ABSTRACT
What do pedestrian crossings, ATMs, elevators and ticket machines have in common? These are just a few of the ubiquitous yet essential elements of public-space infrastructure that rely on physical buttons or touchscreens;common interactions that, until recently, were considered perfectly safe to perform. This work investigates how we might integrate touchless technologies into public-space infrastructure in order to minimise physical interaction with shared devices in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on an ethnographic exploration into how public utilities are being used, adapted or avoided, we developed and evaluated a suite of technology probes that can be either retrofitted into, or replace, these services. In-situ community deployments of our probes demonstrate strong uptake and provide insight into how hands-free technologies can be adapted and utilised for the public domain;and, in turn, used to inform the future of walk-up-and use public technologies.
ABSTRACT
The first epidemic of the modern world that has changed the course of the current civilization & turned out to be a pandemic (i.e. COVID-19) has tremendously affected several industries including that of tourism & hospitality. Due to the multilevel impact, the whole world struggled to overcome this situation but with almost two years of its co-existence, people have now managed to change their style of living & social habits including that of the food habits. One of such food habits i.e. 'Eating out/ Dining out' was bound to change in the post-pandemic period due to the health advisories & closure of several hotels, restaurants and food outlets. The present research tries to find out the changes in the Eating out behaviour of the residents of Dharamshala (H.P.) in the pre & post-pandemic period. Further, it tries to identify the factors which affect the eating out behaviour of the residents & measure their importance in different periods (pre &post pandemic). The data were collected from 286 residents of Dharamshala region, through a structured questionnaire & analysed through reliability checks (Cronbach's Alpha-α), KMO & Bartlett's test, factor analysis, paired sample t-test and analysis of frequency & mean values. The results showed a significant decrease in the frequency of visits, purchasing/ordering, percentage of outside meals consumed, average spending etc, whereas the level of priority given by the residents to hygiene, food safety, quality, service & distribution etc has increased in the post-pandemic period. Hence various strategies were suggested for the restaurants/local eateries like, (1) Use of technology (automatic doors, sensor & timer enabled soap & sanitiser dispenser, online payments), (2) cost reduction tactics (controlling of food wastage, reduction in menu items), (3) training of employees (sanitisation rules, HACCP rules) etc which were if adopted will certainly help them revive from the crisis slowly & steadily over the period. © 2022 Editura Universitatii din Oradea. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background and Aims: There is a marked inclination towards cesarean sections as the preferred mode of delivery in parturients with COVID-19 disease. However, the challenges associated with planning and performing a surgery in the COVID-19 setup are considerable. These factors may lead to widespread changes in obstetric decision-making, operative planning, and perioperative outcomes. Thus, our study aimed to study the clinical and logistical factors involved in cesarean sections in COVID-19 parturients. Material and Methods: This was a retrospective observational study performed at a dedicated COVID-19 tertiary care center in India. All women undergoing cesarean section in the specially earmarked operating room between 1st May 2020 and 31st December 2020 were included in the study. The clinical characteristics, operative details, and neonatal details, along with maternal and fetal outcomes were noted and analyzed. Results: A total of 44 women underwent cesarean section during the study period, with elective and emergency surgeries numbering 22 each. No indication, apart from COVID-19 status, was listed in over one-fourth of the women (13/44). The most common preoperative comorbidity was hypothyroidism (12/44). Median surgical duration was 117.5 min (IQR 100-133), with a median of 7.5 (IQR 6-8.25) healthcare personnel in the OT. Over one-fourth (12/44) of the delivered babies had low birth weight, while 4.5% (2/44) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: COVID-19 status alone continues to be a common indication for cesarean section. Operative time is increased, but the number of healthcare personnel involved can be trimmed with proper planning. Maternal and fetal outcomes are largely positive, with low transmission rates, but a considerable proportion of low-birth-weight neonates.
ABSTRACT
Background: Blood group has been stated to be one of the risk factors associated with viral diseases like dengue, hepatitis virus, Norwalk virus and even the coronavirus associated with 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak. In addition, anti-A antibodies in experimental models have been shown to inhibit the interaction between coronavirus and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) receptor of the host target cell, the major receptor involved in viral pathogenesis. Thus, several workers propose an association between ABO blood type and coronavirus disease- 2019 (COVID-19) disease in many previous studies. The present study was undertaken in the Eastern part of India in line with these authors to study the association of ABO blood group of patients with COVID susceptibility and severity. Methods: This is a retrospective study over a period of 6 months from June 2020 to November 2020 where patients who underwent quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) test for SARS-COV2 and having a recorded patient blood group type were considered. The qRT-PCR positive admitted cases were considered as cases, and qRT-PCR negative cases were considered as controls. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel format and analyzed by statistical method to obtain association. Results: Consecutively obtained 5000 qRT-PCR positive patients (cases) and 11,700 (controls) were included in the present study. The mean age of cases was higher (54.24 vs. 34. 67) than the controls. Among the cases, the highest number (2379;47.6%) of samples belonged to A blood group followed by B (1278;25.6%) while among the control group O blood group had the highest prevalence (4215;36%). Blood group A had a higher odd of testing positive (Odds ratio-2.552;CI 2.381–2.734;p < 0.0001) than all other blood groups. A blood group is also associated with higher risk of ICU admission (Odds ratio- 1.699;95% CI 1.515–1.905) and 65.3% of this group is also associated with high viral load which gives an indication of higher disease severity. Conclusion: Blood group A is associated with an increased susceptibility to COVID 19 infection than other blood groups. Cases of this blood group are also associated with more critical care needs and a higher viral load on testing.
ABSTRACT
Over the years, the practice of medicine has evolved from authority-based to experience-based to evidence-based with the introduction of the scientific process, clinical trials, and outcomes-based data analysis (Tebala GD. Int J Med Sci. 2018;15(12):1397-1405). The time required to perform the necessary randomized controlled trials, a systematic literature review, and meta-analysis of these trials to then create, accept, promulgate, and educate the practicing clinicians to use the evidence-based clinical guidelines is typically measured in years. When the severe acute respiratory syndrome novel coronavirus-2 (SARS-nCoV-2) pandemic commenced in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, there were few available clinical guidelines to deploy, let alone adapt and adopt to treat the surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The aim of this study is to first explain how clinical guidelines, on which bedside clinicians have grown accustomed, can be created in the midst of a pandemic, with an evolving scientific understanding of the pathophysiology of the hypercoagulable state. The second is to adapt and adopt current venous thromboembolism diagnostic and treatment guidelines, while relying on the limited available observational reporting of COVID-19 patients to create a comprehensive clinical guideline to treat COVID-19 patients.