Search

Recent advances in graphene research have enabled the utilization of its nanocomposites for numerous energy-based and environmental applications. Recently, the advancement in graphene-based polymer nanocomposites has received much attention with special emphasis on synthesis and application. Graphene-based nanocomposites show astonishing electrical, mechanical, chemical, and thermal characteristics. Graphene nanocomposites (GNCs) are synthesized using a variety of methods, including covalent and non-covalent methods, a chemical-based deposition approach, hydrothermal growth, electrophoresis deposition, and physical deposition. Chemical methods are the most viable route for producing graphene in small quantities at low temperatures. The technique can also produce graphene films on a variety of substrate materials. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the synthesis of AI-created nanoparticles has recently received a lot of attention. These nanocomposite materials have excellent applications in the environmental, energy, and agricultural sectors. Due to high carrier mobility, graphene-based materials enhance the photocatalytic performance of semiconductor materials. Similarly, these materials have high potential for pollutant removal, especially heavy metals, due to their high surface area. This article highlights the synthesis of graphene-based nanocomposites with special reference to harnessing the power of modern AI tools to better understand GNC material properties and the way this knowledge can be used for its better applications in the development of a sustainable future.

Studies have shown that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on minority groups in both the clinical and social settings in America. We conducted a follow up study on patients previously diagnosed with COVID-19 one year ago in an urban community in New Jersey. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 as well as assess for receptiveness towards COVID-19 vaccination amongst various ethnic groups.This was a prospective cohort study consisting of patients who had recovered from COVID-19 one year prior. The patients included in the study had a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis in the months of March and April of 2020. This was a single institutional study conducted at St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson, NJ from the months of March to April of 2021. Patients included in the study were either male or female aged 18 years or older. Patients who met criteria for inclusion were contacted by telephone to participate in a telephone survey. After informed consent was obtained, the patients completed a survey which obtained sociodemographic information pertaining to their diagnosis with COVID-19. Statistical analysis was performed using chi-square testing and multivariable logistic regression analysis.Of the 170 patients enrolled in the study, the most common ethnicity was Hispanic (79/170 [46.47%]), followed by African American (46/170 [27.05%]). The gender distribution was 83 male (83/170 [48.82%]) and 87 female (87/170 [51.18%]) with a mean age of 51.5. Caucasians were the most willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine (28/30 [93.3%]), followed by Asians (13/14 [92.8%]), Hispanics (63/78 [80.7%]) and African Americans (29/46 [63.0%]). Hispanics had the highest rate of job loss (31/79 [39.24%]), followed by of African Americans (16/46 [34.7%]). Hispanics were found to be in the most financial distress (31/79 [39.2%]), followed by African Americans (17/46 [36.9%]). Chi square analysis revealed Hispanics and African Americans were more likely to lose their jobs after being diagnosed with COVID-19 (p: 0.04). Hispanics and African Americans were also more likely to refuse vaccination with any of the available COVID-19 vaccines (p: 0.02). Multivariable Logistic regression analysis was then performed comparing both Hispanics and African Americans to Caucasians. Hispanics were more likely to lose their jobs compared to Caucasians (odds ratio, 4.456; 95% CI, 1.387 to 14.312; p: 0.0121). African Americans were also more likely to lose their jobs when compared to Caucasians (odds ratio, 4.465; 95% CI, 1.266 to 15.747; p: 0.0200).Overall Hispanics reported the highest rates of financial distress after their diagnosis with COVID-19. Nearly 40% of the Hispanic lost their jobs following their diagnosis with COVID-19 which was the highest in our study group. African Americans were similarly affected with about 37% of all patients experiencing job loss and financial distress following diagnosis with COVID-19. Hispanics and african americans were the two ethnic groups who were least willing to receive COVID-19 vaccination. Only 63% of African Americans were willing to receive the vaccine, with 80.7% of Hispanics willing to become vaccinated. The most common reason for not receiving any of the COVID-19 vaccines was due to lack of trust in the vaccine. Both Hispanics and African Americans were more statistically likely to lose their jobs as well as refuse COVID-19 vaccination following diagnosis with COVID-19.

TOPIC: Chest Infections TYPE: Original Investigations PURPOSE: Many patients diagnosed with COVID-19 develop a post-viral syndrome commonly known as Long COVID-19. Long COVID is described as when a patient experiences persistent symptoms for more than 12 weeks after their initial infection. Recent studies have shown that patients may experience long covid for as many as 6 months after initial infection. We conducted a follow up study on patients diagnosed with COVID-19 one year ago at one of the worst affected tertiary hospitals in the state of New Jersey. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study consisting of patients with a confirmed positive COVID-19 test by PCR in the months of March and April of 2020 in the St. Joseph’s University Hospital network. Individuals who were either admitted to the hospital or tested positive in the outpatient setting with Sars- CoV2 were included in the study. Patients under 18 years of age or those with cognitive impairment or inability to complete the survey were excluded. Informed consent was taken over the telephone. The participants completed a comprehensive questionnaire including sociodemographic information and a review of systems to evaluate for persistent symptoms they have experienced over the past year directly due to COVID-19. All patient identifying information was de-identified in compliance with HIPAA rules and regulations. RESULTS: There were 91 inpatients ( 91/173 [52.6%]) and 82 outpatients (82/173 [47.4%]) with a mean age of 51.5. The most common ethnicities were Hispanic (80/173 [46.24%]) African American (48/173 [27.74%]), Caucasian (32/173 [18.49%]) and the most common comorbidities were hypertension (68/173 [39.5%]), obesity (45/173 [26.9%]) and diabetes (33/173 [19.1%]). There were 91 inpatients ( 91/173 [52.6%]) and 82 outpatients (82/173 [47.4%]), of which 85 were male (85/173 [49.42%]). Overall 83 patients (47.9%) still experienced at least one persistent symptom after initial infection. The most commonly reported symptoms were shortness of breath (44/173 [25.4%]), fatigue (43/173 [21%]), anxiety (36/173 [20.8%]), difficulty focusing/brain fog (32/173 [18.5%]), body aches (32/173 [18.5%]), headaches (29/173 [16.8%]), memory loss (25/173 [14.5%]), cough (23/173 [13.3%]), depression (22/173 [12.7%]), chest pain (19/173 [11%]), palpitations (15/173 [8.7%]), lightheadedness (15/173 [8.7%]), runny nose (12/173 [6.9%]) and loss of taste (11/173 [6.4%]). CONCLUSIONS: In our patient population nearly half of all patients (47.9%) still experienced at least one symptom 12 months after their initial infection. In both patient populations the most common persistent symptoms were shortness of breath, fatigue, anxiety and difficulty focusing/brain fog. The risk factors and pathophysiology of long covid remain unknown, highlighting the importance of further research into the topics. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Nearly half of our patient population still experienced at least one symptom from their COVID-19 infection after one year. This further suggests that infection with COVID-19 may carry a risk of developing long term and possibly permanent sequelae from the virus. As more patients continue to be infected with COVID-19 and subsequently develop long covid, a public health crisis may be looming in the future. This highlights the need for continued public education on COVID-19 as well as the critical importance of widespread vaccination across the world to end the pandemic. DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Polina Aron, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Hamdallah Ashkar, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Sohail Chaudhry, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Arslan Chaudhry, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Beenish Faheem, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Alisa Farokhian, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by George Horani, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Humberto Jimenez, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Christina Kmiecik, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Patrick Michael, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Christopher Millet, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Spandana Narvaneni, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Sherif Roman, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Fady Shafeek, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Yezin Shamoon, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Jin Suh, source=Web Response

Scientists think they can prove that free will is an illusion. Philosophers are urging them to think again. Choosing medical specialty can be a complicated decision for a medical student to make. Various factors seem to influence the choice: gender, economic status, guardian occupation and personality traits. The survey included questions about the socio-demographic details like age, gender, year of education in medical school, choice of specialty and score of five personality traits as assessed by Big five inventory (1) Extroversion (2) Agreeableness (3) Neuroticism (4) Openness (5) Conscientiousness. A total of 223 participants were included in the study which included 85/223 (38.1%) males and 138/223 (61.9%) females. Ages of participants ranged from 18 to 35 with a mean of 21 years. Most participants (146/223 = 65%) fell in the age group of 21 to 30 years. Nearly equal number of participants were included from each year of MBBS 44(19.7%) from first year, 47(21.1%) from second year, 36(16.1%) from third year, 38(17.0%) from fourth year, 47(21.1%) from final year and among graduates 11(4.9%) were doing their internship. There is no significant association between personality traits and a person’s choice of specialty. More powered studies with inclusion of more possible explanatory variables are required to create a better fitting prediction model in this regard. There is nevertheless an association between the choice of Family Medicine and Public Health as a group who scored more in extroversion, openness, neuroticism and less on conscientiousness.

Abstract 2274 Background: Unfractionated heparin and it derivatives are known to produce pleotropic effects including the anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor actions. Preclinical evidence suggests that heparins have an effect on tumor progression independent of their anticoagulant activity. Heparin and low molecular weight heparin have also been shown to exhibit interactions with growth factors and other cellular receptors. Recently an ultra low molecular weight heparin namely, semuloparin has also been found to be effective in the management of cancer associated thrombosis (Save ONCO trial). This study was designed to investigate whether heparin and its derivatives are able to inhibit tumor growth in a Lewis Lung carcinoma model. Methods: Female C57BL/6 mice were obtained at 6–8 weeks of age and were implanted with 5×105 LN7 tumor cells by dorsal subcutaneous injection in the upper back. When tumors were initially palpable, at 7–10 days of growth, mice were treated with subcutaneous injections of heparin, a low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), namely enoxaparin, an ultra LMWH, semuloparin or saline, daily for two weeks at approximately 1 cm away from the tumor growth, in a dose range of 1.0 – 0.25 mg/kg. After the treatment period, animals were sacrificed and the spleens and tumors were removed and tumor weight, tumor volume, spleen weight and spleen size were measured. Blood samples were drawn through heart puncture for ex vivo analysis. VEGF levels were measured using a commercially available ELISA method. Results: At the 1.0 and 0.5 mg/kg dosages, both enoxaparin (p Conclusions: These studies suggest that heparin and its derivatives are capable of inhibiting tumor growth in a dose dependent manner. Enoxaparin and semuloparin are more effective at reducing tumor growth compared to heparin. In addition, both the enoxaparin and semuloparin were safer than heparin at the 1.0 and 0.5 mg dosages as bleeding was observed in the heparin treated animals. Semuloparin downregulated the VEGF levels in comparison to the other groups suggesting that this mechanism potentially plays a role in the control of the tumor growth. Reported clinical studies have shown that semuloparin is safer and effective for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in cancer patients and compares favorably to enoxaparin in terms of antithrombotic effect and safety profile. Therefore, semuloparin may be a better alternate for the management of cancer associated thrombosis. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.