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In early December 2019, several cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology were reported from Wuhan, Hubei province, China. The disease resembles severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) of 2012 and was subsequently named SARS CoV-2 causing the 2019-novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO). The first case of COVID-19 in India was reported on January 30, 2020. In the first wave, daily cases peaked in mid-September 2020 and began to drop by January 2021. However, a second wave beginning in March 2021 was experienced which was much larger than the first, with extreme shortages of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, and other medicines including vaccines in parts of the country. In the second wave, an association of COVID-19 patients with mucormycosis further complicated the situation. COVID-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM) has been increasingly reported particularly among patients with uncontrolled diabetes. An increase in CAM cases could be probably due to immunosuppression caused by the use of steroids, other immunomodulators like tocilizumab. Rhino-orbitalcerebral mucormycosis is the most common presentation. The most common causative agent isolated is Rhizopus arrhizus. Simple KOH examination with broad, ribbon-like, aseptate hyphae that branch at right angles is diagnostic of mucormycosis. This can be further confirmed by culture examination. However, newer tests like MALDI-TOF for species identification are also being explored. The main treatment modality is surgical debridement, removing all the infected, dead, and necrotic tissue followed by simultaneous administration of antifungal antibiotics in the form of Amphotericin B. Liposomal amphotericin B is the drug of choice, however, if not available, amphotericin B deoxycholate, posaconazole, and isavuconazole can be given for the treatment of CAM. Prognosis and clinical improvement depend upon the stage of disease, the surgical management as well as the availability and administration of antifungal drugs. In media, mucormycosis is being projected as black fungus throughout this pandemic, though it is a misnomer and should not be used in the medical literature. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.
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The occurrence of Cryptosporidium species infection and its risk factors in neonatal goats is less explored. Also it is due to the fact that diseases like colibacillosis and neonatal viral enteritis complex caused by Group A rotaviruses and Bovine corona viruses can co-exist with Cryptosporidium and can lead to mixed infections and the latter is often overlooked. Therefore, in the current research we explored the cryptosporidial occurrence in neonatal goats of Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. In this study, a total of 644 faecal samples were collected from neonatal goats at different villages and certain organized farms of Mathura district age-wise, season-wise and breed-wise, and were examined for Cryptosporidium based on modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique, conventional 18SSU rRNA nested PCR assay. The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in goats based on microscopy was 36.80% (237/644;p value <0.0001) and 18SSU rRNA nested PCR 52.95% (341/644;p value <0.0001) respectively. Cryptosporidium species typing was also done using 18SSU rRNA nested PCR-RFLP product using enzymes Mbo-II, Ssp-I and Vsp-I, which revealed species including C. parvum C. bovis, C. ryanae, C. hominis and C. andersoni. Also the infection was clinically associated based on age, gender and seasons to identify the causal relationships that precipitate the cryptosporidial infection in goat kids. Since mZN microscopy based screening requires expertise and may sometimes be confuse with other weak acid fast bodies and also due to low sensitivity, combination of diagnostic tests are used in this study to identify the best test combination that yields best statistical fit in terms of kappa-agreement and McNemar's test. Cryptosporidiosis is caused by an enteric protozoan parasite and the first report in sheep and goat was observed in early 1980s, with other important etiological agents for neonatal diarrhoea, mortality and morbidity in neonatal kids and lambs, responsible for economic losses.Copyright © 2023 Indian Veterinary Assocaition. All rights reserved.
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COVID-19 is highly contagious in nature. It marked a grievous impact on the world's social and economic status and disrupted the other related domains as well. Global mental health is debatable in present scenario. Travel and Tourism industry is one of the hardly hit sectors which clearly and badly influenced the aviation industry. In this article, we highlight some of the major global sectors which are highly affected by the pandemic, including social and financial turmoil caused by COVID-19, healthcare front, environment, education, and travel. A reasonable weightage is given to situation in India while discussing about the different impacts. Since the outbreak, researchers have been working feverishly to leverage a broad range of technologies to tackle the global threat. The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the forerunners in this field. The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained popularity as a new research field in a variety of academic and industry fields in recent years, particularly in healthcare. This article investigates and highlights the overall applications of the well-proven IoT tools and technologies in all the COVID-19 impacted domains by providing a perspective roadmap to combat this global threat. Various myths or misconceptions regarding COVID-19 have also been discussed and explained logically. © 2023 Scrivener Publishing LLC.
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Microbial nanotechnology is a novel approach towards developmental nanomanufacturing. The chief organisms involved in the biosynthesis of microbial nanomaterials are bacteria and microalgae that synthesize novel nanostructures such as nanocellulose and exopolysaccharides. Current approaches to microbial nanotechnology indicate their novel applications and future recommendations in various sectors. Microbial nanotechnology has revealed promising capacities in the food industry in promoting nanodelivery of food, nanobiofarming (sustainable agriculture practices), and innovative shelf life-extending approaches for fruits and vegetables. Nanobiosensor is a next-generation approach needed in early detection and high crop yield. Nanocatalyst marks the future to the diminished pesticide and insecticide level in crops. Besides the food sector, microbial nanotechnology shows its importance in other sectors such as global infectious diseases like COVID19, reveals the current nanomedicine based development and its increasing action against CoV determining the prospects of future regional or worldwide situations through anti-viral surfaces, anti-viral PPE kits, nanomaterial-based masks, and gloves to improve performance. This chapter is based on the future research recommendations and innovative prospects of nanomaterials with microbial origin and their various applications in sectors like food, global infectious diseases (COVID19), stem cell therapy, innovative approaches of antimicrobial surface coatings, and some new areas such as dentistry. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Background: We aimed to evaluate the role of plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer as prognostic biomarkers in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Method(s): The prospective study included 35 patients (30 males) with newly diagnosed NMIBC with no history of thromboembolic event or anti-coagulant intake or active infection and underwent complete trans-urethral resection between September 2020 and December 2021. Patients with deranged hepato-renal functions, refractory hypertension or diagnosed with COVID-19 infection with in one-month before surgery or routine follow-up were excluded. Follow-up was done as per NCCN guidelines. Fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were measured with in seven days of surgery or follow-up and analyzed for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Cox regression analyses were adopted to assess the influence of these two parameters on RFS and PFS. Result(s): The mean age was 53.9 years with a median follow-up of 9-months. Nine had recurrence of which six had progression. The cut-off values of fibrinogen and D-dimer were 402.5 mg/dl and 0.55 microg/ml, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that high fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were significantly related to poor RFS and PFS (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis only fibrinogen and D-dimer retained their significance for RFS (p = 0.026 and 0.014, respectively) and PFS (p = 0.027 and 0.042, respectively). High levels of fibrinogen and D-dimer were also present in patients who had recurrence or progression at follow-up visits compared to rest of the patients. Conclusion(s): High levels of fibrinogen and D-dimer may indicate worse prognosis in patients with NMIBC, suggesting that these two can be used as prognostic biomarkers.Copyright © 2023, The Author(s).
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This article analyzes visual data captured from five countries and three U.S. states to evaluate the effectiveness of lockdown policies for reducing the spread of COVID-19. The main challenge is the scale: nearly six million images are analyzed to observe how people respond to the policy changes. © 1970-2012 IEEE.
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Introduction: COVID-19 causes morbid pathological changes in different organs including lungs, kidney, liver,etc especially in those who succumb. Though clinical outcomes in those with comorbidities are known to be different from those without - not much is known about the differences at histopathological level. Aim(s): It was to compare the morbid histopathological changes in COVID-19 patients between those who were immunocompromised(Gr 1), malignancy(Gr 2) or had cardiometabolic conditions (hypertension, diabetes or coronary artery disease)(Gr 3). Method(s): Post-mortem tissue sampling (MITS) was done from the lungs, kidney, heart, and liver using biopsy gun within two hours of death. Routine (H & E stain) and special stains (AFB, SM, PAS) were done besides immunohistochemistry. Result(s): A total of 100 patients underwent MITS and data of 92 were included (immunocompromised: 27, maligancy:18, cardiometabolic conditions:71). Within lung histopathology, capillary congestion was more in those with malignancy while others like diffuse alveolar damage, microthrombi, pneumocyte hyperplasia etc was equally distributed. Within liver, architecture distortion was significantly different in immunocompromised while steatosis, portal inflammation, Kupffer cell hypertrophy, confluent necrosis were equally distributed. There was a trend towards higher acute tubular injury in those with cardiometabolic conditions as compared to the other groups. No significant histopathological differences in heart was discerned. Conclusion(s): Certain histopathological features are markedly different in different groups (Gr 1,2 and3)of COVID-19 patients with fatal outcome.
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The last 1 year has underscored the need of a robust global public health system like never before. Both the infection itself, and the measures taken to contain it, have forced us to adopt new ways of life. Measures taken by the Indian government ranged from initial advisories on social distancing and hand hygiene to a full-fledged nationwide lockdown. The lockdown disrupted all the routine health-care activities - right from the suspension of curative outpatient department (OPD) services to preventive immunization and antenatal care services;the entire system has been affected. The problem has been especially complex for older patients due to the fact that they are at a higher risk for infection by the virtue of their age and likely to have a more severe disease due to the presence of multiple comorbidities, including but not limited to the other pandemic of diabetes that we have been witnessing over the past few decades. Resuming a health-care service for older people requiring inperson visits for OPD consultation may not be a good enough option for them. Thus, we have two major issues with geriatric population - access and utilization of health-care services. While telemedicine has been widely employed to solve the problem of access;does it really solve the issue of utilization of health-care services by a scared geriatric patient who needs a caregiver, too? In this article, we explore the impact and some of these changes, telemedicine, and other potential solutions, focusing on the health care needs of older persons and the future discourse. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
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Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the role of plasma fibrinogen and D-dimer as prognostic biomarkers in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Method(s): A prospective study that included 35 patients (30 males) with newly diagnosed NMIBC who underwent complete transurethral resection between September 2020 and December 2021. Patients with history of thromboembolic event or anticoagulant intake or active infection, patients with deranged hepatorenal functions, inflammatory bowel disease, refractory hypertension, or diagnosed with Covid-19 infection within 1 month before surgery or routine follow-up were excluded. Follow-up was done as per NCCN guidelines. Fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were measured within 7 days of surgery or follow-up and analyzed for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Cox regression analyses were adopted to assess the influence of these two parameters on RFS and PFS. Result(s): The mean age was 53.9 years with a median follow-up of 9 months. The cut-off values of fibrinogen and D-dimer were 402.5 mg/dl and 0.55 mug/ml, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that high fibrinogen and D-dimer levels were significantly related to poor RFS (p < 0.001) and PFS (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, only fibrinogen and D-dimer retained their significance for RFS (p = 0.026 and 0.014, respectively) and PFS (p = 0.027 and 0.042, respectively) but not tumor size. High levels of fibrinogen and D-dimer were also present in patients who had recurrence or progression at follow-up visits compared to the rest of the patients. Conclusion(s): High levels of fibrinogen and D-dimer may indicate worse prognosis in patients with NMIBC, suggesting that these two can be used as prognostic biomarkers.
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Background: MELD and Child-Pugh scores have traditionally been used as prognostic indicators in patients with cirrhosis. Albumin infusions in outpatients have been associated with improved outcomes, but not in transplant waitlisted patients or inpatients. This aim of this study was to assess whether low serum albumin (sAlb) on admission alone is a poor prognostic indicator among cirrhotic inpatients from a new multi-national cohort. Method(s): The CLEARED study is a global study that enrolled consecutive non-electively admitted inpatients without organ transplant or COVID-19 from 6 continents. Admission demographics, medical history, laboratory data, inpatient course, death/hospice transfer and mortality at 30 days post-discharge were recorded. Patients were divided into 3 groups: sAlb <28gm/L(A), sAlb >=28 but <35gm/L (B), and sAlb>=35gm/L (C) were compared. Multi-variable logistic regression was performed using inpatient mortality and overall 30-day mortality as outcomes. Result(s): 2429 patients were enrolled from 21 countries worldwide. The distribution was A:49%, B:39%, C:12%. Gp A patients were significantly younger (54yrs vs. 57yrs vs 58yrs p<0.0001) but with similar gender distribution, and higher MELD-Na score of 25 vs. 20 vs. 17 (p<0.0001). Gp A patients were more likely to have alcohol as etiology of cirrhosis (49% vs. 45% vs 38%, p=0.004), and were more likely to have either infection (27% vs. 18% vs. 13%, p<0.0001), HE (39% vs. 33% vs. 23%, p=0.005) or fluid related issues as a reason for admission (p<0.0001). More patients in Gp A received albumin infusion during their hospital stay (120gm vs. 100gm vs. 100gm p=0.0004), mostly for the indications of AKI (47% vs. 49% vs. 47%, p=0.79) and performance of large volume paracentesis (44% vs. 42% vs. 41%, p=0.80), followed by bacterial peritonitis indication (22% vs. 17% vs. 11%, p=0.01). Group A patients had longer hospital stays (9 days vs. 8 days vs. 7 days (p<0.001), but similar ICU transfer (23% vs. 22% vs. 20%, p=0.55). group A patients were more likely to die while inpatients (19% vs. 11% vs. 5%, p<0.0001), or by 30 days post-discharge (29% vs. 20% vs. 9%, p<0.0001). Table shows the admission variables associated with a poor outcome. Conclusion(s): Hypoalbuminemia is extremely common among admitted cirrhotic patients, with sAlb of <28gm/L occurring in almost half. Together with MELD-Na score and infection at admission, a low sAlb is associated with a poor outcome in these patients. Future studies will need to validate these findings and to assess whether albumin infusions will improve the outcome of these patients. (Figure Presented).
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Background: Although cirrhosis is a major cause of mortality worldwide, there could be disparities in outcomes. This needs a global consortium to study disparities in inpatient cirrhosis care Aim: Define the impact of location in prediction of outcomes in inpts with cirrhosis. Method(s): CLEARED prospectively enrolled non-electively admitted cirrhosis pts without COVID from all continents. To ensure equity, we allowed only 50 pts/site. Admission details, cirrhosis history, inpatient & 30-day course were recorded. World bank classification of low/low middle income (LMI), upper middle (UMI) & High income (HI) were used. Cirrhosis details, inpatient & 30-day outcomes were compared between groups. Multi-variable regression was performed using inpatient & 30-day mortality as outcomes. Result(s): 2758 pts from 21 countries from all continents, including Africa & Australia, were included.727 were L/LMI, 1050 UMI & 981 pts were from HICs. More men & younger pts were in LMI. Cirrhosis details: More pts in HI gp had 6M hospitalizations & infections, HE & ascites while prior variceal bleeding was higher in LMI . Prior HCC & transplant listings were lower in LMI but similar in UMI/HI. Alcohol & NASH was highest in HI. Viral hepatitis & cryptogenic were highest in UMI.Admissions: Admission MELD was highest in LMI. LMI pts were admitted more for GI Bleed, HE, & DILI, while anasarca & HBV flares were higher in UMI. Higher SBP (36% vs 24% vs 21% p<0.0001) & lowest skin/soft-tissue infections were in LMI (5% vs 5% vs 10% p=0.008);rest were similar. Nosocomial infections, driven by UTI were highest in LMI & HI pts (15% vs 14% vs 11% UMI, p=0.03). Admission diuretics, PPIs, Lactulose & statins were highest & antivirals lower in HI. SBP prophylaxis & rifaximin were highest in LMI pts. Outcome(s): More LMI pts needed ICU & had more organ failures (Fig B). Discharge MELD was highest in LMI. In-hospital mortality was highest & transplant lowest in LMI. This extended to 30-day mortality & transplant in LMI patients vs HI pts.Regression: In-hospital mortality was linked with age, infections, MELD & being in a LMI/UMI vs HIC while being on a transplant list, diabetes, & SBP prophylaxis were protective (Fig C). 30-day mortality predicted by age, ascites, HCC, discharge MELD, organ failures, LMI/UMI vs HIC but rifaximin was protective(Fig D). In-hospital transplant was higher with high MELD, admission rifaximin & listed pts &lower in LMI (OR 0.26) & UMI (OR 0.22) & age. 30-day transplant was higher in those with hyponatremia, ascites & HRS, on the list & on rifaximin and lower in LMI (OR 0.24) & UMI (OR 0.59) vs HI. Conclusion(s): In a global study of inpatients with cirrhosis, there were major differences in outcomes. Not being in a high-income country significantly increased the risk of inpatient and 30-day mortality independent of demographics, medications, in-hospital course, and cirrhosis severity likely due to disparities in access to transplant, which should be accounted for in global models. (Figure Presented).
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COVID-19 pandemic has created a severe health emergency all over the globe since last couple of years and is still emerging in few countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 520 million cases and 6.2 million casualties due to COVID-19 have been reported till the writing of this manuscript, 19th May 2022. The COVID-19 protocols including wearing masks, following social distancing have been imposed in almost all the countries worldwide. It is a challenge to track the adherence of the COVID-19 protocols by the people in real time. This work proposes a model for the detection of COVID-19 protocols violation in real time. We have also created a web application which uses the proposed model to detect the adherence of COVID-19 protocols in real time. The proposed model is tested on a dataset comprises of 1376 images and has shown promising results even in complex environment. © 2022 ACM.
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The deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been spreading vigorously and has led to a global crisis, with its spread to more than 220 countries and territories. About 153, 504, 608 confirmed cases of the coronavirus COVID-19 that originated from Wuhan, China, and a death toll of 3, 216, 577 deaths as on 3 May 2021. At the time of writing, India is the worst affected country by COVID-19 and the death ratio is increasing day by day. To date we have more than four vaccines available, but social distancing has been identified as the best way to overcome and fight against this disease. In order to ensure social distancing protocols in overcrowded places and workplace, this tool can monitor whether or not people are ensuring a safe distancing protocol from each other by analyzing real-time video streams with the help of a constant camera feed. To keep track of people in various workplaces, factories, and shops we can use this tool to their security camera systems and can monitor whether or not people are keeping a secured distance from one another. This chapter proposes a Machine Learning and Python-based framework for monitoring social distancing using surveillance video with the help of a camera. In this proposed framework, we are utilizing the YOLO v3, an object detection model for separating the foreground details from the background details and OpenCV for tracking the humans by using the bounded boxes and assigning IDs to them. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Abhinav Goel, Anand Chauhan and A.K. Malik.
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Introduction: Due to the upper respiratory nature of COVID- 19 infection, otolaryngologic manifestations of acute disease have become well documented within the literature. However, the long-term sequelae of COVID-19 infection have yet to be completely understood. This study aims to explore ear, nose, and throat complaints of patients who experienced COVID-19 at least 3 months prior and are still symptomatic. Method(s): A retrospective review of previous COVID-19- positive patients who followed up in otolaryngology clinic between March 2020 and January 2022 was performed. Demographics, preexisting comorbidities, date of initial COVID-19 infection, long-haul symptoms, and intubation status were recorded. Result(s): A total 170 patients, 93 male and 77 female, with an average age of 57.2+/-15.0 years (range 23-89) were included in this study. Most of these patients originally contracted COVID-19 from March to May of 2020;therefore, this patient cohort represents a predominately unvaccinated group. Patients followed up in otolaryngology clinic ranging between 3 and 10 months after initial infection. The most common long-haul complaint was dysphonia and dyspnea, followed by voice changes, anosmia and dysgeusia, and reflux. Conclusion(s): This study is the first of its kind to examine long-haul otolaryngologic complaints in previously COVID- 19-positive patients. As millions of people around the world have passed this virus, it is important to identify possible longterm sequelae and encourage specialized follow-up when appropriate. Further studies examining course and management of these symptoms are needed.
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Bio-marker identification for COVID-19 remains a vital research area to improve current and future pandemic responses. Innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning-based systems may leverage the large quantity and complexity of single cell sequencing data to quickly identify disease with high sensitivity. In this study, we developed a novel approach to classify patient COVID-19 infection severity using single-cell sequencing data derived from patient BronchoAlveolar Lavage Fluid (BALF) samples. We also identified key genetic biomarkers associated with COVID-19 infection severity. Feature importance scores from high performing COVID-19 classifiers were used to identify a set of novel genetic biomarkers that are predictive of COVID-19 infection severity. Treatment development and pandemic reaction may be greatly improved using our novel big-data approach. Our implementation is available on https://github.com/aekanshgoel/COVID-19-scRNAseq. © 2022 Owner/Author.
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Background: SARS-CoV-2 virus infection was detected and discovered in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and it was declared a pandemic by WHO in March 2020. Since then a lot of changes were noticed in surgical practice. Various recommendations were released by eminent surgical associations all over the world. This study was designed to study and analyze the findings and experience after resuming elective minimal invasive surgery during the pandemic. Materials and methods: This observational study was conducted at St Joseph’s Hospital, Ghaziabad, from May 2020 to May 2021. Various preoperative and postoperative findings were noticed and analyzed. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus was also analyzed in endotracheal aspirate and surgical smoke. Observation and results: A total of 287 cases underwent surgery. Most commonly performed surgery was laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The positivity rate for SARS-CoV-2 during preoperative work-up was 2.87%. Slightly more than 5% of cases in postoperative period had COVID-19-like symptoms. None of those patients were found positive on RT-PCR, and X-ray/CT findings were also suggestive of early postoperative changes only. Presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus was not detected in either endotracheal aspirate or surgical smoke. Neither surgery team nor OT staff had infection during this period. There was no mortality, and only 1 patient was found to be infected 2 weeks after discharge. Conclusion: Minimal invasive surgery for elective cases can be safely performed by taking precautions like PPE and smoke evacuation system during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no evidence of transmission of infection through endotracheal aspirate or surgical smoke.
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India is on the path of Digital India, FII and DII’s in the country boost the country’s economy. Both FII and DII have dominant role in capital formation which assists in assets formation along with investments in the stock market form of trading of various securities. FII funds a capital sources in India from foreign countries, affect the financial system and boost the economical growth. During pandemic, covid -19 the Indian economy has faced severe changes which affected the DII and FDI funds too. The research paper points on the changes in the FII and DII funds due to pandemic with reference to increase in covid cases. Design/Methodology/Approach-The paper employs quantitative approach have exploratory research design. The secondary has been collected from authorized government sites i.e. www.moneycontrol.com & www.statista.com for infusion of FII and DII funds in India and data sheet of COVID-19 cases in India( January 2020 to December 2020). Furthermore, for analyze of data SPSS version 20 has been used. Correlation & regression and ANOVA;Statistical techniques have been applied to reach the findings. The findings exhibits that there has been a significant changes in FII and DII during the COVID first wave period as compared to the pre COVID. Being FII and DII are very important for any countries economy, therefore studying the same and especially for the COVID period is highly essential from the Future perspective. This paper is original as till date no study has been conducted in detail to study the pattern and impact of FII and DII during the COVID times. © 2022. Specialusis Ugdymas. All Rights Reserved.