Street food nostalgia and COVID-19 perceptions on street food desire

With COVID-19 paralyzing street food businesses, street food vendors are trying to sustain their operations. The current study helps them by identifying the importance of five prominent stimuli viz. authenticity, quality, staff-service, ambience, and value for money in developing desire for street food in individuals in India. Furthermore, the study contributes by identifying the role of street food nostalgia (as a mediator) and perceived risk of COVID-19, age, and gender (as moderators) on the direct impact of each stimulus on the desire for street food. The study uses partial least squares path modelling to validate the hypotheses using SmartPLS. The findings are comparable to other developing Asian countries, as the proposed associations are validated with perceptual responses from three prominent cities and well-known street food destinations in India. The study showed the relative importance of the five-stimuli based on the stimulus-organism-response framework in developing a desire for street food. The findings suggest partial to complete mediation of street food nostalgia across the three samples. Lastly, the perceived risk of COVID-19 along with age and gender emerged as prominent moderators for many of the direct effects of stimuli on desires for street food. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Outcome of Children on the Uk National Prioritised Paediatric Registration Tier

Introduction In April 2020 weekly teleconferences were established involving adult and paediatric representation from all 7 UK liver transplant (LT) centres and NHS England to discuss and maintain a national LT service during the COVID19 pandemic. Objective criteria to prioritise adult patients of high clinical urgency for prioritised access to LT were established. In lieu of such criteria for paediatric patients all three paediatric centres agreed to prioritise individual paediatric patients with chronic liver disease who were clinically deteriorating by consensus. A process to formally nationally prioritise clinically deteriorating paediatric patients was successfully introduced in October 2020. We report on the utilisation of the tier and outcome of these patients at a national level. Methods Patients from all 3 paediatric LT centres registered on the newly established national prioritised paediatric registration tier from October 2020-October 2021 were included. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected and analysed. Results Since the introduction of the prioritization tier for children there were eight UK elective applications and all approved registrations. Mean age of patients registered was 5 years (range, 0-15). All patients were listed for LT prior to (Table Presented) prioritisation except patient 5 who was listed for liver-small bowel transplant before being prioritised for isolated LT. Indications for prioritization were hepatocellular carcinoma (1), acute decompensation due to portal hypertension (2), encephalopathy (3), sepsis (1), acute kidney injury (1). At time of prioritisation median values and range of alanine aminotransferase, albumin, total bilirubin, INR and platelets were 95 IU/ L (23-453), 25 g/L (16-39), 196 micromol/L (10-553), 1.6 (0.97-2.27) and 75 x109 (41-188), respectively. Median waiting time to transplant after prioritisation was 10 days (range, 3-37). All patients received a graft from a DBD donor and are all well at home. Median length of post-transplant ICU stay was 9 days (3-62) and total length of hospital stay was 56 days (27-85). Data on demographics and LT are listed on table 1. Conclusion The national paediatric prioritisation tier, introduced during the COVID19 pandemic, has been a pivotal initiative for the UK paediatric LT program, showcasing national collaboration. All patients underwent a LT successfully within a short time from prioritisation with 100% patient and graft survival. The intention is to maintain this prioritised paediatric tier following the pandemic.

The Impact of Covid19 Pandemic on the Work Culture in Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises (Msme) in Rohilkhand Region

MSMEs are the most common form of business enterprise found throughout the world, yet their key characteristics are not well understood. MSME sector in India is second largest employment generator after agriculture, and acts as a breeding ground for entrepreneurs and innovators with considerable support in strengthening business ecosystem. Various reports, researches and surveys have proved again and again that this sector act as a catalyst for socio-economic development of the country. The COVID-19 outbreak has negatively impacted not only the economic and social activity in India but also the entire global economy. The micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) were significantly impacted by various economic activities. Not only are individual businesses feeling the effects, but so are entire national economies and the entire world. Trade and international travel have already been negatively impacted by the pandemic on a worldwide scale. The Present research work has analyse the impact of Covid pandemic on work culture in MSME sector and assessed the various challenges posed by work from home system in organizational culture of MSMEs. It also analyses the challenges for leadership of MSME firms with regards to organizational culture during Covid pandemic and evaluated the influence of virtual teams on work culture in MSMEs. Interview with managerial staff of 5 MSMEs in Rohilkand region was conducted. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.

All Ground glass opacities in this season are not COVID: Solving the puzzle

Introduction: Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis is an inflammatory syndrome of lung caused by repetitive inhalation of antigenic agent in a susceptible host. But in this covid pandemic use of computed tomography for diagnosis of COVID has lead to misdiagnose many other diseases with similar presentation. Here we present a case who was misdiagnosed as COVID and was treated in covid ICU and was on antifibrotic agent since then despite HP being most common ILD in India History: 17 Years old male presented with c/o acute onset breathlessness, dry cough and fever for 3 days in July'21. Other two similar episodes were there in November'21 and December'21. On thorough history taking, patient gave history of visiting paddy fields 1 day before each episode. There was no h/o prior similar illness no significant family history. Clinical Findings: Vitals showed hypoxia, tachypnoea and tachycardia. In chest examination, tactile and vocal fremitus are increased bilaterally with B/L decresed air entry with fine crepitations. Diagnosis and Management: During first episode, patient was admitted in COVID ICU due to CT severity score 20/25 despite getting RT-PCR negative thrice. Patient was kept on antifibrotic since then. Same happened in 2nd episode with clear serial X rays but during 3rd episode a thorough history, examination and investigations like bronchoscopy lead to the diagnosis of HP. Learning Points: Since use CTSS for covid diagnosis, many cases are getting over diagnosed and mismanaged. With thorough history including exposure history, many of these cases can be diagnosed and treated in right manner that can help patient and family in all ways.

Classification of CT Scan Images for diagnosis of Covid-19 using Deep Learning

Coronavirus diseases is a contagious transmissible infectious malady rooted by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and it mostly affects the lungs thereby causing a global health care problem. Coronavirus triggers respiratory tract infection by infecting upper respiratory tract consisting of sinuses, nose, and throat or lower tract of respiratory system that includes windpipe and lungs. WHO proclaimed the COVID-19 outbreak a global epidemic. To control the spreading of novel Coronavirus, early detection and cure is mandatory. Although RT-PCR test is used to detect the infected humans but owing to colossal demand RT-PCR kits are now limited, and its low reliability made way for implementation of radiographic procedures such as X-Rays and Computed Tomography-Scan for symptomatic purposes. These come with a great specificity for diagnosing and detecting Covid-19 instances. This study suggests adopting a Deep Learning technique to automate the diagnosis of COVID19 infection using CT scans of patients for explicit identification of Covid-19. CNN namely Densenet, Inception and Xception networks or architectures are used in a deep learning architecture to distinguish human beings based on whether confirmed positive or not for COVID-19 infection. These networks are then collated on the ground of their accuracy and the outcomes procured from various CNN models are analysed to obtain a robust system. © 2022 IEEE.

We are in survival mode: how family-owned small foodservice firms in India responded to the Covid-19 pandemic

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the crisis faced, strategies adopted, barriers for recovery and the future outlook by the operators of family-owned small foodservice business firms in responses to COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded unprecedented challenges, severely disrupted the family-run small foodservice business units and often put them on the brink of closure of business. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology adopted is a qualitative research approach. The data for the research is collected through a semi-structured interview. The data was collected from the 13 family-owned foodservice providers. The data is collected through a semi-structured telephone interview as there is a restriction of travel between different regions. Findings: The finding reveals that small family-operated foodservice firms faced multiple challenges, including threat for existence, the pressure of fixed cost, feeling unethical, financial instability, uncertainty on future and feeling of loss of goodwill with lenders. Originality/value: The current research work is the first to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on small family-owned food services businesses in an Indian context. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

WHAT INDIAN WORKING CLASS IS SAYING ABOUT THE COVID- 19 PANDEMIC: CONCERNS AND REACTIONS

This is an exploratory research highlighting the concerns and reactions of Indian working-class people towards the COVID-19. It was observed that most of the Indian working-class people were seriously concerned about the pandemic and responded well to the measures suggested by the Governments and other agencies in a big way. Most of the respondents believed the pandemic will be effectively controlled across the globe within one year. Word cloud and other data visualization techniques were used to analyze the reactions of the Indian working class towards the Central and State government's initiatives to contain COVID-19. In the word cloud of the top 150 popular words for both central and state governments Lockdown, People and Government have taken the central stage. The word streaming analysis suggests the intense relationship among the most frequent words in the dataset. For the central government, it was social distancing and for state government, it was social distancing and relationship between central and state governments. The sentiment analysis for both central and state government was neutral, mostly. The researchers are of the view that the research will provide a deeper insight into human perception and behavior towards the measures initiated by the Central and State Governments in any similar difficult situations. Further the concerns identified may be taken into consideration by the Government while designing the policy measures and other interventions by the Government.

Predictors of mortality in patients of COVID-19 pneumonia in intensive care unit: An observational study in a tertiary care hospital, Lucknow, India

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is an enveloped positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus. Initial steps of the infection involve binding of the spike protein(S) of the virus to Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptor on the mucosal surfaces of various organs like lungs, kidney, heart, intestine. Pathogenesis of complications are still poorly understood. Aim: This study was designed to find out the baseline biochemical parameters at the time of admission which may predict outcome in COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: This observational study was conducted in a dedicated COVID-19 hospital, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (Dr. RMLIMS), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, from 1st July, 2020 to 30th November, 2020 . A total of 109 moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia patients who required Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission, were enrolled. Based on their outcome, patients were divided into two groups: “Survived” and “Expired”. Biochemical characteristics of patients were compared among the two groups using univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: On Univariate analysis Coagulation profile, Prothrombin Time (PT), International Normalised Ratio (INR), Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) and D-Dimer vales were raised significantly in the expired group. Among other acute phase reactants Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Creatinine Phosphokinase-MB (CPKMB) were raised in expired group and this difference was significant statistically too. On Multivariate analysis among all acute phase reactant only IL-6 was increased significantly. All other variables were found to be non-significantly associated with mortality, statistically (p-value<0.05). Conclusion: Baseline biochemical parameters have prognostic values in COVID-19 patients. Raised IL-6 levels can be viewed as an independent predictor of mortality among COVID-19 patients at the time of admission in ICU.

An assessment of government measures in combatting COVID-19 using ISM and DEMATEL modelling

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the interplay of various measures used by different governments around the world in combatting COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: The research uses the interpretative structural modelling (ISM) for assessing the powerful measures amongst the recognized ones, whereas to establish the cause-and-effect relations amongst the variables, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method is used. Both approaches utilized in the study aid in the comprehension of the relationship amongst the assessed measures. Findings: According to the ISM model, international support measures have the most important role in reducing the risk of COVID-19. There has also been a suggestion of a relationship between economic and risk measures. Surprisingly, no linkage factor (unstable one) was reported in the research. The study indicates social welfare measures, R&D measures, centralized power and decentralized governance measures and universal healthcare measures as independent factors. The DEMATEL analysis reveals that the net causes are social welfare measures, centralized power and decentralized government, universal health coverage measure and R&D measures, while the net effects are economic measures, green recovery measures, risk measures and international support measures. Originality/value: The study includes a list of numerous government measures deployed throughout the world to mitigate the risk of COVID-19, as well as the structural links amongst the identified government measures. The Matrice d'Impacts croises-multiplication applique and classment analysis can help the policymakers in understanding measures used in combatting COVID-19 based on their driving and dependence power. These insights may assist them in employing these measures for mitigating the risks associated with COVID-19 or any other similar pandemic situation in the future. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Impact of Co-morbidities on outcome of COVID-19 patients: An observational study among patients admitted to intensive care unit

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been a major cause of apprehension, morbidity, and mortality in 2020. It had been postulated that associated co-morbid conditions in COVID-19 patients increase the severity of COVID-19 which leads to six times more chances of hospitalisation than patients without co-morbid condition. Mortality is also 12 times higher in such patients. Aim: To find out the association between co-morbidities and mortalities due to COVID-19 pneumonia. Materials and Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted in a tertiary teaching institute of North India which was designated Level 3 (L-3) facility for treatment of COVID-19 patients. All 109 COVID-19 patients confirmed by Reverse Transcriptase - Polymerase Chain Reaction(RT-PCR), admitted in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from 1st July 2020 to 30th November 2020 formed the sample of the study. Data were taken regarding past history, clinical histories and examinations and ICU care and treatments. Based on their final outcome at the end of ICU care, patients were divided into 2 groups-group 1 (Non-survivor or Expired) and group 2 (Survived) and intergroup differences were studied. results: COVID-19 infection was about three times more common in males. Severe category of COVID-19 patients had higher mortality (59.2 % of severe category expired during hospital course, 1.7% patients expired in moderate category group). Most common co-morbidities were hypertension (n=48, 46.8%) and diabetes (n=51, 44%). Multivariate analysis showed that co-morbidities in the form of chronic liver disease (OR -0.127(0.024-0.681, p-value 0.016)) and post tubercular sequel (OR 0.036(0.003-0.442, p-value 0.009)) were less likely to occur in COVID-19 patients who survived, thus making these co-morbidities significant contributor to the adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients. More number of co-morbidities in a patient were associated with higher chance of mortality and this trend was significant statistically (p-value<0.001). conclusion: Patients with multiple co-morbidities, chronic liver disease and post tubercular sequel were associated with higher mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Clinico-demographic, hematological, and comorbidity profile of COVID-19 patients admitted at tertiary care center

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has caused a worldwide pandemic. This study was aimed to describe the clinico-demographic, hematological, and comorbidity profile in a group of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients at a tertiary care center in north India. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective, single-center collection of data regarding clinico-epidemiological, hematological parameters, and comorbidity profile of COVID-19 patients admitted at a tertiary care facility. Results: Data from 200 patients with COVID-19 were collected and analyzed. The median age of the patients was 48 years, with 63% males, and 78% patients were from urban area. Ten patients were smokers while 11 patients were alcoholic. The occupation of 20.6% of patients was related directly or indirectly with medical or allied professions. The most common mode of transmission of COVID-19 was direct close contact with microbiologically confirmed patients. Fever (n = 93;46.5%) was the most common presenting symptom and the median duration of onset of symptoms before admission were 3.5 days (range 2-6 days). In hematological profile, lymphopenia (n = 48;24%) had been the most common documented finding. Comorbidities were present in 39 (19.5%) patients, of which diabetes mellitus (n = 25;12.5%) was the most common. Furthermore, the case fatality rate in our study was 1.5%. Conclusion: Among all patients of COVID-19 at our center, the characteristic findings included high proportion of male patients with younger to middle-age group, diabetes as most common comorbidity and people who were directly or indirectly in contact with the health-care system were more prone for developing the disease.

A Review on Lockdown and its Effects on Mental Health Due to Corona Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting society in various aspects of life. This outbreak was initiated in a laboratory accident centered in Wuhan, China. People are suffering from psychiatric disorders due to the disturbance in several sectors of the society which includes the most important "socializing". The abrupt step of lockdown taken by the government authorities has led to a severe social distancing. This social distancing has a direct impact on their psychosocial thinking. Due to this lockdown people have started to overthink on daily normal issues which were not completely dealt with. Now due to the increase in time and isolation from society, the various problems associated with this quarantine have been highlighted. The government has enforced lockdowns from time to time. These lockdowns have created not only mental health issues but also physical and social health problems. Along with health issues, the country suffered economical losses and the GDP went to negatives. Many people suffered losses. There were shortages in food and other day to day facilities. With only the essential services going on, people were in a lot of trouble. But listing down the cons of lockdown, we have to believe that this very lockdown was one of the perfect measures by the government. This very lockdown is the reason that the cases have declined to a great extent.

Approaches to comprehensive and effective rehabilitation in the covid 19 pandemic: Assessment of an oft neglected critical variable in national and global health policy making

The majority of the covid 19 infected cohort recover from mild and uncomplicated infection. 14 % of the cohort develop severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) that might require admission to hospitals and oxygen support. 5 % of the cohort will require ICU admission. Median ICU stay is 8 days.Rehabilitation is an important variable that has a positive effect on the health outcomes of severe cases of Covid 19. It helps the health system by:a. Improving health outcomes: High quality rehabilitation has the potential to reduce ICU associated conditions such as Post intensive care syndrome (PICS). Patient recovery is optimised and there is a significant reduction in the probability of disability. Severe covid 19 has the potential to cause swallow impairments, physical impairments and cognitive impairments. High quality rehabilitation has the potential to address these consequences adequately. Rehabilitation also includes psychosocial support. Rehabilitation assumes heightened significance in the context of older patients and patients with pre existing health conditions. These cohorts have a higher vulnerability to severe covid illness and rehabilitation can be expected to play an especially important role in facilitating the recovery of these patients to their pre illness independence levels.b. Optimal utilisation of hospital beds: A common feature of the pandemic has been a wide spread shortage of hospitals beds, especially ICU beds. Rehabilitation can play a vital role in decreasing the average length of stay of covid patients by getting patients ready for discharge earlier than usual. Rehabilitation is also key in ensuring continuity of care. Rehabilitation can facilitate the smooth discharge of complicated cases as well.c. Reduction in Covid 19 hospital readmission rates: High quality rehabilitation can significantlyreduce hospital readmission rates. It achieves this by ensuring that the clinical condition of patients does not worsen after discharge, thereby not necessitating readmission. This has a salutary effect on bed count.

Role of Technologies in Revamping the Supply Chain Management of Kirana Stores

This chapter aims to study the challenges and possibilities of technological disruption on supply chain management of neighborhood kirana stores in India. These kirana stores have been the lifeline of consumers across India during the Covid-19 outbreak which saw the closure of most of the other retail formats. While Covid-19 developed a new affiliation for kirana stores among consumers and provided new possibilities for these stores to expand their customer bases and product range, at the same time highlighted the gaps in their supply chain management. This paper would examine the role and assistance which technologies like digital and blockchain technologies can provide to these unorganized small-scale neighborhood kirana stores. Design/Methodology/Approach The methodology adopted in this study is the interpretivism approach of research. All the interpretations are drawn with the content analysis of relevant research, case studies, and industry reports. Findings Blockchain and digital technologies hold tremendous potential to transform retail omni-supply chains. Although blockchain is a nascent technology, it has huge potential to integrate back-end operations for the supply chain for these stores. However, RFID and other digital technologies have established evidence to manage and improve front-end operation for supply chain management at these stores. Research Limitations/Implications The limitation will arise in this study with the nonavailability of primary data and direct interaction with the people involved in the process. Sometimes the method used in the findings of the study may become the limitation when discussed by other researchers with a different method. Practical Implication This study will help the kirana stores and their supplier both to develop a competitive advantage and effective resource planning to ensure the distribution of their products to end consumers. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Laying the table from the cloud during Lockdown: Impact of Covid crisis on Cloud Kitchens in India

Global lockdown due to Covid crisis resulted in economic slowdown. Companies which were using technology enabled models were able to cope with the crisis better. This paper focusses on how the cloud kitchens were able to sustain their business activities during the crisis and also, were among the business entities, which sailed through the crisis. © 2021 IEEE.

Heart transplant recipient with features of COVID-19 infection: First case report from India

A 16-year-old boy has been reported 3 months postcardiac transplantation with chief complaints of nausea, vomiting, pain in abdomen, and fever. The patient had remarkably increased serum lactate dehydrogenase levels, triglycerides, serum amylase, and serum lipase. The B-type natriuretic peptide level more than 35,000 ng/mL and troponin T was increased (0.57 μg/ml). Last known concentration of tacrolimus was 9 ng/ml. Supraventricular tachycardia was remarkable on electrocardiogram. His computed tomographic findings revealed bilateral pneumothorax with bilateral pleural effusion with an opacity seen in the right upper lobe. Bedside echo revealed dilated right atrium and right ventricle with left ventricular ejection fraction of 60%. He was kept on immunosuppression of mycophenolate mofetil 360 mg (2 tablets twice a day) and tacrolimus (2.5 mg twice a day). His reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction throat swabs of the patient were sent for testing 2019-nCoV and were found to be negative. The patient could not be revived in spite of all medical management.

Pattern of dental problems among patients visiting a dental hospital during covid-19 pandemic

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Nepal is a part of this worldwide corona virus disease. In this critical situation, the patients have a sense of insecurity visiting dental hospital. Objective To assess the pattern of dental problems in patients visiting a dental college during COVID-19. Method A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Dental Hospital of Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital from May to August 2020. The patients visiting the Dental hospital were assessed for dental problems. Data were analyzed in Statistical Package of Social Sciences version 20. Frequency and percentage for pattern of dental problems were calculated. Result Most of the patients of age group of 14 to 31 years 530 (36.53%) had dental problems during the survey period. Out of total patients having dental emergency, 739 (50.93%) were males and 712 (49.07%) were females. Majority 545 (37.56%) visited the dental hospital for endodontic consultation followed by emergency consultation for oral surgical procedures 298 (20.54%). Least consulted dental emergency condition was prosthodontic consultation 18 (1.24%). Conclusion The study findings showed that the major dental problems in patients causing emergency visit to dental hospital during COVID-19 pandemic period were dental pain and swelling requiring endodontic consultation and the least need felt is prosthodontic consultation. © 2020, Kathmandu University. All rights reserved.

Open platform for accelerating smart ultrasound transducer probe development

In this paper, we discussed the available architectures used for smart ultrasound transducer probes and implemented the most popular architecture, which is very practical for most researchers or engineers. Field II simulation, hardware and software integration, and imaging acquisition were carried out. The open platform consists of 64 low-noise receiver channels, 128 transmitter channels, FPGA, USB controller and power management circuits to handle signals from uVpp to 160200 Vpp. This open platform is powered and accessed via high-speed USB Type-C™ port available on most PADs or PCs. RF data data can be available for transducer characterization, power consumption optimization and algorithm development. The open platform is capable of achieving real-time triplex B-mode/color/PW Doppler mode imaging. The hardware resource files can be requested by contacting the authors. © 2020 IEEE.