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Purpose: The goal of this study is to delve into the causes behind the Fintech sector's rise in various areas and its prospects. Fintech is rapidly expanding because of government legislation, multiple schemes, consumer expectations, a cashless economy, digitisation, globalisation, innovation, and other drivers. Need for the Study: Fintech firms are forming alliances with traditional financial organisations to stay afloat and compete. India is becoming a superpower regarding e-startups, especially unicorns. Many startups are undergoing initial public offerings (IPOs). Fintech is an emerging space in India, spreading its wings rapidly in every sector. Methodology: This work is based on a literature review. It utilises secondary data from numerous research publications, magazines, newspapers, published reports, relevant websites, Forbes magazine articles, stories from The Economic Times, the RBI Portal, and information from StartupIndia, Assocham, and Pwc, among others, to develop a conceptual framework showing the growth drivers of Fintech. Findings: The whole world has been affected severely due to COVID-19. Crisis always comes with some opportunity, and it is up to us how to turn the calamities into opportunities that further turn into innovation that has the power to lead the world. Fintech is that fruit that had been born normally but grew abnormally (tremendous growth) during the pandemic. Also, the roots are so deeper that they will flourish more and more. It has been found that the emergence of a cashless economy, ease of internet connectivity, etc., are the major factors that paved the way for growth for Fintech in India. Practical Implications: This study contains the conceptual framework which can guide the stakeholders, policymakers, management teams, field experts, etc., in knowing about their area expertise and looking for improvement, if any. Originality: There are many papers on the relationship between Fintech and financial inclusion, but this is the first study that builds the conceptual framework for the growth drivers of Fintech. © 2023 by Shreya Arora and Pankaj Madan.
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Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the resultant syndrome COVID-19 has wrecked the entire world. The disease mostly manifests as mild viral pneumonia but in a small proportion of patients it can produce an intense inflammatory and prothrombotic state leading to multiorgan failure and even death. Varying incidences of venous thromboembolism (VTE) have been found in COVID-19 patients. This review describes the role of various pharmacological agents used prophylactically as well as therapeutically for thromboembolism in such patients. The anticoagulants which are administered as antithrombotic therapy can be used parenterally (heparin and direct thrombin inhibitors) or orally (direct oral thrombin inhibitors). The mechanism of action, pharmacology, usage, and adverse effects of such agents has been discussed especially in the context of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of various completed and ongoing clinical trials, scientific community has collected promising evidence and formulated guidelines regarding the role of anticoagulants in COVID-19 patients. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.
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The whole world is facing a pandemic situation ever since the outbreak of SARSCoV-2 in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic to severe pneumonia-like situations followed by multisystem failure leading to the death of the individual. Studies from the past coronavirus outbreaks, the SARS, and MERS-CoV, have helped us understand the current SARS-CoV2 to a large extent. Once the host encounters the virus, an innate immune response is generated which subsequently leads to activation of the adaptive immune response to eliminate the virus. However, this immune response is misbalanced in some individuals and is the main factor causing the pathological manifestation of COVID-19. In this chapter, we have addressed the humoral and cellular immune changes induced by the virus along with the role of cytokine storm in disease progression. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.
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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the United States health system and its ability to deliver care. In particular, surgical and interventional procedures suffered a significant decline in the early stages of the pandemic for a multitude of reasons including, PPE and personnel shortages, the deference of elective procedures, and governmental bans on elective procedures. The impact of these factors on electrophysiology (EP) procedural rates in the United States is unknown. Objective(s): To study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on EP procedural volume in the United States (2019-2020). Method(s): We analyzed the National inpatient sample (2019-2020) to identify hospitalizations involving EP procedures using ICD-10-PCS codes. Weighted analysis was performed to determine the number of procedures performed on a monthly basis. The US census data was employed to ascertain procedure rates per million population, the trends of which are displayed in Figure 1. Result(s): A total of 236,991 EP procedures were performed in 2020 - a 9% decrease from 2019 (n= 260,615). This included an annualized 11.25% decrease in device implantations (ICD and PPM), a 7.7% drop in AF ablations, and a 5.4% decrease in VT ablations as compared to 2019. Interestingly rates of left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) procedures saw an annualized 3.7% increase in 2020. The maximal per-month decline in procedural volume was noted in April 2020. An overall decline of 48% in EP procedures was noted, with the most precipitous drop with LAAO (90%), followed by AF Ablation (65%), PPM (4.3%), ICD (3.8%), and least with VT ablation (2.5%). Conclusion(s): The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant and heterogonous impact on EP procedural volume. Despite a precipitous 48% decline in April 2020, overall, 2020 procedure rates have recovered to a 9% drop from 2019. [Formula presented]Copyright © 2023
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Antibiotics play an essential role in antimicrobial therapy. Among all the medications in children, the most commonly prescribed therapy is antibiotics and is currently the indispensable means to cure transmissible diseases. Several categories of antibiotics have been introduced into clinical practice to treat microbial infections. Reducing the unnecessary use of antibiotics is a global need and priority. This article aims to provide better knowledge and understanding of the impact of the early use of antibiotics. This article highlights the proper use of antibiotics in chil-dren, detailing how early and inappropriate use of antibiotics affect the gut microbiome during normal body development and consequently affect the metabolism due to diabetes mellitus, obe-sity, and recurrence of infections, such as UTI. Several new antibiotics in their development stage, newly marketed antibiotics, and some recalled and withdrawn from the market are also briefly discussed in this article. This study will help future researchers in exploring the latest information about antibiotics used in paediatrics.Copyright © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.
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In present study, the inhibitory potential of Neolamarckia cadamba phytoconstituents was investigated against SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease (3CL pro) (PDB ID: 6M2N). Molecular docking was analyzed using AutoDock Vina software by setting the grid parameter as X=-33.163, Y=-65.074 and Z= 41.434 with dimensions of the grid box 25 × 25 × 25 Å. Remdesivir was taken as the standard for comparative analysis along with inhibitor 5, 6, 7-trihydroxy-2-phenyl-4H-chromen-4-one. Furthermore, the exploration of 2 D Hydrogen-bond interactions was performed by Biovia Discovery Studio 4.5 program to identify the interactions between an amino acid of target and ligand followed by assessment of physicochemical properties using Lipinski's rule and Swiss ADME database. The decent bonding scores of secondary metabolites owing to hydrogen bonding with catalytic residues suggest the effectiveness of these phytochemicals towards 3CLpro. The results are further consolidated positively by Lipinski's rule and Swiss ADME prediction. Thus reasonably, observations with docking studies suggest possibility of phytochemicals from Neolamarckia cadamba to inhibit the 3CLpro and consequently would be explored further as agents for preventing COVID-19. © 2023, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Departamento de Quimica. All rights reserved.
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Aims: The incidence of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic but estimates from low-resource settings are limited. We examined the odds of DKA among emergency department (ED) visits in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) (1) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-COVID era, ( 2) without active COVID infections, and (3) stratified by effect modifiers to identify impacted sub-groups. Methods: We estimated the odds of DKA from 400,187 ED visits pre-COVID era (March 2019-Feb 2020) and 320,920 ED visits during the COVID era (March 2020-Feb 2021). Our base model estimated the odds of DKA based on the COVID era. Additional specifications stratified by effect modifiers, controlled for confounders, and limited to visits without confirmed COVID-19 disease. Results: After adjusting for triage acuity and interaction terms for upper respiratory infections and payor, the odds of DKA during the COVID era were 27% higher compared to the pre-COVID era (95%CI 14-41%, p < 0.001). In stratified analyses, visits with private payors had a 112% increased odds and visits with Medicaid had a 20% increased odds of DKA during the COVID era (95%CI 7-36%, p = 0.003). Conclusions: We identified increased odds of DKA during the COVID pandemic, robust to a variety of specifications. We found differential effects by the payor;with increased odds during COVID for privately-insured patients.
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Learning outcomes: The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: 1. the benefits of differential pricing over uniform pricing;2. the differences between second- and third-degree price discrimination;3. the rationale for charging different prices for segments having different willingness to pay;and 4. how different prices for the same product can lead to perceptions of unfairness and how companies might manage such an issue. Case overview/synopsis: This case outlines the decisions that Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India (Serum), had to make in late April 2021 concerning its pricing for the COVID-19 (Covid) vaccine. Serum was the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines, and its Covishield vaccine had received regulatory approval, but faced an unusual challenge and opportunity. In most countries, governments had procured Covid vaccines from manufacturers and then delivered the vaccines to consumers free of cost. But in India, there was a three-tier pricing system. While the Government of India had committed to free vaccines in government-run public hospitals, it also allowed vaccine makers to directly sell vaccines to state governments, as well as private hospitals, who were at liberty to charge consumers for the vaccines. This created an interesting pricing dilemma for Serum: as different customers had different willingness to pay, should Serum use differential pricing? Would such a tiered pricing system be considered fair? How many different price points should Serum maintain? By exploring these and related decisions that Poonawalla had to make, the case is intended to teach price discrimination. Complexity academic level: The case is intended for graduate-level courses in marketing, pricing and economics. This case illustrates the principles of differential pricing/price discrimination. More specifically, it highlights pricing strategies motivated by second- and third-degree price discrimination in an emerging market's health-care context. From the information in the case, the student can learn to apply the concepts of second- and third-degree price discrimination in marketing. After working through the case and assignment questions, instructors will be able to help students understand the following concepts: Teaching objective 1: the benefits of differential pricing over uniform pricing. Teaching objective 2: the differences between second- and third-degree price discrimination. Teaching objective 3: the rationale for charging different prices for segments having different willingness to pay. Teaching objective 4: how different prices for the same product can lead to perceptions of unfairness and how companies might manage such an issue. Supplementary material: Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code: CSS 8: Marketing. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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As we navigate the first pandemic of our generation, we've been learning and adapting ourselves to this viral infection and its consequences. It's been more than two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and the virus has crippled the healthcare services in almost all the countries of the world. The healthcare systems in various parts of the world are still in the phase of recovery from the effect of the pandemic, as each country is witnessing the emergence of various variants causing multiple waves of infection. As an important part of the health care system, blood banks were one of the affected services. Most of the blood centers in India reported a significant reduction in blood donation during the COVID-19 pandemic. As transfusion services constitute a crucial backbone for the management of transfusion-dependent patients with hemoglobinopathies, the substantial reduction in the timely blood supply drastically affected these patients. All major healthcare centers in India were designated as COVID-19 care centers, which left very few options for these patients to visit for their routine care. Every country managed this acute blood shortages and developed unique strategies to support patients requiring blood transfusion. This manuscript aims to provide a snapshot of the challenges faced by the blood banks and transfusion services in India in the care of patients with hemoglobinopathies, and the mitigation strategies that were adopted.Copyright © Annals of Blood. All rights reserved.
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This article analyses patterns of compliance with COVID-19 regulations in Southwest Norway. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and a series of interviews, we contrast grassroots discourses with the Norwegian government's own emphasis on 'trust' in its risk communication strategies. As opposed to the official claim that Norwegians complied with COVID-19 emergency regulations because they trusted the authorities, the evidence suggests that citizens complied more due to the informal pressure of their peers. Affective reciprocity and moral judgement, including the dynamics of kinship sociability in which they are expressed, here acquire a critical analytical dimension. In dialogue with dominant theories of trust in risk studies, we argue that such relational aspects of everyday life should be taken into consideration as essential factors for any health risk mitigation strategy.Copyright © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Learning outcomes: 1. Probabilistic calculations of cost, and profit/loss using standard probability functions 2. Decision tree to find the expected monetary value (EMV) of different options. 3. Monte Carlo simulation for risk analysis. 4. Risk analysis in project management. Learning objectives: Learners will be able to understand and apply the following: how to approach uncertainty in business decisions using probabilistic calculations of cost, and profit/loss using standard probability functions;how to address uncertainty in business decisions by looking forward and reasoning backward, using the decision tree technique and the EMV of different decisions;how to analyse the risk inherent in business decisions by incorporating probability distributions for all critical variables in the form of Monte Carlo simulation;and appreciation of strategic considerations in risk analysis as it applies to project management Case overview/synopsis: The case describes the challenge facing Vilas Birari, the owner and chief executive of Harsh Constructions, a construction company headquartered in Nasik, India. Birari had to decide on the bid for a construction project in September of 2021, during the COVID-19 (COVID) pandemic. Due to successive waves of the pandemic, the state and federal governments announced lockdowns intermittently, causing uncertainty in costs related to labor, material and project completion. The dilemma before Birari was how to set a bid price that was not so low as to incur a loss and not so high as to lose the bid to competitors. The uncertainty made Birari's decision-making complex. The case invites students to help Birari find an optimum bid price by using various quantitative techniques, such as Monte Carlo simulation and decision trees. Complexity academic level: This case is intended for students of management at a master's level, in an elective course on management science, which is often also known as decision science. This compact case can be positioned in the second half of the course, when exploring risk management using computer simulation as a tool. The case serves both as an introduction to using simulation to manage uncertainty as well a contrast with simpler methods that are covered earlier in the course. Supplementary material: Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code: CSS 7: Management Science. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Losses that took place during the covid 19 pandemic are recognised as "bad deaths”. They are characterized by physical discomfort, difficulty breathing, social isolation, psychological distress and ineffective care. The experience of grief has been even more challenging during the covid times as compared to the usual grief prior to the pandemic due to the lack of resources that assist in coping. Lack of social support, uncertainty about the future, lack of routine, and absence of mourning rituals deny the bereaved with the basic opportunity to grieve adaptively. Enhancing advance care planning may help dying patients to receive effective care. Virtual funeral services, extending support through telephonic conversations, online psychotherapy and encouraging continuing bonds with the deceased assist individuals who experience grief and bereavement. The current chapter focuses on expanding awareness about the nature of grief during the pandemic and understanding effective measures to mitigate complicated grief across various subgroups of the society who experienced grief as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. © The Author(s) 2023.
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Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are powerful tools to express sentiments and emotions across the globe. Researchers use sentiment analysis and its evaluation to reveal the positive, negative and neutral opinions associated with an individual or group. In this study, we have analysed the literature available on sentiment analysis based on various parameters such as publication count, year of publication, country and university wise production and keyword progression. Results reveal that sentiment analysis is a pre-owned field and researchers are contributing to this field since 2008. Collaboration among different countries and universities have also seen during this study with maximum contributions received during 2019. Further this study shows that 149 unique keywords are used by different researchers in their literature. 65 universities have contributed to the literature with the highest number of authors from India. © 2022 IEEE.
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Background. One of Singapore's national strategies for the COVID-19 pandemic was containment. Efforts included a fourteen-day quarantine of close contacts, were subjected to an entry and exit SARS-CoV-2 PCR test, the latter being done between 11-14 days post exposure. Additionally, symptomatic contacts were tested for SARS-CoV-2. We aim to determine the trend in COVID-19 incubation periods during three distinct pandemic waves corresponding to different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Incubation Period Incubation period of the prevalent SARS-CoV-2 variant in circulation Methods. This is an ecological study and information collected from the SingHealth COVID-19 Registry, a database of all inpatients admitted to any of the SingHealth hospitals. For patients under quarantine, the start date of the quarantine period was assumed to be the last date of exposure to the index case. Incubation period was determined by the duration between date of exposure and date of the first positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test. The prevalent strain in circulation was identified from the Singapore database in the GISAID collection. Only variants of concern, as categorized by WHO, Alpha (23rd Jan 2020 - 1st Mar 2021), Delta (5th May 2021 - 31st Oct 2021) and Omicron (1st Jan 2022 - Present) were considered. For the Omicron variant, quarantine was discontinued, hence the last date of arrival from international travel was assumed to be the date of exposure. Results. From January 2020 to March 2022, there were 19,905 patients in the COVID-19 registry, of whom 11,235 were under quarantine and 8,612 had preceding international travel. Of the 11,235 patients under quarantine, 8,189 patients were infected when SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant and 3,046 patients were infected when SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant were in circulation. Of the 8,612 patients with preceding travel, 6,503 patients were infected when SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was in circulation. The median incubation period for the Alpha variant was 11 days (IQR: 7-14 days) versus 3 days (IQR: 2-4 days) for the Delta variant versus 3 days (IQR: 0-5 days) for the Omicron variant. Pairwise comparisons between the variants were (p-value = < .001) Conclusion. The significant differences between incubation periods of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in circulation poses a challenge to containment efforts and has emphasize the importance of dynamic national strategies.
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The challenges faced by the Indian Aviation market are complex and perplexing for the decision-makers in this sector. This industry has faced debilitating losses during COVID-19 pandemic times. The travel restrictions have been gradually lifted worldwide, and therefore the airlines can expect to witness a growth in domestic and international air passenger traffic during 2021-22. The losses incurred during the pandemic times need to be recovered. Thus, there is an urgent need to strategically plan and improve the operations so that the airlines can perform efficiently and earn revenues. Airlines in India work under heterogeneous environments depending upon their segment of operations. Some of the airlines operate for only domestic passengers and others for both domestic and international passengers. Therefore these airlines must be assessed as per their homogeneous peer group to obtain substantial results. The proposed study has discussed an approach to study airlines' operational performance using hierarchical categorical data envelopment analysis (DEA). The airlines have been categorized based upon their segment of operations. The efficiency of the airlines has been evaluated for the period 2014-19 as per their categorical input value. Window analysis has also been performed for a meaningful analysis of the results. The outcomes of the study will be helpful for policymakers to improvise the present working model of the industry and alleviate their performance.
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Emerging Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-Cov-2) variants continue to be a threat to tackling the pandemic and a challenge to scientists as they continue to find solutions to the evolving complexities of the pandemic. This rapid literature scan aims to synthesize evidence related to the existence of the new variants, their epidemiology, and data related to vaccine efficacy. Previous variants, such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron were identified as “Variants of Concern” (VOCs), whereas Lambda and Mu were classified as “Variants of Interest” (VOIs). The risk of hospitalization largely differs among all these variants and the research landscape is still evolving. According to the collective evidence, Gamma variant had the highest hospitalization risk (adjusted hazard ratio, aHR 3.20, 95% CI: 2.40 to 4.26) followed by Beta (aHR 2.85, 95% CI: 1.56 to 5.23), Delta (aHR 2.28, 95% CI: 1.56 to 3.34), Alpha (aHR 1.64, 95% CI: 1.29 to 2.07), and Omicron (aHR 0.92, 95% CI: 0.56 to 1.52) as compared to the original Wuhan strain. It was also found that vaccination decreased the risk of hospitalization following infections with more virulent strains, such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. The risk of hospitalization was the lowest following Omicron infection among vaccinated individuals. Deltacron, a new hybrid strain (AY.4/BA.1) is believed to result from the previous co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron during November 2021-February 2022. This hybrid virus may have been formed in the body of a person who was exposed to both viruses at the same time. Existing evidence suggested no change in epidemiology and severity of infections resulting from this hybrid strain. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be insidious and treacherous in every form and variant. Vaccination offers a pragmatic solution to fight against the pandemic and in reducing the risk of hospitalizations. Further research and epidemiological surveillance will be needed to determine the evolving complexities of the variants and the pandemic, especially as the pandemic changes its course towards endemicity. The development of efficacious therapeutic interventions and increased vaccine uptake could reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variants. Take-home message: The SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants are going to appear as the part of typical evolution cycle. This review emphasizes the need for performing continuous genomic surveillance at all levels (local, national, and global) to monitor variant trajectories and outcomes. © 2022 by the authors.
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Learning outcomes: This case is intended to help students of business communication and public relations to trace the effects of communication by public figures and understand essential elements of designing effective communication. After working through the case and assignment questions, the students will be able to:understand the drivers of vaccine hesitancy;analyze the effects of mass communication on public sentiment, in a fast-changing public health situation;anddesign interventions to influence public awareness and action, using a simple model (5W) for mass communication. Case overview/synopsis: As the vaccines first arrived after the devastating first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Indians hesitated to take the shot. Vaccine hesitancy, a worldwide phenomenon, hampered the uptake of the first Covid vaccines despite the dark clouds of the lethal disease. The case looks at the massive problem of vaccine hesitancy and how an integrated communication strategy could overcome and mitigate the challenge. The case protagonist, the leader of a communications agency, looks at the messaging, medium and platforms needed for strategic communication pitch to combat this vaccine hesitancy. Complexity academic level: The case was designed for use in a graduate-level course in business communication. This case may be positioned toward the middle or end of the course to illustrate mass communication strategy for pressing and sensitive challenges. The case may also be used in a course on public relations, both at graduate and undergraduate levels. Supplementary materials: Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code: CSS 8: Marketing. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Due to worldwide spread of COVID, there is an increase in demand of wireless body area networks (WBANs). Wearable antennas are integral part of WBANs in Internet of Things (IoT) technology. To increase the bandwidth, ultrawideband (UWB) technology has been used. UWB offers many advantages such as small-range, large-bandwidth communications with very low power requirements. These advantages of UWB make it suitable for WBAN applications. But UWB antennas use partial ground planes to increase the bandwidth, which means UWB antennas provide poor isolation from the human body. This chapter reviews wearable antennas focusing on different designs based on substrate-integrated cavities, electromagnetic band gap structures, and UWB antennas. UWB antennas with band stop characteristics are also discussed. UWB covers frequency ranges from 3.1–10.6 GHz. Also WiMAX, WLAN, and X band come under this range. So, UWB receives interference from these channels. To avoid such unwanted signals, band stop filters are required. External filters can lead to a heavy size. So research has been presented in this chapter for integrated band stop filters to enhance the quality of UWB antennas. This depends on the application for which the antenna is to be used. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Arun Kumar Rana, Nitin Goyal, Sharad Sharma, Suman Lata Tripathi.