COVID-19: Mapping the Peer-Reviewed Research

Novel coronavirus is a new addition in the family of coronaviruses and was first reported in December 2019 in China. SARS and MERS were the earlier forms of viruses in this family of viruses. The outbreak was considered a pandemic in March 2020 by WHO. The pandemic moved the health sciences researchers around the world to study various aspects of widespread disease. To know the volume and hotspots of COVID-19 research this study is prepared using the bibliometric method of research evaluation. Scopus and Web of Science; two most widely used indexing databases are used to retrieve the already published research on the COVID-19 pandemic. Two data sources are selected for comprehensive coverage. Health scientists have carried out 1060 research studies on the pandemic until now. These publications have been cited with an average of 1.4 citations per publication. China is leading in producing COVID-19 research followed by the United States of America and the United Kingdom with 32%, 13%, and 6% share respectively. Top-ranked journals categorized in first and second quartiles are publishing most of the research on COVID-19. BMJ, the Lancet, and Journal of Medical Virology are the most preferred journals by the researchers to publish their research on COVID-19

Median Regression Analysis of Gender-wise Income Gap in Punjab, Pakistan

This paper primarily examines the impact of gender on the monthly income of the working class in Punjab, Pakistan. The relevant data have been obtained from Pakistan Labour Force Survey (2008-9). A special case of quantile regression i.e. the median regression is used for the desired investigation. In addition to gender, the other covariates are marital status, area of residence, level of education, job type and status etc. As in many other regions and countries, the male workers in Punjab tend to have higher average income and the income tend to increase with increase in level of education. The workers with permanent jobs earn more as compared to temporary job holders

Median Regression Analysis of Gender-wise Income Gap in Punjab, Pakistan

This paper primarily examines the impact of gender on the monthly income of the working class in Punjab, Pakistan. The relevant data have been obtained from Pakistan Labour Force Survey (2008-9). A special case of quantile regression i.e. the median regression is used for the desired investigation. In addition to gender, the other covariates are marital status, area of residence, level of education, job type and status etc. As in many other regions and countries, the male workers in Punjab tend to have higher average income and the income tend to increase with increase in level of education. The workers with permanent jobs earn more as compared to temporary job holders

Design of a CSK-CDMA Based Indoor Visible Light Communication Transceiver using Raspberry Pi and LabVIEW

Visible Light Communication (VLC) has drastically drawn the attention of both academia and industry as it can offer simultaneous lighting and data communication in an indoor environment. Additionally, VLC also tender a viable means to assuage the radio spectrum crunch. However, the data rate of the VLC system is choked because of the limited modulation bandwidth of Light Emitting Diode (LED), baseband modules, and intersymbol interference (ISI). In this article, an indoor VLC based software-defined radio (SDR) is designed and implemented that make use of Color Shift Keying (CSK) modulation, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technique, and Raspberry Pi (RPi) to enabled the ISI free high data rate communication. The SDR is designed in LabVIEW software interfaced with the MATLAB and tested for text transmission. Numerous experiments were conducted on SDR at different alignments of transmitter and receiver. Our findings through experimentation showed that the SDR delivers an improved data rate of 2.645Mbps. Over and above, MATLAB based simulation packages are also conceived that validate the effectiveness of the proposed CSK-CDMA based VLC system. The bit-error-rate (BER) results of the proposed system are compared with the traditional CSK-OOK based VLC system. The results are quite impressive and show remarkable coding gain

Adaptive Beamforming for mmWave 5G MIMO Antennas

The direction of arrival (DOA) estimation and beamforming are effective methods for spatial diversity realization. Various algorithm already exists for implementing these methods. This paper explore the performance of least mean square algorithm (LMS) beamforming algorithm. This adaptive beamforming algorithm investigates receiver signal processing method that continuously monitor, calculate and update the weights in a continuously changing electromagnetic environment. Several optimization algorithms are studied, and a comparison of the least mean-squared algorithm and the minimum variance distortionless response is investigated with varying parameters (i.e. number of antenna element, element spacing etc.) using analytical method and Matlab simulation. It would be demonstrated through simulation that LMS algorithm increases signal quality by elimination interfering signals and noise by nulling them, while sending maximum signal (beams) to the desired direction

Rational Design and Advance Applications of Transition Metal Oxides

An attractive class of transition metal oxides (TMOs) have been freshly concerned with increasing research interest worldwide concerning stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric configurations as well, that usually exhibits a spinel structure. These TMOs will contribute substantial roles in the production of eco-friendly and low-cost energy conversion (storage) devices owing to their outstanding electrochemical properties. The current chapter involves the summary of the latest research and fundamental advances in the effectual synthesis and rational design of TMOs nanostructures with meticulous size, composition, shape, and micro as well as nanostructures. Also applications of TMOs such as effective photocatalyst, gas sensing, biomedical, and as an electrode material that can be utilized for lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic applications. Additionally, certain future tendencies and visions for the development of next-generation advanced TMOs for electrochemical energy storage methods are also displayed

5G-enabled Mobile Operating Hospital and Emergency Care Service

Critical care has frequently been fatal for trauma patients suffering from hemorrhage. The pre-hospital communication gap between the paramedics and the doctors contributes most towards this. This paper discusses a system model of a 5G-enabled communication architecture among the major trauma centres in the Greater Manchester. An Internet of sensors acquires and wirelessly communicates biosignals from the patient in real time, using 5G. These signals are then displayed as parameters to the closest trauma care management centres. This paper proposes a connectivity model that supports such a system by assessing and identifying the most optimal path for signal transmittance. A system-level 5G network modelling and simulation findings reveal that a signal-to-noise ratio of over 2dB is achieved for two base stations between the incident site and the nearest emergency medical centre. This value decreases by over 5 dB as the number of base station doubles. Hence, reconfigurable 5G base stations connectivity subsystems are required for critical vertical use cases of the radio standard

High Temperature Superconductors

One of the pioneers who introduced superconductivity of metal solids was Kamerlingh Onnes (1911). Researchers always struggled to make observations towards superconductivity at high temperatures for achieving goals of evaluating normal room temperature superconductors. The physical properties are based entirely on the behavior of conventional and metal superconductors as a result of high-temperature superconductors. Various synthetic approaches are employed to fabricate high-temperature superconductors, but solid-state thermochemical process which involves mixing, calcinating, and sintering is the easiest approach. Emerging novel high-temperature superconductors mainly engaged with technological applications such as power transmission, Bio-magnetism, and Tokamaks high magnetic field. Finally, in this chapter, we will discuss a brief outlook, future prospects, and finished with possible science fiction and some opportunities with high-temperature superconductors

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care