ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 is caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Coronavirus 2. Since the antioxidant mechanisms such as glutathione peroxidase or superoxide dismutase are downregulated during infection by the virus, there is an imbalance in the oxidant-antioxidant system. In this study we aimed to identify the effect of COVID-19 on the antioxidant defense mechanism by comparing the concentrations of antioxidants and microminerals in COVID-19 patients and healthy controls.Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study involved 200 patients at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal University. The serum concentrations of antioxidants and minerals were determined to establish the impact of COVID-19 on antioxidants mechanism and nutrient status in COVID-19 patients.Results: The serum concentrations of GPX (10.36 & PLUSMN;2.70 > 5.82 & PLUSMN;1.64 mKAT/L, p < 0.0001) and copper (2192.5 & PLUSMN;449.8 > 782.15 & PLUSMN;106.5 mu g/dL, p < 0.0001) were significantly greater, and zinc (34.78 & PLUSMN;4.5 & LE;81.07 & PLUSMN;10.13 mu g/dL, p < 0.0001) was significantly less, in the study group than in controls. The Pearson correlation between serum SOD and zinc was significant (r = 0.491, p < 0.0001) indicating the importance of zinc in maintaining and improving SOD activity. No significant correlations were observed between copper and SOD (r =-0.089) or iron and CAT (r =-0.027).Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the expected increase in oxidant-radical production during COVID-19 by estimating the altered concentrations of antioxidants and the minerals required to neutralize the elevated ROS. This finding is not novel but adds to the existing literature, which recommends nutritional supplementation of microminerals and antioxidants.
ABSTRACT
The study assessed the impact of COVID-19 associated lockdowns on animal health services, coping practices, and financial loss to livestock farmers in Karnataka. A cross-sectional survey among 170 livestock farmers and 24 field veterinarians working in the study jurisdiction were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and repeated ANOVA were employed to asses the impact of COVID-19 lockdown. The results revealed a significant difference in the number of cases attended at different periods of lockdowns and among the veterinarians, with a decline in the number of cases attended across the species of pets (54.9%) followed by goats (35.3%), sheep (29.1%), cattle (25.5%) and buffalo (21.6%) during the lockdown. The mode of veterinarian contact through phone calls (80%) and WhatsApp (46.7%) increased significantly and veterinarian visits decreased by 27.3% and farmers' visits to veterinary hospitals decreased by 61.9% during lockdown. The livestock farmers' welfare schemes were ed by lockdown and the vaccine administration against diseases like PPR, ET, and HS per veterinarian declined in sheep and goats. However, targeted vaccination against FMD in cattle was found achieved. The COVID-19 and associated lockdown affected the livestock farmers in multiple dimensions. Hence, to cope with lockdown-like situations, it is recommended to engage trained personnel, practitioners, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) associated with animal health care services to provide uninterrupted health care services to livestock farmers.
ABSTRACT
An appropriate and efficient attendance management plays an important role in the corporate world. As malady like covid-19 can be highly contagious in crowded public areas, it is important to detect the key symptom, high temperature at the entry-level. This paper proposes a model which marks the attendance of an employee using RFID and facial recognition along with a temperature check. Also, it captures the facial expression of the employee to detect the emotion. Starting with, a temperature check is done at the entrance and if found high, an alert message is sent to the concerned authorities. On the other hand, the person with normal temperature will go through a two-tier security check-RFID and face recognition. Hence attendance of the employee will be marked based on the above-mentioned procedural results. © 2021 IEEE.