Exploring polyamine interactions and binding pockets in SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a.

Ongoing global pandemic caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) requires urgent development of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tools. Open reading frame 3a (ORF3a) from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is considered to be a potential drug target for COVID-19 treatment. ORF3a is an accessory protein that plays a significant role in virus-host interactions and in facilitating host immune responses. Using putrescine, spermidine and spermine, an aliphatic polyamine for the activity suppression of ORF3a appears to be a promising approach in finding new targets for drug design. In this study, we explored the possible binding poses of polyamines to the ORF3a protein using a combination of various computational approaches i.e. pocket prediction, blind and site-specific molecular docking, molecular dynamics and ligand flooding simulations. The results showed that the tip of cytoplasmic domain and the upper tunnel of transmembrane domain of ORF3a provide a suitable binding site specific for the polyamines. MD simulations revealed the stability of spermidine binding in the upper tunnel pocket of ORF3a through salt bridge and hydrogen bond interactions between the amine groups of the ligand and negatively charged residues of ORF3a. These findings can be helpful in designing new therapeutic drugs.

Meta-analysis of Lung Cancer Patients in COVID-19

Background: Lung cancer patients have a higher chance of getting infected and showing severe outcomes from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This infection influences the respiratory system, albeit other organs are also involved with high risk related to health. The blend of COVID-19 disease and lung cancer predicts a higher mortality rate and more serious clinical results. Objective(s): This research reports the Systematic Review and Meta-analysis correlation between COVID-19 patients with lung cancer and comprehensive proof with regards to the mortality of these patients. Method(s): A systematic review and meta-analysis were planned to evaluate the data from a PubMed systematic search on Lung Cancer Patients reported by COVID-19, as well as an efficient literature review and information research from 2019 to 2021. Result(s): 22 out of 3639 review and research literature assessments were gathered, and 10951 patients were COVID +ve and suffering from can-cer, with 21% of the patients suffering from SCLC and NSCLC, and lung cancer accounting for 6% of the mortality. Conclusion(s): Lung cancer patients who are suffering from COVID-19 additionally reflected the se-riousness of the illness and higher rates of intensive care unit confirmations and mechanical ventila-tion. COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer is related to extreme disease and expanded mortality compared with patients with different tumours. There is conflicting proof of explicit lung cancer therapies' results. Until more conclusive data is available, lung cancer-coordinated therapy should be restarted as soon as possible in mild to moderate cases to avoid decline and cancer-related mor-tality.Copyright © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.

COVID-19: Recent Advances in Lung Ultrasound

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV 2) has become a global threat that has led to tremendous societal instability. The SARS-CoV-2 can exhibit a drastic variation in terms of the signs and symptoms in the patient's body. This virus manifests its existence through cough, fever, sore throat, body aches, chest pain, headaches, and dyspnoea. These can lead to life-threatening respiratory insufficiency, thereby affecting several other organs such as the kid-ney, heart, lungs, liver, and nervous system. The lungs are the primary target site for SARS-CoV-2 and several diagnoses are being deployed in real time for treatment purposes. Although chest CT is the standard method for early diagnosis and management of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), lung ultrasound (US) has some merits over chest CT and may be used in addition to it in the workup of COVID-19. The goal of our review is to look at the observations of the reports on lung ultrasound in COVID-19 patients and the current advances.Copyright © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.

Light Weighted Model Based on Convolutional Neural Network for Detection of COVID-19 Using Chest X-Ray Images

Since the discovery of COVID-19, new variants have been emerging. The latest in this series is BA.2, which is the subvariant of omicron and is more transmissible than the previous ones. People infected with this virus must be diagnosed at the earliest to provide the needed clinical attention. Radiological images of the chest are crucial in diagnosing the severity of BA.2 infection RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction) is one of the approved diagnostics for COVID-19. Moreover, it takes time to give the result as compared to imaging techniques like X-ray and CT scans. Deep learning methods offer a clearer understanding and assist in extracting important data from X-ray images. In the absence of clinical assistance, this research emphasises the benefits of employing deep learning to ascertain the infection's existence. We present a light-weighted convolutional neural network-based deep learning binary classification model in this paper. Dataset consists of 16808 publically available images. The accuracy of our model is 98.76% which is effective to diagnose such patients. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Diagnosis and Possible Use of Traditional Medicinal Plant to combat COVID-19

The novel Coronavirus disease 2019 has turned into a serious public health concern around the globe. Due to its high adaptability in every environment, this novel virus has outspread like fire compared to SARS and MERS, but the fatality rate is lower. This outbreak has caused illness to many people worldwide. Especially, people with lung problems and other chronic diseases are at high risk. Although convincing results have shown the use of chemically synthesized drugs, these drugs have various limitations. Therefore, a medicinal plant might provide a solution for the novel virus along with the recent advancement in computational methods that have paved a new path to operate complex molecules, which will ultimately result in discovering new and advanced drugs. In this review, we have summarized and analyze plant-based natural product which can be used to boost the immune system or act as a remedy for patients suffering from a novel virus. This review also focuses on the structure of COVID-19, various diagnostics tools, preventive measures, and data analysis of the novel Coronavirus of India.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

Development of the India COVID-19 vaccine tracker.

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Since then, efforts were initiated to develop safe and effective vaccines. Till date, 11 vaccines have been included in the WHO's emergency use list. The emergence and spread of variant strains of SARS-CoV-2 has altered the disease transmission dynamics, thus creating a need for continuously monitoring the real-world effectiveness of various vaccines and assessing their overall impact on disease control. To achieve this goal, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) along with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, took the lead to develop the India COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker by synergizing three different public health databases: National COVID-19 testing database, CoWIN vaccination database and the COVID-19 India portal. A Vaccine Data Analytics Committee (VDAC) was constituted to advise on various modalities of the proposed tracker. The VDAC reviewed the data related to COVID-19 testing, vaccination and patient outcomes available in the three databases and selected relevant data points for inclusion in the tracker, following which databases were integrated, using common identifiers, wherever feasible. Multiple data filters were applied to retrieve information of all individuals ≥18 yr who died after the acquisition of COVID-19 infection with or without vaccination, irrespective of the time between vaccination and test positivity. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against the reduction of mortality and hospitalizations was initially assessed. As compared to the hospitalization data, mortality reporting was found to be much better in terms of correctness and completeness. Therefore, hospitalization data were not considered for analysis and presentation in the vaccine tracker. The vaccine tracker thus depicts VE against mortality, calculated by a cohort approach using person-time analysis. Incidence of COVID-19 deaths among one- and two-dose vaccine recipients was compared with that among unvaccinated groups, to estimate the rate ratios (RRs). VE was estimated as 96.6 and 97.5 per cent, with one and two doses of the vaccines, respectively, during the period of reporting. The India COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker was officially launched on September 9, 2021. The high VE against mortality, as demonstrated by the tracker, has helped aid in allaying vaccine hesitancy, augmenting and maintaining the momentum of India's COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Understanding the perceived psychological distress and health outcomes of children during COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: The study explored the impacts of restrictions on the perceived psychological distress and health outcomes in children by their mothers who acted as their full-time caregivers during the pan-India lockdown after the outbreak of COVID-19. Method: A narrative qualitative research design was used and a purposive heterogeneous sample of 20 mothers of children aged 9–11 years were chosen, who were in a full-time caregiving role. Data obtained through a telephonic semi-structured interview were analysed using Narrative Thematic Method. Results: Four themes were generated: aberrant social responsivity and loneliness, decreased interest in regular activities, psychological distress and defiant emotional responses, and negative health outcomes. Anxiety, irritation, quarrelsome behaviours, anger, frustration, feeling low, reduced interest in games, boredom, etc. were reported in children. Decreased appetite, sleep disturbances, complaints of indigestion and multiple complaints of body aches were major negative health outcomes. Conclusions: Mothers described a variety of psychological distress and health outcomes for children due to the extreme restrictions, uncertainty, apprehension, reduced positive engagement and lowered social connection after the outbreak of the pandemic. Family-, media-, school- and community-based real or virtual intervention programmes are recommended to minimize the negative impacts and to guard children against the ill-consequences of restrictions of current and future pandemics. © 2021 Australian Psychological Society.

Technology Driven Studies in Higher Education: A Hands-on Study on Students’ Perspective towards Online Studies amid COVID-19 Outbreak

The paper traces as the prime objective, the students’ perspective towards online studies amid COVID-19 pandemic outbreak which has turn out to be of utmost importance due to increased demand to opt for online learning as the only method of teaching and learning. It must also be addressed that the future of online learning is more promising and challenging as well. Overall rating for the acceptance towards online sessions, comfort level of students, ease of classes, access to and submission of the assignments and assessments, delivery of faculties, level of infrastructure available, existing technologies and internet connectivity of the students were recorded. Data was collected from the students of Department of Hospitality Management of a renowned deemed to be university in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India through questionnaire over eight weeks lockdown period through 84 respondents between April and May 2021. The sample was made up of the undergraduate students. The paper shares a conceptual framework of Students’ Perspective towards Online Studies amid COVID-19 Outbreak. © 2022 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.

Thermal denaturation of a coronavirus envelope (CoVE) protein by a coarse-grained Monte Carlo simulation

Thermal response of an envelope protein conformation from coronavirus-2 (CoVE) is studied by a coarse-grained Monte Carlo simulation. Three distinct segments, the N-terminal, Trans -membrane, and C-terminal are verified from its specific contact profile. The radius of gyration (Rg) reveals a non-monotonic sub-universal thermal response: Rg decays substantially on heating in native phase under low-temperature regime in contrast to a continuous increase on further raising the temperature prior to its saturation to a random-coil in denature phase. The globularity index which is a measure of effective dimension of the protein, decreases as the protein denatures from a globular to a random-coil conformation.

Thermal response of main protease of SARS and COVID-19 via a coarse-grained approach

Large-scale Monte Carlo simulations are performed to investigate local and global thermodynamic properties of the main protease in SARS (MP1) and COVID-19 (MP2) coronaviruses using a bond-fluctuating coarse-grained protein model for a range of temperatures. Each of the proteins MP1 and MP2 consists of 306 residues with only 12 specific sites differentiating the two. Thermal responses of the radius of gyration of MP1 and MP2 are very similar. On raising the temperature, the radius of gyration of both MP1 and MP2 exhibits a slow decay in the sub-native regime and reaches a minimum at a characteristic temperature beyond which it increases continuously before saturating at high temperatures to random-coil conformations. The variation of the root mean square displacement of the center of mass of MP1 and MP2 with the time step is also similar to a function of temperature, except that MP2 slows down more than MP1 at low temperatures. Average contact profiles (and complementary mobility profiles) of MP1 and MP2 show their unique segmental globularity, which reduces on raising the temperature, in general, with a distinct trend around few residues. For example, a considerable high degree of contacts is found around residue K180 of MP1 than around residue N180 of MP2, in contrast to higher contacts around residue L286 of MP2 than around I286 of MP1. The changes in contacts of residues V86 and K88 in MP2 with respect to those of residues L86 and R88 in MP1 are also appreciable, but not as large. Distinctions in segmental structures triggered by unique contacts of MP1 and MP2 may be a factor in distinguishing the viral effects of SARS and COVID-19. (c) 2022 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Emergence of Silicon Photonics in the Field of Biomedical Sensing Applications: A Review

In the last few decades, the human body is prone to many different types of infectious diseases. This involves making use of technologies for detecting and monitoring the factors responsible for these diseases, and the devices should be free from any kind of harmful radiations. Photonics is considered to be one of the new advancements in the field of technology which can fulfill the need or requirement of biomedical sensing applications. The scope of this review paper summarizes the concept of designing methods and material structures for biomedical applications. These designing methods include plane wave expansion, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), Helium ion lithography, band-gap variations, and refractive index variation of the material. The losses that are incurred or induced during the wave propagation includes adsorption, attenuation, reflection, and diffraction. There are several physical structures of the materials mainly 1D, 2D, 3D, three-layer silicon, five-layer, seven-layer, etc. The above mentioned material structures are used to detect cancer cell, DNA and protein concentration, identifying different mutation of SARS virus which includes COVID-19, as well as in the field of bio-sensing, bio-screening, and drug delivery system. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Mathematical model and interpretation of crowding effects on SARS-CoV-2 using Atangana-Baleanu fractional operator

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, which infects a normal person through droplets of infected person and has its route via mouth, eyes, nose, or hands is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Coronavirus causes severe infections that include acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute lung injury, and various others. SARS-CoV-2 infection activates innate and adaptive immune responses, but uncontrolled, inflammatory, and impaired responses lead to harmful tissue damage. Crowding is the major factor involved in the increasing trend in COVID-19 cases. Modeling of this effect will help in predicting the effects of overcrowding on the overall population. In this chapter, we define a model depicting the crowding effects of SARS-CoV-2 virus and examine the existence and uniqueness of the results involving Atangana-Baleanu fractional operator using a fixed-point method. We then interpret the model explaining its significance. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Role of Telecommunications in Digitalised Education for Youths A Case Study of Airtel with Special Reference to Rajasthan

Telecommunications with the latest technology has helped in the promotion of education among the development of youths of the Indian economy, during Covid 19. With the latest applications on the internet, an academician can educate youths even from long distances. Digitalised education through the internet provided by the telecommunication sector is a relief in educational development and drastic changes have become possible only because of this. Distance learning/e-learning help provide a good education structure for the youths where even face-to-face contact is not necessary. The telecom sector and its technology have helped in reducing the gaps and dropouts in Rajasthan. Thus, there is a lot that digitalised education has to offer to the world. Therefore, this study (with special reference to Rajasthan) titled 'Digitalised Education: Analysis of Role of Telecommunications in Digitalised Education for Youths' (A Case Study of Airtel With Special Reference to Rajasthan)' focuses on the role of telecommunication in the educational development of youths of our country. It aims at analysing the role of Airtel in the promotion of e-learning or digitalised education. For the study, primary data was collected from four districts of Rajasthan. The sample size consisted of 300 Airtel customers.

A New Antiviral Regimen Against SARS-CoV-2 Based on Nanoviricide’s Biopolymer (NV-CoV-2)

NV-CoV-2, a nanoviricide composed of covalently attached polyethylene glycol and alkyl pendants that are designed to bind free virion particles of multiple strains of coronaviruses in a broad-spectrum manner at multiple points. The binding interaction is like a nano-velcro-tape and may cause a lipid–lipid fusion between nanoviricide micelle and the lipid envelope of the virus. A nanoviricide can encapsulate the virus and dismantle it without any involvement of the host immune system, ultimately disabling the infectibility of the host cells. Thus, it may be expected to count a stronger and synergistic antiviral effect by combining NV-CoV-2 with other anti-coronavirus regimens like remdesivir. Furthermore, some ligands similar to the SARS-CoV S-protein are designed by molecular modeling and attached to the nanoviricide at the same site as where the cognate cellular receptor, ACE2, binds. As a result, a competitive binding inhibition may occur. A nanoviricide can encapsulate other antiviral compounds and protect them from serum-mediated degradation in vivo. This makes the antiviral compounds available for a longer period of time to interact with RNA polymerase and inhibit it. Altogether, a multipoint antiviral efficacy can be achieved with our nanoviricide, NV-CoV-2. Copyright © 2022 Chakraborty, Diwan, Barton, Arora, Thakur, Chiniga, Tatake, Pandey, Holkar, Holkar and Pond.

Tsunami of India's Second COVID-19 Wave: B.1.617 and Black Fungus

The catastrophic second wave of COVID-19 caused over 26 million cases in India making it the epicenter of the global pandemic. The sudden surge in COVID-19 infections is intertwined with various variants including B.1.617. Globally, health authorities have expressed major concerns that key mutations L452R and E484Q located at the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein would have additive effects on SARS-CoV-2 evasion from the vaccine-elicited antibodies. As India struggles with COVID-19 cases spiraling out of control, it is simultaneously caught by escalating cases of “Black Fungus.” Researchers are hurrying to determine the many circulating variants and to know the unknowns about biology and pathology of the mutating SARS-CoV-2 to analyze the threat possessed by them.

Maintaining hygiene and sanitation in food handlings areas of hotels amid covid-19 outbreak

The current circumstances have led towards a consideration to keep proper hygiene and sanitation in hotels kitchen during Covid-19 pandemic to prevent from food contamination. This study aims to assess need analysis on maintaining the level of hygiene and sanitation in hotels kitchen amid Covid-19 outbreak. Food handlers should be aware about the necessary to improve the hygiene practices. Proper utilization of disinfectants and chemicals with utmost care is very necessary to maintain hygiene and sanitation. This paper is aims to assess need analysis on maintaining the level of hygiene and sanitation in hotels kitchen amid Covid-19 outbreak. The current circumstances have led towards a consideration to keep proper hygiene and sanitation in hotels kitchen during Covid-19 pandemic to prevent from food contamination. Data was collected through a survey during the lockdown period from the professionals hailing from Food and Beverage Production and Service departments of renowned hotels. The findings suggested towards the various aspects viz. personal hygiene, adhering to norms, handling food responsibly, sanitation at workplace and proper waste disposal amid COVID-19 outbreak with the above mentioned points in kitchen is of utmost importance mostly when there is a pandemic disease like Covid-19 which needs to be tackled with great care. © 2022 Nickan Research Institute. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the Impact of Personality Characteristic on Emotion Resilience

This study assesses emotional resilience (ER) among people residing in the eastern region of India based on six demographic factors age, gender, education, marital status, working hours and financial status. MATERIAL/METHODS: Researchers conducted a survey through questionnaire among people aged 25 and 75 (mean age =50, mathrm{N}=508) from 1 September 2021 to 20 October 2021 after two COVID-19 outbreaks and analysed the data using the chi-square test, Cronbach alpha, multiple regression (MR) and logistic regression (LR). RESULTS: Results of present research show that ER negatively correlates with age (coeff. =14.315, mathrm{p}=5.298mathrm{E}-11) and positively with financial status (mathrm{t}=8.924, mathrm{p}=1.876mathrm{E}-09). The three personality characteristics impacting ER most were: 1. I am playful. I find humour in rough situations and can laugh at myself. 2. I am curious. I ask questions. I want to know how things work. I like to try new ways of doing things. 3. I learn valuable lessons from my experiences and the experiences of others. CONCLUSION: Of six demographic variables, only two (age and financial status) correlated with ER. © 2022 IEEE.

Chest Radiography in COVID-19 Pregnancy and Its Clinico-biochemical Correlation: A Retrospective Single-center Study

Aim: We have witnessed diverse presentations of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in pregnant females during first and second waves. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of chest X-ray and its correlation of severity scoring with clinical, laboratory parameters and maternal-fetal outcome during management of COVID-19 pregnant women in low resource settings. Methodology: This was a retrospective observational study conducted at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida, from May 2020 to May 2021. The study included 185 pregnant women in second and third trimesters with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 disease. The chest radiographs of all patients were analyzed and severity scoring was done using modified radiographic assessment of lung edema (RALE) criteria. The correlation of severity index with clinical and biochemical profile of patients with normal and abnormal X-ray findings was compared. Two-tailed p-value of <0.05 was considered significant in our study. Results: Out of 185 patients, 38 had abnormal X-ray findings, whereas 147 had normal X-ray. A significant difference was observed in mean values of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), ferritin, C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, total leukocyte count (TLC), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels across both X-ray groups. The proportion of pregnant mothers with live birth, high-risk pregnancy, steroid treatment, oxygen supplementation, invasive ventilation, and number of presenting symptoms varied statistically across both the X-ray groups (p-value <0.05). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that an X-ray score of “5.5” has the best prognostic significance of maternal death with sensitivity of 87.5 and 96.6% specificity. Conclusion: Chest radiography for the assessment of disease status in COVID-19 pregnancies is an effective and affordable alternative to CT scan in low resource settings.