Effect of N-95 Mask on Oxygen Saturation Level in Health Care Workers and Their Experience While Using N-95 Mask

Background N-95 masks are in high demand during this COVID-19 pandemic but wearing an N-95 mask is a real challenge to the health workers during their duty hours. The present study aims to measure the effect of the N-95 mask on oxygen saturation level in the blood and the discomforts experienced while using it. Materials and Methods Oxygen saturation was measured in 80 health care workers before and after wearing the N-95 mask continuously for more than 6 hours. The participants were asked to fill a questionnaire regarding various discomforts of N-95 mask usage, which consisted of 14 questions. Results The most common discomfort was pain around the pinna followed by difficulty in breathing and fogging of spectacles or goggles. In addition, 71% of them had decreased oxygen saturation by 1%. Conclusion N-95 mask can alter the oxygen saturation but it does not produce significant effects in healthy individuals. It can significantly affect patients with compromised airways.

Efficacy of eutectic mixture of local anesthetics in alleviating pain associated with lumbar puncture in newborns: a placebo compared randomized controlled trial

Background: Lumbar puncture (LP) is one of the most commonly encountered painful procedure in paediatric medicine. Research has shown that neonates too experience pain from noxious stimuli that can be more intense than what is experienced by an adult, and so have the right to receive safe, efficient and effective pain management. Objective was to determine efficacy of topical eutectic mixture of local anesthetics (EMLA) in alleviating pain associated with lumbar puncture among newborns admitted to sick newborn care unit (SNCU).Methods: The study was a one-year tertiary care teaching hospital-based randomised comparative double blinded trial among 42 neonates aged 32 weeks or more admitted to SNCU and required a diagnostic lumbar puncture, randomly assigned to one of two groups. Half hour before the procedure, 1 g of topical EMLA cream was applied to LP site in intervention group versus placebo in other group. At different stages, the heart rate, transcutaneous oxygen saturation level, and total behaviour score were captured on a video camera and rated using the neonatal facial coding system.Results: EMLA dramatically lowers pain sensitivity when compared to placebo. Total behavioural score means±standard deviation (SD) at the moment of needle insertion (EMLA: 1.05±1.24; placebo: 2.71±1.76, p≤0.001) and post procedural 5 minute later was (EMLA: 0.05±0.22; placebo: 0.81±0.92, p≤0.01). Similarly, oxygen saturation level when needle was in spinal place (EMLA: 96.76±2.45; placebo: 94.29±3.62, p=0.01) and post procedural 1 hour later was (EMLA: 98.81±1.94; placebo: 97.48±2.18, p=0.04). The heart rate of all newborns in both groups was greater than it was at baseline, although the difference was not significant.Conclusions: EMLA is an effective agent in reducing pain associated with LP among newborns.

Humanoid Robot Application as COVID-19 Symptoms Checker Using Computer Vision and Multiple Sensors

Novel Corona Virus (nCoV) infects human’s respiratory system. It spreads easily when an infected person makes a close contact with other people. To prevent its massive spread, it is necessary to ensure anyone coming to a certain place is not being infected. The symptoms include high body temperature (≥37.5°C) and low oxygen saturation level (≤95%). This day, most places only check the human body temperature. Thus, the authors are interested to make an attempt to design a system that is able to measure both human body temperature and oxygen saturation level. This work also applies the 7-DoF Upper-Body of Humanoid Robot to prevent virus spread from and to the employee. The system will detect the coming of visitors by using face detection. It requires 7.24 seconds to detect the visitor without a mask, and 1.26 second when the visitor wears a mask. The body temperature measurement was done using GY-906 temperature sensor with an error of 0.51%. For the oxygen saturation level measurement, MAX30100 pulse oximeter module was applied and showed an error of 0.78%. In addition, the upper-body of humanoid robot will perform some gestures to instruct the visitors in every process of the system. The implemented 7-DoF upper-body of humanoid robot has 93.33% gesture comprehension rate. In conclusion, the overall system has been tested and showed success rate up to 75%.

Issues and Prospects of Providing Agricultural Productions to the Population of the Republic of Karakalpakstan

The article analyzes the regional characteristics of the agricultural products market in the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The saturation level of regional food markets has been studied. Scientific conclusions and practical recommendations on the supply of food to the population have been made.