Prelims Facts Corner – 25 August 2023

US Food and Drug Administration approved the first vaccine “Abrysvo (RSV Vaccine)” that protects new-borns.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) –

  • A highly contagious virus that causes respiratory infections.
  • Targets individuals of all age groups especially infants and elderly.
  • Most frequent cause of Lower Respiratory Tract Diseases in infants worldwide.

RSV Vaccine –

  • It is also available for people at 60 and older.
  • Vaccine is given to pregnant mothers during latter stages of their pregnancies.

Mizoram became the first state to operationalize Ayushman Bharat’s microsite project.

Microsite –

  • A cluster of all small and medium-scale clinics, nursing homes, hospitals (preferably <10 beds), labs, pharmacies, and other healthcare facilities.
  • They are ABDM-enabled and offer digital health services to patients.
  • National Health Authority (NHA) in 2023 launched 100 Microsites Project under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
  • Types of facilities –
    • Private facilities such as standalone clinics, polyclinics, etc.
    • Health Facilities and Health Professionals from all the systems of medicine.
  • Implemented by – State Mission Directors of ABDM
  • Financial resources and overall guidance provided by NHA.

Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, has successfully been test fired the ASTRA missile.

ASTRA missile –

  • It is a Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air missile
  • Indigenously developed by DRDO
  • Range: 80-110 km for version Mk1 and 160 km for version Mk2.
  • Altitude: up to 20 km.
  • Max Speed: Mach 4.5

Researchers claimed to have spotted Demon particle in the metal strontium ruthenate.

Demon particle –

  • 1st predicted by – Physicist David Pines (1956)
  • Pines believed that electrons would behave strangely when passed through a solid.
  • If enough energy is supplied to the system, electrons can form composite particles known as plasmons.
  • But the energy required to produce plasmons is so high that they cannot be produced at room temperature.
  • Pines’s demon is an exception to this as it is massless, has no charge and does not interact with light so it would require no extra energy to be formed.

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