ABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious and has ability to mutate into newer, more contagious, and lethal strains. Moreover, presence of comorbidities and low immunity increases the COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Thus, COVID-19 is challenging to treat and eradicate globally. This increase stress and anxiety among the patients, worsening their condition. Even health care workers (HCWs) are distressed and anxious while managing the COVID-19. Mental stress and depression increases risk of COVID-19. Yogic breathing techniques may be beneficial in improving immunity and reducing stress and anxiety. The present study investigated the effectiveness of short and controlled Yoga-based breathing protocols in COVID-positive, COVID-recovered and HCWs. Study subjects were recruited from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India from 13th October, 2020 to 7th January 2021. Each group was randomly divided into intervention or yoga group and non-intervention or control group. COVID-positive practiced a 5-min routine and COVID-recovered and HCW practiced 5-min and 18-min routines for 15 days. Pre-post estimation of neuropsychological parameters and heart rate variability and baseline, 7th and 15th day estimation of biochemical parameters, 6-minute walk and 1-minute sit-stand tests were conducted. Based on Ayurveda, Prakriti-type was assessed. WBC count was elevated in COVID-positive intervention (p<0.001) and control groups (p=0.003). WBC count (p=0.002) and D-dimer (p=0.002) was decreased in COVID-recovered intervention. A non-significant reduction in perceived stress and tension was noted in COVID-positive intervention. Tension was reduced and quality of life improved in HCW intervention (p>0.05). The Kapha Prakriti (48.9 %) was dominant among COVID-19 infected (positive and recovered) subjects. Distance covered in 6-min increased after intervention in COVID-positive (p=0.01) and HCW (p=0.002). The covered distance was more after intervention in all groups than control sub-group. COVID-positive intervention group shows reduced heart rate (p>0.05) and high-frequency power (p=0.01). The interventions were capable of improving exercise capacity in patients and HCW and reduced cardiovascular risk in COVID-19. The studied breathing protocol can be integrated for the management of COVID-19 and is beneficial to HCWs.
ABSTRACT
Since the early detection of COVID-19 infection in December 2019, the number of infected persons has been increasing day by day. In this present scenario, people worldwide are reorganizing their life taking safety precautions like doing frequent sanitization, wearing face masks, and avoiding social gathering to protect themselves from getting infected as the proven vaccine or lifesaving drugs are yet to be discovered. However, deficiency of face mask and their reusability have become a key issue because the used masks need to be discarded after some time. In this background, we propose the design of a self-powered (no external power source) face mask which does not require to be sterilized. The proposed mask is comprised of two differently charged tribo-series materials with outer electrocution layer. Different combinations of tribo-series (+ and −) materials have been chosen based on their triboelectric properties to generate static electricity. Nanofibers have been considered for their ability to generate a sufficient amount of triboelectricity. Multilayer of electrospun nanofiber-based tribo-materials such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-nylon and PVDF-poly(ethyl methacrylate) has been used due to the effective air filtration property of nanofibers and generating tribo electricity. In addition, the generated charge via utilization of contact electrification and electrostatic induction is amplified using a suitable energy harvesting circuit. The design of an outer electrocution layer has been made keeping a few nm distances in between the tribo-layers and the electrocution layer to avoid short-circuiting. Metallic nonwoven fabric has been taken in practice to design the outer electrocution layer. In this practice, the harvesting of triboelectric energy has been done using a suitable charging circuit which can generate sufficient voltage (few volts) to trigger the outer electrocution layer. During the wearer’s inhalation and exhalation, the inner tribo-layers produce triboelectric charges due to mechanical agitation between the layers. Additionally, acoustic or air vibration during talking and different facial expressions of the volunteer will also take part in the generation of effective triboelectric power. The viruses get electrocuted once the droplets containing viruses come in contact to the mask’s outer layer. In addition, the fitting comfort and the breathing permeability of the proposed mask are also ensured. In this chapter, we shall explain the face mask’s design and present the analysis results of different physiological inputs for the efficacy of the mask for killing the deadly virus. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
In this work, an all-fiber pyro- and piezo-electric nanogenerator (PPNG) is designed using multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) doped poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) electrospun nanofibers as the active layer and an interlocked conducting micro-fiber based electrode for converting both thermal and mechanical energies into useful electrical power. The PPNG generates high electrical throughput (output voltage similar to 35 V, maximum power density similar to 34 mu W cm(-2) and power conversion efficiency (eta(piezo)) similar to 19.3%) with an ultra-fast response time of similar to 10 ms. Owing to the higher piezoelectric charge co-efficient (;d(33);similar to 51.3 pC N-1) and figure of merit (FoM approximate to 5.95 x 10(-11) Pa-1) of PVDF-MWCNT nanofibers in comparison to the neat PVDF nanofibers (;d(33);similar to 22 pC N-1 and FoM approximate to 9.7 x 10(-12) Pa-1) the PPNG operates a range of consumer electronic components such as capacitors and light emitting diodes. Furthermore, the electroactive phase content (similar to 87%) is improved in the active layer due to the interfacial interaction between the surface charges at from the pi-electron cloud of the MWCNT and -CH2- dipoles of the PVDF chain. Additionally, the PVDF-MWCNT nanofibers possess fifteen times higher pyroelectric coefficient (similar to 60 nC m(-2) K-1) compared to that of neat PVDF nanofibers (4 nC m(-2) K-1). As a result, the PPNG is capable of converting very large temperature fluctuations (Delta T similar to 14.30 K) to electrical energy (such as the open-circuit voltage of 250 mV and a short-circuit current of 83 pA). Besides this, it is capable of detecting very low-level thermal fluctuations (as low as Delta T similar to 5.4 K) with responsivity of similar to 1.48 s and possesses very high mechano-sensitivity (similar to 7.5 V kPa(-1)) which makes it feasible for use as a biomedical sensor since the body temperature and bio-mechanical signals (such as breathing temperature, pulse rate, vocal cord vibrations, coughing sound, and so on) have an immense signature of health conditions. As a proof-of-concept, the all-fiber PPNG is employed as a biomedical sensor by integrating with the Internet of Things (IoT) based human health care monitoring system as well as for remote care of infectious diseases (e.g., applicable for pneumonia, COVID-19) by transferring the pulse response, body temperature, coughing and laughing response wirelessly to a smartphone.