Prebiotics, Probiotics and Nutraceuticals

The book titled ‘Prebiotics, Probiotics and Nutraceuticals' is expected to direct many emerging research pathwaysneed at local and global levels for nutrition and food supplements for developing immunity for healthy life. This volume incorporates sixteen seminal papers on issue based research and their practical applications covering latest information and progress on different area of nutritional supplement research fight against disease. The book highlights the frontier issues and applications in nutritional biotechnology with wide coverage of the themes like Potentiality of Probiotics in Inactivation of Tetrodotoxin, Therapeutic Strategy for the Deterrence of COVID-19 with Relevance to Probiotics and Prospectives of Prebiotics, Probiotics and Synbiotics for Sustainable Development in Aquaculture.Plant based Bioactive compounds in Cancer Therapeutics, Recent Trends in Natural Medicines and Nutraceuticals Research, Probiotics as efficacious therapeutic option for treating gut-related diseases: molecular and immune-biological perspectives, The progressive development of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics research, and its multipurpose use in the ornamental fishery, The commercial perspective of probiotics, and bioremediating components in aquaculture pond management: A Case Study andPrebiotics as promising therapeutics for treating gut-related disorders: Biochemical and Molecular Perspectives. Prebiotics and Probiotics as Functional Foods: Prospect and Promises in Metabolic Diseases, Implications of probiotics and prebiotics on immune functions. Recent Trends in Natural Medicines and Nutraceuticals Research, Nutraceuticals are alternative to modern medicines, Socio-Economic Study of Prospective of probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic for sustainable development of aquaculture in Indian Sunderban. This book will be very useful for the scholars, biotechnologists, agricultural scientists, nutritionist, medical doctors, researchers, teachers and students in the emerging field of biotechnology. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Impact of Azithromycin and 8-Hydroxychloroquine in 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Systematic Review

As we know novel coronavirus is an emergent nuisance in this stipulated period. Corona virus is a group of enveloped viruses, with non-segmented, single stranded & positive sense RNA genomes. Human Corona virus is mainly subdivided into four categories such as 229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1. Epidemiologically it has a greater prevalence in the modern era. The features encountered in the clinical course of the disease are multifarious spanning from cough, sneezing, fever, breathlessness. It may take 2-14 days for a person to notice symptoms after infection. Azithromycin and 8 Hydroxychloroquine both plays an instrumental role for management of COVID-19. Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic and it binds with a 50s ribosome then inhibits bacterial protein synthesis. On the other hand 8-Hydroxychloroquine was approved by United State in the year of 1955 .Basically it is used as a antimalarial drugs . Briefly, in inflammatory conditions it binds with toll like receptor & blocks them. 8- hydroxychloroquine increases lysosomal pH in antigen presenting cells . In inflammatory conditions it blocks toll like receptors on plasmacytoid dendritic cells. In our review we focused on the role of Azithromycin, and 8-hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19 .Copyright © 2021 International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive In silico Investigation Validates Two Flavonoid Compounds of Derris robusta (Roxb. ex DC.) Benth. to Supplant Remdesivir as Natural Therapeutic Remedy Against a Range of Coronaviruses

Diversified Coronaviruses like MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, etc., have badly affected human life by causing various respiratory syndromes. Natural bioactive products like flavonoids are well-known for their anti-viral property. Derris robusta (Roxb. ex DC.) Benth. is a reservoir of flavonoids, which encouraged the in silico study of the signature flavonoid compounds in it towards investigating the possible inhibitory effect of those flavonoid compounds against the viral replication of MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1, and SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, investigating the treatment methodology for alleviating these types of diseases is the ultimate priority for public health. In our in silico study, Flavonoids like Isosinensetin and Retusin inhibited the replication of all three viruses with greater binding affinity compared to the control drug Remdesivir in multiple instances. Physicochemical characterization of the compounds by following Lipinski's rule of fi ve and the ADMET study have helped recognize these compounds as a probable natural therapeutic drug against Coronaviruses. The present study exhibits the potential of alternative drug molecules as anti-viral compounds against these three types of Coronaviruses. Further in vitro and in vivo evaluation followed by clinical trials for developing and successfully implementing these two compounds as an effective inhibitory agents against Coronaviruses can be initiated. © 2022 by the authors.

Adoption of autonomous robots in the soft fruit sector: Grower perspectives in the UK

The effects of changing geopolitics, demographic change, and COVID-19 have caused significant disruption to labour in the agricultural sector around the world. In the UK, the challenges to free movement of labour and safe working conditions caused by COVID-19 have exacerbated the labour shortage caused by Brexit. In these circumstances, the use of autonomous robots in those sectors hardest hit by labour shortages, such as soft fruit, is being considered as a potential solution. Autonomous robots for use in the high value crop sector, including soft fruit, are at varying stages of technology readiness with robots for disease treatment, packhouse, and logistic support already commercially used and robots for picking approaching a demonstration phase. However, the pathway to implementation is not determined by technology readiness alone, but rather by the intention and ability of growers to adopt. To date, there has been limited investigation of the views of soft fruit growers towards the introduction of autonomous robots in the sector. We used a mixed methods approach, utilising a grower survey and qualitative interviews conducted in the UK, to explore the factors affecting adoption of autonomous robots on soft fruit farms. In general, the survey shows that growers are optimistic about the prospects of autonomous robots on soft fruit farms, although not necessarily in the short-term and there are several factors affecting uptake, particularly cost and infrastructure, as well as issues such as data ownership, cybersecurity, skills, and trust. We reflect on our findings in the context of existing research on technology adoption by growers and make a series of industry and policy recommendations which have global relevance. © 2022

Creation and Statistical Analysis of a Corpus for Indian Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients with Focus on COVID-19

In this paper, the authors are going to present a corpus of Indian Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) patients in post-second wave and statistically analyze their COVID-19 vaccination status, medication practice, and their side effects after taking the vaccination. The corpus also tried to capture their opinion toward the vaccination and the influencing factor behind their opinion. Statistical analysis of the survey was made on the created database which reveals that (i) AS patients are more infection prone with respect to COVID-19 in comparison with the normal Indian citizens;(ii) woman are less vulnerable to COVID-19 than men among the AS patients;(iii) AS patients are mostly influenced by social media to create their opinion about their medicinal practice and even toward their opinion on vaccine for COVID-19. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Automated Semantic Segmentation of Chest X-ray images using Deep Learning Model

Chest Radiography proves to be a faster, cheaper, and less invasive diagnosis mode for respiratory diseases like pneumonia and viral infections like the coronavirus. The utilization of AI based strategies for programmed finding or imaging are pretty prevalent. In this work, a deep learning model is proposed for automatically segmenting chest X-ray images. The model comprises 20 fully convolutional layers that simplify images to precisely section the lung lobes from the X-ray images. The utilization of transposed convolution offers a lesser computational overhead than traditional methods. The proposed model achieves an accuracy of 97%, with an average Dice coefficient of 0.95 and an average Jaccard (IoU) score of 0.90. The proposed model is trained and tested on publicly available Montgomery County (MC) and Shenzen Hospital (SH) datasets. The segmentation ability of the proposed model can be used as input for predictive models, achieving better accuracy and faster convergence. © 2021 IEEE.

Relooking the monkeypox virus during this present outbreak: epidemiology to therapeutics and vaccines.

OBJECTIVE: The recent monkeypox disease outbreak is another significant threat during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This viral disease is zoonotic and contagious. The viral disease outbreak is considered the substantial infection possessed by the Orthopoxvirus family species after the smallpox virus' obliteration, a representative of the same family. It has potentially threatened the Republic of Congo's regions and certain African subcontinent zones. Although repeated outbreaks have been reported in several parts of the world, as conferred from the epidemiological data, very little is explored about the disease landscape. Thus, here we have reviewed the current status of the monkeypox virus along with therapeutic options available to humanity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have accessed and reviewed the available literature on the monkeypox virus to highlight its epidemiology, pathogenicity, virulence, and therapeutic options available. For the review, we have searched different literature and database such as PubMed, PubMed Central, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, etc., using different keywords such as "monkeypox", "Orthopox", "smallpox", "recent monkeypox outbreak", "therapeutic strategies", "monkeypox vaccines", etc. This review has included most of the significant references from 1983 to 2022. RESULTS: It has been reported that the monkeypox virus shows a remarkable similarity with smallpox during the ongoing outbreak. Sometimes, it creates considerable confusion due to misdiagnosis and similarity with smallpox. The misdiagnosis of the disease should be immediately corrected by rendering some cutting-edge techniques especially intended to isolate the monkeypox virus. The pathophysiology and the histopathological data imply the immediate need to design effective therapeutics to confer resistance against the monkeypox virus. Most importantly, the potential implications of the disease are not given importance due to the lack of awareness programs. Moreover, specific evolutionary evidence is crucial for designing effective therapeutic strategies that confer high resistance, particularly against this species. CONCLUSIONS: The review focuses on a brief overview of the recent monkeypox virus outbreak, infection biology, epidemiology, transmission, clinical symptoms, and therapeutic aspects. Such an attempt will support researchers, policymakers, and healthcare professionals for better treatment and containment of the infection caused by the monkeypox virus.

Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on the financial performance of the hospitality and tourism industries: an ensemble MCDM approach in the Indian context

Purpose The Indian hospitality and tourism industries, major economic growth drivers and employment generators, have been greatly affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In FY 2020, the Indian tourism sector created 39 million jobs and contributed nearly US$194.3bn, or 6.8%, to India's gross domestic product. The purpose of this study is to focus on ranking 22 listed hotels and 9 listed travel agencies in India based on their performance across 14 selected financial parameters in both the pre-COVID-19 year ending in March 2019 and the post-COVID-19 year ending in March 2021 to understand how the pandemic affected their businesses. Design/methodology/approach This research proposes to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial performance of 22 listed Indian hotels and 9 listed travel agencies evaluated over 14 financial parameters using a pipeline of two recently developed multicriteria decision-making techniques, method based on the removal effects of criteria (MEREC) and grey-based combined compromised solution (CoCoSo). First, the criteria weights are objectively determined using MEREC, and then the financial performances of the selected companies in both the hospitality and tourism industries are separately assessed using CoCoSo to get their overall performance score, based on which the companies are ranked in order of preference. Findings It was observed that Westlife Development, Lemon Tree Hotels, Indian Tourism Development Corporation, Royal Orchid and Country Club performed significantly poorer than their peers in the aftermath of the pandemic, whereas EIH, Advani Hotels and Resorts and TGB Banquets performed relatively better. Travel agencies Easy Trip and International Travel House performed particularly poorly because of the pandemic, but VMV Holidays performed relatively better in FY 2021. Practical implications The findings of the analysis will aid portfolio construction, corporate investment decisions, competition research, government policymaking and industrial analysis. Originality/value The proposed model is novel because it fills the research gap in the application of the integrated MEREC-CoCoSo method to study the impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality and tourism sectors in India.

COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination program for aging adults.

OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 vaccines have developed quickly, and vaccination programs have started in most countries to fight the pandemic. The aging population is vulnerable to different diseases, also including the COVID-19. A high death rate of COVID-19 was noted from the vulnerable aging population. A present scenario regarding COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination program foraging adults had been discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This paper reviews the current status and future projections till 2050 of the aging population worldwide. It also discusses the immunosenescence and inflammaging issues facing elderly adults and how it affects the vaccinations such as influenza, pneumococcal, and herpes zoster. RESULTS: This paper recommends clinical trials for all approved COVID-19 vaccines targeting the elderly adult population and to project a plan to develop a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: The review has mapped the COVID-19 vaccination status from the developed and developing countries for the elderly population. Finally, strategies to vaccinate all elderly adults globally against COVID-19 to enhance longevity has been suggested.

A Covid-19 viral transmission prevention system for embedded devices utilising deep learning

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has created an urgent need for different monitoring systems to prevent viral transmission because of its severity and contagious aspect. This paper proposes design and implementation of a hardware-software solution that uses supervised machine learning algorithms to examine an individual and determine if he/she poses a viral transmission danger. The solution proposed was developed utilising an ARM embedded device along with different sensors to detect and monitor COVID-19 symptoms and, at the same time, to enforce wearing of a mask by using deep learning computer vision. © 2021 IEEE.

Exploring the binding efficacy of ivermectin against the key proteins of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis: An approach

Aim: COVID-19 is currently the biggest threat to mankind. Recently, ivermectin (a US FDA-approved antiparasitic drug) has been explored as an anti-SARS-CoV-2 agent. Herein, we have studied the possible mechanism of action of ivermectin using in silico approaches. Materials & methods: Interaction of ivermectin against the key proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis were investigated through molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation. Results: Ivermectin was found as a blocker of viral replicase, protease and human TMPRSS2, which could be the biophysical basis behind its antiviral efficiency. The antiviral action and ADMET profile of ivermectin was on par with the currently used anticorona drugs such as hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir. Conclusion: Our study enlightens the candidature of ivermectin as an effective drug for treating COVID-19.

Applications of artificial intelligence (AI) protecting from COVID-19 pandemic: A clinical and socioeconomic perspective

The coronavirus disease or COVID-19 is a fast-spreading pandemic caused due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the death of many peoples worldwide. The conventional methods of disease detection and diagnosis like swab test using RT-PCR are not sufficient enough during this critical condition as it has several limitations along with possibilities of being contaminated. Computer-based tools are now being used for the demonstration of the disease and healthcare management. The present chapter is to demonstrate the various applications of AI-based model that is useful against COVID-19, based on recently developed technologies and research publications. The AI-based algorithm is driven by machine learning technology along with an advanced bio-computational technique for fast and precise diagnosis and detection of coronavirus disease. It also has the ability of early prediction and warning for the spread of disease. Moreover, AI-based techniques are also an important setup for the development of an effective drug or vaccine. It provides worldwide access to various databases of all research and medical data related to COVID-19 and also helps in the management of the socioeconomic constraints. This study summarizes the application of the artificial intelligence-based model and its utilities in the fight against this pandemic, along with its limitations and future advancement and developmental strategies. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.

Lung cancer referrals: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been declared a global pandemic.1 A national lock-down was announced in the UK from 23rd March 2020, with a public health campaign encouraging patients to stay home. Healthcare services, including the NHS, had to urgently adapt to the demands of COVID-19, with changes in primary and secondary care. At our hospital trust we have reviewed the referrals to our lung cancer services during the pandemic. Suspected lung cancers in the community are referred using the cancer 2-week pathway. Survival estimates for lung cancer are poor compared to most other primary cancers and NICE advocates for quick referral to a specialist for patients whom lung cancer is suspected 2. We have looked at the impact of the pandemic on the referrals to our services. Method: We have reviewed the referrals to lung cancer services, via the lung cancer 2-week pathway at our hosptial trust, between the same periods in 2019 and 2020. Results: There has been a noticeable reduction in the number of referrals to the lung cancer services from the 23rd March, in comparison to same period in 2019 (see graph 1). Between weeks 13 and 19 of 2020 there was a 56.85% reduction in the number of referrals made compared to 2019. Conclusion: There are several likely reasons for the reduction in referral rate shown, including the nationwide advice to 'stay home to protect the NHS', changes to service provision and alterations to clinical set-ups. Timely referral of patients to lung cancer services and prompt diagnosis are essential, directly relating to lung cancer outcomes. We all, therfore, have a responsibility to ensure we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic, to help develop robust services, on top of appropriate clinical awareness, ensuring essential medical services can be provided irrespective of other pressures on the NHS.

Rapid and cost effective covid-19 diagnostic test kit

COVID-19 or Corona Virus disease spreading since December 2019 starting from Wuhan China has now become a pandemic throughout the globe. For early detection of the infected persons prior to the onset of the disease has become necessary to stop the spreading of this communicable disease. The process of testing of respiratory COVID-19 and the associated SARS-COV-2 virus is proved to be possible only by the detection of antibody produced due to response to the infection. This process of antibody detection can be used for both diagnosis and population surveillance. The testing of generated antibodies due to SARS-COV-2 are antibody isotopes that are to be detected are IgG and IgM . Due to having novel antigens the first responding antigen antibody interactions was IgM. Antibodies that show higher affinity for more specifically binding capable antigens leading to proper immune response is IgG. Due to the infectious reactions IgG antibodies are produced. Positiveness of a sample is considered if both IgG and IgM are present. Whole blood, serum or plasma specimens are used for membrane based immunoassay in a qualitative IgG and IgM test kit. The principle for the testing is same that of a HCG pregnancy test where human glycoprotein is assayed in a rapid chromatographic way. The mentioned process is very useful for mass detection of the COVID-19 infected population in a minimum time and is also safe for the laboratory technicians as it can easily be done without getting infected if proper physical barrier are taken personally. © 2021, Universitatea de Vest Vasile Goldis din Arad. All rights reserved.

IoT-Based Computational Frameworks in Disease Prediction and Healthcare Management: Strategies, Challenges, and Potential

In this fastest-growing digitalization and technology, the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the healthcare industry brings revolutionary changes in the development and advancement in disease prediction, health monitoring, mobile health, and healthcare management. The main objective of this chapter is to focus on the various computational frameworks that are available for IoT-based healthcare system, by incorporating the findings demonstrated in the recently published research papers/reviews. This chapter highlights the strategic development of IoT-based computational framework or network for the advancement in disease prediction, monitoring, treatment strategies and drug monitoring and provides a ubiquitous healthcare system. The use of Internet-assisted healthcare networks, sensor-based devices, web servers, smartphone applications, big data, and cloud computing systems effectively limitless resources for generating massive datasets and digital health records can be used for remote monitoring and mobile health. The development of smartphone applications increases the efficiency and accessibility of IoT-based healthcare system to the user. Furthermore, this study also focuses on the application of Internet-assisted technology to provide better healthcare platform and overcome the worldwide pandemic emergency of COVID-19. In summary, this chapter enlightens the potentials and promises of various IoT-based computational frameworks for the development of an easily accessible, simple to handle, time-efficient, and almost low-cost healthcare system with its technological constraints and future advancement. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Evaluation of molecular interaction, physicochemical parameters and conserved pattern of SARS-CoV-2 Spike RBD and hACE2: in silico and molecular dynamics approach.

OBJECTIVE: Recent pandemic virus SARS-CoV-2 is a global warning for the healthcare system. The spike protein of virus SARS-CoV-2 is significant because of two reasons. Firstly, the spike protein of this virus binds with the human ACE2 (hACE2) receptor. Secondly, it has several antigenic regions that might be targeted for vaccine development. However, the structural analytical data for the spike protein of this virus is not available. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Here, we performed an analysis to understand the structural two subunits of S glycoprotein (S gp) of SARS-CoV-2. Further, an analysis of secondary structure components and the tertiary structure analysis of RBD was carried out. We also performed molecular interaction analysis between S gp of this virus and hACE2 as well as between SARS-CoV S gp and hACE2 to compare the binding properties of these two viruses. RESULTS: We noted that the molecular interaction of SARS-CoV-2 S gp and hACE2 form eleven hydrogen bonds, while the molecular interaction of SARS-CoV S gp and hACE2 receptor form seven hydrogen bonds, indicating that the molecular interaction of SARS-CoV-2 S gp and hACE2 receptor is more stable than SARS-CoV S gp and hACE2 receptor. The pairwise sequence alignment of S gp SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 shows several conserved residues of these two proteins. Besides, conserved pattern analysis of SARS-CoV-2 S gp and hACE2 revealed the presence of several highly conserved regions for these two proteins. The molecular dynamics simulation shows a stable interplay between SARS-CoV-2 S gp with the hACE2 receptor. CONCLUSIONS: The present study might help determine the SARS-CoV-2 virus entrance mechanism into the human cell. Moreover, the understanding of the conserved regions may help in the process of therapeutic development from the infection of the deadly virus.

Diabetes and COVID-19: a major challenge in pandemic period?

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes is a lifestyle disease and it has become an epidemic worldwide in recent decades. In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation, diabetes has become a serious health concern since large numbers of patients are vulnerable to die from the virus. Thus, diabetic patients affected by COVID-19 cause a major health crisis now. Reports show that large occurrence of diabetes makes it a serious comorbidity in COVID-19 patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It is crucial to understand how COVID-19 affects diabetes patients. This paper has reviewed published literature extensively to understand the pattern, importance, care, and medication. RESULTS: This review summarizes the association between COVID-19 and diabetes in terms of susceptibility for pneumonia and other diseases. It also discusses the harshness of COVID-19 with diabetes populations and immunological impacts. It further adds the ACE2 receptor role in diabetes with COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Finally, this paper illustrates different types of diabetes management techniques, such as blood glucose management, self-management, mental health management, and therapeutic management. It also summarizes the current knowledge about diabetic patients with COVID-19 to fight this pandemic.

SARS-CoV-2 causing pneumonia-associated respiratory disorder (COVID-19): diagnostic and proposed therapeutic options.

SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for the outbreak of severe respiratory illness (COVID-19) in Wuhan City, China and is now spreading rapidly throughout the world. The prompt outbreak of COVID-19 and its quick spread without any controllable measure defines the severity of the situation. In this crisis, a collective pool of knowledge about the advancement of clinical diagnostic and management for COVID-19 is a prerequisite. Here, we summarize all the available updates on the multidisciplinary approaches for the advancement of diagnosis and proposed therapeutic strategies for COVID-19. Moreover, the review discusses different aspects of the COVID-19, including its epidemiology; incubation period; the general clinical features of patients; the clinical features of intensive care unit (ICU) patients; SARS-CoV-2 infection in the presence of co-morbid diseases and the clinical features of pediatric patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2. Advances in various diagnostic approaches, such as the use of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), chest radiography, and computed tomography (CT) imaging; and other modern diagnostic methods, for this infection have been highlighted. However, due to the unavailability of adequate evidence, presently there are no officially approved drugs or vaccines available against SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, we have discussed various therapeutic strategies for COVID-19 under different categories, like the possible treatment plans with drug (antiviral drugs and anti-cytokines) therapy for disease prevention. Lastly, potentials candidates for the vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infection have been described. Collectively, the review provides an overview of the SARS-CoV-2 infection outbreak along with the recent advancements and strategies for diagnosis and therapy of COVID-19.