ABO blood groups is a cheap and affordable test that can be immediately retrieved from COVID-19 patients at the diagnosis. There is increasing evidence that non-O blood groups have both higher susceptibility and higher severity of COVID-19 infections. The reason behind such relationship seems elusive. Regarding susceptibility, Non-O individuals have Anti-A antibodies which can prevent viral entry across ACE-2 receptors, moreover, Non-O individuals are at higher risk of autoimmunity, hypercoagulable state, and dysbiosis resulting in an augmented tendency for vascular inflammatory sequelae of COVID-19. We can conclude, on the diagnostic level, that ABO blood groups can be potentially used for risk stratification of affected COVID-19 patients, to anticipate the deterioration of patients at higher risk for complications. On a therapeutic level, plasma from normal O blood group individuals might potentially replace the use of convalescent serum for the treatment of COVID-19.

Borosilicate glass recycling is a challenge because it has high melting point and different chemical structure which makes it non-recyclable in the glass industry. This work focuses on borosilicate recycling through the preparation of a low thermal expansion and chemically durable borosilicate glass-ceramic composite (BsGC). Low thermal expansion and high chemical durability ceramics are advantageous in many applications such as lab supplies, corning ware, automobile components, and other low expansion products that are resistant to thermal shock. Kaolin and borosilicate were chosen for the preparation of glass-ceramic composite, because they have low thermal expansion and good chemical durability. BsGC was prepared by sintering borosilicate glass waste (e.g., Pyrex laboratory glassware, household glass) and kaolin at different temperatures (750-900 ° C). Water absorption method was used to measure the apparent porosity of the prepared composites. Surface morphology of the prepared BCGs was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Phase composition of the prepared BGC samples was characterized using X-ray diffraction technique (XRD). The XRD results showed that at sintering of 750 °C a monocrystalline quartz was only existing. By increasing sintering temperature up to 800°C the quartz phase decreased, while at 850 o C the quartz phase completely disappeared. The sintered BCG composites obtained exhibited low coefficients of thermal expansion in the range of 48 x 10-7 o C -1 and exhibited high chemical durability.