonly. In 3-drug combination therapy angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, beta blockers and diuretics were combined commonly. 99.3% of prescriptions were adhered to 2015 American Geriatrics Society Beers criteria.Conclusions: Almost 82% of the patients were treated with monotherapy. The trends in prescribing of anti-hypertensives were in favor of conventional ones such as Angiotensin receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, beta blockers and centrally acting alpha agonists. 99.3% of prescriptions were in accordance with the American Geriatrics Society 2015 Updated Beers criteria

Anxious medico with nicotine patch: a case report

We often suffer more in our imaginations than in reality. Anxiety is a terrible experience, you could even have an attack and no one would even know most of the times because it is an inward thing. People do get anxious and experience this feeling most of the times in life. Up to an extent its normal as much as it can be controlled if not this unpleasant feeling overrules. We learn to combat this feeling as the age passes but it also depends on different environmental, social occupational factors and the level of stress to overcome can be difficult. Many non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods are available to combat anxiety disorder. Self-medications can be occupational hazard and is strongly entrenched within the culture of both physicians and medical students as an accepted way to buffer their work performance. We are reporting a case of an anxious medico self-medicated to combat anxiety.