CASE: Benjamin is a 9-month-old, former 36-week gestation infant who presented to the high-risk infant follow-up clinic with parental concern for developmental regression. His mother reported that Benjamin seemed to be developing typically, but over the past 2 months, he has lost the ability to visually track objects, is not as engaged with her as he once was, and now only rarely makes babbling sounds. His mother also reported episodes of intermittent “bursts” of stiffening of his extremities and brief staring spells. Benjamin's mother described him as a “good, quiet baby.” She commented that he used to laugh and cry more frequently but has recently been “very peaceful and calm.” Benjamin's mother recently relayed her concerns for developmental regression to his pediatrician during an audio-only telehealth visit. Benjamin was referred to a pediatric neurologist, and the consultation visit is pending. His mother is a 28-year-old single parent whose pregnancy was complicated by pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, and anxiety. Benjamin required admission to the neonatal intensive care unit because of initial feeding difficulties. After 1 week, Benjamin was discharged to home and was referred for early intervention services. Owing to the pandemic, there were delays with initiating intervention, but bimonthly virtual interaction with a representative from the infant development program was eventually provided. Benjamin's mother expressed significant concerns regarding the potential of exposing him to a pandemic-related illness because of bringing her son to in-person medical visits. In fact, because of her concerns, she attended only virtual well-child pediatric visits over the past 6 months. A thorough social history revealed that she is a former dance studio instructor. The studio closed and she lost her primary source of income because of the pandemic. As a result, she decided to not send Benjamin to child care and maintained isolation from extended family members. On physical examination, pertinent findings included poor truncal tone, lack of orientation toward sounds, and limited eye contact. The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development–Third Edition (Bayley-III) was administered, and the results indicated severe delays across all developmental areas, consistent with a diagnosis of global developmental delay. Benjamin's clinical presentation to the HRIF clinic and a history of developmental regression and intermittent body movements raised concerns for infantile spasms. He was transferred to the emergency department for evaluation and consideration for admission to the neurology service. An electroencephalogram confirmed epileptiform abnormalities consistent with infantile spasms, and he was immediately started on treatment. Impacts of the pandemic on the medical care of vulnerable/at-risk pediatric patients have included delayed receipt of early intervention services, parental fear regarding potential exposure to pandemic-related illness while seeking preventative care, increased use of virtual visit platforms for medical care and developmental intervention services, etc. What factors should be considered when providing support for these vulnerable/at-risk patients?

The virus causing mosaic of muskmelon in the Punjab is transmitted through seed, sap and aphids but not through beetle, whitefly, fungi or contact. It systemically infected Nicotiana tabacum (var. “White Burley” and CTRI‐Special), N. glutinosa, N. rustica and Capsicum annuum besides various cucurbit hosts when inoculated mechanically. The virus gave positive reaction with the antiserum of cucumber mosaic virus and the particles are spherical in shape. The virus has been identified as a distinct strain of cucumber mosaic virus and is designated as muskmelon strain of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV‐mst.).

Growth and sporulation of C. capsici were lesser in different solid and liquid media containing of virus infected leaves than in media containing extracts of healthy leaves. Spore germination and formation of appressoria in different dilutions of the extract were poor as compared to healthy leaf extracts The antimetabolite/inhibitor in TMV infected plants is water soluble.

Amylases are required for the conversion of starchy substrate into sugars. Commercially available enzymes are quite costly which makes the process uneconomical. This study is conducted to standardize physico-chemical parameters such as substrate concentration (1.0-5.0%), temperature (25-40°C), pH (4.0-7.0), incubation time (18-24) h for -amylase and 3-6 days for glucoamylase production) for optimum production of -amylase from bacterial isolate (AM1) and glucoamylase from Aspergillus niger by using cull potatoes as a substrate. Various organic and inorganic nitrogen sources (urea, yeast extract and soybean meal, and ammonium sulphate) are tried for maximum enzyme production. Among the four nitrogen sources, yeast extract supported maximum -amylase and glucoamylase production. Among the different amylolytic isolates from fermented jalebi dough and AM1culture, maximum -amylase activity is shown by AM1 (90.46 U mL −1 ) as compared to J1 (71.02 U mL −1 ). After optimization, -amylase activity of AM1 increases by 41.73% from 198.20 to 280.92 U mL −1 at 5.0% substrate concentration, 30°C temperature, 24 h of incubation and pH 5.0. Glucoamylase activity of A. niger increases by 38.78% from 228.72 to 317.44 U mL −1 after optimization at 5% substrate concentration, pH 5, incubation period of 4 days and temperature 30°C.

Cull potato is an under-utilized biomass being produced in different states of India. Using cull potatoes as a substrate for bioethanol production can overcome the post-harvest losses as well as making the process economical. In the present study, comparative hydrolysis of cull potatoes is carried out using enzymes and hydrochloric acid to study the effect of variables on saccharification efficiency. For enzymatic hydrolysis, samples are liquefied using crude enzyme from Bacillus sp. and then saccharification of liquefied samples is optimized using central composite rotatable design (CCRD) in Response surface methodology (RSM) w.r.t pH (4-7), temperature (25-40 °C) and incubation period (15-60 min) at 5% substrate concentration with glucoamylase of Aspergillus niger. Acidic hydrolysis is performed at different acid concentration, i.e., 1-5 (v/v) at variable time intervals (15-60 min) with 1-5% substrate concentration at 90 °C. Highest saccharification efficiency is observed with acidic hydrolysis 85.2% at substrate concentration of (4%) and at acid concentration (4% v/v) after 45 min of incubation, while with enzymatic hydrolysis it is very close to acidic hydrolysis, i.e., 83.2% at 25 °C temperature and at pH 4 after 30 min of incubation.