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  1. Fulltext Novel Synthetic Routes to Prepare Biologically Active Quinoxalines and Their Derivatives: A Synthetic Review for the Last Two Decades
    Khatoon H, Abdulmalek E
    Molecules, 2021 Feb 18;26(4).
    PMID: 33670436 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26041055
    Quinoxalines, a class of N-heterocyclic compounds, are important biological agents, and a significant amount of research activity has been directed towards this class. They have several prominent pharmacological effects like antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, and antimicrobial. Quinoxaline derivatives have diverse therapeutic uses and have become the crucial component in drugs used to treat cancerous cells, AIDS, plant viruses, schizophrenia, certifying them a great future in medicinal chemistry. Due to the current pandemic situation caused by SARS-COVID 19, it has become essential to synthesize drugs to combat deadly pathogens (bacteria, fungi, viruses) for now and near future. Since quinoxalines is an essential moiety to treat infectious diseases, numerous synthetic routes have been developed by researchers, with a prime focus on green chemistry and cost-effective methods. This review paper highlights the various synthetic routes to prepare quinoxaline and its derivatives, covering the literature for the last two decades. A total of 31 schemes have been explained using the green chemistry approach, cost-effective methods, and quinoxaline derivatives' therapeutic uses.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  2. Information technology and evidence during the pandemic
    Nair HK
    J Wound Care, 2021 Dec 01;30(Sup12):S3-S4.
    PMID: 34882007 DOI: 10.12968/jowc.2021.30.Sup12.S3
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  3. Dentistry and the Pandemic: A Year of Reckoning
    Vijayan SP, Pandarathodiyil AK
    J Contemp Dent Pract, 2021 Apr 01;22(4):325-326.
    PMID: 34266997
    In March 2020, the world that we know irrevocably changed forever. It feels like "Groundhog Day" all over again, and it seems that the nightmare is here to stay. It all began on the January 8, 2020, when China grimly announced that coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" (SARS-CoV-2)1 but it was not until March 2020 that the situation swiftly careened out of control and is unequivocally posing the greatest challenge to humanity worldwide since the end of the Second World War. While the scientific community heroically galvanized itself and raced against time to provide viable solutions to this formidable foe in the form of vaccines, the worldwide dental fraternity has had to grapple with an extraordinary situation evolving in real-time and ensure that we responded robustly to this daunting health emergency that has spared no corner of our beloved planet. Initially, COVID-19 ensured cessation of all non-urgent dental care in most parts of the world but with increasingly significant inputs about the nature of the pathogen from the scientific community, the dental community has been able to cobble together a workable plan in reconfiguring and restructuring the dental practice in consonance with the situation at hand. It is fiendishly arduous to estimate the massive impact on the dental profession, but it is safe to assume it to be substantial.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  4. Surgical subspecialty training outside Malaysia during COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives and experiences of Trainees
    Tan YL, Ng EHB, Diong NC
    Med J Malaysia, 2021 11;76(6):906-908.
    PMID: 34806681
    Subspecialty surgical training is an integral part of continuous professional development. It represents a unique opportunity for surgeons to enhance and develop specific advanced skills in their sub-disciplines. Hence, hands-on training in an international training centre abroad allows one to bring home new technical and management skills in the expansion of Malaysian surgical services to raise to be on par with the international standards. The unexpected onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought in previously unknown hindrances to the training both locally and abroad but our success in engagement with international centres despite the pandemic restrictions serves as a valuable experience towards maintaining international networking for future collaborations.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  5. Fulltext From the environment to the cells: An overview on pivotal factors which affect spreading and infection in COVID-19 pandemic
    Zarei M, Rahimi K, Hassanzadeh K, Abdi M, Hosseini V, Fathi A, et al.
    Environ Res, 2021 Oct;201:111555.
    PMID: 34197816 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111555
    Several factors ranging from environmental risks to the genetics of the virus and that of the hosts, affect the spread of COVID-19. The impact of physicochemical variables on virus vitality and spread should be taken into account in experimental and clinical studies. Another avenue to explore is the effect of diet and its interaction with the immune system on SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality rate. Past year have witnessed extensive studies on virus and pathophysiology of the COVID-19 disease and the cellular mechanisms of virus spreading. However, our knowledge has not reached a level where we plan an efficient therapeutic approach to prevent the virus entry to the cells or decreasing the spreading and morbidity in severe cases of disease. The risk of infection directly correlates with the control of virus spreading via droplets and aerosol transmission, as well as patient immune system response. A key goal in virus restriction and transmission rate is to understand the physicochemical structure of aerosol and droplet formation, and the parameters that affect the droplet-borne and airborne in different environmental conditions. The lifetime of droplets on different surfaces is described based on the contact angle. Hereby, we recommend regular use of high-quality face masks in high temperature and low humidity conditions. However, in humid and cold weather conditions, wearing gloves and frequently hand washing, gain a higher priority. Additionally, social distancing rules should be respected in all aforementioned conditions. We will also discuss different routes of SARS-CoV-2 entry into the cells and how multiple genetic factors play a role in the spread of the virus. Given the role of environmental and nutritional factors, we discuss and recommend some strategies to prevent the disease and protect the population against COVID-19. Since an effective vaccine can prevent the transmission of communicable diseases and abolish pandemics, we added a brief review of candidate SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  6. Fulltext An overview of vaccine development for COVID-19
    Shahcheraghi SH, Ayatollahi J, Aljabali AA, Shastri MD, Shukla SD, Chellappan DK, et al.
    Ther Deliv, 2021 03;12(3):235-244.
    PMID: 33624533 DOI: 10.4155/tde-2020-0129
    The COVID-19 pandemic continues to endanger world health and the economy. The causative SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has a unique replication system. The end point of the COVID-19 pandemic is either herd immunity or widespread availability of an effective vaccine. Multiple candidate vaccines - peptide, virus-like particle, viral vectors (replicating and nonreplicating), nucleic acids (DNA or RNA), live attenuated virus, recombinant designed proteins and inactivated virus - are presently under various stages of expansion, and a small number of vaccine candidates have progressed into clinical phases. At the time of writing, three major pharmaceutical companies, namely Pfizer and Moderna, have their vaccines under mass production and administered to the public. This review aims to investigate the most critical vaccines developed for COVID-19 to date.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics
  7. Fulltext Statin use in patients with diabetes amid COVID-19 pandemic
    Kow CS, Ramachandram DS, Hasan SS
    Diabetes Metab, 2022 Jan;48(1):101298.
    PMID: 34710617 DOI: 10.1016/j.diabet.2021.101298
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics
  8. Fulltext Expert review of global real-world data on COVID-19 vaccine booster effectiveness and safety during the omicron-dominant phase of the pandemic
    Solante R, Alvarez-Moreno C, Burhan E, Chariyalertsak S, Chiu NC, Chuenkitmongkol S, et al.
    Expert Rev Vaccines, 2023;22(1):1-16.
    PMID: 36330971 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2023.2143347
    INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 vaccines have been highly effective in reducing morbidity and mortality during the pandemic. However, the emergence of the Omicron variant and subvariants as the globally dominant strains have raised doubts about the effectiveness of currently available vaccines and prompted debate about potential future vaccination strategies.

    AREAS COVERED: Using the publicly available IVAC VIEW-hub platform, we reviewed 52 studies on vaccine effectiveness (VE) after booster vaccinations. VE were reported for SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infection, severe disease and death and stratified by vaccine schedule and age. In addition, a non-systematic literature review of safety was performed to identify single or multi-country studies investigating adverse event rates for at least two of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines.

    EXPERT OPINION: Booster shots of the current COVID-19 vaccines provide consistently high protection against Omicron-related severe disease and death. Additionally, this protection appears to be conserved for at least 3 months, with a small but significant waning after that. The positive risk-benefit ratio of these vaccines is well established, giving us confidence to administer additional doses as required. Future vaccination strategies will likely include a combination of schedules based on risk profile, as overly frequent boosting may be neither beneficial nor sustainable for the general population.

    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics
  9. Fulltext ESG performance in the time of COVID-19 pandemic: cross-country evidence
    Al Amosh H, Khatib SFA
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Mar;30(14):39978-39993.
    PMID: 36600157 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-25050-w
    The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) in developing and developed countries prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic; the study also seeks to reveal the impact of the COVID-19 on the performance of ESG during the pandemic period. Based on a large international panel dataset of 12,325 company-year observations covering 2016-2021, panel regression analysis examined the study hypotheses and achieved the study objectives. The findings indicate that companies have taken precautions against the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring compliance with ESG performance to prove their ethical behavior during a crisis. Our findings call into question the notion that companies in developed countries outperform companies in developing countries in terms of ESG performance. As a result, companies in emerging markets outperform companies in developed markets regarding environmental performance, while developed markets focus on social performance. Besides, the ESG performance is positively and significantly affected by the COVID-19, which indicates that during crises, it is important for companies to comply with ethical behavior and the most acceptable in societies. Also, the pandemic has a positive impact on both environmental and social performance, while it has a negative impact on governance performance alone. A considerable body of the literature has addressed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on various aspects of a company's financial and non-financial practices. However, limited effort was given to ESG performance. The current study fills this gap by evaluating the direct effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the ESG performance in developing and developed countries. It also provides insight into the ESG performance and corporate behavior and obligations.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics
  10. Fulltext Can pyrolysis handle biomedical wastes?: Assessing the potential of various biomedical waste treatment technologies in tackling pandemics
    Srivastava A, Sharma A, Jena MK, Vuppaladadiyam AK, Reguyal F, Joshi J, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2024 Oct 10;946:174167.
    PMID: 38917898 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174167
    Globally, COVID-19 has not only caused tremendous negative health, social and economic impacts, but it has also led to environmental issues such as a massive increase in biomedical waste. The biomedical waste (BMW) was generated from centralized (hospitals, clinics, and research facilities) and extended (quarantine camps, COVID-19 test camps, and quarantined homes) healthcare facilities. Many effects, such as the possibility of infection spread, unlawful dumping/disposal, and an increase in toxic emissions by common BMW treatment facilities, are conjectured because of the rise in waste generation. However, it is also an opportunity to critically analyze the current BMW treatment scenario and implement changes to make the system more economical and environmentally sustainable. In this review, the waste disposal guidelines of the BMW management infrastructure are critically analyzed for many functional parameters to bring out possible applications and limitations of individual interventions. In addition, an investigation was made to select appropriate technology based on the environmental setting.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics
  11. Fulltext Molecular aspects of Omicron, vaccine development, and recombinant strain XE: A review
    K A, Sharma A, Kumar D, Singh SK, Gupta G, Chellappan DK, et al.
    J Med Virol, 2022 Oct;94(10):4628-4643.
    PMID: 35705439 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27936
    The global pandemic of COVID-19 began in December 2019 and is still continuing. The past 2 years have seen the emergence of several variants that were more vicious than each other. The emergence of Omicron (B.1.1.529) proved to be a huge epidemiological concern as the rate of infection of this particular strain was enormous. The strain was identified in South Africa on November 24, 2021 and was classified as a "Variant of Concern" on November 26, 2021. The Omicron variant possessed mutations in the key RBD region, the S region, thereby increasing the affinity of ACE2 for better transmission of the virus. Antibody resistance was found in this variant and it was able to reduce vaccine efficiency of vaccines. The need for a booster vaccine was brought forth due to the prevalence of the Omicron variant and, subsequently, this led to targeted research and development of variant-specific vaccines and booster dosage. This review discusses broadly the genomic characters and features of Omicron along with its specific mutations, evolution, antibody resistance, and evasion, utilization of CRISPR-Cas12a assay for Omicron detection, T-cell immunity elicited by vaccines against Omicron, and strategies to decrease Omicron infection along with COVID-19 and it also discusses on XE recombinant variant and on infectivity of BA.2 subvariant of Omicron.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics
  12. Fulltext Dexamethasone or hydrocortisone in COVID-19?
    Kow CS, Hasan SS
    Cleve Clin J Med, 2020 11 23;87(12):715.
    PMID: 33229384 DOI: 10.3949/ccjm.87c.12005
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  13. Fulltext Effect of Covid-19 pandemic on tourist travel risk and management perceptions
    Rahman MK, Gazi MAI, Bhuiyan MA, Rahaman MA
    PLoS One, 2021;16(9):e0256486.
    PMID: 34469468 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256486
    This study aims to explore the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourists' travel risk and management perceptions. Driven on the effect of the pandemic, we investigate tourists' travel risk and management perceptions and its effect on society using a sample of 716 respondents. The data was collected through social media platforms using a representative sampling method and analyzed applying the PLS-SEM tool. The findings reveal that Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected travel risk and management perceptions. Travel risk and management perception had a significant association with risk management, service delivery, transportation patterns, distribution channels, avoidance of overpopulated destinations, and hygiene and safety. The results also identified the mediating effect of travel risk and management perceptions. The finding of this study contributes to tourism crises and provides future research insights in the travel and tourism sector and response to change tourists' travel risk and management perceptions in the post-covid recovery period.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  14. Fulltext The trajectory of COVID-19 pandemic and handwashing adherence: findings from 14 countries
    Szczuka Z, Abraham C, Baban A, Brooks S, Cipolletta S, Danso E, et al.
    BMC Public Health, 2021 10 05;21(1):1791.
    PMID: 34610808 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-11822-5
    BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people's engagement in health behaviors, especially those that protect individuals from SARS-CoV-2 transmission, such as handwashing/sanitizing. This study investigated whether adherence to the World Health Organization's (WHO) handwashing guidelines (the outcome variable) was associated with the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, as measured by the following 6 indicators: (i) the number of new cases of COVID-19 morbidity/mortality (a country-level mean calculated for the 14 days prior to data collection), (ii) total cases of COVID-19 morbidity/mortality accumulated since the onset of the pandemic, and (iii) changes in recent cases of COVID-19 morbidity/mortality (a difference between country-level COVID-19 morbidity/mortality in the previous 14 days compared to cases recorded 14-28 days earlier).

    METHODS: The observational study (#NCT04367337) enrolled 6064 adults residing in Australia, Canada, China, France, Gambia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, and Switzerland. Data on handwashing adherence across 8 situations (indicated in the WHO guidelines) were collected via an online survey (March-July 2020). Individual-level handwashing data were matched with the date- and country-specific values of the 6 indices of the trajectory of COVID-19 pandemic, obtained from the WHO daily reports.

    RESULTS: Multilevel regression models indicated a negative association between both accumulation of the total cases of COVID-19 morbidity (B = -.041, SE = .013, p = .013) and mortality (B = -.036, SE = .014 p = .002) and handwashing. Higher levels of total COVID-related morbidity and mortality were related to lower handwashing adherence. However, increases in recent cases of COVID-19 morbidity (B = .014, SE = .007, p = .035) and mortality (B = .022, SE = .009, p = .015) were associated with higher levels of handwashing adherence. Analyses controlled for participants' COVID-19-related situation (their exposure to information about handwashing, being a healthcare professional), sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, marital status), and country-level variables (strictness of containment and health policies, human development index). The models explained 14-20% of the variance in handwashing adherence.

    CONCLUSIONS: To better explain levels of protective behaviors such as handwashing, future research should account for indicators of the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.Gov, # NCT04367337.

    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  15. Fulltext The COVID-19 pandemic face mask waste: A blooming threat to the marine environment
    Dharmaraj S, Ashokkumar V, Hariharan S, Manibharathi A, Show PL, Chong CT, et al.
    Chemosphere, 2021 Jun;272:129601.
    PMID: 33497928 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129601
    Recently, the COVID-19 disease spread has emerged as a worldwide pandemic and cause severe threats to humanity. The World Health Organisation (WHO) releases guidelines to help the countries to reduce the spread of this virus to the public, like wearing masks, hand hygiene, social distancing, shutting down all types of public transports, etc. These conditions led to a worldwide economic fall drastically, and on the other hand, indirect environmental benefits like global air quality improvement and decreased water pollution are also pictured. Currently, use of face masks is part of a comprehensive package of the prevention and control measures that can limit the spread of COVID-19 since there is no clinically proven drugs or vaccine available for COVID-19. Mostly, face masks are made of petroleum-based non-renewable polymers that are non-biodegradable, hazardous to the environment and create health issues. This study demonstrates the extensive use of the face mask and how it affects human health and the marine ecosystem. It has become a great challenge for the government sectors to impose strict regulations for the proper disposal of the masks as medical waste by the public. Neglecting the seriousness of this issue may lead to the release of large tonnes of micro-plastics to the landfill as well as to the marine environment where mostly end-up and thereby affecting their fauna and flora population vastly. Besides, this study highlights the COVID-19 spread, its evolutionary importance, taxonomy, genomic structure, transmission to humans, prevention, and treatment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  16. Co-design in preclinical skill-based learning: A pandemic plan for continuity and reinforcement
    Saxena K, Arunachalam S, Banavar SR, Dhanaraj S
    J Dent Educ, 2022 Dec;86 Suppl 3:1731-1733.
    PMID: 34958485 DOI: 10.1002/jdd.12872
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  17. Fulltext The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic
    Sachs JD, Karim SSA, Aknin L, Allen J, Brosbøl K, Colombo F, et al.
    Lancet, 2022 Oct 08;400(10359):1224-1280.
    PMID: 36115368 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01585-9
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics/prevention & control
  18. Emotional experiences and psychological well-being in 51 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic
    Sun R, Balabanova A, Bajada CJ, Liu Y, Kriuchok M, Voolma SR, et al.
    Emotion, 2024 Mar;24(2):397-411.
    PMID: 37616109 DOI: 10.1037/emo0001235
    The COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges to psychological well-being, but how can we predict when people suffer or cope during sustained stress? Here, we test the prediction that specific types of momentary emotional experiences are differently linked to psychological well-being during the pandemic. Study 1 used survey data collected from 24,221 participants in 51 countries during the COVID-19 outbreak. We show that, across countries, well-being is linked to individuals' recent emotional experiences, including calm, hope, anxiety, loneliness, and sadness. Consistent results are found in two age, sex, and ethnicity-representative samples in the United Kingdom (n = 971) and the United States (n = 961) with preregistered analyses (Study 2). A prospective 30-day daily diary study conducted in the United Kingdom (n = 110) confirms the key role of these five emotions and demonstrates that emotional experiences precede changes in well-being (Study 3). Our findings highlight differential relationships between specific types of momentary emotional experiences and well-being and point to the cultivation of calm and hope as candidate routes for well-being interventions during periods of sustained stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  19. Fulltext Innovating medication reviews through a technology-enabled process
    Thiruchelvam K, Byles J, Hasan SS, Kairuz T
    Res Social Adm Pharm, 2022 Apr;18(4):2700-2705.
    PMID: 34326004 DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2021.07.019
    Medication reviews are effective in improving the quality of medication use among older people. However, they are conducted to various standards resulting in a wide range of outcomes which limit generalisability of findings arising from research studies. There also appear to be funding and time constraints, lack of data storage for quality improvement purposes, and non-standardised reporting of outcomes, especially clinically relevant outcomes. Furthermore, the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has restricted many face-to-face activities, including medication reviews. This article introduces a technology-enabled approach to medication reviews that may overcome some limitations with current medication review processes, and also make it possible to conduct medication reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing an alternate platform. The possible advantages of this technology-enabled approach, legislative considerations and possible implementation in practice are discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics*
  20. Fulltext Comment on "Poorly known aspects of flattening the curve of COVID-19″
    Mat Daud AA
    Technol Forecast Soc Change, 2021 Jun;167:120674.
    PMID: 33612869 DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120674
    This short research note describes and summarizes several recent peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed studies on the concept of flattening-the-curve (FTC) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This note also highlights contradictory findings of these studies in terms of the effect of FTC on the total number of infections (the final epidemic size), and poses a research problem for future studies.
    Matched MeSH terms: Pandemics
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