ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has created much concern among general public, policy makers and especially heath care workers. The reason is not one but varied such as anxiety, fear, compromised health, isolation, economic crisis and social stigma all of which leads to psychological stress. The disease became a global concern due to unmanageable death even in much developed countries. Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a newly discovered disease caused by coronavirus which reside both in humans and animals. The article is a detailed review from the origin of the disease, its progression in India and its various other aspects.Copyright © 2023, Informatics Publishing Limited and Society for Biocontrol Advancement. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
With respect to the explosion of single-use plastic packaging consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, environmentally friendly substitutes are critically needful for sustainable development. Therefore, the present work focuses on the functional properties of bioplastic blends prepared through hot compressing molding of thermoplastic starch (TPS) and spent coffee grounds (SCG) in different ratios (0%–20% SCG) as the potential features of SCG were extensively employed in biocomposites for the first time. The insertion of dark brown SCG into TPS hindered UV transmission by 100% at 320 nm and 99.2% at 400 nm. Moreover, the samples with 15% and 20% SCG induced a surge in radical scavenging activity from 7.95% to over 92% at a concentration of 0.1 g/ml owing to the rich source of antioxidants in SCG. The lignin component and high carbon content also improved the thermal performance of TPS/SCG blends, enhancing thermal stability, delaying onset and maximum degradation temperatures, and achieving the HB rating in the UL-94 test. Compared to a pure TPS matrix, TPS blends incorporating up to 10% SCG exhibited improvement in elastic modulus without deterioration of tensile strength. © 2022 Society of Plastics Engineers.
ABSTRACT
Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) is a new disease that is spreading worldwide. It easily spreads from the contaminated individual to others through beads of salivation or release from the nose. This pandemic situation proved that doctors, nurses, and front line workers are real-life heroes. The patients affected due to COVID-19 is increasing regularly. Doctors and nurses who treat the patients wear all their personal protective equipment and clothes, yet, they get influenced as well. Doctors and nurses can't be in direct contact with the patients frequently since the probability of spread is high. The patients need to be served with food, medicines, and other required things on a regular time basis. To reduce the spread, human force, and to maintain a strategic distance from COVID-19 affected patients, the best way is to utilize an automated guided vehicle (AGV) to carry the essentials and transport it to the patient's room as per the line map given. A hospital environment that depicts the isolated ward with the COVID-19 affected patients is created using Webots. Four mobile robots are left inside the environment with a map that navigates it to the patient's room. The robots are simulated with the environment as such two robots take care of the left half and the other two robots take care of the right half of the isolated ward. © 2020 IEEE.