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Wetlands play a vital role in ecosystem sustainability by regulating atmospheric temperature and enhancing human comfort levels. This study aims to evaluate the temperature regulation function of the Nawabganj Wetland, Uttar Pradesh (India), a Ramsar site designated in January 2020, located in a semi-arid region vulnerable to increasing heat waves. The primary objective is to assess the wetland’s influence on microclimatic conditions and human thermal comfort across different seasons. Field surveys were conducted to collect temperature, humidity, wind speed, and vegetation data over three consecutive days in each season: 15–17 May 2019 (pre-monsoon), 12–14 August 2019 (monsoon), and 5–7 October 2019 (post-monsoon). The human comfort index was calculated using field data, while vegetation density and frequency were analyzed based on seasonal variations using the quadrant method. The results indicate that the wetland significantly contributes to local temperature reduction and improved comfort levels. Vegetation plays a crucial role in amplifying this cooling effect, particularly during summer when temperatures range from an average low of 23 °C to a high of 40 °C. In winter, temperatures vary between an average low of 6 °C and a high of 22 °C, with a consistently high humidity level of approximately 94%, further influencing microclimatic conditions. The extent of weed cover varied between 10% and 60% from December to May, reflecting seasonal fluctuations in water levels and wetland health. The study highlights the necessity of effective water and vegetation management, especially during summer, to sustain the wetland’s cooling capacity. Integrating wetland-based strategies into urban planning can enhance environmental sustainability, mitigate climate extremes, and improve human well-being in rapidly urbanizing regions.

Many activities are conducted with the view of reducing CO2 emission from fossil fuels, but mining extraction will continue to be important for energy sources, mineral and metal ores, and the general economy. This activity has negative environmental consequences such as habitat loss, water scarcity, and soil degradation in novel ecosystems. Additionally, climate change, drought, and desertification accelerate important problems with water retention. From one point of view, identifying and conserving critical regions for ecological sustainability are issues of fundamental importance, but on the other hand, post-mine sites could provide additional carbon sinks and improve regional water retention (WR). This review paper analyses different studies focusing on the impact of the reclamation of mining sites on the water retention properties of soil. Water retention in reclaimed mining soil (RMS) increased considerably after various restoration efforts were implemented. The amount of water holding capacity in RMS was mostly affected by reclamation methods, soil properties, soil biota, restoration duration, and vegetation type. The major conclusions from the analysis were that (i) the bulk density of reclaimed mining soil ranges from 1.35 to 1.50 g/cm3 and decreases with restoration duration; (ii) Soil fauna increases soil water storage capacity and plant litter and earthworms convert litter to fecal pellets, which increases water field capacity; and (iii) water holding capacity increases with duration of reclaimed sites and type of plants, i.e., afforestation and tree communities have higher WR than younger grasslands. Therefore, identification of the suitable reclamation method, restoration duration, vegetation type, and soil fauna are important factors for increasing water retention capacity at a regional scale.

Water is essential natural resource for life and environment. The survival of all living things depends on the availability of water. The supply of this key natural resource in adequate quantity, quality, and time is of utmost importance for survival. However, rapid decline in water quality and quantity is observed due to changes in surface and ground water bodies, rainfall fluctuations, and consumption patterns resulting in a gap between water demand and availability. Water resource audit is a technique for assessing these gaps for any defined boundary. In this study, water audit has been attempted for Birla institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi with case studies of two hostels. Lobby‐wise water audit was assessed to finally conclude the gaps. Water harvesting potentials was assessed for the study area and recommendations were made for water management and planning.

COVID-19 vaccition was initially started in India on 16th January 2021 after approval from tiol authorities. This study was carried out to assess the effect of vaccition status on the severity and clinical outcome among patients infected with COVID-19. The study included all adult COVID-19 patients admitted to our hospital from 1st April to 30th June 2021. A total of 819 patients were enrolled in the study out of which only 183 (22.3%) were vaccited. The study documented a statistically significant reduction in the severity of illness among the vaccited (single/double dose) (33% severe COVID-19) against the unvaccited (43% severe COVID-19) groups; along with a reduction in mortality. On univariate and multivariate alysis, age, severity of illness and lack of COVID-19 vaccition status were associated with a statistically significant increased mortality. To conclude, this study demonstrates the role of vaccition in decreasing the severity and mortality of COVID-19 infection.

COVID-19 is a pandemic with over 5 million cases worldwide. The disease has imposed a huge burden on health resources. Evaluation of clinical and epidemiological profiles of such patients can help in understanding and maging the outbreak more efficiently. This study was a prospective observatiol alysis of 200 diagnosed COVID-19 patients admitted to a tertiary care center from 20th march to 8th May 2020. All these patients were positive for COVID-19 by an oro-sopharyngeal swab-rtPCR based testing. Alyses of demographic factors, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, laboratory parameters, and the outcomes were performed. The mean age of the population was 40 years with a slight male predomince (116 patients out of 200, 58%). A majority of the patients (147, 73.5 %) were symptomatic, with fever being the most common symptom (109, 54.5%), followed by cough (91, 45.5%). An older age, presence of symptoms and their duration, leukocytosis, a high quick SOFA score, a high modified SOFA score, need for ventilator support, an AST level more than 3 times the upper limit of normal (ULN), and a serum creatinine level of 2 mg/dl or greater were at a significantly higher risk of ICU admission and mortality. Presence of diabetes mellitus, AST > three times ULN, serum creatinine 2 mg/dl or higher, and a qSOFA score of 1 or higher were all associated with significantly greater odds of critical care requirement. Triage and severity assessment helps in deciding the requirement for a hospital stay and ICU admission for COVID-19 which can easily be done using clinical and laboratory parameters. A mild, moderate and severe category approach with defined criteria and treatment guidelines will help in judicious utilization of health-care resources, especially for developing countries like India.*Other members of the Safdarjung Hospital COVID-19 working group: Balvinder Singh (Microbiology), MK Sen (Pulmory Medicine), Shibdas Chakrabarti (Pulmory Medicine), NK Gupta (Pulmory medicine), AJ Mahendran (Pulmory Medicine), Ramesh Mee (Medicine), G Usha (Aesthesiology), Santva Kohli (Aesthesiology), Sahil Diwan (Aesthesiology), Rushika Sakse (Microbiology), Vikramjeet Dutta (Microbiology), Anupam Kr Anveshi (Microbiology)

We constrain the parameters of the variable Chaplygin gas model, using the location of peaks of the CMBR spectrum and SNe Ia ``gold '' data set. Equation of state of the model is \\(P=-A(a)/\\rho\\), where \\(A(a)=A_0 a^{-n}\\) is a positive function of the cosmological scale factor \\(a\\), \\(A_0\\) and \\(n\\) being constants. The variable Chaplygin gas interpolates from dust-dominated era to quintessence dominated era. The model is found to be compatible with current type Ia Supernovae data and location of first peak if the values of \\(\\Omega_m\\) and \\(n\\) lie in the interval \\([0.017,~0.117]\\) and \\([-1.3,~2.6]\\) respectively.