Internet of Things System Wearable Healthcare for Monitoring the Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 situation, various application-based work has to be studied and deployed to enable an IoT-based health framework. This work-based study may guide professionals in envisaging solutions to related problems and fighting against the COVID-19 type pandemic. Therefore, it identifies various technologies of IoT-based systems for monitoring pandemic situations. The mechanisms included in IoT like actuators, sensors, and the cloud-based network serves to help people from home rather than visiting the hospital occasionally. It uses optimizers to train the "noise” and "cough” target classes. Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs) were initially employed in several speech processing approaches, but as the discipline of Music Information Retrieval (MIR) advanced alongside machine learning, it was discovered that MFCCs could accurately capture timbre. Overall, the study finds different IoT applications for the medical area during the pandemic situation with detailed descriptions. In this present condition, advanced methodologies have given way to innovation in day-to-day life. The IoT-based model provides an enhancement of 98.8% with a minimum training loss of 0.15. The framework depicts the excellent working of the proposed framework, and a true positive value of around 96.6% is shown in the confusion matrix and a true negative rate of around 97% was illustrated using this model. By making it possible for the cost-effective fabrication of wearable sensors through printing on a variety of flexible polymeric substrates, the rapid advancements in solution-based nanomaterials presented a hopeful viewpoint to the field of wearable sensors. This review focuses on the most recent significant advancements in the field of wearable sensors, including novel nanomaterials, manufacturing techniques, substrates, sensor types, sensing mechanisms, and readout circuits. It concludes with difficulties in the subject's future application. © 2021 Journal of Robotics and Control (JRC). All rights reserved.

Factors Linked with an Increased Risk of Death in Patients with Covid-19

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that increase a patient's chances of death from COVID-19. Study Design: Retrospective study Place and Duration: Medicine department of Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and Holy Family Hospital (HFH), Rawalpindi during the period from November 2021 to April 2022. Method(s): Total 142 patients of both genders of confirmed coronavirus disease were included. After receiving informed written consent from each participant, detailed demographic information was obtained. This information included the participant's age, gender, body mass index, and list of co-morbidities. Frequency of mortality and factors that increase a patient's chances of death were recorded. SPSS 24.0 was used to analyze all data. Result(s): We found that 87 (61.3%) cases were males and 55 (38.7%) patients were females. Majority of the patients 53 (37.3%) had age >45 years. 65 (45.8%) patients were smokers. Severity of disease was found in 76 (53.5%) cases. There were 95 (66.9%) patients had hypertension, diabetes mellitus found in 75 (52.8%) cases, cardiovascular disease in 48 (33.8%) cases, pulmonary disease in 40 (28.2%) cases and chronic kidney disease in 34 (23.9%) cases. Among 142 patients, 27 (19.01%) patients were died. Among non-survivals, kidney dysfunction was the most common reason found in 17 cases, followed by cardiovascular and diabetes mellitus. Conclusion(s): We came to the conclusion that clinical risk factors for a fatal consequences associated with coronavirus include chronic chronic conditions, complications, and demographic variables. These risk factors include acute renal injury, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, male sex, older age, current smoker, and obesity. The findings might be used to future study on the disease as well as its control and prevention. Copyright © 2022 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.

Adapting Disability Research Methods and Practices During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Experiences from the Field*†

People with disabilities are often excluded from research, which may be exacerbated during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This article provides an overview of key challenges, opportunities, and strategies for conducting disability-inclusive research during the pandemic, drawing on the experience of research teams working across ten countries on disability-focused studies. It covers adaptations that are relevant across the project lifecycle, including maintaining ethical standards and safeguarding;enabling active participation of people with disabilities;adapting remote research data collection tools and methods to meet accessibility, feasibility, and acceptability requirements;and promoting inclusive and effective analysis and dissemination. While this article is focused on adaptations during the pandemic, it is highly likely that the issues and strategies highlighted here will be relevant going forward, either in similar crises or as the world continues to move towards greater digital communication and connectedness. © 2022 The Authors, IDS Bulletin © Institute of Development Studies and Crown Copyright 2022.

Using Phone Calls to Promote Community Pharmacist Counselling during COVID-19 Pandemic in Baghdad, Iraq

Drug consultation is an important part of pharmaceutical care. a mobile phone call or text message can serve as an easy, effective, and implementable alternative to improving medication adherence and clinical outcomes by providing the information needed significantly for people with chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension particularly during pandemics like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to estimate the use of phone calls to promote pharmaceutical counseling and explore the commonest question asked by patients and do the socio-demographic or disease characteristics play any role regarding such questions. A prospective, interventional, clinical study was conducted during the period (from 5th of November 2020 to 21st of February 2021). A total of 246 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age was 40.93 years (±15.84). The majority were female (62.6%) and age group (35-54) years (44.3%). A total of 507 questions were asked by patients, The researcher provided pharmaceutical consultations in response to 47 % of the question. There were significant associations between socio-demographic characteristics and some of the domains. In conclusion, sociodemographic characteristics influence the type of question asked by patients. Most of the patients got educational advice and some of them were referred to physicians.

Analyzing organizational barriers towards building postpandemic supply chain resilience in Indian MSMEs: a grey-DEMATEL approach

Purpose This study aims to identify the barriers to building supply chain resilience and assess the contextual relationship between them in the Indian micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector for the post COVID-19 era. Design/methodology/approach Barriers to supply chain resilience were extracted from the extant literature and were evaluated using the grey sets and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach from strategic, tactical and operational business perspectives. The responses from experts on the identified barriers were collected through a structured questionnaire. The prominence-net effect results obtained after the DEMATEL application helped identify the most prominent barriers, their net cause and effect, and their correlation with each other. Findings A total of 16 barriers to resilience, identified from the literature, were considered for analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the lack of flexibility is the most critical causal barrier to building a resilient supply chain. Lack of planned resource management was also found to be an influential barrier. The study also identified the supply chain design, need for collaboration and technological capability as important factors for the MSME sector to focus on. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to assessing barriers to the supply chain resilience of MSMEs in India. More extensive research may be needed to reveal the global trend. Practical implications The study is significantly important for the MSMEs looking to establish resilient supply chains. Managers can use the findings to identify the weak links in the supply chain for strategic and tactical planning and can take corrective actions. Originality/value The study pinpoints the key linkages between barriers that impede MSMEs to make their supply chains resilient and robust to mitigate the impact of future disruptions and adversities. The work may be used by practitioners to further their attention on the significant challenges.

Covid-19 and the Crisis in Social Care: Exploring the Experiences of Disabled People in the Pandemic

Governments across the world have been slow in reacting to meeting the needs of disabled people during the pandemic. This has exposed existing inequalities in social policies, as well as new support barriers. Debates over social care have focused on Covid-19's impact on those living in residential care. Little is known about the experiences of disabled people who rely on daily support in their homes. This article reports on a year-long study examining the experiences of disabled people during the pandemic in England and Scotland. It focuses on the crisis in social care and offers evidence of how lives have been disrupted. For many, this resulted in a sudden loss of services, delayed assessments and break down of routines and communities. Findings underline the weakness of social care in its wider relationship with the NHS and show how the social care crisis has challenged the goal of independent living.

Paediatric post-COVID-19 hyperinflammatory syndrome mimicking appendicitis: a case series.

INTRODUCTION: A novel hyperinflammatory syndrome has emerged in the paediatric population: paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome - temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS). Up to 50% of patients develop shock with cardiac dysfunction but presentation with acute abdominal pain is common and difficult to distinguish from appendicitis. METHOD: Prospective case series of PIMS-TS patients presenting to a single UK tertiary paediatric centre. RESULTS: As of 16 September 2020, 89 patients have presented with PIMS-TS to our institution; 19 (21.3%) were referred for surgical review. Pyrexia and acute abdominal pain were seen in all 19 patients. Diarrhoea was reported in 14 (73%) and vomiting in 12 (63%). On examination, eight (42%) had right abdominal tenderness, of which five had right iliac fossa (RIF) peritonism. C-reactive protein (CRP) was universally raised: median 176 (15-463)mg/l. Abdominal imaging was performed in 17 (89%), with 11 undergoing abdominal ultrasonography (65%) and 8 abdominal computed tomography (47%); two required both. Findings included nonspecific features of inflammation in the RIF. Eight patients (42%) had an abnormal echocardiogram at admission. Two (10%) patients, with classical signs and symptoms of appendicitis, underwent appendicectomy without radiological imaging and were subsequently diagnosed with PIMS-TS. During the same period, 18 patients underwent appendicectomy for histologically confirmed appendicitis. Serum CRP and ferritin levels were significantly higher in the PIMS-TS cohort compared with children with appendicitis. CONCLUSIONS: PIMS-TS is a novel paediatric condition that may mimic appendicitis. It should be considered in patients presenting with abdominal pain to avoid unnecessary surgery in children at risk of cardiovascular instability.

The status of laparoscopic surgery in the COVID-19 crisis: a narrative review of current recommendations

SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) is an unprecedented pandemic which has required thoughtful resource management for all specialties, including general surgery. There is uncertainty regarding risks of virus aerosolization and laparoscopic surgery. This narrative review discusses these concerns of virus exposure and transmission for health care workers in the operating room by summarizing currently available recommendations and describing our institution's experience. Our virology review was performed by compiling published data on various viruses' presence in blood, peritoneal fluid and surgical smoke. Our recommendations review was performed by researching official organizational guidelines and medical archives (medRxiv) pre-prints. SARS-CoV-2 is mainly transmitted via respiratory droplets. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability of other viruses to form aerosol particles in peritoneal fluid and surgical smoke. Aerosol-generating medical procedures (AGMPs) are considered important risks for nosocomial transmission of viruses, but there is no consensus to include all surgical procedures as so. Most local and international organizations highlight the concerns surrounding laparoscopy, but are not strictly discouraging this modality. They recommend proceeding with caution to minimize surgical smoke exposure by ensuring the use of filtration systems, tight air-seals and fewer incisions. We can extrapolate from other viruses that SARS-CoV-2 may present a potential infectious risk in the operating room. Until evidence arises otherwise, we recommend considering all surgical procedures to be aerosolizing. Laparoscopy continues to be a safe and appropriate modality. Full airborne personal protective equipment (PPE) should be utilized in all emergent cases, and droplet PPE only in urgent elective cases for asymptomatic, screen- and test-negative patients.

Real World Solutions for Smart Cities Transportation to be Pandemic Ready

The COVID-19 is the current widespread health disaster. It has speedily spread all over the world causing a massive impact on the health, environmental, social and economic condition of the total world's population. Enormous actions undertaken worldwide to minimize the expansion of this deadly contagion by testing at a large scale, quarantining the suspected people, upholding lockdowns and restricting social gatherings. The transportation sector has been one amid the leading sufferers of Coronavirus. Airlines, railways, and the public transport sector are badly hit due to this coronavirus outbreak. In this paper, we studied the effect of Coronavirus on the various transport sectors all over the world, taking into consideration the worldwide scenario and India's condition as well. Further, this paper analyses the possible ways and measures regarding how the transport services are dealing with this pandemic. © 2020 IEEE.