sounak, Author at Adamas University

Impact of COVID-19 on the Pharmaceutical Sector and Research

Impact on Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare System

Severe acute respiratory syndrome novel coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was emerged from Wuhan, China in December 2019 and declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) which designates this SARS-CoV-2 infection as novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 has spread across the globe infecting more than 150 million population leading to more than 3 lakh deaths. The impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare domain is huge and it has seriously disrupted the healthcare industry’s entire supply chain, from raw materials to manufacturing and delivery. The demand for medical ventilators has forced the producers to boost demand by up to 40 to 50% at the global level. In order to meet the increasing demand, producers have also cooperated with automakers. Governments and numerous organizations are deeply engaged in meeting the global situation, along with other industry personals. In order to address the consumer demands of medications, vaccines, diagnostics, and medical equipments such as ventilators, the leading personals are involved in research and development operations, strategic alliances and partnerships, and innovative product releases. No doubt, this is the first time in modern history that the diagnostics oriented industry has been in the absolute limelight. Suddenly, healthcare industry participants have switched from under the carpet to above the requirement of the carpet. The world has recognized the need for healthcare segment early warning systems, currently for COVID-19, but in the future, this pattern will continue for all types of diagnostics. Immense growth can be foreseen with respect to the diagnostics industry. The healthcare industry was not well prepared to tackle a public health crisis to this extent. In terms of regulations, risk control, technology, manufacturing, procurement, or supply chain management, the present state of affairs meant that certain business activities were not stringent enough. The immense degree of susceptibility of the sector can be attributed to an improper understanding of the way environment-related health hazards can affect business. The place of origin of the contagious virus was China, the epicentre of the worldwide healthcare supply chain, surgical equipments and drug processing. This led to a poor mix and resulted in the devastation of a crucial balance in the supply chain. The goal of most manufacturing firms during this crucial situation is to protect their staff along with other running operations. The staff is expected to cover themselves by wearing masks and thoroughly disinfecting themselves in order to achieve this goal. In countries such as China, which is now ready to restart its manufacturing unit, the government allows only those manufacturing firms with adequate face masks, along with other steps needed, for production. The need and accessibility of such goods are emerging as a result. Based on the sector, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the healthcare market is depicted in the following figure.

Impact of COVID–19 on Research

Prior to COVID-19, the impact on research in progress was rapid, dramatic, and long term. The pandemic curtailed most academic, industry, and government research related to basic science and clinical studies, or redirected the research to COVID-19. The pandemic situation pointed to the significance of research, stable research infrastructure, and funding for public health emergency (PHE)/disaster preparedness, response, and resiliency. COVID-19 has become an international emergency in a short period, and it will have long-lasting effects. There is a dire requirement to detect and analyze the spheres of academic research which will be affected by COVID-19. The major areas of research that are impacted by COVID-19 are depicted in the following figure.

Vaccine Development

Development of various antibodies which provide immunity against COVID-19. Various research organizations and pharmaceutical companies have developed vaccines (like Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik V) which have shown a good efficacy profile.

Modern Drug Development

Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin have been claimed to be effective in the prevention and treatment, in some anecdotal case series and in-vitro. Certain antiretroviral drugs (used for the treatment of HIV) are being under clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19.

Herbal Drug Development

Studies have shown the beneficial effects of many immunomodulatory plants like kalmegh and ashwagandha and their constituents inhibiting the interaction of the associated proteins involved in COVID-19 infection. Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. developed a formulation “Coronil” which might be helpful in combating COVID-19. Hence, there may be a huge success in the field of Indian traditional systems of medicine like Ayurveda as well as pharmaceutical companies with the development of herbal industries.

Industry 4.0

It is the fourth industrial revolution for advanced manufacturing and advanced technologies. It includes the scope for automation of tracking and analyzing COVID-19 patients. Additionally, it may include artificial intelligence-based technologies to identify patients’ data and geo-fencing proper tracking in addition to digital record keeping and analysis of health care management.

Healthcare and Equipment

Research is going on for essential medical equipment like surgical masks, protective gears, sanitisers, ventilators, etc. There is a requirement of protective clothing (like PPE kit) that meets the required medical standards.

Conclusion

Hence, it is concluded that in spite of the deadly effect of COVID-19, there is a significant positive impact on the healthcare system, pharmaceutical industries and research in India and the whole world.

INTERNATIONAL LAW: THE LEGAL NEED OF GLOBALISED WORLD

In this current era of globalisation and cross border international relation International law stands out as one of the most effective tools to bring about efficiency for future progress.

International law has wider ambit and covers over almost every aspects of legal and policy framework. International law in the forms of treaty between state parties and thus stands as the best and only sets of law and rule used by international bodies and organisation to carry out world governance. One of the most essential future aspects of studying international law is the opportunity of working with or at several international organisations. This includes both international and regional bodies thus creating scope for aspirants to engage into work experience and get involved to work with several organisational giants’ starting from UNEP, UNHRC in international level to SAARC in national level..

It also stands as a stalwart in aspects of judicial functioning and legal practice. Referring to the former it is obvious to mention about the International Court of Justice, this court recruits Judges from all its Member signatories and recruits several others at its co related organisations which ranges from UN Maritime Tribunal to UN Dispute Tribunal. All such field requires great expertise and knowledge in international law and the subdivision of international law.

Future aspects of international law not only restricted to organisational work, but also as councils in Legal Firms and have to their credits being recruited by both national and abroad legal firms. Currently several international and overseas legal firms has opened up their branches in India and this firms gives priority to person who has a sound knowledge and background of international law.

On being an independent law in it nature is not restricted by state parties and is thus extremely effective in having their own body of Policy Researcher and Policy framers. On qualifying in international law one can engage in work with policy making bodies. This policy regulatory body includes wide range of work starting from policy researcher, policy adviser to policy framers. This policy framing body on further engages into debates of policy betterment at International Parliamentary policy discussion and for that it requires expertise particularly in international law.

It further includes works and opportunity at embassies. International law graduates are often recruited by embassies to function as legal advisor and legal diplomats working on regulation of treaties and cross boundary contracts. The recruitment process at embassies emphasises and prefers people having sound knowledge of international law. Thus a graduate in international law gets involved with several governmental works at the embassy and are has carrier opportunity to be a part of international diplomatic work at cross border level.

International law stands out as one of the most promising field not only practitioner field of law but also in legal academics. Any graduate after their completion in international law can go for a Maters Program in International law in both India and abroad. The abroad universities gives preference to the students who has a prior knowledge in international law. Moreover as international law is not just a single discipline rather it includes wide range of other discipline under its domain which ranges from International Environmental law, International trade law to International Law of Wars Treaties and Peace thus an academic field can be perused in any of this field.

Moreover it is the only law which has Masters Program for both educational and practice purpose. International law has Professional Maters program also which enriches aspirants with greater depth of knowledge who seeks to carry out a carrier in practice. In Professional Masters of International law a great exposure is provided in field of practice and efficacy of international law at all field of applicability.

It acts as one of the most essential subject when it comes in aspects of Juristic work or legal critics or legal authors and writers. Several policies prepared by treaty bound countries and regulatory bodies on framing of any treaties or legislation which is applicable at international level seeks for suggestion from Jurists who has good efficiency over international law. International law also need an effective form of criticism and authors contribution who can give a critical view over what are the needs of changes in a legislation or what can be the applicability effect of a particular legislation. The responsibility of providing such crucial critical analysis are given upon people who expertise and has experience in international law.

Research work ranges from institutional research organisation to research for international law bodies and policy framers research work. All such agencies recruits particularly from international law background who advises, scrutinizes and works to research upon several field of international law and working of international bodies. The research work aids to further efficiency of Law agencies, International Judicial bodies and International policy making organisation. The efficiency in international legal research gives opportunity to be part of several esteemed inter-governmental work force and work upon research exchange programs.

The field of international law and policy research does not always needs to be a part of such international organisations but can also function as independent research bodies who works upon contractual basis with several international organisation. The research bodies are entrusted upon and works on extensive research works to aid the work of such international organisation or at times the research bodies provides effective task force on scrutiny of work done by several such organisation, supervises work and Judgments given by International court and tribunals thus making it easy for everyone to understand the contribution and guidelines provided by such bodies.

One of the most important aspects of international law is that it aids to or works as background of several legal and related work fields. It includes Human Rights, International relation and much more. Every country is a signatory to the UNHRC and there lies a great carrier prospect in association with such human right work process. The Human Rights Commission recruits law graduates and professional who has prior knowledge in international law. International law is known as the parent body of human rights and it is international law who governs the growth and functioning of human rights. Another such related field of work is work related to international relations. International relation among states is dependent on the prevailing functioning between two Country states.

It needs to be always taken into consideration that unlike domestic law international law is more flexible and an ever-expanding nature of law. It brings into its periphery all forms of law and regulation several law which are absent in territorial legal system of the country but are present in abroad countries opens up scope to all under the aspect of international law like Law related to Animations and Design and much more. Thus international law forms an ever-expanding future scope and it can never be crowded with more aspirants than scope as it keeps on evolving with new concept and opportunity due to its flexible nature.

International law is the current need of the hour and the call for aspirant with international law in the time of World Wide globalisation is a current rising phenomenon. This field of law provides knowledge and experience to young mind without boundaries and ensures ever expanding growth.

Be a Skilled Engineer through B.Tech Mechanical Engineering Program

Mechanical Engineering is an Engineering Branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science to design, analyse, Manufacture and maintain mechanical systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering branch.

B.Tech Mechanical Engineering is a 4-year undergraduate engineering degree course. This course prepares the students to become Mechanical Engineers. There are a large number of national and state-level entrance exams to appear for admission into the BTech Mechanical Engineering program. 

Some of the popular BTech Mechanical Engineering entrance exams are as follows,

WBJEE: WBJEEB conducts the exam to grant admission to students in 4 years of undergraduate Engineering, Technology courses offered by the colleges in West Bengal. Eligible criteria to appear in this exam as follows,

Candidates must have cleared their 10+2 level examinations with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics as compulsory subjects.
The qualifying aggregate score required in Class 12 is at least 50% and above.

AUAT: AUAT Examination is conducted by Adamas University at the global level. It is usually conducted in the month of May to July. The exam tests students on subjects like Mathematics, Physics & Chemistry. Eligible criteria to appear in this exam as follows,

Candidates must have cleared their 10+2 level examinations with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics as compulsory subjects.
Must have at least 60% in Class 12th.

After qualifying for this exam students will be seat for the Interview and documents verification process. After final verification to grant admission to students in 4years B.Tech Mechanical Engineering program offered by the Adamas University in West Bengal. In this Pandemic situation, Adamas University has started online admission process so that International & outer state level students is easily admitted to this global university.

WBJEE JEELET: West Bengal Joint Entrance for Lateral Entry Test will be conducted by the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board at the State Level to provide admission to the candidates in the second year of Bachelor Degree courses (four years) in Technology/ Engineering/ Pharmacy in Universities, Colleges of West Bengal state. Eligible criteria to appear in this exam as follows,

For Diploma Holders: Must have done Diploma in the relevant branch having a minimum of 45% marks (40% in case of SC/ ST/ PwD candidates)
For B.Sc. candidates: Must have completed their B.Sc degree from any UGC recognized University having a minimum of 45% marks (40% in case of SC/ ST/ PwD candidates). They must have cleared 10+2 with Mathematics subject.
Diploma Holders, as well as B.Sc candidates who wish to seek admission into Engineering and Technology Degree course, will also be eligible for First-year Engineering Degree courses in case there is no vacancy for lateral entry at second year having at least 45% marks (40% in case of SC/ ST/ PwD candidates).

After Qualifying any one of the exams you can choose your college or University, where you start learning and as a Mechanical Engineer you should be a good skilled person instead of theoretical knowledge. There will be always a huge demand for skilled Mechanical Engineers in the following top industries,

Automobile industry, Aerospace Industry, Robotics and Mechatronics, Power Plant sector, Manufacturing sector, Production sector, Automation sector, Design sector, Construction sector etc.

University gives you the platform so that you can be a skilled Engineer. There are several benefits one can enjoy while studying in a University,

You’ll get exposed to world-class education and technologies compared to the students who study in college.
The infrastructure of the University will be better than the colleges out there.

You’ll get more opportunity for research-related activities.
The faculty members will be more experienced and will have exceptional knowledge of their field.
You can get your work done on your own campus. Whenever a problem arises, you should have to reach your University if you study at a college.
If the University is global, it will surely attract a greater number of reputed companies visiting their campus for recruitment.
In some Universities, only the students of their main campus have the privilege to enjoy the semester abroad program.

Most of the old University have better tie-ups with foreign universities which will help the students to choose their dream university for semester abroad programs and other research-related activities. I give an example, Adamas University has already signed collaboration agreements with 43 university in 21 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, North & South America, UK, USA etc.
Your degree will have more value and power than the one awarded from a college.
Moreover, the quality of education, which is the ultimate goal of a student, will be on par.

Universities are too tough to get in. But once you got into it, then you’ll have some best years of your life.

In B.Tech mechanical engineering field requires an understanding of core areas including mechanics, dynamics, thermodynamics, materials science, structural analysis, and electricity. In addition to these core principles, mechanical engineers use tools such as computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and product lifecycle management to design and analyze manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and machinery, heating and cooling systems, transport systems, aircraft, watercraft, robotics, medical devices, weapons, and others. It is the branch of engineering that involves the design, production, and operation of machinery. The Adamas University Course Curriculum includes all the new generation Mechanical Engineering Courses that can be used to become a skilled Mechanical Engineer and also gives the following opportunity after completion of 4th-year B.Tech Mechanical Engineering,

Private Sector: – Many of the reputed Industry like TATA, Simplex, Titaghar Wagons Ltd, T-Web Exponent Services Pvt. Ltd, Pinnacles Infotech Solution etc visiting their campus for recruitment every year.

Government Sector: – The PSU or Public Sector Undertaking Companies carry out recruitment drives almost every year to absorb a large number of mechanical engineers. And the number of PSUs that employ mechanical graduates are huge. In this context total 30 PSUs like RITES LTD, ONGC, IOCL, NFL, IPR, NFL, MDL, BPCL, GAIL, NALCO, HPCL, HAL, BEML, BHEL, NTPC, WBSEDCL, SAIL etc will be hiring the mechanical students according to the score of GATE 2021. The basic line of work of all these PSUs involves Boilers and Turbines and other similar machines that require the expertise of Mechanical Engineers.

Every year, Railways absorb a massive number of mechanical engineers in Assistant Loco Pilot, Junior Engineer and Section Engineer Posts.

Many Central govt sectors like DRDO (Défense Research Development Organization), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), SSC (Staff Selection Commission) (JE, SE), LIC, NIC Surveyor (Mechanical) etc hire Mechanical Engineers B.Tech. through their own exam.

Mechanical Engineers work on the ground for the Indian Army. As a Mechanical Engineers will either be taking care of a submarine or the fighter ship in the Navy, aircraft in the Airforce or the tanks in the ground troops

Many of the states in India has conducted their own exam like PSC (Public Service Commission) (Assistant Engineer), MSC (Municipal Service Commission) (Assistant Engineer), WBCS, UPSC, State University Lecturer etc. for hiring mechanical Students.

Research Sector: – In Adamas University Course Curriculum includes few elective courses like MEMS, Friction Stir Welding, Composites, Mechatronics, Nano Technology, Finite Elements Analysis, BioMechanics, Computational Fluid Dynamics etc which is used to show the new direction towards Mechanical research.

Significance of Computer Science Engineering in a COVID-19 infested Era

Ever since the outbreak of COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus from December 2019 till date, the whole world is adversely impacted by the induced pandemic which has forced on every form of the established system, a drastic change in the day-to-day lives of the people belonging to different strata of the society. The socio-economic setup that was prevalent throughout the world, is already significantly shattered, and hence calls for the conceiving as well as establishing a new system wherein the various functionalities may ensure the smooth and orderly execution of different aspects of the human society can be reinstated keeping in mind the robustness of this system against a pandemic like situation such as these.

This COVID-19 infested pandemic has exposed major loopholes and faulty perceptions regarding the various domains like, healthcare sector, financial institutions & bodies, educational establishments, research & developments bodies as well as public welfare organizations, as a result of which the whole world community stands not just clueless but also helpless in grappling with the current catastrophe.

a) Impact of Covid on the domain

The viral outbreak at a massive global scale has forced governments across the world to impose hard lockdowns and travel restrictions thereby compelling the shutdown of offices that offer varied services related to several sectors. Furthermore, at an individual level, people need to maintain a safe distance and be physically covered (especially facial areas) at maximum times when outside. This has invariably impacted interpersonal communication greatly.

Considering all the above factors, a computer/smartphone device, internet connectivity and a relatively stable power supply has come to the rescue of people in many ways. Professionals associated with the computer science & engineering domain are able to maintain various sorts of data in large bulks securely and meticulously with the help of different technologies. Furthermore, with the advent and development of the internet infrastructure, an abundance of virtual space can be created and managed for warehousing these data. Various applications are these days widely used via handheld devices to serve day-to-day purposes like product or food delivery, cab or train booking, hotel booking, seat reservation at any event, online academic courses, online mails, messaging and meeting and so on.

With this current pandemic prevailing all over, the usage of the above online applications is greatly amplified as these software-based utility tools are proving to be beneficial in running the various sectors simply while sitting at home. More and more people are continually seeking online services and demanding applications that will make it possible in every way to handle various business or commercial activities, smoothen the functioning of the education and healthcare sector and providing real-time support to travel as well as transport services. Even in the entertainment industry and also crime investigation & forensics, complex application development with easy user-friendly outlooks are ever-growing.

In short, the computer science & information technology domain has invariably become even more lucrative, prospective and ever-growing field as the pandemic has forced majority of the services to go “online”. Interestingly, a number of professions has by this time become obsolete and many individuals lost their jobs except for some cases such as this domain. These days the most important and valued element is data on various things and this data is available in such large quantities that it needs organized storage and management. While attempting to find a robust and effective solution to the COVID-19 virus, several amounts of data are being recorded and used. Efficient handling and accessing of such data is thus necessitated which is realized by the applications developed by various professionals who are experts in the computer science field.

b) New trends

As mentioned earlier, several sectors across the world are either closed down or grappling to survive by somehow managing to lift their face up the troubled waters of the pandemic crisis. An interesting trend of relying on online services is being noticed among such sectors.

Education: With almost all academic institutions physically shut down, this sector has shifted to online mode of admission, lecture delivery, examination conduction, assignment delivery, subject-wise note sharing and student evaluation. These activities require the support of some multimedia-enabled devices having a camera, microphone and speaker, online document preparing web services, and virtual (cloud-based) storage space. There has emerged a vogue of online coaching and academic preparation via the use of mobile apps like Byju’s Classes, Unacademy and so on which have reduced the dependency on availing tutors. Altogether, all these necessitate the development of software-based applications that require the expertise of domain professionals.

Healthcare: Currently as the majority of the professionals in this sector are the frontline ‘warriors’ in this battle against the pandemic, naturally, they are highly exposed and vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus attack. Despite the extreme precautions taken, most of them even are losing their lives to this deadly virus given the highly contagious environment they are working in. This has led to a fear of psychosis among the general public to avoid visiting the doctors and other medical professionals for a routine health checkup. As a result, the growing demand for online health checkup from home has led many software and app developers to build such dedicated applications that aid in routine healthcare and delivery of medicines. Some of the prominent apps operating in India are DoctorOnDemand and PharmEasy.

Business, Commerce, Banking & Industry: Several commercial and industrial workplaces are physically shut thereby causing losses and job cuts. A growing need has propped up for automation of industrial machinery and online support to various financial services as well as transactions, remote ordering, selling and purchasing, delivery of items. Some of these applications are realized by popular app services like Yono app (State bank of India), PolicyBazaar, Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm, Myntra.

c) Areas of research

Unlike other domains where research and development include extensive needs for laboratory or enterprise-level facilities and field works, pursuing research in the computer science domain requires just three things at home: a good quality computer system/workstation, internet connection and access to research-level online repositories. There are several open-source development tools that can be downloaded and utilized for effective research. Some of the major domains where computer science has pervaded are Medical science, genetics & genomics, microbiology, transport technologies, core industrial & engineering, basic sciences. Researchers under this domain by sheer knowledge of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning and Deep Learning are gradually succeeding in presenting automated models for determining the nature and spread of the COVID-19 virus. Although the concept of Artificial Intelligence is not new (coined in 1956 by John McCarthy), the extensive development and the need for massive automation across several fields has uplifted the status of this concept that has led to enhanced research in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. In short, a professional equipped with such domain knowledge easily feels valued and almost indispensable across several multi-disciplinary fields.

Chemistry: An Indispensable tool to understand coronavirus from its transmission to treatment

Chemistry-based research from the laboratory to industries are progressing their efforts towards discovering more about the virus, developing improved testing technologies, and eventually discovering drugs to treat the disease. Chemistry as the subject of practice in every step of life is essential at every step of our response to contain the virus. Scientists throughout the world are involved in evolving new diagnostic methods to be deployed for the SARS-CoV-2 identification including optical biosensors and point-of-care diagnostics.

In spite of an immensely disrupted class routine, there will surely be thousands of students going on to study and work in chemistry in the years to come. Through this blog, we are trying to document the chemical science community’s role in response to the recent outbreak of coronavirus.

COVID-19 disease transmission route inspired by Gas-Phase Chemistry:

The person-to-person spread of infectious respiratory diseases like COVID-19 occurs primarily due to the transference of virus-laden fluid particles from the diseased person. The infectious fluid particles instigate from the respiratory tract of the person and are ejected from the nose and the mouth during breathing, speaking, whistling, sneezing, and coughing etc. These particles have been broadly classified into two types: aerosols (aerodynamic particle size <5 μm) and droplets (aerodynamic particle size ≥5 μm–10 μm). The outcomes indicated that the transmission phenomena of these virus particles ejected by patients would be dependent on droplet sizes. Once expelled from the mouth or nose, bigger respiratory droplets endure gravitational subsiding before evaporation; in contrast, the smaller droplet particles evaporate faster than they settle down, afterwards forming the aerosolized droplet nuclei that can be deferred for prolonged periods and foldaway in the air over long distances. Investigations by Bourouiba et al. have shown that these droplets can travel rather large distances initially within a turbulent jet, which later transition to a puff or a cloud due to the lack of a continuous momentum source. Depending on the ambient conditions and droplet size, these droplets evaporate at different times. Chemical kinetics-based model i.e. the application of Lattice Boltzmann Method with Brownian dynamics to access the effects of nanoparticles at the liquid-vapour interface of an evaporating sessile droplet can be coupled with of evaporation, dispersion and precipitation to devise a hitherto new methodology to predict the infection spread in the context of COVID-19.

All most all investigations have found that SARS-CoV-2 virus stability monotonically decreases with an increase in temperature. It has also been found that the enveloped viruses like SARS-CoV-2 survive well in droplets far from their dried state, as well as in the desiccated residue where the virus remains in a frozen state, these shreds of evidence prove that virus survivability within desiccated nuclei enables the virus to be airborne. To prove these, chemists have used 1% (w/w) NaCl aqueous solution as a substitute respiratory fluid and 100nm fluorescent particles as a stand-in virus, whose concentration was controlled from 0.005 to 0.1%. Featured basic mechanism in particle deposition in water-based solutions explained in these studies can be extended to pathogens, the dynamics in respiratory droplets are more involved due to the physicochemical complexities and the resulting variation in thermo-physical properties.

Role of synthetic chemists in the development of drugs

The development of antibiotics was one of the most important scientific innovations of the twentieth century, as it drastically reduced the threat of bacterial infections. Though the early antibiotics era was characterized by fully synthetic compounds (e.g., sulfonamides and organoarsenicals) and was largely pioneered by industrial chemists, the modern era of natural product-based antibiotics witnessed significant contributions from academia. Penicillin V and vancomycin provide two examples where synthetic chemists have made impactful, translational contributions by pursuing fundamental research interests. In this time of pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, chemists from worldwide are trying their best to delineate different drugs to annihilate this virus.  the antiviral drugs commonly used in clinical practice to treat viral infections are not applicable to SARS-Cov-2. Thus, it is very necessary to identify new drugs suitable for the treatment of the 2019-nCoV outbreak

Nanotrap: Chemists from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have designed an entirely novel potential treatment for COVID-19: nanoparticles that apprehend SARS-CoV-2 viruses within the body and then use the body’s own immune system to annihilate it.

These “Nanotraps” entice the virus by imitating the marked cells the virus infects. When the virus muddles to the Nanotraps, the traps then impound the virus from other cells and target it for annihilation by the immune system.

In theory, these Nanotraps could also be used on variants of the virus, leading to a potential new way to constrain the virus moving forward. Though the therapy remains in the early stages of testing, the researchers envision it could be administered via a nasal spray as a treatment for COVID-19.

HTCC: An antiviral potential of the polymer HTCC [N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan chloride], which efficiently hampered infection of all low-pathogenicity human coronaviruses in vitro and ex vivo.  The hydrophobically-modified derivative (HM-HTCC) acts as potent inhibitors of the coronavirus HCoV-NL63. we show It has been investigated as that HTCC inhibits interaction of a virus with its receptor and thus blocks the entry. Synthetic chemists are trying to delineate the process through which the HTCC interferes with the virus replication. The photophysical study of HTCC labelled with FITC in water were measured in the absence and in the presence of various concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 domains to understand the effectivity of HTCC.

Application of polymer chemistry to contain SARS-CoV 2:

Polyelectrolytes: The surface of such envelope virus is found to be rich in amino acid residues. Therefore, polyanions may be used to electrostatically bind to the spike (S) glycoprotein, which binds to the ACE2 protein as an important step in host cell invasion and prevent the virus from interacting with the host cell’s surface. Thus, polyanions and polycations can be used to potentially interrupt the binding between the virus and host cell. As examples, Poly(propylacrylic acid), poly(vinylbenzoic acid) (PVBzA), poly(vinylphosphonic acid) (PVPA), and poly(2-acrylamidoethyl)phosphate may be developed as bio-compatible to exhibit this inhibitory effect.

Dendritic Polymer: Dendritic or highly branched polymers that possess greater solubilities, larger surface areas, and tuneable shapes are being investigated to hinder the virus and cell binding. These types of polymers are being designed to be non-toxic and bio-compatible thus they can act as co-receptor and subsequently, mediate the entry of the SARS-CoV2 virus to the host cells.

Natural Polymer: Natural polymers like  polysaccharides, cyclodextrins (CDs) and chitosan are reported to inhibit the attachment of coronavirus to host cells because of their ability to remove cholesterol from cell membranes. These polymers can inhibit the replication of the virus in the host cell.  Moreover, polysaccharides can activate T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and other immune cells to improvise an advantageous immune response to inhibit the virulent effect. It is worthy to mention here that natural polymers inherently possess greater biocompatibility compared to synthetic polymers, which serves as one of the major factor for their applicability as potential drugs.

Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused a global health crisis with high rates of infection and mortality. However, in existing treatment programmes, there are latent drawbacks such as they are time-consuming and full proof. It is hoped that the chemists along with scientists & technologists from interdisciplinary branches throughout the world will develop better model and drugs in the near future and move toward clinical treatment as soon as possible. More clinical trials with these suitable drugs should be performed on patients affected by SARS-CoV-2 of different mutant strains to prove their efficacy and safety. Not only chemists, but it’s a team’s of scientists of all spheres and philosophers’ activity towards investigation how the system can be used to help medical professionals treat patients more effectively.

As a chemist, we have learned that we are very resilient and have discovered our extra efficacies in terms of serving the people, we may not have found had this pandemic not happened.

References:

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LiowS.S., Chee P.L., Owh C., Zhang K., Zhou Y., Gao F., Lakshminarayanan R., Loh X.J. Cationic poly ([R]-3-hydroxybutyrate) copolymers as antimicrobial agents. Macromol. Biosci. 
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Choosing a Career as an Environmental Engineer

What to choose? Which subject to take? Shall I get good job opportunities? What would be the earning potential?… Etc.

These are some of the common concerns that we have before embarking on further education, but take a deep breath and consider environmental engineering as a career option. Isn’t it fascinating to learn more about the world in which we work or to solve the problems that our environment faces on a daily basis? Obviously, it’s interesting! Let’s get started on gathering as much information as possible about our environmental studies. Environmental engineering is a branch of engineering and scientific knowledge of strategies to apply to the practical improvement of the environment. Another thing to say about an environmental specialist: it can provide a cover or assurance for our current situation, as well as strengthen the relationship between humans and the natural climate. Natural engineering gave us the ability to interact with both nature and individuals. As a result, create a capable undertaking that can have a long-term result. Difficulties and significant issues are present in each venture, which requires great understudies and a workforce. An environmental engineer is attempting to develop a new device, a natural structure plan, EIA planning, and is also developing a new monetary model, though environmental management improvement is more satisfactory than theories are the use of the premises.

Why is it necessary to conduct further research into environmental engineering?

It is past time for us to become more rational and calculative as a result of the novel objective for environmental engineering. There are many research, programs, and realistic applications that we cannot overlook. In master’s programs, environmental engineering is a multidisciplinary topic with a lot of theory papers and lab work, project work, and seeing how the hypothesis applies with your own experiences. Other skills, such as technical reading and writing, critical thinking, and board ability, are required in addition to the hypothetical material.

We can likewise choose between two sorts of Experts degrees:

If there is someone who is more concerned about the natural arrangement builder planner, they may pursue a master’s degree in natural engineering.
If anybody is interested in the exploration field, they can go for M. Tech in Environmental Engineering.

Who Are We and What We Do?

In the current period, we can see an increase in demand in the engineering sector across various divisions. If we look at the previous survey results, we can see that environmental engineering is receiving the same attention and opportunities as other fields. Many of us believe that saving the earth is a task for the future, so why bother doing it now? This is not the case; it is having a positive and direct effect on people’s daily lives all over the world.

Now comes the issue of how an environmental engineer can assist in achieving a healthy and sustainable climate, and what positions do they play in this regard.

Environmental engineering, as we all know, is closely connected to environmental science in that it employs scientific and engineering concepts to protect and enhance the environment. It also includes the design and technology for improving environmental quality. The working areas for environmental engineers are air pollution control, radiation protection, hazardous waste management, industrial hygiene, recycling, toxic material control, wastewater management, solid waste disposal, and public health and land management, protection of wildlife, prevent the production and repercussion of acid rain, global warming, and ozone depletion. Life will be difficult without environmental engineers because we can only live and continue our work if our world is clean and secure. The most fascinating aspect of this subject is that students who want to study environmental engineering will gain a broad understanding of a variety of topics including mathematics, engineering design, biology, microbiology, computer science, ecology, public health, economics, and geology.

Let us move on to the job opportunities after learning about the course specifics. What kind of job will an individual get after completing a B. Tech or M. Tech in environmental engineering?

There are many fields where environmental engineers are been appointed, are:

Environmental related projects with national & international firms.
Universities or colleges where they can teach, conduct research, and share knowledge on environmental control acts.
Industry or company for handling wastewater treatment system, treat and dispose of hazardous waste, etc.
Municipal agencies for water supply system.
Laboratories
Government sectors
And plenty of opportunity in fertilizer plants, refineries, food processing industries, etc.

Job Outlook of Environmental Engineering is Great!!!

When we think of studying and pursuing a career in engineering, we usually think of mother streams like civil, mechanical, or electrical engineering, but there is one branch that is becoming increasingly relevant today: environmental engineering. Nothing can be better than to having a career which is meaningful, satisfying, as well as rewarding, and environmental engineering fits perfectly on these criteria. Environmental engineers are extremely satisfied with their careers because they know what they are doing has a major impact on our future; and they are able to fulfill their responsibilities towards our nature and society.

With increasing environmental issues, our young generations are getting aware; as a result, colleges and universities have started offering environmental engineering programmes. The master’s program in this regard will help to better understand the environmental problems and find solutions with the help of technology as well as to raise awareness among the students.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average growth rate for employment of environmental engineers is going to exceed 15% by 2014 to 2024, which is way faster than the average for all other occupations. Why? Because with the modernization and development, our environment is also getting polluted and we are becoming more aware to save the world. As a result, job opportunities for environmental experts will increase. It’ll help us to find a job anywhere in the world, from India to Australia to Europe and beyond, this is truly a global career.

Talking about salaries, environmental engineers get paid pretty well. Although money is not everything, but we live in a world where we need money to survive. Based on a survey of salaries in India, the results show that an experienced environmental engineer receives an average compensation of Rs 10,19,862. So, they can lead a beautiful life.

This was some of the most valuable knowledge about environmental engineering; hopefully, after reading this, the majority of your questions will be answered. Ergo, time to come forward and ‘Be a part of solution not a part of the pollution’.

Unravel the mystery of M.Tech in Computer Science

Are you a final-year student? Are you in dilemma about what should be your next step for your career? Is it a job you need after your B.Tech or is it a certification you need to kickstart your career or you need an M.Tech to give a boost to your career? These are quite common questions that dwell in every engineering students mind.

In my old days, I was also had the same state of mind and it got more fuel when I saw that some of my friends started preparing for GRE, TOFEL and some took some MNC based jobs and some joined some started preparing for some government jobs.

First, let me share my side of the story for going ahead with M.Tech. I saw a few of my seniors work under different IT companies and found there they not only need to be shinning every day but they have to upskill themselves mostly on a regular basis. As most of the curriculum does not cater to the present-day industry needs. Most importantly it is very challenging to upskill and perform in your job on a daily basis.

Though the short-term certifications will earn you various skills unfortunately it will never be enough for you to increase your scale to a different level. Whereas post M.Tech the job perspective and eligibility for your career multiplies exponentially. Not only you are eligible for industry jobs but you can be a part of building an engineering society by producing quality engineers and also can contribute to different research activities and see your creation come live and help society.

Some students have experienced the importance of having a post-graduation degree, post they had spent around more than 5 years in the industry and had set for the different executive program but most cases these executive programs are not a full-time program and not focused in developing a strong academic background.

Is GATE is mandatory for perusing M.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering?

GATE is just a competitive examination by which students can be evaluated with a common test thus giving the selectors a common criterion to select candidates. But if you are academically strong then you can peruse M.Tech without GATE.

What awaits for me post M.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering?

The opportunities get increased exponentially post M.Tech. Your option of joining the industry becomes wider with a higher package, along with you can be a part of any academic institute, research institute, government institute, private institute, peruse PhD to name a few.

Which branch should I choose for my M.Tech course of studies?

You can choose any branch of studies for your M.Tech course but as per the regulation of various government bodies and looking at your career it is advisable the course should be relevant to your B.Tech course of studies.

Where to study M.Tech?

At Adamas University, we design and update our curriculum frequently to meet the changing demand of the present-day industry while making you academically aware of many of your future endeavours.

The necessity of having a strong alumni network

The reputation and success of any educational institution including higher educational institutions lies on its students – past as well as present. Faculty, administration staff and placement personnel also play a vital role. The reputation grows when it keeps producing successful graduates and post-graduates continuously – intelligent, innovative and effective in their fields.

Alumni can help institutions sustain through their donations, and voluntary help. If a big chunk of the money that institutions require come from alumni it will help those institutions remain competitive. They can provide their students newer technology, better facility, and nicer campus. Let us now study and review the possible areas in which alumni can provide a strong support to educational institutions:

Brand building

With mushrooming educational institutions around the world, one way for institutes to stand apart from domestic and international competition is to promote its brand. And an institute’s alumni are its best bet. It is not only the alumni’s professional successes that drive a brand but also factors like alumni driven campus recruitment, social campaigns go a long way in promoting a brand.

Grading

Year after year, the race for ranking has gained more prominence as more and more institutions have entered the fray. Apart from factors like infrastructure, quality of faculty, curriculum, research facilities, now alumni success and engagement are also being taken into consideration.

National Assessment and Accreditation council’s (NAAC) Revised Assessment and Accreditation framework indicates a shift in several metrics – one of it being to bring in enhanced participation of students and alumni in the assessment process. NAAC has specified that alumni engagement can contribute in academic matters, student support as well as mobilisation of resources – both financial and non-financial.

Naming rights

With the intention of encouraging significant contributors’/donors, higher educational institutions have embarked on a policy of granting naming rights to major facilities and programs.

Programs in this connection refer to scholarship, fellowship, chair-professorship, endowment, etc

Facilities in this connection refer to movable and immovable properties, research lab equipment, etc.

The name of the person, in respect of whom the Naming Rights have been granted, shall be prominently displayed at all times on the immovable or movable property during the tenure of the Naming Rights.

Placements

The alumni network of a college/university is one of the biggest sources of placement opportunities for students. Alumni can help students get placed at their respective organisations.

Mentorship and career guidance

Alumni can play an active role in voluntary programmes like mentoring students in their area of expertise. Further alumni are a huge talent pool whose guidance can be beneficial to many students in their respective areas of study.

Networking platform

Alumni network by itself is one of the biggest professional networking platforms available today.

So, it may be concluded that former students or alumni of an institution can play an immensely positive role in higher education transformation. The alumni have the great potential to promote institutional development. It has equally great ability to build a skill and knowledge-sharing network. It is therefore strategic for institutions of higher learning to establish and maintain good relations with its alumni by inviting them in decision making, network building and developmental processes for the overall advancement of the institution.

Significance of LinkedIn in Job Hunting

LinkedIn is the largest professional networking website having 756 million members in 200 countries worldwide. It has actually been around longer than Facebook & Twitter. It helps you to create and manage your online professional brand, which means nearly an unlimited supply of network connections and job opportunities. LinkedIn can perform near miracles for your career development. Hiring managers and employers both use LinkedIn to source candidates for employment. As a candidate you can use LinkedIn to research companies at the same time you will also appear in the search done by different recruiters. Here your presence on LinkedIn plays a significant role.

If you are a job seeker, you can let recruiters and your network on LinkedIn know you are open to new job opportunities. LinkedIn will help your profile show up in search results when recruiters look for suitable job candidates.

In the current scenario, most of the recruiters check the LinkedIn profiles of candidates who apply to their openings. That’s why it’s highly important for job seekers to manage their profiles well.

Five major advantages of LinkedIn for jobseekers:

You can create your professional brand: There are certain ways of creating a professional brand i.e. building your own websites, writing professional blogs etc. but creating a LinkedIn profile is much easier. It takes hardly 30 minutes to set up a LinkedIn account. Once you set up an account on LinkedIn find out what makes you marketable? It’s important to upload a professional profile picture (since profiles without proper pictures are not considered genuine). Write a powerful summary. Emphasizing your personal strengths and domain-based skills, this helps recruiters and your network to understand you as a professional.
Follow companies and their employees: LinkedIn can be used as an important tool for researching organizations and people working for those organizations. It’s a good practice plan and decide some organizations you want to work for and sending a connection request to the people working for those organizations with a short personalized message. It’s also important to follow companies’ official pages to stay updated.
Connect with LinkedIn groups: Connecting with groups with similar interest and help you expand your network. Groups allow you to take part in the discussion where you have the brilliant opportunity to exhibit your skills and knowledge about a particular topic. Groups also assist you to connect with key people of the popular industries.
Write articles about specialize area of your knowledge: If you can write well, it’s a great opportunity to write and post your articles on LinkedIn about your area of interest. It boosts your presence, showcases your knowledge and portrait your image of an intellectual person in your network. If you can’t write so well, find stories relevant to your field and post them with your brief comment.
It can help you tap into industry news: Following the official pages of industries of your choice, while scrolling your timeline on LinkedIn you can stay updated about news and events in a particular industry. It’s a good practice to take important notes of your target industries. This will assist you at the time of preparation for the job interview.

Conclusion: There are almost endless benefits of LinkedIn. From a jobseeker’s perspective, LinkedIn is an effective tool to get ahead in the job search. So, ultimately you can build and maintain your network, search for jobs, and build your professional reputation through LinkedIn. In short, having a LinkedIn profile will help you a great deal in landing your dream job.

People First – An Emphasis on Employee Value Proposition

These are the turbulent times when everything under the sun is under pressure. The pressure is to change the normal way of working. The work, the business, all need to run to survive but in a new normal mode. Everyone needs to cope up with the challenges of the new normal. In this scenario, employees have taken the pivotal role of continuing their work from anywhere, any mode, so that the organization does not suffer. The education sector, not being an exception, is following the same norm. The faculty members of Adamas University are also handholding the students in this difficult time as well as supporting the management to run the organization smoothly. To value the employees, Adamas University has launched the program People First. By this approach, Adamas University is helping its present employees to pass on in this difficult time.

The concept of People First has come up from one of the important strategic areas of HR, which is Employee Value Proposition (EVP). This concept is used to attract and retain skilled employees. By definition, EVP means, the comprehensive offering by the employer to his employees, present as well as prospect. The EVP implemented with the People First approach involves a proper mix of characteristics, benefits, and ways of working in the organization. This one is an unwritten contract between Adamas University and its workers that, University will provide value to its employees, and in return, the employees will be loyal to the University.

The terminology has been taken from the well-known marketing terminology – Customer Value Proposition. There is always a conflict as, to whom the employer focuses more, customers, or employees. As a result of the debate, customers need to be served by employees. So, without putting them first, nothing can be achieved by the employer. Sometimes employers focus more on the customers to get business, but they fail to retain the critical element – the employees, which actually, let them achieve success.

The concept of EVP evolves around filling and retaining the skill gap in the ever-changing business scenario. In higher education institutions this is more evident, as here, highly skilled employees are the cornerstones, which need to be filled as well as retained. The private higher educational institutions like Adamas Univesity, which value research as well as education on the same scale to rank higher than the others, EVP stands out to make them count. Earlier, the scale to measure the employee impact was by higher compensation provided to the particular employee. But in higher education institutions this is not the key element to attract employees. The latest research by LinkedIn showed that the prospective candidates not only are looking for the compensation packages provided, but also to the brand, and the perception they build on how the enterprise will look after him regarding his career advancement, intellectual appetite, and other needs.

Organizations always strive to become “Employer of the Choice” for the talents they are hiring. The EVP is one of the elements to win this talent war. During the tough times of the organization, employees hold hand of the entity to lead it through the turbulent waters depending on their leadership. But if the employer leaves the hands of employees, then brand building gets hampered. And if once the brand-building gets affected, then it will have a far-reaching impact. The concept of People First has successfully implemented this process, of valuing employees, and thus helping to make the brand Adamas a truly global brand.