Road safety status during COVID-19 pandemic: exploring public and road safety expert’s opinions

The main objective of this study is to investigate the status of traffic safety and the public perception of traffic safety during the during COVID-19 pandemic. Three different data sets are used in this study: road crash and traffic violation data from Qatar, and two separate questionnaire surveys (from general public and road safety experts). Results showed that during COVID-19 period, the total number of crashes in Qatar significantly reduced during the pandemic compared with the previous 5 years. However, the rates of serious and fatal injuries significantly increased. Regarding the general public perceptions, more than 80% reported that roads became safer while driving behaviours improved during the pandemic. On the other hand, more than 50% of the experts disagreed that roads became safer, 55% disagreed that driving behaviours improved and 70% agreed that less attention from governments was directed toward road safety during the pandemic. The findings from this study could help policy makers to understand the road safety status during the pandemic to make appropriate adjustments in the traffic laws and regulations on a temporary basis. This could help in reducing crash-related injuries and as a result reduce pressure on health and other emergency services.Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library. This publication was made possible by the Collaborative Grant [QUCG-CENG-21/22-2] from the Qatar University

A review on biogenic synthesis of gold nanoparticles, characterization, and its applications

The nano-sized particles make an imprint on us in our daily lives and it has great importance in the numerous fields of biotechnology like the food industry, medical and industrial field. Gold nanoparticles are one of the widely used particles as it has many therapeutic applications, such as drug delivery system for many diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus etc. biosensors, and environmental applications of dye degradation, bioremediation of toxic chemicals present in the environment (soil and atmosphere). Gold nanoparticles synthesis by the green route has become the latest development, because of the bioavailability of sources like plants or microorganisms, and it also reduces the utilization of toxic chemicals. This review explains the various microorganisms like bacteria, algae, fungi, actinomycetes and yeast involved in the synthesis of these nanoparticles also elucidate the size, shape and functional groups involved in the synthesis of nanoparticles and its applications