Salinity is an agro-environmental problem limiting plant growth and development in the arid to semi-arid regions of the world and becomes the predicament of serious concern. Plants exposed to salt stress may undergo osmotic stress, ion toxicity and nutritional imbalance which results in production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The ability of plants to detoxify radicals under conditions of salt stress is probably the most critical requirement and is determined by multifarious morpho-physiological and biochemical pathways like initial entry of salt to roots, intercellular compartmentation, synthesis of osmoprotectants (sugars, amino acids, proline and upgradation of antioxidant system) that results in maintaining ion homeostasis. This paper also revealed the plant responses to salinity stress with emphasis on physiological and biochemical mechanisms of salt tolerance which may help in interdisciplinary studies to assess the ecological consequence of salt stress. Moreover, the application of potassium helps the plants to cope with the hazardous effects of salinity by improving the morphological, physiological and biochemical attributes.

Perceived social isolation (PSI) is a deficit in normal human social interaction, which has been associated with negative health outcomes. However, the precise mechanisms through which PSI influences human health are not fully known. This review aims at bringing out what is known about these pathways through which social isolation affects human health. We searched PubMed, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica dataBASE (EMBASE), Psychological Information Database (PsycINFO), and Cochrane Library in addition to secondary references from primary journal articles for the most relevant and recent information concerning the research topic. The keywords used were perceived social isolation, loneliness, health outcomes, cardiovascular effects, neuroendocrine effects, depression, and cognitive decline, in animal and human populations. There are clear linkages between PSI and the cardiovascular system, neuroendocrine system, and cognitive functioning. PSI also leads to depression, cognitive decline, and sleep problems. The mechanisms through which PSI causes these effects are neural, hormonal, genetic, emotional, and behavioral. The effects of PSI on health are both direct and indirect. There is a complex interconnected network of pathways through which PSI negatively influences health. These hypothetical pathways using which the effects of PSI have been explained form the base on which further analyses can be carried out.

Enrolling in the IQIC programme was associated with an improvement in the postsurgical outcomes of the CHD surgeries at our centre.

Closed space sublimation (CSS) technique was employed to deposit thin films of Zinc Telluride

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