Managing Mental Health During COVID- 19 Pandemic and Beyond

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID?19) pandemic is a global public health crisis of a scale not previously experienced in modern times. The whole of humanity is sharing a problem that is changing the world, and humans are living under more uncertainty. Most people have been feeling intense anxiety related to COVID-19 and the aftermath the world will leave in its wake. The paper intends to put up a deeper understanding of the anxiety reaction about various aspects of current life. Clear strategies for managing and turning off the anxiety response for short periods is developed based on the understanding of how one's brain reacts to crises along with some powerful tools for managing the pandemic.  The paper explores some of the strategies to address mental health during COVID-19

Evaluation of the Transform Domain DCT and Spatial Domain LSB Steganography Algorithms' Performance

Securing data in the modern world is highly important and data encryption is one of the key agents of this mission of securing data. The problem of security of data is because of growth in internet usage and easy availability of the internet. Ensuring the right to privacy and keeping confidential data safe is one of the most important concerns of every means of communication. Steganography is defined as a technique which is used in information security that includes the hiding of data in other data structures so that the information itself cannot be accessed by unauthorized participants. The current paper is aimed to bring a complete review of the steganography algorithms used for hiding the data and for comparing the steganography algorithms in both the spatial and transform domain with the help of effectiveness parameters they have such as average error rate, peak signal to noise ratio, encryption time, & decryption time

Hazards of tube thoracostomy in patients on a ventilator

A patient with post-pneumonia empyema complicated by type-2 respiratory failure required mechanical ventilation as part of his therapy. A pneumothorax was noted on his chest radiograph. This was treated with an intercostal chest drain (ICD). Unfortunately, he was still hypoxic, his subcutaneous emphysema was worsening and the ICD was bubbling. A computed tomography (CT) scan of chest demonstrated that the ICD has penetrated the right upper lobe parenchyma. A new ICD was inserted and the previous one was removed. Although both hypoxia and subcutaneous emphysema improved, the patient chronically remained on mechanical ventilation

Construction of integrated linkage map of a recombinant inbred line population of white lupin (Lupinus albus L.)

We report the development of a Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) marker panel and its utilisation in the development of an integrated genetic linkage map of white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) using an F8 recombinant inbred line population derived from Kiev Mutant/P27174. One hundred and thirty-six DArT markers were merged into the first genetic linkage map composed of 220 amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) and 105 genic markers. The integrated map consists of 38 linkage groups of 441 markers and spans a total length of 2,169 cM, with an average interval size of 4.6 cM. The DArT markers exhibited good genome coverage and were associated with previously identified genic and AFLP markers linked with quantitative trait loci for anthracnose resistance, flowering time and alkaloid content. The improved genetic linkage map of white lupin will aid in the identification of markers for traits of interest and future syntenic studies

Identification of QTLs associated with resistance to Phomopsis pod blight (Diaporthe toxica) in Lupinus albus

Phomopsis blight in Lupinus albus is caused by a fungal pathogen, Diaporthe toxica. It can invade all plant parts, leading to plant material becoming toxic to grazing animals, and potentially resulting in lupinosis. Identifying sources of resistance and breeding for resistance remains the best strategy for controlling Phomopsis and reducing lupinosis risks. However, loci associated with resistance to Phomopsis blight have not yet been identified. In this study, quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis identified genomic regions associated with resistance to Phomopsis pod blight (PPB) using a linkage map of L. albus constructed previously from an F8 recombinant inbred line population derived from a cross between Kiev-Mutant (susceptible to PPB) and P27174 (resistant to PPB). Phenotyping was undertaken using a detached pod assay. In total, we identified eight QTLs for resistance to PPB on linkage group (LG) 3, LG6, LG10, LG12, LG17 and LG27 from different phenotyping environments. However, at least one QTL, QTL-5 on LG10 was consistently detected in both phenotyping environments and accounted for up to 28.2% of the total phenotypic variance. The results of this study showed that the QTL-2 on LG3 interacts epistatically with QTL-5 and QTL-6, which map on LG10 and LG12, respectively

Residual effect of nitrogen levels and weed control methods on growth, yield and economics of wheat grown after rice

A field experiment was laid out in split plot design on residual effect of treatments comprising three nitrogen levels viz. N75 (N1), N100 (N2) and N125 (N3) in main-plot treatments and seven weed control treatments viz. (W1-butachlor + 1 Hand Weeding, W2-butachlor + 2 Mechanical Weeding, W3-butachlor + 2,4-D, W4-bispyribac sodium, W5-butachlor + bispyribac sodium, W6-HW-2, W7- control) as sub-plot treatments conducted during 2015-16 and 2016-17 at the Rajaula Agriculture Farm, MGCGVV, Satna (M.P.) to study the residual effect of N-levels and weed control methods on growth, yield and economics of wheat grown after rice. In case of succeeding wheat, the residual 125 kg N/ha performed the best with respect to growth, yield-attributes with the result 31.11 q/ha grain yield and Rs.33509/ha income. While, under sub plot treatments, Hand weedings two times were recorded significant grain yield (28.66 q/ha) and straw yield (38.17 q/ha) at (P <0.05) over control. However it was found non-significant different and also noticed higher over rest treatments. In this succession, Butachlor + 2, 4-D (0.80 kg/ha) was higher but in second position and similar trend was observed in successive way with rest of treatments

Insights into the Nature of Self‐Extinguishing External Donors for Ziegler-Natta Catalysis: A Combined Experimental and DFT Study

Developing donors for Ziegler‐Natta (ZN) catalysis to control the polymerization reaction and produce polymers with desirable properties has always been challenging due to the multi‐component nature of the catalytic systems. Here, we have developed a new synthetic protocol for making two external donors, D₁ (2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl myristate) and D₂ (2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl palmitate) that show self‐extinguishing properties, followed by a systematic DFT study to understand this peculiar property of these donors. D₁ and D₂ can undergo parallel reactions with aluminum and titanium species present in the system to produce ketones and aldehydes, which are poisons for ZN catalytic systems, thus explaining their self‐extinguishing nature. The non‐covalent interaction between the long alkyl chain of the donors with the surface plays a vital role in determining the donors′ self‐extinguishing nature. There is a significant thermodynamic preference for the binding of the donor with the longer alkyl chain at the titanium center. The current work, therefore, provides interesting insights into how self‐extinguishing donors function in ZN catalytic systems

Low-Dose Near-Infrared Light-Activated Mitochondria-Targeting Photosensitizers for PDT Cancer Therapy

Phthalocyanines (Pcs) are promising candidates for photodynamic therapy (PDT) due to their absorption in the phototherapeutic window. However, the highly aromatic Pc core leads to undesired aggregation and decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Therefore, short PEG chain functionalized A3B type asymmetric Pc photosensitizers (PSs) were designed in order to decrease aggregation and increase the aqueous solubility. Here we report the synthesis, characterization, optical properties, cellular localization, and cytotoxicity of three novel Pc-based agents (LC31, MLC31, and DMLC31Pt). The stepwise functionalization of the peripheral moieties has a strong effect on the distribution coefficient (logP), cellular uptake, and localization, as well as photocytotoxicity. Additional experiments have revealed that the presence of the malonic ester moiety in the reported agent series is indispensable in order to induce photocytotoxicity. The best-performing agent, MLC31, showed mitochondrial targeting and an impressive phototoxic index (p.i.) of 748 in the cisplatin-resistant A2780/CP70 cell line, after a low-dose irradiation of 6.95 J/cm2. This is the result of a high photocytotoxicity (IC50 = 157 nM) upon irradiation with near-infrared (NIR) light, and virtually no toxicity in the dark (IC50 = 117 μM). Photocytotoxicity was subsequently determined under hypoxic conditions. Additionally, a preliminarily pathway investigation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) disruption and induction of apoptosis by MLC31 was carried out. Our results underline how agent design involving both hydrophilic and lipophilic peripheral groups may serve as an effective way to improve the PDT efficiency of highly aromatic PSs for NIR light-mediated cancer therapy