May 9, 2020 | Adamas University

A SCIENTIFIC INSIGHT TO THE ROLE OF ANTIVIRAL DRUG “HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE” AGAINST COVID-19

Student contributors: Rituja Mahalanobish and Ankita Dev (B. Tech Biotechnology)

Hydroxychloroquine is an antimalarial drug that inhibits microorganisms, cellular replication. In recent time COVID 19 is life-threatening disease create pandemic problem in the whole world. Hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine is currently being studied for the treatment and prevention of SARS COVID 2. Mechanism of Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine both are the same only differ an extra hydroxyl group present in hydroxychloroquine. But the treatment of Covid-19, hydroxychloroquine is more-safer than chloroquine.

Mechanism
Previous experimental studies had demonstrated that hydroxychloroquine /chloroquine has efficient to fight against SARS COVID 1 in vitro. It inhibits or blocks the glycosylation receptor of the cell surface, so the virus cannot bind to the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) 2 which expresses in lungs, heart, kidney intestine. Hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine can interfere with the SARS COVID 2 binding with the ACE 2 receptor.Hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine stops the biosynthesis of sialic acid by inhibiting the quinine reductase 2. Sialic acid is monosaccharides of cell transmembrane which help to ligand recognition. So, SARS COVID 2 cannot bind with the receptors by inhibiting sialic acid biosynthesis. This drug stops the transport and post transport system of Coronavirus. Hydroxychloroquine through inhibition of map kinase interferes with SARS COVID 2 crosstalk. Hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine inhibits the endocytosis. These drugs both can change pH in intracellular organelles. It can decrease the acidic medium in the endosome and lysosome by the increasing pH level. Any type of virus can be rapidly activated in an acidic medium. Hydroxychloroquine drug stops the fusion between lysosome and endosome and makes them dysfunctional. Spike protein is not cleaved by inhibiting cell fusion mechanism. Hydroxychloroquine has an anti-cancer effect and it works as an antiviral agent. It helps to the influx of Zinc into the cells. Hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine mediated Zinc transport into the cell help to increase the amount of zinc into the cytosol. Zinc inhibits RNA dependent RNA polymerase or RDRP enzyme mechanism. RDRP enzyme helps to make viral RNA and help to replicate the virus. Hydroxychloroquine has immune modulators. It prevents autoimmune disorder by suppressing the autoimmune response. It works as an interferon blocker reducing the immune system response to a viral infection. It also inhibits the synthesis of inflammatory cytokines to prevent cytokine storm. Hydroxychloroquine is less penetrable to the blood retinal barrier because it has an extra hydroxyl group. The retinal toxicity is less compared to chloroquine. Hydroxychloroquine is a derivative of chloroquine which is less toxic.

Present researches and scenario of Hydroxychloroquine:

Several studies conducted by researchers have shown that hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug found to be more effective than the standard treatment. Drug research conducted on 30 Covid-19 patients, shows 13 patients tested negative on whom tested compared to 14 patients who were not on this drug though one patient develops a serious illness. Whereas the median time taken for the individuals to recover was similar in both groups. However, according to Thailand Medical News warned all concern not to acquire any experimental drugs or TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) herbs and use them by themselves. Researchers recommended taking suggestions from an authorized doctor otherwise it could result in complex medical conditions and life-threatening risk. A study published by French medical journal provides new confirmation that hydroxychloroquine does not appear to help the immune system, clear the coronavirus from the body. Studies found that a combination of Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin benefits patients who do not have severe symptoms of this virus.

However, Hydroxychloroquine has also been treated with other drugs such as Azithromycin+ Hydroxychloroquine, Chloroquine+ Hydroxychloroquine. Also remarkably, it can have dangerous side effects, as well as giving people illusions about the drug, because the drug is still under research for treatment of Covid-19 patients. Side effects of Hydroxychloroquine:

The common side effects of hydroxychloroquine:
1. Headache, dizziness, ringing in ears
2. Nausea, vomiting, stomach pain
3. Loss of appetite, weight loss
4. Mood changes, feeling nervous or irritable
5. Skin rash or itching
6. Hair loss As per recent reports by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), warned the providers that Covid-19 patients could experience life-threatening side effects while taking chloroquine & hydroxychloroquine. It says the side effects include abnormal heart rhythms.

FDA has reported that chloroquine & hydroxychloroquine has negative side effects, used for Covid-19 patients. The drug has not been proven to successfully treat Covid-19 in large medical experiments. Further, researchers have expressed their concern about acclaiming the drug as a potential treatment for Covid-19. Patients with heart problems & other fundamental medical conditions have a high risk of undergoing negative side effects from hydroxychloroquine.

REFERENCES:

• Hydroxychloroquine: Can the anti-malarial drug contain COVID-19? Published by The Hindu Net Desk CHENNAI, APRIL 08, 2020

• Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Akriti Singh, Altamash Shaikh, Ritu Singh, and Anoop Misra Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 with or without diabetes: A systematic search and a narrative review with a special reference to India and other developing countries, Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2020 May-June; 14(3): 241–246.

• Liu, J., Cao, R., Xu, M. et al. Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. Cell Discov 6, 16 (2020).

Relevance of Civil Engineering studies in Every sector

Civil Engineering is one of the discipline of Engineering profession that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of all type of manmade structures like buildings, roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewerage systems, pipelines, and railways etc.

Civil Engineering is the only branch of engineering which contributes directly towards the society and it is the oldest branch of engineering.

The Importance of Civil Engineering to Society

Without the existence of Civil Engineering, society wouldn’t function properly. There would be no treated water to drink, no safe buildings and structures, no transportation infrastructure for travelling and no drainage and irrigation channel.

Variety of Specializations and Career Options

There are multiple sub-division and specializations in Civil Engineering which are in need of applications in various sectors.

Architecture engineering: Architecture engineering deals with the technological aspects to planning, design, construction and operation of buildings. Architecture engineering is closely related to Civil engineering.
Coastal engineering: Coastal engineering is alarmed with the specific construction issues in the adjacent area of the coast, as well as at the coast itself.
Construction engineering: Construction engineeringis concerned with review of contracts, logistic operations, and prices of supplied products.
Structural engineering:Structural engineering deals with the analysis of structures, as well as design of structures.
Earthquake engineering: Earthquake engineering is a sub-section of structural engineering. The main objectives of earthquake engineering are to analysis, design and construct structures to performat earthquake.
Environment engineering:Environment engineering deals with the issues related to environmental pollution and control of waste due to various activities.
Geotechnical engineering:Geotechnical engineering is concerned with the minerals, rock and soil. It’s applications are in military, mining, petroleum engineering other than Civil Engineering disciplines.
Transportation engineering:Transportation engineering is focused on the planning, functional designing, operation of any sort of mode of transportation.
Hydraulic and water resource engineering:Hydraulic and water resource engineering is concerned with the flow parameters of fluids like water and gas. It’s applications are in designing of bridges, dams, canals and also design of pipes.
Materials science and engineering: Materials science and engineering deals with characteristics of materials, such as cement, concrete, paint, and metals such as aluminum, bronze and steel, and polymers and carbon and steel fibers.
Nanoscienceand nanotechnology: Nanoscience and nanotechnology is a sub-discipline of Materials science and engineering. It studies systems and manipulates matter on atomic, molecular and supramolecular scales.
Urban engineering: Urban engineering deals with the infrastructure, services, environmental and land-use issues generally encountered in urban areas.

With the knowledge in various domains, Civil Engineers can cope with many job. In a nutshell,

Civil Engineers are welcomed at every field of engineering, which opens up lots of scope for job.
Every government organization from I.S.R.O to Nirman Sahayak needs civil engineers.
Great Opportunity for own start-up business like design consultancy.
All non-core and IT companies also recruit civil engineers for their own demand. Civil Engineering students have the distinguishing option to choose a career in core and non-core companies.
Over the years, civil engineers have a constant demand unaffected by the market fluctuations.

Being a Civil Engineer opens lot of job opportunity, lot of scope of career. There are plenty of opportunities in Govt. Sectors. If you are focused and passionate, you can lead a bright career.

Further Studies

Big Data in Data Science

Data science is an interdisciplinary field that uses systematic procedures to study the methods of collecting, storing, and analyzing data. The aim of data science is to acquire insights and knowledge from any type of data – both structured and unstructured.

What is Big Data?

Big Data refers to describe the large volume of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. Big data can be characterized by three Vs: the volume of data, the velocity at which the data is generated and collected & the variety of the information.

Source: ttps://www.coursera.org/learn/data-scientiststools/ungradedWidget/8x1jm/bigdata

The Three Vs of Big Data:
Getting started with big data requires three key steps-

Integrate
Manage
Analyze

The definition of “Big” has evolved with the advancement of technology & data storage capability to be able to hold larger data sets. Also, our capacity to collect & store the data has upgraded with time such that the speed for data collection is unprecedented. The idea of “data” has developed gradually; as a result internet & technology have recognized to collect different categorical data for analysis. One of the main objectives in data science has been moving from structured data sets to tackling unstructured data.

Structured & Unstructured Data:

Structured data means our usual idea about data i.e. long tables, spreadsheets, or databases with columns and rows of information that one can sum or average or analyze. Unfortunately, we encounter the data sets which are much messier & the job of data scientist is to present the data sets into something neat & tidy format. With the advancement of internet & technology, many pieces of information that weren’t traditionally collected were suddenly able to be translated into a format that a computer could record, store, search, and analyze. Presently, the unstructured data being collected from all of our digital interactivity: Emails, Face book, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, SMS, shopping habit, use of Smartphone, CCTV cameras & other video sources, etc.

Is Big Data a Volume or Technology?

The term “Big data” may seem to suggest large data set but it may refer to the technology when used by vendors. The technology incorporates the tools & processes to operate the massive volume of data and storage facilities.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Big Data:

The challenges of working with big data are-

Big: Massive volume of raw data that you need to be able to store and analyze.
Variety: Sometimes, it can be difficult to decide the source of data due to the variety of sources of information.
Messy: In reality, the collected data can be messy. You need to turn the unstructured data into a format that can be analyzed.
Update: The technology is changing at a rapid pace. First, Apache Hadoop & Apache Spark was used to solve big data problems. Now, the hybrid frameworks are used to be the best approach.

The advantage of working with big data are-

Neglect error: There are many sources of error in data collection. If there are any errors in the data, the volume of the data set can negate the small errors in it.
Accurate decision: Up to date information allows you to make analysis to the current state of the system & suggest rapid, informed predictions and decisions.
Answer the unfeasible queries: The unconventional data sources may allow you to answer the previously inaccessible and formerly unfeasible questions. Big data can enable you to obtain more complete answers than before.
Identify hidden correlations: The big data can recognize the hidden relation between outcome variable & input variable which may not be related to our outcome variable.

The application of Big Data:

Big Data can assist the company to identify a range of business ventures, from customer experience to analytics. Few examples are

Product Development
Customer Experience
Fraud and Compliance
Machine Learning
Operational Efficiency

Conclusion:

A famous statistician, John Tukey, said in 1986, “The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of data.” Likewise, any big data set may not answer all the queries if it’s not the right data. So, we can conclude that data science is question-driven science and even the largest data sets may not be always suitable.

Play as Professional : An Insight to the career options for Gaming and Animation

Is police chasing you? Did you find who was the murderer? Can you escape from the room or build an empire or drive the fastest car or kill your enemies or get killed by them?

Well, I am not talking about a lawbreaker I am talking about a gamer.

While expressing yourself through our gaming console, if you

While spending time with your gaming console, if you ever hit by “how you could build a career in gaming”, then your Gray cells are working fine.

With more than 2.6 billion gamers worldwide, the gaming industry has come a long way in just 10 years and establishing itself as a prime evolving sector in the entertainment industry. According to Statista, the Indian gaming industry will grow up to 250.3 billion INR i.e. almost 25030 Crores INR by the end of 2024.

According to Industry association, NASSCOM estimates the Indian gaming sector to be worth more than INR 200 billion or 2000 crore.

With 1.33 billion people and more than two thirds of them under the age of 35 with almost every one of them holding a smartphones in their hand, as we speak, India is tranquil to be one of the world’s largest agora for gaming.

Relating to this rapid growth, there will be a high demand for professionals in this field of gamming, which focuses not just on playing games but creating them.

Game Animation, Game Art creation in 3D and 2D, Game Design, Game Testing, Game Programming, Project Management, Audio Engineers, along with general management positions to name a few job roles waiting for you.

Let’s have a look at some of the career opportunities in the gaming industry.

Game Designer

They are the visionaries of games entertain us. They work on design what they have conceived or from a pre-approved the idea, such as a game based on real life events, day to day activities, some adventures, some movies or any other inspiration.

They need to use their creativity to visualize games for a range of devices and platforms that engage and capture the fascination of the user. Observe and plan with every element detail of a new game including the rules, rough storyline, character interface, and modes of play.

By putting together a concept document and use this to convince the development team that the game is worth proceeding with detailed market research to understand what your target the audience wants and bringing a rough idea into a reality.

Narrative Designer

As per UBISOFT, the Narrative Designer crafts the story of a game, visualizing characters, defining the story behind locations or objects, designing the narrative of missions and clarifying the objective of the mission, building story arcs, contributing to building the player’s emotional journey.

To support the Game Design team in defining systems and structures to support the game experience throughout the entire game.

Their creativity is truly identified when they have to describe the circumstances through actions or expressions of the virtual characters more than what they speak. Their work brings actual life to design the gameplay by defining the “story experience”.

Game Animator

Game Animator is the craftsman of the virtual models from the character to the environment and props. They are the architect who designs breathing life into virtual characters. They provide details to the skin textures of each character, the watery gloss on the road when it rains, or define the shadows following the source of light. Defining how a character jumps, crouches, sits, stands, and moves are what a visual artist takes good care of.

There are various job roles within the art design department such as Concept Artists, 3D Modelers, 2D/Texture Artists, each with a different set of responsibilities and skills. With the help of Bachelor of computer application in gaming and animation at Adamas University gives you a chance to seek a career in this domain as well without perusing any separate training or degree.

Sound Engineer

Sound is one of the major senses through which user experiences and feel their environment. The job of the Sound Engineers are vital to create that aura where players will listen and feel and get into that situation of their virtual characters.

Every the game has its own storyline and genre, and audio engineers develop audio in harmony with it. They encapsulate the game’s essence in the audio they produce by blending dynamic sound effects with ambient sounds and background music to bring life to the game’s world.

Game Developer

Game developers are the creator of the building blocks for the entire gaming environment. They work on teams to plan, design, and produce video games for computers, mobile devices, or gaming consoles. Their work involves creating visual content for the game and writing code to implement all the game’s features and functionality. This career requires a background in coding and mathematics giving importance to the physics, chemistry and biological sciences and the ability to collaborate well with others to accomplish project goals. While many work full-time hours in-game studios or at software companies, opportunities exist for game developers who prefer to work remotely or to self-publish their games online as independent developers.

Game Tester

Do you get scolding for playing games all day from your parents? Now make it as your carrier and play in your career and become Game Tester. But Game Testers do not just sit with a cup of tea, relax and play through the game stages. They systematically play-test the game, analysing the game’s performance, identifying bugs, and suggesting changes to be made to the programmers to enhance the quality and playability of the game before it goes public.

Game Testing involves playing the same level over and over again until it is assured of the absence of any bugs or glitches. The work entails playing games for long hours and making sure the gaming experience of players does not spoil due to any flaws.

The international gaming industry is booming, and India is identified as the biggest market for the gaming industry. This will bring enough opportunities for game lovers. It is a relatively new industry but has grown drastically in the past two decades with the expansion of internet accessibility and the advancement of technology.

The future of the gaming industry in India is shining like Sirius in the blue sky thus it is the best time to build a career in this industry and Adamas University is ready with its Bachelor of computer application in gaming and animation to make you ready for your favourite job role.

MOBILE JOURNALISM OR MOJO – THE NEXT BIG THING IN THE WORLD OF NEWS

The ubiquitous smartphone has taken the world by a storm. Everything is within the confines of our fingertips. While the novel device has had some sort of an impact on all the facets of our professional life, the one sector that has been revolutionized by its advent has been media and entertainment. The way information is gathered, processed and consumed has seen a sea change. Today, a smartphone can be considered to be an effective combination of a personal computer, a television, a radio set and a newspaper.

Consequently, journalism has metamorphosed into a new avatar. There has been a transformation in the way news stories are produced and consumed. Gone are the days when television journalists would roam about in an Outside Broadcast (OB) van everywhere and carry huge broadcast equipment wherever they went. For print journalists as well, the usage of DSLR cameras is on the wane. Radio journalists no longer carry inconveniently big microphones anymore. A journalist now just carries a smartphone in his pocket and everything is taken care of.

What Is Mobile Journalism?

In the given context, we shall talk about a new genre of journalism that is gaining traction with each passing day. It is called Mobile Journalism or MoJo. Now, the obvious question arises. How would one define MoJo? MoJo is nothing but a format of digital journalistic storytelling that exclusively uses mobile phones. The story can take any form – audio, video, text, graphics, animation or a combination of all of these. Primarily, the product that is created is also consumed with the help of a smartphone. However, this is not a necessary pre-condition. At times, the result of MoJo can be printed on a newspaper or broadcast on a television or radio channel or streamed as a podcast or published on a web portal. All these products may or may not be consumed on a mobile phone. What distinguishes MoJo though is the process of collection and production of news, which is done with the help of a mobile phone or a smartphone to be precise.

A number of news organizations across the globe are turning to mobile journalism as it entails a number of distinct benefits. Let us take a look into the obvious benefits of mobile journalism:

It Is Decidedly Cheap: All you need to have in order to practice mobile journalism is a good smartphone and some basic associated equipment such as a gimbal, a lapel microphone, a tripod and a portable mobile charger. Gone are the days when a large sum of money had to be spent on expensive journalistic gazettes such as cameras, microphones and the likes. By default, MoJo is minimalistic.
It Is Obviously Convenient: You can immediately start shooting or recording even when there is a breaking news situation. On multiple occasions, reporters have missed the most important part of a story subject to the rigours of setting up the equipment. The ultra convenient smartphone can be taken out of the pocket in a jiffy and shooting or recording can be started immediately. Also earlier, there was the obvious disadvantage of having to move the entire setup to another location just in case two different locations were needed to be covered for a story. The same can be done seamlessly through MoJo these days.
It Is Discreet: At times, traditional journalistic equipment could be on our faces. There is a possibility that the subject might feel a little intimidated when a huge camera along with a microphone is thrust onto his/ her face. MoJo makes journalism discreet and shooting or recording can be started without raising an eyebrow. For shooting investigative stories, MoJo is much more convenient than the traditional form of journalism.
MoJo Has Democratized the Craft of Journalism: Earlier, there was an entry barrier to journalism and not everyone could become a journalist. It was considered to be the fiefdom of the intellectual elite. With the advent of Social Media and MoJo, anybody and everybody can become a journalist. This has ushered in democratization to the craft. Now, we can have a school student beaming an important news story from say the interiors of Arunachal Pradesh and he/ she would have a dedicated audience from across the globe regardless of geographical barriers.
MoJo Requires Considerably Less Infrastructure and Human Resources: As the world is going through a severe economic downturn, a number of organizations have taken recourse to austerity measures. Given the situation, it is anybody’s guess that the news organizations are also passing through a difficult time. Consequently, there is a decided focus on optimization of resources. MoJo, thus, fits right in. A number of news organizations, in fact, in India and abroad have completely turned to Mobile Journalism. A premier example in India is NDTV, which has gone mobile from the later part of 2017.

Notwithstanding, the necessity of proper education is a sine-qua-non for aspiring mobile journalists. They need to know how to craft their stories and attract audiences. No matter what the platform is, the fundamental journalistic principles remain the same. These principles can only be learnt through a stint at a good media school. With fake news, paid news and post truth casting aspersions on the credibility of news, ethical considerations have become paramount. In the face of it, a solid educational base could be considered to be the most important thing in distinguishing a good journalist from the rest.

COVID 19 AND INDIA’S LEX LATA: COMBATING THE LEGAL WAY

It is now known to about the novel corona virus also better known as Covid 19, with the scientific name of SARS-COV-2 which triggers acute respiratory disease. WHO has claimed Corona virus disease to be an infectious disease affecting most people’s respiratory tract. While the majority people may recover from this illness many older people and/or people having other underlying medical conditions such as tuberculosis, COPD, heart related issues, diabetes, cancer, etc. are prone to its severity. It damages the autoimmune system. The pandemic, as it is declared by the WHO has brought the whole world to a standstill and under isolated quarantine to slowdown the transmission and to prevent the human chain from building. Having its root to what has been investigated in Wuhan, China it has spread to more than 210 countries which have reported the augment of this disease in their region. India has also been trying to tackle this epidemic since the 3^rd week of March. The mitigation and control of this virus by India is being looked upon by not just the subcontinent but by the whole world.

India’s Fight with the Colonial Era Law.

The main law to tackle and control the pandemic in India is the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, which dates back to the pre-independence British India. This short legislative framework was prepared hurriedly just after the 1896 Bombay bubonic plague. Though even then it was of not much use to protect against the second flare-up which occurred in India during the 1918. A much awaited amendment has been made recently to section 2 of this Act, so that the required implementation by the union could be done. Though the law, penalised by sentencing and fine or both and restricting any legal proceeding against any person or authority for anything done or to be done in good faith under this Act, it has been described as archaic which doesn’t allow one to understand it with a scientific temper. It lacks in encouragement of science and innovation related to any cure or vaccination of the diseases or to set up any incubation centre or a committee. Though states have their own medical related laws and rules which in a vast country such as ours as per population size, may differ on various grounds from each other. The states are constitutionally supported to have their own laws to restrict interstate movements and quarantine actions and policing to tackle and prevent such outbreaks as a response.

The union law deals with port quarantine, including in connection with seamen’s and marine hospitals, and interstate quarantine. State legislatures may provide for matters relating to public health and sanitation, hospitals, dispensaries, and prevention of animal diseases. The union government and states have concurrent jurisdiction to prevent transmission from one state to another of infectious or contagious diseases or pests affecting humans, animals, or plants.

New Age Lex-Lata

A bill pertaining to public health was proposed in the last decade twice in both the regimes of the Government, but in the 1^st proposal the bill was discarded by all the states calling it an usurping of their constitutional powers, which at least gives the state the right to deal with the matters such as public health and sanitation, hospitals and other related infrastructures and prevention of animal diseases and quarantine as well. It is in the knowledge to all of us that there exists in the concurrent list, the prevention of transmission interstate of infectious diseases which are contagious and/or which might affect animals (swine flu), plants, or humans as well.

The 2^nd proposal to repeal the Epidemic law of 1897 by the health and family welfare ministry which was put to table of the house as public health (prevention, control and management of epidemics, bio terrorism and disasters) bill 2017. It could have helped in our current situation as it dealt explicitly with quarantining and isolation of people suspected of catching the disease infectious in nature. It also empowered the union with respect to the states and other local bodies for ensuring the control and limiting the spread in such an emergent situation for the greater good of the society and public interest. The proposed law’s penalising provision by fine of rupees 1 lac or imprisonment up to two years or both, if anyone found violating the law intentionally was a need of the hour today in our society.

Management of Biological Disaster guideline was also proposed in 2008 after realising that the obsolete epidemic act was of not much use to us, the national disaster management plan 2019 with the guidelines of 2008 is put into practise.

The current practise adopted by India is to impose in the society the concept of social distancing and self-quarantining at their respective homes. Our India Penal Code, of the year 1860 was a visionary move, where disobeying public servant’s lawful order (to restrict unnecessary movement out of houses) resulting in violation of the quarantine norms may result in a jail term of one month or fine up to rupees two hundred or both and if the disobedience causes danger to human life, health or safety, the person can be punished with an imprisonment of six months or a fine of rupees one thousand or both. Further, section 269 imprisons or fines or both, any person found guilty for any negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life, section 270 is in furtherance of section 269 where any person knowing that their actions could lead to spread of contagious disease and still does it shall be penalized for this malignant act, section 271 punishes with imprisonment for violation of quarantine rule.

Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, empowers the executive magistrate to restrict the gathering of people residing in a particular area/place. This is one of the most important preventive steps taken up by many states to ensure curb on spreading of the virus.

The Disaster Management Act, 2005 as an entry in the social security and social insurance in the concurrent list provides a constitutional remedy for the people of India. As our Honourable Prime Minister is the chairperson of the National Disaster Management Authority and has the power vested u/s 6 of this act to create an authoritative action. It has a concocted effort by all high functionaries to implement its plan and policies at various local, state and national levels. Various sections under the act (Ss 10, 12, 13, 18, 24, 35, 36, 38, 39, 62, 71, 72, etc.) provide proper enforcement to alleviate our country from this biological disease.

In these times, the hasty and selfish paranoia purchase of essentials good are also supposed to be regulated so that enough is available for the society as a whole and not lead to a sudden price rise due to scarcity. The Essential Commodities Act, 1955 empowers the Central and state governments concurrently to control production, supply and distribution of certain commodities in view of rising prices. It provides knowledge to the citizens on what shall be counted as essential during such critical phases.

Conclusion

Although much cannot be done by imposing law and order on the masses, a general sense of awareness and hygiene habits can help the individuals to curb the spreading. Though our frontline warriors are giving their absolute best we as responsible citizens shall help the taskforce with our cooperation at such a critical phase.

References:

https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/coronavirus-live-updates-india-corona-cases-worldwide-covid-19-death-toll-lockdown-corona-vaccine-plasma-us-maharashtra-delhi-ap-latest-news-120042900120_1.html
https://www.mohfw.gov.in/
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/04/tarique-faiyaz-covid-19-quarantine-india/
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/how-india-is-fighting-coronavirus-with-a-colonial-era-law-epidemics/articleshow/74752473.cms?from=mdr
https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/faq-on-the-essential-commodities-act-114070800735_1.html

Is COVID-19 more fatal than we perceived till now besides being a severe breathing disease?

Student Contributors: Koustav Kiran Das (B.Sc. 3^rd Year), Sampurna Nandi (B.Tech. 2^nd Year).

COVID 19 has become the most used jargon in recent times due to its huge impact on the daily lives of humankind worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 i.e. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2019, the virus responsible for COVID 19, emerged in Wuhan, China in 2019, and rapidly spread all over the world. The most characteristic clinical symptoms of this particular disease are respiratory distress and spontaneous breathing incapability, along with other symptoms. Some patients with this viral disease also exhibited some neurological signs and symptoms such as headache, nausea, and vomiting. Moreover, it has also been reported by various scientific groups that this virus is not always restricted it’s spreading only to the respiratory tract, moreover, it can also conquer it’s viral propagation into the CNS i.e. Central Nervous System, inducing a wide range of neurological problems.

Some Scientific Facts:

Genomic analysis shows that the virus responsible for COVID-19, i.e. SARS-CoV-2 is related to other beta-coronaviruses like MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) and SARS-CoV, and it shares high homology with SARS-CoV.
The entry of SARS-CoV-2 into its host cells i.e. human cells has been associated with the same receptors like SARS-CoV.
Surprisingly, it has been reported that most coronaviruses have very similar kinds of structural features and they also employ a very common infection pathway, and therefore the infection mechanisms previously reported for other coronaviruses, may be relevant for SARS-CoV-2 also.
SARS-CoV-2 enters the human host cells by a cellular receptor Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), it is an enzyme which is present in various groups of cells and organs such as cells on the alveolar surface, cells on the intestinal wall, the inner lining of arterial and venous cells and also in cells of skeletal muscles and vascular cells of Brain and nervous system.
This enzyme acts as a protecting factor in these organs and regulates blood pressure and prevents the build-up of plaque in the arterial walls. However, this enzyme is also a target for various coronaviruses.
In addition to this, the virus can also enter the CNS via the olfactory nerve, the nerve that leads to the brain from the nasal cavity.
A study on Covid-19 patients recently found that along with severe breathing troubles, some other neurological symptoms also manifested, including headaches, disturbed consciousness, and burning sensation in hands, arms, or legs. This list also includes ischemic and hemorrhage type strokes.

So from these scientific facts, it can be easily suggested that there is a strong correlation been observed between COVID 19 infection and other neurological diseases, which need to be addressed immediately by our medical professionals and scientists. Keeping in mind the neurological cases arising in the wake of the CoViD-19 pandemic, the presence of Neurologists at the frontline have now become extremely important to assess the clinical situations. Moreover, it is imperative to note that other neurological diseases could also occur due to COVID-19 infection and which is very alarming. So, here is a small list of some other neurological diseases caused by this deadly virus.

Other Neurological Infections that could be caused by SARS-CoV-2

Viral encephalitis: Infections in CNS; lesions in the brain and nervous tissue and neuronal damage. Symptoms include headache, high fever, vomiting, epilepsy, and consciousness disturbances.
Infectious toxic encephalopathy: A reversible brain dysfunction syndrome led by systemic toxemia (toxins produced by body cells due to infection), metabolic disorders, hypoxia (deprival of oxygen in the body), and cerebral edema (swelling of the brain). Symptoms include mild headache, mental disorder, mental confusion, emotional disruption, thinking disability to serious loss of consciousness, mental disorientation, coma, and paralysis.
Acute Cerebrovascular disease: Breathing related infection is an independent risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. Symptoms include ischemic brain injury and cerebral hemorrhage due to cytokine storm. It also causes elevated levels of D-dimers in severely infected patients with severe platelet reduction too.

BEHOLDING DISCERNMENT( FACIAL AND VOICE) THROUGH PARENTING DURING COVID-19

As said by Carl Jung, “Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk”.

Parenting –A 9 lettered word is also known as child rearing. It is the process of inbuilt of physical, emotional, social and intellectual development of an infant to an adult. It includes all the obstacles and intricacies for raising a child.During this crisis of pandemic, the grasp of parenthood is becoming essential.

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What does the parenting include?

- One-on-one time.
- Making a positive situation.
- Creating a flexible and daily schedule for a child.
- To take a pause before a bad behavior.
- Stress management.
- Covid-19-Evidence based talks.

1.One-on-one time

It’s important to set aside specific time in a day to spend with the children.
It’s important to ask the children what they would like to do, choosing somehow build their self-confidence, like ideas sharing with the toddler/teenager, copying their facial expressions, performing a chore together, dancing to music, cooking meal together, performing exercise together, helping them with social works and giving them the full attention, creating fun.

How to make the parents understand that how children are feeling during Covid-19?
The faces and voices are of utter importance in inter-personal communication and there are notable personifications observed. A novel extricate is offered, based on the interaction between intrinsic characteristics development of faces and voices, reflecting a system that can respond minimally to optimally be able to meet the different everyday’s demands.

2. Making a positive situation

Positive words embrace the world- the children towards you.
It all matters in delivery. Shouting at the child makes them stressed out. It’s advised to be calm. Praising isappreciable.

3. Creating a flexible and daily schedule for a child

Teach your child about keeping safe distance

Writing letters, drawing pictures to share with people can be a good choice,putting them up outside the home for others to see.
One can reassure their children by talking about how we all should keep safe. Listening to their suggestions is necessary and taking them seriously.Make handwashing and hygiene fun
A 20-second song for washing hands .
A game should be held to see how few times we can touch our faces with a reward for the least number of touches (one can count for each other).

4. Take a pause before a bad behavior

Pausing for 10 minutes, before speaking is essential.
Breathing in and out,then responding in a calmer way.
Redirect- Controlled discipline is entertained.

5. Stress management

It is preferentially advised to comfortably sit, let the body think about the emotional vibes, whether the parents are hurt or tensed, listening again to the breath, relaxing, how the whole body feels and start reflecting on the children.

6. Covid-19—Evidence-based talks

Be open and listen

Allowingthe child to talk freely. They should ask open questions, whenever any obstacle or hindrances they face.

Be honest

Always it’s preferred for a parent to answer the children’s questions truthfully.

Be supportive

The child may be scared or confused. Giving them space to share how they are feeling and let them know that their parents are there for them, which gives them positive vibes.

It is OK not to know the answers

It is fine to say “We don’t know, but we are working on it; or we don’t know, but we think”,using this as an opportunity to learn something new with the child.

Heroes not bullies

Explaining the children that COVID-19 has nothing to do with the way someone looks, where they are from, or what language they speak. Based on a generous humanitarian ground, it’s good toteach the children that we can be compassionate to people who are sick and those who are caring for them.Encouraging them to see various stories on how all are striving to help others,during this crisis.

There are a lot of stories going around

Some may not be true. Recommending the children to use trustworthy sites:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public and https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/covid-19, from WHO and UNICEF.

Ending on a good note

It’s mandatory to check to see if the child is okay. Hope a good parenting doesn’t only restricts to a so called stringent belief – a Father and a Mother, but all well-wishers, who really believes that somewhere hands are open to save lives.

Here , presenting a blog by Miss.Priyanka Banerjee, Assistant Professor, SOPT, ADAMAS UNIVERSITY, in cooperation with, Mr.Saptarshi Sanyal, Assistant Professor,SOPT.Two B.Pharm First year students- Soumyajit Biswas,SumanKalyan Sanki were also engaged.

The diverse aspects of Pharmacy in post-COVID era: An introspection

Introduction:

While reflecting on the healthcare system, maximum attention is given to the doctors and nurses, as they are the frontline workers of healthcare system; however, the pharmacists play a huge role as the backbone of this system. Misconceptions still do a round on the role of pharmacists and so, this blog is aims at putting light on the true or the real responsibility of a pharmacist. The primary role of a pharmacist is not only to coordinate the complete medication regimen but also to suggest methods of taking prescribed medicines precisely and effectually, discuss safety of the medication, manage probable side effects and assist in managing the chronic health condition. A large part of the pharmacists belongs to the community where they are actually a quick-to-reach resource in this present situation. In December 2019, there has been an outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus, that initially affected the Wuhan city of China but gradually affected the whole world. Later, the World health organization has declared SARS-CoV-2 pandemic because of public health emergencies and international concern. The contact from human-to-human through respiratory droplets lead to a course of infection.

Role of community pharmacist:

Community pharmacists play prime role in the prevention and maintenance of infectious disease. The following steps are advised and followed in order to build up a pharmacist’s team to fight against the epidemic situation. For any kind of social upgradation, the first step has always been to be updated about the condition. Upgraded information helps to monitor a situation and anticipate the need. Reliable sources from various verified websites are being used to supervise the recent information of the situation. Next comes the preparation of the troops which should be done keeping in mind that the duties should be in alternative basis and all maintain a particular protocol to serve the COVID patients. The pharmacists should be aware of the local and community emergency healthcare planning and the suppliers to manage in case of shortages. Managing a contact list that should be available when needed lies on priority. Regular contact with the staffs, how they are managing the situation, what are the new interventions should be addressed by the supervisors. It is also imperious that the pharmacy is not contributing in the transmission of the virus and breaking the stigma to implement the preventive measures properly. Continuous education, additional precautions, clear instructions and updated policies shall be made to avoid confusion.

Psychological aspects and the stigma:

So far, the profession has been effective, focused, collaborative, and integrated. These, altogether, help the profession to overcome any kind of the challenge that the society is going through. Population based approaches and quality improvement are everyday practice. Two major issues have been identified that should be considered beforehand. One is to provide psychological support followed by the next that is mass awareness. Studies has shown that the trauma of a disease is more endangering that the disease itself, in some cases. This can be achieved by small campaigns by the pharmacists in the hospital premises or personally. The team of pharmacists should focus to stop racism as well as reduce the social stigma amongst people. There has been a widespread use of phrases such as “victim”, “Covid family” and so on which give rise to nothing but pseudo-awareness. Awareness in a mass of people or in the community is attained by amplifying positive and hopeful stories or images by local experienced people who, either recovered from the disease or has supported the family or their loved ones. Another enormous job that is specifically done by the scientists and followed by the pharmacists is to contribute in the drug discovery process. Starting from the research, development, synthesis, reporting and new drug application submission, the cosmic role of pharmacists is inestimable. There has been a great acceptance of Hydroxychloroquine and some retroviral drugs in Corona virus treatment; however, pharmacists and scientists are heading toward a permanent solution for this through vaccine and Remdesivir. The later is already in the trial and the world is eagerly waiting for the groundbreaking news.

Personalized medicine and network pharmacology:

Although, a drug development process takes 10-15 years, but short-term studies are followed during a pervasive condition. As the regulatory proceedings are compact when it comes to human clinical trial, however, the scientists are trying at best to accelerate the process swiftly. Another aspect is pharmacogenetics or personalized medicine which deals with genetically variable response of the drug. Pharmacists play a central role when it comes to delivering the pharmacogenetic medicine in the community. Currently, with the growing industry of artificial intelligence and network pharmacology, scientists are considering the dominant paradigm of the concept of drug discovery through ligand-based drug development. Polypharmacology or network pharmacology, both have consequential implication in the management of safety and efficacy of the drug molecule. To develop a molecule, during a pandemic situation presently the world is facing, efficacy should be highly considerable. Apart from the traditional way, network pharmacology offers multi disease targets which, therefore, allows to decode several probable molecular mechanisms involved in the pathway through a “network”. How diseases are interrelated or how can a target be identified through several other targets is precisely elucidated by this approach.

Bioterrorism, medical pluralism and artificial intelligence approach in digital phenotyping:

The symbolic programming approach or artificial intelligence (AI) uses computable ways to solve problems i.e. different aspects of drug interactions, therapy monitoring, and selection of drug formulae. It almost mimics the human cognition by computers. Thus, evolution and implementation of the technologies have drastically improved the healthcare system. Along with AI, digital phenotyping or evidence based therapeutic intervention has become prime aspect in clinical care. Different high quality software, even through smartphones are used to detect and manage diseases which has definitely decreased the onset and exaggeration of disease. In the present situation, diverse aspects of Corona virus came up among which, bioterrorism is one requisite factor. Usually, naturally occurring diseases provide valuable lessons to let the world prepare for the similar outbreaks. However, this might be used as a biological weapon too. The thin line between naturally surfacing infection and bioterrorism is certainly used as a great opportunity by the arsonists. SARS-associated coronavirus, being immensely contagious, has several characteristics to become a biological weapon. Although, late identification makes it difficult to control the spread, pharmacists and the other healthcare personnel, through adequate education are continuously trying to cop up with the situation. In case of any pandemic situation, scientists, doctors and other healthcare professionals, primarily look for the complementary medicine i.e. known as pluralism. Pluralism is nothing new but re-emergence of this in a prevalent situation, it becomes the prime choice.

Conclusion:

To conclude, healthcare policies are made upon the decisions, plans, and actions that are tackled to attain the healthcare goals and the medical needs of the society. The policies also target the future visions and build harmony in people. As far the public health is concerned, the disease is of utmost interest and pharmacists are dedicated to monitor health status, solve community health problems, diagnose and investigate health issues, and empower people.