The Intersections of Energy and Housing Justice: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected working class and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, who have been more likely to contract and die from the virus. These inequalities in part stem from higher rates of comorbidities such as asthma, which can be connected to local built environments. One area where these inequalities are starkest is in energy generation and distribution, where marginalized communities are both more likely to be exposed to hazards from energy production, whereas at the same time more likely to struggle to afford that energy, leading to difficult trade-offs with other necessities. In turn, many of these inequalities can be tied to spatial patterns of residential segregation, such as redlining, which cut off BIPOC communities in from the prevailing wealth generating mechanisms of the past century, leading to the patterns of divestment and hazard exposure seen today. In this article, we explore the connections between public health, energy production and consumption, and redlining, using Milwaukee, WI as a case study. Using data from March to June 2020, we perform quartile regressions to assess the relationship between positive COVID cases, local demographics, and the local energy environment. We find that low-income and BIPOC communities were more likely to contract COVID, while also facing higher energy burdens and exposure to respiratory hazards, as well as a statistically significant relationship between COVID rates and redlining policy. We argue these results call further research into the connections between energy insecurity and other forms of injustice that manifest within racial capitalism.

Nanosponges: Advancement in Nanotherapeutics

The emergence of nanotechnology paves the way for improving disease therapy strategies. An investigation into the progression of the release of the medication targeting the specified predetermined location is a significant factor to consider. Due to the ability to advance existing products and to develop new products in a variety of applications, the nanotechnology industry is considered an evolving technology. Cyclodextrin-based porous nanoparticles or unique nano-sponges (NSs) which have recently been used in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, and cosmetic industries are the main elements of this growth. This superior technology can circumvent the defects of current techniques by its ability to attack and visualize tumour sites. A biodegradable and biocompatible feature along with a built-in high surface area resulting in enormous amounts of drug loading and biomimetic design, and the ability to control nanoparticles size are just a handful of good attractive attributes that find this technique as an overwhelming advantage in the field of nanomedicine. This review article is organized such that we first explored the unique features of these nanosponges and the diverse methods for synthesizing, followed by the drug loading and release principle and application based on drug delivery, targeting, boosting solubility of BCS Class II and IV drugs, others in biomedicine and more. Finally, the recent progress on the use of biomimetic nanosponge as a pandemic tool due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus briefly comes into line. Copyright © RJPT All right reserved.

Detection of unusual high molecular form of albumin in blood serum of Covid-19 patients

Blood sera of 12 severe Covid-19 patients and 14 healthy human donors were subjected to origi-nal TCA-extraction/acetone-precipitation followed by SDS-PaaG electrophoresis and mass-spectrometry. 76 kDa protein was detected as one of the differentially expressed proteins in the samples of Covid-19 patients. This 76 kDa protein was identified with mass-spectrometry as human serum albumin. Such molecular form of albumin was absent in blood serum of healthy human donors. The potential ways of generation of the unusual form of human serum albumin and its probable diagnostic value were discussed. © 2022, Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NASU. All rights reserved.

Impact of Transformative Air Vehicle Operations on Logistic Supply Chains

Global supply chains have reached critical capacity, resulting in escalating prices, long delivery times, and has had a crippling effect on manufacturing, health care, agriculture, and commerce in general. In addition, the cascading effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other intra-supply chain problems have resulted in a 40-year high inflation and degradations in quality of life, employment, GNP, and personal and national security. During the pandemic, shortages in the workforce and all transportation carrier modes forced the acceleration of digitally powered solutions for capacity improvements. At the same time, emerging technologies in autonomy, electrification, fuel cells, and low carbon powerplants are pushing the envelope of OEM development for over-the-road trucks, aircraft, and maritime vessels. These new transportation modes offer clean, low noise, and high safety operations, which promise to move people and goods faster, cleaner, and ultimately more affordably between origin and destination. This paper provides an overview of general logistics issues that can assist VTOL designers and operators in determining critical configuration parameters, location demographics, flight operations, and emerging Aircraft On Ground (AOG) technologies to maximize near-term ROI for transformative VTOL aircraft. Copyright © 2022 by the Vertical Flight Society. All rights reserved

Perceptions on COVID-19 Vaccination among People Aged more than 50 years in Urban Field Practice Area of Department of Community Medicine in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital, Hyderabad: A Reflection from Focus Group Discussions.

Background: Despite several efforts to limit the viral transmission, the COVID-19 vaccine has been the only "the ray of hope" to end the pandemic. However, vaccine hesitancy could reduce coverage and hinder herd immunity. People's intention to get vaccinated can be shaped by several factors, including risk perception which, in turn, is influenced by effect. The need to acquaint oneself to the beliefs, concerns, and circumstances of one's own population in the community becomes important for successful implementation of the program. Therefore, the present study was conducted to gain insights into perceptions of vaccination. Objectives: The objective is to understand the felicitating factors and hindering factors for acceptance of vaccines by the population among people aged 50 years in urban field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine in a Tertiary care teaching hospital, Hyderabad. Subjects and Methods: Data were extracted from audio recording of five focus group discussions that were conducted in the urban field practice care of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Hyderabad through open-ended questions. Categories, subcategories, and themes were created by deductive approach. Results: The motivating factors for vaccine acceptance were found to be fear of getting disease, wanting to return normalcy, and trust in treating doctors, whereas, barriers were fear of death due to vaccine, opacity in vaccine details, anxiety, and misinterpretation of adverse events. Conclusion: Having a clear understanding about the belief system of the target population could help in designing the guidelines for vaccination program to escalate the immunization and increase the acceptance.

IgG Antibody Prevalence of COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Care Facility in Hyderabad, India

Introduction: Health care workers (HCWs) with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity are an important source of COVID-19 spread. The present study aimed to assess the level of exposure of HCWs to COVID-19. Methods: The COVID KAVACH IgG Microlisa IgG antibodies kit was used to determine the antibody prevalence in all HCWs at ESIC Hospital and Medical College. Results: A total of 1200 HCWs were included in the study. Of the HCWs with positive rRT-PCR for COVID-19 at the time of participation, 40 of 97 (41.2%) were asymptomatic at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis, 46 of 97 (47.4%) had only mild disease, 9 of 97 (9.3%) had moderate disease, 2 of 97 (2.1%) had were severely ill. Of these, 24.9% were positive for IgG antibodies to Covid-19. Conclusion: HCWs are at increased risk of infection when they work in hospitals. Infected HCWs are a potential risk to their families, patients, and colleagues;the seroprevalence of COVID-19 in HCWs is an indicator of susceptibility and should be monitored regularly as a best practice in hospitals.

Automatic detection of COVID-19 in chest radiographs using serially concatenated deep and handcrafted features.

Since the infectious disease occurrence rate in the human community is gradually rising due to varied reasons, appropriate diagnosis and treatments are essential to control its spread. The recently discovered COVID-19 is one of the contagious diseases, which infected numerous people globally. This contagious disease is arrested by several diagnoses and handling actions. Medical image-supported diagnosis of COVID-19 infection is an approved clinical practice. This research aims to develop a new Deep Learning Method (DLM) to detect the COVID-19 infection using the chest X-ray. The proposed work implemented two methods namely, detection of COVID-19 infection using (i) a Firefly Algorithm (FA) optimized deep-features and (ii) the combined deep and machine features optimized with FA. In this work, a 5-fold cross-validation method is engaged to train and test detection methods. The performance of this system is analyzed individually resulting in the confirmation that the deep feature-based technique helps to achieve a detection accuracy of > 92% with SVM-RBF classifier and combining deep and machine features achieves > 96% accuracy with Fine KNN classifier. In the future, this technique may have potential to play a vital role in testing and validating the X-ray images collected from patients suffering from the infection diseases.

Evaluation of Efficacy and Safety of Clevira as an Add on Drug in Mild to Moderate COVID-19 Positive Patients- A Randomised Control Trial

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a devastating pandemic. Despite the worldwide efforts to find a therapeutic strategy and prophylaxis, we have not attained a complete success. Hence, there exists an urgent need for development of alternative solutions from Ayurveda system of medicine for COVID-19. Aim: To evaluate clevira, a polyherbal ayurvedic formulation, for its efficacy and safety in treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 patients as an add on drug. Materials and Methods: This randomised control trial was carried out from May 2020 to July 2020, in 100 patients (50 in test group and 50 in control group) confirmed with COVID-19 infection (mild to moderate cases) by Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) at a tertiary care Government Medical College and Hospital in Chennai, India. The test group received tablet clevira orally twice daily after food, in the morning and night for 14 days, as an add on, in addition to standard care of treatment as received by the control group. The primary outcome was assessment of clinical recovery, proportion of patients with swabs negative for COVID-19 in RT-PCR and reduction of Viral cycle threshold ratio. The results of the both group were analysed and compared using Chi-square test and student's t-test. Results: Significant improvement (p-value=0.0338) was seen in patients on day 5, who got treated with clevira as add on drug. An 86% (43) of patients turned out to be COVID-19 RT-PCR test negative on day 5 while in the control group 66% (33) of patients turned out to be negative. There was a statistically significant difference (p-value=0.0196) between the test and control groups on comparing the mean difference in CT value results between day 1 and day 5. Clevira when given in addition to the standard of care, showed a significant improvement in signs and symptoms of COVID-19 infection. Conclusion: Clevira, with its polyherbal ingredients show a significant antiviral action against coronavirus when given in addition to the standard of care medications suggested by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), over a period of 14 days in treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 patients.

Omicron (B.1.1.529) - variant of concern - molecular profile and epidemiology: a mini review.

Recently a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 was reported from South Africa. World Health Organization (WHO) named this mutant as a variant of concern - Omicron (B.1.1.529) on 26th November 2021. This variant exhibited more than thirty amino acid mutations in the spike protein. This mutation rate is exceeding the other variants by approximately 5-11 times in the receptor-binding motif of the spike protein. Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant might have enhanced transmissibility and immune evasion. This new variant can reinfect individuals previously infected with other SARS-CoV-2 variants. Scientists expressed their concern about the efficacy of already existing COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron (B.1.1.529) infections. Some of the crucial mutations that are detected in the receptor-binding domain of the Omicron variant have been shared by previously evolved SARS-CoV-2 variants. Based on the Omicron mutation profile in the receptor-binding domain and motif, it might have collectively enhanced or intermediary infectivity relative to its previous variants. Due to extensive mutations in the spike protein, the Omicron variant might evade the immunity in the vaccinated individuals.

Detection of Fake News related to COVID-19 using Natural Language Processing

There have been a rampant spread of fake news during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unverified cures generated from fake news pose a threat to public health. The hoax messages can downplay the seriousness of the situation leading to a subsequent ignorance of basic guidelines like masks mandates and social distancing. Hence, it is necessary to curb the spread of such news and misinformation which can cause public harm. This paper proposes a counteractive measure to mitigate the aforementioned fake news by constructing a dataset compiled from verified fact-checking websites and news resources. In this paper, Machine Learning algorithms such as Logistic Regression, Naive Bayes, etc. and Deep Learning models such as Recurrent Neural Networks have been applied to the dataset and trained models provide promising benchmark results. © 2021 IEEE.

Anxiety controlling wrist band

Since the 1950s, suicide rate has been tripled among people aged between 15 and 24. Also, suicide is reported as the second most common cause of their deaths. Depression and anxiety are one of the major reasons for planting the thought of suicide in students' mind. People with anxiety disorders and stressful mind have excessive worry and fear about everyday situations. This intense worry and fear, though appears harmless, can reach its peak within minutes causing panic attacks. The main objective of our project is calming down the mind of people who are emotionally unstable and preventing the occurrence of any medical complications due to anxiety. Our innovation focuses on measuring the heart rate and controlling perturbation, anxiety, stress by applying acupressure at the H7 (Heart 7) point on the wrist crease. © 2021 The authors and IOS Press.

A protocol for the detection of genetic markers in saliva by polymerase chain reaction without a nucleic acid purifi cation step: Examples of SARS-CoV-2 and GAPDH markers

Introduction. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic tests use purifi ed nucleic acids (NAs) from clinical samples. The NAs purifi cation step adds time, cost, and aff ects the quality of testing. The objective of this study was to develop a protocol for direct use of saliva in tests for genetic markers, without purifi cation of nucleic acids. Methods. PCR, real-time RT-PCR and isothermal amplifi cation tests were used for direct detection of genetic markers, without purifi cation of nucleic acids. Results. We report a protocol for the direct detection of genetic markers in saliva. The protocol is based on a collection of saliva in a solution containing a detergent and ethanol and is compatible with isothermal amplifi cation (LAMP), real-time RT-PCR and RT-PCR. SARS-CoV-2 and GAPDH markers were used as reference markers. We observed that mild detergents allow effi cient detection of external reference and intracellular endogenous markers, while strong detergent, e.g. sodium dodecyl sulfate, inhibited the PCR reaction. Under these conditions, saliva samples can be stored for 24 h at +4°C or -18°C with the preservation of markers. Storage at room temperature led to the deterioration of marker detection. Snap heating of saliva samples at the time of collection, followed by storage at room temperature, provided partial protection. Conclusion. The protocol presented in this report describes the collection and storage of saliva for direct detection of genetic markers and is compatible with PCR and LAMP tests. © 2021 Croatian Veterinary Institute. All rights reserved.

Evolving biothreat of variant SARS-CoV-2 - molecular properties, virulence and epidemiology.

SARS-CoV-2 are enveloped RNA viruses that belong to the family Coronaviridae of genus Beta coronavirus, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The mutation rate is high among RNA viruses and in particular, coronavirus replication is error prone with an estimated mutation rate of 4x10-4 nucleotide substitutions per site per year. Variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been reported from various countries like United Kingdom, South Africa, Denmark, Brazil and India. These variants evolved due to mutations in spike gene of SARS-CoV-2. The most concerning variants are Variant of Concern (VOC) 202012/01 from United Kingdom and B.1.617 variant of India. Other variants include B.1.351 lineages, cluster 5/SARS-CoV-2 variant of Denmark, 501.V2 variant/SARS-CoV-2 variant of South Africa, lineage B.1.1.248/lineage P.1 of Brazil. Mutations in S protein may result in changes in the transmissibility and virulence of SARS-CoV-2. To date, alterations in virulence or pathogenicity have been reported among the variants from many parts of the globe. In our opinion, since the S protein is significantly altered, the suitability of existing vaccine specifically targeting the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 variants is a major concern. The mutations in SARS-CoV-2 are a continuous and evolving process that may result in the transformation of naïve SARS-CoV-2 into totally new subsets of antigenically different SARS-CoV-2 viruses over a period of time.

Live-attenuated oral polio vaccine as a potential source of protection against COVID-19 - review of literature

The widespread surge in COVID-19 infections has caused an overwhelming rise in the number of hospital admissions and patient deaths. Massive research efforts are underway globally to develop COVID-19 vaccines. For the newly developed vaccines, given that safety beyond the trial population and the worldwide accessibility remains to be determined, there is also an opportunity to explore repurposing the pre-existing safe vaccines like the oral polio vaccine (OPV) leveraging their potential to provide cross-protection. The plausible mechanisms by which OPV might provide partial cross-immunity against SARS-CoV-2 include inhibition of PVR-TIGITCD226 axis and stimulation of trained innate immunity. Inhibition of PVR-TIGIT-CD226 axis by OPV unleashes the immunosuppressive effects of TIGIT, thus priming the immune system against the invading pathogen. Stimulation of trained innate immunity by OPV due to metabolic reprogramming and epigenetic modifications provides partial protection. This paper reviews the literature about live-attenuated OPV as a potential source of protection against COVID-19 and highlights the need for randomized, multicentric trials in India.

Interspecies transmission of coronaviruses and immunization: an Indian perspective

The milder form of infection and higher rates of recovery witnessed among COVID-19 patients in India is indicative of the potential intervention of other "unconventional" biological mechanisms. The recently established similarity between beta-coronavirus strains in animals and humans led us to hypothesize that previous contact with infected dogs or cattle could shield humans from the circulating SARS-CoV-2 virus. We further believe that our hypothesis, if confirmed by further studies, could be used as a potential vaccine strategy.

COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus 2019) - recent trends.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning that, although the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) from Wuhan City (China), is not pandemic, it should be contained to prevent the global spread. The COVID-19 virus was known earlier as 2019-nCoV. As of 12 February 2020, WHO reported 45,171 cases and 1115 deaths related to COVID-19. COVID-19 is similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) virus in its pathogenicity, clinical spectrum, and epidemiology. Comparison of the genome sequences of COVID-19, SARS-CoV, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) showed that COVID-19 has a better sequence identity with SARS-CoV compared to MERS CoV. However, the amino acid sequence of COVID-19 differs from other coronaviruses specifically in the regions of 1ab polyprotein and surface glycoprotein or S-protein. Although several animals have been speculated to be a reservoir for COVID-19, no animal reservoir has been already confirmed. COVID-19 causes COVID-19 disease that has similar symptoms as SARS-CoV. Studies suggest that the human receptor for COVID-19 may be angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor similar to that of SARS-CoV. The nucleocapsid (N) protein of COVID-19 has nearly 90% amino acid sequence identity with SARS-CoV. The N protein antibodies of SARS-CoV may cross react with COVID-19 but may not provide cross-immunity. In a similar fashion to SARS-CoV, the N protein of COVID-19 may play an important role in suppressing the RNA interference (RNAi) to overcome the host defense. This mini-review aims at investigating the most recent trend of COVID-19.

CT findings and clinical features of corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) in 50 RT-PCR confirmed patients: an Indian study

Objective: To characterize the clinical features, laboratory and CT findings of 50 RT-PCR proven patients with COVID19. Materials and methods: A retrospective study of 50 patients with RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19 was performed. CT images were reviewed by two experienced radiologists. Clinical data was also recorded. he percentage of each CT findings was evaluated. Patients were divided into early and advanced phase depending on symptom onset which is less than or equal to 7 days and 7 to 14 days. Chi-square test was used to compare the CT features of early and advanced phase of COVID-19 pneumonitis. Results: There were totally 50 patients included in the study and among them 33 patients were male and 17 were female. The age group ranged from 22 to 87 years with median age of 48 years. There were 26 patients who underwent CT in early stage and 24 patients in advanced stage. Most of the patients presented with fever and cough with lymphocytopenia and elevated CRP being the most common lab finding. The most common finding in CT scan was ground glass opacities which was seen in 41(82%) patients. GGO with consolidation was seen in 20(40%) patients and GGO with interstitial thickening or crazy paving was seen in 10(20%) patients. Air bubble sign was seen in 2 (4%) patients. Vascular dilatation was seen in 9(18%) patients. Subpleural fibrotic bands, architectural distortion were seen in 8(16%) patients. Subpleural line and halo sign was seen in 2(4%) patients. Nodules were seen in 1 (2%) patient. Air bronchogram within the consolidation was seen in 8(16%) patients. Bronchial dilatation and distortion was seen in 4 (8%) patients. Pleural thickening (18%) was common than pleural effusion (8%). Mediastinal lymphadenopathy and pericardial effusion were seen in 4% cases. In the early phase, GGO were more common and was seen in all 26 patients in early phase. Consolidation, air bronchogram, bronchial abnormalities and pleural effusion were more common in the advanced phases and was statistically significant. Rest of the other parameters did not show any statistical significance. The sensitivity of CT in diagnosing COVID-19 pneumonia was 96.15% in early phase and 83.33% in advanced phase and 90% overall. Conclusion: Fever and cough were the most common clinical finding. Elevated CRP and lymphocytopenia were the most common lab finding. Multifocal GGO with peripheral, posterior, lower lobe and bilateral involvement was the mostcommon imaging finding. CT can stage the disease as GGO was common in early phase and consolidation in later phases. CT is indicated in patients with moderate to severe symptoms and in RT-PCR negative cases with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.