Silicon photonic chip-based biosensor for COVID-19 and flu detection with high sensitivity and specificity

Since the end of 2021, Omicron, the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, has continued to spread as the predominant strain of COVID-19. Compared to previous variants, Omicron causes milder symptoms, which are similar to symptoms of other common respiratory infections, such as flu. In this work, we develop a silicon photonic chip-based biosensor for COVID-19 and flu detection using subwavelength grating micro-ring resonator. The biosensor realizes the detection of two pathogens with high sensitivity (1.31 fg/mL) and specificity. Besides, the microfluidic channel offers a promising solution for point-of-care detection. © 2023 SPIE.

A Rare Case of Isolated Renal Mucormycosis in an Immunocompetent Individual: Post Covid-19 Infection

Intro: Mucormycosis is known to effect patients with immunocompromised status from a variety of causes such as diabetes mellitus, hematologic malignancy, and HIV infection. Most common form of presentation is rhinocerebral infection. However, isolated presentation of renal mucormycosis is rare. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and use of high-dose steroids and antibiotics, there have been increasing reports of bacterial and fungal coinfections in COVID-19 positive patients. We report a rare case of isolated renal mucormycosis, post COVID-19 infection, in a healthy individual presenting as unilateral right non-functioning pyonephrotic kidney. Method(s): A conscious, well oriented, afebrile 37 years old female patient presented with the complaints of right flank pain for one month. Patient was diagnosed as a case of post COVID-19 renal infarct with perinephric collection, right non-functioning pyonephrotic kidney. She had no previous comorbidities. Routine investigations, chest X-ray and CT scan were done. Finding(s): CT scan findings reveal a large right perinephric hyperdense collection inseparable from right kidney involving the internal oblique, psoas and quadratus lumborum muscles. Right simple nephrectomy was done and specimen was sent for histopathology and fungal culture. Histopathology report showed necrotizing granulomatous inflammation with broad, aseptate, irregularly branched fungal hyphae morphologically resembling Mucor species and fungal culture also confirmed Mucor species.Copyright © 2023

Tactile Based Intelligence Touch Technology in IoT Configured WCN in B5G/6G-A Survey

Touch-enabled sensation and actuation are expected to be the most promising, straightforward, and important uses of the B5G/6G communication networks. In light of the next generation (6G) systems' prerequisite for low latency, the infrastructure should be reconfigurable, intelligent, and interoperable in the real-time existing wireless network. It has a drastic impact on society due to its high precision, accuracy, reliability, and efficiency, combined with the ability to connect a user from remote areas. Hence, the touch-enabled interaction is primarily concerned with the real-time transmission of tactile-based haptic information over the internet, in addition to the usual audio, visual, and data traffic, thus enabling a paradigm shift towards a real-time control and steering communication system. The existing system latency and overhead often have delays and limitations on the application's usability. In light of the aforementioned concerns, the study proposes an intelligent touch-enabled system for B5G/6G and an IoT-based wireless communication network, incorporating AR/VR technologies. The tactile internet and network-slicing serve as the backbone of touch technology and incorporates intelligence from techniques such as artificial intelligence and machine/deep learning. The survey also introduces a layered and interfacing architecture with its E2E solution for the intelligent touch-based wireless communication system. It is anticipated for the upcoming 6G system to provide numerous opportunities for various sectors to utilize AR/VR technology in robotics and healthcare facilities to help in addressing several problems faced by society. Conclusively the article presents a few use cases concerning the deployment of touch infrastructure in automation, robotics, and intelligent healthcare systems, assisting in the diagnosis and treatment of the prevailing Covid-19 cases. The paper concludes with some considerable future research aspects of the proposed system with a few ongoing projects concerning the development and incorporation of the 6G wireless communication system.

A Case Report of Ivermectin-Induced Liver Failure

Introduction: Ivermectin is an antiparasitic medication that is primarily metabolized by the liver. During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers demonstrated that Ivermectin successfully inhibited the replication of SARS-COV-2 in vivo, but current research has failed to demonstrate clinical benefit for treatment of COVID-19. Despite this, misinformation campaigns have misled patients to ingest Ivermectin at concentrations meant for domestic animals. Here, we present a case of acute liver failure secondary to the use of Ivermectin. Case Description/Methods: A 61-year-old man with medical history of ischemic cardiomyopathy with last echocardiogram showing ejection fraction at 21%, atrial fibrillation on warfarin for oral anticoagulation, and previously treated Hepatitis C presented with generalized weakness and yellowish discoloration of the skin worsening over the last two weeks. The patient denied significant alcohol use, acetaminophen use, or illicit drugs. He admitted to injecting himself with two doses of weight-based horse ivermectin, for COVID prophylaxis, two weeks prior to his presentation. Physical exam was pertinent for scleral icterus and hepatomegaly with no abdominal tenderness. Initial labs revealed elevated liver chemistries in a mixed pattern (Figure 1). Acute hepatitis panel, HSV, and CMV were negative. Hepatitis C antibodies were positive, but the patient was in sustained virologic response. Full workup for chronic liver disease was unremarkable. Ultrasound revealed hepatosplenomegaly with patent portal and hepatic vasculature. Subsequently, the patient developed hepatic encephalopathy along with his coagulopathy, raising concern for acute hepatic failure. The patient was transferred to the ICU and started on NAcetylcysteine, rifaximin, and supportive care. The patient recovered well and fortunately did not require liver transplant. Discussion(s): While the FDA recommends against the use of Ivermectin for COVID-19, many continue to inappropriately consume it. Ivermectin-induced liver failure is a rare but deadly side effect. Given our patient's rapid onset of symptoms post-self injection of Ivermectin, his liver injury was presumed to be related to Ivermectin. The drug interaction between Ivermectin and warfarin had worsened the patients coagulopathy. Physicians should be aware of the ways Ivermectin overdose may clinically present to avoid delayed treatment. This case demonstrates the detriments of perpetuation of medical misinformation to care.

Assessment of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Levels Among COVID-19 Positive Patients Admitted in Rural Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychiatric distress, including stress, anxiety, and depression levels, among COVID-19 positive patients who were admitted between 01 July 2020 to 31 August 2020 to the COVID-19 isolation ward of the Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah India. Participants included 100 patients, with 55 males and 45 females. The majority of admitted patients (81%) were illiterate. Out of 100 patients, 83 were married, 16 were unmarried, and only 1 was a widow. Method(s): Levels of anxiety, depression, and stress level were noted in admitted patients using Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression assessment, and Perceived Stress Scale 4 (PSS-4) assessment techniques, respectively. Result(s): Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression assessment results showed minimal, mild, and moderate depression in 9, 25, and 66 patients, respectively, with a 10.6 median score of PHQ-9. Mild, moderate, and severe anxiety (GAD-7 score) was present in 22, 28, and 50 of the patients surveyed. The mean Perceived Stress Scale 4 (PSS-4) was also analyzed, and it reported 6.1 values. The results of the study demonstrated that the patients had a high label of psychiatric distress, but still, admitted patients believe that they will come out from this pandemic condition. Conclusion(s): Although patients claimed psychiatric distress and mental health illness, they still denied the requirement of any mental health professionals to minimize stress levels and were satisfied with the medical facilities available in a hospital located in a rural area.Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.

The Coronavirus Disease Ontology (CovidO)

This paper presents the Coronavirus Disease Ontology (CovidO), a superset of the available Coronavirus (COVID-19) ontologies, including all the possible dimensions. CovidO consists of an ontological network of thriving distinct dimensions for storing coronavirus information. CovidO has 175 classes, 169 properties, 4141 triples, 645 individuals with 264 nodes and 308 edges. CovidO is based on standard input of coronavirus disease data sources, activities, and related sources, which collects and validates records for decision-making used to set guidelines and recommend resources. We present CovidO to a growing community of artificial intelligence project developers as pure metadata and illustrate its importance, quality, and impact. The ontology developed in this work addresses grouping the existing ontologies to build a global data model. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Automated system to detect social distancing among humans during covid pandemic situation

Maintaining the purported Social Separating is one of the essential and greatest ways to stop the new popular episode. Legislators are enacting restrictions on the standard of private distance between people in order to concur with this restriction. In light of this real-life occurrence, it is crucial to evaluate how consistent with realistic imperatives in our lives this is, in order to ascertain the causes of any prospective cracks in such distance obstacles and determine whether this portends an anticipated risk. In order to do this, we offer the Visual Social Removing (VSD) problem, which is defined as the automatic evaluation of the difference between the depiction of connected person aggregations and the private separation from an image.When this requirement is violated, it is vital for VSD to conduct painless research to determine whether people agree to the social distance restriction and to provide assessments of the degree of wellbeing of particular places. We first draw attention to the fact that measuring VSD involves more than simply math;it also suggests a deeper comprehension of the social behavior in the setting. The goal is to genuinely identify potentially dangerous circumstances while avoiding false alerts (such as a family with children or other family members, an elderly person with their guardians), all while adhering to current security protocols. Then, at that point, we discuss how VSD links to earlier research in social sign handling and demonstrate how to investigate fresh PC vision techniques that might be able to address this issue. Future issues about the viability of VSD systems, ethical repercussions, and potential application scenarios are the result. © 2023 IEEE.

Implementation of a successful statewide fit testing program: Breaking down the challenges and barriers

Background: Since its emergence, millions of people have acquired and died from SARS-CoV-2 infections. A key controversy has been how to protect health workers (HWs) when there is ambiguous evidence on the adequacy of personal protective equipment and fit testing. Operationalizing these requirements was very challenging as fit testing had not been routine practice in New South Wales (NSW) Health. Furthermore, it is impractical to fit test 140,000 HWs in the middle of a pandemic. Method(s): A multidisciplinary Respiratory Protection Program (RPP) board was convened with representatives from work health and safety, workplace relations and clinical teams along with legal and union delegates with the aim of providing strategic advice and guidance on implementation, monitoring, and outcomes of RPP. Result(s): Local implementation was led by Infection Prevention and Control and by experienced nurses and work health and safety experts. The program included the more complex aspects of managing HWs who are unable to pass a fit test due to religious, cultural, or medical conditions. During 2021 NSW Health performed 234,499 fit tests on 84,685 HWs with overall, 98% of HWs (n=83210) achieving a fit test pass, demonstrating the success of the program. Conclusion(s): Fit testing is now well established and continues as new staff enter the workforce, new respirators become available as well as repeat testing for those many frontline HWs who were fit tested early in the pandemic. The RPP board is progressing with an evaluation of the program to determine its impact, effectiveness, and sustainability in coming years.Copyright © 2022

Australia's pathway to a national centres for diseases control - Comparing the current infection prevention and control structures

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a focus for Infection Prevention and Control and unprecedented interest from all walks of the healthcare and non-healthcare system. There is little research information on state and national structures for Infection Prevention and Control across Australia. In Australia state and national programs were created to respond to healthcare associated infections (HAIs) and their prevention, however understanding the structures, connection or lack there off possibly the cause for historical disengagement by clinicians. This study compared the jurisdictional programs to begin to understand the complexities and need for improvement. Method(s): This study examined the characteristics of the HAI Programs across Australian national, states and territories and level of focus placed on IPC through publicly available. websites followed by a qualitative survey of jurisdictional program leads using a questionnaire. Result(s): There were variations to websites and consistent complexity for navigation. Differences were reported on staffing levels, resources, competency levels. governance, title of programs and focus areas, however themes within programs mostly consistent. Conclusion The complex nature, varied governance, staffing, resources, expertise and program priority differences and the lack of a consistent statewide governance structure has potentially contributed to a disconnected approach to IPC programs that fails to adequately support the notion of clinician engagement to IPC and also raises additional questions around national approach and narrative for an Australian CDC.Copyright © 2022

Effective Binding Affinity of Inhibitor - [3-(Carbamoylamino) Phenyl] Acetamide Against the SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 Helicase

The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 has become a global health emergency. The SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 helicase plays an important role in SARS-Co V-2 replication and could serve as a target for antivirals to develop potential COVID-19 treatment. The objective of the study is to used Homology modeling and docking analysis of SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 helicase as drug target. The results of this study establish N-[3-( carbamoylamino) phenyl] acetamide as a valuable lead molecule with great potential for SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 helicase inhibitor. The structure and function of SARS-CoV- 2 NSP13 helicase predicted by in silica modeling studies. The SWISS-MODEL Structure Assessment tool was used for homology modeling and visual analysis of the crystal structure of the protein. The validation for structure models was performed using PROCHECK. Model quality estimates based on the QMEAN and ProSA. The MCULE-1-Click docking and InterEvDock-2.0 server were used for proteinlig and docking.The SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 helicase model corresponds to probability confirmation with 90.9% residue of the core section that specifies the accuracy of the predicted model. ProS A Z-score of -9.17;indicates the good quality of the model. Inhibitor N-[3-(carbamoylamino) phenyl] acetamide exhibited effective binding affinity against the NSP13 helicase. The docking results revealed the Lys-146, Leu-147, Ile-151, Tyr-185, Lys-195, Tyr-224, Val-226, Leu- 227, Ser-229 residues exhibit good binding interactions with inhibitor ligand.

A Probable Winner in the Race for the Best Cardiac Preservation Solution: A Single-Center's Experience

Manufacturing disruptions in the University of Wisconsin (UW) cardiac preservation solution during the COVID-19 pandemic forced medical centers (MC) to rely upon alternative preservation solutions in the USA. Demands of excellence during this disruptive period prompted an analysis comparing the most commonly used solutions and their adverse postoperative outcomes in heart transplant recipients. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database was retrospectively reviewed from 1/30/2003 to 6/5/2022 for adult heart transplant recipients. Primary stratification was by solution type with evaluation of only UW and CS preservation solutions. Secondary stratification was for the center with the best 1-year outcomes per SRTR reports. Primary endpoints were survival and length of stay. Secondary endpoints were acute graft rejection, intubation status, and use of ECMO, IABP, and inotropes. After exclusion criteria, a total of 584 adult heart transplant recipients were identified prior to the start of the national UW shortage. 558 hearts used UW (96%) and 26 hearts used CS (4%). Analysis of Cox regression models for survival revealed greater survival at 2000, 4000, and 6000 days post transplant for UW as compared to CS (p = 0.019, Fig. 1). Analysis of Fischer's exact test revealed UW showed less use of ECMO (p = <0.001), IABP (p = 0.041), and lower intubation status (p = <0.001) at 72 hours post-transplant (Fig. 1). There was no significant difference in length of stay and inotrope use. Evaluation of the two most commonly used heart preservation solutions nationwide reveals that UW has improved patient outcomes with regard to survival, use of ECMO and IABP, and intubation status at 72 hours post-transplant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Heart & Lung Transplantation is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Outcomes Comparison of Commonly Used Heart Transplant Preservation Solutions During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) is a necessity for patients with end-stage heart disease. Despite advancements made in cardiac allograft preservation, there remains ambiguity as to which heart preservation solution provides improved outcomes - especially during a national healthcare flux. Many papers compare University of Wisconsin (UW) and Celsior (CS), the two most commonly used solutions in the USA, in abdominal organ transplants but few describe relative outcomes related to the adult heart. Here, we compare the two commonly used preservation solutions and hypothesize that UW shows superior postoperative patient outcomes. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database was retrospectively reviewed from 5/31/2020 to 5/31/2021 for adult OHT recipients. Primary stratification was by solution type with evaluation of only UW and CS preservation solutions. Primary endpoints were survival and length of stay. Secondary endpoints were acute graft rejection, intubation status, and use of ECMO, IABP, and inotropes. After exclusion criteria, a total of 2,388 adult OHT recipients were identified. 1,941 (81.3%) transplants utilized UW. Analysis of Cox regression models for survival revealed no significant difference between both solutions. Fisher's exact test showed decreased rates of inotrope use (p = 0.008) and acute rejection episodes (p = 0.002) for UW solution (Fig. 1). There was no statistical significance between UW and CS with length of stay, intubation status, and use of ECMO, IABP at 72-hrs post-transplant (Fig. 1). Evaluation of the two most commonly used heart preservation solutions nationwide reveals that CS is non-inferior to UW with regards to patient survival, length of stay, and use of ECMO and IABP. However, UW shows significantly reduced acute graft rejection and use of inotropes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Heart & Lung Transplantation is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Discovery of Potential Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Main Protease (Mpro) from Nigella Sativa (Black Seed) by Molecular Docking Study

Purpose: A new human coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), triggering pneumonia, is termed as Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19). There is an alarming situation now as this new virus is spreading around the world. At present, there are no specific treatments for COVID-19. Nigella sativa is known as Prophetic Medicine as its use has been mentioned in Prophetic Hadith, as a natural remedy for all the diseases except death. Seeds and oils of N. sativa have a long history of folklore usage in various systems of medicine such as Unani and Tibb, Ayurveda and Siddha in the treatment of different diseases and ailments. The aim of this research is to provide a potential inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Method(s): The Molecular docking tool was used to optimize the binding affinities of chemical constituents of N. sativa with SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Result(s): Many constituents from N. Sativa have shown better binding affinity than reported drugs with SARS-CoV-2 Mpro i.e., the alpha-hederin, Stigmasterol glucoside, Nigellidine-4-O-sulfite, Nigellidine, Sterol-3-beta-D-glucoside, Dithymoquinone, beta-sitosterol have binding affinities (kcal/mol) of-9,-8.1,-8,-7.7,-7.7,-7.4,-7.4, and-6.9 and number of hydrogen bonds formed are 06, 04, 03, 03, 03, 00, and 01, respectively. Conclusion(s): There is rationale and pre-clinical evidence of the effectiveness of N. Sativa that it may be helpful for the treatment of COVID-19 and can serve as a potential natural candidate. However, more studies should be conducted to collect high-quality data and scientific evidence of N. Sativa to use it against COVID-19 clinically.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

Analysing the donor behaviour of a Muslim diaspora in Australia

Diaspora communities are an important source of charitable giving to their original homelands. This study explores a Muslim diaspora's motivations behind donation-giving. A two-year donation dataset of an overseas charity organisation registered in Australia was analysed. Findings show that, overall, donations are significantly related to the prevailing consumer confidence levels (r = 0.4277). However, there was also a strong, inverse correlation (r = - 0.4376) during 2020, suggesting that the plummeting consumer sentiment during COVID-19 did not impact donation revenue. As expected, during periods of religious significance (Ramadan) across both years, donations to the charity increased substantially, with the relative effect of Ramadan calculated as over 800%. This study makes a contribution by providing insights to donor behaviour through the examination of a donation dataset. This study also uses 'causal impact analysis' to calculate the effect of Ramadan on donations. Results have implications for the not-for-profit sector in Australia and other countries with Muslim diaspora communities. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed. © Policy Press 2022.

Topic Modeling, Sentiment Analysis and Text Summarization for Analyzing News Headlines and Articles

Newspapers and News Websites have become a part and a crucial medium in society. They provide information regarding the events that are happening around and how society is getting influenced by these events. For example, a pandemic like Covid-19 has raised the importance of these mediums. They have been giving detailed news to society on a variety of topics, such as how to detect the strains of the coronavirus, reasons for lockdown along with what are the other restrictions to be followed during the pandemic. They also provided information about the government policies which were built to be taken care of in case of pandemics and so on and they kept updated with the details about the development of the vaccines. Due to this lot of information on Covid-19 is generated. Examining the different topics/themes/issues and the sentiments expressed by different countries will aid in the understanding of the covid-19. This paper discusses the various models which were built to identify the topics, sentiments, and summarization of news headlines and articles regarding Covid-19. The proposed topic model has achieved a Silhouette score of 0.6407036, 0.6645274, 0.6262914, and 0.6234863 for 4 countries like South Korea, Japan, the UK, India on the news articles dataset, and it was found that the United Kingdom was the worst-hit, and it had the largest percentage of negative sentiments. The proposed XlNet sentiment classification model obtained a validation accuracy of 93.75%. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Virtual Mouse And Assistant: A Technological Revolution Of Artificial Intelligence

The purpose of this paper is to enhance the performance of the virtual assistant. So, what exactly is a virtual assistant. Application software, often called virtual assistants, also known as AI assistants or digital assistants, is software that understands natural language voice commands and can perform tasks on your behalf. What does a virtual assistant do. Virtual assistants can complete practically any specific smartphone or PC activity that you can complete on your own, and the list is continually expanding. Virtual assistants typically do an impressive variety of tasks, including scheduling meetings, delivering messages, and monitoring the weather. Previous virtual assistants, like Google Assistant and Cortana, had limits in that they could only perform searches and were not entirely automated. For instance, these engines do not have the ability to forward and rewind the song in order to maintain the control function of the song;they can only have the module to search for songs and play them. Currently, we are working on a project where we are automating Google, YouTube, and many other new things to improve the functionality of this project. Now, in order to simplify the process, we've added a virtual mouse that can only be used for cursor control and clicking. It receives input from the camera, and our index finger acts as the mouse tip, our middle finger as the right click, and so forth.Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.

Global leishmaniasis surveillance: 2021, assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

This article discusses the global report on leishmaniasis surveillance, highlighting its significance as a major health problem in four eco-epidemiological regions of the world. The report provides an update on the GHO leishmaniasis indicators reported by 45 member states to WHO up to 2021 and describes specific indicators such as gender and age distribution, relapses, the AmBisomeR donation programme selected outbreaks, case fatality rates for visceral leishmaniasis, rates of co-infection with HIV and visceral leishmaniasis (VL), and the burden of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis. It also discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on leishmaniasis surveillance efforts and the Kala-azar Elimination Programme in South-East Asia, as well as highlights adverse events after the administration of antileishmanial drugs and the need for continued surveillance efforts to control and eliminate leishmaniasis globally.

Covid 19 Prediction Through Chest CT Scans using Deep Learning and Deploying Model on Flask Web

Given the infection's wide growth, one of the biggest challenges on the planet right now is identifying Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Recent findings show that, with over 225M confirmed instances, the number of people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 is drastically increasing;Around the world, the sickness is affecting several countries. In this study, the global COVID-19 circulation incidence is briefly examined, and a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) artificial intelligence model is developed to identify COVID19 patients using real-world information. To find such patients, the model looks at chest CT scan images. The results show that such an approach is helpful in diagnosing COVID-19 since CT scans are easily accessible fast and inexpensively. This suggested approach is effective at detecting COVID-19 and achieves an F-measure range of 95-99%, according to empirical findings from 100 CT scan pictures of actual patients. The suggested model has a considerable impact in identifying sick individuals. © 2022 IEEE.