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The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has made widespread testing a need for controlling the disease. Numerous recent investigations have shown that many people with COVID-19 show no outward signs of illness. As a result, these patients are more likely to unwittingly spread the virus because they will not take a COVID-19 test. In order to get tested, patients will need to travel to a lab, putting others at risk of exposure. Recent studies have shown that people with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic have distinctive coughs and breathing patterns compared to the general population. This prompted the study of cough and breath sounds in COVID-19 patients as a means of differentiating them from those of non-COVID lung infection patients and the general population. In this article, we present a robust, efficient, and extensible method for identifying symptomatic patterns in biological audio signals. Cough digitized audio files are subjected to spectral analysis via a stationary wavelet transform (SWT). The proposed model employs ADASYN technique to handle the class imbalance problem. Also, features like Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs), log frame energies, zero crossing rate (ZCR), and kurtosis are extracted. For classification process, deep belief network (DBN) model is utilized. Finally, mayfly optimization (MFO) algorithm is exploited for optimal hyper-parameter tuning of the DBN model. The experimental validation of the proposed model takes place using open access dataset. Proposed method is compared with other methods in terms accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, F1-Score, precision and recall. The experimental outcomes demonstrated the betterment of the proposed model over other recent state of art approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has heightened the interest in particle-laden turbulent jets generated by breathing, talking, coughing and sneezing, and how these can contribute to disease transmission. We present quantitative measurement methods for such flows, while exploring and offering improvements for common shortcomings. We generate jets consisting of either liquid droplets or solid particles in an isothermal, quiescent and electrically isopotential experimental chamber that was constructed to control the effects of ambient forcing on jet behavior. For liquid droplets, we find promise in surface deposition analysis based on fluorescent tracer use. For particles, we explore the performance of commercially available adhesive sampling strips and develop conductive grounded carbon tape based sampling strips. We explore ways in which the smallest of thermal gradients or electrostatic charge issues can affect particle dispersion, and suggest practical methods to address these issues. The developed methods are applied to study the simultaneous deposition of ≈ 25, 50 and 200 μm solid particles from a particle laden turbulent jet with a mean velocity of 33.2 m/s. The deposition location as a function of particle size was compared to results from a simple numerical RANS model, and illustrates ways in which imprecise initial or boundary conditions can lead to a notable deviation from experimental results. The differences in deposition pattern seen in experimental and numerical results despite a carefully controlled environment and characterized particle ejection indicate the need for a more stringent numerical model validation, especially when studying fate and transport of mid-range (neither purely aerosol or ballistic) sized particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing Covid-19 is a contagious disease, and it is characterised by different symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Rising concerns about Covid-19 have severely affected the healthcare system in all countries as the Covid-19 outbreak has developed at a rapid rate all around the globe. Intriguing, a clinically used drug, acetazolamide (a specific inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase, CA, EC 4.2.1.1), is used to treat high-altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPE), showing a high degree of clinical similarities with the pulmonary disease caused by Covid-19. In this context, this preliminary study aims to provide insights into some factors affecting the Covid-19 patients, such as hypoxaemia, hypoxia as well as the blood CA activity. We hypothesise that patients with Covid-19 problems could show a dysregulated acid–base status influenced by CA activity. These preliminary results suggest that the use of CA inhibitors as a pharmacological treatment for Covid-19 may be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Central venous catheter (CVC) placement is one of the most commonly performed procedures in the intensive care unit for the institution of high-risk medications and nutrients. Despite the frequent use of ultrasound, inadvertent placement of CVC into the carotid artery is still possible. It carries significant morbidity due to the incidence of bleeding, arteriovenous fistula, and stroke. Methods: We present a case of accidental placement of CVC into the right carotid artery, which led to the right-sided temporoparietal stroke. Case Summary: A 71-year-old male was admitted to hospital with symptoms of cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath. He was diagnosed with coronavirus disease-19 and did require mechanical ventilation due to progressive hypoxic respiratory failure. The patient developed distributive shock and underwent CVC placement at the day of admission. On the 24th day of intubation, the patient was unable to move his left upper and lower extremities. Computed tomography (CT) head revealed showed a large temporoparietal stroke. CT Angiogram of head and neck revealed a misplaced CVC within the right common carotid artery. He was transferred to the Neuro ICU at our hospital where the patient underwent catheter removal and carotid artery sheath placement followed by dual antiplatelet therapy. Although the patient survived, he still required long-term facility placement due to the stroke. Conclusion: We reiterate that an experienced clinician must perform the CVC placement with ultrasound guidance and verify its placement with multiple confirmation techniques afterwards. Providers must manage unintentional carotid artery placement promptly to prevent long-term sequelae associated with it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple plastic face shields have numerous practical advantages over regular surgical masks. In light of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, the potential of face shields as a substitution for surgical masks was investigated. In order to determine the efficacy of the protective equipment we used a cough simulator. The protective equipment considered was placed on a manikin head that simulated human breathing. Concentration and size distribution of small particles that reached the manikin respiration pathways during the few tens of seconds following the cough event were monitored. Additionally, water sensitive papers were taped on the tested protective equipment and the manikin face. In the case of frontal exposure, for droplet diameter larger than 3 μm, the shield efficiency in blocking cough droplets was found to be comparable to that of regular surgical masks, with enhanced protection for portions of the face that the mask does not cover. Additionally, for finer particles, down to 0.3 µm diameter, a shield blocked about 10 times more fine particles than the surgical mask. When exposure from the side was considered, the performance of the shield was found to depend dramatically on its geometry. While a narrow shield allowed more droplets and aerosol to penetrate in comparison to a mask under the same configuration, a slightly wider shield significantly improved the performance. The source control potential of shields was also investigated. A shield, and alternatively, a surgical mask, were placed on the cough simulator, while the breathing simulator, situated 60 cm away in the jet direction, remained totally exposed. In both cases, no droplets or particles were found in the vicinity of the breathing simulator. Conducted experiments were limited to short time periods after expiratory events, and do not include longer time ranges associated with exposure to suspended aerosol. Thus, additional evidence regarding the risk posed by floating aerosol is needed to establish practical conclusions regarding actual transmittance reduction potential of face shields and surgical face masks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dear Editor, Since the COVID-19 outbreak, different special measures have been applied in dermatological clinics, in order to reduce the spread of infection among both patients and physicians, with a reduction of face to face visits and an improved role given to the teledermatology ([1]). P. No evidence of increased risk for COVID-19 infection in patients treated with Dupilumab for atopic dermatitis in a high-epidemic area - Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. The safety of dupilumab in COVID-19 patients has been reported also by Ferrucci et al. in two patients affected by both AD and COVID-19 ([6]). [Extracted from the article]

December 2021 will mark the second anniversary of initial reports from Wuhan, China, of human infection by Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel positive-sense, single-stranded enveloped RNA virus transmitted via respiratory droplets and contaminated vectors, or fomites.[1],[2] As of this writing in August 2021, the pandemic has produced over 200 million confirmed cases from more than 200 countries, resulting in more than 4 million identified deaths.[3] As nearly half of these reported cases were from the United States and Europe - inhabitants of which together total just under 15% of the planet's population, there is good reason to believe that many regional rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and of COVID-19-associated morbidity and mortality are spuriously low - particularly those from the developing world. Comparative evaluation of tears and nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 dedicated intensive care unit patients. Presumed SARS-CoV-2 viral particles in the human retina of patients with COVID-19. 11 Seah I, Agrawal R. Can the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affect the eyes?. [Extracted from the article]