Initial Stage Identification of COVID-19 Using Capsule Networks

Coronavirus is a pandemic that has kept us in great grief for the past few months. These days have created a devastating effect all through the world. As coronavirus has lot of similarities with other lung diseases, it becomes a challenging task for medical practitioners to identify the virus. A fast and robust system to identify the disease has been the need of the hour. In this chapter, we have used convolutional CapsNet for detecting COVID-19 disease using chest X-ray images. This design aims at obtaining fast and accurate diagnostic results. The proposed technique with less trainable parameters, COVID-CAPS, produced an accuracy of 87.5%, a sensitivity of 90%, a specificity of 95.8%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.97. The main advantage of using CapsNet is that it can capture affine transformation in data that is a common scenario while dealing with real-world X-ray images. The CapsNet model is trained with normal data and tested with affine transformed data. The accuracy level obtained in the proposed method is comparatively much better along with having less learnable parameters and computational speed as compared to standard architectures such as ResNet, MobileNet, etc. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Trust based COVID-19 vaccine distribution using blockchain technology

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted huge number of individuals all around the world and has caused a great economic loss all over the world. Vaccination is most effective solution to prevent this disease. It helps in protecting the whole community. It improves the human immune system and fights against corona virus reducing the death rate. This paper deals with the different types of COVID-19 vaccine and their related distribution, it includes measures to ensure safe and secured distribution of the vaccine through block chain technology with the help of supply chain. Any malfunction in the chain is identified by the trust value of the function point method and the value of the Markov Chain. © 2023 - IOS Press. All rights reserved.

Employment externalisation in response to a temporary exogenous shock: an adjustment costs perspective

We examine the externalisation of labour as a strategic response to a temporary exogenous shock (i.e. COVID-19). Combining ideas from employment externalisation theory and the CATO framework (which are both extensions of transaction costs economics), we argue that firms that are hit harder by the COVID-19 shock are more likely to plan hiring freelancers that replace permanent employees. The mechanism we argue for is that firms seek to reposition quickly, which lowers comparative adjustment costs and reduces constraints on switching employment modes in future, depending on the extent of task co-specialisation. Analysing survey data obtained from 1,090 Danish small medium enterprises during the initial COVID-19 lockdown supports our hypotheses. Our findings contribute to the research on strategic responses to crises and provide novel understanding of why firms may externalise employment. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Mucormycosis infection associated with global COVID-19 pandemic - an institutional histopathological study.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the recent times have instilled signs of immunosuppression globally which has further precipitated increasing range of opportunistic infections. Mucormycosis is a distressing opportunistic fungal infection with a high incidence and is the third commonest acute invasive infection following candidiasis and aspergillosis. The aim of the present observational study is to delineate the enigmatic histopathological profile between mucormycosis cases seen prior to pandemic (PPM) and pandemic associated mucormycosis (PAM). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tissue archives of 105 histopathologically diagnosed cases of mucormycosis were included and analysed for demographical details and histopathological parameters like fungal load and localization, granuloma formation, necrosis, inflammatory infiltrate and tissue invasion. RESULTS: 0ut of 105 included cases, 11/105 (10.48%) were reported PPM and 94/105 (89.52%) PAM. Among 94 cases of PAM, 51/94 (54%) cases also showed COVID-19 positivity, while 43/94 (46%) did not. Of all the histological variables, increased fungal load and necrosis were observed in PAM relative to PPM cases. CONCLUSIONS: The histopathological variables like fungal load, necrosis, granuloma formation and tissue invasion, could help the clinician in assessing the clinical status at the time of tissue diagnosis and improve the treatment accordingly.

Peripheral cannulation and endoaortic balloon occlusion for management of porcelain aorta during cardiac surgery.

Porcelain aorta with extensive calcification of the ascending aorta complicates cardiac surgery and increases perioperative risk. Aortic cannulation and cross-clamping in these patients increase the risk of serious complications including perioperative embolic stroke. Although different techniques have been proposed, surgery in these patients remains a challenge. We present the clinical implications of the porcelain aorta and surgical strategies involving axillary arterial cannulation and endoaortic balloon to allow for the institution of cardiopulmonary bypass and cardioplegic arrest during surgery. The surgery included a redo sternotomy with bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement, tricuspid valve repair with an annuloplasty, and closure of the left atrial appendage. In appropriately selected patients, endoaortic balloon occlusion was a valuable tool to facilitate the safe conduct of an operation. Careful preoperative evaluation and planning by a multidisciplinary team are essential in these cases.

Trust based COVID-19 vaccine distribution using blockchain technology

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted huge number of individuals all around the world and has caused a great economic loss all over the world. Vaccination is most effective solution to prevent this disease. It helps in protecting the whole community. It improves the human immune system and fights against corona virus reducing the death rate. This paper deals with the different types of COVID-19 vaccine and their related distribution, it includes measures to ensure safe and secured distribution of the vaccine through block chain technology with the help of supply chain. Any malfunction in the chain is identified by the trust value of the function point method and the value of the Markov Chain. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis, E-pharmacophore, Molecular Docking Studies with SARS-CoV-2 Protease, Their Biological Properties and DFT Calculation of Some New Indolo[3,2-c]Isoquinoiline Hybrids

A series of novel indolo[3,2-c]isoquinoline hybrids derivatives were synthesized. On the basis of spectroscopic and analytical data, the structures of newly synthesized compounds were determined. They were further evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant anticancer and anti-TB activities. Results reveal that compounds 4a and 5a displayed better potency against all bacterial strains and compound 3b showed significant antifungal action against all fungi tested. Compound 4b display excellent antioxidant capability. Compounds 3a, 4a, and 5a bearing chloro on indolo[3,2-c]isoquinoline ring were found have higher potency against all cancer cell lines. Compound 5b displayed potent antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain with MIC 0.12 μg/mL. Consequently, a five-point e-pharmacophore model (AADDR) was built. Docking studies displayed that compounds 2a, 2b, 3a, 4b, and 4c exhibited stronger interactions and higher binding affinity toward Glu166, Gln189, and His41, which are critical amino acid residues that play a significant role in PDB: 7D1M (SARS-CoV-2 Mpro) through hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic and π-π interactions. Further, frontier molecular orbitals studies were executed to understand their orbital energies and HOMO-LUMO lowest energy gap is 8.39 eV shown by compound 5a.

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 surrogate inactivation on surfaces and in air using UV and blue light-based intervention technologies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent need to utilize existing and develop new intervention technologies for SARS-CoV-2 inactivation on surfaces and in the air. Ultraviolet (UV) technology has been shown to be an effective antimicrobial intervention. Here a study was conducted to determine the efficacy of commercially available UV and blue light-based devices for inactivating HCoV-229E, a surrogate of SARS-CoV-2. The results indicate that two UV devices designed for surface disinfection, with doses of 8.07 µJ/cm2 for the 254 nm device and 20.61 µJ/cm2 for the 275 nm device, were efficient in inactivating 4.94 logs of surface inoculated HCoV-229E. Additionally, a 222 nm UV device with intended ceiling-based operation was effective in inactivating 1.7 logs of the virus inoculated on surface, with a dose of 6 mJ/cm2. A ceiling-based device designed to emit blue light at 405 nm was found to produce 89% reduction in HCoV-229E inoculated on a surface for a dose of 78 J/cm2. Finally, the UV based 222 nm device was found to produce a 90% reduction in the concentration of airborne HCoV-229E, at a 55 µJ/cm2 dose. These results are indicative of the great potential of using UV based technology for the control of SARS-CoV-2.Implications: An important avenue of arresting COVID-19 and future pandemics caused by infectious pathogens is through environmental disinfection. To this effect, the study presented here evaluates commercially available UV and blue light based antimicrobial devices for their ability to kill the human coronavirus HCoV-229E, a surrogate of SARS-CoV-2, on surfaces and in air. The results indicate that two handheld UV devices produced complete inactivation of surface viral inoculum and a UVC ceiling based device produced 1 log reduction in HCoV-229E in air. These results imply the efficacy of UV technology as an antimicrobial tool, especially for rapid disinfection of indoor air.

An Interdisciplinary Approach in the Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Era

COVID-19 is not only a medical science issue, but it is also a critical issue for other experts such as social scientists, economists, technologists, psychiatrists, statisticians, sociologists, policymakers, politicians, and administrators, among others. Therefore, it is important to make collective efforts to deal with this pandemic. Interdisciplinary research is one of the best ways to achieve this. Interdisciplinary research is capable of bridging traditional divides between disciplines and also combines research excellence with relevant impact. Interdisciplinary research should be treated as policy research. The quality of the interdisciplinary research structure not only provides new ideas and areas of research, but also flexibility and expanded possibilities for traditional disciplines. This manuscript will likely inspire researchers and policymakers to further their interdisciplinary research on the coronavirus pandemic. In the present book, authors from diverse backgrounds have expressed their views on this specific problem. They have contributed their ideas on how the pandemic has affected every aspect of human life, including education, economics, social life, finance, information technology, etc. © 2022 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of novel indolo[3,2-c]isoquinoline derivatives bearing pyrimidine, piperazine rings and their biological evaluation and docking studies against COVID-19 virus main protease.

A series of hybrid indolo[3,2-c]isoquinoline (δ-carboline) analogs incorporating two pyrimidine and piperizine ring frameworks were synthesized. Intending biological activities and SAR we propose replacements of fluorine, methyl and methoxy of synthetic compounds for noteworthy antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer and anti-tuberculosis activities. Among these compounds 3a, 4a and 5e were progressively strong against E. coli and K. pneumonia. Whereas, compounds 4a, 5a and 6a with addition of various functional groups (OCH3, CH3) were excellent against S. aureus and B. subtilis. Compound 5c exhibited strong RSA and dynamic ferrous ion (Fe2+) metal chelating impact with IC50 of 7.88 ± 0.93 and 4.06 ± 0.31 µg/mL, respectively. Compound 5e was considerably cytotoxic against all cancer cells displaying activity better than the standard drug. Compounds 6b and 6e inhibited M. tuberculosis (MIC 1.0 mg/L) considerably. Molecular docking studies indicate that compounds 4d, 5a, 5b, 6b and 6f exhibited good interactions with 6LZE (COVID-19) and 6XFN (SARS-CoV-2) at active sites. The structure of the synthesized compounds were elementally analyzed using IR, 1H, 13C NMR and mass spectral information.

The impact of digital change on student learning and mental anguish in the COVID era

There is a lot of change in the learning of the students after the pandemic COVID-19. To study the resulting impact on their learning is the main aim of this article. To review this, a dataset of the various students is created and subsequently processed and visualized. The data is undergone to the various classification techniques using machine learning. It is observed after the analysis that the support vector machine (SVM) method is best in terms of the classification accuracy while random forest (RF) method is best in terms of the classification sensitivity. © 2022 Nova Science Publishers, Inc..

Integration of electrokinetic enrichment of spike protein with a lateral flow assay

Here, we present a SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein lateral flow assay enhanced by electrokinetic focusing driven by ion concentration polarization (ICP). In this study, we optimize the configuration of membrane-modified electrodes for a stable location and greatest degree of enrichment for the plug of S-protein. We also show that a test line comprising bioconjugated beads further enhances enrichment. Using this system, we have achieved 40X enrichment of S-protein. We are currently evaluating the impact of increased dwell time over the test line. © 2021 MicroTAS 2021 - 25th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences. All rights reserved.

Psychological Impact of Second Wave of Pandemic among Doctors, Nursing And Paramedical Staffs Posted for Treating Critically Ill Patients of COVID-ICU: A Retrospective Analytical Study

Aim and background: As compared to the first wave of the COVID- 19 pandemic the second wave had more impact on health care systems. During second wave the most common observation among critical health care providers was significant emotional intricacy. Since these health care providers of COVID-ICU were at risk of infection, some degree of psychological stress like depression, anxiety, and stress were experienced by them. Additionally, government-imposed lockdown had also augmented psychological impacts. Objective: The objective is to perform a retrospective analytical study to measure the change of psychological impact during the second wave of the pandemic among doctors, nursing, and paramedical staff posted for treating critically ill patients of COVID-ICU by using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS- 21). Materials and methods: All critical health care providers posted in COVID-19 ICU were entitled to involve in this study. The study was approved by the institute ethical committee (Letter No: 183/IEC/ IGIMS/2021 dated 26.06.2021). Data were prepared telephonically obtained feedback as well as dully filled received Proforma of DASS-21 Scoring Instructions from the duty doctors, nursing and paramedical staffs posted for treating critically ill patients of COVIDICU, where 21 items of questionnaires were asked. Results: One hundred seventy-one critical health care providers had participated (103 women, 68 men) in the study, who responded to the online as well as an offline survey. Participant mean age was 36.4 years. Out of the 171 complete responder 52 (30.4%) doctors, 71 (41.5%) nursing staff, and 48 (28.1%) paramedical staff were participated. During this study in general, 45 (26.3%) participants reported moderate to extremely severe depression, 49 (28.6%) reported moderate to extremely severe anxiety, and 41 (24.0%) reported moderate to extremely severe stress scores. Mean ± standard deviation values of DASS-21 depression, anxiety and stress scores amongst female vs male were 7.0 ± 3.2 vs 6.1 ± 5.2 (p 1/4 0.004), 6.5 ± 6.1 vs 4.9 ± 5.8 (p < 0.001), and 13.2 ± 8.1 vs 11.3 ± 8.9 (p < 0.001), respectively. After correcting the significant confounders, clinical apprehensions associated with elevated DASS-21 scores comprised not being clinically prepared (p < 0.001), a scarce staff (p 1/4 0.001), having to triage patients due to shortage of COVID-19 ICU beds and/or equipment (p 1/4 0.001), COVID spread to companions and relatives (p 1/4 0.008) being accountable for other staff members (p < 0.001), and being solicited to do the job in a region that was not in their capability (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Critical care health professionals had elevated echelons of psychological symptoms during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Timely keeping an eye on them for caring for all such symptoms is a demand of time.

Safety, Feasibility, and Outcome of Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomy in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients ABS0009)

Aim and background: Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) may improve outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation. However, the timing of performing tracheostomy may be controversial and it is an aerosol-generating procedure with potential risk for viral exposure to the healthcare workers. Materials and methods: An operational protocol for performing PDT was made and subsequently followed in a designated COVID-19 ICU. Critically ill adult patients on a mechanical ventilator who underwent PDT were included in this retrospective cohort study. Case files were retrospectively reviewed and patient characteristics, clinical outcome, and procedure-related details were noted. Results: Forty-one patients were included in the analysis. The median age was 49 years, and 41.5% of patients were females. The median duration of mechanical ventilation before tracheostomy was 10 (8-16) days and the median (IQR) PaO2/FiO2 ratio on the day of PDT was 155 [125-180] mm Hg. 48.8% of patients had transient desaturation to SpO2 <90%. 41.5% survived ICU discharge. None of the health care providers involved developed any symptoms of COVID-19. Conclusion: Early PDT may improve outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients and should be considered safe for health care providers. .

Prognostic Role of Different Severity Indexes in COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Retrospective Study

Aim and background: Approximately 50% of the COVID-19 patients require intensive care due to pneumonia and respiratory failure. The CURB-65,3 CRB-654, A-DROP5 score, and Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) scoring systems are established prognostic tools for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Similarly, the qSOFA score is a prognostic tool for critically ill patients. However, the utility of these scoring systems in the context of COVID-19 is yet to be established as a predictive tool for triage by means of rapid decision-making and preventive measures to combat the ongoing pandemic. Materials and methods: This observational, retrospective cohort study was conducted AIIMS, New Delhi during May to June, 2021 after obtaining institutional ethical committee approval (IEC-860/4.9.2020). Only the RT-PCR-proven patients >18 years among the institutionalized patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) were included. Results: Out of the 235 included patients, 27.2% of patients required mechanical ventilation, and the overall period of hospital stay was 9 (5-13) days. While the SMART COP score with an AUC of 0.812 (95% CI 0.752-0.871), the PSI score with an AUC of 0.819 (95% CI 0.762- 0.877) obtained significant results for mortality, the A drop score with an AUC of 0.92 (0.897-0.954), and both the PSI (AUC of 0.964;95% CI 0.928-1.000), and the SMART COP (AUC of 0.925;95% CI 0.887-0.962) acquired the best result for intubation and thereby requirement of mechanical ventilation. Conclusion: Although the outcome of COVID-19 depends upon multiple factors the SMART COP, PSI, and A-drop scoring systems seem to be promising predictive tools for morbidity and mortality.

IoT and RFID-Based Smart Card System Integrated with Health Care, Electricity, QR and Banking Sectors

With the vast growing population and the immense and rapid transformation to the digital world after COVID-19 pandemic, everyone from all age groups has now turned to using technology as never before. In many terms, 2020–2021 has become the era of digital boom in all sectors as well in all age groups of the world. Many business ideas and technologies have surfaced to help make users deal with small daily things like payment, health care, electricity bills and others readily at hand without the actual need of presenting the data in the form of hard copy. This work is based on IoT and RFID technology to help users reduce the manual burden to carry so many cards for every unique purpose. The proposed research aims to automate and integrate as many industries as possible into a single card system. So, with just a tap of our RFID card on the system, we are good to go. Integrating all the cards of daily use into a single RFID card will help people free from the all the different bank cards into one single card. The proposed smart card system works on an electronic device that is specifically loaded with the required software and collects only the necessary data from our card, eliminating the need for us to carry the documents and also the different bank cards, user identification cards and medical cards. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Effective Overview of Different ML Models Used for Prediction of COVID-19 Patients

The goal of this research is to see how well is a fast primary screening method for COVID-19 that relies only on cough sounds collected from 2200 clinically verified samples utilizing the laboratory molecular testing performs (1100 Covid-19 positive and 1100 Covid-19 negative). The clinical labels were applied to the results, and severity of the samples may be judged based on quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), cycle threshold, and patient lymphocyte counts. The fast spread of the COVID-19 virus poses a significant danger of serious pulmonary disease, and it also causes the most heinous harm to humanity. As a result, a quick and clear disease classification model to distinguish between normal and COVID-19 infected individuals is critical. In this article, we describe the various machine learning and other models that have been used to predict COVID-19 patients. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Inactivating SARS-CoV-2 Surrogates on Surfaces Using Engineered Water Nanostructures Incorporated with Nature Derived Antimicrobials.

The continuing cases of COVID-19 due to emerging strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus underscore the urgent need to develop effective antiviral technologies. A crucial aspect of reducing transmission of the virus is through environmental disinfection. To this end, a nanotechnology-based antimicrobial platform utilizing engineered water nanostructures (EWNS) was utilized to challenge the human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E), a surrogate of SARS-CoV-2, on surfaces. The EWNS were synthesized using electrospray and ionization of aqueous solutions of antimicrobials, had a size in the nanoscale, and contained both antimicrobial agents and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Various EWNS were synthesized using single active ingredients (AI) as well as their combinations. The results of EWNS treatment indicate that EWNS produced with a cocktail of hydrogen peroxide, citric acid, lysozyme, nisin, and triethylene glycol was able to inactivate 3.8 logs of HCoV-229E, in 30 s of treatment. The delivered dose of antimicrobials to the surface was measured to be in pico to nanograms. These results indicate the efficacy of EWNS technology as a nano-carrier for delivering a minuscule dose while inactivating HCoV-229E, making this an attractive technology against SARS-CoV-2.

COVID Detection Using Chest X-Ray and Transfer Learning

As per World Health Organization, COVID-19 is causing even the most important health systems across the countries under considerable strain. The advanced recognition of COVID 19 will result into decreasing the stress of a lot of health systems. Much similar to the customary usage of Chest X-Rays for detecting different pathologies, COVID-19 can also be detected using X-Ray of patients that indicates a very critical function in the diagnosis of SARS Covid-19. With rampant growth in the area of Deep Learning (DL) as well as Machine Learning (ML), it is much easier to design the framework that can detect COVID-19 infection easily. This paper proposes deep learning-based detection process by incorporating the concept of Transfer Learning for the classification of this pandemic using X-ray images of chest. This non-invasive and early-prediction of the corona virus by observing the X-rays of chest can subsequently be utilized to estimate the expansion of COVID-19 in the patients. This study got a maximum of 97% classifiers' accuracy using ResNet based model. This method can be utilized to upscale the effectiveness of the screening process.

Inactivating SARS-CoV-2 Surrogates on Surfaces Using Engineered Water Nanostructures Incorporated with Nature Derived Antimicrobials

The continuing cases of COVID-19 due to emerging strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus underscore the urgent need to develop effective antiviral technologies. A crucial aspect of reducing transmission of the virus is through environmental disinfection. To this end, a nanotechnology-based antimicrobial platform utilizing engineered water nanostructures (EWNS) was utilized to challenge the human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E), a surrogate of SARS-CoV-2, on surfaces. The EWNS were synthesized using electrospray and ionization of aqueous solutions of antimicrobials, had a size in the nanoscale, and contained both antimicrobial agents and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Various EWNS were synthesized using single active ingredients (AI) as well as their combinations. The results of EWNS treatment indicate that EWNS produced with a cocktail of hydrogen peroxide, citric acid, lysozyme, nisin, and triethylene glycol was able to inactivate 3.8 logs of HCoV-229E, in 30 s of treatment. The delivered dose of antimicrobials to the surface was measured to be in pico to nanograms. These results indicate the efficacy of EWNS technology as a nano-carrier for delivering a minuscule dose while inactivating HCoV-229E, making this an attractive technology against SARS-CoV-2.