The Convention on Animal Protection: The Missing Link in a One Health Global Strategy for Pandemic Prevention

As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates, society’s failure to address animal well-being has had grave consequences not just for animals but also for humans. The emergence of zoonotic diseases is largely a result of high-risk contact with and mistreatment of animals, and it obligates states to assess the risks and mitigate, if not prevent, the underlying harms to animals that ensue. In keeping with the One Health approach, the proposed Convention on Animal Protection for Public Health, Animal Welfare, and the Environment (CAP) lays the groundwork for a comprehensive global strategy to address the missing link in other approaches to the pandemic—specifically by recognizing explicitly that the protection of animal well-being is good for animals, for people, and for the planet. This Article sets CAP in its historical context, capturing how previous international agreements have been reached to preserve the exploitation of animals as living resources but have not ventured much further than that. The Article looks at how high-risk contact with and mistreatment of animals led to the emergence of COVID-19 and highlights how existing legal frameworks are ill-equipped to prevent similar pandemics. The Article then turns to a discussion of CAP—its origins with the adoption of an American Bar Association (ABA) policy urging the negotiation of a treaty to prevent pandemics by advancing animal protection and welfare, as well as its structure and provisions as framed by its first draft—and distinguishes CAP from other treaty proposals. In conclusion, the Article underscores the opportunity CAP presents not just to help prevent future pandemics but also to advance animals’ intrinsic interests, which are inextricably interwoven with our own

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Piper betle leaves in experimental animals

Background: Piper betle leaf, commonly known as ‘paan’ has long been known for its various medicinal properties in traditional medicine but certain properties have remained less explored. We tried to assess the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Piper betle leaves.Methods: Hydroalcoholic extract of Piper betle leaves (HEPBL) was extracted using soxhlet apparatus and its phytochemical analysis was performed. Wistar rats and Albino mice were used for all the experiments. Acute toxicity study was also done according to OECD guideline no.425 and the test doses were decided accordingly. The experimental models of tail-flick method and acetic acid induced writhing were used to study the analgesic activity whereas carrageenan induced paw edema and cotton pellet granuloma models were used for anti-inflammatory action. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnett's test.Results: HEPBL showed significant analgesic activity at the doses of 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, and showed significant anti-inflammatory activity at the doses of 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg. The sub-therapeutic dose of HEPBL at 50 mg/kg also potentiated the analgesic effect of sub-therapeutic doses of standard analgesics. The analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of P.betle may be attributed to the presence of various phyto constituents’ viz. flavonoids, tannins, phenols and glycosides.Conclusions: HEPBL has significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity in experimental animals in our study

Monitoring, evaluation and comparison of adverse effect profile of ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin in acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis patients attending pulmonology department of tertiary care teaching hospital: a prospective observational study

Background: In 2016, FDA recommended that “serious side effects associated with flouroquinolones generally outweigh the benefits for the patients with acute sinusitis, acute bronchitis and uncomplicated UTI”. Throughout India the most commonly used flouroquinolones for above conditions are Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, and Levofloxacin. In this scenario, the present study was undertaken to monitor, evaluate and compare the adverse effect profile of Ciprofloxacin and Ofloxacin in acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis patients.Methods: Prospective, observational study done in 200 patients of tertiary care teaching hospital. The patients diagnosed with, acute bronchitis treated with Ciprofloxacin 500mg BD or Ofloxacin 400mg BD for 7 days were included in the study. The study duration was 6 months. ADR causality assessment was done with Naranjo algorithm. Statistical test applied was chi- square test.Results: 63 ADR were reported in Ofloxacin group and 19 ADR in Ciprofloxacin group. Insomnia was most frequent ADR (40%) in patients treated with Ofloxacin. There is high incidence of ADRs in ofloxacin group. chi square test showed this difference is statistically significant (p<0.05). Insomnia was significantly higher in ofloxacin group (p<0.05).Conclusions: In India frequently used and misused antimicrobials are fluoroquinolones. The present study concluded that no serious ADRs but ofloxacin group of patients have shown increased incidence of ADRs associated with CNS especially Insomnia. However, further large scale, multi-centric studies are needed to confirm these results.

BEP Performance Analysis of Multi-Node Self Encoded Spread Spectrum - Cooperative Diversity in Rayleigh Fading Channel

Self - encoded spread spectrum (SESS) is a novel modulation technique th at acquires its spreading sequence from the random input data stream rather than through the use of the traditional pseudo - noise code generator. It has been incorporated with multi node cooperative diversity systems as a means to combat fading in wireless channels. In this paper we analyze the cooperative SESS for Amplify and Forward CD links ( M SESS - AFCD) and SESS for Decode and forward CD links ( M SESS - DFCD) in Rayleigh fading channels. The BE P expressions are derived in closed form, and the veracity of the analysis is confirmed by numerical calculations that demonstrate excellent agreement with simulation results

A Survey: Face Recognition by Sparse Representation

Face recognition is very helpful in many applications such as video surveillance, forensic applications criminal investigations, and in many other fields. The most common methods includes PCA approach based Eigenface, Linear Discriminant Analysis(LDA), Hidden Markov Model(HMM),DWT, geometry based and template matching approaches.In this paper we are using sparse representation approach to attain more robustness to variation in lighting, directions and expressions. This survey paper performs analysis on different approaches and factors affecting the face recognition

Multi User Diversity Evaluation in MIMO HSDPA Downlink Channels

A multiple transmit antenna, single receive antenna (per receiver) downlink channel with limited channel feedback is considered. Given a constraint on the total system-wide channel feedback, the following question is considered: is it preferable to get low-rate feedback from a large number of receivers or to receive high-rate/high-quality feedback from a smaller number of (randomly selected) receivers. Acquiring feedback from many users allows multi-user diversity to be exploited, while highrate feedback allows for very precise selection of beamforming directions. It is shown that systems in which a limited number of users feedback high-rate channel information significantly outperform low-rate/many user systems. The marginal benefit of channel feedback is very significant up to the point where the CSI is essentially perfect

Development of Fertilizer Prescription Targeted Yield-Equation for Carrot Crop Based on Soil Test Values

A field experiment was conducted on red soils (Kandic paleustalfs) of Zonal Agricultural Research Station, GKVK, Bangalore during&nbsp;kharif&nbsp;2008-09 to develop a targeted yield equation for carrot crop. After developing three levels of fertility gradient with respect to available NPK in soil, the main experiment was conducted by taking carrot as a test crop. Initial soil data, carrot root yield and NPK uptake by carrot crop were used for obtaining four important basic parameters, viz., nutrients required to produce a quintal of carrot roots (NR%), contribution of nutrients from fertilizers (CF%), contribution of nutrients from soil (CS%) and contribution of nutrients from organic matter (%C-OM). These parameters were used for developing fertilizer-adjustment targeted yield equation. Comparison of the present soil testing laboratory method with Soil Test Crop Response approach of fertilizer recommendation clearly indicated superiority of STCR targeted yield approach for efficient and economic use of fertilizers to attain the required yield target

Simulation of Droplet Formation, Ejection, Spread, and Preliminary Designof Nozzle for Direct Ceramic Inkjet Printing

Recent advances in drop-on-demand (DOD)-type inkjet printing techniques have increasedresearch activities in the area of direct ceramic inkjet printing. In an attempt to develop a ceramicinkjet printer for the manufacture of ceramic components with their sizes in micro scale, theformation of ceramic ink droplet (ethyl alcohol loaded with different volume fractions of aluminaparticles) and its spread from a reservoir using piezoelectric actuation are simulated. The propertiesof the ceramic ink are taken from the data reported in literature. The simulations were performedwith computational fluid dynamics software (CFD-ACE+), CFDRC. This study gives details ofthe interaction among different physical phenomena that contribute to the droplet formation andejection process. The results from this study are being used for a preliminary design of nozzleand for the preparation of ceramic inks to achieve the desired droplet characteristics