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.

Gender differences in COVID-19 knowledge, risk perception, and public stigma among the general community: Findings from a nationwide cross-sectional study in India.

Introduction: Individual and community characteristics predictive of knowledge, perception, and attitude on COVID-19, specifically on gender, have not been adequately explored. Objective: To examine the gender differences in COVID-19 knowledge, self-risk perception and public stigma among the general community and to understand other socio-demographic factors which were predictive of them. Method: A nationally representative cross-sectional multi-centric survey was conducted among adult individuals(≥18 yrs) from the community member (N = 1978) from six states and one union territory of India between August 2020 to February 2021. The participants were selected using systematic random sampling. The data were collected telephonically using pilot-tested structured questionnaires and were analyzed using STATA. Gender-segregated multivariable analysis was conducted to identify statistically significant predictors (p < 0.05) of COVID-19-related knowledge, risk perception, and public stigma in the community. Results: Study identified significant differences between males and females in their self-risk perception (22.0% & 18.2% respectively) and stigmatizing attitude (55.3% & 47.1% respectively). Highly educated males and females had higher odds of having COVID-19 knowledge (aOR: 16.83: p < 0.05) than illiterates. Highly educated women had higher odds of having self-risk perception (aOR: 2.6; p < 0.05) but lower public stigma [aOR: 0.57; p < 0.05]. Male rural residents had lower odds of having self-risk perception and knowledge [aOR: 0.55; p < 0.05 & aOR: 0.72; p < 0.05] and female rural residents had higher odds of having public stigma [aOR: 1.36; p < 0.05]. Conclusion: Our study findings suggest the importance of considering thegender differentials and their background, education status and residential status in designing effective interventions to improve knowledge and reduce risk perception and stigma in the community about COVID-19.

Impact Analysis of Aspirin over the Cardiac Activity

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in most developed countries, including the United States, with a significant economic impact. Lifestyle changes and the administration of antiplatelet medication, like aspirin, may significantly contribute to the secondary prevention of CVD in adults. For years, aspirin has been utilized for both secondary and primary cardiovascular disease prevention. Aspirin has been extensively used because of the belief that it may have a positive impact on primary prevention, despite the debate surrounding its usage. This study briefly examines usage patterns and discusses the potential variables and factors that can decrease the ability of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease. The present study also explore the key studies of aspirin use in the context of recent recommendations. The risk of bleeding has been observed to significantly rise, although large randomized clinical studies have demonstrated a reduction or absence of CVD events. Prevention strategies for cardiovascular disease with low-dose aspirin are no longer advised for persons at intermediate risk. To determine whether taking aspirin is worth the potential dangers, the benefits must be evaluated.Copyright © 2022 Novyi Russkii Universitet. All rights reserved.

DFM: Deep Fusion Model for COVID-19 Vaccine Sentiment Analysis

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has created a lot of healthcare concerns. Over the past two years, healthcare professionals worked hard to develop numerous vaccines to combat this virus which is truly remarkable. However, a large proportion of the global population is skeptical about the vaccines and the sudden emergence of the new strain of the virus is stirring up mixed emotions causing the use of opinion terms having varying polarities in different contexts which poses a challenge to predict the accurate sentiments from the user-generated data. In this work, a novel architecture namely a deep fusion model (DFM) with a meta-learning ensemble method is proposed for sentiment analysis of public opinions on COVID-19 vaccines and omicron variant on Twitter. The proposed model employed using natural language processing with deep learning models such as LSTM, GRU, CNN, and their various combinations. The purpose of this study is to understand the public opinion around COVID-19 vaccines and omicron variant through the proposed model. In addition, the experiment demonstrated effectiveness with an accuracy of up to 88% in comparison with state-of-the-art models. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Assimilation of aircraft observations over the Indian monsoon region: Investigation of the effects of COVID-19 on a reanalysis

Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced the availability of global aircraft-based observations (ABOs), which has been restored later in 2021. This study focuses on the impact of ABOs on a regional reanalysis. Indian Monsoon Data Assimilation and Analysis (IMDAA) is a regional reanalysis for a period from 1979 to 2020 (originally up to 2018) over India and surrounding regions produced at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), India, in collaboration with the UK Met Office. A comparison of the impact of ABOs on other conventional and satellite observations assimilated in the NCMRWF global model and IMDAA during 2019 and 2020 revealed the importance of ABOs, particularly in IMDAA, since it did not assimilate the latest satellite data as the IMDAA system was frozen in October 2016. A data denial experiment that removes all the ABOs from the IMDAA assimilation system for a period from March to November 2019 is designed. The results from the IMDAA reanalysis run, which assimilates ABOs during the same period, are compared with the data denial experiment. Assimilation of ABOs strengthened the upper tropospheric circulation, the Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ), during the Indian summer monsoon compared to the data denial experiment. Analysis of the features of two cyclones that developed over the North Indian Ocean during the study period revealed that ABO assimilation played a key role in simulating the track and intensity of these cyclones when they were in the ‘severe' category. Since the sample is small, more cyclone cases need to be analysed to consolidate the result. © 2023 Royal Meteorological Society.

An Improved Machine Learning Approach to Detect Real Time Face Mask

Several nations have implemented health protocols like maintaining a particular measure of distance from each other and use of face masks when going out in public, in an effort to stop or at least reduce the spread of Covid-19. However, manually checking whether each person have put on a mask or not is a tiring job, and is possible only if there is a particular person assigned specially for that. This paves way for the need of an electronic device or a machine that would identify whether a person has worn mask or not. Thus, this research proposes a face mask detection system using a machine learning algorithm known as Support Vector Machine (SVM). After creating and preprocessing the dataset, training the model, and evaluating the final model, an accuracy of 98% has been obtained. The model can further be developed and used in real time scenarios to detect faces without a mask and pass those faces separately into a neural network with the help of CNN to easily find out his/her identity, and punish accordingly. © 2023 IEEE.

Toxicological Assessments of a Pandemic COVID-19 Vaccine—Demonstrating the Suitability of a Platform Approach for mRNA Vaccines

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 at the end of 2019 required the swift development of a vaccine to address the pandemic. Nonclinical GLP-compliant studies in Wistar Han rats were initiated to assess the local tolerance, systemic toxicity, and immune response to four mRNA vaccine candidates encoding immunogens derived from the spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2, encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Vaccine candidates were administered intramuscularly once weekly for three doses at 30 and/or 100 µg followed by a 3-week recovery period. Clinical pathology findings included higher white blood cell counts and acute phase reactant concentrations, lower platelet and reticulocyte counts, and lower RBC parameters. Microscopically, there was increased cellularity (lymphocytes) in the lymph nodes and spleen, increased hematopoiesis in the bone marrow and spleen, acute inflammation and edema at the injection site, and minimal hepatocellular vacuolation. These findings were generally attributed to the anticipated immune and inflammatory responses to the vaccines, except for hepatocyte vacuolation, which was interpreted to reflect hepatocyte LNP lipid uptake, was similar between candidates and resolved or partially recovered at the end of the recovery phase. These studies demonstrated safety and tolerability in rats, supporting SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-LNP vaccine clinical development.

YUDH: Multi-utility Tool to Reassure Serenity in the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19, the virus that has affected current living standards, has undergone mutation, and the second wave has caused a much more devastating situation in India. In such a scenario, the alert of a third wave by the authorities has alarmingly increased concern in the nation. After being declared as an international emergency, the development of its vaccine has been conducted by different countries. India among other countries is also pursuing to develop much more efficient variants of the vaccine. The situation still persists to be hostile and maintaining the current precaution measures and maximizing the distribution of the vaccines is the only solution in hand. A necessity arises for a user-friendly app to reduce social interaction while assisting in medical support. In this paper, we have proposed an android application named YUDH, which focuses on the overall service that an individual requires from booking test centers, vaccine slot notification to home sanitization. The user can book COVID-19 testing centers and can arrange sanitization service after recovery with the provision of place, date, and time. In addition to booking test centers, swab testing at the doorstep is also available. The user also gets regular notifications on COVID vaccine slot availability in accordance with CoWIN portal and users' preferences. This deployment is aimed at the safety of the user and their privacy safeguard. The application also assists the government to maintain a database more efficiently. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Toxicological Assessments of a Pandemic COVID-19 Vaccine-Demonstrating the Suitability of a Platform Approach for mRNA Vaccines.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 at the end of 2019 required the swift development of a vaccine to address the pandemic. Nonclinical GLP-compliant studies in Wistar Han rats were initiated to assess the local tolerance, systemic toxicity, and immune response to four mRNA vaccine candidates encoding immunogens derived from the spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2, encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Vaccine candidates were administered intramuscularly once weekly for three doses at 30 and/or 100 µg followed by a 3-week recovery period. Clinical pathology findings included higher white blood cell counts and acute phase reactant concentrations, lower platelet and reticulocyte counts, and lower RBC parameters. Microscopically, there was increased cellularity (lymphocytes) in the lymph nodes and spleen, increased hematopoiesis in the bone marrow and spleen, acute inflammation and edema at the injection site, and minimal hepatocellular vacuolation. These findings were generally attributed to the anticipated immune and inflammatory responses to the vaccines, except for hepatocyte vacuolation, which was interpreted to reflect hepatocyte LNP lipid uptake, was similar between candidates and resolved or partially recovered at the end of the recovery phase. These studies demonstrated safety and tolerability in rats, supporting SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-LNP vaccine clinical development.

Development & validation of scales to assess stigma related to COVID-19 in India.

Background & objectives: COVID-19 pandemic has triggered social stigma towards individuals affected and their families. This study describes the process undertaken for the development and validation of scales to assess stigmatizing attitudes and experiences among COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 participants from the community. Methods: COVID-19 Stigma Scale and Community COVID-19 Stigma Scale constituting 13 and six items, respectively, were developed based on review of literature and news reports, expert committee evaluation and participants' interviews through telephone for a multicentric study in India. For content validity, 61 (30 COVID-19-recovered and 31 non-COVID-19 participants from the community) were recruited. Test-retest reliability of the scales was assessed among 99 participants (41 COVID-19 recovered and 58 non-COVID-19). Participants were administered the scale at two-time points after a gap of 7-12 days. Cronbach's alpha, overall percentage agreement and kappa statistics were used to assess internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Results: Items in the scales were relevant and comprehensible. Both the scales had Cronbach's α above 0.6 indicating moderate-to-good internal consistency. Test-retest reliability assessed using kappa statistics indicated that for the COVID-19 Stigma Scale, seven items had a moderate agreement (0.4-0.6). For the Community COVID-19 Stigma Scale, four items had a moderate agreement. Interpretation & conclusions: Validity and reliability of the two stigma scales indicated that the scales were comprehensible and had moderate internal consistency. These scales could be used to assess COVID-19 stigma and help in the development of appropriate stigma reduction interventions for COVID-19 infected, and mitigation of stigmatizing attitudes in the community.

Assessment of the Correlation between Covid-19 Pneumonia Severity and Pulmonary Artery Diameter Measurement with Computed Tomography Scan

Objective: This consideration used the computed tomography scan to investigate and evaluate relationship between COVID-19 pneumonia severity and pulmonary artery diameter, ascending aorta diameter (AAD), right and left pulmonary artery diameter (LPAD), and ratio of main pulmonary artery diameter (MPAD) to AAD in COVID-19 patients. Method(s): This retrospective and cross-sectional consideration was done on 90 confirmed COVID-19 patients. Diameter of MPAD, AAD, LPAD, and right pulmonary artery diameter was calculated on a solitary transverse section designated at extent of main pulmonic arterial trunk separation. Ratio of MPAD TO AAD was calculated by division of the values of MPAD and AAD in manual mode. Result(s): In this retrospective consideration, population was divided into groups of mild (43 patients with 42.6% males), moderate (30 patients with 36% males), and severe (17 patients with 21.3% males) pneumonia patients. Diameter of MPA in mild COVID pneumonia group had 23.8+/-3.4, moderate group had 26.7+/-4.3, and severe group had 29.9+/-3.6 (p<0.001). Diameter of AA in mild group had 28.1+/-3.7, moderate group had 31.0+/-4.2, and severe group had 34.0+/-4.2 (p < 0.001). Diameter of LPA in mild group had 16.1+/-2.0, moderate group had 17.5+/-2.1, and severe group had 19.1+/-2.0 (p < 0.001). Conclusion(s): Pneumonia severity of COVID-19 patients in severe group showed greater MPAD as compared to moderate group and then mild group patients, respectively. A chest computed tomography (CT) scan/high-resolution CT can be useful to determine the pneumonia extension evaluation, by measuring the MPAD which can provide extraprognostic information and aid doctors inpatient treatment. Copyright © 2022 The Authors.

Efficient degradation of doxycycline and ofloxacin in an aqueous environment using Fe and Cu doped TiO2-SiO2 photocatalyst under sunlight

Several drugs have sparked interest as potential COVID-19 treatment options. Doxycycline (DOX) has been widely used with other potential agents to reduce COVID-19-induced inflammation. DOX and OFLX, both well-known antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory drugs, were chosen as model pollutants. Fe, Cu-codoped TiO2-SiO2 was synthesised as a novel photocatalyst active under sunlight irradiation to treat model pollutants. The synthesised catalyst samples were meticulously characterised using various techniques to evaluate their morphological, optical, and structural properties. The results of BET analysis showed that the TSFC1 sample has a large specific surface area of 288 m(2)g(-1). Maximum degradation of DOX and OFLX (about 98%) was achieved with the TSFC1 catalyst. The photocatalytic reusability was investigated for up to seven successive cycles, and the composite particles maintained their high photodegradation activity for DOX and OFLX. TFSC1 composite, in particular, demonstrated high catalytic activity as well as excellent recovery potential, and its combination with solar light, silica, and dopants can be introduced as a promising strategy for efficiently destroying both DOX and OFLX antibiotics. This study highlights the feasibility of hybridising doped dual semiconductor nanostructures in implementing solar light-powered pharmaceutical wastewater degradation.

YUDH: Multi-utility Tool to Reassure Serenity in the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19, the virus that has affected current living standards, has undergone mutation, and the second wave has caused a much more devastating situation in India. In such a scenario, the alert of a third wave by the authorities has alarmingly increased concern in the nation. After being declared as an international emergency, the development of its vaccine has been conducted by different countries. India among other countries is also pursuing to develop much more efficient variants of the vaccine. The situation still persists to be hostile and maintaining the current precaution measures and maximizing the distribution of the vaccines is the only solution in hand. A necessity arises for a user-friendly app to reduce social interaction while assisting in medical support. In this paper, we have proposed an android application named YUDH, which focuses on the overall service that an individual requires from booking test centers, vaccine slot notification to home sanitization. The user can book COVID-19 testing centers and can arrange sanitization service after recovery with the provision of place, date, and time. In addition to booking test centers, swab testing at the doorstep is also available. The user also gets regular notifications on COVID vaccine slot availability in accordance with CoWIN portal and users’ preferences. This deployment is aimed at the safety of the user and their privacy safeguard. The application also assists the government to maintain a database more efficiently. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Factors associated with COVID-19 stigma during the onset of the global pandemic in India: A cross-sectional study

Objective To assess factors associated with COVID-19 stigmatizing attitudes in the community and stigma experiences of COVID-19 recovered individuals during first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 18 districts located in 7 States in India during September 2020 to January 2021 among adults > 18 years of age selected through systematic random sampling. Data on socio demographic and COVID-19 knowledge were collected from 303 COVID-19 recovered and 1,976 non-COVID-19 infected individuals from community using a survey questionnaire. Stigma was assessed using COVID-19 Stigma Scale and Community COVID-19 Stigma Scale developed for the study. Informed consent was sought from the participants. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis were conducted. Results Half of the participants (51.3%) from the community reported prevalence of severe stigmatizing attitudes toward COVID-19 infected while 38.6% of COVID-19 recovered participants reported experiencing severe stigma. Participants from the community were more likely to report stigmatizing attitudes toward COVID-19 infected if they were residents of high prevalent COVID-19 zone (AOR: 1.5;CI: 1.2–1.9), staying in rural areas (AOR: 1.5;CI:1.1–1.9), belonged to the age group of 18–30 years (AOR: 1.6;CI 1.2–2.0), were male (AOR: 1.6;CI: 1.3–1.9), illiterate (AOR: 2.7;CI: 1.8–4.2), or living in Maharashtra (AOR: 7.4;CI: 4.8–11.3). COVID-19 recovered participants had higher odds of experiencing stigma if they had poor knowledge about COVID-19 transmission (AOR: 2.8;CI: 1.3–6.3), were staying for 6–15 years (AOR: 3.24;CI: 1.1–9.4) in the current place of residence or belonged to Delhi (AOR: 5.3;CI: 1.04–26.7). Conclusion Findings indicated presence of stigmatizing attitudes in the community as well as experienced stigma among COVID-19 recovered across selected study sites in India during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Study recommends timely dissemination of factual information to populations vulnerable to misinformation and psychosocial interventions for individuals affected by stigma.

Status of E-resources in Select University Libraries of Haryana

Electronic resources have become an important part of a library collection. The value and use of these resourceshave increased significantly, especially in the prevailing COVID-19pandemic period. The article discusses a study conducted to explore the status of e-resources in select university libraries of Haryana.This study is based on primary data collected using a self-designed questionnaire from three well-established, multi-disciplinary state universities of Haryana, namely Kurukshetra University (KUK), Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), and Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU).The study did find Vivekananda Library of MDU to be equipped with maximum hardware infrastructural facilities as compared to other two university libraries. All the three university libraries are automated and using LIBSYS software. E-ShodhSindhu is subscribed by all the university libraries. Libraries of KUK and MDU provide links of open access databases such as Directory of Open Access Repositories (DOAR), Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and National Digital Library of India (NDLI). MDU library and CDLU library are subscribing maximum e-book databases. E-journals are subscribed on perpetual access basis with archives by libraries of MDU and CDLU. The study further found that all university libraries take the feedback from their users regarding continuation or discontinuation of e-resources. Results of the study also reveal that only MDU library has permanent full-time librarian whereas other two university libraries are looked after by professor-in-charge of their universities, given the additional charge of librarian. The universities' libraries of Haryana need to subscribe more e-resources and appoint full-time librarian so as to better serve their users in the post COVID-19, new normal situation.

A Critical Review on Sudarshan Churna

Sudarshan Churna is one of the valuable polyherbal Ayurvedic formulations used to treat all kinds of acute and chronic fevers, fever of unknown aetiology, malaria, typhoid, loss of appetite, jaundice, respiratory infections, cough, debility and breathing difficulties linked with fever. Sudarshan Churna helps to ameliorate digestion and appetite;eliminates harmful toxins from the blood;improves immunity and preserves the body against various infections;promotes diaphoresis and urination. In Sudarshan Churna, Swertia chirayita (Roxb. ex Flem.) Karst. is 50% of the total quantity of the remaining other ingredients. It is an esteemed Ayurvedic preparation well known for its antipyretic, antimalarial, antiviral and antidiabetic activity. Various renowned Acharyas have mentioned it in their different classical texts. Acharyas have mentioned its other therapeutic uses, but mainly it has been used in curing different types of Jwara Vikara (fever). Various pharmacological studies have proved antipyretic activity, antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity, antihistamine activity, analgesic activity and docking study against the SARS CoV-2 of Sudarshan Churna. This article compile review of Ayurvedic literature, an analytical study and pharmacological study of Sudarshan Churna. Copyright © 2022 International Journal of Research in Ayurveda and Pharmacy. All rights reserved.

Spatial distribution of aerosol optical depth over India during COVID-19 lockdown phase-1

The present study analysed the spatial distribution of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) over India during the COVID-19 lockdown phase -1 (March 25 to April 15, 2020) using MODIS Terra (MOD04) AOD data (550 nm) during 2001-2020. Air temperature, rainfall, forest fire incidents, and wind patterns were analysed to understand their effect on the distribution of aerosols over India during the lockdown phase-1. Moderate absorption fine aerosol type is predominant but sparsely distributed over India during the study period compared to the reference period indicating the positive influence of the lockdown. Mean AOD has reduced by 9% over India during the lockdown phase-1 compared to the corresponding mean of the past 19 years (2001-2019). About 70% of the states/UTs of India showed a reduction in mean AOD due to restrictions on non-essential economic activities and rainfall occurrence. However, some states showed an increase in aerosol loading over specific pockets despite the restrictions on economic activities (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Karnataka) because of active forest fire cases. This study would be helpful for planners and policymakers to adopt suitable measures to control the rising concentrations of aerosols over hotspot regions of India.

Trends in Pediatric Hypoxia Altitude Simulation Testing (HAST): Data from a Pediatric Referral Center

Rationale: Hypoxia altitude simulation tests (HASTs) simulate changes in physiology that occur during commercial air flight (FiO2 16% in cabin pressurized to 8,000 ft) and help identify patients who may need additional respiratory support during flight. There is a paucity of literature regarding pediatric HAST studies. The purpose of this study is to identify patient characteristics, indications, and results of HAST studies at a pediatric tertiary care referral center. Methods: This IRB-exempt, retrospective chart review examined HAST studies over 5 years (2017-2021) at Nemours Children's Hospital (Wilmington, Delaware, USA). HAST studies were performed by respiratory therapists, supervised by pulmonologists, in the PFT laboratory. Standard protocol for the studies was performed including administration of 16% oxygen while monitoring SpO2 and heart rate for 10 minutes and administration of supplemental oxygen as indicated. Patient information collected included: demographic and anthropometric data, primary indication for HAST, baseline respiratory support, co-morbidities, reported prior difficulty with air travel, and results. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: 22 studies were ordered, and 12 were completed. Characteristics of patients who completed testing (N=12) are as follows: Mean age 77.0 (range 1.4-216) months, mean weight 21.7 kg, 58% male, 75% white, 8.3% with baseline tracheostomy/ventilatordependence, and 16.7% with baseline supplemental oxygen dependence. 25% reported history of difficulty with air flight. The most common primary indications included chronic lung disease of prematurity (41.7%), followed by restrictive lung disease (50%), followed by sickle cell disease (8.3%). Of the 12 patients who completed testing, 4 had abnormal results. Of those, the mean age was 45.6 months, mean weight 12.6 kg, 75% were male, and 50% on supplemental oxygen at baseline. The most common indications were chronic lung disease of prematurity (50%) followed by restrictive lung disease (50%). The most common co-morbidity was asthma (75%). See Table 1. Compared to patients who had normal results, patients with abnormal testing had a greater change in SpO2 (10.8 vs 4.9%) with lower mean SpO2 nadir of 87% compared to 93.6%. Discussion: The most common indications for HAST studies in this pediatric study include chronic lung disease of prematurity, restrictive lung disease, and sickle cell disease. Many studies were not completed, likely due to decrease in air travel during the Covid-19 pandemic. Patients with abnormal results were younger and more likely to have baseline oxygen requirements. Further research is needed to better understand which pediatric patients are at risk for cardiorespiratory compromise during flight or at altitude.

COVID-19 Death: Autopsy and Pathological Findings – A Case Report

Corona viruses are a large family of viruses that may cause respiratory illness in animals or humans. The most recently discovered corona virus causes Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19), also known as SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2), which became a global pandemic and is persisting. The data on the spectrum of gross and microscopic changes in COVID-19 infections is insufficient to accurately outline the disease process due to its ever-changing viral nature. The current knowledge on this aspect is not comprehensive since limited numbers of autopsies are conducted on such dead bodies because of higher infectivity and increased risk of transmission. We report a case of a 33-year-old male who was admitted to our institute with an alleged history of road traffic accident, later tested positive for COVID-19 and developed Covid-19 Pneumonia and succumbed. The detailed autopsy and histopathological findings are discussed. Performing autopsies on cases of COVID-19 deaths are helpful in understanding the pathology, disease process and variability in clinical presentation of COVID-19. © 2021, Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. All rights reserved.