Impact of Climate Condition on Flowering, Fruiting, Kernel and Nut-yield In Newly Added Potential Growing Areas of Cashewnut in India- A Review

Cashew is now an important Horticulture plant for India and now India is exporting cashew at a good scale. Traditional Indian growing area comprises the parts of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states. However, now new areas are coming up with good potential for cultivation such as Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar island, North Earsten Hilly States. Cashew cultivars are recommended based on geographical distribution, climate, soil based on these flowering and fruiting time. Cashew nut yield and kernel weight can be different for different varieties and so on its quality with shelling can vary. Flowering and fruiting is greatly influenced by rain because it starts flowering after monsoon, which is greatly influenced by the onset and offset of Indian monsoon that India varies from state to state as India has north-east monsoon and south-west monsoon. Moreover, soil characteristics across India varies widely. Integrated effect of soil, rainfall and temperature drives the optimum growth of cashew trees, which resulted in the change in yield and quality of cashew nuts. The present review paper addresses many of these drivers and their impact on cashew produce in India. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i3.00

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Effect of Antiplatelet Therapy on Survival and Organ Support–Free Days in Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19

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