COVID-19 is the official name of the disease provoked by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Since the advent of the first cases of the new coronavirus, our society has been completely changed. Due to the changes, new environmental challenges were imposed, principally due to the considerable growth in using plastic materials in packages and personal protective equipment such as face masks. The impact of plastic during the COVID-19 pandemic was discussed in the present work from the point of view of the environmental science area. Bibliometric analysis and mapping were performed based on Scopus database search results. Emphasis was placed on analyzing the authors' keywords of the publications. The main concern of the research area concerning the use of plastic during the COVID-19 pandemic is the pollution of water bodies by plastic.
The spread of respiratory diseases has gained significant attention since the detection and rapid global spread of COVID-19. Respiratory viruses are commonly transmitted when an infected person coughs or sneezes onto a surface, infecting persons who subsequently contact this surface. For this reason, developing surfaces with inherent antipathogenic properties is crucially needed for controlling the spread of deadly pathogens. Recent studies have established the antipathogenic potential of hydrothermally synthesised titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructured surfaces against bacteria strains (Gram-positive and negative) and several respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, HRV-16 and HCoV-NL63. This study investigates the antiviral behaviour of TiO2 nanostructured surfaces against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a respiratory virus commonly contracted by children, to reduce viral transmission in high-traffic environments such as hospitals and childcare centers. Mimicking droplets produced when a person coughs or sneezes, RSV droplets were exposed to nanostructured surfaces to investigate their antiviral potential. Results show that nanostructured TiO2 reduced the RSV infectious viral load at all timepoints compared to control surfaces, showing 1.7, 2.6 and 3.2 log reductions after 2-, 5- and 7-hours exposure, respectively. Interestingly, virus exposed to nanostructured surfaces showed little to no infectivity after 5 h exposure while viable virus was still detected on control surfaces after 7 h exposure. These encouraging results establish TiO2 nanostructured surfaces as a potential method for reducing transmission and spread of respiratory viruses and bacterial strains.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic the term ‘Work from home (WFH), which was earlier only a theoretical concept for many, suddenly became necessary to continue various economic activities. The communication related infrastructures are often discussed in this context and how a sudden demand for it created a new avenue for certain businesses, but one very crucial aspect without which it is difficult to perform WFH is ‘suitable homes’ which provide necessary requirements to operate office work. This cross-sectional study focuses on investigating the issues faced by the students and working professionals who had to suddenly start working from home due to restricted movement because of lockdown measures. The study objective was achieved by analysing the unique situation through reviewing articles published in significant property portals, annual reports of major real estate developers & builders, conducting a focus group discussion to ascertain views of construction professionals on emerging requirements of WFH, a survey using structured questionnaire consisting of open, closed, and Likert scale questions from students and working professionals was carried out to understand dweller’s issues and requirements regarding WFH setup. The study findings indicate that residential dwellers working from home partially or full time are facing some common issues that require a focused approach towards design, material adaptability and a wider inclusion of Internet of things (IoT), and not just a single point solution of increasing space of existing residential unit, as indicated in annual reports of major realty players, thus the study also offers a framework which will be helpful for construction industry stakeholders in understanding the requirements of residential dwellers for performing WFH.
Studies have reported challenges of debonding of dental zirconia crowns to from luting cement and prepared teeth. The aim of the study was to explore the application of dental glazing systems for enhancing the bonding of zirconia dental ceramics to luting resin cement. Commercial glaze powder and liquid (Vita Akzent) and experimental mica-based glaze powders were used for the study. X-ray diffraction analysis of the glaze powders (XRD) and Fourier Transform InfraRed Spectroscopy (FTIR) was done on the glaze liquid. Sandblasted sintered dental zirconia (Katana, Noritake) were the control samples. Glazed zirconia samples were coated with commercial glaze and experimental glaze powders which were further etched with 5% hydrofluoric acid. Shear bond strengths of sandblasted and glazed zirconia samples to resin composites were evaluated. XRD of commercial and experimental glaze powders revealed a broad peak confirming the amorphous nature of glass and FTIR analysis of the glaze liquid revealed symmetrical stretching (CH2-CH3) of the alcohol group indicating a mixture of iso-butane and ethanol. Glazed and etched zirconia showed significantly higher shear bond strength to resin cement compared to sandblasted zirconia. The study confirms the glassy nature of dental glaze powders and the presence of ethanol-based mixtures in the commercial glaze liquid. Glazing systems have the potential to be explored for enhancing the bonding of non-etchable zirconia ceramics to resin cement and tooth substrates.
As imaging technology plays an important role in the diagnosis and evaluation of the new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19), COVID-19 related data sets have been published one after another, but there are relatively few data sets and research progress in related literature. To this end, through COVID-19-related journal papers, reports, and related open-source data set websites, organize and analyze the new coronary pneumonia data set and the deep learning models involved, including computed tomography (CT) image data sets and X-ray (CXR) Image dataset. Analyze the characteristics of the medical images presented in these data sets; focus on open-source data sets, as well as classification and segmentation models that perform well on related data sets. Finally, the future development trend of lung imaging technology is discussed.
