Effect of Elevator Design on the Risk Associated with COVID Transmission – A Comparative Study between a Sliding Door and a Collapsible Gate Elevator

The ominous spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is attributed to the droplets respired during coughing, sneezing or speaking. These droplets undergo evaporation to become aerosols, which, along with the larger droplets, are believed to ultimately spread the virus. In this current work, a small, enclosed region like an elevator (containing a COVID infected passenger) is considered where the risk of infection is high as the commonly practiced norm of social distancing is not possible. Numerical simulations are performed using OpenFOAM. Two different types of elevators – one equipped with a sliding door and the other with a collapsible gate, are considered and the change in droplet behavior is examined. Certain parameters pertaining to the risk of virus transmission have been quantified and assessed thoroughly, such as the percentage of droplets floating in the height range from a person's waist height to his mouth height, the radial span of the floating droplets from the infected passenger's mouth. From these parameters, the safety measures to be adopted by other copassengers can be determined. After an extensive study, it has been found that the collapsible gate elevator is safer than the sliding door elevator along with added advantages in the context of disease transmission. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Effectiveness of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination among COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study

It is currently unknown how effective the COVID-19 vaccine is at preventing new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections among the general population. The study suggests that a safe and efficient vaccination against the COVID-19 could help manage this pandemic if widely distributed. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine in between vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts. A retrospective multicenter cohort study comprised 1244 COVID-19 positive patients enrolled in this study from three different hospitals among patients who had been appropriately vaccinated or not between April and June 2021. Data were collected by face-to-face survey, and clinical investigations were obtained by observation. Descriptive statistics and the Cox proportional hazard model of survival analysis were performed in the study. Among the participants, 69% of vaccinated cohorts did not require hospitalization, and 97% successfully recovered from the infection. In respect of age, compared with unvaccinated cohorts, the vaccine effectiveness varied from 81% to 92%. The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine was more effective among those aged 60-69 years old and reduced 92% hazard of death than the unvaccinated group [HR ratio - 0.081(.036-.179), P=0.0001]. The study found the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine is highly effective for receivers. The COVID-19 vaccination demonstrated a significant correlation with a reduced probability of disease severity, hospital admission rate, early recovery from illness, and mortality.

A novel approach to preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission in classrooms: A numerical study

The education sector has suffered a catastrophic setback due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, with classrooms being closed indefinitely. The current study aims to solve the existing dilemma by examining COVID transmission inside a classroom and providing long-term sustainable solutions. In this work, a standard 5 × 3 × 5 m3 classroom is considered where 24 students are seated, accompanied by a teacher. A computational fluid dynamics simulation based on OpenFOAM is performed using a Eulerian-Lagrangian framework. Based on the stochastic dose-response framework, we have evaluated the infection risk in the classroom for two distinct cases: (i) certain students are infected and (ii) the teacher is infected. If the teacher is infected, the probability of infection could reach 100% for certain students. When certain students are infected, the maximum infection risk for a susceptible person reaches 30%. The commonly used cloth mask proves to be ineffective in providing protection against infection transmission, reducing the maximum infection probability by approximately 26% only. Another commonly used solution in the form of shields installed on desks has also failed to provide adequate protection against infection, reducing the infection risk only by 50%. Furthermore, the shields serve as a source of fomite mode of infection. Screens suspended from the ceiling, which entrap droplets, have been proposed as a novel solution that reduces the infection risk by 90% and 95% compared to the no screen scenario besides being completely devoid of fomite infection mode. The manifestation of infection risk in the domain was investigated, and it was found out that in the case of screens the maximum infection risk reached the value of only 0.2 (20% infection probability) in 1325 s. © 2023 Author(s).

33rd meeting of the international task force for disease eradication, 14-15 March 2022

These proceedings contain articles that discuss setting the stage: the current state of the TB epidemic and COVID-19 effects, recap of events after the UN high-level conference in 2018, and direction for the UN high-level meeting in 2023. The ITFDE last discussed tuberculosis (TB) in 2010 and identified the following objectives: accelerated improvement and expansion of laboratory services for diagnosis and treatment, including assessment of drug resistance;increased support for better control and research;improved access to care and coverage of the most vulnerable populations;and political advocacy for TB control by potential allies inside and outside the health sector.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about COVID-19 Clinical Waste Management among Medical Health Practitioners

Aims & Objectives: COVID-19 clinical waste management has become a concern with increasing number of medical practitioners in India. Being health care professionals, one should be aware regarding safe disposal of biomedical waste and recycling of the materials to minimize biohazards to the environment. The aim of the present study was to assess awareness regarding biomedical waste management among medical practitioners. Material(s) and Method(s): This cross-sectional study was conducted among medial practitioners belonging from all medical colleges and private practitioners in Khorda district, Odisha (India) from February 2022 to April 2022. A total of 100 doctors (58 males and 42 females) participated in the study, which was conducted in two phases. A form was distributed to assess the attention of COVID-19 clinical waste management and information of effective utilisation of materials, and picked up knowledge was examined on a 5-point unipolar scale in percentages to assess the relative awareness relating to these 2 totally different categorizes. The applied math Package for Social Sciences was accustomed analyzed collected data. Result(s): Twenty-four percent of the medical practitioners were not at all aware about the management of COVID-19 clinical waste, 29% were moderately aware, 37% slightly aware, 7% very aware, and 3% fall in extremely aware category. A higher percentage of participants were completely unaware regarding recycling and reusing of COVID-19 clinical waste. Conclusion(s): There is a lack of sufficient knowledge among medical practitioners regarding management of COVID-19 clinical waste and recycling of materials. Considering its impact on the environment, COVID-19 clinical waste management requires immediate academic assessment to increase awareness during training courses. Copyright © 2022 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.

Decreased mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 associated mucormycosis with aspirin use: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis is a rapidly progressive disease with high mortality rates of about 60 per cent. The increasing incidence of rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis in coronavirus disease 2019 patients in India and worldwide has become a matter of concern owing to the case fatality rate. This study explored the use of low dose aspirin in decreasing the mortality rate of coronavirus disease 2019 associated mucormycosis. METHOD: This was a retrospective observational study. Patients suffering from post-coronavirus disease 2019 mucormycosis were included in the study. Each patient was treated with surgical debridement and systemic amphotericin B. Low dose aspirin was added, and mortality rates were compared with the patients who did not receive aspirin. RESULTS: The demographic data and rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis staging between the two groups were not significantly different. There was a statistically significant difference in mortality outcomes between the two groups (p = 0.029) and a 1.77 times higher risk of dying for patients not receiving aspirin. Kaplan-Meier survival indicated that patients receiving aspirin had better survival rates (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Low dose aspirin improves survival rates in coronavirus disease 2019 associated mucormycosis.

Effect of ventilation and climatic conditions on COVID-19 transmission through respiratory droplet transport via both airborne and fomite mode inside an elevator

A numerical analysis using OpenFOAM has been performed in this work to investigate the infection risk due to droplet dispersal in an enclosed environment resembling an elevator, since infection risk in such confined places is very high. The effect of two scenarios on droplet dispersal, namely, the quiescent and the fan-driven ventilation, both subjected to various climatic conditions (of temperature and humidity) ranging from cold-humid (15 °C, 70% relative humidity) to hot-dry (30 °C, 30% relative humidity) have been studied. A risk factor derived from a dose-response model constructed upon the temporally averaged pathogen quantity existing around the commuter's mouth is used to quantify the risk of infection through airborne mode. It is found that the hot, dry quiescent scenario poses the greatest threat of infection (spatio-averaged risk factor 42%), whereas the cold-humid condition poses the least risk of infection (spatio-averaged risk factor 30%). The proper fan speed is determined for the epidemiologically safe operation of the elevator. The fan ventilation scenario with 1100 RPM (having a spatio-averaged risk factor of 10%) decreases the risk of infection by 67% in a hot, dry climatic condition as compared to a quiescent scenario and significantly in other climatic ambiences as well. The deposition potential of aerosolized droplets in various parts of the respiratory tract, namely, the extrathoracic and the alveolar and bronchial regions, has been analyzed thoroughly because of the concomitant repercussions of infection in various depths of the respiratory region. In addition, the airborne mode of infection and the fomite mode of infection (infection through touch) have also been investigated for both the ventilation scenarios. © 2022 Author(s).

Nanofibrous Facemasks with Curcumin for Improved Bacterial/Particulate Filtration and Biocidal Activity

The current COVID-19 pandemic situation has posed a significant threat to human health. This calls for versatile facemask filters with high filtration efficiency and biocidal activity. Herein, we have rationally designed a three-layered nanofilter mask consisting of electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) and curcumin as a nanocoating on a polypropylene spunbond membrane. The nanomask thus developed had a particulate filtration efficiency of 96.8 +/- 0.1%, with good breathability (64 +/- 2 Pa) and a high quality factor (0.052 +/- 0.0005 Pa-1) for a coating thickness of similar to 20 mu m. An aerosol filtration efficiency of >99.99% was achieved for both bacteria and bacteriophages (a virus surrogate). Curcumin loading into the nanocoating induced significant contact-killing efficiency against bacteria and bacteriophages, implying the high biocidal activity presented by the nanomask. Furthermore, this mask could be reused up to 30 times after successive washing and drying, without alterations in its particle-filtration efficiency or fibrous morphology. Thus, by adopting a simple, scalable technique, a nanomask with manifold features was developed that satisfies the essential demands of air filtration in the current pandemic era.

Relationship between a student's social media use and academic performance at a University course in Thailand

Social media is very popular in today's time and has become a daily part of our lives, despite research showing that social media use is time-consuming and distracting especially for academics of young adults. In this project, we perform a statistical analysis of the impact of social media on the academic performance of students at a Business Statistics (ICMB 201) course at Mahidol University International College in Thailand. During Covid-19, the course had few sections online and others on-campus. We investigate whether the sections being online or on-campus, as well as, other relevant variables mediate the relationship of social media use and academic performance. Using a two-sample hypothesis testing methodology, followed by a test of significance of parameters in a multiple linear regression setting, we analyze the effect of hours of social media use on two test scores of the course. We find evidence that more social media use has an adverse effect on one of the test scores especially for the sections that were conducted online. This can guide a general student on the cons of social media use towards their academic performance. © 2022 Author(s).

Clinicopathological Features and Outcome of COVID-19-Early Experiences from Three COVID Hospitals, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Introduction: COVID 19 is an unknown virus affecting mankind creating a deadly experience to all. It is true for Bangladesh also. So the objectives of the present study are to find the clinicopathological features and outcome of COVID patients admitted to three COVID dedicated hospitals of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Methods: This was an observational study where a total of 209 patients admitted to three COVID dedicated hospital were recruited. Clinicopathological data were recorded and patients were under observation till discharge and thus outcome were recorded. Prior consent was taken from the patients and ethical clearance was also taken. Data were compiled and analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences-20. Results: Among 209 patients most of them were male 139 (66.5%) and male to female ratio was 1.98:1. Age group distribution revealed more were aggregated in the age group of 41-50 years 36 (17.2%), 51-60 years 54 (25.8%), and 61-70 years 57 (27.3%). Among all 92 (44%) patients were reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive and 117 (56%) were probable cases. Fever was present in 195 (93.3%) cases, cough in 180 (86.1%), respiratory distress in 105 (50.2%) anosmia in 123 (58.8%), aguesea in 112 (53.58%) and lethargy was present in 143 (68.42%). Chest X-ray findings revealed 73 (34.9%) had bilateral patchy opacities, 20 (9.6%) had unilateral opacities 65 (31.1%) had consolidations, 6 (2.9%) had ground glass opacities, and 2 (1.0%) had pleural effusion. Supplemental O2 was given in 173 (82.8%) patients, Favipiravir in 59 (28.2%), Remdesivir in 111 (53.1%), Methylprednisolone in 87 (41.6%), Dexamethasone in 93 (44.5%), Antibiotics in 204 (97.60%), Toccilizumab in 34 (16.3%), plasma in 18 (8.6%), and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) in 200 (95.7%) patients. Regarding outcome of the COVID patients admitted, 85 (92.4%) patients improved, 6 (6.5%) died who were RT-PCR positive and 107 (91.15%) improved, 9 (7.7%) died who were probable cases. Total death rate was 7.1%. Conclusion: The present study findings were some early activities among COVID patients in the years 2020. Male were more affected and middle age group people were the most victims.

Fractional optimal control of compartmental SIR model of COVID-19: Showing the impact of effective vaccination

In this work a compartmental SIR model has been proposed for describing the dynamics of COVID-19 with Caputo's fractional derivative(FD). SIR compartmental model has been used here with fractional differential equations(FDEs). The mathematical model of the pandemic consists of three compartments namely susceptible, infected and recovered individuals. The dynamics of the pandemic COVID-19 with FDEs for showing the effect of memory as most of the cell biological systems can be described accurately by FDEs Time dependent control(Effective vaccination) has been applied model to formulated fractional optimal control problem(FOCP) to reduce the viral load. Pontryagin's Maximum Principle(PMP) has been used to formulate FOCP. An effective vaccination is very helpful for controlling the pandemic, which is observed through the numerical simulation via Grunwald-Letnikov(G-L) approximation. All numerical simulation work has been carried in MATLAB platform. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 Time Series Prediction and Lockdown Effectiveness

The origin of the COVID-19 pandemic lies at the wet market of Wuhan, China, which reportedly incepted from a person's consumption of a wild animal that was already infected with the disease. Since then, the virus has spread worldwide like wildfire and poses a major threat to the entirety of the human species itself. Coronavirus causes respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. This paper discusses the use of data analysis and machine learning to draw from the implications of the growth patterns of previous pandemics in general and projects that specifically predict future scenarios of COVID-19. It also compares and measures some of the present pandemic’s short- and long-span predictions with the equivalent real-world data observed during and after the said span. It also attempts to analyze how effective the lockdown has been across various countries and what India specifically must do to prevent a catastrophic outcome. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Post-Acute Covid Neurological Symptoms among Doctors and Nurses in A Tertiary Care Hospital: An Observational Study from Bangladesh

A good number of patients experience post-Covid complications. Doctors and nurses are the front liners who are at greater risk of having this disease. Neurological symptoms are frequent in patients with post-COVID-19 infection. The study aims to observe the post-acute neurological symptoms among doctors and nurses of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in Bangladesh, after they recover from initial infection or among the asymptomatic cases. It was a retrospective observational study among the doctors and nurses who became RT PCR positive from late April to mid-September 2020. A total of 100 subjects were interviewed over the phone for the presence or absence of neurological symptoms four weeks post Covid-19 infection. Total 54 doctors and 46 nurses were evaluated;the male-female ratio was 1:1.77, the mean age was 35.6+/-7.6 years. Post-acute COVID neurological symptoms (PACNS) were present in 60% of respondents. Fatigue (51%) was the most common symptom, followed by sleep disturbance, headache, myalgia, loss of taste and smell. PACNS were more in symptomatic patients at the initial Covid infection than asymptomatic cases.

Psychological Assessment of Health-Care Workers Working during COVID-19 Pandemic Condition in Bangladesh

The study was aimed to assess the psychological aspects and relevant factors of the health-care workers (HCWs) working in COVID 19 pandemic condition in Bangladesh. This online cross-sectional survey was conducted from different tertiary, secondary and primary hospitals in Bangladesh. Eligible 638 HCWs who were directly involved in the caring of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients were recruited in this study. The mental health was assessed by the Patient Health Questionnare-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). High frequency of depression 536(84.0%), anxiety 386(60.5%) and insomnia 302(47.3%) was found among the HCWs, which were significantly higher in physicians (p<0.001) than nurses. Moderate to severe depression was significantly higher in female, whereas minimal to mild depression was significant in male HCWs (p=0.014). Symptoms of depression (p<0.001), anxiety (p<0.001) and insomnia (p=0.004) were significantly higher among the HCWs of primary and secondary compared to the tertiary level. The HCWs developed psychological trauma due to family health (45.3%) and contagious disease property (66.6%). After adjusting confounders, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that physicians and HCWs of secondary hospital had significant symptoms of severe depression (OR=2.95, 95% CI=0.50-17.24;p<0.001), anxiety (OR=2.64, 95% CI=0.80-8.72;p<0.001) and insomnia (OR=2.67, 95% CI=1.23-5.84;p=0.018);whereas female HCWs had more risk of developing symptoms of severe insomnia (OR= 1.84;95% CI=1.23-2.75;p=0.003). High rate of depression, anxiety and insomnia was found among HCWs working in the COVID-19 pandemic condition in this survey.

Catheter like in vivo fiber optic probe for rapid diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2

With the persistent rise of COVID-19 cases, it is imperative to have rapid assessment of infection with minimal logistics. Although different diagnostic techniques for SRAS-CoV-2 are available, there are limitations in terms of turn-around time, sensitivity, and specificity issues. In this direction, this work reports the effective exploitation of fiber optic biosensor especially for in vivo identification of SARS-CoV-2. The proposed catheter like probe is envisioned to alleviate the need for sample storage as well as other allied complicacies. The scheme for qualitative as well as quantitative assessment is elaborately presented here for this portable probe. The proposed probe equipped with rapid diagnosis is believed to have immense potential through adaptive measures. © 2021 The Author(s)

HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING AND DYNAMIC STUDIES OF SELECTED COMPOUNDS AGAINST SARS-COV-2

Objective: This study was aimed to analyze the inhibitory effect of the drugs used in nanocarrier as well as nanoparticles formulation based drug delivery system selected from PubChem database literature against 3CLpro (3C-like protease) receptor of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) by implementing several in silico analysis techniques. Methods: This paper detailed a molecular docking-based virtual screening of 5240 compounds previously utilized in nanoparticle and nanocarrier drug delivery systems utilizing AutoDock Vina software on 3CL protease to discover potential inhibitors using a molecular docking technique. Results: According to the results of the screening, the top two compounds, PubChem Id 58823276 and PubChem Id 60838 exhibited a high affinity for the 3CL protease binding region. Their binding affinities were-9.6 and-8.5 kJ/mol, indicating that they were tightly bound to the target receptor, respectively. These results outperformed those obtained using the co-crystallized native ligand, which exhibited a binding affinity of-7.4 kJ/mol. PubChem Id 60838, the main hit compound in terms of both binding affinity and ADMET analysis, displayed subst antial deformability after MD simulation. As a result of the VS and molecular docking techniques, novel 3CL protease inhibitors from the PubChem database were discovered using the Lipinski rule of five and functional molecular contacts with the target protein, as evidenced by the findings of this work. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the compounds discovered may represent attractive opportunities for the development of COVID-19 3CLpro inhibitors and that they need further evaluation and investigation. © 2022 The Authors.

Diagnostic Mask for SARS-CoV-2 Detection Using Immunochromatography and Machine Learning

Amidst the deadly COVID-19 pandemic situation, the increasing number of cases is a major concern especially at places where tests are not available easily, are inconvenient and results take a long time to be declared. We present a solution by which tests can be performed easily by individuals with the aid of a mask. It involves no hazard and saves time for immediate treatment of positive patients. To enhance the efficiency of the product, we have also incorporated a predictive model using machine learning which produces outcome based on real life scenarios. © 2021 IEEE.

A pervasive review on new advancements of nano vaccines on covid-19 pandamic

The infection that causes COVID-19 may be a pathogen referred to as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and is believed to possess originated from China's Wuhan Province. The rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide concern, with the planet Health Organization (WHO) declaring it an epidemic on March, 2020. To enter the cells, SARS-CoV-2 S requires angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Many existing vaccines have drawbacks like insufficient system stimulation, in vivo instability, high toxicity, the need for a chilly chain, and multiple administration. A nanotechnology is an efficient tool for addressing these issues. A successful vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infection is predicted to stimulate innate and adaptive immune responses and protects against severe sorts of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Different strategies are introduced because the go after an efficient and safe vaccination has begun. Currently, the foremost common vaccine types studied in clinical trials include viral vector-based vaccinations, genetic vaccines, attenuated vaccines, and protein-based vaccines. during this review, we cover the foremost promising anti-COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials also as various vaccination strategies to shed more light on the continued clinical trials. it's also discussed how nanotechnology is often wont to better understand the pathology of the present pandemic, also as how our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 cellular uptake and toxicity can influence future nanotoxicological considerations and nanomedicine design of safe yet effective nanomaterials.

Outlining Big Data Analytics in Health Sector with Special Reference to Covid-19.

With the assistance of Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data analytics has evolved tremendously. The capability of dealing and processing humongous data by high performance computing systems results in great surge in applications of Big Data analytics in various fields spanning healthcare, automobile, computing, climatology, and space communications etc. The health care sector has been recently largely benefitted by this. Driven by the compounding growth as well as impact of Big Data analytics, we endeavor to map out the areas of health sector where Big Data analytics has been largely influential as well as is having the potential for ground-breaking applications. This work starts with fundamentals of IoT driven Big Data Analytics (BDA) as well as key constitutional elements which is then followed by an application overview in healthcare sector with a simultaneous emphasis on future expectations. Besides, the real time application of BDA with special reference to Covid-19 is comprehensively highlighted with recent examples. It is envisioned that the work will serve as a basic reference for IoT driven BDA in healthcare.

Suicidal deaths amid covid-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional autopsy-based study

Background: Suicide is a global issue, with an estimated 75.5% of the cases occurring in developing countries, and India alone accounting for 26.6% of all global suicidal deaths. With an advent of COVID-19 in the early months of 2020, India observed a rapid rise in suicidal deaths. Though, various media reports predicted loneliness, mental illness and economical instabilities as the major triggering factors, there is a lack of analytical or descriptive studies confirming this hypothesis. In this context, the present cross-sectional study was planned to determine the socio-demographic profiles of the victims and the triggering factors of the suicidal deaths during the COVID-19 phase, in context to the victims of suicide from 2017 to the Pre-COVID phase. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted by analyzing the suicidal deaths from 2017 to 30th June, 2020, interviewing the deceased family members during the COVID-19 phase and studying the Inquest reports, with the documents from the Institutional Medical Record Section. Conclusion: The authors feel that suicide is an act of moment in mind, so any decision made under excitement or incitement is the real culprit. To curb the menace of suicide, state and society should ensure education, employment and socioeconomic well-being, along with strict law enforcement.