Personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 crisis: a snapshot and recommendations from the frontline of a university teaching hospital

Aims The adequate provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers has come under considerable scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate staff awareness of PPE guidance, perceptions of PPE measures, and concerns regarding PPE use while caring for COVID-19 patients. In addition, responses of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals (OHCPs) were compared. Methods The inclusion criteria were all staff working in clinical areas of the hospital. Staff were invited to take part using a link to an online questionnaire advertised by email, posters displayed in clinical areas, and social media. Questions grouped into the three key themes - staff awareness, perceptions, and concerns - were answered using a five-point Likert scale. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare results across all three groups of staff. Results Overall, 315 staff took part in our study. There was a high awareness of PPE guidance at 84.4%, but only 52.4% of staff reported adequate PPE provision. 67.9% were still keen to come to work, despite very high levels of anxiety relating to contracting COVID-19 despite wearing PPE. Doctors had significantly higher ratings for questions relating to PPE awareness compared to other staff groups, while nursing staff and OHCPs had significantly higher levels of anxiety compared to doctors in relation to PPE and contracting COVID-19 (p < 0.05 using a Kruskal-Wallis test). Conclusion We believe four recommendations are key to improve PPE measures and decrease anxiety: 1) nominated ward/department PPE champions; 2) anonymized reporting for PPE concerns; 3) formal PPE education sessions; and 4) drop-in counselling sessions for staff. We hope the insight and recommendations from this study can improve the PPE situation and maintain the health and wellbeing of the clinical work force, in order to care for COVID-19 patients safely and effectively

Optical and Structural Properties of Solvent Free Synthesized Starch/Chitosan-ZnO Nanocomposites

The objective of this work is to develop an environmentally friendly method for preparation of ZnO nanocomposites. ZnO nanocomposites were prepared by three natural fibers such as coir, sawdust, and chitosan using aqueous solution of zinc chloride and sodium hydroxide. The functional groups of ZnO, C=O for polysaccharide, and N-H bending vibration of amine were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. A new high intensity absorption band has been observed at 424 cm−1 which corresponds to the E2 mode of hexagonal ZnO. The crystallinity and phase formation of coir, chitosan, and sawdust combined ZnO nanocomposites were confirmed by X-ray diffraction patterns. XRD patterns revealed the polycrystalline nature of ZnO composites belonging to the hexagonal phase with (101) preferential lattice orientation. The microstructural parameters were calculated for coir, chitosan, and saw wood combined ZnO composites. Also texture coefficients were estimated for all the diffraction lines of ZnO based nanocomposites. SEM and TEM analyses confirmed evenly distributed nanosized grains in the ZnO composites. The UV-Vis absorption spectra were observed where the blue shift absorption peak was at 334 nm. The optical band gap values were estimated in the range of 3.18–3.26 eV. The emission peak was observed at ~388 nm and ~463 nm by photoluminescence spectroscopy

The surfactants mediated electropolymerized poly(aniline) (PANI)-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cell

In this work, poly(aniline) (PANI)-reduced graphene Oxide (rGO) low-cost nanocomposite used for counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) for the replacement of the high-cost platinum (Pt) CE. The nanocomposite CEs were prepared with three different types of structural determine agents (cationic, non-ionic and anionic namely CTAB, Triton-X100, SDS) in aqueous medium and characterized by HR-SEM &amp; TEM, XRD pattern analysis, FT-IR and Raman spectral studies. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies were used to determine the PANI-rGO-anionic surfactant in lower charge transfer resistance compared with, PANI, rGO and other type surfactants used in the preparation of CEs. DSSC assembled with a N719 dye sensitized TiO2 photo-anode, Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), iodide/triiodide redox couple containing electrolyte and PANI-rGO-anionic surfactant CE showed a sunlight-into-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 7.60%, which is higher than that of DSSC fabricated with pure Pt (6.40%), PANI (4.81%), rGO (4.30%) and PANI-rGO-CTAB (6.26%) and PANI-rGO-Triton X 100 (5.72%)

NiO@ZnO composite bimetallic nanocrystalline decorated TiO 2-CsPbI 3 photo-anode surface modifications for perovskite-sensitized solar cell applications

In this work, we fabricated a novel NiO@ZnO modification of TiO2-CsPbI3 photoanode-based Perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A facile hydrothermal synthesis is adopted for the preparation of NiO@ZnO-modified TiO2-CsPbI3 composite. The as-prepared NiO@ZnO modified TiO2-CsPbI3 composite is characterized by XRD, HR-TEM, SAED, FE-SEM with EDAX, AFM, XPS, FT-IR, UV-Vis, and Tauc plot analysis. UV-Vis spectra show that visible light absorption of the NiO@ZnO modified TiO2-CsPbI3 bilayer photoanode was more effective than NiO/ZnO modified TiO2-CsPbI3. XRD analysis showed the formation of NiO@ZnO in the TiO2-CsPbI3 in cubic crystalline nature. Morphological analyses were performed using FESEM, HRTEM, SAED, and AFM which revealed the formation of NiO@ZnO-modified TiO2-CsPbI3 with a multi-crystalline surface. EDAX and XPS analyses confirmed the presence of Ni, Zn, O, Ti, Cs, Pb, and I elements in the NiO@ZnO-modified TiO2-CsPbI3 composite. FT-IR spectra of perovskite metal oxide and hydroxide stretching vibrations peaks appeared at 920 and 3450 cm -1. The band gap was found to be 2.47 eV for NiO@ZnO-modified TiO2-CsPbI3 by using a Tauc plot. Finally, the photoanode-based PSCs were opti-mized by adding NiO@ZnO and TiO2-CsPbI3 composite, giving a high efficiency of 8.73%. We confirm that NiO@ZnO-modified TiO2-CsPbI3 bilayer photoanode-based PSCs show a better performance than NiO and ZnO-modified TiO2-CsPbI3.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Causes and predictors of mortality in Asian Indians with and without diabetes-10 year follow-up of the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES - 150).

BACKGROUND:The incidence and prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide and it is the fifth leading cause of mortality accounting for over 3.8 million deaths annually. Despite the enormity of the diabetes-related health burdens, very few studies have evaluated the factors associated with mortality among people with diabetes in India. We sought to study the causes and predictors of mortality among urban Asian Indians with and without diabetes. METHODS AND FINDINGS:Of 2273 adults (27,850 person-years of follow-up) from the 10-year follow-up of the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES), the cause of death could be ascertained in 552 individuals out of the 671 who had died (response rate 82.3%). Verbal autopsy was obtained from the family members of the deceased and this was adjudicated by trained physicians. The age-standardized mortality rate was 28.2 (95%CI 25.9-30.6) per 100,000 population. Mortality rates were significantly higher in individuals with diabetes compared to those without [27.9(95% CI 25.5-30.6) vs. 8.0 (6.6-9.9) per 1000 person years]. Compared to individuals of normal body mass index, underweight individuals had higher risk of mortality (Hazard ratio 1.49; 95% CI 1.11-2.0), whereas overweight and obese individuals did not show a higher risk. The population-attributable risk for all-cause mortality in the entire study cohort was highest for ischemic heart disease and diabetes. The excess mortality attributable to diabetes was highest in the age group of 51 to 70 years, and was mostly accounted for by renal disease (Rate ratio 5.68, 95%CI 2.43-6.23), ischemic heart disease (4.23,2.78-6.67), and cerebrovascular disease (4.00,1.87-9.81). CONCLUSION:Underweight (but not overweight or obesity) was strongly associated with mortality in this Asian Indian population. Ischemic heart disease and diabetes contributed the most to risk for all cause mortality. Excess mortality due to diabetes was higher in relatively younger individuals and was mostly accounted for by renal disease

Baseline characteristics of subjects with and without diabetes among the study cohort.

<p>Baseline characteristics of subjects with and without diabetes among the study cohort.</p