ABSTRACT
Humanity has always aspired to provide life-like traits and characteristics to its products to discover a replacement for himself to carry out his commands and also to adapt easily in an unfriendly environment. Since the late 2019, covid-19 pandemic has spread all over the world cause immense damage in the healthcare unit worldwide.To make a comeback into normal lifestyle towards medical unit robots are used for better treatment of patients. By considering these features, the authors have designed and developed a Low-Cost 3D printed humanoid robotic arm which can also be controlled and operated wirelessly. The proposed model in this paper uses a wireless RF module which acts as a common interface between the master and slave part of the prototype. The software platform Arduino IDE is used to give instructions to the hardware via high level code. The controller executes the program and performs the necessary movements and functions of the robotic arm in desired manner. The proposed model works on wireless technology which not only makes it more sophisticated at low cost but also provides six degrees of freedom. This model can be a key ingredient to free police workers in hazardous conditions, towards intelligent local traffic management systems and smart cities. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic forced everyone to stay indoors for a long period. The institutional education system got a backseat. But Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) syllabus had to be covered within a stipulated time frame. As with every academic curriculum, online teaching had to be implemented in MBBS courses too without any scope for developing adequate logistics beforehand. Teachers, as well as students, tried their best to cope up with this 'new normal'. Every day student had to be online for few hours to attend their classes as per the modified roster during the pandemic. Aim: To gather the data regarding perspective, satisfaction and problems of online classes from the 1st year MBBS students and also to recommend the modifications for future curriculum and upgrade the quality based on the students' feedback and suggestions. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was done in a single day across three government medical colleges of West Bengal after eight months of continued online classes since lockdown. Out of 700 google forms sent, 527 responses were received. An online survey was conducted among the first-year students through google forms, which was mailed to every student's email ID at a stipulated time of the day with prior notification. Responses were automatically analysed by google and were represented graphically. Results: A total of 527 responses were received, of which 145 were from females (27.5%) and 382 were from males (72.5%). Students were ready to adapt to this new development and 54.6% were more or less satisfied with the teaching methodologies, though interruption with the internet hampered their classes very often. Some could not afford the online class due to logistic or financial constraints. A 67.9% of students learnt to acquire in-depth knowledge by themselves though a good number of students (56.7%) disliked online classes and lost interest in the topic. Conclusion: Online teaching cannot replace classroom teaching but can complement it as compulsive prolonged online teaching made the learning self-directed. A thoughtful blending of online and offline classes can be implemented to make an Indian Medical Graduate (IMG) a lifelong learner.
ABSTRACT
Background: HTI is a novel HIV vaccine immunogen designed at redirecting cellular immune responses to HIV targets associated with viral control. Methods: The AELIX-002 trial (NCT03204617) was a randomized, singlecenter, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and antiviral effect of DNA.HTI (D), MVA.HTI (M) and ChAdOx1.HTI (C) vaccines after discontinuation of ART in early-treated people living with HIV (PLWH). 45 participants were randomized (2:1) to receive heterologous prime-boost vaccination regimens consisting of DDDMM followed by CCM, or matched placebo (P). During a 24-week analytical treatment interruption (ATI), plasma viral load (pVL) was monitored weekly and ART was resumed if pVL >100,000 copies/mL, or >10,000 copies/mL over 8 weeks, and/or CD4<350. Results: A total of 45 participants received DDDMM (n=30) or PPPPP (n=15). Of the 45 participants, 41 further completed the CCM (n=26) or PPP (n=15) regimen and entered the ATI. Immunizations were well tolerated, with no SAEs, and were immunogenic in 97% of vaccine recipients (defined by a >2-fold increase in HTI-specific T cell responses compared to baseline). Median (range) increase in total frequencies of HTI-specific T cells from baseline was 1,499 (120 to 3,150) SFC/million PBMC. At time of ATI start, 71% (0 to 100) of the total anti- HIV-1 T-cell response was HTI-specific. For participants without any potentially beneficial HLA class I alleles (32 of the 41), 8 (40%) of the vaccinees and 1 (8%) of the placebo recipients were able to remain off ART for 22 weeks (Δ 32%, 80%CI [7.6;55.7]);with pVL <2,000 copies/mL being observed in 5 and 1 vaccine and placebo recipients, respectively. Magnitude of HTI-specific responses at the time of ATI start positively correlated with time off ART in vaccinees (Rho 0.65, p < 0.01). Decay in total or intact HIV proviral DNA from baseline to ATI was similar between vaccine and placebo arms. Conclusion: HTI vaccines were safe and highly immunogenic in early-treated PLWH with a prolonged time off ART seen in vaccinees with non-beneficial HLA class I alleles. Time off ART positively correlated with vaccine-induced HTIspecific T cell responses at ATI start. Multivariate analysis for other correlates of response is ongoing. These encouraging data strongly support the use of HTIbased vaccines as the backbone of combination cure regimens such as with the TLR7 agonist vesatolimod, which is currently being evaluated in the AELIX-003 study (NCT04364035).
ABSTRACT
Lockdowns and quarantines were set up in various countries around the world to combat the Corona virus pandemic. The pandemic has its mental health consequences which have been aggravated by the lockdown measures. The resulting psychological distress and depression has ultimately led to suicides. This study explores the trends of suicide in the month of the lockdown and compared it with those to the prior months. The study was conducted between 25th January 2020 to 24th April 2020 and March 25th 2019 to April 24th 2019 at Cooch Behar Government Medical College and Hospital, Cooch Behar. 52.1% cases of suicide were recorded in the month of lockdown which increased from 34.1% in February 2020 and 43.1% in March 2020. Most cases of suicide in the period of lockdown were in the second and third decade of life with a male predominance. For the period of lockdown, housewives, businessmen and labourers were found out to be the vulnerable population. A social and public health response in addition to a mental health response is crucial to prevent suicidal behaviour in lockdown period. © 2020, Institute of Medico-Legal Publications. All rights reserved.
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Background: Remdesivir (RDV), a nucleotide analogue prodrug that inhibits viral RNA polymerases, has demonstrated potent in vitro and in vivo activity against SAR-CoV-2 and favorable clinical efficacy and tolerability in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 Elevated transaminase levels are commonly seen in patients with severe COVID-19 prior to treatment Here we report safety and clinical outcomes after RDV treatment in patients with normal versus elevated baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels Methods: We conducted a randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial, involving hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia with Sat<94% Patients with screening ALT or AST> 5x the upper limit of normal (ULN) were excluded from the study Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive either 5 or 10 days of intravenous RDV once daily We compared patients with baseline ALT below and above the ULN based on AASLD criteria (ALT 35 U/L for males and 25 U/L for females) Covariates for adjustment included age, sex, race and baseline oxygen support Clinical recovery and all-cause mortality were evaluated using logistic regression Clinical outcomes and adverse events (AEs) were assessed through day 28 Results: Of 397 patients treated with RDV, 215 (54%) had elevated baseline ALT Median ALT was 53 U/L (IQR: 40 - 78 U/L) in the high ALT group Patients with high ALT at time of RDV initiation were younger (median 58 vs 65 years, p<0 001), required less oxygen (p=0 02), and had longer symptom duration (median 10 vs 8 days, p<0.001) prior to first dose of RDV. Incidence of serious AEs, grade ≥3 AEs, and AE leading to discontinuation were similar between groups (Table1). Grade ≥3 hepatobiliary adverse events, particularly transaminase elevations, were not common but numerically higher in the high ALT group (8 8% vs 3 3%, p=0 068) Time to clinical recovery, 2-point clinical improvement, 1-point clinical improvement, room air, and death were similar between groups Conclusion: In severe COVID-19 patients, adverse events and clinical outcomes after RDV initiation were similar among patients with baseline normal ALT and those with elevated ALT (1-5x ULN)(Table Presented).