Demystifying and Analysing Metaverse Towards Education 4.0

The word Metaverse has influenced many sectors such as healthcare, education, retail and manufacturing and few more industries are there which will be impacted by 2026 as per the research conducted by Gartner. The word 'Metaverse' especially in education sector came into existence after the COVID-19 epidemic when the humanity were forced to think about the new methodology of educating and teaching. This ecosphere is the combination of technologies which enables multimodal interactions with artificial environment, electronic library and people such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). It is believed that metaverse will improve collaboration, training process will be enhanced and most importantly it will create a happier workplace. This is only the reason that many corporate giants like Nvidia, facebook, apple, epic Games and companies has shifted towards this pedagogical ecosystem. This technology has the potential which enables absolute incorporating user conversation in actual-time and compelling interactivity with digital artifact. In this paper, we are addressing metaverse in education along with a detailed framework of metaverse in education. It includes a comparative study of conventional education, online education and metaverse education based on parameters like place of learning, resources used, teaching methodology, learning experience, learning target and learning assessment. Competency based education, energize student and positive attitude towards learning. The various challenges of the metaverse in educational sector are also debated. This paper will help the researcher's fraternity to get a deeper insight along with a clear perception of this ecosystem in education. © 2023 IEEE.

Acknowledgment of patient in sense behaviors using bidirectional ConvLSTM

Recognizing patient activity in real-time from video or images collected by a CCTV camera available in the hospital during a Covid-19 situation has proven challenging. The dilemma of patient activity recognition is identifying and recognizing a patient's various actions in a series of videos. The process presented in our paper needs to achieve unrestricted, generic behavior in videos. Detecting events in any video is often difficult because we use Bidirectional ConvLSTM to create a robust patient in the sense behaviors (PSB) framework capable of eliminating certain barriers. To begin this paper by proposing a new Bidirectional ConvLSTM for establishing a stable PSB scheme. Our proposed model is capable of accurately predicting patient's behaviors like seated, standing, and so on. Using Bidirectional ConvLSTM, learning information from a pre-trained model is an excellent place to start for rapidly developing a new PSB system using a current PSB database, as both the source and target datasets are critical. All parameters are frozen in a pre-trained PSB device. Then, using the UCI and HMDB51 dataset to train the model, variables and local relations are progressively fixed. A novel PSB framework is developed using the target dataset. Relevant tests are conducted using commonly used research indices to assess prediction precision accuracy. They acknowledge six patient's behavior with a weighted accuracy rate of 92%. For recognizing novel activity, laying, the precision of a corresponding prediction is the best, 91%, of all six test results. The proposed work uses bidirectional ConvLSTM with modified activation layers to sense the patients' behavior. This article may be a patient activity recognition system to identify an individual. It takes a clip of COVID-19 patients as input and looks for matches inside the hold-on images.

Covid-19 Pandemic Predictive System Using Machine Learning

Corona -virus disease commonly known as COVID-19 that outbreak in late December 2019 is continuously spreading worldwide and infecting people due to which it's required to analysis research on the expansion of CODID-19.In this research, a more improved model. HYBRID ARTIFICAL MODEL (AI) is suggested for prediction. In conventional model, it treats similar infection rate for all people, an improvised ISI (improved susceptible-infected) is suggested to gauge the infection rate to calculate the development mode. We have build the hybrid AI model by using natural language processing(NLP) model and long short-term memory(LSTM) network modules inside ISI module.According to the attentive results, it represents more infections from three to eight days.In comparison to both the models , our developed new AI model can remarkably reduces the prediction result's error and prevail the mean percentage errors with different percentage for the six consecutive days in different countries.For example-China , Italy, France, etc. © 2022 IEEE.

Covid-19: A Review Report

COVID-19 may be a very contagion caused by a recently discovered called corona virus. Novel corona virus was found in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 as pandemic disease and outbreak as a health emergency globally. Novel Corona Virus is additionally referred to as severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus- 2. The foremost infected people with corona virus show commonly respiratory illness like- fever, cold, sneezing, cough, pneumonia, upper respiratory illness, GIT disease like nausea, vomiting as symptoms. Recently published evidences stated that light Fever and cough within the 80 % patients, shortness of breath in 30-35% patients and 10-15% patients show Muscle ache and other ache. Novel Corona virus enters through the membrane ACE-2 receptor within the human cell. Corona virus is spherical or pleomorphic, single stranded, enveloped ribose macromolecule and included club shaped glycoprotein. SARS, Respiratory (breathing) infections are often transmission via droplets of various diameter like >5-10 micrometer. Molecular test administered with respiratory samples, like throat swab, sputum and broncholveolar lavage and in some severe cases it reported in stool and blood also. After the WHO and other diagnostic guideline said that the PCR and RT-PCR test reported for corona diagnosis.Copyright © 2022 Dr. Yashwant Research Labs Pvt. Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Lifestyle Changes and Their Effect on Health among Children of <=15 Years during Covid-19 Pandemic, in North India

Objective: The objectives of the study were: (1) To assess life style changes among children of <=15 years of age during COVID-19 pandemic and (2) to find out the effect of the life style changes on health of children of <=15 years of age. Method(s): The cross-sectional comparative study conducted at department of pediatrics, Vivekananda Polyclinic and Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow for duration of 1 year and sample size found to be 276 on calculation by applying the formula. Result(s): Out of 278 children, about 39% (108) were female children. Most of children were studying in primary level classes (52.51%) and most of enrolled children had joint family (66.18%). Level of physical activity reduced significantly due to closure of school and restriction on outdoor activities. Weight of children increased significantly during COVID-19 pandemic seems to be due to decreased in physical activities and consumption of more fast food/fried food (high calorie intake) and sedentary life style. Conclusion(s): During COVID-19 pandemic due to closure of schools and restricted outdoor activities results in decrease level of physical activities, increased consumption of high calorie food and sedentary behavior lead to increase in weight of children and changes in sleeping pattern of children.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd.

Impact of Lockdown on Autopsy Cases in a Tertiary Medical Centre in Northern India: A Retrospective Analysis

2020 will be remembered not only for the COVID-19 pandemic but also for introducing some entirely new concepts like "lockdown” and "social distancing” which brought the entire world to a standstill. Lockdown approach can have a wide range of implications not just on the economy but also on the physical, mental and social well-being of the people. We investigated the impact of 78 days nationwide lockdown in 2020 on profile of the post-mortem cases being brought for autopsy to the mortuary of King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India. Further 78 days of post lockdown period in 2020 were also included in the study and compared with the corresponding time periods in 2019. A total of 3657 cases were included in the study, 2042 in 2019 and 1615 in 2020. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) from logistic regression modeling were used to compare the mortality due to different causes across the four study timeperiods. Deaths due to RTAs were significantly lower in the lockdown period (aOR = 0.59, CI 0.48, 0.73, p<0.001). An increase in deaths due to drowning (aOR = 2.27, CI 1.26, 4.11, p=0.007) and hanging (aOR = 1.56, CI 1.22, 2.18, p=0.008) was detected during the lockdown period compared to 2019 while odds of burn deaths were half (aOR=0.50, 95%CI 0.34, 0.75, p=0.001) during the lockdown period in 2020, compared to the equivalent period in 2019. We have shown significant differences in deaths due to different causes as a result of lockdown. An insight into these mortality patterns during the pandemic could be beneficial in future preparedness for the containment measures. © 2022,Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine.All Rights Reserved.

Design of strategic framework for green sustainable practices in e-commerce companies

During the COVID-19 phase, e-commerce companies have risen rapidly, and customer demand increased suddenly. Brick-and-mortar ways of shopping have entirely shut down for approximately 4 months, and the whole country is dependent on online marketing platforms. There is a sudden rise in packaging because customers are more centric on online marketing;due to this, there is a massive increase in plastic consumption. This research paper aims to conduct a quantitative analysis of Indian consumer and industry experts regarding packaging products of e-commerce companies and then develop a framework for e-commerce companies regarding green sustainable practices. 145 responses were collected from Indian consumers, and 35 responses were taken from industry experts. This paper aims to visualize Indian customers' thinking regarding plastic bag packaging that they received from the e-commerce platforms and provide some valuable suggestions to the e-commerce companies. After analyzing the customer responses, a strategic framework is designed for green sustainable practices and validated by industry experts through a survey. After validating this framework, a robust framework is finally designed, which can be implemented in e-commerce companies for improved sustainability in their supply chain network. © 2023

A Mini Review on COVID-19 Therapeutics: Current Status and Future Di-rections

Corona viruses belong to the genus Corona virus with its high mutation rate in the Coro-naviridae. In this review article, the focus is on current status of research against SARS-CoV-2, various mobile apps launched to diagnose COVID-19 infection and status of prospective therapies available against COVID-19 virus in this early stage of COVID-19 outbreak.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

A Comparative Study of Pollution Levels in Major Cities of India During Covid-19 in India

This paper aims to study the major pollutants of the four metro cities of India before and after covid 19 first wave. The cities considered for the study are Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. The major pollutants considered for the study are PM2.5, PM10, NO, NO2, NOx, SO2, CO, and Ozone. The basic aim of the study is to find the effect of lockdown and covid restrictions on the level of pollutants across the four major cities of India. We used both parametric and non-parametric tests for the analysis using SPSS. From the study, it is clear that there is a significant decrease in all the major pollutants across India's major cities.6. © 2023, University of Wollongong. All rights reserved.

Comparison of Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 Assay with Standard RTPCR Test for Detection of COVID-19 Infection: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Introduction: Real time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test, the gold standard test for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection, is a tedious process and requires proficient workforce. Accurate and fast test results may permit more efficient use of protective and isolation resources and allow rapid therapeutic interventions. Aim(s): To evaluate the analytical performance characteristics of the Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 test, a rapid, automated molecular test for SARS-CoV-2 with gold standard RT-PCR test. Material(s) and Method(s): This retrospective cohort study was conducted in Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) in Department of Microbiology at GGS Medical College, Faridkot from January 2021-June 2021. A total of 100 nasopharyngeal samples, collected from clinically suspected Coronavirus Diseae-2019 (COVID-19) cases admitted at GGSMC during 1st January-30th June 2021 were tested both by Xpert assay and RT-PCR test simultaneously, taking RT-PCR as the gold standard test. The data was analysed by MedCalc statistical software version 19.6.4., and sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios and the agreement between the two tests were calculated. Result(s): The mean age of the study participants was 46 years. Of these, 55 were males and 45 were females. The overall sample sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert assay were both 100% and there was perfect agreement across specimens, if authors, set a cut-off Cycle threshold-value (Ct-value) at 40 cycles for Xpert. Of 100 samples, 32 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 by either of the tests and 68 were negative. Xpert assay could detect 100% positive cases and RT-PCR test could detect 84.37% positive cases. Out of the 32 samples which were positive by Xpert assay, 5 (15.62%) samples had a Ct-value greater than 40. Conclusion(s): The Xpert assay found to be useful as a point-of-care test in acute scenario, where rapid and authentic diagnosis is essential, but do not have expertise and infrastructure to perform RT-PCR.Copyright © 2023 Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. All rights reserved.

Lung-on-chip: Its current and future perspective on pharmaceutical and biomedical applications

Organ-on-a-chip is a three-dimensional microfluidic system that simulates the cellular structure and biological milieu of an organ, that seemed to be constructed and studied substantially in the last decade. Microchips can be configured to suit disease states in a variety of organs, including the lung. When contrasted to traditional in vitro models like monolayer cell lineages, lung-on-a-chip models lays out a pragmatic portrayal of disease pathophysiology and pharmaceuticals' mode of action, and this is especially more prevailing in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. Animal models have typically been used in pharmaceutical drug screening to assess pharmacological and toxicological reactions to a new entity. These adaptations, on the other hand, do not precisely represent biological reactions in humans. Present and prospective uses of the lung-on-a-chip model in the pulmonary system are highlighted in this overview. In addition, the constraints of existing in vitro systems for respiratory disease simulation and therapeutic discovery would be emphasized. Attributes of lung-on-a-chip transformative features in biomedical applications will be addressed to illustrate the relevance of this lung-on-chip model for medical science.Copyright © 2022

Computational Docking Study of the Phytochemical Constituent, Silybin (Silybum marianum) against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Spike Glycoprotein: An In-silico Approach

SARS-CoV-2 is continually evolving with the emergence of new variants with increased viral pathogenicity. The emergence of heavily mutated Omicron (B.1.1.529) with spike protein mutations are known to mediate its higher transmissibility and immune escape that has brought newer challenges for global public health to contain SARS-CoV-2 infection. One has to come up with a therapeutic strategy against the virus so as to effectively contain the infection and spread. Natural phytochemicals are being considered a significant source of bioactive compounds possessing an antiviral therapeutic potential. Being a promising anticancer and chemo-preventive agent, Silybin holds a significant potential to be used as a therapeutic. In the present study, molecular docking of Silybin with Omicron spike protein (7QNW) was carried out. Molecular docking results showed greater stability of Silybin in the active site of the Omicron spike protein with suitable binding mode of interactions. The study reveals that Silybin has the potential to block the host ACE2 receptor-viral spike protein binding;thereby inhibiting the viral entry to human cells. Therefore, Silybin may be further developed as a medication with the ability to effectively combat SARS-CoV-2 Omicron.Copyright © The Author(s) 2023.

Repositioning of Drugs as a Promising Strategy to Fight COVID-19

Background and Objective: With the initial case of corona reported in Wuhan, China on 31st December 2020, there has been an unprecedented rise in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with over 200 countries all across the world in less than 3 months. By the October 2020, about 40 million population of the world got infected and over one million deaths occurred. Since no WHO and FDA approved medications or vaccines for COVID-19 were available, there was an impatient bustling need to develop a drug for the treatment. Drug repurposing emerged as the easiest and fast emerging strategy to get medicine for COVID-19 with rapid approvals for the clinical trials. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the status of drug repurposing under the clinical and its impact on the development of medicine for COVID-19. Method(s): The study was undertaken to review various clinical trials from the website. www.clinicaltrials.gov. We evaluated 220 ongoing clinical trials with the strategy of 'drug repur-posing' against COVID-19, analyzed them as per their chemical structure and possible biological targets. Result(s): It was noticed that some of the early repurposed drugs like chloroquine, hydroxychloro-quine, ACE inhibitors and ARBs, did not succeed and remained controversial. While many of the antiviral drugs like remdesivir, favipiravir, lopinavir, ritonavir, oseltamivir could be taken for the clinical trials in various countries, remdesivir could succeed to a great extent as compared to other drugs. WHO has come up with an initiative known as multi-country 'Solidarity Trial' for developing a potential drug or therapy against COVID-19.However, the most preferred drugs used for re-purposing like hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir have not shown predictable results in solidarity trials. Conclusion(s): The analyses of several ongoing and partially concluded clinical trials suggest that drug repurposing can be one of the major strategies for the treatment of COVID-19. Further, guidelines framed by the WHO through Infection Prevention and Control for monitoring the widespread of this COVID-19 across the world is another aggressive attempt to find the solution for the treatment for COVID-19.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

A Supervised Learning-Based Framework for Predicting COVID-19 in Patients

The integration of ML and loT can provide insightful details for critical decision making, automated responses, etc. Predicting future trends and detecting anomalies are some of the areas where loT and ML are being used at a rapid rate. Machine learning can help decode the hidden patterns in IoT data. It may complement or replace manual processes in critical areas with automated systems that use statistically derived behavior. In healthcare, wearable sensors used for tracking patient activity have been continuously producing a staggering amount of data. This paper proposes an IoT-based scalable architecture for detecting COVID-19-positive patients and storing and processing such massive amount of data on the cloud. The proposed architecture also employs machine learning algorithms for correct classification of patients. The proposed architecture employs gradient boosting classifier method for early detection of COVID-19 in the patient's body. In order to make the architecture scalable and faster in terms of computational power, the architecture employs cloud computing for data storage. © 2023 IGI Global. All rights reserved.

The use of topical anaesthetic in the banding of internal haemorrhoids: a feasibility study for a randomised control trial

IntroductionRubber band ligation (RBL) is a procedure commonly performed in colorectal clinics for internal haemorrhoids. Overall, 90% of patients experience pain following RBL. We aimed to complete a feasibility randomised control trial assessing the role of topical anaesthetic before RBL of internal haemorrhoids.MethodsWe performed a prospective, single-centre, single blinded, randomised (1:1) control feasibility trial. Patients presenting with symptomatic haemorrhoids suitable for banding were randomised to undergo the procedure with local anaesthetic or without (control). Pain scores and vasovagal symptoms were assessed at 0 minutes, 30 minutes, 4 hours and 72 hours after the procedure. Primary outcome measures were recruitment rate, participant retention rate and patient and surgeon acceptability. Secondary outcome measures were pain scores up to 72 hours, vasovagal episodes, new use of analgesia and adverse outcomes.ResultsIn total, 35 patients (18 topical anaesthetic, group A;17 no anaesthetic gel, group B) were recruited. Mean recruitment rate was 11.7 participants per month. Thirty-three (94%) participants remained in the study until completion, with two patients lost to telephone follow-up. The treatment was acceptable for 35 (97%) eligible patients. One patient declined enrolment. The treatment was acceptable to all surgeons (100%). There was a significant difference in median pain scores of −2 (95% CI −4.0 to −1.0, p=0.0006) at the 30-minute time point only. There was no significant difference in vasovagal symptoms (p=0.10) or new analgesia use (p=0.85).ConclusionWe have shown that a phase III clinical trial is feasible for assessing the role of topical anaesthetic before RBL of internal haemorrhoids. We have demonstrated excellent patient recruitment and retention as well as patient and surgeon acceptability.

The role of innovative telehealth system in revolutionizing healthcare

The healthcare industry is quickly emerging changes in this new age of civilization due to the confluence of medicine and technology. Each half-century in the age of medicine and technology, healthcare technologies are causing a clinical care revolution. Telehealth is one of healthcare revolutions that aims to enhance the medical experience, decrease travel time, eliminate geographical boundaries, and offer ongoing support and guidance in attaining optimum health and well-being. Telemedicine is pushed forward by wireless technology and cloud-based solutions. It helps in filling the gap in lack of physicians and healthcare technicians during pandemics, particularly in rural regions and underdeveloped nations. For instance, in the current COVID-19 pandemic scenario, telehealth has been critical in establishing healthcare by using telecommunications infrastructure to provide treatment and health services to distant regions. The present chapter covers the telehealthcare system's tactics and scope. Additionally, this chapter includes the most recent groundbreaking advances in telehealthcare services. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 Effect: Time to Change the Way of Research

This perspective provides an insight or viewpoint about the current and future way of do-ing research. The opinion includes the limitations of the research in the current scenario and the possible ways to improve it.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

Chemi-Informatic Approach to Investigate Putative Pharmacoactive Agents of Plant Origin to Eradicate COVID-19

Background: The scientific community has supported the medicinal flora of ancient as well as modern times in extracting chemicals, which holds therapeutic potential. In many previous studies, Amentoflavone discovered as an anti-viral agent, and it is present as a bioactive constituent in many plants of different families like Selaginellaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Calophyllaceae. Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) is already considered a significant anti-viral agent in traditional medicine, and it is the main source of Somniferine-A and Withanolide-B. Objective(s): In this study, phytochemicals such as withanolide-b, somniferine-a, stigmasterol, amentoflavone, and chavicine were analyzed to screen protein inhibitors, out of them;such proteins are involved in the internalization and interaction of SARS-CoV-2 with human cytological domains. This will help in developing a checkpoint for SARS-CoV-2 internalization. Method(s): Chemi-informatic tools like basic local alignment search tool (BLAST), AutoDock-vina, SwissADME, MDWeb, Molsoft, ProTox-II, and LigPlot were used to examine the action of pharmacoactive agents against SARS-CoV-2. The tools used in the study were based on the finest algorithms like artificial neural networking, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Result(s): On the basis of binding energies less than equal to-8.5 kcal/mol, amentoflavone, stigmasterol, and somniferine-A were found to be the most effective against COVID-19 disease as these chemical agents exhibit hydrogen bond interactions and competitively inhibit major proteins (SARS-CoV-2 Spike, Human ACE-2 receptor, Human Furin protease, SARS-CoV-2 RNA binding protein) that are involved in its infection and pathogenesis. Simulation analysis provides more validity to the selection of the drug candidate Amentoflavone. ADMET properties were found to be in the feasible range for putative drug candidates. Conclusion(s): Computational analysis was successfully used for searching pharmacoactive phytochemicals like Amentoflavone, Somniferine-A, and Stigmasterol that can bring control over COVID-19 expansion. This new methodology was found to be efficient, as it reduces monetary expenditures and time consumption. Molecular wet-lab validations will provide approval for finalizing our selected drug model for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.

Natural Compounds as Potential Anti-COVID Agents

Background: Since December 2019, COVID-19 has become a new health crisis in the world and has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by WHO. In search of anti-COVID treatment regimen, we applied molecular docking approach in order to identify the natural compounds that may have potential for anti-COVID treatment with specific target and selective inhibitory mechanism. Our goal is to identify the potential anti-COVID compounds based on virtual screening of the protein of spike glycoprotein as virtual inhibition target. Methods: Molecular docking was carried out by using Molergo Virtual Docker. 35 compounds from different plant sources were selected and docked in the enzyme pocket. Results: The docking result revealed that some of the compounds exhibited good potency against the virus and can be used further for developing new drug regimen. Conclusion: The compounds of natural origin could be a good target and can be used as lead compounds for the treatment of this dreadful disease. © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.