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Due to the covid-19 pandemic, people have moved toward digitization and using digital technologies in their daily life. For instance, photographers and artists use social media platforms or stock photo websites to showcase their art to people to get recognition and credit. Since social media platforms attract people more than stock photo websites, we consider incorporating the stock photo website features into the social media platforms. Currently, such platforms are running in a centralized fashion where their proprietary algorithms mask most of the content to which some users and advertisement posts are given more priority. Due to the centralization, such hidden algorithms create trust issues among the users along with other issues such as single point of failure, identity theft, etc. This causes genuine artists and photographers to lose their interest and motivation. Providing due credit to the authors and deserved recognition are significant concerns for photographers who share images on stock photo websites or social media platforms. In this paper, we propose a decentralized image-sharing platform/application utilizing blockchain and a distributed file storage system to address all these issues. The proposed platform leverages Ethereum-based smart contracts to maintain trust as deployed smart contracts are immutable, and the logic written in them is publicly available. We leverage a distributed file storage system to solve the blockchain scalability issue in terms of storage. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Background: It is very important to increase awareness and understanding of oral manifestations of post COVID-19 disease among dentists which can happen by continuing education and training for dentists to recognize and manage oral manifestations of post COVID-19 disease. Aims & objectives: The aim of this is to aware dentists regarding oral manifestation of covid 19 disease. The objectives of study were to assess the level of awareness, understanding and factors influencing awareness among dentists regarding oral manifestations of post COVID-19 disease. Evaluate the of oral manifestations of post COVID-19 among dentists in central India. Methodology: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was carried out among COVID-19 recovered patients. A sample of 100 subjects, diagnosed as mild and moderate cases of COVID-19 disease were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. A well-structured questionnaire composed of total 21 Closed ended questions was send to sunjects. Result(s): The study comprised an almost equal number of male (54%) and female (48%) participants and among them, 47% belong to the health professional group. A total of 56% of subjects were aged above 35 years and 47% below 35 years. Xerostomia, frequent aphthous ulcers, swallowing difficulty, and burning mouth were the most frequently encountered symptoms in study subjects during the disease and post recovery. Conclusion(s): In the present study, dentists were found to have good knowledge toward novel corona virus disease with optimum preparedness level for dental practice modification. Dental fraternity is further advised to follow the standard guidelines overcoming this pandemic.Copyright © 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.
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Due to the covid-19 pandemic, people have moved toward digitization and using digital technologies in their daily life. For instance, photographers and artists use social media platforms or stock photo websites to showcase their art to people to get recognition and credit. Since social media platforms attract people more than stock photo websites, we consider incorporating the stock photo website features into the social media platforms. Currently, such platforms are running in a centralized fashion where their proprietary algorithms mask most of the content to which some users and advertisement posts are given more priority. Due to the centralization, such hidden algorithms create trust issues among the users along with other issues such as single point of failure, identity theft, etc. This causes genuine artists and photographers to lose their interest and motivation. Providing due credit to the authors and deserved recognition are significant concerns for photographers who share images on stock photo websites or social media platforms. In this paper, we propose a decentralized image-sharing platform/application utilizing blockchain and a distributed file storage system to address all these issues. The proposed platform leverages Ethereum-based smart contracts to maintain trust as deployed smart contracts are immutable, and the logic written in them is publicly available. We leverage a distributed file storage system to solve the blockchain scalability issue in terms of storage. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Online shopping is a method of purchasing goods and services from the comfort of one's own home, office, or any other location with internet access. It is the shifting paradigm of offline to online shopping scenario, specially in the Covid era when everybody in the whole world were forced to stay at their homes to be safe and movement was allowed only to buy groceries for stipulated period. The purpose of this study is to analyze the shifting paradigm of shopping from offline to online from the women perspective. The judgmental non probability sampling approach was used to gather cross-sectional primary data from online and offline women shoppers of the country. The questionnaire is prepared with the help of a literature review and experts. In order to understand the preferences of customer, discriminant analysis is applied on the collected responses of 200 women customers from metro cities of the country using SPSS software. The response data consists of the ratings provided by the women consumers for the different mode of shopping. It is compared with the help of Descriptive Statistics, Discriminant Analysis, Wilks Lambda, F stats and its p value. In the study the fifteen attributes are considered for comparing the preferences of women for shopping and found that out of fifteen attributes eight attributes are considered by women customers for online shopping, six for offline and in one attributes their preferences for online and offline shopping is almost same.
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Introduction: COVID 19 is caused by a novel virus SARS-CoV-2.It has become a pandemic as declared by WHO with its first case being reported in China. Among children the intensity is usually mild and without any further impact. Aims & Objectives: Unusual presentation of aplastic anemia following SARS-CoV-2 infection: A rare case report. Material(s) and Method(s): A 6 year old male child presented with complaints of rashes and epistaxis for 2 weeks and also one episode of blood in stools.Two weeks prior to the onset of above complaints, the patient had a history of recovery from COVID -19.Blood investigations revealed pancytopenia with hemoglobin of 5.6 gm/dl,total leukocyte count of 2000/cumm and platelets were 43,000/cumm.The corrected reticulocyte count was 0.3%.Bone marrow examination done showed completely hemodilutedsmears.Bone marrow biopsy revealed a markedly hypocellular marrow with cellularity of 10% and the cellular components being replaced by fat spaces. Result(s): Based on the above findings, and other viral markers being negative a diagnosis of aplastic anaemia following SARS CoV-2 was made. Conclusion(s): COVID-19 being a relatively new disease,it's sequelae in children is not much studied.Aplasticanemia following an infection of SARS-CoV-2 is extremely rare with only two cases reported in literature till date.Hence this entity should be kept in mind by the treating physician encountering a case of pancytopenia following COVID-19.
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Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are the frontline warriors in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and similar health crises. In developing countries, HCWs face high stress because they have to deal with the increased patient load and limited infrastructure. Long-term exposure to stress, anxiety, and depression may lead to impaired mental health in HCWs. It is, therefore, essential to assess the mental health of HCWs as a part of their annual health check-up. Objective(s): The present cross-sectional observational study was aimed to assess the mental health of HCWs by analysing the stress, anxiety and depression during their annual health check-up at a tertiary care hospital in North India. Method(s): Total 200 participants, including the consultants, and junior and senior resident doctors, were included in the study. The stress level was analyzed using PSS-10, and anxiety and depression were analyzed using GAD-7 and PHQ-9 respectively. Result(s): The mean PSS-10 score was 9.39 +/- 8.53, indicating low stress among HCWs;the mean GAD-7 score was 5.20 +/- 4.19, indicating mild anxiety in HCWs and the mean PHQ-9 score was 3.41 +/- 3.59, indicating minimal depression among HCWs. Conclusion(s): The present study revealed that the HCWs faced minimal to mild stress, anxiety, and depression. It is therefore recommended that the mental health check-up should be made a regular part of the annual health check-up in HCWs so that adequate, timely steps are taken to address the same. Copyright © 2022 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
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Background: Pyogenic granuloma (PG) is benign vascular tumour presenting as small, friable, reddish papule or nodule. Bleeding tendency of PGs warrants their removal.Various available treatment options require local anesthesia, cause pain, local side effects, scarring and become undesirable for treating children. Hence, topical beta blocker (timolol 0.5%) becomes a valuable option for treating PG in children. Method(s): We enrolled 3 healthy children aged less than 14 years with clinical diagnosis of PG for the case series. Patients with any cardiopulmonary abnormalities were not enrolled. All the patients were prescribed 0.5% ophthalmic solution, topically twice a day for 6 weeks. Due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, patients were called for follow up visits every three weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, patients were evaluated for the improvement and followed up for one year after treatment to look for any recurrences or any long-term side effects of timolol. Result(s): All three patients enrolled in the study showed partial improvement at 6weeks and complete improvement in two patients after one year. No recurrence or any long-term side effects with timolol were noted in any patient. Conclusion(s): Topical beta blocker (Timolol) is easy to administer, safe and noninvasive. It appears to have a promising role in children with no recurrences or any associated long-term side effects. Copyright © 2022 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
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Hospitals have become a breeding ground for pathogens, as well as an overcrowded and overburdened environment. Even the testing mechanisms and kits are limited and expensive to produce. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory and vascular condition (blood vessel). COVID-19 condition has very similar symptoms to colds, flu, strep throat, and other viral and bacterial diseases. Cough is a common symptom found in many conditions of pulmonary illnesses. Many medical pieces of literature emphasize the importance of automated, objective and reliable cough audio signal analysing systems that promise to detect pulmonary disorders. Healthcare costs associated with consultations on pulmonary medicine impose heavy financial burdens on the patients. The audio analysis of cough is noninvasive and cheap for the diagnosis of pulmonary disorders. This study investigated whether sophisticated machine learning algorithms could help diagnose COVID-19 utilizing cough audio signals, thus aiming to improve the good health and well-being of people (SDG-3). The main challenge is finding large amounts of audio data for good accuracy and reduced complexity of the system to result in a predictable outcome. The other challenges are extracting the right features from the data with the latter being distinguishable from noise, finding the memory requirements of devices portable enough to sense, analyse the real-time cough audio data and produce predictions on the person's health conditions. For such diseases, we propose a mechanism that combines Machine Learning with Neural Network Techniques and Hardware. Cepstral coefficients can be determined by analysing cough audio signals utilising the hardware setup. Therefore, by pre-screening and only sending patients to a hospital who are more likely to be infected, we can reduce the burden on the healthcare system. © The Electrochemical Society
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Purpose of Study 8.3% of all live births are infants of low birth weight (LBW), and 10.2% are preterm. Preterm and LBW infants are at high risk for short and long-term complications, including poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes. Infants that receive earlier therapies and educational interventions have improved outcomes in cognition, behavior, and motor skills. However, rates of follow-up for the high-risk infant remains low. At Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), infants at risk for neurodevelopmental complications are identified and referred to follow-up with the department of developmentalbehavioral pediatrics (DBP). The goal of this quality improvement project is to increase overall follow-up at DBP appointments following discharge from the NICU. Objective Improve follow-up attendance rates with DBP for at-risk infants discharged from the NICU. Specifically, our goal is to increase attendance at initial DBP appointments from a baseline of 29.2% to 50% within 18 months. Methods Used This quality improvement project is a collaboration with SIUH NICU and the department of DBP. To assess our primary SMART aim, a core multi-disciplinary team (NICU, DBP, pediatrics rehab, social work), identified multiple primary drivers to guide the success. Infants referred were based upon 14 pre-identified criterion. Our first PDSA cycle began on January 24, 2021. Multiple PDSA cycles continued, some simultaneously, based upon the primary drivers. To date, emphasis is on standardization of referrals, education of nursing and medical team, and education of parents (figure 1). Summary of Results Demographic data is shown in table 1. The mean gestational age of patients referred to date was 35.1 weeks. The most common reason for referral was prematurity (<35 weeks GA). Baseline data (2019) showed an attendance rate of the highrisk infant at DBP clinic of 29.2%. 2020 data was excluded due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Through the PDSA cycles to date, there is an increase in appropriate referrals to above 95% and an overall increase in attendance to 54.7% to date. Conclusions A multi-disciplinary approach has led to increased identification of infants require follow-up with DBP and has led to an increase in attendance of the high-risk infant. Future directions include collaboration with community pediatricians, emphasis on retention of infants beyond one visit, and analysis of impact on long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes (Figure Presented).
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Background: Remdesivir has been recognized as an antiviral in the treatment arsenal of hospitalized patients with COVID-19;however, it is associated with sinus node dysfunction - a finding that is not completely understood. Objective: To highlight possible side effects of remdesivir and its association with cardiac conduction abnormalities. Methods: n/a Results: A 79-year-old woman with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) presented to the emergency department with worsening dyspnea and heart palpitation with no recent syncopal events. The patient was found to be COVID-19 positive despite being fully vaccinated months prior. On admission, her ECG (Panel A) demonstrated atrial flutter with 2:1 conduction and a LBBB. Given her symptomatic hypotension, she was successfully cardioverted to sinus rhythm then followed with sinus bradycardia. Given her COVID-19 infection, she was started on dexamethasone and remdesivir. Her overnight course was complicated by a transiently profound nocturnal sinus bradycardia leading to asystolic arrest for up to 15 seconds (Panel B). Her profound bradycardia was then thought to be precipitated by hypersomnolence in the presence of underlying sinus node dysfunction, unmasked by the combination of steroids and remdesivir. Patient continued to have similar pauses during her second night despite the use of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation and Isuprel drip. At that point, the decision was made to discontinue remdesivir with complete resolution of her profound bradycardic events. Isuprel was subsequently discontinued with no recurrence of her symptomatic bradycardia. The patient was monitored successfully for three days with no electrocardiac disturbances. Conclusion: Although LGMD is associated with conduction abnormalities, it can be profoundly unmasked with remdesivir. Sinus node dysfunction may improve with discontinuation of remdesivir. Therefore, it is important to allow for monitoring of patients on remdesivir experiencing symptomatic profound bradycardia before the commitment to a permanent pacemaker. [Formula presented]
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In December 2019, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) appeared and spread worldwide, triggering a pandemic of respiratory illness. So, there was an urgent need for vaccines worldwide. The mRNA-based vaccines are undergoing an accelerated phase of development during this pandemic. WHO has issued interim guidelines for administering the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine against COVID-19 based on advice given by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). The significant future directions for study would be comparing and elucidating the immune processes triggered by mRNA vaccine platforms, developing existing methods focused on these mechanisms, and introducing new clinical trials of these vaccines against additional disease targets. This study aims to reveal the important role and contribution of the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine to COVID-19 vaccinology. Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine could be the keystone of modern vaccinology in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with damage of cells of both innate and adaptive immunity, which results in immune system's impairment leading to secondary infections. Microbiological evaluation helps in diagnostic as well as antimicrobial stewardship leading to accurate treatment of COVID-19 infected patients. Aim: To evaluate superadded bacterial and fungal infections in COVID-19 infected patients and to evaluate bacterial and fungal infections in COVID-19 non infected patients admitted with Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, India, over a period of eight months (May to December, 2020). Respiratory samples, received from indoor patients with history of ARI, were processed for COVID-19 (TrueNat Real Time Polymerase chain reaction) as well as for bacterial and fungal cultures following Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Identification and susceptibility pattern was evaluated by Vitek2 compact system (bioMérieux, Inc. Durham, North Carolina/USA). Quality control strains used were American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) Staphylococcus aureus 29213, Escherichia coli 25922 and Candida parapsilosis ATCC 22019. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) levels were standardised as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline, 2020. All statistical analysis was done by Chi-square test using Software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Results: Total patients admitted with the history of ARI were 542;COVID-19 Positive Group (CPG) included 115 (21.22%) while COVID-19 Negative Group (CNG) included 427 (78.78%). Growth in bacterial and fungal cultures in CPG was 59.13% (68/115) while in CNG;it was 47.78% (204/427). Among the bacterial isolates, most common isolate was Klebsiella pneumoniae {CPG: 41.93% (26/62);CNG: 36.72% (76/207)}, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa {CPG: 33.87% (21/62);CNG: 31.88% (66/207)}. Fungal isolates in CPG was 19.48% (15/77) (p-value 0.0445). On comparing Antimicrobial Susceptibility (AST) pattern of Enterobacterales in both CPG (n=36) and CNG (n=102), no statistically significant difference was observed. Co-morbid conditions were found mostly in CNG 89% (140/158) with ARI while only 11% (18/158) was found in CPG. Conclusion: Secondary respiratory infections are quite common amongst COVID-19 positive patients. However, growth in culture, type of isolates, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) was almost similar with COVID-19 non infected patients admitted with ARI. Co-morbidity had the similar impact as COVID-19 infection with respect to co-infections.
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Crisis opens the doors for innovation and a business needs to form cross-functional teams to find a balanced way to transform and bring about a revolutionary change in the organizations. This chapter focuses on challenges faced by the logistics industry in India and the measures taken to address these challenges and convert them into an opportunity to sustain and thrive in these pandemic times. Interviews of global leaders were conducted to gain an insight on what are the measures and changes made in the organization to deal with the current crisis in areas like operations, sales, HR, finance, and new client acquisition and how these activities have become a part of change management. In the present chapter, we have discussed the effect of COVID-19 on supply chains and economy of India. It was found that there has been a huge amount of reduction in the overall imports and exports during the lockdown period. Many small logistic services providers have gone out of business, whereas on the other hand some entrepreneurs with their entrepreneurial spirit were able to make the best use of the opportunities that the pandemic offered. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Since the pandemic occurred due to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, there has always been a demand for a simple and sensitive diagnostic kit for detection of SARS-Cov-2 infection. In January 2020, WHO approved the Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) for detecting the presence of Covid-19 genetic material in individuals. Till date many diagnostic kits have arrived in the market for quantification of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. In spite of being the gold standard method of Covid-19 detection, there are some drawbacks associated with RT-PCR which leads to false-negative results. Hence, in order to fulfil the need for an antibody testing kit for evaluating seroconversion and immunity acquisition in the population, an efficient, highly specific and sensitive assay, Chimera Soochak, an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) Kit has been developed. It works on the principle of detecting IgG antibodies developed specifically against the S1-RBD by employing a recombinant strain of S1-RBD produced in the HEK293 cell line. The developed kit was validated using different modes and methods to attain the utmost confidence on the samples collected from patients. The validation methodology included, validation with known samples, blind study, third-party validation, validation using WHO Reference Panel and comparison with FDA approved Surrogate virus neutralization kit. The kit was found successful in detecting IgG against the S1-RBD of SARS-CoV-2. The kit had been validated on multiple parameters. A total of 900 samples had been tested by using this kit and it has exhibited the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for all the above-mentioned parameters.
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COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Antibodies, Viral , HEK293 Cells , Humans , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Purpose This study aims to examine the pattern of corporate social responsibility expenditure (CSRE) incurred by Indian companies after the inception of Companies Act 2013. It also highlights the resultant change brought in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) spends of the companies because of COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The CSR index provided by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs under Companies (CSR Policy) Rules 2014, is adopted to measure the extent of CSRE made by top 30 Indian companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange. To study the pattern of CSRE in various domains mentioned in the CSR index, the study is conducted over four points of time. Three alternative years since the commencement of the Companies Act 2013 i.e. 2014-2015, 2016-2017 and 2018-2019 have been taken up. Additionally, the financial year 2019-2020 is included as it marks the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings The findings show that the CSRE made by companies is increasing every year over all points of time taken in the study. In addition to this, Indian companies have voluntarily contributed a substantial amount towards COVID-19 relief over and above the required mandatory limits. Practical implications The gradual increase in CSR contributions even above the mandated amount and voluntary contribution towards COVID-19 relief by Indian companies implies that the nature of CSR in India is still philanthropic. Originality/value The study contributes to the CSR literature after the implementation of the mandatory CSR provisions in India and in the wake of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 as so far there is no such study available in the extant literature.
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In light of the coronavirus pandemic, an international study (N = 1066) was conducted to explore the new bioterrorism conspiracy, faith in government, and compliance with public health guidelines related to COVID-19. Hierarchical regressions showed that while general belief in conspiracies decreased faith in government during COVID-19, it increased belief in bioterrorism regarding the coronavirus. Critical thinking was associated with decreased endorsement of biowarfare conspiracy. Higher levels of belief in bioterrorism, faith in government, and perceived risk positively facilitated compliance behavior in public internationally. Interestingly, while people reported ‘worrying about others’ as their motivation to follow guidelines, ‘worrying about self’ was most strongly associated with compliance. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of enhancing compliance with public health guidelines and effective ways of conveying them to an increasingly polarized society. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.