Public Perceptions Regarding the Preparedness of Government to Combat the Third Wave of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection Across Various States of India.

India has already passed through 2 waves of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic losing many lives. The reason for losing lives may be due to the unpreparedness of the health care system of India for this unprecedented pandemic. To assess the government's preparedness, an institutional-based cross-sectional prospective survey was conducted among the adult population of selected states in India. A self-administered 30-item questionnaire divided into 5 sections (demography of the participants, steps to create awareness, prevent spread of infection, handle the emergency, and prognosis) was distributed online through Google Forms. The responses were collected in an Excel file. SPSS software was used to perform the descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Nearly a quarter of the participants "strongly disagree"/"disagree" about the government's preparedness for the third wave. Considering their perception, it cannot be assured that the government is well prepared to handle the emergency. So, the government must maintain emergency funding and develop a health infrastructure. The government should take steps to reduce social stigma, prevent spreading of unscientific propagation, and make people aware of the World Health Organization (WHO) as the reliable source of information for health emergencies to avoid a human crisis in the future.

Covid-19 vaccine, acceptance, and concern of safety from public perspective in the state of Odisha, India.

Introduction: No medication or therapies were found to be effective in controlling the covid-19 pandemic. The fast-track development of covid-19 vaccine brought some hope among health practitioners globally. The major challenge seems to be safety, efficacy, and acceptance of the vaccine. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among the community of the state of Odisha, India, to find out the concerns of safety and acceptance for the vaccine.Methods: A self-administered multiple-choice questionnaire containing 23 items with three sections was prepared in Google form and deployed following snow ball sampling method. The participants recruited were above 18 years of age residing in Odisha. The participation in the survey was completely voluntary. The survey was conducted during February 2021.Results and discussion: In total, 359 members participated in the survey. Majority of the respondent strongly agree/agree that covid-19 vaccine is safe for adults and children. Significant variation among all the groups was found regarding acquisition of higher immunity following infection rather by vaccination, effectiveness in infection prevention, safety in children, provision of mandatory vaccination by government, and public health protection following government guidelines.Conclusion: The major barrier to the covid-19 vaccination was found to be safety and awareness. But there is well acceptance to covid-19 vaccine among the community of Odisha, India, and further efforts to create awareness concerning safety and vaccination will be instrumental in the eradication of this infection.

Comprehensive physiological analyses and reactive oxygen species profiling in drought tolerant rice genotypes under salinity stress.

Rice being a staple cereal is extremely susceptible towards abiotic stresses. Drought and salinity are two vital factors limiting rice cultivation in Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP). Present study has intended to evaluate the consequences of salinity stress on selected drought tolerant rice genotypes at the most susceptible seedling stage with an aim to identify the potential multi-stress (drought and salt) tolerant rice genotype of this region. Genotypic variation was obvious in all traits related to drought and salt susceptibility. IR84895-B-127-CRA-5-1-1, one of the rice genotypes studied, exhibited exceptional drought and salinity tolerance. IR83373-B-B-25-3-B-B-25-3 also displayed enhanced drought and salt tolerance following IR84895-B-127-CRA-5-1-1. Variations were perceptible in different factors involving photosynthetic performance, proline content, lipid peroxidation, K+/Na+ ratio. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) disintegrated cellular and sub-cellular membrane leading to decreased photosynthetic activities. Therefore, accumulation and detoxification of reactive oxygen species was also considered as a major determinant of salt tolerance. IR84895-B-127-CRA-5-1-1 showed improved ROS detoxification mediated by antioxidant enzymes. IR84895-B-127-CRA-5-1-1 seedlings also displayed significant recovery after removal of salt stress. The results established a direct association of ROS scavenging with improved physiological activities and salt tolerance. The study also recommended IR84895-B-127-CRA-5-1-1 for improved crop performance in both drought and saline environments of EIGP. These contrasting rice genotypes may assist in understanding the multiple stress associated factors in concurrent drought and salt tolerant rice genotypes.

Wound healing potential of pterospermum acerifolium wild. With induction of tumor necrosis factor - α.

Pterospermum acerifolium, a well-known plant in Indian medicine possesses various therapeutic properties including healing properties and cytokine induction. Wound healing activity of ethanolic extract of P. acerifolium flower along with its effect on tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) was assessed using excision model of wound repair in Wistar albino rats. After application of the P. acerifolium extract, rate of epithelization with an increase in wound contraction was observed. Animals tropically treated with 10% P. acerifolium extract in petroleum jelly, the wound healing process was observed faster as compared to control group which were treated with petroleum jelly alone. A significant accelerated healing was noticed in animals which were additionally prefed with 250mg/kg body weight of ethanolic P. acerifolium extract daily for 20 consecutive days along with the topical application 10% P. acerifolium extract. During wound healing phase TNF-α level was found to be up regulated by P. acerifolium treatment. Early wound healing may be pronounced due to P. acerifolium extract elevating TNF-α production.