The mediating effects of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on nurses' intentions to adopt advanced technology

This study explored the role of technology systems in influencing nurses' intentions to adopt medical applications that enhance their performance and how technology contributes to improvements in hospital systems. The study examines the intention to use technology through the mediating effects of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, with technology sophistication. A random sampling method was employed to gather 687 responses from nurses. The statistical analysis was conducted using AMOS version 25.0 and SPSS. The findings indicate a significant association between technology sophistication (TS), perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU), and intention to use (IU). Additionally, PU and PEU positively mediate the relationship between TS and IU. This research will benefit policymakers aiming to enhance nurses' performance by adopting modern technology. Authorities should consider introducing advanced technology systems to meet the goals of hospital administration and support nurses effectively.

'The body seems to have no life': The experiences and perceptions of fatigue among patients after COVID-19

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This study aimed at determining the perception of fatigue among patients with a history of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

BACKGROUND

Fatigue is a long-lasting distressing symptom. It is a multidimensional symptom consisting of several factors, including physiological, psychological, social and environmental. It is vital to examine and understand the perception of fatigue among post-COVID-19 participants.

DESIGN

A descriptive phenomenological design.

METHODS

The study sample consisted of 14 post-COVID-19 participants that were recruited using criterion sampling. The fatigue levels of the participants were determined using the Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS), and those with a fatigue score above 12 were interviewed. All the interviews were conducted with a smartphone due to the COVID-19. The COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research (COREQ) checklist was used.

RESULTS

The age of the participants varied from 24 to 67 years, with the majority of the participants being female (n = 8). The COVID-19 duration ranged from one to 11 months, and the CFS scores varied between 14 and 33. Four themes emerged following the qualitative data analysis: a new symptom beyond fatigue, fatigue increases dependency in daily life, fatigue impedes sociability and a way to hold on to life's regular rhythms.

CONCLUSIONS

This study concluded that fatigue in post-COVID-19 participants is a new experience that is difficult to define and manage and overwhelmingly affects the physical and social aspects of life. Participants look for new ways to live with fatigue and turn to traditional methods and psychosocial strategies.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

This study revealed the miscellaneous aspects of fatigue in post-COVID-19 participants. Nurses should evaluate fatigue with a holistic approach that includes its physical, social, emotional and spiritual aspects. Nurses can play an active role in the management of fatigue, which is a very common symptom in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iranian primary healthcare system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic using the healthcare incident command system

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of the healthcare incident command system (HICS) on the district health networks (DHNs) covered by provincial Medical Universities (PMU) in terms of the management and commanding of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. This study was a cross-sectional survey. The study was performed in Iran in June 2020 in 60 DHNs, 41 of which had an active HICS. Data were collected on eight HCIS dimensions from all 60 DHNs by trained crisis management experts to evaluate the effects of HICS use on management of the COVID-19 pandemic. For all the 60 DHNs, the mean score of the COVID-19 incident command and management was 78.79 ± 11.90 (range 20-100); with mean scores highest for organizational support and coordination and lowest for logistic and planning. Significant differences were observed between the DHNs with active HICS and DHNs with inactive or no HICS in terms of the mean scores of incident management and command and their associated dimensions. According to the results, the HICS use had a positive impact on the improvement of incident management and command and all the related dimensions. Therefore, the HICS could be conducted and implemented in primary healthcare for the systematic and proper management of crises caused by infectious diseases and increasing primary healthcare system efficiency in response to these crises.

Sharing of cultural values and heritage through storytelling in the digital age

Introduction

Sharing cultural values in this digital age for young generations who are digital natives is highly important and, in this respect, the aims of this study are to evaluate experts' opinions on sharing cultural values in this digital age based on their experience, the roles of educators and families with respect to the sharing of cultural values through storytelling in the digital age, and also capture how cultural values can be explained with metaphors.

Methods

A focus group interview was conducted with teachers and vice headmasters from public primary and secondary schools in the Northern part of Cyprus within the age range of 30-50 years that are considered to be experts based on their 10 years and above of teaching experience. Data were analyzed through line-by-line coding to create themes.

Results

Findings revealed that cultural values are eroding, and in sharing cultural values with storytelling in the digital age, the roles of educators and families are essential. Cultural values are the treasures and mirrors of society that should be preserved and transmitted to the younger generations and this can be accomplished through participation in digital platforms, and when such participatory cultural heritage projects are planned with a community-oriented background and human-centered computing concentration.

Discussion

This research sheds a light to indicate the importance of the storytelling approach for sharing cultural values and heritage. It is significant to address the merits of technology in transferring cultural values and heritage. In addition to this, this study is limited to one specific context that can be further explored as a cross-cultural analysis.

COVID-19 pandemic accelerates the perception of digital transformation on real estate websites

In early March, the newspapers reported the arrival of the Coronavirus in Brazil. The period of confinement directly affected our routines and transformed our consumption habits. Amidst the fear of contagion and uncertainty, people isolated themselves and postponed changes. Previous studies indicate that digital practices were accelerated after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitating communication and improving the performance of various sectors of the economy. Thus, to better understand the behavior of Brazilian real estate market professionals in this period, the objective of this research was to verify whether the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the process of perception of digitalization in real estate websites. To this end, five experts in the digital real estate market were interviewed, asked what are the main items that a quality real estate website should have to improve user experience. Based on the items selected by the experts, a questionnaire was developed and a question was constructed for each item. The questionnaire was sent online to 2144 realtors, asking about the importance of these items before and after the pandemic started. Using a 5-point Likert scale, and strict criteria for analysis, our survey yielded 423 valid responses. The results indicate that regardless of the groups analyzed, the hypotheses confirm that after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the perception of the importance of digital technology in Brazilian real estate websites was enhanced, increased. Managers took advantage of the pandemic and the availability of digital technology to offer specialized service to customers, thus creating a new competitive scenario. The tools associated with the visualization of the property and information such as '360°/Video Tour', 'Video Visit Broadcast', 'Chatbots' and 'FAQ List' had the greatest increase in perception.

Will Natural Media Make Online Physicians More Trustworthy? The Effect of Media Naturalness on Patients' Intention to Use HIT

Although previous studies have recognized the important role of patients' trust in promoting their intention to use health information technologies (HIT), most of those studies were under the "risk-benefit" theoretical framework. To deepen the understanding of patients' online consultation decisions, this paper develops a dual-path model investigating how patients develop trust beliefs toward online physicians from the perspective of communication. Drawing on media naturalness theory, we propose that HIT media naturalness will improve patients' perception of communication effort from online physicians and decrease communication ambiguity between patients and online physicians. This improved communication will further strengthen patients' trust in online physicians and promote their intention to use HIT. Based on a two-wave time-lagged survey from 361 participants, the empirical results demonstrated that the relationship between HIT media naturalness and patients' intention to use HIT is individually and serially mediated by two chains, including (1) perceived communication effort and patients' trust and (2) perceived communication ambiguity and patients' trust. We thus contribute to the related literature and provide practical implications.

Development and utility of a close contact information management system for the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

Since the outbreak started in 2019, COVID-19 pandemic has a significant global impact. Due to the highly infective nature of SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 close contacts are at significant risk of contracting COVID-19. China's experience in successfully controlling COVID-19 emphasized the importance of managing close contacts because this strategy helps to limit potential infection sources, prevent the unconscious spread of COVID-19 and thus control this pandemic. As a result, to understand and consider the management of close contacts may be beneficial to other countries. However, managing close contacts is challenging owing to the huge number of close contacts and a lack of appropriate management tools and literature references.

METHODS

A new system called the COVID-19 Close Contact Information Management System was developed. Here we introduced the design, use, improvement and achievements of this system.

RESULTS

This system was designed from the standpoint of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in charge of managing close contacts. Two main functions and eight modules/themes were ultimately formed after two development stages. The system introduces what information need to be collected in the close contact management. Since the system allows information flow across cities, the geographical distance and administrative regional boundaries are no longer obstacles for managing close contacts, which promotes the management of each close contact. Moreover, when this system is used in conjunction with other data tools, it provides data assistance for understanding the COVID-19 characteristics and formulating targeted COVID-19 control policies. To date, the system has been widely used in Guangdong Province for over 1 year and has recorded tens of thousands of pieces of data. There is sufficient practical experience to suggest that the system is capable of meeting the professional work requirements for close contact management.

CONCLUSIONS

This system provides a new way to manage close contacts and restrict the spread of COVID-19 by combining information technology with disease prevention and control strategies in the realm of public health. We hope that this system will serve as an example and guide for those anticipating similar work in other countries in response to current and future public health incidents.

A Study of Cloud-Based Remote Clinical Care Technology

This paper uses cloud computing to build and design remote clinical care technology, and the study refines the evaluation approach for the elements and builds an evaluation prototype for the strategy, uses service design theory to improve the design of the service part of the assistive system, summarizes the list of requirements based on system design and service design, and designs a service design prototype. Through design practice, the detailed design of the software interaction interface and the auxiliary product of the care assistance system based on the prototype are investigated. Based on the user perspective, the strategy of meeting user expectations and improving user information literacy is proposed; based on the social network perspective, the strategy of establishing a long-term mechanism for smart medical operation and improving the information interaction network environment is proposed; and based on the system service perspective, the strategy of optimizing the system function design and innovating the service model is proposed. Compared with the traditional written patient handover, the application of MNIS under cloud computing can significantly shorten the handover time of surgical patients, improve the standardized rate of surgical safety verification execution and the qualified rate of nursing documents, while the rate of standardized application of prophylactic antibiotics is also significantly higher than that of the control group. The questionnaire survey of nursing staff in the operating room showed that clinical nursing staff was generally satisfied with the clinical application of MNIS under cloud computing, with an average satisfaction score of 64.5 to 11.3, and an average score of 3.58 to 0.54 for each item. Among them, pre-application training of MNIS, departmental support for MNIS, and its ease of verification in surgical patients were the three main factors favoring the clinical application of MNIS in the operating room with cloud computing, while barriers to wireless network connectivity, inconvenient PDA input, and small screen size were the three main drawbacks affecting its application. The determined clinical evaluation index system of MNIS in the operating room is innovative, which not only includes clinical care indicators but also covers general hardware and software indicators, which can effectively reflect the practical application capability of mobile terminal clinical and user experience feelings, and the evaluation index system is comprehensive.

Optimizing and evaluating PCR-based pooled screening during COVID-19 pandemics

Population screening played a substantial role in safely reopening the economy and avoiding new outbreaks of COVID-19. PCR-based pooled screening makes it possible to test the population with limited resources by pooling multiple individual samples. Our study compared different population-wide screening methods as transmission-mitigating interventions, including pooled PCR, individual PCR, and antigen screening. Incorporating testing-isolation process and individual-level viral load trajectories into an epidemic model, we further studied the impacts of testing-isolation on test sensitivities. Results show that the testing-isolation process could maintain a stable test sensitivity during the outbreak by removing most infected individuals, especially during the epidemic decline. Moreover, we compared the efficiency, accuracy, and cost of different screening methods during the pandemic. Our results show that PCR-based pooled screening is cost-effective in reversing the pandemic at low prevalence. When the prevalence is high, PCR-based pooled screening may not stop the outbreak. In contrast, antigen screening with sufficient frequency could reverse the epidemic, despite the high cost and the large numbers of false positives in the screening process.

The Role of Health Information Technology in Pneumococcal Vaccination Uptake Among Adults with Heart Disease

Background: Health information technology (HIT) may influence pneumococcal vaccination uptake in high-risk populations. This study assessed the association of HIT utilization on pneumococcal vaccine (PCV) uptake among adults ≥40 years with heart disease. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 2,134 individuals representing 16,813,593 United States adults ≥40 years with heart disease using the National Health Interview Survey data. The independent variables were use of the Internet to (1) look up health information, (2) fill a prescription, and (3) schedule a medical appointment, and use of an e-mail (4) communicate with a health care provider. The dependent variable was PCV uptake. Chi-square analysis was used to evaluate group differences, and a multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the association between HIT utilization and PCV uptake. Results: Those who use the Internet to fill up a prescription and to communicate with their health care provider were more likely to take up the PCV (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-2.37, p = 0.035) and (AOR 1.95; 95% CI 1.23-3.10, p = 0.005) respectively. Compared with those who did not use HIT in any form, those who used HIT in at least three or four forms had a higher PCV uptake (AORs 1.93; 95% CI 1.19-3.13, p = 0.008) and (AOR 2.33 95% CI 1.22-4.47, p = 0.011) respectively. Conclusion: Our analysis shows a positive association of HIT utilization and PCV uptake. It further stresses the importance of electronic health in preventive medicine. This implies that HIT can be used purposively in other aspects of preventive health. Larger studies should evaluate the relationship between different uses of HIT and the uptake of different vaccines.

Pedagogy and innovative care tenets in COVID-19 pandemic: An enhancive way through Dentistry 4.0

The global oral healthcare sector has now woken to implement Dentistry 4.0. The implementation of this revolution is feasible with extensive digital and advanced technologies applications and the adoption of new sets of processes in dentistry & its support areas. COVID-19 has bought new challenges to dental professionals and patients towards their customised requirements, regular dental health checkups, fast-paced and safe procedures. People are not visiting the dentist even for mild cases as they fear COVID-19 infection. We see that this set of technologies will help improve health education and treatment process and materials and minimise the infection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to understand the possible impact of Dentistry 4.0 for education and innovative care. This paper discusses the significant benefits of Dentistry 4.0 technologies for the smart education platform and dentistry treatment. Finally, this article identifies twenty significant enhancements in dental education and effective care platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic by employing Dentistry 4.0 technologies. Thus, proper implementation of these technologies will improve the process efficiency in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dentistry 4.0 technologies drive innovations to improve the quality of internet-connected healthcare devices. It creates automation and exchanges data to make a smart health care system. Therefore, helps better healthcare services, planning, monitoring, teaching, learning, treatment, and innovation capability. These technologies moved to smart transportation systems in the hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Modern manufacturing technologies create digital transformation in manufacturing, optimises the operational processes and enhances productivity.

Advancements in Biosensor Technologies for Medical Field and COVID-19 Pandemic

World health organization (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern and then as a pandemic on 30th of January and 11th of March 2020, respectively. After such concern, the world scientific communities have rushed to search for solutions to bring down the disease’s spread, fast-paced vaccine development, and associated medical research using modern technologies. Biosensor technologies play a crucial role in diagnosing various medical diseases, including COVID-19. The present paper describes the major advancement of biosensor-based technological solutions for medical diagnosis, including COVID-19. This review-based work covers the biosensors and their working principles in the context of medical applications. The paper also discusses different biosensors and their applications to tackle medical issues, including this ongoing pandemic.

Convolutional neural networks for the diagnosis and prognosis of the coronavirus disease pandemic

A neural network is one of the current trends in deep learning, which is increasingly gaining attention owing to its contribution in transforming the different facets of human life. It also paves a way to approach the current crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from all scientific directions. Convolutional neural network (CNN), a type of neural network, is extensively applied in the medical field, and is particularly useful in the current COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we present the application of CNNs for the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19 using X-ray and computed tomography (CT) images of COVID-19 patients. The CNN models discussed in this review were mainly developed for the detection, classification, and segmentation of COVID-19 images. The base models used for detection and classification were AlexNet, Visual Geometry Group Network with 16 layers, residual network, DensNet, GoogLeNet, MobileNet, Inception, and extreme Inception. U-Net and voxel-based broad learning network were used for segmentation. Even with limited datasets, these methods proved to be beneficial for efficiently identifying the occurrence of COVID-19. To further validate these observations, we conducted an experimental study using a simple CNN framework for the binary classification of COVID-19 CT images. We achieved an accuracy of 93% with an F1-score of 0.93. Thus, with the availability of improved medical image datasets, it is evident that CNNs are very useful for the efficient diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19.

Technological Resources for Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic Health Issues

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a global effect with several people dying daily due to the dreaded disease. Therefore, each individual has a duty to support the efforts of their countries either financially, socially, technically, or by any other means to contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. During this crisis, engineers can come up with innovations to fight the pandemic. One of the reasons for the death of a patient suffering from COVID-19 was the lack of resources required for patient care. The doctors who are taking care of COVID patients could get infected due to lack or the deficiency of available safety kits. Some of the resources required to fight COVID-19 are personal protective equipment (PPE) (e.g. gloves, gowns, face masks and shields for respiratory and eye protection respectively), mechanical ventilators and body vital monitoring devices. Engineers can contribute to the fight against COVID-19, by developing compact size ventilators, 3D printed face shield, masks, door handles, hand sanitizer, etc. The available medicines to fight the disease are still under development and trials with limited options at present has led to deaths among patients mostly those who are elderly or having any co-morbid condition. The deficiency of medicine availability can be resolved up to some extent by applying tools of supply chain management.

Tissue Engineering and its Significance in Healthcare During COVID-19 Pandemic: Potential Applications and Perspectives

In the present times of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a great need for new therapeutic and diagnostic strategies to prevent infectious diseases worldwide. Tissue engineering covers the phenomenon of the evolution of tissue, its behavior and growth factors that are better supported in the medical environment. This area of tissue engineering can support the treatment of infected patients of COVID-19 and can help fight the current crisis and viral outbreaks in general. This study aims to identify the significant advancement of tissue engineering for taking up the challenges posed by COVID-19. Major challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the current scenario are discussed. The significant advancements of tissue engineering in the medical field are listed in chronological order. The positive impacts of tissue engineering during the COVID 19 crisis are discussed and finally its useful applications during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation are identified and briefed. This branch of science’s primary importance is to provide biological alternatives that can perform full or partial functions of the damaged, malfunctioned and failing organs or tissues in humans. It is helpful for the supply of convalescent plasma to patients especially during COVID-19. A donor is selected strictly based on a validated case of COVID-19 contagion. The donor must confirm a negative follow-up molecular examination, free from manifestations; usual good health and other pre-donation screening procedures are to be followed.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Debates on the Design of Operating Theatre Ventilation Systems in Healthcare Facilities

COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on providing Trauma and Orthopedic surgery around the world. The orthopedic community had to reconfigure emergency and urgent trauma services safely but also support strategies to prevent person-to-person coronavirus transmission. Various organizations including British Orthopedic Association (BOA), American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) and Public Health England (PHE) have provided guidelines for conducting safe essential surgery in operating theatres. One of the areas that have not been debated enough is the type of ventilation systems that should be used in operating theatres during this global pandemic. We review the current evidence in the literature particularly in the challenges faced by health care professionals in current COVID-19 pandemic in deciding and implementing an effective operating theatre ventilation system protecting both our patients and operating room personnel.

Bioengineering Technology in Context of COVID-19 Pandemic: Potential Roles and Applications

Bioengineering (BE) technology has significant influence on the healthcare environment. This has grown steadily particularly since the medical practice has become more technology based. We have tried to assess the impact of bioengineering in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of bioengineering principles in healthcare has been evaluated. The practical implications of these technologies in fighting the current global health pandemic have been presented. There has been a shared drive worldwide to harness the advancements of bioengineering to combat COVID-19. These efforts have ranged from small groups of volunteers to large scale research and mass production. Together the engineering and medical fields have worked to address areas of critical need including the production and delivery of personal protective equipment, ventilators as well as the creation of a viable vaccine. The fight against COVID-19 has helped highlight the work and contributions of so many professionals in the bioengineering fields who are working tirelessly to help our health services cope. Their innovation and ingenuity are paving the way to successfully beat this virus. We must continue to support these fields as we evolve our health systems to deal with the challenges of healthcare in the future.

Nanomedicine Technology and COVID-19 Outbreak: Applications and Challenges

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the biggest challenges in the field of healthcare. Nanomedicine is a developing area that has the potential to treat various diseases and control infections. Now, its applications are open for the treatment of COVID-19. We have studied relevant papers through Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct and ResearchGate on nanomedicine in context of COVID-19. This paper provides detailed information about nanomedicine in the context of healthcare. It further identifies the primary challenges faced in the current situation. This study provides details about the advancements in the area of nanomedicine in healthcare for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we have identified and discussed various significant applications of nanomedicine in solving challenges thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers can work on developing applications of nanoparticles with the size of the novel Coronavirus. Nanomedicine is helpful to repair the cells of an infected patient the help of repair proteins. It also plays a vital role in testing medicine and helps many clinical trials get approval from healthcare agencies. In the future, nanomedicine will be helpful for fighting against this pandemic and creating advancements in healthcare.

Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Supply Chain Disruption

The COVID-19 outbreak is a worldwide disaster that has disrupted several aspects of human life and its community living. This pandemic has also affected the existing supply chain and the way it was being managed. Therefore, this study’s primary objective is to identify and discuss the significant impact of COVID-19 on the current supply chain, with specific reference to the medical supply chain. This article then recommends the potential solution measures that can reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the existing supply chain during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to do so, we have identified and discussed various significant impacts of COVID-19 on the supply chain. Identifying the impacts helps the policy planner formulate the policies to mitigate these impacts and recover the supply chain at their functional level. Further, this study also suggests possible solution measures that can be adopted to reduce the disruption of the supply chain. These solution measures help management develop the action plan for early recovery from the COVID-19 disruption.

Symbiotic Relationship Between Machine Learning and Industry 4.0: A Review

Industry 4.0 though launched less than a decade ago, has revolutionized the way technologies are being used. It has found its application in almost every field of manufacturing, cybersecurity, health, banking, and other services. Industry 4.0 is heavily dependent on interconnectivity and data. Machine learning (ML) acts as a foundation for building industry 4.0 applications. In this paper, we have provided a broad view of how ML is necessary to accomplish the benefits of industry 4.0. The paper includes ML usage in companies and the limitations of ML, which need to be mitigated. There are also some instances of the failure of ML algorithms and their repercussions. Though industry 4.0 requires a lot more inputs and capital than normal processes, the long-run benefits outweigh the initial costs. ML is gaining popularity, and extensive research is happening to exploit its potential and develop full smart applications.

Virtual Reality (VR) Applications in Cardiology: A Review

Virtual reality (VR) has applications in cardiology to create enhancement, thereby improving the quality of associated planning, treatment and surgery. The need is to study different applications of this technology in the field of cardiology. We have studied research papers on VR and its applications in cardiology through a detailed bibliometric analysis. The study identified five significant steps for proper implementation of this technology in cardiology. Some challenges are to be undertaken by using this technology, and they can provide some benefits; thus, authors contemplate extensive research and development. This study also identifies 10 major VR technology applications in cardiology and provided a brief description. This innovative technology helps a heart surgeon to perform complex heart surgery effectively. Thus, VR applications have the potential for improving decision-making, which helps save human life. VR plays a significant role in the development of a surgical procedure. This technology undertakes 3D heart model information in full colour, which helps to analyze the overall heart vane, blockage and blood flow. With the help of this digital technology, a surgeon can improve the accuracy of heart surgery, and he can simulate the surgery. A surgeon can undertake surgery in a virtual environment on a virtual patient. The unique purpose of this technology is to practice pre-operatively on the specific circumstance. A cardiologist can also check the proper status of inner and outer heart wall layer. Thus, by using this 3D information, the surgeon can now interact with heart data/information without any physical touch. This technology opens a new opportunity to improve the heart surgery and development in cardiovascular treatment to improve patient outcome.

IoT-based GPS assisted surveillance system with inter-WBAN geographic routing for pandemic situations

BACKGROUND

Worldwide pandemic situations drive countries into high healthcare costs and dangerous conditions. Hospital occupancy rates and medical expenses increase dramatically. Real-time remote health monitoring and surveillance systems with IoT assisted eHealth equipment play important roles in such pandemic situations. To prevent the spread of a pandemic is as crucial as treating the infected patients. The COVID-19 pandemic is the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

METHODS

We propose a surveillance system especially for coronavirus pandemic with IoT applications and an inter-WBAN geographic routing algorithm. In this study, coronavirus symptoms such as respiration rate, body temperature, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, heart rate can be monitored and the social distance with 'mask-wearing status' of persons can be displayed with proposed IoT software (Node-RED, InfluxDB, and Grafana).

RESULTS

The geographic routing algorithm is compared with AODV in outdoor areas according to delivery ratio, delay for priority node, packet loss ratio and bit error rate. The results obtained showed that the geographic routing algorithm is more successful for the proposed architecture.

CONCLUSION

The results show that the use of WBAN technology, geographic routing algorithm, and IoT applications helps to achieve a realistic and meaningful surveillance system with better statistical data.

Significant Applications of Big Data in Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is being implemented with the help of advanced technologies. Big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud computing, and 3D printing are the major technologies used to adopt Industry 4.0 successfully. Here, the study’s need is to discuss the major potential of big data for Industry 4.0. These technologies’ primary purpose is to collect the right data to solve the relevant issue during manufacturing and other required services. This technology plays a significant role in creating advancements in this fourth industrial revolution. Conclusively, big data applications are useful for in-process management and productivity improvement in the automation sector. Complex systems of drivers and intelligent sensors can be easily optimized based on information collected using this technology. Big data is the key to gain a competitive leap by reconnoitring the fundamental issues like deviations during the process, quality discriminations, and energy efficiency squander in a manufacturing process. The study discusses the significant applications of big data in Industry 4.0. For a proper surveillance system, industries need to have an immensely technical or personalized way, making big data a valuable source for predicting analysis and operation management based on market insight statistics or information. In upcoming days, big data will provide further advancement in Industry 4.0 and is supposed to play an efficient role in its successful adoption.

Cloud Computing in Solving Problems of COVID-19 Pandemic

Cloud computing facilitates collaboration, communication, and essential online services during the COVID-19 crisis. The current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled people to work from their homes, but they have to communicate, collaborate online. Thus, we see an essential role of cloud computing in taking up this challenge of working from home and delivering efficiently. A brief review of Cloud Computing service in the context of COVID-19 pandemic is done using recent papers’ by searching keywords such as “Cloud Computing” and “COVID-19” from PubMed’s database SCOPUS and Google Scholar. During the lockdown situation, cloud computing technology helps provide commendable service in the healthcare domain. It provides an advanced infrastructure for facilitating digital transformation. A brief discussion has been made on how cloud computing components are vital for overcoming the ongoing situation. This paper also studies the remote working of cloud computing for the COVID-19 pandemic and finally identified significant cloud computing applications for the COVID-19 pandemic. All countries focus on reducing this virus’s spread, so this technology helps minimize the spread of this virus by providing online services. It provides an innovative environment that enhances the creativity and productivity of healthcare workers. This technology is efficient in detecting, tracking, and monitoring newly infected patients. In the future, this technology will insight and provide control over this infection to save millions of lives worldwide. This technology is also quite helpful to forecast the future impact of the SARS-Co-2 virus.

Dentistry 4.0 technologies applications for dentistry during COVID-19 pandemic

The term, Dentistry 4.0, coincides with Industry 4.0, in which the traditional methods of manufacturing and information are made more precise to enhance process efficiency by using automation and advanced computer technologies. The main of this paper is to discuss the major potential of Dentistry 4.0 technologies in the field of dentistry during Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic. Thereon, Dentistry 4.0 is advancing on its way with the use of advanced technologies in dentistry. Dental healthcare makes an essential part of the overall health of the masses. New technological advancements are essential to make the dentist work quicker, patient comfortable, and process reliable. So, we introduced the concept of Dentistry 4.0 to improve efficiency and impart innovation in dentistry during this pandemic. This paper briefs about the Dentistry 4.0 technologies helpful for the COVID-19 pandemic. Further discusses various issues and challenges in implementing Dentistry 4.0 for dentistry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the paper identifies and discussed fifteen significant applications of Dentistry 4.0 technologies for dentistry during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the onset of the pandemic, globally, the healthcare sector is taking initiatives to strengthen affordable and high-speed data connectivity. This up-gradation and investment will also help dentists to access patients' data from smaller towns or villages using Dentistry 4.0 technologies. Thus, globally there is the onset of the fourth dentistry revolution, and we understand that this will change the trend of dentistry during and post-COVID-19 Pandemic. Dentistry 4.0 technologies are helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic to create teledentistry, virtual clinical practice and connect all dental devices to improve health conditions. This approach is to help progress towards the integrated capabilities, patient-centric remedies with predicted results in an easier way than the traditional way of the health care industry.