Has Digitalisation Mitigated the Impact of Covid-19 on the Manufacturing Sector's Performance?

The Covid-19 pandemic brought many businesses to a standstill as international travel restriction was imposed across countries in addition to a national lockdown. Firm performances were depressed due to reduced order and output. This study examines whether digitalization has mitigated the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Malaysia's manufacturing sector. Using sales as the performance yardstick of 24 industrial sectors from January to December 2020, our result shows that manufacturing sales performance was negatively related to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the adverse impact of Covid-19 was mitigated with a higher level of digitalization. The mitigating role of digitalization remains robust in further analysis. This study has managed to quantify the mitigating effect of Covid-19 on manufacturing sectors. As a policy implication, the government should expedite the introduction of the 5G network, promote digital adoption across all sectors to ensure business continuity and provide an effective response mechanism in any pandemic or crisis. © 2023, University of Wollongong. All rights reserved.

Has Digitalisation Mitigated the Impact of Covid-19 on the Manufacturing Sector's Performance?

The Covid-19 pandemic brought many businesses to a standstill as international travel restriction was imposed across countries in addition to a national lockdown. Firm performances were depressed due to reduced order and output. This study examines whether digitalization has mitigated the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Malaysia's manufacturing sector. Using sales as the performance yardstick of 24 industrial sectors from January to December 2020, our result shows that manufacturing sales performance was negatively related to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the adverse impact of Covid-19 was mitigated with a higher level of digitalization. The mitigating role of digitalization remains robust in further analysis. This study has managed to quantify the mitigating effect of Covid-19 on manufacturing sectors. As a policy implication, the government should expedite the introduction of the 5G network, promote digital adoption across all sectors to ensure business continuity and provide an effective response mechanism in any pandemic or crisis.

Did Digitalization Help Manufacturers Cope with the Covid-19 Pandemic?

International organizations such as the World Bank, UNCTAD and International Monetary Fund have suggested that digitalization helps firms to mitigate the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on companies' performance. This chapter attempts to test this suggestion empirically in the context of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. Based on a balanced panel data of 130 manufacturing industries over the period from January 2020 to December 2020, the empirical finding validates the mitigating role of digitalization in the Malaysian manufacturing industry. The results indicate that an additional increase in the Covid-19 cases per million population is associated with a 0.095 percent reduction in the manufacturing industrial production performance when the country's digital adoption is at the minimum level. However, the adverse impact diminishes with the rising level of digital adoption and reduces to 0.001 percent when the digital adoption reaches the maximum level. This is equivalent to a 98 percent reduction in the negative effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. The effect is substantial, implying that digitalization plays an essential role in helping the manufacturers to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Rajah Rasiah, Wah Yun Low, and Nurliana Kamaruddin;individual chapters, the contributors.

Voltammetric Sensors: A Versatile Tool in COVID-19 Diagnosis and Prognosis

The recent events of outbreaks of corona virus caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus −2(SARS-CoV-2) raised a concern and increased urge for quick and rapid detection techniques of disease causing pathogens. The detection of the virus with high sensitivity and accuracy holds great importance. Nowadays, the most commonly employed technique is the Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction test (qRT-PCR) and antigen test. While RT-PCR technique is time consuming, expensive and labour intensive, antigen tests though simple, can often give false positive and false negatives. In this context, electrochemical biosensors developed in recent times have been identified as a potential strategy to overcome the limitations of these common techniques. This review article summarizes the current advancements in the field of voltammetric sensors for the detection of COVID-19 virus and various biomarkers associated with it. © 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Determinants for Mode of Delivery in COVID-19 Pregnancy: A Single-center Retrospective Observational Study

Introduction: With the rise in COVID-19 cases round the world, we have the problem of COVID-19 positive pregnancies at hand. Various case series and reports around the world have shown a high incidence of cesarian deliveries in these patients. We have attempted to study the factors predicting an increase in cesarean section (CS) rates in COVID-19 positive pregnancies admitted to our institution. Methods: Retrospective analysis of all deliveries of COVID-19 affected pregnancies in a tertiary care center in north Kerala from 15 April 2020 to 31 October 2020. There were 253 deliveries during this period with 183 cases of cesarean and 70 vaginal deliveries. The data were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed with appropriate statistical software. Results: There was 71.42% cesarean section rate in women below 35 years of age compared to 100% in those above 35 years. The rate was higher among nullipara (77.77%) compared to 67.32% among multipara. There was also a positive correlation between cesarean with obesity [prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) more than 30]. There were 70.22% term cesareans compared to 89.28% in preterm. Induction of labor also seemed to increase rate of cesarean. Fetal growth restriction (88.88%) contributed more to cesarean rates unlike those without (71.06%) preterm rupture of membranes (PROM) and meconium staining of amniotic fluid (MSAF) was also seen to increase the possibility of cesarean. Cardiotocogram abnormalities (13.83%) were another important contributing factor. A total of 100% of patients with abnormal cardiotocogram (CTG) underwent cesarean section when compared to only 67.88% in those with normal CTG. In patients delivered while still positive, the incidence of cesarean section was 77.63%, while this reduced to 63.04% in those whom delivery was delayed till seronegativity achieved. A total of 75.95% cases were done in the morning. There were 19.67% cases of fetal distress which added to the cesarean numbers. Conclusions: We found increased maternal age, obesity, nulliparity, fetal growth restriction, PROM, MSAF as factors which contributed to increased cesarean section rates in COVID-19 positive pregnancies. Hence these pregnancies need careful monitoring. © The Author(s).

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Results from a prospective observational study in Germany.

Aims: Since 2017, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) care has been provided through an intersectoral collaboration at WIR (Walk-in-Ruhr, Center for Sexual Health and Medicine, Bochum, Germany). The aim of this study was to establish possible impact of COVID-restrictions on the sexual behavior of PrEP users in North Rhine-Westphalia. Methods: The current PrEP study collected data of individuals using PrEP, their sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) before (each quarter of year 2018) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (each quarter of year 2020). Results: During the first lockdown in Germany from mid-March until May 2020, PrEP-care appointments at WIR were postponed or canceled. Almost a third of PrEP users had discontinued their PrEP intake in the 2nd quarter of 2020 due to alteration of their sexual behavior. The number of sexual partners decreased from a median of 14 partners in the previous 6 months in 1st quarter of 2020, to 7 partners in 4th quarter of 2020. Despite such a significant reduction in partner number during the pandemic in comparison to the pre-pandemic period, a steady rate of STIs was observed among PrEP users in 2020. Conclusion: The SARS-CoV-2-pandemic has impacted PrEP-using MSM in North Rhine-Westphalia with respect to their PrEP intake regimen and sexual behavior in 2020. Our study revealed a steady rate of STI among PrEP users even during the pandemic, thus highlighting the importance of ensuring appropriate HIV/STI prevention services in times of crisis.

The role of herbal immunomodulators as adjuvant therapy for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic covid-19: An exploratory clinical study

Objectives: The objective of the study is to evaluate herbal immunomodulators (Septilin and Bresol) as a possible adjuvant therapy for the treatment of asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic COVID-19. Methods: Randomized, open-label, comparative clinical study. Subjects were randomized to either arm I [Septilin and Bresol+standard of care (SOC)] or arm II (SOC). This study was registered on CTRI (CTRI/2020/06/025801). Results: Subjects in arm I showed a greater reduction in levels of interleukin-6 tumor necrosis factor-α following treatment than in arm II. Subjects in arm I showed a greater increase in levels of interferon (IFN)-β and IFN-λ than those in arm II. There was a greater reduction in D-dimer in arm I than in arm II subjects (64.28% vs. 35.59%) and all arm I subjects had D-dimer values in the normal range compared to 70% of arm II subjects. There were statistically significant reduction in lactate dehydrogenase and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in arm I (p<0.016 and p<0.013, respectively). Clinical assessments during the post-illness convalescence period showed significant improvements in fatigue assessment scores and quality of life. Conclusion: This herbal combination as an adjuvant to SOC may provide additional long-term benefits in COVID-19 infection by reducing inflammation. This treatment may offer a good addendum for the management of post-COVID-19 illness.