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The present study focuses on the quantitative investigation of economic vulnerability and assesses the perception survey carried out among 75 residents of Katwa Municipality, an up-growing urban area in Purba Barddhaman District, West Bengal. To estimate the socio-economic vulnerability during the lockdown, standardised factor scores have been calculated in the analysis of principal components and GIS-based mapping has been employed also. Among the total working population of the surveyed household, about 20% have changed their occupation, wages have been reduced by 35 and 35% have lost their occupation during the lockdown period. The highly socio-economic vulnerability has been observed in the wards where households and population are also high. The regression coefficient shows that the increasing trend of marginal other workers has the significantly (p < 0.1) highest marginal effect on the socio-economic vulnerability. The Likert scale measuring perception indicated that the majority of the respondents agreed with their socio-economic vulnerabilities caused by lockdown during the pandemic situation. The significant outcome of the study indicates the initiation of diversified income generation opportunities and deliberates its contribution to the formation of location-specific planning for the socio-economic development and integrative management of the study area. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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The present study is an attempt to establish relationship between the concentrations of particulate matter especially (PM2.5) and background meteorological parameters over Delhi, India with the help of statistical and correlative analysis. This work presents the evaluation of air quality in three different locations of Delhi. These locations were selected to fulfil the characteristics as residential, industrial and background locations and performed the analysis for pre and post covid-19, i.e. for 2019 and 2021. The outcome of the study shows that the meteorological parameters have significant influence on the PM2.5 concentration. It was also found that it has a seasonality with low concentration in the monsoon season, moderate in the pre-monsoon season and high during the winters and post-monsoon seasons. However, the statistical and correlative study shows a negative relation with the temperature during the winter, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon and has a positive correlation during the monsoon season. Similarly, it also has been observed that the concentration of PM2.5 shows strong negative correlation with temperature during the high humid conditions, i.e. when the relative humidity is above 50%. However, a weak correlation with ambient temperature has been established during the low humidity condition, i.e. below 50%. The overall study showed that the highest PM2.5 pollution has been observed at residential location followed by industrial and background. The study also concluded that the seasonal meteorology has a complex role in the PM2.5 concentration of the selected areas.
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Despite vacillating national discourses on immigration policy and complications of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a growing number of cities continue affiliating with the international "welcoming movement.” The welcoming movement consists of a transnational network of municipalities in partnership with nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and other sectors of society that are implementing receptivity plans, policies, practices, and branding initiatives. Within this context, how are welcoming cities responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as one example of their place branding practices? Through a qualitative scan of municipalities' primary documents, policies, plans, websites, and municipal leaders' public pronouncements, this study contributes to understanding of immigrant receptivity processes and intersections with municipal place branding practices amid a pandemic by assessing their pandemic responses within a nationwide network of Welcoming Cities in the United States. Although there are burgeoning welcoming cities networks in other immigrant-receiving societies, this network was selected because they are the first, most established and comprehensive national network of cities with over 100 municipal affiliates. The findings offer scholarly and applied insights regarding place branding practices for immigrant and refugee integration and receptivity. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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Ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin belong to a class of antibiotics called Fluoroquinolones (FQs), which have a wide anti-bacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Since the recent Covid-19 pandemic witnessed a magnanimous rise in the use of antibiotics to prevent secondary bacterial infections, it led to vast production and use of such antibiotics. Ultimately the antibiotics get discharged into the municipal sewer pipes, thereby killing the useful microbial colony. In order to prevent environmental degradation a commercial scale-up of the adsorption of these antibiotics using raw sewage sludge is an absolute necessity. In this study, a continuous adsorption operation is conducted in a packed bed of semi-dried raw sewage sludge to remove the FQs from wastewater. Two transient convective-diffusion models are developed including pseudo-first and second-order kinetics driven depletion terms. The models are optimised using the data collected under various dynamic conditions in order to analyse the performance of the packed bed in terms of bed height, flow rate and initial concentration of the FQs. Damköhler numbers of the FQs are estimated to predict the breakthrough times of both the FQs. The ratios of Damköhler numbers of ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin do not change much with flow rate. In all the experiments, Das << 1 for both the FQs, indicating a faster diffusion process with respect to the rate of pseudo-reaction. Diffusion reaches an ‘equilibrium' well before the reaction achieves pseudo-chemical equilibrium. Ratios of the Damköhler numbers, meant to represent the first-order and second-order convective-diffusion models for ciprofloxacin to ofloxacin is < 1. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
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This article looks at the challenges faced in handling the influx of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees seeking protection, and for others a livelihood. However, at the rate that it had been going in the past, Global North countries found it difficult to handle the sudden influx. Bottlenecks occurred at the borders, and some were kept in detention facilities (US) and others in camps (European Union [EU]). There has been an abject failure in upholding international law, which according to the 1951 Geneva Conventions and 1967 Additional Protocol stipulate, countries are obligated to not conduct refoulement upon those seeking asylum if it is proven that they will not be safe, nor return to any other country where their safety is compromised. What complicates the matter is the current Covid-19 pandemic, as countries are exploiting the circumstances, violating international law in the name of protecting their citizens from the "spread” of Covid-19. A closer look at what America and EU have done to address both issues is done. The article concludes with suggestions on how to reform immigration policy based on the scholarly research found. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Economic development depends heavily on the growth of social sectors like education, healthcare, gender equality, as well as factors like income, consumption, investment and trade. This book examines the interlinkages between development, good governance and spending on social growth.The book focuses on different areas of social growth, public welfare and poverty reduction including managing human resources, corruption in public institutions and public spaces as well as health and welfare measures. The chapters in the volume highlight the role of government interventions in boosting human development particularly in developing countries in Asia and Africa and many developed countries in the post-COVID scenario. The book also examines the foundations of government spending on development and effective governance while underlining the impact which social growth has on the economy.Rich in theoretical and empirical perspectives, this book will be useful for students and researchers of economics, sociology, political studies, public finance, development studies as well as for policymakers and think tanks working in the areas of human development. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Ramesh Chandra Das;individual chapters, the contributors.
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In this article we have investigated a detection-accuracy enhancement technique of COVID-19 from multi-class lung diseases by instrumenting the CLAHE integrated deep learning technique. The image population is distributed upon disjoint sets of the patients suffering from diseases like (a) Viral-Pneumonia, (b) Lung Opacity, (c) COVID-19 and (d) Normal persons. We have used the CLAHE algorithm to pre-process those images and incorporated the ConvNet algorithm with the help of the transfer learning strategy to perform the analysis. The study reveals that the processing of the X-ray images by CLAHE technique followed by ConvNet algorithm can enhance the performance of the above mentioned four exclusive classes of lung images. Keeping the X-ray image processing using the CLAHE technique intact, we have further explored the diagnosis methods by using several CNN models such as, InceptionResNetV2, InceptionV3 and DenseNet121. In our study, out of 2400 chest X-ray images we have used 80% for the training and 20% for the validation purpose. The comparative study of the performance matrices explicitly shows the enhancement in multi-class detection accuracy. The study also shows that the CLAHE integrated DenseNet121 model provides the best performance exhibiting a maximum accuracy of 98.33% for detecting COVID-19 from multiple diseases. Also we have compared the performance of the present technique with the earlier reported approaches. © 2022 IEEE.
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Hospitals across the globe have severe constraints in regard to ICU facilities, beds, and other life support systems. However, in certain situations including natural calamities, epidemics or pandemics, large-scale accidents, and so on, the requirement for ICU beds and resources immediately gets augmented. During such times, there exists an impending need for an optimum apportioning of ICU admissions and resources so that those patients who need critical care are given at the right point of time. The onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic has exuded a high probability of virus transmissions and subsequent complications in patients with co-morbidities and relevant medical issues, resulting in the exploration and investigation of models that could forecast the need for ICU admissions with a higher degree of accuracy. In this research study, a patient's pre-condition dataset will be used that is categorical in nature. Feature selection and extractions are implemented and the modified descriptors are provided as input to the model, for evaluating them based on the metrics namely F1-score, accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity. The prime objective is to build a predictive algorithm that will predict prior to the necessity of ICU admissions based on the patient's comorbidity/ precondition specifically for SARS COV2 infection. © 2022 IEEE.
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In this paper, there are four distinct models utilized for the retrieval of CSPM from the Sentinel 2A/2B satellite imageries by using cloud computing techniques. In this study, a comparative analysis of different CSPM models was carried out at three different sites (Haridwar, Varanasi, and Hooghly). The study reveals that there are significant changes in CSPM in the Ganges in three different periods such as pre, during, and post-COVID. Noteworthy, fewer anthropogenic activities have generated important transformations in aquatic environments during the COVID. © 2023 IEEE.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has brought drastic changes in the education system across the globe. According to United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) 2020, about 1.3 billion learners were not able to attend educational institutions across the world and about 320 million were affected in India alone. Digitalisation of education has brought many advantages but also created a digital divide in education. Students belonging to poor socioeconomic backgrounds have been excluded from education due to lack of access to digital equipment. Due to the frequent lockdowns, the social and psychological aspects of the students also got affected. During the pandemic, the socioeconomic differences, digital divide and psychological changes had a severe impact on academics. The main objective of the present paper is to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on technological, psychological, socio-economic and academic aspects of school children. Content analysis method has been used to analyse data gathered from various secondary sources.
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The subsequent implementation of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities to keep the students away from the institutions. The aim of the study was to conduct a survey through medical colleges among anatomy teachers along with an exploration of optimization of the transitions which can assist to improve the quality of online teaching. The objectives were to identify the virtual learning interventions implemented by different medical colleges in India during Covid-19 pandemic periods, and to identify suitable technological intervention for teaching anatomy from the educator's point of view. A cross sectional study was conducted by convenience sampling method. A differential rating scale questionnaire study was conducted. A hundred participants from the department of anatomy of 100 medical colleges with a minimum of 3 years of experience in teaching in the field were the samples. Faculty other than anatomy department of medical colleges was excluded. Consents were taken from each participant and participant information was shared by email. The teachers were from both from Government and from Private Institutions. For most teachers, the biggest difficulty in implementing online teaching during the initial year of online teaching at 2020 was the unstable online teaching environments, platforms and tools (47%), followed by their unfamiliarity with online teaching techniques, platforms and tools (26%). Further, 17% had problems due to insufficient training and management of online teaching from college. This study assists to improve the design and quality of online teaching by suggesting for the change in infrastructure by arranging online portal handson coaching for rendering online education. Copyright © 2022 Sociedad Anatomica Espanola. All rights reserved.
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Background. Vaccination strategies that provide enhanced immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants are needed. We evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of a bivalent omicron containing vaccine, mRNA-1273.214 (50 mug), administered as a second booster dose in adult participants. Methods. In this ongoing phase 2/3 trial, 50 mug of the bivalent vaccine mRNA-1273.214 (25 mug each ancestral Wuhan-Hu-1 and omicron BA.1 spike mRNAs) or 50 mug of the authorized mRNA-1273 were administered as second boosters in adults who previously received a 2 dose (100 mug) primary series and a first booster (50 mug) dose of mRNA-1273 (>= 3 months prior). Primary objectives were safety and reactogenicity and immunogenicity 28 days post-booster dose. Results. In participants with no prior SARS-CoV-2 infection who received booster doses of mRNA-1273.214 (n=334) or mRNA-1273 (n=260), neutralizing antibody (nAb) geometric mean titers (GMTs [95% confidence interval (CI)]) against omicron BA.1 were 2372.4 (2070.6-2718.2) and 1473.5 (1270.8-1708.4), respectively. The model-based GMT ratio (GMR [97.5% CI]) of mRNA-1273.214 compared to mRNA-1273 was 1.75 (1.49-2.04), meeting the pre-specified superiority criterion against omicron BA.1. The pre-specified criterion for non-inferiority against the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain was also met. Additionally, mRNA-1273.214 elicited higher GMTs (727.4 [632.8-836.1]) than mRNA-1273 (492.1 [431.1-561.9]) against omicron subvariants BA.4/BA.5 [GMR (95% CI) 1.69 [1.51-1.90])]. Binding antibody responses against alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and omicron were numerically higher in the mRNA-1273.214 group compared to mRNA-1273. mRNA-1273.214 GMTs were consistently higher across age (18-< 65 and >= 65 years) and pre-booster SARS-CoV-2 infection subgroups (Figure). Safety and reactogenicity were similar for both vaccine groups. Conclusion. The bivalent omicron containing mRNA-1273.214 elicited superior nAb responses against omicron 28 days post-immunization compared to mRNA-1273 regardless of age and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection;no new safety concerns were identified. (Figure Presented).
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In a post-COVID era many are counting on a large sustainability transition stimulus to be a central part of economic re-build strategies, so that the stimulus helps to “build back better.” But what exactly does this “better” look like, and how might we achieve it? In this chapter we examine the concept of energy democracy (ED) and the lessons this concept holds for our understanding of Green New Deals. Energy democracy challenges the traditional elite and technocratic orientation of energy systems by highlighting the normative value and strategic importance of including citizens and civil society organizations in the design, ownership and operation of energy infrastructure. We argue that GND proposals lacking significant democratization components are unlikely to be deeply transformative and thus more likely to reproduce (or even intensify) existing socio-economic cleavages. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kyla Tienhaara and Joanna Robinson;individual chapters, the contributors.
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Background and Aims: The case fatality rate of acute spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is high 54% at 1 year, and only 12% to 39% of survivors achieve long term functional independence. The INTEnsive care bundle with blood pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral haemorrhage Trial (INTERACT3) was an international, multicentre, cluster-randomized clinical trial to assess a multifaceted goal-directed care bundle of physiological management in patients with acute ICH. We aimed to study the challenges encountered in recruitment during the pandemics in India. Method(s): Between August 2020 and October 2022, all adult patients presenting with spontaneous ICH within 6 hours from symptom onset were enrolled under the standard of usual care management until they are informed of crossing over to intervention and to be contacted at 6 months follow-up. Result(s): Six out of ten screened centres participated. The pandemic posed many challenges to the recruitment of patients in the trial: The ethics committee meetings were interrupted, preventing us enrolling more sites. Fewer patients presented to hospital due to fear of covid, economic crisis, transportation barriers, delayed presentation beyond 6 hours due to poor triaging, delay in RTPCR testing, slow referrals, unwillingness to followup in outpatient clinic. Solutions: frequent virtual meetings with ethics committees were held by site PIs, RTPCR switched to rapid testing, ER physicians trained to rapidly identify ICH cases and trial strategy was modified at each centre to boost recruitment. Conclusion(s): Alternative approaches for rapid triaging and modified strategies to recruitment are needed to overcome challenges of implementing a stroke trial during a pandemic.
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'Corona', this alarming word comes from the 'Latin' word 'Crown' that protects the virus. On Dec, 19, firstly, this virus was isolated from three patients having pneumonia connected to a cluster of acute illnesses. WHO declared it a 'pandemic' in Jan, 20 but later in Feb, WHO's general director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus named the virus nCOVID-19. It was first identified in Wuhan, China, as a respiratory illness causing novel diseases (SARS and MERS). CDC informed corona primarily causes mild to moderate upper RTI and, in a few cases, lower RTI (pneumonia, bronchitis). Transmission occurs through direct contact or air droplets of sneezing, coughing, etc. The origin is not clear, but recent studies reported that ACE 2, a membrane exopeptidase receptor, was used to enter the human cell. The primary symptoms are fever above 104 degrees F, shortness of breath, pneumonia, throat soreness, diarrhea, etc. Available approved therapeutics include hydroxychloroquine. This current review updates about the viral transmission and main effect of this virus on children, pregnant women, diabetic, and cancer patients.
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"The development of Pico-metallic molecular dust as hair gel is supposed to be an innovative shielding formulation without involving the drugs moiety. The extraction and calcination of herbal parts unto the level of ""Bhasma"", where the extraction leads to inert through a series of processing acts as neutralizing and elimination of microbes, parasites and its toxins from physical intrusion through the hairs. The formulation of hair gel consisting Ketoconazole 1%, Methyl Paraben 1%, Glycerin 3% w/w along with reinforcement of Extracted Au, Ag & Fe Pico molecules. Most innovated here is the recovery of the Pico metallic dust extraction process from the collected micro metallic particular layer. Clinical investigation of the formulation among desirable health care 7 groups volunteers was representing remarkable results in cohort case-control study between its application, linear regression equation of y = 0.26175X-0.38108 and without, linear regression equation of y = 0.93168X-2.217 to estimate the incidence-prevalence ratio assessment. Thus, it exerts the P-Value is.000502. The result is significant at p <.05 r = 0.9628 and P-Value is.000402. The result is significant at p <.05, r = 0.966 respectively. Thus, its proved its clinical efficiency to minimize incidence and prevalence of microbial manifestation. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved."
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The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant negative impact on the private sector in developing economies, and businesses and individuals in fragile and conflict-affected situations are among the most severely affected. The pandemic has evolved rapidly from a health emergency to a global economic crisis, spreading through the real sector and posing growing risks to financial systems. The present study tries to study the impact of the pandemic on the small scale industries and its impact on small scale industries workers child towards pursuing education of Majuli district. The paper is descriptive in nature and both primary and secondary data is used for the study. The primary data is collected from the filed by using unstructured interview schedule. It is found that the small scale industry of Majuli during the covid period faced many problems but it resists the threats posed by the pandemic. Durability of products, products cost and benefits margins, robust nature of the products makes the small scale industry resistant to the nationwide lockdown. Education is a process of development.Proper education not only enhance the quality of life and life skill but also contributes towards socio economic development. Education plays an important role in the development of human life. COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire world and its influenced educational scenario of the world. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Mucormycosis is the most emerging angioinvasive fungal infection of filamentous fungi of the Zygomycetes class, which, when neglected, causes severe disseminated infection along with significant chances of morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis and treatment remain challenging for the doctors. It has been observed that people who have been suffering from different diseases, such as hematological malignancies and uncontrolled diabetes, or who have gone through different surgeries, such as hemato-poietic stem cell transplant, and solid transplantation, are the most affected ones. On the other hand, people who have recovered from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) typically show the symptoms of mucormycosis after 1-2 weeks of successful recovery. Standard treatment of mu-cormycosis is traditionally considered an amphotericin B intravenous (IV) drug as initial therapy, alt-hough posaconazole and isavuconazole are also used. The core objective of the review is to typically focus on the area of the sudden cause of mucormycosis in the patients who have already recovered from SARS-CoV-2. Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.