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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most prevalent infectious human disease spreading in several parts of the world caused by SARS Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 transmission is mainly spreading via the respiratory tract, personal contact, digestive tract and hospital-acquired infections. Health care workers particularly working in clinics practicing traditional medicine need to be in close contact with patients, so they have a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this paper, therefore, the personal-protective measures need to be followed by healthcare workers in traditional medicine clinics during COVID-19 pandemic are emphasized, to enlighten them about self-protection and to improve the safety of such a special group of traditional healers.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.
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Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is an inflammatory condition where there is marked cytopenia and large-scale activation of macrophages and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells. HLH may be of two types - primary HLH caused by genetic abnormalities and secondary HLH due to infections, malignancies, autoimmune disorders, rheumatologic disorders, and metabolic dysfunctions. We describe a case of HLH following the first dose of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Corona Virus vaccine. In this patient, there was no clear precipitant of HLH. The most probable explanation could be intense immune activation by vaccine constituents producing aberrant activation of inflammatory cytokines. There were no signs of infection or malignancy. Since our patient was clinically stable, his symptoms had resolved and HLH parameters had improved, no HLH-specific therapy was given.
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Recently, amid the pandemic of COVID-2019, the north-east Delhi region experienced two small earthquakes in a short span of 1 month;the first occurred on 12th April 2020 (Mw 3.5) and the other on 10th May 2020 (Mw 3.4). These events were followed by 4 aftershocks of magnitude Mw ≤ 3.0. We carried out morphotectonic (high stream length-gradient index) and static Coulomb stress failure analyses to delineate the hidden causative fault(s) in the region. In the study, ASTER DEM data of 30 m resolution and Survey of India (SoI) toposheets on 1:50,000 scales were used for morphotectonic analysis. The analysis depicted a very high stream length-gradient (SL) and fall in elevation in the epicentral area, suggesting the area to be tectonically active with a NE-SW trending fault line. In addition, the nature of static Coulomb failure stress contours for both the main events, Mw 3.5 and Mw 3.4, suggests an NNE-SSW trending high Coulomb stress regime. Such a high coulomb stress regime is obvious at the location where a high SL index and fall in elevation were marked, which clearly indicates the presence of NNE-SSW trending a causative fault, named ‘Khanpur-Japti fault’.
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Introduction: The world has been facing a pandemic of COVID-19, and while dealing with this pandemic is not easy for anyone, it is especially hard on health care workers (HCWs) as they are the front-line warriors. Aim of the study: To assess the psychological disturbances that the COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted on healthcare workers in India and to assess the correlation between different parameters including socio-demographic variables, job-related variables, personal history and psychological disturbances such as perceived stress, depression and anxiety. Material and methods: Health care workers from a few tertiary care institutes (government as well as private sectors, which are caring for patients with COVID-19) in a western state of India were invited to participate with a self-administered online questionnaire. That questionnaire consisted of self-report scales including Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 items (DASS 21), and the Perceived Stress Scale with socio-demographic, job-related and personal details. Results: Out of 302 subjects, on the Perceived Stress Scale, 101 (33.44%) reported low, 185 (61.26%) moderate and 16 (5.30%) high levels of stress. On DASS 21, depression was reported by 56 (18.54%) subjects, 60 (19.87%) subjects were found to have anxiety and 50 (16.56%) subjects reported to have stress. Perceived stress score on Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was significantly correlated with the depression, anxiety and stress score on DASS 21. A few risk factors such as female gender, single marital status, past history of psychiatric illness, working as interns and residents doctors with lesser experience and high risk duty areas such as COVID-19 duties in a particular situation were significantly associated with psychological disturbances such as stress, depression and anxiety. Conclusions: We observed significant psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on HCWs as well as a few risk factors related to it. Supporting the mental health of HCWs is a critical part of the public health response to maintain an adequate workforce and to maximize the ability of HCWs to face this pandemic. © 2020 Termedia Publishing House Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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The COVID19 pandemic has adversely affected the library environment and its services. Since academic institutions are closed, librarians are forced to adopt more electronic contents to meet the need of users. Managing the complexity of eResources is another great challenge for the librarians. As existing Library Management Software is incompetent to manage the entire life cycle of electronic resources, open source electronic resource management system products are rapidly gaining momentum around the globe. In this context, the present research study examines the library practices regarding the use of CORAL an open source electronic resource management (ERMS) for the effective management of subscribed eResources in their respective libraries nationwide. The paper also investigates the problems and challenges faced by the library while installing and using CORAL ERMS. It also analyses the overall perception of Library Professionals towards the CORAL and the level of satisfaction with the features, functions and different modules of CORAL ERMS. The lion's share of the Library Professionals is satisfied with the CORAL. However, due to lack of vendor support and shortage of skilled workforce, the software is getting less attention across the library professionals than it deserves. © 2020, Library Philosophy and Practice. All Rights Reserved
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COVID-19 has now been declared a 'Global Pandemic' by WHO. The pandemic has affected more than 200 countries since its first outbreak in December 2019. The spread of COVID-19 resulted in a state of lockdown globally. India too, closed its borders to contain the virus. Those worst affected by the pandemic are migrant workers at the 'Bottom of Pyramid' (BoP) due to unemployment and lack of monetary aid. Family sustenance has been difficult for them, with children impacted physically and psychologically. This paper proposes a ProductService System (PSS) that provides essential emergency kits to infants (6-12 months), children (1-6 years), and their mothers during such emergencies. This PSS scheme strives to fulfil their basic hygiene, nutritional and psychological requirements. Three types of kits are distributed to the migrant families using an online service platform. The entire system operates on a sustainable, single-use plastic-free design. The case study of this humanitarian scheme is specific to India but is also valid for other developing nations. Reaching out to the communities is achieved through a smartphone app and website. The system uses ICT infrastructure to connect various stakeholders and can be admirably adapted to the framework of an inclusive smart city. © 2020 IEEE.
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We evaluated seismic background noise at national network in India using PSD, Fourier spectra, Spectrogram, and HVSR approach, before and during the nationwide lockdown declared due to COVID-19 pandemic. The analyses were performed to understand characteristics of noise wave-field in such unprecedented situation and its effect on site response at the station. SBN in long period (> 20 s), primary microseism band (10–20 s) and secondary microseisms (1–10 s) performed well and the noise levels found within the new LNM and HNM. However, in short period (< 1 s) the variation in SBN performance found significant before and during the lockdown. We observed that the SBN at each site in short period (< 1 s) is found to be about 10–12 dB noisier in the time segment prior to the lockdown. The HVSR analysis of SBN at recording sites clearly indicates that the predominant frequency for the entire region remains stable and independent of seismic noise generated before or during lockdown. A substantial variation in amplification factor, however, observed in either situation. Most of the stations across the country experienced diminished cultural noise subsequent to declaration of lockdown on 25 March 2020. Such drastic decrease in cultural noise significantly enhanced the performance of noisy stations, and the best recording stations picked the seismic phases originated from micro to small earthquakes. We suggest installation of seismometers at some depth below the surface, particularly at disturbed sites, may substantially reduce short period noise in earthquake recording. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Rotavirus gastroenteritis is a worldwide disease affecting primarily infants, young children and young ones of wide variety of mammalian and avian species. Diarrhoea in goat kids is most frequently found associated with Group A rotavirus (GARV) and another enteric pathogen bovine coronavirus (BCoV), a major viral pathogen associated with neonatal diarrhoea. Enteric BCoV replicates in epithelial cells of gut, destroying villi, resulting in severe, often bloody diarrhoea in calves. It requires highly sensitive and specific assays to diagnose the disease at field level. In the present study, a real-time reverse-transcriptase (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were developed and validated for specific detection and quantification of GARV and BCoV with high sensitivity and specificity. For real-time RT-PCR, primers were designed to target nucleocapsid gene for BCoV;NSP4 gene and VP6 gene were designed for GARV using discontiguous conserved sequences. Real-time RT-PCR assay was standardized by serial dilution of positive GARV and BCoV RNA. The rotavirus real-time RT-PCR assay was found to be specific to rotavirus, but broadly reactive to GARV. The sensitivity of the assay for detecting rotavirus and BCoV in faecal samples and tissue sample was found to be high in such reactions. The real-time RT-PCR assay was effective in detecting GARV and BCoV in all positive samples obtained from sheds, farms and outbreaks. The results of this study demonstrate that the real-time RT-PCR assay for viral enteritis is broadly reactive, specific, and sensitive for detection of GARV and BCoV in faecal sample and tissue samples. © 2020 Indian Council of Agricultural Research. All rights reserved.
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In the 21st century, human civilization has witnessed three major epidemics caused by Coronaviruses namely severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) in 2003, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS CoV) in 2012 and 2019 novel coronavirus (2019 nCoV) or coronavirus disease (COVID 19) in 2019. Among these, COVID-19 has greater transmission and mortality rate. 2019 nCoV belongs to a large family of positive sense single-stranded RNA viruses (+ssRNA) that can be isolated in different animal species. The most communal symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, and shortness of breath during the incubation period (2-14 days) of infection. COVID-19 transmission is occurring from infected humans to close contact with one another through respiratory droplets, coughs, and sneezes of infected person. Moreover, the virus containing surfaces may also transmit the infection. Diagnosis is being carried out by collecting a nasopharyngeal swab or sputum specimen for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Rapid diagnosing methods are also under development which can diagnose COVID 19 in few minutes to hours. Currently, there is no specific cure or preventive therapeutics available. Hence, based upon limited in-vitro and anecdotal data, Chloroquine, or Hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir, Lopinavir and Ritonavir are being employed in the management. Search for new specific anti-viral drugs from natural/synthetic origins is under full swing and many of them are currently used as chemotherapeutic drugs under clinical investigation. Yet, there is a strong need for development of vaccine, which may take several months to few years for the development.