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COVID-19 virus spread very rapidly if we come in contact to the other person who is infected, this was treated as acute pandemic. As per the data available at WHO more than 663 million infected cases reported and 6.7 million deaths are confirmed worldwide till Dec, 2022. On the basis of this big reported number, we can say that ignorance can cause harm to the people worldwide. Most of the people are vaccinated now but as per standard guideline of WHO social distancing is best practiced to avoid spreading of COVID-19 variants. This is difficult to monitor manually by analyzing the persons live cameras feed. Therefore, there is a need to develop an automated Artificial Intelligence based System that detects and track humans for monitoring. To accomplish this task, many deep learning models have been proposed to calculate distance among each pair of human objects detected in each frame. This paper presents an efficient deep learning monitoring system by considering distance as well as velocity of the object detected to avoid each frame processing to improve the computation complexity in term of frames/second. The detected human object closer to some allowed limit (1m) marked by red color and all other object marked with green color. The comparison of with and without direction consideration is presented and average efficiency found 20.08 FPS (frame/Second) and 22.98 FPS respectively, which is 14.44% faster as well as preserve the accuracy of detection. © 2023 IEEE.
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Information Technology (IT) has become the integral part of majority of businesses. Healthcare sector is also one such sector where IT adoption is increased in recent times. This adoption of IT has increased the internet exposure and hence increased the attack surface of the organisations working in healthcare sector. During covid outbreak, we have observed various cyber-attack and threats on organisations operating in healthcare sector. This paper focuses on cyber threat pattern in healthcare sector during covid-19 outbreak and post-covid-19 period. This research paper also aims to generate basic cyber awareness through generic cyber sanity checks to secure healthcare sector from malicious threat actors. The adaptation of proactive measures required to enhance the cyber hygiene of organisations becomes very essential in this sector. © 2023 IEEE.
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This review article highlights the importance of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines and how it has been developed to fight against various diseases such as, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), rabies, cancer treatments, and coronavirus (Covid-19). During the past two years, covid-19 has become a worldwide pandemic, and the mRNA has played a major role in the manufacturing of its vaccine. We have highlighted the technology behind the development of mRNA vaccine, synthesis, and working of the lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). This mRNA vaccine produces a duplicate of a molecule that corresponds to a viral protein for producing an immune response, and these are given to us in a series of shots designed to protect us from developing a disease. The LNPs which carry the mRNA protein prevent the degradation of it and maintain more constant serum levels. In addition, this review article specifically mentions HIV, rabies, cancer, covid-19 and how these are important in the treatment of these diseases. This review article further highlights the mRNA vaccines for the survival of human beings against various deadly diseases in the near future. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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Emerging Aquatic Contaminants: One Health Framework for Risk Assessment and Remediation in the Post COVID-19 Anthropocene highlights various sources and pathways of emerging contamination, including their distribution, occurrence, and fate in the aquatic environment. The book provides detailed insight into emerging contaminants' mass flow and behavior in various spheres of the subsurface environment. Possible treatment strategies, including bioremediation and natural attenuation, are discussed. Ecotoxicity, relative environmental risk, human health risk, and current policies, guidelines, and regulations on emerging contaminants are analyzed. This book serves as a pillar for future studies, with the aim of bio-physical remediation and natural attenuation of biotic and abiotic pollution. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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The idyllic tourist atmosphere in the beautiful Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANIs) nature's floating paradise, which relatively had fewer cases of the COVID-19 virus, as compared to mainland India, was suddenly shattered. The locals depend on the tourists for their livelihood and with the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in the country and other nations, the government imposed a lockdown and the ensuing travel ban put everything on hold. The psycho-economic fallout had just begun as people were grappling with what was happening all around and what lay ahead. Coastal tourism, which is considered to be the world's key economic area, is a huge economy booster for the nation's GDP, and the Island tourism suddenly shut down along with the deficit revenue to the government. The worst affected were those whose livelihoods were involved with tourists on a daily basis. Thus, the initiatives of special packages by the government and NGOs are released in order to boost the tourism activities. This work mainly addresses the effect of this deadly pandemic on the lives of the people, more so its governmental implications on the psychological and socioeconomic conditions of the Islanders. The government subsidies and necessary measures for sustainability can help them tide over the crisis. Now the government has administrated the vaccination program and initiated the opening of many recreation places for the public. Gradually, the government keenly executed the necessary steps to bring life to normal. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.
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Mucormycosis is a life-threatening opportunistic fungal infection seen in immunocompromised states. Rising incidence of mucormycosis among Coronavirus Disease-2019 infected individuals is an increasing concern in India. The disease which was endemic has blown out to become an epidemic. The purpose of this research is to study the epidemiology, management and outcome of Coronavirus Disease-2019 Associated Mucormycosis (CAM) cases. Additionally, the role of diabetes and steroids in the causation of CAM was determined. A hospital-based observational study was conducted at a tertiary care centre involving cases with rhino-orbital mucormycosis with recent history of COVID-19 infection. Out of 205,166(81%) cases had Diabetes Mellitus as a comorbid condition. Among them, 75(36.6%) cases were diagnosed with diabetes during COVID-19 treatment. 161/205(78.5%) cases received corticosteroids during COVID-19 treatment. Corticosteroids were notindicated in 43(26.7%) cases. 177/205(85.4%) cases were alive at the end of 12 weeks. 8 out of 10 deaths were seen in cases having diabetes. As the incidence of mucormycosis is increasing, better awareness among general population about the disease, early diagnosis and multidisciplinary approach is required to improve prognosis.
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Disease surveillance of marine mammal populations is essential to understand the causes of strandings, identify potential threats to animal health, and to support development of conservation strategies. Here we report the first large multi-pathogen screening of prevalence for viruses, bacteria and parasites in a sample of 177 live, healthy, wild Caspian seals (Pusa caspica), captured and released during satellite telemetry studies 2007-2017. Employing molecular and serological assays we assess prevalence of pathogens known to be of significance for marine mammal health worldwide, and evaluate the results in relation to Caspian seal health and conservation. RT-PCR, and PCR assays find evidence for infection by Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), Phocine herpes virus, phocine adenovirus and Influenza A at prevalences of 5%, 6.4%, 21.7%, and 4% respectively. The genomes of CDV isolates collected in 2008 showed 99.59% identity with the 2000 Caspian seal CDV epizootic strain. A partial coding sequence for the Us2 gene from the Caspian seal herpes virus was identical to PhHV-1 isolate PB84, previously reported from a harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), while amplicon sequences for the adenovirus polymerase gene indicated a novel strain. ELISA assays detected exposure to Influenza A (55% of tested samples), adenovirus (25%), coronavirus (6%), CDV (8%), herpes virus (94%), Toxoplasma gondii (2.6%) and heartworm (1%). Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests detected exposure to Influenza B at a prevalence of 20%, and Leptospira microscopic agglutination tests detected suspected exposure to Leptospira serovars in 9% of tested samples. Overall, the risks, profile and prevalence of pathogens in Caspian seals appear comparable to other wild phocid seal populations. Our results suggest Caspian seals have exposure pathways to pathogens with epizootic potential or ability to cause significant morbidity, and that disease impacts could reduce the resilience of the population to other conservation threats. Caspian seals are listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and we recommend that resources are invested to support further surveillance programs and to understand how anthropogenic pressures may influence future disease risks. A translated version of this is available in Russian and Kazakh in the Supplementary Material (Presentation 1 and Presentation 2)
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The World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced COVID-19 as a global pandemic in March 2020 which in effect transformed the society, economy, the politics and indeed our everyday life. Such a transformation of power geometries across all manner of spaces and their geographies disrupted the finite balance and wellbeing and continues to displace norms of equanimity, sanity, and hope amidst the catalogue of errors, blunders and inactivity. In India the first COVID-19 case was registered on January 30, 2020. The response of 29 States and 7 Union Territories of India has varied depending on their health, community, law and order and legislative infrastructure. This chapter will attempt to situate an analysis of coronavirus pandemic within the demographic transition framework of India. We examine the critical role of civil societies across the states, divergence of policies and practices relating to social distancing, contact tracing, and differential Public Health Agency infrastructures in operation across the States of India. What began as a stigma, followed by populist rhetoric quickly faded into intense struggle for survival even as oxygen, essential medicines and of course hospital beds became a premium in the most affluent parts of any given city. The grim reaper became a great leveller cutting across socially constructed boundaries of class, gender, age, caste and religion. The management of this pandemic and the established protocols for treatment remain tentative even as we learn lessons from yet another mutant strain. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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The human pandemic caused by Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that started in December, 2019 is still continuing in various parts of the world. The SARS-CoV-2 has evolved through sporadic mutations and recombination events and the emergence of alternate variants following adaptations in humans and human-to-animal transmission (zooanthraponosis) has raised concerns over the efficacy of vaccines against new variants. The animal reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 is unknown despite reports of SARS-CoV- 2-related viruses in bats and pangolins. A recent report of back-andforth transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between humans and minks on mink farms in the Netherlands has sparked widespread interest in zooanthroponotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 followed by reemergence to infect human populations. The risk of animal to human transmission depends on virus-host interaction in susceptible species that may be short-term or long term risks. The short term risk might be due to infection to humans during the viremic stage in susceptible animals. The long term risk might be either due to persistence of the virus at population level or latency of infection leading to risk of evolution and re-emergence of the virus. Experimental studies have identified a range of animals that are susceptible and permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection viz. cats, ferrets, hamsters, mink, non-human primates, tree shrews, raccoon dogs, fruit bats, and rabbits. The health impacts of SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals are unknown and it is likely that other susceptible species have not been discovered yet. Apart from farmed animals, stray cats and rodents have been identified as a potential opportunity for ongoing transmission in intense farming situations. Recognizing animal species that are most susceptible to infection is the first step in preventing ongoing transmission from humans. Minimizing the risk of zooanthraponosis requires multi-sectoral coordination that includes implementation of strict biosecurity measures such as controlled access to farms that house susceptible animals, bio-secure entry and exit protocols, disinfection protocols in farm, down time for animal transport vehicles and daily assessments of human handlers for exposure to SARS-CoV- 2. Hence, active surveillance in animal species that are prioritized based on risk assessment need to be initiated in coordination with health and environment sectors for early identification of emerging and re-emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus in animals.
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Background: It is well knowledge that various viral illnesses may interfere with a man's ability to father children. Through the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, which is highly concentrated in testicular tissue, the corona virus illness known as COVID-19 may cause harm to several organs. On the other hand, there is a paucity of data about the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in sperm, as well as the virus's influence on spermatogenesis and the capacity for fertility. We intended to look into whether or not COVID-19 guys' sperm contained SARS-CoV-2 as well as examine how COVID-19 affected the overall quality of the sperm and the degree to which it's DNA was fragmented. Material(s) and Method(s): The survey was conducted between May 2022 to October 2022, with the participation of 40 male COVID-19 patients who were between the ages of 19 and 45 and enrolled at the RSDKS, Government Medical College, Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh. We tested each sample of sperm with a real-time reverse transcriptase and found no abnormalities. At the time of the initial sample, which took place during COVID-19, a comprehensive examination of the sperm was carried out. This analysis included the calculation of the sperm DNA Fragmentation Index. After 74 days had passed since the first sample, we were able to get the second specimen and carried out the aforementioned tests once again. Result(s): All of the sperm samples that were examined using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) came back negative for SARS-CoV-2. These samples were taken during the first and second sampling. The initial sample had considerably lower levels of fructose, semen volume, vitality, total motility, sperm concentration, total sperm count, percentage of normal morphology, and cytoplasmic droplet percentage than the subsequent samples. On the other hand, the agglutination of the semen, the percentage of head defects, the DNA Fragmentation Index, the liquefaction time, the viscosity of the semen, and the number of leukocytes all rose. At the second sample, these results were inverted, but not to the level that would be considered optimal. These results all had a p-value less than 0.05, meaning they were statistically significant. As a result, COVID-19 has a detrimental impact on the characteristics of the sperm, including the sperm DNA fragmentation index. Conclusion(s): The quality of the semen remained low up until the second time it was sampled, despite the fact that we were unable to discover SARS-CoV-2 in the sample. It is recommended that assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics and sperm banking facilities evaluate the quality of the sperm produced by males infected with COVID-19 and exclude men who have a history of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 until the men's sperm quality recovers to normal.Copyright © 2023 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
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Monkey pox, a zoonotic disease with clinical symptoms resembling smallpox, unexpectedly broke out and spread over the world after the outbreak of COVID-19, severely affecting several of the continents of the world. Monkey pox is currently a member of the genus otrhopox virus, which is a member of the sub family chorodoxvirinae. According to the available knowledge, small mammals and rodents have all been identified as potential sources of the monkey [ox virus]. The disease is characterized by a short febrile illness with lymphadenopathy followed by a rash which spreads centrifugally and passes through phases of macules, papules, vesicles, and pustules. Recovery occurs in most patients within 2-4 wk. Complications are more likely in children, pregnant women, and the immunocompromised. Specific diagnosis is by detection of viral DNA by PCR.Tecovirimat, brincidofovir, and cidofoviir are the medications used to treat monkey pox, immunoglobulin and new compounds are the vaccinations. This review will introduce a general overview of MPXV and describe the epidemiology, clinical features, evaluation, and treatment of monkey pox patients.Copyright © Journal of Global Trends in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
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Mucormycosis is a very morbid and potentially life threatening fungal infection. Sudden emergence and rapidly increasing numbers, of an otherwise rare infection in active Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or recently recovered patients has made us question the cause for this epidemic in India. This retrospective cohort study was done at Government Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) hospital, Hyderabad, a designated nodal centre for mucormycosis for the state of Telangana, between April 2021 and June 2021. This study included patients with mucormycosis who had a recent history of COVID-19 infection. Potential predisposing factors (diabetes mellitus, history of oxygen and corticosteroids usage) and inflammatory marker values, predominantly deranged in COVID-19 infection (D-dimer and Serum Ferritin) were evaluated. A correlation between the marker values and susceptibility factors was also studied. Majority of these subjects showed elevated serum markers and had one or more of the predisposing factors for COVID-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM). A significant association was found between elevated marker values and susceptibility factors (diabetes, use of oxygen). Contrary to the popular belief, that the inadvertent use of steroids, use of industrial oxygen or elevated blood sugars caused this epidemic, our study concludes that their role is limited to affecting the extent of morbidity/mortality. B.1.1.7 and B.6.117 variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV2), predominant during the second wave in India, facilitated the fungal invasion and spread by altering the gene expression and inducing inflammatory and immunomodulatory changes.
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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, many clinical prognostic scoring tools have been proposed or developed to aid clinicians in the disposition and severity assessment of pneumonia. However, there is limited work that focuses on explaining techniques that are best suited for clinicians in their decision making. In this article, we present a new image explainability method named ensemble AI explainability (XAI), which is based on the SHAP and Grad-CAM++ methods. It provides a visual explanation for a deep learning prognostic model that predicts the mortality risk of community-acquired pneumonia and COVID-19 respiratory infected patients. In addition, we surveyed the existing literature and compiled prevailing quantitative and qualitative metrics to systematically review the efficacy of ensemble XAI, and to make comparisons with several state-of-the-art explainability methods (LIME, SHAP, saliency map, Grad-CAM, Grad-CAM++). Our quantitative experimental results have shown that ensemble XAI has a comparable absence impact (decision impact: 0.72, confident impact: 0.24). Our qualitative experiment, in which a panel of three radiologists were involved to evaluate the degree of concordance and trust in the algorithms, has showed that ensemble XAI has localization effectiveness (mean set accordance precision: 0.52, mean set accordance recall: 0.57, mean set F1: 0.50, mean set IOU: 0.36) and is the most trusted method by the panel of radiologists (mean vote: 70.2%). Finally, the deep learning interpretation dashboard used for the radiologist panel voting will be made available to the community. Our code is available at https://github.com/IHIS-HealthInsights/Interpretation-Methods-Voting-dashboard. © 2020 IEEE.
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Introduction and Background: The Corona virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak has rapidly transitioned into a pandemic affecting every field of life. There is a drastic transition also in field of teaching many challenges are faced by students and faculty, also regarding assessments. The present study was done to evaluate the gender wise perception of various modes of online assignments. Methodology: This study was conducted online on 100 first year medical students at the Army College of Medical Sciences, Delhi Cantt, New Delhi, India. A cross-sectional online survey was done using a pretested, self administered questionnaire. Result(s): Out of the sample group of 100 participants 98(53F,45M) responded. The most preferred mode of assessment was multiple choice questions. A significantly higher percentage of male students disliked seminar discussions and hand written assignments. Conclusion(s): A statistically significant dislike for seminars and handwritten assignments by male students could be attributed to their being from rural area and lesser accessibility. The present study conducted over a larger sample group would help medical educators in a better learning and teaching practice in the present scenario and for the future.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
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During the tough times of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), the pharmacy professionals played a significant role by providing their services at various working stations and levels including hospitals, private clinics, community pharmacies, nursing homes, pharmaceutical industries, CROs and various health care programmes. However, the services provided by pharmacists were seldom mentioned and the professionals were not recognized as first line health care professional. The media, authorities and even general public have failed to appreciate the efforts of the pharmacy professionals as a part of essential healthcare team during the disaster. This review is focussed upon the contributions of pharmacists in patient care, healthcare services, patient care and well-being of the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. The various important tasks and roles played by pharmacist are described in the literature which have highly contributed towards a safer and healthier world. We hope that after going through the review and after having the idea about the roles and responsibilities that the pharmacist has played during COVID-19 will change the perspective of the people and the efforts of pharma professionals will be appreciated and recognized.Copyright © The Authors.
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Purpose: Intraoral defects in the maxilla cause communication with the nasopharyngeal complex. The surgically removed palate can have a devastating effect on the appearance and speech of the patient. Obturators allow patients to eat and drink without any suspicion of food entering the oroantral cavities/ pharynx during mastication. This clinical report describes fabrication of a closed hollow bulb obturator using the two-piece double flask technique. Method(s): After the final teeth arrangement was completed, teeth over the defect were removed and separately processed using heat cure acrylic resin. Both the segments are combined by autopolymerizing acrylic resin to form a single hollow-bodied obturator. Conclusion(s): This technique uses a double flasking method of the two segments to control the thickness of the bulb in the defect area, thus decreasing the weight of the obturator.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
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Patent protection emerged as one of the most challenging barriers to the access to medicines, medical equipment, and vaccines as well for the treatment and containment of Covid-19 when it became a pandemic. The severe scarcity of vaccines and pharmaceutical products were weakening the fight against Covid-19, and endeavor to contain the recurrence of pandemic waves while mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 was also on the full swing. Therefore, India and South Africa jointly proposed for patent waiver at WTO in October 2020 to effectively deal with the short-supply of medicines, medical equipment, vaccines and high price concern related to these products. After 20 months of consultation and negotiations with major stakeholders, the WTO came up with decision on patent waiver in 12th Ministerial Conference (12th MC). The time taken to reach to the decision in the pandemic situation and the narrow scope of the decision is a serious concern for the entire world to deal effectively with Covid-19 and its variants. This paper attempts to analyse the patent waiver in the context of the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). It discusses patent barriers, alternative measures and needs for equitable access to vaccines and pharmaceuticals amidst the pandemic. Paper applies the qualitative methodology of research mainly content analysis method in the framework of contextualisation, decontextualisation, and recontextualisation. Results show that suspending certain provisions of the TRIPS required for the production of vaccines and medicines would prove a crucial tool for economies to return to its pre-Covid-19 era. Paper concludes that, patent waiver can be one of the most important tool to fight the Covid-19 (as WHO has not yet declared the end of pandemic) and will pave the way to deal with any such unknown future pandemic effectively. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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In this study, a rapid and sensitive stability indicating reversed phase HPLC method was developed for quantitation of Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir simultaneously in bulk and tablet formulation. Nirmatrelvir and ritonavir were separated on a Thermo C18 column with mobile phase containing 0.01M potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer and acetonitrile (45:55, v/v). The flow rate was 1 mL/min and detection wavelength was 272 nm. Method linearity was established over a range of 75-225 μg/mL for nirmatrelvir and 50-150 μg/mL for ritonavir. Limit of quantification was 0.694μg/mL for nirmatrelvir and 0.820μg/mL for ritonavir. The recovery (%) was 99.96 to 100.45 (Nirmatrelvir) and 100.25 to 101.35 (Ritonavir). The method precisions were 0.11% (Nirmatrelvir) and 0.33% (Ritonavir). Method was suitable to assay nirmatrelvir and ritonavir in tablet formulation (Paxlovid). Stress degradation studies have shown that this method can be implemented to assay nirmatrelvir and ritonavir in the presence of its degradants. © 2023 World Research Association. 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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A large number of people search about their health related problems on the web. However, the number of sites with qualified and verified people answering their queries is quite low in comparison to the number of questions being put up. The rate of queries being searched on such sites has further increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The main reason people find it difficult to find solutions to their queries is due to ineffective identification of semantically similar questions in the medical domain. For most cases, answers to the queries people ask would be present, the only caveat being the question may be present in a different form than the one asked by the particular user. In this research, we propose a Siamese-based BERT model to detect similar questions using a fine-tuning approach. The network is fine-tuned with medical question-answer pairs and then with question-question pairs to get a better question similarity prediction. © 2022 IEEE.