Release of microplastics from disposable face mask in tropical climate.

Outbreak of COVID 19 has caused an abrupt surge in the consumption of disposable face masks around the world. WHO has stated that wearing a face mask in public reduces the chances of being exposed to COVID 19 virus. With unchecked disposal of these used masks, a new kind of pollutant has emerged in the environment. Since these masks are generally made of polypropylene and polyurethane material, they can be considered as a potential source of microplastics (MPs) in the environment. In this study, we have evaluated the release of MPs particles from these face masks (namely from N95 and surgical masks) in deionized (DI) water and tap water over the span of 1 to 180 days. More specifically, a systematic study has been carried out to see the effect of temperature on release of MPs in water. MPs particles released in tap water (837 ± 113 particles/piece in 30 days) were significantly higher than that in DI water (564 ± 37 particles/piece in 30 days). When these masks were kept at a constant temperature of 45 °C for 30 Days, highest amount of MPs release (N95 899 ± 65 particles, Surgical 1038 ± 65 particles/piece) was observed as compared to other conditions. Most of the MPs particles released were polypropylene which were transparent and white in case of N95 while for surgical mask they were found to be of blue and white colour. With the aging of masks in water, quantity of MPs release was increased with simultaneous reduction in their size. Our study indicates that these disposable face masks are emerging to be a prominent source of MPs release in the environment and more hazardous for the tropical climate.

Online Document Content and Emoji-Based Classification Understanding from Normal to Pandemic COVID-19

There has been a substantial amount of online discussion regarding the COVID - 19 pandemic. This perpetual restoration transition due to coronavirus disease has led to discussions on communal, fiscal, emotional and mental gratification of human beings. The disease has transformed the physical mode of communication among people to an online mode completely, involving greater use of emojis. Emojis are used extensively with text to express health conditions, prayers, ambulance, soaps, police, danger, facial expressions, sentiments, etc. To the best of our familiarity, the proposed work focuses on the importance of emojis for expressing sentiments. In this paper, the online document of 650 personages consisting of 1, 68,548 (what is this number?) tweets without COVID - 19 terminologies and 67,819 tweets dataset sample of COVID - 19 terminologies have been explored. The portrayal of emotions via emojis plays an important role. This promoted us to contribute a framework to categorize the numerous social media documents in to major categories: 'Online Document Content Class, ODCC' i.e., categorizing the different social media documents as text only, emoji only, and both text and emoji. This classification has been strengthened by analyzing the tweets of three major regions across the world. The hypothesis testing identifies the significance of emojis in the sentiment analysis during COVID along with superior productive way of tweets categorization. The results illustrate that online users of European region used the emojis most. The proposed approach presents precision of social media expression sentiment score and polarity evaluation is completely accomplished by considering text with emojis as well.

IMPACT OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON FEMALE FINANCIAL LITERACY AMONG WORKING WOMEN

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of socio-demographic factors and investment awareness among working women to assess their financial literacy. Socio-demographic variables like gender, age, education, and income are found to have a significant influence on financial literacy. In the past, limited studies were conducted analysing the relationship between being a working woman and their socio-economic factors. With changing times and the massive overall impact of Covid-19 epidemic, the need for financial literacy has grown incalculably. Lakhs of people were laid-off leaving them with no job opportunities to choose from. The need is especially significant for women and other minorities who continue to face financial hardships and uncertainty. With so many people facing unprecedented financial problems, financial literacy is a priority right now. The study contributes to the current literature relating to financial literacy among working women, focusing on the aspect in Indore city. Data was collected using primary research. The data in this research was collected from journals, survey reports and websites. Primary data was collected through the online distribution of the questionnaire.

Understanding the antecedents of omni-channel shopping by customers with reference to fashion category: the Indian millennials’ perspective

Purpose>The purpose of this study is to understand the antecedents of omni-channel shopping with reference to the intention to purchase fashion products by millennials and their perspective towards the omni-channel method of shopping.Design/methodology/approach>The research is based on a quantitative research technique comprising of 302 respondents. A structured questionnaire has been adopted for the survey and to collect data from millennials from India. The questionnaire consisted of 27 constructs, which were measured using a five-point Likert’s scale. In the first step first-order confirmatory factor analysis is carried out, by using the software IBM AMOS-20. The initial model is generated for six constructs, and outcomes are used to analyse the model’s goodness of fit and construct validity. In the second step, the conceptual model is tested through path analysis using structural equation modelling.Findings>The findings indicate that perceived usefulness (PU) significantly affects the continuance intention of usage towards omni-channels. Perceived ease of use does not significantly affect continuance intention of towards usage of omni-channels, and it does not seem to have a significant effect on PU. Cost effectiveness and customer engagement of omni-channel have a significant effect on the continuance intention of its use. Finally, continuance intention towards usage of omni-channel does significantly affects the actual use of omni-channel.Originality/value>The research on omni-channel for purchasing fashion products is meagre and this particular study with the usage of Technology Acceptance Model including millennials is adding value towards the knowledge base of marketing. This research develops a theoretical framework building on the technology adoption model and empirically tested it.

Analyzing the Effect of Vaccination Over COVID Cases and Deaths in Asian Countries Using Machine Learning Models.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading across the world, and vaccinations are running parallel. Coronavirus has mutated into a triple-mutated virus, rendering it deadlier than before. It spreads quickly from person to person by contact and nasal or pharyngeal droplets. The COVID-19 database 'Our World in Data' was analyzed from February 24, 2020, to September 26, 2021, and predictions on the COVID positives and their mortality rate were made. Factors such as Vaccine data for the First and Second Dose vaccinated individuals and COVID positives that influence the fluctuations in the COVID-19 death ratio were investigated and linear regression analysis was performed. Based on vaccination doses (partial or complete vaccinated), models are created to estimate the number of patients who die from COVID infection. The estimation of variance in the datasets was investigated using Karl Pearson's coefficient. For COVID-19 cases and vaccination doses, a quartic polynomial regression model was also created. This predictor model helps to predict the number of deaths due to COVID-19 and determine the susceptibility to COVID-19 infection based on the number of vaccine doses received. SVM was used to analyze the efficacy of models generated.

Emerging Therapeutic Approaches to COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which is a positive single-stranded RNA virus having a large genome ~30 kb. SARSCoV- 2 is zoonotic and highly contagious, causing severe pneumonia-like symptoms. The efficacy of the different potential drug and drug candidates against COVID-19 has been investigated, which are under various stages of clinical trials. The drugs effective against SARS, and Middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS), have been proposed to have a high potential for the treatment of COVID-19. Here, we selected plant-based materials implicated in the prevention and therapy of COVID-19. The plant produces secondary metabolites in response to viral infection. Different classes of secondary metabolites have different mechanisms to counter virus attacks. Many nanomaterials produced by carbohydrates and lipids have been exploited for their in-vitro and in-vivo delivery of antiviral therapeutics. The vaccine has shown impressive results in producing antibodies against SARS-CoV2 and has been evaluated for safety, tolerance, and preliminary immunogenicity. Similarly, DNA/RNA-based therapy has shown high clinical significance. Various forms of vitamins, minerals, herbs, and phytonutrients help to enhance immunity and be implicated in the control of COVID-19. However, such measures should not replace social distancing, quarantine and special care.

Peripartum cardiomyopathy mimicking COVID-19 infection.

A pregnant patient presented with fever and desaturation, without breathlessness. She was suspected to have COVID-19 but SARS-CoV-2 was negative. She developed fetal distress and underwent an uneventful Cesarean section. Postoperatively, she developed respiratory distress and needed mechanical ventilation support. The clinical features suggested COVID-19 infection and antiviral treatment were empirically initiated. Repeat SARS-CoV-2 was negative. Echocardiography, computed tomography scans, and biochemical investigations supported a diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy. She was successfully managed with decongestive therapy and could be discharged home on the fifth day.

Potential diagnostics and therapeutic approaches in COVID-19.

The most important aspect of controlling COVID-19 is its timely diagnosis. Molecular diagnostic tests target the detection of any of the following markers such as the specific region of the viral genome, certain enzyme, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the structural proteins such as surface spike glycoprotein, nucleocapsid protein, envelope protein, or membrane protein of SARS-CoV-2. This review highlights the underlying mechanisms, advancements, and clinical limitations for each of the diagnostic techniques authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (USA). Significance of diagnosis triaging, information on specimen collection, safety considerations while handling, transport, and storage of samples have been highlighted to make medical and research community more informed so that better clinical strategies are developed. We have discussed here the clinical manifestations and hospital outcomes along with the underlying mechanisms for several drugs administered to COVID-19 prophylaxis. In addition to favourable clinical outcomes, the challenges, and the future directions of management of COVOD-19 are highlighted. Having a comprehensive knowledge of the diagnostic approaches of SARS-CoV-2, and its pathogenesis will be of great value in designing a long-term strategy to tackle COVID-19.

Insights into SARS-CoV-2 genome, structure, evolution, pathogenesis and therapies: Structural genomics approach.

The sudden emergence of severe respiratory disease, caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has recently become a public health emergency. Genome sequence analysis of SARS-CoV-2 revealed its close resemblance to the earlier reported SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). However, initial testing of the drugs used against SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV has been ineffective in controlling SARS-CoV-2. The present study highlights the genomic, proteomic, pathogenesis, and therapeutic strategies in SARS-CoV-2 infection. We have carried out sequence analysis of potential drug target proteins in SARS-CoV-2 and, compared them with SARS-CoV and MERS viruses. Analysis of mutations in the coding and non-coding regions, genetic diversity, and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 has also been done. A detailed structural analysis of drug target proteins has been performed to gain insights into the mechanism of pathogenesis, structure-function relationships, and the development of structure-guided therapeutic approaches. The cytokine profiling and inflammatory signalling are different in the case of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also highlighted possible therapies and their mechanism of action followed by clinical manifestation. Our analysis suggests a minimal variation in the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2, may be responsible for a drastic change in the structures of target proteins, which makes available drugs ineffective.