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The emergence of colistin resistance is one of the most serious future issues since it is a last‐resort antibiotic used to treat infections caused by multidrug‐resistant (MDR) gram‐negative bacteria, particularly those resistant to carbapenems. The aquatic environment acts as a reservoir for the emergence and spread of colistin resistant pathogens. The emergence and transmission of a plasmid mediated mcr gene is one of the most important mechanism of colistin resistance in gram negative bacteria. Several mcr variants have been identified in zoonotic pathogens of aquatic origin that may easily transmit this gene to human pathogens. Currently, very few studies have been conducted to test colistin susceptibility in aquaculture associated bacteria. This may be attributed to a limited technical resource for screening colistin‐resistant microorganisms. As a result, to reduce the emergence and spread of colistin resistance in human and animal health, as well as in the environment, the One Health strategy and laboratory methodologies must be expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White spot disease (WSD) is one of the most devastating diseases that has deteriorated shrimp production since past several decades. It is caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in almost all the species of shrimps across the globe. Understanding the complete disease mechanism and postulating a consolidated drug/antiviral is still under way. The major envelop proteins that assist the virus to penetrate into the shrimp are VP28, VP26, VP24, and VP19. VP26 a major constituent of the envelope plays a significant role in maintaining the structure of the envelope as well as helps the virus instigate the infection. The drugs and antiviral used to treat any viral infection conventionally efflux several toxic by‐products that degrade the structural properties of the environment. Since quercetin is a natural product obtained from plant sources, hence its degradation does not leave any toxic residues in the environment. This study has tried to understand the structural aspects of the viral envelop protein VP26. Additionally, the study has also tried to understand the interaction of a flavonoid quercetin with VP26. Computational approaches are used to explore the binding cavity of VP26 as well as trace the amino acid interactions shown by quercetin inside the binding cavity of VP26. The study reveals that quercetin shows good compatibility with VP26. Thus, using quercetin as an antiviral and mapping more detailed interaction of VP26‐quercetin can open pathway for development of antiviral against white spot disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of biomedical waste (BMW) is important for a healthy and safe environment. In order to guarantee cleanliness and hygiene, BMW must be collected, disposed of, and handled appropriately. The world is being affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic, which has spread to various countries. The COVID‐19 pandemic has increased the volume of BMW production, created challenges for both the central and state pollution control boards (SPCB). During this pandemic, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change (CPCB) devised and implemented various guidelines and standards for proper BMW management. The number of common biomedical waste treatment facilities (CBMWTFs) has risen, and several states and private institutions have built their own BMW treatment facilities. Despite this, some countries do not have enough infrastructures for biomedical waste management (BMWM). Haryana is responsible for a significant percentage of the COVID‐related BMW generation. Despite the fact that the state possesses 11 CBMWTFs, it is unable to handle this BMW properly. Thus, the finding of this study showed that in some Indian states including Haryana, there are insufficient institutional systems for managing biomedical and hazardous wastes during pandemic situations. The study is based on the examination of data on BMW generation and management. The data have been collected from legitimate sources including scientific literatures and annual reported from government websites. The findings are expected to provide the reader with relevant information on the suitability and efficiency of the whole BMW management framework in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue is a devastating disease that affects people all over the world, yet there are currently no effective medications or antivirals against it. No vaccine or medicine with long‐lasting effects has been developed to treat dengue fever. Mosquito repellents have gained popularity as a dengue preventative strategy because of their simplicity of application and usage. However, this has led to ecosystem deterioration, damage, and bioaccumulation as well as biomagnification of hazardous residues. When they are first introduced, synthetic pesticides do not create a wide range of major issues that are later discovered. Therefore, it has become urgently necessary to look for natural treatments that reduce or combat dengue in order to avoid such pesticides. An environmentally friendly alternative to conventional antivirals is quercetin, a flavinoid derives from plant sources. This research conducts a pilot investigation using computational approaches to examine the interaction between the flavinoid quercetin with the dengue virus envelop protein. According to the findings of the current investigation, quercetin exhibits excellent affinity with the dengue envelops protein. Hence, quercetin can work as a broad‐spectrum, environmentally friendly antiviral because it interacts with many envelop proteins of dengue and related viruses. Additionally, because it is obtained organically, there is no impact to the ecosystem in the immediate area when it degrades. As a result, it can be used as a potent, environmentally safe, and broad‐spectrum antiviral against the illness [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrimps contribute a considerable share to global food demands and are presumed to be one of the most popular delicacies worldwide. The nutrition value of shrimps is also very high. Shrimp aquaculture industry faces a lot of challenges due to anthropogenic or non‐anthropogenic reasons. Occurrence of disease is one of the chief reasons involved in management of shrimp aquaculture. The shrimps are highly fragile species and are markedly prone to various viral, bacterial, and fungal diseases. Past few decades of shrimp aquaculture have experienced deadly devastations due to viral and bacterial outbreaks. In order to prevent the recurrent disease, usage of the antibiotics has become customary practice as a therapeutic measure. The repercussion of using antibiotics in aquaculture is biomagnifications of toxic residues that further get accumulated in the food chains and food webs, eventually causing pollution in the environment. Hence, proper sanitation practices when synergistically used with immunostimulants, immunomodulators, pathogen free stocks, etc. can help the shrimp industry flourish in the current times. In the present paper, the importance of shrimps is described as food and eco‐friendly measures to preserve the global shrimp industry so that it can meet the escalating food demands globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potable water requirements for 98% of people in Haryana (India) are accomplished by groundwater resources. Considering the presence of high fluoride content in ground aquifers, and the subsequent problem of dental fluorosis, this study was conducted in the central region of Haryana state. Underground water samples at eight sites at three depths were examined during premonsoon and postmonsoon (2018–2020) to differentiate the impact of water recharging and its interaction with rocks. The SPADANS‐zirconyl oxychloride method (UV–vis spectrophotometer – Systronics 118) was adopted for fluoride‐level detection. The fluoride level in sampling sites varied from 0.19 to 2.87 ppm with a mean of 1.06 ppm in water samples. More than 38% of samples did not meet the optimum permissible limit (1 ppm) of fluoride in potable water. The fluoride level intensifies in postmonsoon samples with the maximum concentration at 40 m bgl depth. Estimated marginal mean statistics illustrate a significant impact of locations, depth of water sample, and monsoon season on fluoride levels. Fluorosis prevalence among school‐going children (N = 1600) was also assessed (Dean's index) to gain implications of fluoride concentration on health. Forty‐nine percent of children suffer from various levels of dental fluorosis with male children had high occurrences. Public health authorities must ensure safe drinking water availability and preventive measures for fluorosis prevalence in this region through defluoridation of water resources and distribution of calcium/ascorbic acid food supplement to school children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The limited number of surface mass balance (SMB) observations in the Antarctic inland hampers estimates of ice‐sheet contribution to global sea level and locations with million‐year‐old ice. We present finely resolved SMB over the past three centuries in a low‐accumulation region with significant depth hoar formation on Dome Fuji derived from ∼1,100 km of microwave radar stratigraphy dated with a firn core. The regional‐mean SMB over the past 264 years is estimated to ∼22.5 ± 3.3 kg m−2 a−1, but with large local variability of up to 30%. We found that local SMB is negatively correlated with surface slope at scales of a few hundred meters, resulting in anomalous zones of low SMB which represent as much as 8–10% of the total SMB on the inland plateau if the SMB‐slope relationship is more widely valid. This impact should be investigated further to improve estimates of Antarctic mass balance and sea‐level contribution. Plain Language Summary: Sampling the world's Oldest Ice (more than 1 million years) is crucial for understanding why pacing of glacier‐interglacial cycles has changed in the past. Such ice will be preserved at the base of the Antarctic ice‐sheet interior, though its location depends on many factors, including snow accumulation rate. We mapped snow accumulation in the Dome Fuji region, using radar‐detected snow layers dated with volcanic signals in ice cores. Although climate models indicate a very low and nearly uniform snow accumulation in this region, the observations show large variations of up to about 30% which we found to be related to local surface slope at a scale of a kilometer or less. This new knowledge contributes to better locate Oldest Ice and to improve estimates of ice‐sheet mass changes and its contributions to global sea level. Key Points: Ultrawide band microwave radar reveals spatially highly variable surface mass balance (SMB) over the past three centuries in inland AntarcticaSMB anomalies resulting from local surface slopes may represent as much as 8–10% of the total SMB on the inland plateauThe new SMB data have direct implications for the search for million‐year‐old ice in the Dome Fuji area, East Antarctica [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a 3 × 2 element U‐slot patch antenna array with modified feed for airborne very high frequency applications. The antenna array is designed to upgrade the Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder/Imager on board the National Aeronautics and Space Administration DC‐8 aircraft. The antenna array is placed in an aerodynamic fairing structure designed for airborne operation. The major objective is to design an antenna array with a wider impedance bandwidth compared to the existing array. Impedance bandwidth improvement is achieved in two steps. First step is by increasing the bandwidth of antenna element itself and the second step is by utilizing the mutual coupling between the elements of the array. To avoid the problem associated with a rigid probe feed, a modified flexible feed is designed, which can withstand the atmospheric and aerodynamic forces at high altitudes. A matching network is used at each antenna element in this array to further improve the impedance matching. The final antenna array with fairing structure achieved a fractional bandwidth of the 62.5% at center frequency of 243.75 MHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]