Intravenous low dose clonidine premedication for attenuation of haemodynamic responses to laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation

Background: Laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation are almost always associated with an increased sympathetic activity. To attenuate the presser response, various drugs have been tried. This study aims at finding out if the low dose of clonidine (1.5µg/kg) is best suited for this purpose.Methods: This was a prospective study which involved two groups of patients. Each group had 30 patients who presented for elective, non-cardiovascular surgeries. The patients in group-C received Clonidine (1.5 µg/kg) and the patients in group-N received Normal saline. Heart rate (HR), Systolic blood pressure (SBP), Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and Mean blood pressure (MBP) were recorded before and after intubation and at 1, 5, and 10 mins. The obtained clinical data were analyzed statistically with analysis of variance.Results: In our study, HR, SBP, and DBP and MBP all increased during intubation and thereafter in the control groups. Pretreatment with clonidine (1.5 μg/kg) significantly attenuated the cardiovascular and catecholamine responses to tracheal intubationConclusion: Preoperative administration of a single dose of clonidine blunted the hemodynamic responses more than the placebo during Laryngoscopy and Intubation with reduced anesthetic requirements.

Detection of Coronavirus illness using Techniques of Deep Learning and CNN

A year has been passed with the global pandemic creating havocs in everyone’s life. The novel Coronavirus is still raging around the globe causing catastrophic consequences on the entire health and wealth of humankind. Tests are being conducted in an insane amount on the suspected individuals. Infections that are gained through respiratory course, for example, the lethal SARS-CoV-2, are determined to have the assistance of direct identification of viral parts in respiratory examples. The two most generally utilized techniques to do this are nucleic corrosive enhancement tests through polymerase chain response/reaction (PCR) or antigen-based tests. This can take a while to generate results as there is steady increase in number of cases and causing delay in laboratories. Early detection of the virus is life saviour, if the virus is left unnoticed it can be fatal for ones’ life. The current industrial era is ruled by fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning; hence this paper is an attempt to use one of these practices for novel corona virus prediction using chest radiogram images. Here dataset of Chest Roentgenogram images of patients infected with the corona virus and normal Chest Roentgenogram images are used to detect coronavirus infection. The study employs an efficient approach of application Convolutional Neural Network in predicting if the patient is affected and unaffected with the virus. The prepared model created a precision pace of 92.77% at the time of the performance preparation

Synthesis of Ni2+ ion doped ZnO-MWCNTs nanocomposites using an in situ sol-gel method : an ultra sensitive non-enzymatic uric acid sensing electrode material

Nickel (Ni2+) ion doped zinc oxide-multi-wall carbon nanotubes (NZC) with different composition ratios of MWCNTs (from 0.01 to 0.1 wt%) are synthesized through anin situsol-gel method. The synthesized NZC nanocomposites (NCs) are used as electrode materials with glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) for electrochemical detection of uric acid (UA). The cyclic voltammogram of the representative NZC 0.1 modified GCE (NZC 0.1/GCE) revealed the highest electrochemical sensing activity towards the oxidation of UA at 0.37 V in 0.2 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS) having pH 7.4 ± 0.02. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for the NZC 0.1/GCE are determined to be 5.72 nM and 19.00 nM (S/N = 3) respectively, which is the lowest compared to the literature values reported for enzymatic and non-enzymatic detection techniques. The synergistic effect of NZC 0.1 NCs is proposed as one of the factors for the enhanced electrochemical oxidation of UA complemented by the phase, lattice parameters, functional groups, morphology, elemental compositions, types of bonding and specific surface area with pore size ascertained using various techniques. The synthesized NZC 0.1 NCs are further proposed as selective electrode materials for the electrochemical detection of UA as authenticated further by performing interference tests with other metabolites such as ascorbic acid (AA), dopamine (DA) andd-glucose. The optimized electrochemical studies are further adopted for sensing of UA from human excretion samples using NZC 0.1 NCs

Economic valuation of ecosystem services of selected interventions in agriculture in India

Agriculture is multi-functional, producing economic goods including food, feed, fibre, and fuel, as well as providing several intangible or non-tradable services to society free of cost. Non-tradable services, unlike economic goods, remain unpriced; as a result, farmers are not compensated monetarily for the benefits of the several non-tradable services they provide through agriculture. Recognizing the monetary value of non-tradable ecosystem services is crucial to incentivize farmers to adopt eco-friendly technologies and practices for the sustainable development of agriculture. Through a meta-analysis of the existing evidence on ecosystem services, this study attempts to estimate the value of ecosystem services by using direct and indirect valuation methods—for example, carbon sequestration, methane emission, nutrient availability, biological nitrogen fixation, and water saving—generated by several important technological and agronomic interventions, namely the direct seeding of rice (DSR), zero-tillage in wheat, leguminous crops, organic manure, integrated nutrient management, and agroforestry, based on studies conducted in India. It also explores the trade-offs between the non-tradable and tradable ecosystem services attributable to these interventions. The monetary value of the non-tradable services resulting from most of these interventions is quite large, 34–77% of the total value of all the ecosystem services. However, not all interventions result in a win-win situation that yields improvements in both tradable and non-tradable outcomes. While no-till wheat, legumes, and integrated nutrient management result in a win-win outcome, there are trade-offs between the tradable and non tradable ecosystem services in the cases of directed seed rice, organic manure, and agroforestry. This evidence suggests that not all agricultural technologies and practices are beneficial for farmers, despite their higher environmental benefits. Thus, the findings of this study imply that agricultural policy should provide incentives for the adoption of technologies and practices to conserve ecosystems and natural resources.Development Strategies and Governance (DSG

Determinants and Impacts of Conservation Agriculture in South Asia: A Meta-Analysis of the Evidences

Rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plains is pivotal in ensuring food and livelihood security in South Asia. However, the productivity of the system is threatened by factors like climate change, urbanisation and excessive resource use. Conservation agriculture (CA) practices provide the scope for curbing the consequences of climate change by its resource saving and carbon emission as well as cost reducing potential. To analyse the effectiveness of CA under different crops, soil, and climatic conditions, a meta-analysis was conducted by synthesising the results of various experimental studies. Adoption of only zero/minimum/reduced tillage without integrating it with mulching and crop rotation in CA provided lesser yield as compared to conventional tillage. In contrast, crop yields were higher in CA when all the three practices, viz., conservation tillage practices, mulching and crop rotation were followed as compared to the conventional tillage. Crop yields were higher under reduced/minimum tillage as compared to zero tillage for all the crops considered for the study. Wheat, maize and pulses performed better in CA system as compared to rice in terms of water saving and yield. It was found that irrigation, soil cover and application of nitrogen were the crucial inputs in improving the performance of conservation tillage. Further, adoption of CA practices lead to significant reduction in the cost and at the same time provided better returns as compared to the conventional system. Training, targeting to irrigated, sub-tropical regions and fiscal incentive are critical for the successful implementation of CA in the region

Performance and Determinants of Exports of Coffee from India: A Post-WTO Scenario

Coffee is an important plantation crop and has high export potential. About 70 per cent of total coffee produced in India is exported. India ranks fifth in total coffee exports in the world. The share of coffee export in total agricultural exports, depict a decreasing trend in recent years. To analyse the performance of coffee in post-WTO era, the time series data was divided into three periods, i.e., Period I (1995-96 to 1999-00), Period II (2000-01 to 2008-09) and Period III (2009-10 to 2018-19). Except in Period II, the quantity of export was showed positive and significant growth rate, instability of value of export and unit value of export was higher in Period II as compared to period I and III. Russian Federation, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Poland are the major export destinations of Indian coffee. Transition Probability Matrix was estimated to examine the retention probability of export share of Indian coffee among the major importers for the aforementioned periods. Markov chain process was used to forecast the share of export of Indian coffee among major importers for 2019-20 to 2024-25. The international price of coffee, exchange rate between rupees and dollars and lagged production of coffee were the few determinants of export of coffee

Farmer Producer Organizations in India: Challenges and Prospects

Farmers’ collectives such as the FPOs that combine the spirit of cooperation and principles of business can significantly contribute to agricultural growth and rural development by improving the scale economies in the production and marketing of agricultural commodities, especially in agrarian economies dominated by smallholders. Farmers benefit from their association with FPOs in several ways — better and affordable access to technologies, inputs, information, services, finances and markets, higher price realization, less price risk, and reduction in transaction costs. Recognizing these benefits, the Government of India has increasingly focused on establishing and nurturing FPOs to strengthen backward and forward linkages of agriculture for the benefit of the smallholders who are a force to reckon with in Indian agriculture. Currently, there are more than 24000 FPOs registered under the Indian Companies Act, undertaking several agricultural activities, and 10,000 more FPOs are to be nurtured by 2027-28 under the central sector scheme. However, our understanding of the performance of FPOs in terms of their socio-economic impacts, inclusiveness, governance and financial viability is limited. This paper, based on an extensive review of literature, synthesizes empirical evidence on the impacts of FPOs at the farm, market and society levels, identifies their weaknesses and strengths in terms of financial viability and governance, and assesses the institutional and policy requirements for making FPOs as a preferred vehicle for inclusive agricultural development. I congratulate the authors of this paper for their painstaking efforts in compiling and synthesizing information on different dimensions of FPOs and putting these succinctly in this paper. I hope the findings may serve as evidence-based feedback to policymakers and institutions promoting FPOs, and for FPOs themselves to take corrective measures to improve their outreach and performance

A Spatial Assessment of Sustainability in Indian Agriculture

Sustainable development of agriculture is essential to achieve the multiple goals of improving food and nutrition security, improving farmers’ income, and reducing poverty, especially in developing countries like India where agriculture is the main source of livelihood for millions of small-scale producers. Hence, understanding the dimensions and indicators of sustainability is important for targeting technologies and policies for ensuring inter-general equity in agriculture. Considering several dimensions and indicators related to soil health, water management, ecology, and socioeconomic conditions this study has constructed composite indices of agricultural sustainability for major states of India. These indices will aid policymakers to identify weak linkages in agricultural development at a spatial scale, and accordingly take corrective actions