Types of face coverings (masks) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The ongoing pandemic has been increasing slowly and steadily across the world. The SARS-CoV-2 spreads through droplet disseminated from infected persons via coughing and/or sneezing onto the face, nasopharyngeal, and oropharyngeal mucosa. In order to prevent the transmission of coronavirus disease, WHO and public health officials made policies, advised the health workers and public to wear face coverings (masks). The nature of masks depends upon the source, material, structure and particulate efficacies. The main objective of this study is to provide information about efficacies of different types of masks used during COVID-19 pandemic. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.506841

BIOFORTIFICATION-A SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL STRATEGY FOR REDUCING MICRONUTRIENT MALNUTRITION

Malnutrition is of great public health significance in several parts of the world, especially the developing and underdeveloped countries. Micronutrient deficiencies in humans can be mitigated through the process biofortification. It is the strategy of increasing the nutrient content in the edible parts of staple food crops for better human nutrition. Staple crops such as maize, rice, and wheat provide most of the calories for low-income families around the globe. Biofortification includes the enhanced uptake of such minerals from soils, their transport to edible plant parts, and improving the bioavailability of these minerals to humans. In paper, crop biofortification and malnutrition of essential nutrient have been discussed

NOVEL CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (SARS-COV-2): AN OVERVIEW

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about school terminations and removing necessities that have upset both work and day to day life for some. Concerns exist that these disturbances brought about by the pandemic might not have impacted people scientists similarly. The virus originated in bats and was transmitted to humans through yet unknown intermediary animals in Wuhan, Hubei province, China in December 2019. The symptoms are usually fever, cough, sore throat, breathlessness, fatigue, malaise among others. Treatment is essentially supportive; role of antiviral agents is yet to be established. Prevention entails home isolation of suspected cases and those with mild illnesses and strict infection control measures at hospitals that include contact and droplet precautions. The virus spreads faster than its two ancestors the SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), but has lower fatality. The global impact of this new epidemic is yet uncertain

DEVELOPMENT OF VACCINE AGAINST CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) IN INDIA

The pandemic declaration of Covid-19 infection by World Health Organization (WHO) and ensuing boundless morbidities and mortalities in practically all nations of the world prompted the innovative work to discover an immunization against SARS-CoV2 infection. Typically any new vaccine takes 10–15 y time. In pandemic circumstance, the whole cycle of vaccine development including clinical preliminaries gets shortened and optimized to 10–14 month time. i.e. the quest for vaccine against Covid-19 is going on at a high speed coming with the good news of two vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. This review aims at highlighting the present stages of development of vaccinesin Indian scenario. &nbsp

Impact of habitat variability on growth dynamics of Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. along an altitudinal gradient in Kashmir Himalaya

Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. is an important medicinal plant of the Himalayan region. Phenotypic attributes of a particular plant species varies along different altitudes in order to adapt and to overcome the changeable and stressful conditions. A number of environmental factors such as mean temperature, precipitation, soil characteristics, radiation intensity etc. changes with altitudinal gradient and thereby affect the morphological pattern of a plant species. The present study was undertaken to reveal the impact of the elevational gradient and habitat variability on the morphological features of the selected species. Under different environmental conditions the species exhibited enormous variability in its phenotypic traits. The plants were shorter at high altitude site, Gulmarg while the plants of low altitude site, Kashmir University Botanical Garden (KUBG) were taller and more vigorous. A significant decrease in the plant height, inflorescence length, leaf length, leaf breadth and petiole length occurred with increasing altitude. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the habitat of KUBG and Ferozpora (Tangmarg) proved relatively better for the growth of B. ciliata. The regression analysis revealed positive correlation between plant height and traits like inflorescence length, leaf length, leaf number and thus predicting a direct impact of plant height on other traits. Our findings present a comprehensive account on the variability of phenotypic characteristics, in relation to the environmental conditions of this valuable medicinal plant species

Use of statistical analysis to monitor novel coronavirus-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir, India

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been increasing slowly and steadily in all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is essential for the government and health management system to monitor the districts affected due to COVID-19. The main objective of this study is to ascertain and categorize the COVID-19 affected districts into real clusters based on similarities within a cluster and differences among clusters in order to imply standard operating procedures (SOPs) policies, decisions, medical facilities, etc. could be improved for reducing the risk of infection and death and optimize the deployment of resources for preventing subsequent outbreaks. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.467747

In vitro CALLOGENESIS OF MEDICINALLY IMPORTANT AYURVEDIC HERB Enicostema littorale BLUME

Purpose: The practice of in vitro culturing of medicinally important plants has gained much attention in enhancing the secondary metabolite production. In this perspective, the current study was carried out to promote a rapid and standard method for in vitro callogenesis of Enicostema littorale Blume using different explants. Research Methods: In vitro callogenesis of Enicostema littorale was done on Murashige and Skoog’s media. Explants were cautiously sterilised and later put on MS medium added with variable combinations and combinations of growth regulators and were maintained in culture room at temperature of 25 ± 2ºC with photoperiods of 16 h. The cultures were observed at regular intervals for callus initiation and results were recorded regularly. Findings: Maximum callus was yielded from nodal explants when Murashige and Skoog medium was added with various growth promoters (6-Benzylaminopurine and Kinetin -3.0 and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid -1.5 mg each followed by Kinetin-2.0 and Naphthyl Acetic Acid -0.5 mg) per liter amount of media. Similarly, it was also revealed from the present investigation that leaf explants proved better for callogenesis on MS media added with 6-Benzylaminopurine-3.0 and Naphthyl Acetic Acid -1.0 mg/l followed by Kinetin-1.5 and NAA-0.5 mg/l. However, shoot tip explants weakly responded for callogenic induction during the present study. The present study while using combinations of growth regulators at different concentrations and combinations, all the selected explants responded distinctly. Value: The developed tissue culture protocol can be proved as rapid and reliable method for enhancing and extracting the secondary metabolite production, and as a landmark to meet the industrial need in the near future

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION AND EXPORT OF MANGOES FROM INDIA

India is the second largest producer of fruits in the world after China followed by Brazil. A large variety of fruits are grown in India. Mango is most widely grown fruit crop in India with a share of 34.71 percent in area and 22.41 percent share in production. An attempt has been made in this paper to analyse the production and export of mangoes from India. It has been found from the study that India holds the first rank in area and production of mangoes in the world with 41.25 percent share in global area under mango cultivation and 40.38 percent share in global production of mangoes. The area, production and productivity of mango in India displayed compound annual growth rate of 4.45 percent, 5.55 percent and 1.05 percent between 20001-02 and 2017- 18respectfully. Furthermore, it is found from the study that total quantity of mango exported displayed negative compound annual growth rate of 2.42 percent while as total value of mango exported recorded remarkable compound annual growth rate of 7.63 percent between 2012-13 and 2017-18. The major export market for Indian mangoes is U.A.E with percentage share of 58.71 to total export value followed by U.K. (9.45 percent) and Saudi Arabia (5.09 percent)

Un-Silencing the Past: A Juxtaposition of Personal and Political in Elif Shafak’s Novel, The Bastard of Istanbul

This paper explores the thematic aspect of bastard and the alternative spaces present in the novel to show how Armenian genocide is addressed and unsilenced    from the censorship of the State. The juxtaposition of the Armenian issue with the tribulations of ‘Kazanci’ family is argued as a metaphorical and personalised account of Armenian genocide. Such an engagement with the past has been made possible by bringing political and personal together in the form of a family in Istanbul and a family in America; one belonging to a Muslim majority and the other belonging to an Armenian religious minority

Climate Change and Impacts of Extreme Events on Human Health: An Overview

The causes of climate patchy rope in heat up temperature, change in precipitation, degree of utmost conditions occasions like melting of glaciers, polar ice-caps, mount in sea levels, etc. These impacts eventually fall our income by touching the rations we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe and the earth somewhere we live. Frequent impacts caused fitting to excessive exposure of heat waves such as round stroke, dehydration, cardiovascular, respiratory and neural comborbidities. Climate conversion alters the ecology of vectors and these vectors are capable of have in stock causal agents such as viruses, bacteria and protozoa from animals to humans. Malaria, tick-borne encephalitis, fair fever, plague, and dengue obtain lengthened their geographical ranges as their carriers migrated to privileged latitudes. Droughts canister take part in adverse property on being health, as they over and over again suggest itself in mishmash with other sit out conditions, such as warm waves, wildfires and dust storms. Reduced water quantity may cause decreased water flow during periods of drought, encouraging the development of pathogens which prefer dry, stagnant environments. Altering climatic situation know how to be attributed to mounting international temperatures, spread in the dimensions of ambient fill up fumes and changes in the announce motion as mutual together. Extreme season and climate-related actions are famous to set off fundamental infrastructure failures, lucrative harm and relocation of communities, ensuing in a quantity of health problems