Design of Piezoelectric Heart Rate Monitoring Sensor for Wearable Applications

Having a good heart rate is important for a long lasting life and it is very important to monitor the heart rate of a person systematically. During this covid pandemic, it is highly necessary to monitor the pulse of a patient who is affected with covid. In order to keep track of the heart rate it is difficult to visit the hospital every time. Also, the available methods causes discomfort to the patients and these methods are very costly for a normal person. Piezoelectric pressure sensors are replacements for such highly expensive diagnosis systems. These sensors are easily accessible, have low cost and has high robustness. Since they give rapid responses to the input, it is widely used for medical, industrial and aerospace applications. This paper aims in designing and simulating a model of piezoelectric pressure sensor in COMSOL Multi physics platform satisfying the patients need of comfort and the figure of merits of pressure sensor. © 2022 IEEE.

SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in Individuals With Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Compared With Controls.

OBJECTIVE: Data for the association between diabetes and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) susceptibility are conflicting. We aimed to evaluate this association using an analytical cross-sectional study design. METHODS: Study participants were recruited from endocrine clinics of our hospital and belonged to 3 groups: group 1 (type 1 diabetes mellitus [T1DM]), group 2 (type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM]), and group 3 (controls). All participants submitted blood samples for SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 immunoglobulin G antibody test (LIAISON; DiaSorin) and were interviewed for a history of documented infection. RESULTS: We evaluated a total of 643 participants (T1DM, 149; T2DM, 160; control, 334; mean age, 37.9 ± 11.5 years). A total of 324 (50.4%) participants were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2. The seropositivity rate was significantly higher in the T1DM (55.7% vs 44.9%, P = .028) and T2DM (56.9% vs 44.9%, P = .013) groups than in the control group. The antibody levels in seropositive participants with T1DM and T2DM were not significantly different from those in seropositive controls. On multivariable analysis, low education status (odds ratio [OR], 1.41 [95% CI, 1.03-1.94]; P = .035), diabetes (OR, 1.68 [95% CI, 1.20-2.34]; P = .002), and overweight/obesity (OR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.10-2.10]; P = .012) showed a significant association with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. The association between diabetes and SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity was found to further increase in participants with coexisting overweight/obesity (adjusted OR, 2.63 [95% CI, 1.54-4.47]; P < .001). CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity, assessed before the onset of the national vaccination program, was significantly higher in participants with T1DM and T2DM than in controls. The antibody response did not differ between seropositive participants with and without diabetes. These findings point toward an increased SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility for patients with diabetes, in general, without any differential effect of the diabetes type.

The two-year deadline to complete the International Seabed Authority’s Mining Code: Key outstanding matters that still need to be resolved

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is an autonomous international organization established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) to organize and control the exploration for and exploitation of seabed mineral resources in areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. A system for exploration of mineral resources have been in existence for some time now and the ISA is currently in the midst of developing regulations for exploitation activities. Between 2014 and 2020, the ISA has made considerable progress in respect of the latter. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the work of the ISA, including the development of regulations for exploitation, have been on hiatus since March 2020. In late June 2021, the Republic of Nauru invoked a legal provision that essentially compels the ISA to accelerate the completion of the exploitation regulations. If the ISA fails to complete this within the prescribed time of two years, i.e. by July 2023, the ISA would have to consider and decide upon applications for mining contracts notwithstanding the absence of the exploitation regulations. Two years is not a long period, especially given that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to prevent member States from meeting in person at the ISA to continue negotiations on the exploitation regulations. Moreover, apart from having to resolve outstanding matters in relation to the exploitation regulations, the ISA would also need to address numerous other matters that intrinsically connect to the design of a functional system of exploitation. This paper reflects upon the key outstanding matters, both within and outside the exploitation regulations, which the ISA would need to urgently address and resolve within the two-year deadline.

Development of a preoperative Early Warning Scoring System to identify highly suspect COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading at an unprecedented speed. Lack of resources to test every patient scheduled for surgery and false negative test results contribute to considerable stress to anesthesiologists, along with health risks to both caregivers and other patients. The study aimed to develop an early warning screening tool to rapidly detect 'highly suspect' among the patients scheduled for surgery. METHODS: Review of literature was conducted using terms 'coronavirus' OR 'nCoV 2019' OR 'SARS-CoV-2' OR 'COVID-19' AND 'clinical characteristics' in PUBMED and MedRxiv. Suitable articles were analysed for symptoms and investigations commonly found in COVID-19 patients. Additionally, COVID-19 patient's symptomatology and investigation profiles were obtained through a survey from 20 COVID-19 facilities in India. Based on literature evidence and the survey information, an Early Warning Scoring System was developed. RESULTS: Literature search yielded 3737 publications, of which 195 were considered relevant. Of these 195 studies, those already included in the meta-analyses were not considered for independent assessment. Based on the combined data from meta-analyses and survey, risk factors of COVID-19 disease identified were as follows: history of exposure, fever, cough, myalgias, lymphocytopaenia, elevated C-reactive protein (CRP)/lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and radiographic infiltrates. CONCLUSION: Development of this Early Warning Scoring System for preoperative screening of patients may help in identifying 'highly suspect' COVID-19 patients, alerting the physician and other healthcare workers on the need for adequate personal protection and also to implement necessary measures to prevent cross infection and contamination during the perioperative period.