ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present an information retrieval system on a corpus of scientific articles related to COVID-19. We build a similarity network on the articles where similarity is determined via shared citations and biological domain-specific sentence embeddings. Ego-splitting community detection on the article network is employed to cluster the articles and then the queries are matched with the clusters. Extractive summarization using BERT and PageRank methods is used to provide responses to the query. We also provide a Question-Answer bot on a small set of intents to demonstrate the efficacy of our model for an information extraction module. © ACL 2020.All right reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: SARS-CoV-2 has a high mutation rate, resulting in the emergence of multiple variants in a shorter time frame, starting with Wuhan strain during first wave, then Delta during second wave and Omicron during third wave. World faced distressing spread of novel corona virus. The reason for this study was to look at the third flood of SARS-CoV-2, clinical highlights and risk factors in northern India. Method(s): This study involved 1,43,983 individuals for testing the presence of SARS-CoV-2 infection during January 2022 by RT-PCR. The epidemiological record was collected as per the guidelines of ICMR from the patient forms. Result(s): A total of 12.24% individuals were found positive with mean age of 29+/-10 years. Large portion of positive population (63.87%) was asymptomatic. Among the positive population, higher positivity rate was observed in males (57.51%) with age band of 21-40 years (51.17%). Significant association (p value = <0.00001) was found between positivity rate with age, gender and status (symptomatic/ asymptomatic). SARS-CoV-2 was shown to be more prevalent in Patiala, (49.66%) district followed by Ludhiana (24.24%), Sangrur (10.06%), Mansa (7.06%), Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (6.90%) and Malerkotla (2.08%) during second and third week of January 2022. Hypertension and bronchial asthma were the most well-known comorbidities found in the current study. Conclusion(s): In totality, current study showed positivity rate of 12.24% from large population size for SARS CoV-2 from period of 1st January 2022 to 31 January 2022. Current findings include younger age group (21-40 years), high percent of asymptomatic individuals, less disease severity and a little need of hospitalization.Copyright © 2023, Institute of Medico-legal Publication. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: The most common teaching method in medical institutes in India and throughout the globe is standard lesson-based teaching. E-learning is the use of internet technology to facilitate conscious learning and increase knowledge and competences, notably during the COVID-19 epidemic. Aim and Objectives: The aim of study was to develop a module for an interactive disease-based e-learning teaching session to impart knowledge to undergraduate medical students regarding the microbiological diagnostic techniques for enteric fever/the given organism with objectives of the study was (i) to investigate how Phase II MBBS students feel about e-learning;(ii) to evaluate the impact of this intervention on students;and (iii) to encourage application of this imparted knowledge and skill for rapid, precise, and early diagnosis of the disease. Material and Methods: The research was conducted at the department of microbiology. This was done for the session 2020–2021 of Phase II undergraduate students. All the second professional MBBS were enrolled in the study n = 229 and were better informed about the definition of e-learning. The course material was provided in the form of PowerPoint presentations, questionnaires, and text questions using Google Docs. Students provided feedback in the form of a semi-structured pre-validated set of questions at the conclusion of the week, and the collected data were quantitatively analyzed. There were both closed-ended and open-ended questions in the survey. Results: The results of the feedback questionnaire revealed that the program was of benefit to the students. Nearly 77% of students felt the new teaching and learning method enhanced their grasp of the courses and that the issues presented were important to them. Conclusion: The students responded in a positive way to the new teaching and learning method. It was informative, applicable, and effective to the students. It also increased the level of communication and feedback between teacher and students. To conclude, in the medical program, e-resources may be used to enhance conventional lesson-based instruction.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a serious impact on the lives of millions of people worldwide. Empirical therapy is being used to reduce morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 patients. Favipiravir, which is an oral broad-spectrum anti-viral agent with proven efficacy against various RNA viruses, acceptable tolerability profile and favorable benefit-risk ratio in short term use, has got an emergency use authorization in many countries including India for the treatment of mild to moderate cases of COVID-19. It has demonstrated promising results in terms of rapid viral clearance, quick symptom control, and pulmonary radiographic improvement. Due to reasons such as lockdown, isolation, diagnostic delays, fear of quarantine or getting tested, cost, etc., the golden time period (first 24-48 hrs) is lost in COVID-19 patients which is crucial for initiating antiviral therapy. Therefore, the panel members of ‘Academy of Advanced Medical Education’ propose that favipiravir can be recommended in confirmed, early probable and possible cases of mild and moderate severity as an empirical therapy during current pandemic. It is important to counsel the patients and explain to them about the limited clinical evidences with favipiravir, therefore, a signed consent form from patient must be kept before initiating treatment. Well-designed double-blind controlled trials are urgently required to understand this further.