New Delhi: COVID-19 has infected over 226 million people worldwide and claimed over 4.6 million lives, until 13 september, since its emergence.
Although there is rapid development on the front of COVID-19 vaccines, many people are still skeptical of getting their shots. The effectiveness of masks is also being researched. We bring you the latest developments on vaccines, their effectiveness against various SARS-CoV-2 variants and the use of artificial intelligence techniques to detect the virus.
fridge-free covid-19 vaccines
Can you imagine vaccines that are thermally stable and require absolutely no refrigeration? A team of researchers from the University of California at San Diego, US, has developed vaccine candidates in which the key ingredients are viruses or bacteria from plants. The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
These vaccine candidates were tested in mice, and it was found that neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were produced in large quantities. The study said that people living in rural areas and communities where resource availability is less would benefit immensely from such vaccines.
Nicole Steinmetz, director of the Center for Nano-Immunoengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, said these vaccines are thermally stable and can be transported in places where it is not possible to install an ultra-low temperature freezer, or by truck. Along with the freezer, according to a statement from the University of California San Diego.
The plant virus from which the vaccine candidate has been made is called cowpea mosaic virus, and the bacterial virus from which the second vaccine is made is a bacteriophage called Q beta, the study said.
In previous studies, researchers found this vaccine technology to be effective against HPV and cholesterol, and the team will now test whether the vaccine can also provide protection against other deadly coronaviruses.
Moderna shoots more effectively in defense against Delta variant: Study
A study by researchers at the Regenstrife Institute in the US, including an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vision Network, shows that Moderna’s vaccine is significantly more effective against delta virus than Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. is effective.
The Vision Network analyzed more than 32,000 medical encounters from nine states at the time the delta version became dominant, and found that people without COVID-19 were 5-7 times more likely to be hospitalized or need emergency treatment. times more likely. , compared to vaccinated individuals.
The study found that the Moderna vaccine was 95 percent more effective at preventing hospitalization in people 18 years of age or older, while Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson’s effectiveness were 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively.
In preventing emergency department and urgent care visits, the effectiveness of Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson was 92 percent, 77 percent and 65 percent, respectively. The researchers also noted that further monitoring and evaluation was important.
artificial intelligence to detect covid-19
Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology in Illinois, US, in collaboration with scientists from other universities, conducted a recent study and developed a rapid, accurate and cost-effective COVID-19 test combining microscopy with artificial intelligence. The study was published in Light: Science and Applications-Nature.
The scientists used a technique called spatial light-image microscopy (SLIM), which facilitates chemical-free or label-free imaging, to visualize the tiny structure of SARS-CoV-2. The researchers used artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the virus based on SLIM data, and programmed the AI to a pair of images. One of the images was a stained SARS-CoV-2 particle generating fluorescence, and the other was captured with a Fluorescence-SLIM multimodal microscope. The researchers did this to train the AI to recognize the images as one and the same, so that they could directly detect the virus using the SLIM data.
The next stage is differentiation, where AI is trained to learn how to differentiate between SARS-CoV-2 and pathogens such as H1N1, influenza A, adenovirus, Zika virus. According to a statement from the Beckman Institute, one of the researchers, Gabriel Popescu, said they aimed to demonstrate this technology in the clinic and apply it around the world. The study said the technology could serve as a low-cost method, and could help tackle future pandemics, not just COVID-19.
Nanofiber face masks should be changed frequently: Study
Innovative masks developed using nanofiber technologies have resulted in higher filtration efficiency, greater comfort and easier breathing. However, not much is known about how the integrity of the nanofibers is affected by microscopic water droplets. A new study by researchers from Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China, published in the journal Physics of Fluids, has investigated these effects by visualizing the interaction of nanofibers with water aerosols.
The researchers used high-speed microscopic video to observe how the nanofibers, having different angles, diameters and mesh sizes, developed underwater aerosol exposure.
The researchers found from the images that during the droplet capture phase and the subsequent liquid evaporation phase, an irreversible coalescence of the nanofibers occurred, the study said.
Weiwei Deng, one of the study’s authors, said they confirmed three things, according to a statement from the American Institute of Physics. The first was confirmed that the nanofibers displayed an excellent way to capture aerosol droplets, the second was confirmed that the nanofibers bonded together after capture, and the third was confirmed that the bonds were tight and irreversible even after evaporation. Was.
The study is very useful because it provides direct visual evidence for the need to change face masks more frequently, especially in cold environments, as the droplets in these nanofibers bind firmly together, and the nanofibers mesh more quickly. collapses, the researchers noted.
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