Genomic sequencing profile of SARS-CoV-2 in different parts of western Odisha, India

Genetic lineages of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) have continued to emerge and circulate around the world since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are numerous variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Like other viruses, SARS-CoV-2 evolves over time. Most mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome have no impact on viral function, but certain variants have gained worldwide attention because of their rapid emergence within populations, evidence of transmission, and clinical implications. During the pandemic, most parts of India were affected, including Odisha, leading to high rates of morbidity and mortality. For the present study, 368,303 samples were received by the COVID-19 lab i.e., medical college level (Virus Research Diagnostic Laboratory) VRDL from six districts of western Odisha, including approximately 25,000 COVID-19-positive samples. The diagnostic method of the quantitative RT-PCR cannot be used to distinguish among the variants created by mutation of the genes initially, therefore selected positive clinical samples were sent in cold chain for whole genome sequencing (WGS), using the Illumina Seq. at ILS, BBSR for variant detection. The reported observation from the next generation sequencing (NGS) based sequenced samples of western Odisha updated in the INSACOG-WGS portal confirms the presence of Delta (B.1.617.2) and Delta sublineages, Omicron (BA.2), and Omicron (B.1.1.529). Maximum infection was caused by Delta sublineages (83.5%) irrespective of age, sex, and geographic area followed by Delta and Omicron. Molecular diagnosis and WGS based study reveal the widespread transmission of the fatal virus, significantly affecting every corner of the globe. Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.

Molecular Medical Diagnosis of COVID-19 and Omicron Variant

Genetic lineages of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) have continued to emerge and circulate around the world since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are numerous variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Like other viruses, SARS-CoV-2 evolves over time. Most mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome have no impact on viral function, but certain variants have gained worldwide attention because of their rapid emergence within populations, evidence of transmission, and clinical implications. During the pandemic, most parts of India were affected, including Odisha, leading to high rates of morbidity and mortality. For the present study, 368,303 samples were received by the COVID-19 lab i.e., medical (Virus Research Diagnostic Laboratory) VRDL from six districts of western Odisha, including approximately 25,000 COVID-19-positive samples. The diagnostic method of the quantitative RT-PCR cannot be used to distinguish among the variants created by mutation of the genes initially. Therefore, selected positive clinical samples were sent in cold chain for whole genome sequencing (WGS), and disease severity was sequenced using the Illumina Seq at ILS, BBSR for variant detection. The reported observation from the next generation sequencing (NGS) based sequenced samples of western Odisha updated in the INSACOG-WGS portal confirms the presence of Delta (B.1.617.2) and Delta sub lineages, Omicron (BA.2), and Omicron (B.1.1.529). Maximum infection was caused by Delta sub lineages 83.5%) irrespective of age, sex, and geographic area followed by Delta and Omicron. Molecular diagnosis and WGS based study reveal the widespread transmission of the fatal virus, significantly affecting every corner of the globe. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.

Face Mask Detection in Public Places Using Small CNN Models

The spread of coronavirus can be prevented among the people in a crowded place by making face mask mandatory so that the droplets from the mouth and nose would not reach the masses nearby. The negligence of some people, i.e., by not wearing the mask, causes the spread of this pandemic. Therefore, persons who do not wear masks should be tracked at the entrance to public venues such as malls, institutions, and banks. The mechanism proposed warns if the individual is wearing or not wearing the mask. The proposed system is built in a small CNN model to integrate any low-end devices with minimal cost. The small CNN model like ShuffleNet and Mobilenetv2 are evaluated in Transfer Learning and Deep Learning but the Deep Learning model has better performance than the Transfer Learning. Again, the Deep Learning approach, i.e., mobilenetv2 plus Support Vector Machine achieved 99.5% accuracy, 99.01% sensitivity, 100% precision, 100% FPR, 99.51% F1 score, 99.01% MCC, and 99.01% kappa coefficient. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

A Retrospective Analysis of Effect of COVID-19 on Revision Total Knee and Hip Arthroplasty

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) has significantly impacted the health of the people around the globe. Primary Total Hip arthroplasty (THA) and Total Knee arthroplasty (TKA) were significantly affected in the pandemic time. The canceled surgeries of THA and TKA were rescheduled as majority of the beds in the hospitals were occupied by COVID patients. Due to this, patients for such surgery accumulated and many patients faced serious health issues. In addition to THA and TKA, Covid-19 pandemic also significantly impacted Total Joint arthroplasty (TJA) volume. According to analysis, the annual volume of the TKA and THA for 2020 was around 128,000 and 66,000 respectively. Aim: To analyze the effect of COVID-19 on revision total knee and hip arthroplasty. Methods: For the study, the data was collected from the institutional registry for TJA and pending revisions for the TKA and THA patients. Approximately 465 inpatient beds between April 2019 and March 2020 considered for the study. Procedures were conducted for 12 months prior to the initial shutdown of elective surgery (April 19 – March 20). The percentage changes for urgent revisions for TJA were compared focusing on pre and post-Covid TKA and THA. Results: Two groups were defined as pre-Covid patients (n = 190) and post-Covid patients (n= 160). The mean age of the patient in pre-Covid group was 75.3 years (SD = 1.01) and post-Covid group was 68.9 years (SD = 11.52). For TKA revision, in pre-covid group, 33.3% of the patients had Aseptic loosening and 22.2% had Periprosthetic joint infection, and 16.6% required Urgent revision. On the other hand, in post-Covid group, 33.3% of the patients had Aseptic loosening and 21.2% had Periprosthetic joint infection, and 18.1% required Urgent revision. Post-Covid cases of THA were also increased as out of 94 patients, 15.9% required Urgent revision. There was no significant difference between the groups for TKA revision (p>0.05). Similarly, apart from Aseptic loosening (p<0.05), there was no significant difference between the groups for THA revision (p>0.05). Conclusion: It has been carried out that revision of TKA and THA decreased in health care system during Covid-19 pandemic compared to pre-Covid. The numbers of urgent cases were increased in both groups such as the numbers of urgent cases for THA were 15.9% and TKA was 18.1% post-Covid and these are creating the backlog for the care professionals to provide the better treatment and recovery of the patients.

Criminal Activities During COVID-19: Evidence from India

The CVOID-19 Pandemic increased the hardships of millions of people all over the world and also increased the disparity between the rich and the poor with rising unemployment, loss of educational days, institutional failure, infrastructural collapse, malnourishment and malnutrition due to the stringent lockdown measures which forced numerous sections of society into the brink of poverty and destitute. The pandemic has led to multifarious problems require multi-stakeholder approach. The problem of rising criminal behaviour and the increasing crime rates coupled with the failure of the law enforcement institutions to tackle the challenges due to overload, shortage of manpower and the uniqueness of the problem has posed a serious problem to the law-and-order situation of the country. The problem becomes chronic due to the rising technical nature of crimes requiring adequately trained manpower to deal with such issues as well as the necessary dedicated infrastructural support to complement such efforts. The aspect of policy development as a base to cater and legally recognize such nature of crimes also becomes a challenge due to the pandemic induced lockdown and protocols which is crippling the law-making power of the legislatures severely. Based on qualitative approach, this paper tries to study the rising nature of crime and criminal activities in India during the COVID-19 pandemic, reasons and various probable actions and measures to be taken to solve these criminal activities. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Docking of FDA Approved Drugs Targeting NSP-16, N-Protein and Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2 as Dual Inhibitors

At present world is lurching under the spread of new SARS-CoV-2 infection. The treatment is still elusive despite the relentless effort by the scientists against various viral structures. Whereas the 3-Chymotrypsin-like proteases cleave polyproteins and structural proteins help in viral replication. At the same time, non-structural proteins stimulate mRNA cap methylation to evade the immune response. The present study aims to identify novel dual inhibitor compounds with potential hits simultaneously against any of these three targets, including 3C-like proteases, N-protein, and NSP16 through virtual screening, molecular docking approach, and molecular dynamics. Such dual inhibitors may provide the necessary treatment to alleviate the current pandemic. We screened 265 FDA approved infectious disease drugs against three types of Covid-19 targets, i.e., 3C-like proteinase (6w63), N-protein (6vyo), and Non-structural protein 16 (6w4h) using a computer-assisted drug repurposing approach in this study. The Schrodinger suite 2019 is employed for high throughput screening, molecular docking, and binding free energy through the Glide module. We sorted 27 drugs, out of which the best common three drugs were suggested based on their virtual statistics parameters. We found three drugs that belonged to two main categories as dual inhibitors. The Plazomicin (Aminoglycoside) and Cefiderocol (Cephalosporins) are an antibiotic group of drugs, and the Vanganciclovir is antiviral. The molecular dynamics simulation studies over 30000ps for Plazomicin against NSP16 was conducted based on their promising docking scores profile. The RMSD parameter remained stable at 2.5A for ligands for 30000ps. Thus these three compounds can be validated as a SARS-CoV-2 therapy through clinical trials.