20-05-23 Daily-Punjab-PPSC Current Affairs

To overcome the challenge of unavailability of paddy straw-based pellets,Punjabnow has two manufacturing units as a pilot project that is likely to start operations this month. After successful trials of using paddy straw pellets as a substitute to coal in the brick kiln Industry in Punjab and the industrial boilers, the Punjab Pollution Control Board along with the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) had successfully got carried out trials on manufacturing of paddy straw pellets.

The two pilot projects have come up at Kalbucha village in Patiala district and the other in Moga district, with each having a capacity of 250kgper hour per tonne (PHT). Additional Director PSCST, Pritpal Singh, These two manufacturing units of paddy-straw based stubble will soon be operational. The Patiala-based plant manufacturing unit was about to start its operations but due to request by farmers, it was halted as farmers nearby wanted that there should be no risk to their standing wheat crops.

Using a new visualisation tool known as false fluorescent neurotransmitters, neuroscientists at The University of Queensland have discovered how vitamin D deficiency affects developing neurons in Schizophrenia, a serious mental Health disorder.

In a nutshell, the study, which comes a day after World Schizophrenia Day is marked,highlights the importance of vitamin D in brain development and the potential impact of deficiency on the onset of the mental condition.

Schizophrenia is associated with many developmental risk factors, and while the precise neurological causes of the disorder remain unknown, the mental health disorder is associated with a pronounced change in the way the brain uses dopamine.