QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 17 April 2020

Solution: c)

Hydroxychloroquine is an oral prescription drug that is used for the treatment of some forms of malaria, as well as autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. In use since the 1940s, the drug has shown anti-viral properties that have been studied for the last 40 years.

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Solution: d)

Various news reports in recent weeks have pointed out that for some Covid-19 patients who needed intensive care, the journey to recovery is a long one. After leaving the ICU, they may suffer from what is known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), which can happen to any person who has been in the ICU.

What is post-intensive care syndrome?

PICS comprises impairment in cognition, psychological health and physical function of a person who has been in the ICU.

“PICS is defined as new or worsening impairment in physical (ICU-acquired neuromuscular weakness), cognitive (thinking and judgment), or mental health status arising after critical illness and persisting beyond discharge from the acute care setting,”

Further, such patients may experience neuromuscular weakness, which can manifest itself in the form of poor mobility and recurrent falls.

Psychological disability may arise in a person in the form of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The most common PICS symptoms are generalised weakness, fatigue, decreased mobility, anxious or depressed mood, sexual dysfunction, sleep disturbances and cognitive issues. These symptoms may last for a few months or many years after recovery.

PICS may be induced if a person was on prolonged mechanical ventilation, experienced sepsis, multiple organ failure and a prolonged duration of “bed-restore deep sedation”.

It is recommended that to avoid PICS, patients’ use of deep sedation is limited and early mobility is encouraged, along with giving them “aggressive” physical and occupational therapy.

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Solution: c)

After several months of the world believing that a pregnant woman cannot transmit novel coronavirus infection to her unborn baby, evidence has been emerging to suggest that this can indeed happen.

Vertical transmission refers to the transmission of an infection from a pregnant woman to her child. It can be antenatal (before birth), perinatal (weeks immediately prior to or after birth) or postnatal (after birth). This is of grave concern not just because it can potentially cause a newborn to be very sick, but also because the mechanism of how and when this happens is not always very clear. In a 2017 review article in the journal Cell Host Microbe, scientists from the University of Pittsburgh wrote: “Despite the devastating impact of microbial infections on the developing fetus, relatively little is known about how pathogens associated with congenital disease breach the placental barrier to transit vertically during human pregnancy.”

Among infections of which vertical transmission has been known to happen are HIV, Zika, rubella and the herpes virus. In fact, one of the biggest worries about the Zika outbreak a couple of years ago was the possibility of babies being born with birth defects.

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Solution: b)

Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) — which is sometimes referred to as the “Atlantic conveyor belt” — is one of the Earth’s largest water circulation systems where ocean currents move warm, salty water from the tropics to regions further north, such as western Europe and sends colder water south.

It aids in distributing heat and energy around the earth, as the warm water it carries releases heat into the atmosphere, and in absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon.

For thousands of years, AMOC has remained stable, but since the past 15 years, it has been weakening — a development that could have dramatic consequences for Europe and other parts of the Atlantic rim.

Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego and Yale University found that rising temperatures in the Indian Ocean can help boost the AMOC and delay slow down.

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Solution: d)

National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is a project of the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the aegis of National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT).

It is developed by IIT Kharagpur.

Objective: The objective of NDL is to make digital educational resources available to all citizens of the country to empower, inspire and encourage learning.

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