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This study aimed to elicit the critical factors influencing Indian domestic vacationers' travel intention for leisure vacation destination choice amidst COVID-19. The study proposed a new model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), expanding it by adding contextual variables like perceived risk, perceived knowledge of COVID-19, and information search behaviour. The study used a quantitative approach using online social media platforms and emails of 312 respondents to analyze and test the hypotheses using IBM SPSS and AMOS tools. The results indicated that physical and functional risk negatively influenced attitude;whereas, psychological risk negatively influenced travel intention. Perceived knowledge of COVID-19 significantly influenced travel intention. Attitude strongly mediated subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived knowledge of COVID-19 to travel intention. This explains the strong implications for travel destination marketers for marketing safer destination choices to vacationers. © 2022, Associated Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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Just as the country has recently dealt with the increase in COVID-19 and monkey pox cases, another dark cloud of "Tomato flu/ Tomato fever " loomed the skies of the nation. As of 24 august, 2022, 100 kids mainly below the age of 5 have been reported showing symptoms of the flu. Another state of Odisha, suspected similar infectious etiology in 36 cases out of which 26 Children were below the age of 10. This endemic viral illness has triggered an alert to the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, along with the entire nation at large. The wrath of this disease is not just restricted to India but crossing borders. Tang, et al reported a case of a 13-month-old female child and her 5-year old brother based in United kingdom with similar etiology. Through this report, we aim to alert the frontline pediatricians, who are most likely to come across and manage such daunting cases with these non-specific clinical features in their routine clinical practice across the globe. Early and extreme preventive and surveillance measures must be undertaken to prevent substantial loss in public and private sector Mehta et al.
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A device comprising an oximeter and a module for detecting body temperature has been designed so that a person can readily check his or her health in crucial situations. This was accomplished by programming Arduino to output values measured by sensors such as the MAX30102 (Particle Sensor) and GY-906-BCC (Infrared Sensor). We've all been dealing with a global pandemic for the past year. As a result, there have been numerous coronavirus discoveries. The COVID-19 virus primarily affects an individual's respiratory system, lowering the patient's oxygen levels, and it causes a rise in body temperature. This approach can be quite valuable in such situations and can aid in the regular monitoring of an individual's health. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.
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Background: The internet-based remote learning and pedagogical revolution in the era of the covid pandemic has contributed to the boom in video conferencing technologies and resulted in new phenomena of exhaustion and fatigue experienced during virtual meetings. Objective(s): To examine the psychometric properties of the Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale (ZEFS) in the Indian university student population and to explore its impact on mental health. Method(s): Five hundred and seven students participated in this study and 484 completed the ZEFS and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS) via online survey. Psychometric validation of the ZEFS was performed with confirmatory factor analysis and reliability was assessed with Cronbach alpha and composite reliability. Pearson correlations were used to explore the relationship between the ZEFS and the DASS. Result(s): The results showed excellent reliability of the full ZEFS scale with a high Cronbach alpha and composite reliability score (0.94). The validity of the ZEFS within the Indian student sample was supported with favorable fit indices (CFI = 0.968, GFI = 0.932, AGFI = 0.897, CMIN/DF = 3.198, RMSEA = 0.06) consistent with the original factor structure. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scales of the DASS were found to be significantly correlated with Zoom fatigue (p <.01). Conclusion(s): Our data suggest that the Indian version of the ZEFS is a psychometrically sound measure to assess Zoom fatigue in the Indian student population.Copyright © 2023 IACFS/ME.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant impact on the health care system. As a consequence, diagnosis and treatment of vector borne diseases including dengue has been equally affected. Nepal is no exception to this, where COVID-19 cases is exponentially increased and all resources are concentrated on its prevention, control and management. Dengue, one of the major vector-borne diseases in Nepal, is apparently overlooked despite approaching the peak season of the disease. The aim of this paper is to describe the double burden of COVID-19 and dengue in Nepal, particularly highlighting the co-circulation and possible co-infections. This has posed higher risk of increased severity, more severe cases and deaths in Nepal. Moreover, potential misdiagnosis of these viral diseases may lead to delayed or, inappropriate treatment and poor allocation of resources. Copyright © 2021, Kathmandu University. All rights reserved.
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Sharing of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) cooking outcomes on various social media platforms was one of the most visible phenomena on the digital landscapes during COVID-19 led lockdowns. Since the prosumption of food is not considered as a source of alternative food system only, but also as a source of pleasure, DIY-cooking-related social media posts during the lockdown were prevalent among internet users. This paper examines variations in the social media posting behavior of food prosumers based on four individual and three social factors of gender, age, marital status, and family structure. Responses from 198 Facebook food community members were used to test the statistical hypotheses. The analyses report that the need for entertain-ment value while posting on social media was different among different demographic factors, whereas self-discovery and social enhancement did not exhibit variations across demographics. The need for social presence mattered more for unmarried people during social isolation whereas females used DIY-cooking posting to fulfil the need for uniqueness. The implications for social sustainability and business practices are also discussed.
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This work presents the splitting dynamics of low-viscous fingers inside the single bifurcating channel through the surface wettability of daughter branches. The propagation of low-viscous fingers inside branching microchannels have importance in many applications, such as microfluidics, biofluid mechanics (pulmonary airway reopening), and biochemical testing. Several numerical simulations are performed where a water finger propagates inside the silicon oil-filled bifurcating channel, and at the bifurcating tip, it splits into two fmgers and these fingers propagate into the separate daughter branches. It is noticed that the behaviour of finger splitting at the bifurcating tip depends upon numerous parameters such as surface wettability, capillary number, viscosity ratio, and surface tension. This study aims to trigger the behaviour of finger splitting through the surface wettability of daughter branches (theta(1), theta(2)). Therefore, a series of numerical simulations are performed by considering four different surface wettability configurations of daughter branches, i.e., (theta(1), theta(2)) is an element of [(78 degrees, 78 degrees);(78 degrees, 118 degrees);(78 degrees, 150 degrees);(150 degrees, 150 degrees)]. According to the results obtained from numerical simulations, finger splitting may be categorized into three types based on splitting ratio (lambda), i.e., symmetrical splitting, nonsymmetrical splitting, and reversal (no) splitting. It is noticed that the surface wettability of both daughter branches is either hydrophilic (78 degrees, 78 degrees) or superhydrophobic (150 degrees, 150 degrees), providing symmetrical splitting. The surface wettability of one of the daughter branches is hydrophilic and another is hydrophobic (78 degrees, 118 degrees), providing nonsymmetrical splitting. The surface wettability of one of the daughter branches is hydrophilic and another is superhydrophobic (78 degrees, 150 degrees), providing reversal splitting. The findings of this investigation may be incorporated in the fields of biochemical testing and occulted pulmonary airways reopening as well as respiratory diseases such as COVID-19.
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Purpose This paper is aimed at analyzing the inter-contextual relationships among the factors that led to inadequate management of electronic and electrical waste (WEEE) during COVID-19 using a subjective perspective. Design/methodology/approach Grey sets and a Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL)-based approach has been employed to identify the causal association of intertwined WEEE management barriers. Findings Results reveal the lack of implementation of the legislative framework, extended producer responsibility and lesser corporate initiatives are some of the most challenging WEEE management challenges during the current pandemic. Practical implications The findings of the study would enable stakeholders of WEEE management toward building resilient policies and effective implementation plans during as well as post-crisis situations. Originality/value COVID-19 led challenges related to healthcare waste have attracted a significant amount of scholarly attention, but there has been lesser attention toward e-waste management challenges during the pandemic. Negligence toward e-waste management can pose threats to the environment as well as human well-being.
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The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. The constant increase in the rise of cases and deaths has compelled nearly all countries to impose lockdowns and other restrictive measures. The restrictions on travel and other non-essential activities have raised some serious business concerns for ridesharing, carpooling, and cab rental services. This study aims to identify, analyze, and prioritize the commuters' barriers to App-based Ridesharing Services during COVID-19's first and second waves, and potential ways of adaptation for an anticipated third wave in Indian contexts. The hierarchy of barriers is established using the responses from sixty respondents and their analysis using the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). 'Safety from contagion' was found to be the most significant and strong factor followed by the desire for personal space and personal security as the most important inhibitors for not choosing ridesharing services during COVID-19. Socio-economic status and the lack of reliability of service were not given much importance by the respondents. The current and potential implications for sustainable business and the environment are also discussed. © 2022 International Journal of Mathematical, Engineering and Management Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Due to immense pressure on the medical sector, there is a huge chance of human error in diagnosing the report of COVID-19 patients. For the detection of COVID-19, many Artificial Intelligence-based methodologies have been proposed. This work offers an ideal approach by a fusion of deep learning classifiers and medical images to provide a speedy and accurate identification of the COVID-19 virus by analyzing the user's CT-Scan images of the lungs. In this work, an adjusted rendition of ResNet101V2 that is improved by a Feature Pyramid Network for classifying the CT scan images into the categories: normal or COVID-19 positive, has been implemented. An accuracy of marginally significant has been obtained by ResNet101V2 with Feature Pyramid Network. The proposed FPN, using the deep learning technique, assured a satisfactory performance in terms of detecting COVID-19 in CT scan and gives a testing accuracy of 97.79%. The predicted results on test-cases are highly accurate using FPN and can assist the medical professionals in making a proper judgment. © 2022 Bharati Vidyapeeth, New Delhi.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant impact on the health care system. As a consequence, diagnosis and treatment of vector borne diseases including dengue has been equally affected. Nepal is no exception to this, where COVID-19 cases is exponentially increased and all resources are concentrated on its prevention, control and management. Dengue, one of the major vector-borne diseases in Nepal, is apparently overlooked despite approaching the peak season of the disease. The aim of this paper is to describe the double burden of COVID-19 and dengue in Nepal, particularly highlighting the co-circulation and possible coinfections. This has posed higher risk of increased severity, more severe cases and deaths in Nepal. Moreover, potential misdiagnosis of these viral diseases may lead to delayed or, inappropriate treatment and poor allocation of resources.
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With everyone now covering their faces with a face mask to avoid contagion of the COVID-19 virus, it becomes an increasingly difficult challenge for the facial recognition systems to identify people wearing masks. Algorithms devised before the pandemic for facial recognition often fail in this context, and consequently a need to understand the working of facial recognition algorithms when presented with occluded faces arises. This project aims to develop a new lightweight Convolutional Neural Network-based algorithm to resolve this issue. The proposed model gives a comparable accuracy with similar models developed in the past. Further, the proposed algorithm is used to create a robust system to ensure adherence of COVID-19 protocols in a real-world environment. © 2021 IEEE.
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Background: Respiratory epithelial cells (RECs) lining the upper airways are primary entry-point for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Managing the overwhelming inflammatory response and mucus hypersecretion are among the major challenges faced in achieving effective treatment. The present study analyzes the acute inflammatory and mucous responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: Nasal swabs from COVID19 patients with mild and severe pathologies were analyzed for the expression of viral RNA (vRNA) for nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) proteins, viral entry regulating host factors (ACE-2 and TMPRSS-2), epithelial inflammatory factors (IL-6, ICAM-1 and CXCL-8), respiratory mucins (MUC1, 2, 4, 5AC, 5B, 7, 16 and 19), mucin regulatory transcription factors (SPDEF and FOXA3) and select long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) by qRT-PCR. Sub-cellular localization and association of lncRNAs and SARS-CoV-2 vRNA was depicted by Dual-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and immunostaining for epithelial cell markers. A 3D in-vitro cell culture model was developed using primary human RECs differentiated on transwells at air-liquid interface and were infected with a SARS-CoV-2 clinical isolate (USA-WI1/2020) via apical as well as basal regions. Samples were collected at 0, 1, 4, 24 and 48 h postinfection (p.i.) and the expression of aforementioned factors were analyzed in cell lysates and media. Results: Severely affected patients showed significantly higher expression of IL-6, ICAM-1, and CXCL-8 along with the respiratory mucins, MUC4, 5AC, 16, and 19 and the transcriptional regulators, SPDEF and FOXA3 compared to the mild COVID19 patients. Our recently identified novel lncRNAs, LASI (lncRNA on antisense strand to ICAM-1), and TOSL (TNFAIP3-opposite strand lncRNA) were significantly higher in severe patients whereas NEAT1 and MALAT1 levels were lower as were the ACE2 and TMPRSS2. SARS-CoV-2 clinical isolate productively infected 3D human REC model with highest expression of SARS-CoV-2 N vRNA at 24 h p.i., and showed increased expression of inflammatory factors and LASI and TOSL at 1 h p.i. The dual-FISH staining of LASI and SARS-CoV-2 N1 vRNA validated that both the transcripts were enriched in nuclear/perinuclear region of RECs and, club cells and MUC5AC+ cells of severe COVID19.Conclusions: Together, these data indicate that severely infected COVID19 patients are impacted by high respiratory mucin expression and the associated airway inflammation. Interestingly, the lncRNAs, LASI and TOSL showed associated increased expression suggesting a possible role for these innate immunomodulators in SARS-CoV-2 induced innate airway mucosal responses.
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Background: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, globally, more than 63 million people have been infected and 1.46 million people succumbed to death, and the number is still growing. It is well-established that attachment of spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 with ACE-2 is crucial for initiating infection. While a vaccine is awaited, alternate strategies can be adopted for blocking viral entry to host cells. Herein, we report two lead compounds that block the attachment of spike with ACE2 using lung epithelial cells. Methods: Methods: To identify the lead compounds, we conducted virtual screening of ∼3 million compounds that had potential to bind a site at ACE2/ Spike interface (PDB file 6M0J) using 'Glide' program of Schrödinger Suite. Then the combination of visual inspection and redocking with AutoDock Vina (to determine binding energy)was used to select 5 potential inhibitors of ACE2/ Spike interaction. These five compounds were then tested for their inhibitory activity in virological and biophysical assays. The inhibitory activity of these five compounds was measured using Vero-STAT1 knockout cells and a human bronchial epithelial cell line (UNCN1T). Results: Results: Of the five, two compounds, MU-UNMC-1 and MU-UNMC-2 with binding energy of-6.9kcal/mol and-7.8kcal/mol respectively, showed antiviral activity in two cell lines. In Vero-STAT1 cells, MU-UNMC-1 had IC50 of 5.35μM and 2.94μM, whereas MU-UNMC-2 had IC50 of 1.63μM and 0.54μM, after 24 and 48 hrs post infection (hpi), respectively. In UNCN1T cells, both compounds had significantly better efficacy. MU-UNMC-1 had an IC50 of 0.67μM and 1.16μM and at 24 and 48 hpi, respectively. MU-UNMC-2 had IC50 of 1.72μM and 0.89μM after 24 and 48 hpi, respectively. In Vero-STAT1 cells, the selectivity index (SI) (defined as CC50/IC50) of the compounds was 2.11(MU-UNMC-1) and 13.22(MU-UNMC-2), whereas in UNCN1T cells, the SI of the compounds was 9.27(MU-UNMC-1) and 4.15(MU-UNMC-2). Conclusion: Conclusion: We report the identification of two lead compounds (MU-UNMC-1 and MU-UNMC-2) that block the entry of SARS-CoV-2 in submicromolar concentration in biologically relevant human bronchial epithelial cells. Further, using structure-based similarity searches, we identified three additional chemotypes of these two compounds. These chemotypes of MUUNMC-3, MU-UNMC-4 and MU-UNMC-5) showed ∼2-fold better binding affinity with ACE2/Spike complex. These compounds are under investigation for their inhibitory effect in virological and biophysical assays.
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Ayurveda, a branch of AYUSH system of health care in India is considered as alternative/complementary of medicine (CAM) in WHO. Here, its products are covered under “drug and cosmetics” act but in abroad they are supplements or functional foods. The aim of Ayurveda is to maintain the wellness of a healthy person and to treat a patient. For treatment, Ayurveda adopts 3 approaches i.e., (1) Daivavyapasharya chikitsa) (ypareht enivid 2 ( Yuktivyapashraya chikitsa (Rational therapy) 3 Satvavajaya chikitsa (Psychotherapy) and focuses to enhance the Vyadhikshmatwa (capacity to fight against spread of pathogenesis by strengthening all 7 dhatus (rasa, rakta, meda, mansa, asthi, majja and shukra). The disease COVID-19 falls under “Bhootvidya (GrahaVidya)", which is one of the 8 branches of “Astanga Ayurveda”. It is an “Agantuja” disease, where the disease symptoms appear in 1st stage followed by its spread in the body. Thus, progress of disease (Samprapti) has been considered under concept of shatkriyakala (6 stages of disease development), which has been given high importance for deciding the stage of disease progress and its treatment protocol. Here, we have described the introduction to Astang Ayurveda, concept of disease pathogenesis and holistic approach of treatment in respect to management of COVID-19. It specifically covers symptom based stage of disease progress and its targeted treatment guideline by including all 3 approaches of treatment, described above. Here, the current line of diagnosis, treatment and research related to COVID-19 management has been included, which are reported by basic scientists and physicians of allopathic system. These are indexed in Pubmed and web of science and also described in classical text books of Ayurveda. The same has been reviewed and summarized here, with an objective of possible correlation between the 2 languages of science of health care. © 2020, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources. All rights reserved.
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This assessment by the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides the latest scientific update since our most recent comprehensive assessment (Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, 2019, 18, 595-828). The interactive effects between the stratospheric ozone layer, solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and climate change are presented within the framework of the Montreal Protocol and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We address how these global environmental changes affect the atmosphere and air quality; human health; terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; biogeochemical cycles; and materials used in outdoor construction, solar energy technologies, and fabrics. In many cases, there is a growing influence from changes in seasonality and extreme events due to climate change. Additionally, we assess the transmission and environmental effects of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, in the context of linkages with solar UV radiation and the Montreal Protocol.