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The COVID-19 virus spread around the globe very rapidly during early 2020. Identification of the evolution pattern, and genome scale mutations in SARS-CoV-2 is essential to study the dynamics of this disease. The genomic sequences of thousands of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients from different countries are publicly available for sequence based in-depth analysis. In this study, the DNA sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from the COVID-19 infected patients (having or lacking a travel history) from Pakistan and India, the two highest populous neighboring countries in South Asia, have been analyzed by using computational tools of phylogenetics. These analyses revealed that the SARS-CoV-2 strain in Pakistani traveler COVID-19 patients is closely related to Iranian strains, the strain in non-traveler patients is related to the strain of Wuhan, China. Likewise, in India, the SARS-CoV-2 strains in travelers and non-travelers are closely related to Italy, Germany, and Mexico. The selected approach has also been utilized to find out the identical genomic regions and similar strains around the world. Collectively, our study suggested distinct strains and routes of viral transmission in Pakistan and India. These differences may infer partially the reason for the decline phase in viral propagation in Pakistan two months after the peak COVID-19 load, and rapid viral propagation in India making it the second worst-hit country in the world after the USA.
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BACKGROUND: Turmeric (curcumin) is a commonly used over-the-counter herbal product whose uses include diarrhea, arthritis, cancer and even COVID-19. Recently turmeric has been implicated in cases of clinically apparent liver injury with jaundice. The aim of this case series is to describe the clinical, histologic and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) associations of turmeric-associated hepatotoxicity as seen in the U.S. Drug Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) Prospective Study. METHODS: All adjudicated cases enrolled in DILIN between 2003-2020 with turmeric as an implicated product were reviewed. Causality was assessed using a 5-point expert opinion score. Available products were collected and analyzed for the presence of turmeric using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography. Genetic analyses included HLA sequencing. RESULTS: Of 1697 cases of drug-induced liver injury judged to be definite, highly likely or probable (high confidence), nine (0.5%) were attributed to turmeric, all of which were enrolled since 2012, and 6 since 2017 (Figure). The 9 cases included 7 women, 8 whites, with a mean age of 51 years (range, 35-62 years) and BMI 25 kg/m2 (range, 15-40). Seven patients used alcohol, but none to excess, and none had underlying liver disease. Turmeric was used for an average of 102 days before onset of injury (range, 30-425 days). Initial mean ALT was 1179 U/L (range, 328-2245), ALP 211 U/L (41-441), total bilirubin 5.9 mg/dL (1.2-10.8), and INR 1.0 (0.9-1.2). Six patients developed jaundice, and serum bilirubin peaked at 9.6 mg/dL (0.8-26), and INR 2.3 (1.0- 9.7). Liver injury was hepatocellular in 8 patients (mean R = 22). Five patients had elevated antinuclear antibody (ANA) titer and two anti-smooth muscle (ASM) antibody, but none were treated with corticosteroids. Liver biopsy in 5 patients showed portal and lobular mixed inflammatory infiltrates with lymphocytes and eosinophils typical of drug-induced liver injury. Five patients were hospitalized, and one patient died of acute liver failure. Chemical analysis confirmed the presence of turmeric in all 7 products analyzed;3 also contained piperine (black pepper), and none contained green tea. Of 7 patients with HLA typing available, 4 carried HLA-B*35:01, a class I HLA allele previously implicated in both green tea and Polygonum multiflorum hepatotoxicity. CONCLUSION: Liver injury due to turmeric appears to be increasing, perhaps, reflecting usage patterns or increased combination with black pepper, which increases its absorption. Turmeric liver injury, similar to that caused by other polyphenolic herbal products, is typically hepatocellular, with a latency of 1 to 6 months, and is linked to HLA-B*35:01. While most cases are self-limited, the injury can be severe and result in death or liver transplantation.
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Background: Community Medicine specialists play a crucial role in the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, monitoring and surveillance, healthcare planning and management and research but the awareness about the speciality even among the medical fraternity is limited. Aim: To determine the perceptions of Medical Professionals from Tertiary care teaching institutes towards the specialty of community medicine and its specialists. Materials and Methods: This was a web based cross-sectional survey conducted in October- November, 2021 among Medical professionals of Tertiary Care Teaching Institutes in the state of Uttar Pradesh, North India using a semi structured, pretested questionnaire circulated as google forms using WhatsApp and personal email ids.
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Objective: Technology enhanced assessment or e-assessment is an emerging approach across the globe and is adapted by almost all medical and dental institutes. The objective of this study is to report on effects of COVID-19 on assessment format of medical institutes. This review seeks to find which methods are being used for a changed assessment format and who is being affected by sudden change in assessment format and what facilitators and/or barriers have been reported related to the success and/or failure of changed assessment format. Material qnd Methods: This scoping review followed the methodology outlined by Arksey and O’Malley framework (2005). Data sources including PubMed, Eric, Medline, Semantic scholar and Google scholar were searched for the last 5 years of articles (from 2016 to 2021) related to e-assessment in medical education. Results: In total, 9 articles met our inclusion criteria. Open book examination was considered to be a new normal keeping in mind its strengths and advantages in an online format. Digital literacy plays an important role in the acceptance of technology enhanced assessment. Faculty needs training to opt for this sudden change in teaching and assessment format. Connectivity issues need to be taken care of, as the whole format depends upon it. Conclusion: e-assessment was well accepted by most of the students. Future studies should target students inconvenience for online assessment. Also lack of e-learning experience of some staff need attention. Insufficiency of IT technicians should be overcome. High speed internet is the requirement of the day. New software can be developed for a more reliable and valid assessment method.
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The “Force for Good” pledge of intellectual property to fight COVID-19 brought into action HPE products, resources and expertise to the problem of drug/vaccine discovery. Several scientists and technologists collaborated to accelerate efforts towards a cure. This paper documents the spirit of such a collaboration, the stellar outcomes and the technological lessons learned from the true convergence of high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) and data science to fight a pandemic. The paper presents technologies that assisted in an end-to-end edge-to-supercomputer pipeline - creating 3D structures of the virus from CryoEM microscopes, filtering through large cheminformatics databases of drug molecules, using artificial intelligence and molecular docking simulations to identify drug candidates that may bind with the 3D structures of the virus, validating the binding activity using in-silico high-fidelity multi-body physics simulations, combing through millions of literature-based facts and assay data to connect-the-dots of evidence to explain or dispute the in-silico predictions. These contributions accelerated scientific discovery by: (i) identifying novel drug molecules that could reduce COVID-19 virality in the human body, (ii) screening drug molecule databases to design wet lab experiments faster and better, (iii) hypothesizing the cross-immunity of Tetanus vaccines based on comparisons of COVID-19 and publicly available protein sequences, and (iv) prioritizing drug compounds that could be repurposed for COVID-19 treatment. We present case studies around each of the aforementioned outcomes and posit an accelerated future of drug discovery in an augmented and converged workflow of data science, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Sustainability think tanks such as the United Nations Organization have a strong focus on achieving economic and environmental sustainability goals globally. On the road to sustainable development, electric bike (E-bike) adoption is crucial. Nevertheless, research on the factors associated with E-Bike use, especially the psychological, financial, and capacity factors, has remained unexplored. This paper extends the theory of planned behavior with six novel factors related to individual choices to analyze E-bike adoption behavior. A sample of 507 Chinese bike riders is collected through the snowball sampling technique. The sample is estimated through structural equation modeling. The key findings are as follows: first, speed capacity, mileage capacity, and real-time camera positively drove E-bike adoption intention. Second, price differentiation negatively affected E-bike adoption intention. Third, the theory of planned behavior factors, including perceived relative advantage, cost savings, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and attitudes toward E-bike adoption, proved to be drivers of E-bike adoption intention. Finally, cost savings are the most critical factor of E-bike adoption intention, whereas perceived behavior control is the least critical factor. These results will help green transportation companies and emerging economies promote E-bike adoption to reach the environmental sustainability goals of the United Nations.
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This study comprehensively investigated the livelihood security scenario of fisher households (FHs) employing the CARE framework with little modifications, in Kashmir, India. Primary data for this study was collected from selected FHs, and a regression function was fitted to quantify the determinants of livelihood security. The findings revealed that fishing has been their dominant livelihood option. The landholding owned by the households was meagre enough to carry out farming or domesticate animals on commercial lines. Poor capital endowments place them at less livelihood security level;however, the respondents with diversified income have a relatively higher index value for livelihood. The regression estimates indicated that barring social and natural capital, all forms of capital have a significant role to play in securing their livelihood. Poor livelihood security, coupled with less income flow, has made their survival vulnerable to various distresses and health disorders, including the prevalence of Infant & Maternal Mortality. Their dietary intake was undesirably less than their dietary recommendations. The COVID-19 pandemic was perceived as a shock to their livelihood security. Further, public investment, which is pertinent for the growth of the fisheries sector, has shown a discouraging trend. The study concluded with a few policy suggestions for securing the livelihood of the fisher community.
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has a well-established host cell entry mechanism by the angiotensin-converting enzyme2 (ACE2 receptor) most commonly found in epithelial cells of blood vessels, respiratory tract including lungs, intestines and kidney. Cardiopulmonary disorders were the most important comorbidities for COVID-19 patients. Recent studies conducted in Wuhan, China (the epicenter of the COVID19 outbreak) showed that an alarming 1,099 patients with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed COVID19 had serious illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus both types, diseases coronary heart disease (CAD), kidney and cerebrovascular disease. Chronic inflammation and respiratory tract infections are usually treated with fluoroquinolones and corticosteroids. Fluoroquinolones increase the QT interval and threaten the evolution of arrhythmias and overuse of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19;expanding the threat of developing arrhythmias;on the other hand, corticosteroids mask the immune response resulting in worsening of the condition. While inhibitors cause respiratory depression, it increases the severity in COVID-19 patients. Based on available pharmacological data, there are no studies showing that calcium channel blocker increases ACE2 expression. Therefore, calcium channel blockers may be a suitable alternative treatment in these patients. Macrolides (azithromycin) may be a better choice than fluoroquinolones, as they are reported to be more effective in reducing secondary infection in COVID-19, paracetamol can be used than ibuprofen and diclofenac in COVID-19 patients. It is suggested that by modifying pharmacotherapy, the severity in cardiopulmonary patients during this COVID-19 outbreak can be reduced.
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Although the host factors and the physical environment are known to be associated with high rates of asthma prevalence in urban settings, but the connection between asthma and level of awareness due to socio-economic conditions are still less explored. Especially in developing world where the contrast between rich and poor is humongous, available health facilities are overburdened, and literacy is still a question mark for learning and acquiring knowledge to boost the awareness about health issues. This paper aims to address gaps in scientific knowledge about the societal attitude towards environmental asthma-related risk in a megacity of a developing country. Data was collected with a 0.1% sample of households (n=1388) through a questionnaire from selected neighborhoods. Awareness about asthma diagnosis, treatment, emergency management and prevention were assessed through a 10-point Likert scale. Data was summarized for the assessment of collective knowledge. Correlation of cumulative awareness was calculated with asthma prevalence and socio-economic conditions. We found very low (4.5 out of 10) cumulative asthma awareness with 8% prevalence. Literacy stood out at the top having a strong relationship with cumulative asthma awareness. We found that a low level of literacy provokes more involvement in unhealthy occupation and careless behavior about asthma triggers. As a result, asthma prevalence is higher in people associated with unhealthy occupation and have a low level of awareness without proper health and safety measures. Findings has established the impact of socio-economic status on asthma awareness in two towns of Karachi. Though socioeconomic development of an area is a long journey, especially in developing countries, awareness programs can, however, make better public health in a short time. This strategy will also reduce the level of Covid-19 severity as asthma is considered one of the risk factors.
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Background: This study explored the prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among the students of ‘sterilization program’ while learning English language amidst COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. Aim: To diagnose ADHD among the learners, and later propose some digital strategies to motivate the learners for resilience. Methods: A qualitative exploratory study was undertaken in April, 2020. A diagnostic tool was administered to 41 students pursuing ‘Sterilization program’ at king Abdulaziz University in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Later, learners with ADHD (N=9) were selected for in-depth study. Data was collected using the ADHD self-report scale V1.1 screener. Results Five professors from the concerned department were purposively selected for the interviews for qualitative analysis using thematic analysis. Confidentiality and anonymity was ensured as per the ethical standard. Many students demonstrate signs of ADHD, therefore there is a need of assessment and intervention. Teachers, counselors and managers need to take care of such learners. Conclusions: Conclusions were drawn that students with ADHD need relevant interventions in general and specific pedagogy.
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The overall purpose of this paper is to explore the adverse effect of COVID-19 on the learning environment in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Considering that the impact of the coronavirus on education was abrupt, there was no contingency plan to mitigate the effect other than to shift to remote learning. The research addresses the question whether online/distance learning classes were effective. To deal with the research questions, the authors elicited teachers' and students' perceptions of regarding the challenges they faced amidst COVID-19 in learning via virtual mode- the only alternative e-learning strategy available at the time of social distancing. Hence it is important to mention that King Abdulaziz University (KAU) has been using elearning/blended learning for more than a decade under the umbrella of the deanship of distance learning of KAU, however, in a different scenario. Data was collected from teachers and students through two questionnaires (adapted). The results reported that the majority of the participants had positive attitudes towards E-learning. It was also found that students were prepared to shift to online mode to avoid any academic loss.
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This paper presents results from a rapid-response industry-academia collaboration for virtual screening of chemical, natural and virtual drug ligands towards identifying potential therapeutics for COVID-19. Compared to resource-intensive traditional approaches of either conducting high- throughput screening in a lab or in-silico molecular dynamics simulations on supercomputers, we have developed an open- source framework that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to accurately and quickly predict the binding potential of a drug ligand with a target protein. We have trained a novel molecular-highway graph neural network architecture using the entirety of the BindingDB database to predict the probability of a drug ligand binding to a protein target. Our approach achieves a prodigious 98.3% accuracy with its predictions. Through this paper, we disseminate our source code and use the AI model to screen both public (ChEMBL, DrugBank) and proprietary databases. Compared to other AI-based methods, our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art on the following metrics - (i) number of molecules currently undergoing active clinical trials, (ii) number of antiviral drugs correctly identified, (iii) accuracy despite not needing active-site priors, and (iv) ability to screen more compounds in unit time. © 2020 IEEE.
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Except for Remdesivir® no other drug or vaccine has yet been approved to treat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the virus known as, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Remdesivir® an small molecule and nucleic acid analogue, it is used to treat adults and children with laboratory confirmed COVID-19, only administrated in hospital settings. Small molecules and particularly natural products count for almost fifty percent of the commercially available drugs, several of them are marketed antiviral agents and those can be a potential agent to treat COVID-19 infections. This short review rationalized different key natural products with known activity against coronaviruses as potential leads against COVID-19. FAU - Ospanov, Meirambek.