Sanitization Using Autonomous Drone

Since the COVID -19 epidemic has nearly brought about global catastrophe, every chance to make things better must be considered. One such technique for improvement is airborne decontamination. Researching this method's efficacy in the pandemic is vital since it can be used for surface cleaning of bigger areas. There are numerous instances of using drones to disinfect areas affected by epidemics, but best practices and factors affecting effectiveness have not yet been found. The adaptable uses of agricultural drones are evident from reports about utilizing drones for disinfection during a pandemic. The authors of this study calculated the potential amount of disinfectant fluid per unit area using various parameters for fly speed, flight altitude, and flow rate. As a result, by adjusting the settings, a range of disinfectant concentrations per unit area can be provided. Even though the results create a lot of new queries, they can be used to determine appropriate flying characteristics based on various disinfection liquids. © 2022 IEEE.

Diagnosis of Covid-19 from Chest X-Ray Images Using Wavelet-Based Depth Wise Convolution Network

There is a great need to create and put in place a method of automatic detection as a substitute for conventional diagnosis for COVID-19 detection that can be employed on a commercialscale because there aren't as many COVID-19 test kits availablein medical institutions. In particular, chest X-Ray scans can beexamined to assess whether a patient has COVID. Due to the availability of numerous big annotated picture datasets, convolutional neural networks have achieved remarkable success in image analysis and classification. Input is obtained in the form of chest x-rays images. Output results are acquired instantly in real-time which predicts if the person suffers from Covid or not. Modern technique use the RCNN algorithm, which makes them less precise and time-consuming. We suggest an automated deep learning-base method for extracting COVID-19 from chest X-ray pictures. For analysing the chest X-Ray pictures, suggested method offers enhanced depth-wise convolution neural network. Through wavelet decomposition, multiresolution analysis is incorporatedinto the network. In order to identify the condition, the network is given the frequency sub-bands that were recovered from the input pictures. The network's goal is to determine whether the input image belongs to the Covid-19 class or not. The Advantage of the proposed system are that it could be the very first-of its kind, cost-efficient, and highly accurate application that provide complete and accurate covid - 19 diagnosis. © 2022 IEEE.

Association of Lactate Dehydrogenase and C-reactive Protein Levels as Predictors of Respiratory Failure in Covid-19

Background and Aim: Inflammatory markers reproduce amount of disease development or revival. They are used to assess improvement or worsening of the illness. Hence the aim of the study was to determine the correlation of laboratory markers (LDH and CRP) and oxygen requirement with clinical severity in Covid 19 subjects. Material(s) and Method(s): There were 216 subjects admitted to the emergency department of the hospital. The incorporated subjects were divided into two groups: group I subjects had covid19 pneumonia and in group 2 subjects did not have covid 19 pneumonia. Blood count and serum values of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were quantified in all subjects enrolled in the research. An automated hematology analyzer was utilized to perform blood count according to the manufacturer's protocol. Serum samples were analyzed on a fully automated clinical chemistry Instrument. Result(s): LDH was amplified in 82% of subjects, CRP resulted elevated in 98% of subjects, only 21% of subjects presented pathological values of white blood cell (WBC), but 18% had a neutrophils count above the upper normal range value, while 89% of subjects had lymphocytes count below the lower normal range value, as formerly reported. Conclusion(s): LDH and CRP could be helpful for the premature identification of subjects who are at elevated risk for acute respiratory failure. They should be considered a helpful test for the early recognition of subjects who need closer respiratory monitoring and more aggressive supportive therapies to avoid poor prognosis. These subjects could be benefited from a quick hospitalization, a closer observation and correct treatments. Copyright © 2022, Dr Yashwant Research Labs Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stroke in patients with COVID associated Mucormycosis: A Report of Two Cases

Mucormycosis is a rare and invasive fungal disease with potentially fatal outcome. It most commonly affects patients with compromised immunity, especiallly those with poorly controlled diabetes. The incidence of mucormycosis has increased after the COVID-19 pandemic and both COVID-19 and mucormycosis are associated with an increased incidence of stroke. We present a report of two cases of COVID associated mucormycosis who had stroke. A 50-year-old patient with uncontrolled diabetes developed swelling of left eye and face ultimately leading to complete ophthalmoplegia of left eye. Imaging studies of brain revealed infarcts. MRI/MRA brain showed left internal carotid artery thrombosis, cavernous sinus thrombosis and a brain abscess in left temporal lobe. A second patient was a 65-year-old diabetic and hypertensive male who had COVID and then developed right MCA territory infarct and right sided cavernous sinus thrombosis. Diagnostic nasal endoscopy and biopsy was suggestive of mucormycosis in both the cases. Both these cases were managed with combination of tight glycemic control, antifungal therapy, and surgery. Clinicians should be aware of the association of stroke with COVID and COVID associated mucormycosis (CAM). Copyright © 2022 International Medical Sciences Academy. All rights reserved.

Psychological impact amongst patients with COVID-19 in Perak state.

INTRODUCTION: Psychological distress had been documented since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019. The aim of the study is to describe the psychological impact among those who were hospitalized for COVID-19 infection within 6 months after being discharged from the hospital. The psychological impact in this study is defined as depression, anxiety, and stress. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from July 2020 till August 2021 in a regional state hospital, north of Malaysia. All patients requiring hospitalization for COVID-19 were approached within the first 2 weeks after admission to administer the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items (DASS-21) scale. Follow-up phone calls were made within 3 months of discharged to enquire about the DASS-21 items as well as the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) scale items. Participants above the age of 18 and technology savvy to answer an online questionnaire were recruited for the study. We excluded participants with a known history of psychotic disorder from the study. We utilised the DASS-21 to screen for depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as the IES-R to identify symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Participants could answer the questionnaires in either English or Bahasa Malaysia. For comparison of two categorical data, a chi-square was applied. A univariate analysis was first conducted and all variables with a p ≤0.3 was then entered into the multivariate analysis for the final output. Other than the univariate analysis, all other p values <0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. All data collected were tabulated and analysed in the SPSS v21.0 system. RESULTS: A total of 306 out of 696 COVID-19 patients responded. The mean age for the participants was 31.69 (SD:11.19) years old. From the total, 54.2% were ladies, 78.8% were Malay, 50.7% were unmarried, 55.2% had higher education, and 67.6% were employed at the time of the survey. We found 20.5% of the participants were depressed, 38.9% had moderate anxiety, and 17.3% were stressed. From the total, 31.7% of the participants were deemed to have had some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ranging from mild to severe. From the final multivariate analysis, it was found that depression (p=0.02) had a 2.78 times likeliness of having PTSD, anxiety (p<0.001) had a 3.35 times likeliness of having PTSD and stressed patients (p=0.02) 2.86 times likeliness of having PTSD when compared to those without PTSD. CONCLUSION: Patients reported to suffer from symptoms of PTSD and might benefit from psychological interventions to mitigate the impact in the long run.

Cerebral Venous Thrombosis in COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 causes a hypercoagulable state leading to thrombosis. Many of these thrombotic complications occur in those with severe disease and late in the disease course. COVID-19 has recently been associated with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). Objective: To study the onset of CVT in relation to COVID-19 and compare their characteristics and outcomes with non-COVID CVT patients admitted during the same period. Materials and Methods: This multicentric, retrospective study conducted between April 4 and October 15, 2020, included adult patients with CVT who were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and compared them with CVT patients who were negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus hospitalized during the same period. We studied their clinical profile, risk factors for CVT, and markers of COVID coagulopathy, imaging characteristics, and factors influencing their outcomes. Results: We included 18 COVID-19-infected patients and compared them with 43 non-COVID-19 CVT patients. Fourteen patients in the COVID-19 group presented with CVT without the other typical features of COVID-19. Thirteen patients had non-severe COVID-19 disease. Twelve patients had a good outcome (mRS ≤2). Mortality and disability outcomes were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: Our study suggests a possible association between COVID-19 and CVT. CVT can be the presenting manifestation of an underlying COVID-19, occurring early in the course of COVID-19 and even in those with mild disease. Patients with worse GCS on admission, abnormal HRCT chest, severe COVID-19, and need for invasive ventilation had a poor outcome.

Pedagogical Principles in the Online Teaching of NLP: A Retrospection

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought online education to the forefront of pedagogical discussions. To make this increased interest sustainable in a postpandemic era, online courses must be built on strong pedagogical foundations. With a long history of pedagogic research, there are many principles, frameworks, and models available to help teachers in doing so. These models cover different teaching perspectives, such as constructive alignment, feedback, and the learning environment. In this paper, we discuss how we designed and implemented our online Natural Language Processing (NLP) course following constructive alignment and adhering to the pedagogical principles of LTU. By examining our course and analyzing student evaluation forms, we show that we have met our goal and successfully delivered the course. Furthermore, we discuss the additional benefits resulting from the current mode of delivery, including the increased reusability of course content and increased potential for collaboration between universities. Lastly, we also discuss where we can and will further improve the current course design. ©2021 Association for Computational Linguistics.

Challenges and Changes in Pediatric Surgical Practice during the COVID-19 Pandemic Era.

Aim: Working practices in pediatric surgery underwent enormous changes during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. While certain surgical conditions in children can be managed temporarily with nonsurgical options, most neonates with congenital surgical malformations require emergent operations. We discuss the challenges faced; measures adopted in dealing with surgical emergencies and analyze the diagnoses and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 infection in our institute during the pandemic era. Materials and Methods: When the lockdown was imposed, it was mandated that all elective procedures should be put on hold. We formulated criteria for triaging procedures as emergent, urgent, and elective. A standard operating protocol was devised regarding admission, pre and postoperative management. Protocols for surgical procedures were established in a separate Covid-designated operation room including a specified sequence of donning and doffing personal protective equipment. Results: In the COVID era, from March 23, 2020 to mid-July 2021, 1282 surgeries have been done in our department, 344 emergencies and 461 planned procedures, which include 31 COVID-19 positive cases, with overall good outcomes. 103 emergency surgeries were done during the first wave (March-end to June 2020), and 103during the second wave (April to mid-June 2021). Moreover, not a single healthcare worker in the department has been infected. Conclusion: Pediatric Surgeons are adapting to the new guidelines to continue to provide emergency services with safe and effective care to their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Simultaneously, focus on personal and staff protection is ensured to keep the healthcare workers healthy and able to discharge their duties adequately.

Discovery of potential multi-target-directed ligands by targeting host-specific SARS-CoV-2 structurally conserved main protease.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has resulted in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide this disease has infected over 2.5 million individuals with a mortality rate ranging from 5 to 10%. There are several efforts going on in the drug discovery to control the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection. The main protease (MPro) plays a critical role in viral replication and maturation, thus can serve as the primary drug target. To understand the structural evolution of MPro, we have performed phylogenetic and Sequence Similarity Network analysis, that depicted divergence of Coronaviridae MPro in five clusters specific to viral hosts. This clustering was corroborated with the comparison of MPro structures. Furthermore, it has been observed that backbone and binding site conformations are conserved despite variation in some of the residues. These attributes can be exploited to repurpose available viral protease inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 MPro. In agreement with this, we performed screening of ∼7100 molecules including active ingredients present in the Ayurvedic anti-tussive medicines, anti-viral phytochemicals and synthetic anti-virals against SARS-CoV-2 MPro as the primary target. We identified several natural molecules like δ-viniferin, myricitrin, taiwanhomoflavone A, lactucopicrin 15-oxalate, nympholide A, afzelin, biorobin, hesperidin and phyllaemblicin B that strongly binds to SARS-CoV-2 MPro. Intrestingly, these molecules also showed strong binding with other potential targets of SARS-CoV-2 infection like viral receptor human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE-2) and RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). We anticipate that our approach for identification of multi-target-directed ligand will provide new avenues for drug discovery against SARS-CoV-2 infection.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.