Background: The objective of this study was to determine the clinical profile and risk factors associated in patients of mucormycosis in COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: It was a prospective observational study conducted at a tertiary care centre in the month of May and June 2021. It involved all patients of mucormycosis mainly involving paranasal sinuses and orbit. The clinical profile and associated risk factors leading to mucormycosis were studied.Results: Thirty patients of mucormycosis mean age 56.62 years out of them 25 (83.33%) male and 5 (16.66%) female were studied. Twenty-four patients (80%) had COVID-19 infection, out of them 7 (29.2%) were active and 17 (70.8%) had recovered within 4 weeks. Five (16.6%) patients were suspected as they had symptoms of COVID-19 previously   but never got tested. One   patient had no history of COVID infection. All the patients were diabetic at the time of presentation, out of them 26 (86.6%) of patients were known diabetic and 4 (13.3%) became diabetic after COVID-19 infection. The ethmoids were the most common sinuses affected. Intra-orbital extension was seen in 13 (43.3%) of cases   while intracranial extension was seen in 4 (13.3%) patients. Twenty-eight (93.3%) patients gave history of steroids intake. Antibiotics were taken by 76.6% patients while zinc supplement was used by 83.3% patients. Oxygen was used 10 (33.3%) patients, 80% of them using face mask or canula and 4 of them requiring mechanical ventilatory support.  Conclusions: The risk factors associated with mucormycosis in COVID pandemic must be given serious consideration as there is sudden increase in the case and mortality is very high. Uncontrolled diabetes and over use of steroids in COVID management are two main aggravating factors, however other factors must also be studied thoroughly.

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The turbulence is one of the products of the magnetic reconnection process in the solar flare plasma. It intensely shifts the dynamics of the magnetic reconnection process and rapidly transfer energy that facilitates plasma heating by over 10 MK and particle energization. In this study, using results of Monte Carlo experiment through Euler-Maruyama approximation of stochastic Lagrangian models for inhomogeneous hydrodynamic turbulence, we present the velocity and dissipation (relaxation rate) characteristics of stochastic motions of particles (particles obeying Gaussian distribution) in the turbulence of the solar flare plasma. Monte Carlo experiment was performed for the turbulent kinetic energy of 10 30 erg, at a time scale of 10 sec and length scale of the order of full loop half-length 10 10 cm of the solar flare. The results of the velocity and dissipation (relaxation rate) are presented and analysed in both one and two dimensions. We observed that the positive value of relaxation rate of (1 − 8) × 10 −4 sec −1 for ≈ 5 sec of dispersion time could lead to the energy transfer and dissipation of the energy in the turbulence of the solar flare. The Monte Carlo mean relaxation rate of 4.5 × 10 −4 sec −1 shows that it dissipates ≈ 4.5 × 10 27 erg energy into thermal energy in 10 seconds, which is equal to the ≈ 0.5 % of the total injected kinetic energy. Velocities of the stochastic particles in the turbulence show the randomly fluctuations which are unsteadily dispersive in nature. The range and mean values of particles velocities are ∼ (0.5 − 3) × 10 6 cm sec −1 and 1.5 × 10 6 cm sec −1 respectively which indicate low atmospheric turbulence (chromosphere) in the solar flare. The turbulence onset at the loop top of the flare corona and propagate to lower chromosphere atmosphere of the flare. The obtained results are in the agreement with the observations. Our analysis thus demonstrates that the turbulence in the solar flare dissipate ≈ 0.5% of the injected energy into thermal energy. The rest of energy goes for the non-thermal particle energizing (particle acceleration).