Mask Associated Dry Eye (MADE) in Healthcare Workers: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: The Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic mediated by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV2 (SARS-CoV2), made the use of face masks mandatory to check the spread of the disease. With the increased use of face masks, more people started presenting to the ophthalmologist with symptoms of dry eye. The proposed mechanism of dry eye was attributed to air blowing upwards from behind the mask into the eyes, especially in loose fitting masks. This air leads to rapid evaporation of tears and disturbance of homeostasis of the tear film.Aim: To measure self reported symptoms of dry eye and to establish mask use as a risk factor for the development of Dry Eye Disease (DED) in healthcare workers in a Tertiary Care Hospital.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at Nilratan Sircar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital for a duration of three months from December 2021 to February 2022. The study was conducted on 146 participants. An online survey was conducted using Google Forms, sent via email to hospital employees working in different departments of the hospital. All healthcare workers employed at NRS Medical College and Hospital who wore a face mask during duty hours and were willing to participate in the study were included. The Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire was used and modified by adding "while wearing a facemask" to the end of each question. To establish face mask use as a causative agent for development of DED, a few other questions related to face mask usage were included in the survey. The data was tabulated in Microsoft Excel and analysed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. Results: The mean age of the study population was 27.4+/-8.28 years. The mean hours of wearing a mask was 6.38+/-3.04 hours. N95 face mask was the most common type of mask used. The study population included 100 doctors, 14 nursing staff, 18 optometrists, eight group D staff (sweepers and ward attendants), and six dieticians. The mean OSDI score was 14.24. Increased usage of face masks, in particular surgical, more hours of reading significantly correlated with higher incidence of DED. Conclusion: This study showed that increased hours of face mask use in particular surgical was associated with development of DED. To encourage more people to wear face masks, all possible problems arising from face mask use should be promptly identified and dealt with.

Understanding Post-COVID-19 Social and Cultural Realities: Global Context

This book concentrates on the changing patterns of work and global social order as a result of COVID-19. It scrutinizes these changes in order to point out the possible reasons for these changes following COVID-19. It sheds light on the differences between the condition of underdeveloped and developed countries, focusing on how they struggle to find ways of coping. The pandemic has changed the global social order. It has an impact on every aspect of life around the globe, from individual relationships to institutional operations and international collaborations. Societies are endeavoring to protect themselves despite severe restrictions, while the pandemic continues to upset family relations and overturn governance. COVID-19 has made it clearer than ever before that where many strains on the social sector occur, the current global system, with its interconnectedness and vulnerabilities, is under threat. Due to the changing patterns of economic and societal elements caused by COVID-19, further research is urgently needed to analyze these changing trends. The book portrays what work and the global social order will look like in the future. It is essential reading for anyone interested in these changes and the pst-COVID-19 reality. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022, corrected publication 2022.

Understanding COVID-19: An Introduction of Social and Cultural Realities

COVID-19 (SARS-Cov-2) was declared a global pandemic by The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. The virus became a pandemic with initial small chains of spread followed by increasingly wider transmission across most countries of the world. As a result, within a short period, the virus has affected almost every continent. Even with a risk of fatality of 1%, it is now known to kill healthy adults and children as well as elderly people with underlying health problems. The virus has created fear, anxiety and panic among people everywhere. Months of living in isolation and lockdown have negatively affected the mental health of large numbers of people. Most developing and underdeveloped countries are facing severe economic crisis, together with significant societal problems. Even in developed countries, the negative outcomes are clear. Any contagious pandemic outbreak has lethal effects on individuals and society. However, the outcomes of COVID-19 have created a situation the world is unprepared for (Rashid, 2020). Not only has the virus identified the existing loopholes in our systems, it has also shown that our lives will never be the same again. This chapter intends to critically analyses on impact of COVID-19 on socio-economic and cultural milieu of global society. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022, corrected publication 2022.

The 2020–2021 farmers' struggle in India: a post-Marxist detonation?

India has been witnessing a continuous wave of popular people's movements against the policies brought forward by the ruling right-wing central government led by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) during its second term in power which began in 2019. Starting with the Citizenship Amendment Act and the protests against its implementation since late 2019 (S. Deb Roy, ‘Locating Gramsci in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh: Perspectives on the Iconic Women's Protest in India', Capital & Class, 45:2 (2020), pp. 183–189), the right-wing government faced strong criticism of its poor management of the crisis faced by the migrant workers during the first wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic in India. The recent addition to the wave of people's movements is the Kisan Andolan (Farmers' Movement) against the ruling BJP government since September 2020 (See https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/new-farm-bill-2020-who-is-protesting-why/articleshow/78179693.cms [Accessed 30 March 2023]). The largest democracy in the world has been gripped by a massive wave of protests by the agrarian populace at the borders of Delhi, the capital of India. The popular movement against the ruling Central Government led by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is rooted in the recently passed farm laws, namely the ‘Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020' (See http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2020/222039.pdf [Accessed 30 March 2023]);the ‘Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020' (See https://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/farmers-empowerment-and-protection-agreement-price-assurance-and-farm-services-bill-2020 [Accessed 30 March 2023]);and the ‘Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020' (See https://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/essential-commodities-amendment-bill-2020#:~:text=The%20Essential%20Commodities%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance%2C%202020%20allows%20the%20central,is%20a%20steep%20price%20rise [Accessed 30 March 2023]). These laws which have been enacted to bring forward further corporate and capitalist control over the agricultural production of the country have not been received well by the people at the heart of the agricultural production of the country—the farmers. © 2023 Critique.

Youth Unemployment, Education and Job Training: An Analysis of PLFS Data in India

This paper highlights the changes in the unemployment rate across different age cohorts among young people in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study observes that the youth unemployment rate increased at a much higher rate in urban areas both for male and female youth during the initial phase of pandemic. To understand the severity of the effects of pandemic on unemployment across different age groups among the youth, this study enquires into the nature and causes of unemployment among them. The probit estimates of unemployment function for the youth reveals that the likelihood of youth being unemployed is less in upper age cohorts within the young age range. An inverse relationship is observed between general education and employment among the youth in the Indian youth labour market. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Overall Survival with Osimertinib in Resected EGFR-Mutated NSCLC.

BACKGROUND: Among patients with resected, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated, stage IB to IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adjuvant osimertinib therapy, with or without previous adjuvant chemotherapy, resulted in significantly longer disease-free survival than placebo in the ADAURA trial. We report the results of the planned final analysis of overall survival. METHODS: In this phase 3, double-blind trial, we randomly assigned eligible patients in a 1:1 ratio to receive osimertinib (80 mg once daily) or placebo until disease recurrence was observed, the trial regimen was completed (3 years), or a discontinuation criterion was met. The primary end point was investigator-assessed disease-free survival among patients with stage II to IIIA disease. Secondary end points included disease-free survival among patients with stage IB to IIIA disease, overall survival, and safety. RESULTS: Of 682 patients who underwent randomization, 339 received osimertinib and 343 received placebo. Among patients with stage II to IIIA disease, the 5-year overall survival was 85% in the osimertinib group and 73% in the placebo group (overall hazard ratio for death, 0.49; 95.03% confidence interval [CI], 0.33 to 0.73; P<0.001). In the overall population (patients with stage IB to IIIA disease), the 5-year overall survival was 88% in the osimertinib group and 78% in the placebo group (overall hazard ratio for death, 0.49; 95.03% CI, 0.34 to 0.70; P<0.001). One new serious adverse event, pneumonia related to coronavirus disease 2019, was reported after the previously published data-cutoff date (the event was not considered by the investigator to be related to the trial regimen, and the patient fully recovered). Adjuvant osimertinib had a safety profile consistent with that in the primary analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Adjuvant osimertinib provided a significant overall survival benefit among patients with completely resected, EGFR-mutated, stage IB to IIIA NSCLC. (Funded by AstraZeneca; ADAURA ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02511106.).

Private transfers, public transfers, and food insecurity during the time of COVID-19: Evidence from Bangladesh

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, interest has grown in what kinds of assistance protect household food security during shocks. We study rural and urban Bangladesh from 2018 to 2019 to late 2021, assessing how pre-pandemic access to social safety net programs and private remittances relate to household food insecurity during the pandemic. Using longitudinal data and estimating differences-in-differences models with household fixed effects, we find that pre-pandemic access to social protection is associated with significant reductions in food insecurity in all rounds collected during the pandemic, particularly in our urban sample. However, pre-pandemic access to remittances shows no similar protective effect.

Impact of Ayush Alternative Medicine Interventions in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The five Indian systems of alternative and complementary medicine (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) are frequently used to treat "COVID-19" throughout the country (referred to simply as "AYUSH"). At the outset of the pandemic, "The Ministry of AYUSH" (the governing authority of the Indian system of medicine) issued recommendations for the use of particular herbs and acts to improve immunity, based on the advice of an advisory council of "AYUSH" doctors and scant evidence. Some of these suggestions involved using traditional herbs and practices, which have been used for centuries and are effective in treating a wide range of conditions, including fever, sore throat, and breathing difficulties, as well as acting as a non-specific leniency enhancer thanks to their anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-microbial properties. A number of the formulations recommended here-including AYUSH 64, Chyawanprash, Guduchi Ghanavati, Arsenic Album, Kabasur Kudineer, and Nilavembu Kudineer-have been the subject of scientific research into their putative prophylactic or therapeutic benefits.

Efficacy of implantable haemodynamic monitoring in heart failure across ranges of ejection fraction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIMS: We conducted a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of implantable haemodynamic monitoring (IHM)-guided care. METHODS: PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE were searched for RCTs of IHM in patients with heart failure (HF). Outcomes were examined in total (first and recurrent) event analyses. RESULTS: Five trials comparing IHM-guided care with standard care alone were identified and included 2710 patients across ejection fraction (EF) ranges. Data were available for 628 patients (23.2%) with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) (EF ≥50%) and 2023 patients (74.6%) with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) (EF <50%). Chronicle, CardioMEMS and HeartPOD IHMs were used. In all patients, regardless of EF, IHM-guided care reduced total HF hospitalisations (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.82) and total worsening HF events (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.84). In patients with HFrEF, IHM-guided care reduced total worsening HF events (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.86). The effect of IHM-guided care on total worsening HF events in patients with HFpEF was uncertain (fixed-effect model: HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.88; random-effects model: HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.32 to 1.14). IHM-guided care did not reduce mortality (HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.20). IHM-guided care reduced all-cause mortality and total worsening HF events (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.72 to 0.88). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with HF across all EFs, IHM-guided care reduced total HF hospitalisations and worsening HF events. This benefit was consistent in patients with HFrEF but not consistent in HFpEF. Further trials with pre-specified analyses of patients with an EF of ≥50% are required. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021253905.

A typology of the sources of mental health precarity among migrant workers in India during the COVID-19 lockdown

When urban workplaces shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India, a very large number of migrant workers were forced to reverse-migrate to their largely rural points of origin. This article looks at the mental health implications of the period migrants spent without work, back at the low-resource places from which they had out-migrated, in hopes of a better life. Based on qualitative interviews conducted with reverse migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, this article has a two-fold aim. The first aim is to reach the experiences and voiced concerns of precarious and vulnerable migrants to those who may be in a position to ameliorate their distress. Since policy-makers tend to lack time, findings from the qualitative data have been summarized in the form of a multi-dimensional typology, open to expansion by further research. The typology sees themes in money, health, information, and isolation. Second, the article follows the issues in the typology to suggest that acknowledgment of the significant role of migrant workers in India's economy, via sensitive enumeration, would be a first, and essential step to address the multiple concerns raised by migrant workers themselves. This baseline information could then be used to build subsequent dependent steps addressing the myriad causes of mental health distress among migrant workers in India.

Blockchain Based Trading Mechanism in Microgrid using CHIO Algorithm

Blockchain based microgrid mechanisms can be designed efficiently to provide uninterrupted power supply and to balance load demands dynamically. In this present work, a conceptual design of a microgrid system is proposed in power system modeling. A blockchain based trading mechanism has been implemented on this system. Various optimization algorithms have been used to maximize economic profit. Finally, the Coronavirus Herd Immunity Optimizer (CHIO) algorithm is described to accommodate the impression that arises for the optimal power flow (OPF) and energy capacity. A case study has been provided to authenticate the performance of this method. The result expresses that the present scheme can largely improve the power dispatch and trading system. © 2022 IEEE.

The Gendered Crisis: Livelihoods and Well-Being in India During COVID-19

This article studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gendered dimensions of employment and mental health among urban informal-sector workers in Delhi, India. First, the study finds that men's employment declined by 84 percentage points during the pandemic relative to pre-pandemic employment, while their monthly earnings fell by 89 percent relative to the baseline mean. In contrast, women did not experience any significant impact on employment during pandemic. Second, the study documents very high levels of pandemic-induced mental stress, with wives reporting greater stress than husbands. Third, this gendered pattern in pandemic-induced mental stress is partly explained by men's employment losses, which affected wives more than husbands. In contrast, women staying employed during the pandemic is associated with worse mental health for them and their (unemployed) husbands. Fourth, pre-existing social networks are associated with higher mental stress for women, possibly due to the "home-based” nature of women's networks. HIGHLIGHTS In India, men suffered larger employment losses than women during the pandemic. Women reported greater mental stress than men, although both reported high stress. Men's employment losses affected their wives' mental health more than their own. Having many peers is correlated with worse stress for women, but not men. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Hands-On Interactive Neuro-Symbolic NLP with DRaiL

We recently introduced DRaiL, a declarative neuro-symbolic modeling framework designed to support a wide variety of NLP scenarios. In this demo, we enhance DRaiL with an easy to use Python interface equipped with methods to define, modify and augment models interactively, as well as with methods to debug and visualize the predictions made. We demonstrate this interface with two challenging NLP tasks: analyzing moral sentiment in political discourse, and analyzing opinions about the Covid-19 vaccine. © 2022 Association for Computational Linguistics.

A typology of the sources of mental health precarity among migrant workers in India during the COVID-19 lockdown

When urban workplaces shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India, a very large number of migrant workers were forced to reverse-migrate to their largely rural points of origin. This article looks at the mental health implications of the period migrants spent without work, back at the low-resource places from which they had out-migrated, in hopes of a better life. Based on qualitative interviews conducted with reverse migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, this article has a two-fold aim. The first aim is to reach the experiences and voiced concerns of precarious and vulnerable migrants to those who may be in a position to ameliorate their distress. Since policy-makers tend to lack time, findings from the qualitative data have been summarized in the form of a multi-dimensional typology, open to expansion by further research. The typology sees themes in money, health, information, and isolation. Second, the article follows the issues in the typology to suggest that acknowledgment of the significant role of migrant workers in India's economy, via sensitive enumeration, would be a first, and essential step to address the multiple concerns raised by migrant workers themselves. This baseline information could then be used to build subsequent dependent steps addressing the myriad causes of mental health distress among migrant workers in India. Copyright © 2023 Mookerjee and Roy.

A Static Machine Learning Based Evaluation Method for Usability and Security Analysis in E-Commerce website

Measurement of e-commerce usability based on static quantities variable is state-of-the-art because of the adoption of sequential tracing of the next phase in the categorical data. An offline static model is trained. A static model is trained offline. In other words, we train the model once and then use it for a set period of time. The global COVID-19 outbreak has completely disrupted society and drastically altered daily life. The concept refers to an electronic commerce network that appears with thorough, understandable conviction, demand, and rapid confirmation as a replacement for the economic market’s "brick-and-mortar" model, which replaces how we do everything, including business strategy, and provides a better understanding with the interpretation of e-commerce features. This study was supervised to analyses usability assessments using statistical methods, as well as security assessments using online e-commerce security scanner tools, in order to investigate e-business standards that take into account the caliber of e-services in e-commerce websites across Asian nations. The method was developed to optimize complex systems based on multiple criteria. The initial (supplied) weights are used to determine the compromise ranking list and compromise solution. This paper examines the usability of e-commerce in rural areas using a new data set from the Jharkhand region. On the e-commerce websites of Jharkhand, India, usability is commonly considered in conjunction with learnability, memorability, effectiveness, engagement, efficiency, and completeness. Using a user-oriented questionnaire testing method, this survey attempts to close the gaps mentioned above. Then, across each column, divide each value by the column-wise sum that is created using their corresponding value, whichever produces a new matrix B. Finally, determine the row-wise sum of matrix B that represents the (3 X 1) matrix. Using model trees and bagging, this study addresses classification-related issues. This regression technique is useful for problems involving classification. The model is trained using secondary data from the MBTI 16 personality factors affecting personality category. Author

Deep learning: An approach to encounter pandemic effect of novel corona virus (COVID-19)

Researchers around the world are struggling to discover ground-breaking equip-ment aimed at building a great healthcare structure to fight the novel corona virus for the duration of this global epidemic. How deep learning (DL) encountered the COVID-19 epidemic and what are the current guidelines for exploring the potential in COVID-19 are the subject to walk around. Over time, genetic material of novel corona viruses mutates itself and changed its characteristics to create different vari¬ants of viruses. These distinctive variants can trigger different waves of destructive infection in different parts of world. The substantiation of DL pertinences on the precedent pandemic motivates the professionals by giving an innovative trend to organize this outburst to make it least effective. The main target of this article is to study the utility of deep learning-based approaches on COVID-19 and also their credibility in terms of containment of the pandemic based on recent works around the globe. The study has listed down recent works within DL approaches regarding marking out of virus-affected people, investigation of its protein formation, vaccine & medicine finding, virus relentlessness, and contamination to direct the enduring eruption. DL is endowed with a suitable contrivance intended for rapid selection COVID-19 along with pronouncement possible high-risk patients, which possibly will be cooperative for medical resource optimization and early prevention prior to patients suffering rigorous indication. In this study, the wide-ranging consequence of DL on several magnitudes to be in command of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is discussed, and attempts are made to investigate it. Despite rich studies being con¬ducted through DL algorithms, there are still many limitations and contradictions in the area of COVID research. The continuous evolution of DL on coronavirus handles contamination and is costly to create the right resolution task. Apart from this, in this work, a DL-based pandemic analysis has been done using the received dataset from about 55 hospitals in West Bengal, India. According to some research scientists, we may enter the third and fourth waves too, thus this work will be help¬ful for further research activity in the years to come. Finally, it is expected this work will help many researchers throughout the world get some opportunity to find out the final remedy to get rid of this deadly virus. © 2023 Scrivener Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

An effective distraction? Fantasy football during the times of COVID-19

The popularity of fantasy sports has increased exponentially over the last few decades. The existing literature has predominantly focused on the negative effects of fantasy football (or, fantasy sports in general) on mental health because of its association with gambling and internet addictions. Using primary data collected through online surveys, this study attempts to examine the role of fantasy football within a completely new context by asking whether it acted as an effective distraction for the fantasy football managers during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 70% of the participants consider fantasy football to be an effective escape from day-to-day activities. Approximately two-thirds of the managers in our sample report that they were negatively affected by the suspension of fantasy football at the advent of COVID-19. Once resumed, fantasy football helped mitigate some of the negative emotions caused by COVID-19 and it worked as a distraction for 78.5% of the managers during the pandemic. The statistical analysis indicates that though the role of fantasy football as a distraction was evident across all age groups the effect was more acute in case of the highly involved managers (defined by, level of competitiveness and time invested in the game during weekends).

Emergency Remote Teaching Versus Planned Remote Teaching: Narrowing the Gap With Targeted Professional Development

Objectives: This study reviews faculty members' comfort level with remote teaching in the Fall 2020 semester to evaluate the effectiveness of the professional development workshops. Method: Using survey research, we examined professional development activities and subsequent comfort level and ease of adjustment with remote teaching in Fall 2020. Results: Following the training, faculty reported high planned usage of various online teaching tools and great comfort with using them. The data reveals some differences between part-time and full-time faculty members. Conclusions: The experience gained in the emergency semester, combined with the targeted professional development workshops offered eased the stress of planned remote teaching in the following semester. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: For institutions planning to incorporate educational technology in the future, the implementation and evaluation of the targeted workshops may serve as a replicable model. It may also help institutions be better prepared for emergency remote teaching in the future. © 2022 Laureate Education. All rights reserved.

Emphasizing Self-Regulation in Teaching: Reducing Disruption to Students' Learning during Unplanned Instructional Mode Transition

In Spring 2020, engineering faculty transitioned to emergency remote instruction due to COVID-19. This mixed-methods study was done to understand the correlation between self-regulated learning and how students experienced the emergency transition to remote learning. The participants were from an upper-level engineering course, with 33 students surveyed four times during the semester. Seven students were interviewed after the semester. Findings revealed that during the transition to remote learning, students perceived less change if they had higher degrees of self-regulation. The qualitative analysis also revealed that transparency in learning and teaching also played an important role in students' perceptions. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Deep-CoV: An integrated deep learning model to detect COVID-19 using chest X-ray and CT images

The COVID-19 virus has fatal effect on lung function and due to its rapidity the early detection is necessary at the moment. The radiographic images have already been used by the researchers for the early diagnosis of COVID-19. Though several existing research exhibited very good performance with either x-ray or computer tomography (CT) images, to the best of our knowledge no such work has reported the assembled performance of both x-ray and CT images. Thus increase in accuracy with higher scalability is the main concern of the recent research. In this article, an integrated deep learning model has been developed for detection of COVID-19 at an early stage using both chest x-ray and CT images. The lack of publicly available data about COVID-19 disease motivates the authors to combine three benchmark datasets into a single dataset of large size. The proposed model has applied various transfer learning techniques for feature extraction and to find out the best suite. Finally the capsule network is used to categorize the sub-dataset into COVID positive and normal patients. The experimental results show that, the best performance exhibits by the ResNet50 with capsule network as an extractor-classifier pair with the combined dataset, which is composed of 575 numbers of x-ray images and 930 numbers of CT images. The proposed model achieves accuracy of 98.2% and 97.8% with x-ray and CT images, respectively, and an average of 98%. © 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.