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Healthcare system is an essential system for any nation as it is responsible for maintaining the health of the individuals and public. However, the outbreak of different viral diseases such as influenza, covid-19 etc. has encouraged medical research in different developing and developed countries. Similarly, in Malaysia, different public and private research centers and biotechnology firms are being promoted to develop new and innovative medical drugs and equipment. However, different challenges are faced by the developers in promoting the development and innovations of medical commodities. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate different challenges in the development, funding, and reimbursement of medical innovations in Malaysia. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 developers from different public research and development (R&D) centers and biotechnology firms in Malaysia. After the interviews were conducted, their edited transcription was obtained, and thematic analysis was conducted, and different themes and sub-themes were formulated. The results obtained from this study showed that the lack of innovative environment, strategic compliances and effective funding structure negatively influences medical innovations in Malaysia. It has also been observed that poor reimbursement practices and policies and lack of pricing strategies by the Malaysian government impacts the ROI of the associated firms and developers. Thus, it has been recommended that mega-funds and reimbursement policies should be promoted to overcome these challenges in medical innovations.Copyright © 2023 ThinkBiotech LLC. All rights reserved.
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The first major outbreak of the severely complicated hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), primarily caused by enterovirus 71, was reported in Taiwan in 1998. HFMD surveillance is needed to assess the spread of HFMD. The parameters we use in mathematical models are usually classical mathematical parameters, called crisp parameters, which are taken for granted. But any biological or physical phenomenon is best explained by uncertainty. To represent a realistic situation in any mathematical model, fuzzy parameters can be very useful. Many articles have been published on how to control and prevent HFMD from the perspective of public health and statistical modeling. However, few works use fuzzy theory in building models to simulate HFMD dynamics. In this context, we examined an HFMD model with fuzzy parameters. A Non Standard Finite Difference (NSFD) scheme is developed to solve the model. The developed technique retains essential properties such as positivity and dynamic consistency. Numerical simulations are presented to support the analytical results. The convergence and consistency of the proposed method are also discussed. The proposed method converges unconditionally while the many classical methods in the literature do not possess this property. In this regard, our proposed method can be considered as a reliable tool for studying the dynamics of HFMD.
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This study investigates the impact of leisure involvement, and place attachment on revisit intention with the mediating role of quality of life. This survey was composed of 300 individuals in a shopping mall in Lahore, Pakistan. The data was analyzed through Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicated that leisure involvement and quality of life predict the place attachment and customers revisit intention. The results show the positive and significant relationship between leisure involvement (LI) and quality of life (QOL);leisure involvement (LI) with place attachment (PA);revisit intention (RI) and QOL with place attachment and revisit intention. The study advances in theory explaining the mediating role of quality of life in consumption in Shopping Malls and presents managerial recommendations that can be applied during and after Covid-19.
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This study aims at exploring the multilingual practices of users in digital communication. The study utilizes "translanguaging' as a framework to analyze and unravel these multilingual practices based on four stances of translanguaging. The data for the study are gathered through an open-ended questionnaire that seeks detailed views of respondents who are active users of Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and other social platforms. The study includes participants from diverse sociocultural backgrounds with the ability to have knowledge of more than one language with proficiency. The results correlate with the first two points of model, i.e., translanguaging blurs the boundaries between languages to convey meanings and introduce new concepts but deviates from the last two points. It also throws light on the impact of digital communication on local languages and presents suggestions for the preservation and promotion of local languages in the digital landscape, such as the provision of accurate translations of native languages, digital dictionaries, keyboards, and software. Copyright © 2023 Ahmad, Nawaz, Khan and Bukhari.
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OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 resulted in Regional tiered restrictions being introduced across the UK with subsequent implications for planned and emergency surgical care. Specific to Merseyside, Tier 4, Tier 2 and Tier 5 restrictions were introduced in late 2020 and early 2021. The purpose of this study was to examine the nature and workload of emergency urological procedures during three different national lockdown Tiers in the North West of England. METHOD: A 3-month prospective study examining all emergency urological activity was conducted from November 2020 when Tier 4 restrictions were introduced and included Tier 2 restrictions in December and then concluded at the end of January 2021 when Tier 5 restrictions were in place. Data was obtained by identifying patients using the electronic theatre listing system. RESULTS: A total of 71 emergency cases were performed (24 in November (Tier 4), 28 in December (Tier 2), 19 in January 2021 (Tier 5)) with 15 different types of procedures performed. The most frequently performed procedure was stent insertion (36), followed by scrotal exploration (10). The least commonly performed procedure was suprapubic catheter insertion under general anaesthesia (1). One patient required transfer to a different hospital. In total 6 calls were made by general surgery and 3 by gynaecology for urgent urological assistance in theatre. Three urology patients returned to the theatre as emergencies following elective procedures. CONCLUSION: Unlike the Spring lockdown, acute urological presentations requiring operative intervention still presented daily. Of the 71 cases performed, most occurred in Tier 2. Stent insertion was the most commonly performed procedure, with the majority of the cases performed by registrars.
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Purpose This study aims to investigate the perspective of corporate philanthropy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China for firms with various levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Specifically, the study appraises the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the stock returns and sustainable development of Chinese-listed companies and determines the likelihood of paying donations vis-a-vis firm reputation.Design/methodology/approach The study used data from 117 Chinese-listed firms engaged in philanthropy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors also utilized the stock returns and cash donation data, and owing to the cross-sectional data and continuous nature of dependent variables, they employed the ordinary least squares regression to test the research hypotheses.Findings The results show that irresponsible actions have a positive relationship with donations. The study particularly reveals that irresponsible firms have significant negative abnormal returns during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to explore the perspective of corporate philanthropy during the COVID-19 pandemic for companies with different CSR levels. This study contributes to the empirical research on CSR and provides insights for managerial-cum-financial decisions to encourage managers of irresponsible firms to pursue philanthropic behaviors after crisis events.
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The recent rise of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology is a wake-up call for the accounting profession. They face numerous challenges in adapting to the demanding cyber era. This study was conducted to examine the internal and external factors that drive the emerging competencies among professional accountants in Malaysia. A qualitative approach was employed with a semi-structured interview conducted with companies awarded Graduates' Choice Awards, Company of The Year, Best Workplace Practices Award and Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership Award in recent years. This study found that internal factors such as the company's vision, leadership change, individual achievement indicators, technology and business process are the main contributors influencing the changes in the accounting function. On the other hand, external factors such as political issues, the requirement to respond to green the environment, and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused the emergence of competencies among professional accountants. The competencies include soft skills, empathy, analytical, leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, integrity, and flexibility. This is consistent with the stakeholder theory by Freeman, which explains that different stakeholders' expectations lead to changes in how organisations operate. Indirectly forcing the accounting profession to respond accordingly. © 2023, Universiti Teknologi Mara. All rights reserved.
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Background: Earlier research has found that female healthcare providers often report greater spirituality and spiritual care than males. This would evoke attention toward factors contributing to such differences, particularly gender. Aim: To examine the moderating effects of gender on the relationships between demographic characteristics of ICU nurses and their perceived spirituality and spiritual care. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational design was used to recruit a national sample of 865 nurses working in ICUs in Jordan and providing care to patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Data were collected using a self-report bilingual version of Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSC) and analysed using the SPSS software package. Results: Social status, monthly income, and receiving previous courses or lecture training on spirituality and spiritual care were predictors of higher SSCRS scores. Working with COVID-19 patients was a positive predictor (B = 0.074, p = 0.023), suggesting that working with COVID-19 patients is more likely to have a higher level of SSC. Gender was a negative predictor (B = -0.066, p = 0.046), suggesting that female participants are likelier to have a lower SSC score. Conclusion: Working with patients during the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted nurses' perception of SCC, but female nurses had lower score than male nurses indicating the need for more emphasis on training female nurses and exploring further the areas in which they need more training and to be able to provide an effective SSC. A sustainable up-to-date training and in-service education programs responding to nurses' needs and emerged emergencies crisis need to be integrated into nursing quality of care policy development.
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Background and Purpose: Following the global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Malaysia, the Malaysian government had imposed a Movement Control Order (MCO) on 16 March 2020 as a measure to curb the outbreak. Consequently, all non-essential affairs were suspended and operated fully on a work-from-home basis, when schools were temporarily closed, and citizens were urged to stay at home. Despite a high number of studies on the negative impacts of MCO to various sectors, there is a little concern noted for the potential impacts on vulnerable populations, including parents with special kids such as cerebral palsy (CP). The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the burdens and difficulties associated with the experience of caring for children with CP during the MCO Methodology: This study was designed as qualitative research. Twenty-six participants were selected using a purposive sampling method to involve in in-depth interviews. They were the parents who joined the Cerebral Palsy Support Group in Terengganu, Malaysia. The interview responses were thematically analyzed using a content analysis method. Findings: Four main themes were revealed from the thematic analysis, namely emotional distress, worry over postponement of therapy and medical consultation, burn out due to work from home, and conditions of the CP children themselves. The findings indicated that both mothers, either working or housewife, experienced depression and deterioration in physical health and psychosocial emotions. Contributions: Interventions in the forms of financial aids, guidance for CP children self-therapy at home, and emotional supports are urgently needed to ensure mothers and their CP children maintain their quality of life despite the MCO.
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Our retrospective study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies (casirivimab and imdevimab) on mild cases of coronavirus disease 2019 patients admitted to the tertiary care center. A total of 161 patients were evaluated of which the test group consisted of 79 and the control group of 82. In the test group the patients had been administered with diluted 250 ml of 0.9 % sodium chloride along with co-formulated casirivimab (600 mg) and imdevimab (600 mg) solution intravenously and in the control group the patients were administered standard coronavirus disease 2019 treatment protocol. The monitoring of patients in both groups was done at least 1 h after drug infusion in the designated room. Post-treatment designed interviews were taken to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. This retrospective analysis discovered a significant association of symptoms with the group at 48 h for injected and non-injected patients and 1 mo from the chi-square test after injecting monoclonal antibodies. There is no significant association of symptoms with the groups at 3 mo. A significant difference in the symptom distribution through different time points in the injected group and not injected group was observed. From the pairwise McNemar's test, a significant difference in the symptoms between each time in 48 h, the difference was p=0.0075 and after 1 mo, p<0.001 points in both groups. The combination of casirivimab and imdevimab could be considered a treatment of choice for vaccinated, non-vaccinated and mild to highrisk coronavirus disease 2019 patients.
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The application of fuzzy theory is vital in all scientific disciplines. The construction of mathematical models with fuzziness is little studied in the literature. With this in mind and for a better understanding of the disease, an SEIR model of malaria transmission with fuzziness is examined in this study by extending a classical model of malaria transmission. The parameters beta and delta, being function of the malaria virus load, are considered fuzzy numbers. Three steady states and the reproduction number of the model are analyzed in fuzzy senses. A numerical technique is developed in a fuzzy environment to solve the studied model, which retains essential properties such as positivity and dynamic consistency. Moreover, numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the analytical results of the developed technique. Unlike most of the classical methods in the literature, the proposed approach converges unconditionally and can be considered a reliable tool for studying malaria disease dynamics.
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Amoebiasis is a parasitic intestinal infection caused by the highly pathogenic amoeba Entamoeba histolytica. It is spread through person-to -person contact or by eating or drinking food or water contaminated with feces. Its transmission rate depends on the number of cysts present in the environment. The traditional models assumed a homogeneous and contra-dictory transmission with reality. The heterogeneity of its transmission rate is a significant factor when modeling disease dynamics. The heterogeneity of disease transmission can be described mathematically by introducing fuzzy theory. In this context, a fuzzy SEIR Amoebiasis disease model is consid-ered in this study. The equilibrium analysis and reproductive number are studied with fuzziness. Two numerical schemes forward Euler method and a nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) approach, are developed for the learned model, and the results of numerical simulations are presented. The numerical and simulation results reveal that the proposed NSFD method provides an adequate representation of the dynamics of the disease despite the uncertainty and heterogeneity. Moreover, the obtained method generates plausible predictions that regulators can use to support decision-making to design and develop control strategies.
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This study analyzed the effect of organizational climate and quality of work-life on teachers' creativity throughout state vocational high schools in Serang, Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work involved 164 civil servant teachers in state vocational high schools in Serang, Indonesia as the sample. As the major analysis tool, we used a multiple linear regression model. The hypothesis test used the t-test and f-test. The study revealed that: i) Organizational climate positively and significantly influenced the civil servant teachers' creativity amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a significance value of.000 (α<.005);ii) The quality of work-life also had a positive and significant effect on the teachers' creativity during this difficult situation has significance value of.000 (α<.005);and iii) The quality of their work influenced both organizational climate and the creativity of state vocational high school teachers living in Serang, Indonesia, with a determination coefficient of.861 or 86.1% during the pandemic. © 2023, Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the whole world went under strict lockdown, including educational institutions. This led to the quick reshaping of educational systems to provide uninterrupted education to the students. Preferably, both teachers and students switched from physical classrooms to online classrooms. This overnight change brought numerous challenges for a country like India. But the authors of this study see it as an opportunity and aim to explore mobile learning (m-learning) determinants that influence Indian university students' learning needs during the COVID-19. For this, the data were gathered using a web-based questionnaire from 557 students of seven different universities (both public and private) in India. Next, the data were quantitatively analysed using reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The results show that out of three first-order m-learning variables, only two (system and service quality items) have a positive impact on students' learning satisfaction in the Indian context. In the end, the implications of the study in the adoption of m-learning at different Indian universities have been discussed. Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
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Background Infection breakthrough after COVID-19 vaccination is a point of conflict in current literature not only because of the estimation of the potential hazards and symptoms severity but also due to establishing a vaccination policy and measuring the extent of immunity after vaccination in addition to the waning of the humoral immunity over time. To our knowledge, this is the first study to stratify the risk of post-COVID-19 vaccination breakthroughs in Upper Egypt. Methods In this cross-sectional observational study, we enrolled 369 vaccinated patients registered in our facility either admitted or in out-patient clinic. Patients were interviewed and any proven history of COVID-19 infection after vaccination was recorded. Results In the current study, 18.97% (70 patients) of the 369 subjects enrolled in the study had COVID-19breakthrough infection. Students were the high-risk group representing 18.6% of the study subjects. Hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac disease were the most comorbidities associated with a prevalence of 15.7%, 8.6%, and 4.3% respectively. Prior to COVID-19, confirmed infection was present in 42.9% of the study group. Fever, headache, myalgia, and cough were among the most common symptoms of the post-COVID vaccination breakthrough with a prevalence of 90%, 75.7%, 84.3%, and 74.3% respectively. Conclusion Breakthrough infection after COVID-19 vaccination is not uncommon. Most cases are mild and don't require hospitalization. All types of vaccines tested in the current study offer adequate immunity and guard against severe COVID-19 infection. We encourage the current global policy of full vaccination. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT05033834. Registered September 5, 2021. COVID-19 Infection in After Vaccination-Full Text View-ClinicalTrials.gov.
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OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, uptake, and hesitancy among parents and caregivers of children in Saudi Arabia during the initial rollout of pediatric COVID-19 vaccination. METHODS: An electronic survey was used to collect data from participants who visited a COVID-19 vaccine center. The survey included demographic data, COVID-19 vaccine status among participants and their children, and reasons for vaccine acceptance or rejection. The Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) tool was also employed to assess vaccine hesitancy and attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine and routine childhood vaccination. Multivariate binary regression analysis was used to identify predictors of actual COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children. RESULTS: Of the 873 respondents included in the analysis, 61.5% were parents and 38.5% were other caregivers. Of the participants, 96.9% had received the COVID-19 vaccine. Six hundred and ninety-four participants accepted the vaccine for their children, with the main reasons being an endorsement by the Saudi Ministry of Health (60%) and the importance of going back to school (55%). One hundred and seventy-nine participants would not vaccinate their children, with the most common reasons being fear of adverse effects (49%) and inadequate data about vaccine safety (48%). Factors such as age, COVID-19 vaccination status, self-rated family commitment level, attitudes toward routine children's vaccines, and participants' generalized anxiety disorder (GAD7) score did not significantly correlate with children's COVID-19 vaccination status. Parents were less likely to vaccinate their children compared to other caregivers, and participants with a higher socioeconomic status were more likely to vaccinate their children. CONCLUSION: Vaccine acceptance and uptake were high during the initial pediatric COVID-19 vaccination rollout in Saudi Arabia. Still, the ongoing endorsement of the Ministry of Health and healthcare authorities should continue to advocate for better vaccine uptake in children.
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Video 1EUS-guided gallbladder drainage in a patient with Billroth II gastrojejunostomy.
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Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare immune-mediated neuropathy causing destruction of the peripheral nervous system, with molecular mimicry playing a major role in its pathophysiology. Despite its rarity, it is considered the most common cause of acute flaccid neuromuscular paralysis in the United States. Although diagnosing GBS depends on the clinical presentation of the patient, cerebrospinal fluid sampling, nerve conduction studies, electromyography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ganglioside antibody screening can be used to confirm the diagnosis and rule out other differentials. Here, we report a rare case of GBS as a postoperative complication after a successful gastrojejunostomy to excise an adenocarcinoma in the second part of the duodenum. Such a complication is rare and not fully understood yet.
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BACKGROUND: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a potentially life-threatening complication of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) that has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study will not only shed light on such life-threatening complications but also be a step to increase the awareness of healthcare providers about such complications in the upcoming pandemic waves and increased dependence on telemedicine. Thus, we aimed to further investigate the increase of DKA in pediatrics. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were broadly searched for studies assessing the incidence of DKA in pediatrics during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Our study included 24 papers with a total of 124,597 children with diabetes. A statistically significant increase occurred in the risk of DKA among newly diagnosed T1DM patients during the pandemic (RR 1.41; 95% CI 1.19, 1.67; p < 0.01; I2 = 86%), especially in the severe form of DKA (RR 1.66: 95% CI 1.3, 2.11) when compared to before. CONCLUSION: DKA in newly diagnosed children with T1DM has increased during the pandemic and presented with a severe form. This may reflect that COVID-19 may have contributed not only to the development but also the severity of DKA. IMPACT: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening complication of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) that has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study included 25 papers with a total of 124,597 children with diabetes. A statistically significant increase occurred in the risk of DKA among newly diagnosed T1DM patients during the pandemic. Our findings reflect that COVID-19 may have an altered presentation in T1DM and can be related to DKA severity.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is raging across the globe, with the total active cases increas-ing each day. Globally over 63 million COVID-19cases and more than 1.4 million deaths have been reported to WHO. Throughout the world, academicians, clinicians and scientists are working tirelessly on developing a treatment to combat this pandemic. The origin of novel SARS-CoV-2 virus still remains foggy but is believed to have originated from a bat coronavirus RaTG13 with which it shares approximately 96% sequence similarity. In the present review, the authors have pro-vided an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiology, transmission, developments related to diagnosis, drugs and vaccines, along with the genetic diversity and lifecycle of the SARS-CoV-2 based on the current studies and information available.Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.