Background: Substantial COVID-19 research investment has been allocated to randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, which currently face recruitment challenges or early discontinuation. We aimed to estimate the effects of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine on survival in COVID-19 from all currently available RCT evidence, published and unpublished. Methods: Rapid meta-analysis of ongoing, completed, or discontinued RCTs on hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine treatment for any COVID-19 patients (protocol: https://osf.io/QESV4/). We systematically identified published and unpublished RCTs by September 14, 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, PubMed, Cochrane COVID-19 registry). All-cause mortality was extracted (publications/preprints) or requested from investigators and combined in random-effects meta-analyses, calculating odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), separately for hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine. Prespecified subgroup analyses included patient setting, diagnostic confirmation, control type, and publication status. Results: Sixty-two trials were potentially eligible. We included 16 unpublished trials (1596 patients) and 10 publications/preprints (6317 patients). The combined summary OR on all-cause mortality for hydroxychloroquine was 1.08 (95%CI: 0.99, 1.18; I-square=0%; 24 trials; 7659 patients) and for chloroquine 1.77 (95%CI: 0.15, 21.13, I-square=0%; 4 trials; 307 patients). We identified no subgroup effects. Conclusions: We found no benefit of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine on the survival of COVID-19 patients. For hydroxychloroquine, the confidence interval is compatible with increased mortality (OR 1.18) or negligibly reduced mortality (OR 0.99). Findings have unclear generalizability to outpatients, children, pregnant women, and people with comorbidities.

The present study evaluates the protective role of Quercetin (Quer), against immobilization stress- induced anxiety, depression and cognition alteration in mice using behavioral and biochemical parameters. 24 adult Albino mice were distributed into 2 groups vehicle (n=12; 1 ml/kg) and Quer injected (n=12; 20 mg/kg/ml). The animals received their respective treatment for 14 days. On day 15, after the drug administration, animals were sub-divided into 4 groups (n=6); (i) unstressed + vehicle; (ii) stressed + vehicle; (iii) unstressed + Quer; (iv) stressed + Quer. On day 16, 24 h after the immobilization stress behavioral activities (light-dark activity, elevated plus maze, Morris water maze, and forced swim test) monitored and then animals were decapitated 1 h after the drug administration. Brain samples were collected for biochemical (antioxidant enzymes, AChE, ACh, 5-HT and its metabolite) analysis. The present study indicates the Quer reversed the stress-induced anxiety and depression, in addition, memory performance was more enhanced in stressed group. Following the treatment of Quer, stress-induced elevation of lipid peroxidation and suppression of antioxidant enzymes were also reversed. Administration of Quer decreased AChE in unstressed, while levels of acetylcholine were increased in vehicle and Quer treated stressed animals. The metabolism of 5-HT was increased in Quer treated stressed than unstressed animals. In conclusion, the present finding showed that Quer could prevent the impairment of antioxidant enzymes and also regulate the serotonergic and cholinergic neurotransmission and produce antianxiety, antidepressant effect and enhance memory following 2 h immobilization stress in mice.

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Restriction in nutrient acquisition is one of the primary causes for reduced growth and yield in water deficient soils. Sulfur (S) is an important secondary macronutrient that interacts with several stress metabolites to improve performance of food crops under various environmental stresses including drought. Increased S supply influences uptake and distribution of essential nutrients to confer nutritional homeostasis in plants exposed to limited water conditions. The regulation of S metabolism in plants, resulting in synthesis of numerous S-containing compounds, is crucial to the acclimation response to drought stress. Two different experiments were laid out in semi-controlled conditions to investigate the effects of different S sources on physiological and biochemical mechanisms of maize (Zea mays L. cv. P1574). Initially, the rate of S application in maize was optimized in terms of improved biomass and nutrient uptake. The maize seedlings were grown in sandy loam soil fertigated with various doses (0, 15, 30 and 45 kg ha −1) of different S fertilizers viz. K 2 So 4 , feSo 4 , cuSo 4 and na 2 So 4. The optimized S dose of each fertilizer was later tested in second experiment to determine its role in improving drought tolerance of maize plants. A marked effect of S fertilization was observed on biomass accumulation and nutrients uptake in maize. In addition, the optimized doses significantly increased the gas exchange characteristics and activity of antioxidant enzymes to improve yield of maize. Among various S sources, application of K 2 So 4 resulted in maximum photosynthetic rate (43%), stomatal conductance (98%), transpiration rate (61%) and sub-stomatal conductance (127%) compared to no S supply. Moreover, it also increased catalase, guaiacol peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities by 55, 87 and 65%, respectively that ultimately improved maize yield by 33% with respect to control under water deficit conditions. These results highlight the importance of S fertilizers that would likely be helpful for farmers to get better yield in water deficient soils. Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the major cereal crops that provide food for humans and feed for livestock. The demand for maize seed has increased significantly during past few decades due to its consumption in poultry feed and wet milling industry. The importance of maize as a food crop is well recognized and is used as a staple food in many parts of the world 1. Maize seed is an abundant source of energy as 100 g seed provides 365 kilocalories of energy 2. However, it is an extensive nutrient crop and excessive use of fertilizers to obtain high yield has resulted in the depletion of nutrients particularly sulfur (S) in soils 3. Moreover, water shortage due to climate change may induce further losses in maize production in future. Adaptation of maize to limited water conditions has received great interest from farmers, researchers and policy makers considering its importance in nutritional food security. Since maize requires large quantities of water to...

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The research work was conducted to see the effect of organic mulches and tillage practices on growth, yield and quality of autumn planted maize and soil physical properties. Four types of tillage practices i.e. conventional tillage, zero tillage, bar harrow tillage, subsoiler tillage and two types of mulching material i.e. wheat straw mulch and saw dust mulch was used. The mulching material was partially incorporated in the field after germination of crop. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Control treatment was kept for comparison. All other practices were kept uniform throughout the crop period. Data about growth and yield components were collected and analyzed statistically by fisher analysis of variance and treatment significance was measured by significant difference test at 5v% level. The results showed that zero tillage + wheat straw mulch gave maximum 1000-grain weight (341.67 g) and grain yield (6.33 t ha -1 ) and it was followed by conventional tillage + saw dust mulch (4.92 t ha -1 ). Higher protein content was recorded in Subsoiler tillage (10.26 %). Conducive soil physical conditions were observed in the zero tillage practices over the other tillage practices. On the basis of these results it could be proposed that the tillage and mulching is a very important practice to increase the yield of crop. Among different practices, zero tillage with wheat straw mulching gave maximum yield and net benefits.

Polyploidy means having more than two basic sets of chromosomes. Polyploid plants may be artificially obtained through chemical, physical and biological (2n gametes) methods. This approach allows an increased gene scope and expression, thus resulting in phenotypic changes such as yield and product quality. Nonetheless, breeding new cultivars through induced polyploidy should overcome deleterious effects that are partly contributed by genome and epigenome instability after polyploidization. Furthermore, shortening the time required from early chromosome set doubling to the final selection of high yielding superior polyploids is a must. Despite these hurdles, plant breeders have successfully obtained polyploid bred-germplasm in broad range of forages after optimizing methods, concentration and time, particularly when using colchicine. These experimental polyploids are a valuable tool for understanding gene expression, which seems to be driven by dosage dependent gene expression, altered gene regulation and epigenetic changes. Isozymes and DNA-based markers facilitated the identification of rare alleles for particular loci when compared with diploids, and also explained their heterozygosity, phenotypic plasticity and adaptability to diverse environments. Experimentally induced polyploid germplasm could enhance fresh herbage yield and quality, e.g., leaf protein content, leaf total soluble solids, water soluble carbohydrates and sucrose content. Offspring of experimentally obtained hybrids should undergo selection for several generations to improve their performance and stability.

Severe water stress conditions limit growth and development of floricultural crops which affects flower quality. Hence, development of effective approaches for drought tolerance is crucial to limit recurring water deficit challenges. Foliar application of various plant growth regulators has been evaluated to improve drought tolerance in different floricultural crops; however, reports regarding the role of chitosan (Ci) on seasonal flowers like calendula are still scant. Therefore, we evaluated the role of Ci foliar application on morphological, physiological, biochemical, and anatomical parameters of calendula under water stress conditions. Different doses of Ci (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 mg L−1) were applied through foliar application to evaluate their impact in enhancing growth and photosynthetic pigments of calendula. The optimized Ci level of 7.5 mg L−1 was further evaluated to study mechanisms of water stress tolerance in calendula. Ci application significantly increased biomass and pigments in calendula. Ci (7.5 mg L−1) resulted in increased photosynthetic rate (72.98%), transpiration rate (62.11%), stomatal conductance (59.54%), sub-stomatal conductance (20.62%), and water use efficiency (84.93%). Furthermore, it improved catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase by 56.70%, 64.94%, and 32.41%, respectively. These results highlighted the significance of Ci in inducing drought tolerance in pot marigold.