ABSTRACT
PID controllers are the most frequently used controllers. Theoretical understanding of the system to be controlled and the working principle of PID controllers are crucial for closed-loop control. This fundamental knowledge is - in principle - learned by all engineering students at the undergraduate level. However, understanding the practical aspects of the application of a PID controller and their connections to theoretical concepts must be combined in a clever way. This paper explores the process of the development of a low-cost, easy to manufacture demonstration setup which can act as the bridge between the theoretical and practical world of the control system knowledge. As a reaction to the COVID epidemy, this project is made with the philosophy that the students should be able to take these setups home or even replicate them themselves. The proposed setup comes with an interactive block diagram-based graphical user interface which allows the user to observe the physical changes of the process in -nearly- real-time. The aim of the provided exercises is to comprehend the similarities and the difference between the theoretical and practical aspects of closed-loop control. This paper explains the components of the setup, the development process, the recommended exercises, and feedback from our students. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Prognostic markers used to measure the disease progression and patient outcome regardless of treatment in COVID-19. We aim to analyze and evaluate the prognostic markers for early identification of severe patients. Materials and Methods: During a 3-month period (November 2020 to January 2021), a total of 165 patients attending Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled and divided into non-severe and severe groups. The demographic data, underlying co-morbidities and laboratory findings were analyzed. Correlation, Regression analysis and ROC curve was performed to determine the risk factors and cut-off values for critically ill patients were speculated. Results: Disease severity was significantly associated with age (r = 0.359, p<0.001), RBC (r = -0.163, p = 0.037), AEC (r = -0.300, p<0.001), ALC (r = -0.239, p<0.001), ANC (r = 0.228, p<0.001), NLR (r = 0.336, p<0.001), PLR (r = 0.286, p<0.001), glucose (r = 0.155, p = 0.046), urea (r = 0.282, p<0.001), creatinine (r = 0.194, p = 0.012), AST (r = 0.169, p = 0.030), ferritin (r = 0.359, p<0.001) and CRP. Whereas Increasing age (AOR = 3.611), positive CRP (AOR = 2.930), high ferritin (AOR = 2.754), decreased AEC (AOR = 3.415) was found to be independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity. Similarly, ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristics) curve analysis showed age (AUC = 0.724), NLR (AUC = 0.710), PLR (AUC = 0.678), ferritin (AUC = 0.735), AEC (AUC = 0.661) can be used to monitor the disease severity. Conclusion: Our study revealed severe COVID-19 is associated with increased markers of innate immune response such as neutrophil count, NLR, CRP and serum ferritin;decreased markers of adaptive immune response such as lymphocyte and increased markers of major organ damage including AST, urea, and creatinine compared to COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Natural Killer (NK) cells are the key lymphocyte subset of the natural immune system that arbitrates antiviral and anticancer responses. In the human body NK cells inhabit in the bone marrow, lymph nodes, tonsils, skin, liver, gut, and lungs. This bibliographic study covers the origins and evolution of these cells. This review of NK cells includes synopsis of their well-known and evolving themes including their development, functions of cytokine production, anticancer cytotoxicity, clearing of viral infections and exhaustion. Within the liver, NK cells are enhanced in lymphocytes and possess distinctive phenotypic characters and useful properties, which contain tumour cytotoxicity and explicit cytokine profiles. NK cells, while providing innate immunity in the liver, play important roles in providing protection versus pathogens and tumours utilising their cytotoxicity and cytokine production. Accruing substantiation from the last few decades proposes that NK cells perform a vital role in regulating viral hepatitis and liver tumours. In addition, they contribute to the pathogenesis of liver damage including its inflammation. Understanding the description of hepatic NK cell functions has aided us in better understanding the pathogenesis of diseases of the liver and consequently divulging novel therapeutic goals for treating these illnesses.
ABSTRACT
Some drugs with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activity are identified as adjunctive therapy in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections and researchers believe that such pathophysiologic pathway treatment approach is rational and important for future development of new therapeutic agents in managing this pandemic. This review will discuss various cytokines which go berserk and cause serious life-threatening complications in COVID-19 infections. Additionally, different therapeutic modalities in managing 'cytokine storm,' with a special note on melatonin is discussed. The foundation laid by scientists on this wonder molecule may pave the path toward development of drug with satisfactory results either used alone or as an adjunct to other drugs. However, calming the angered cytokine profile seems pivotal during management of the devastating storm. © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the world with more than 1 million cases, and 56,000 deaths as of early May 2020 The cytokine storm in COVID-19 is associated with multiorgan failure in critically ill patients COVID-19 induced transaminitis was associated with worse mortality outcomes based on the reported data from China We sought to analyze the temporal relationship of COVID-19 induced liver injury and its effect on mortality among the US population from Elmhurst Hospital, the reported epicenter of Queens, New York Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on all patients who presented to the ER with COVID-19 symptoms at our institute from March 2020 The included population had confirmed COVID-19 infection by nasopharyngeal RT-PCR swab General demographic information, labs, imaging, and survival data were collected Statistical analysis was performed using STATA software V 16 Results: 146 patients were analyzed of which 56 patients were excluded from analysis due to missing data 90 patients were included in the analysis Mean age 56 ± 15 years(CI 95%)(Males: n=77, 85 5%;Females: n=13, 14 4%) The most common comorbidity was diabetes mellitus II The most common gastrointestinal symptom was diarrhea (n=18;20%) The baseline demographic, comorbidities, vitals, and presentations are shown in table 1 Patients with higher AST more than 1-3 times the upper normal limits have a higher odds of death (OR=1 01 95% CI: 1 00-1 03;p-value=<0 05) On further analysis, AST levels between 40- 120 IU/ml compared to normal aminotransferase levels have higher odds of dying on the multivariate logistic regression model ( OR=6 31 95% CI: 1 70-23 43, p-value=0 0059) The mortality rate was noted to be even higher in patients with higher levels of AST, between 120 - 360 IU/ml, compared to normal aminotransferase (OR=8 50, 95% CI: 1 257-57 49, p-value=0 02) The cumulative odds of death among patients with any transaminitis was also statistically significant for high risk of death (OR= 1 06, p-value= 0 001) Furthermore, normal liver synthetic function with an albumin level 3-5 g/ dL are associated with favorable outcomes and are more likely to be discharged from the hospital (OR=0 04 95% CI: 0 004-0 45;p-value=<0 05) Subgroup analysis of albumin level in COVID-19 patients, albumin levels ranging from (3-5 g/dL) are 15 times higher odds of recovery/discharge from the hospital as compared to patients with albumin levels of (0-3 g/dL) [OR: 15 95, 95% CI: 3 90-65 5, P-value=0 0001] Association of mortality with ALT, T Bili, and INR was statistically non-significant in both univariate and multivariate models The results are shown in Table 2 Conclusion: COVID-19 induced liver injury is associated with higher mortality outcome especially with increasing odds of higher AST A normal hepatic synthetic function is a good indicator of hospital recovery specifically in patients with an albumin level of 3-5 g/dL(Table Presented).