Left to their own devices? Antecedents and contingent effects of workplace anxiety in the WFH selling environment

Purpose>The main purpose of this research is to understand how the sudden shift to work from home (WFH) after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has caught several sales organizations underprepared and ill-equipped to combat emergent challenges. In this research, the authors provide initial evidence into how the WFH arrangement impacts salespeople and sales organizations. Specifically, this research is guided by two objectives: to understand how the shift to WFH environment is affecting salespeople, and to explore how organizations can mitigate dysfunctional effects of the shift to WFH practices and enhance salespeople's commitment toward this new reality.Design/methodology/approach>The authors did preliminary in-depth interviews with 13 executives operating in the business-to-business (B2B) space to identify themes that reflected the reality faced by B2B sales organizations when transitioning to WFH. The authors then conducted a quantitative study involving a survey with 130 B2B salespeople.Findings>The findings from the qualitative research suggested that the WFH situation is quite different from the more traditional remote selling situations that B2B salespeople are used to. More specifically, salespeople experienced more anxiety because of the WFH situations. This finding was supported in the empirical study done by the authors where stress associated with WFH and job insecurity had a significant impact on salesperson anxiety.Research limitations/implications>The study primarily used subjective responses of salespeople with no objective measures. Furthermore, this study is cross-sectional in nature. Future research should build on the present work to understand the long-term consequences of WFH and factor in customer responses to the same. The impact of increased use of technology in the sales process will need further attention, including the sales management implication for the same.Originality/value>Given the unforeseen nature of the COVID pandemic and how unprepared salespeople and sales organizations were to deal with it, this study is one of the first studies that documents the impact of WFH situations on salespeople.

Possible Therapeutic Potential of Cysteinyl Leukotriene Receptor Antagonist Montelukast in Treatment of SARS-CoV-2-Induced COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a serious devastating disease and has posed a global health emergency. So far, there is not any specific therapy approved till date to control the clinical symptoms of the disease. Remdesivir has been approved by the FDA as an emergency clinical therapy. But it may not be effective alone to control the disease as it can only control the viral replication in the host. SUMMARY: This article summarizes the possible therapeutic potential and benefits of using montelukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene 1 (CysLT1) receptor antagonist, to control COVID-19 pathophysiology. Montelukast has shown anti-inflammatory effects, reduced cytokine production, improvement in post-infection cough production and other lung complications. Key Messages: Recent reports clearly indicate a distinct role of CysLT-regulated cytokines and immunological signaling in COVID-19. Thus, montelukast may have a clinical potential to control lung pathology during COVID-19.

COVID-19 Ayurveda treatment protocol of governments of Nepal and India: a review and perspective

SARS-CoV-2 originated in Wuhan city of China in Dec 2019, was named COVID-19 and declared pandemic by WHO. Conventional system of medicine is seen proving ineffective in its treatment. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on 23rd January 2020 in Nepal and on 30th January 2020 in India. SARS, MERS and COVID-19 in China were effectively managed through Traditional System of Medicine (TSM). Glycyrrhizin like active component of medicinal herbs potentially inhibit virus replication and bear antiviral property. Government of Nepal and India released a treatment protocol for COVID-19. Protocols have taken COVID-19 on the basis of Dosha, Dhatu, Mala, etc. The symptoms of COVID-19 resemble Kapha-Vata-Samasargaj-Jawara with Pitta association (i.e. Sannipataj-Jawara). For foreign etiology of COVID-19 Ayurveda considers it Rakshayadi-Prakopa-Janya-Janapado-udhamsha and deployed management accordingly. Good immunity is important factor for arresting or preventing the disease, which can be achieved by regular administration of Rasayanas. The physician should not treat any COVID-19 infected patient without safety precautions or without informing the local authorities. Clinical researches on individual and poly herbal drugs in the protocol should be taken into series of clinical trials to test its effectiveness against COVID-19 and discover the pharmacology and prove its effectiveness and establish it among global scientific community.

Revisiting the role of vitamin D levels in the prevention of COVID-19 infection and mortality in European countries post infections peak.

Various studies are underway to identify protective variables for the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that if indeed the vitamin D levels would be protective in the European population, as recently proposed, the correlation would become more robust when the countries had passed the infection peak as on May 12 2020, compared to April 8 2020, when the majority had not. Comparative analysis of data from the mentioned stages indicated a significant increase in negative correlation of vitamin D levels with COVID-19 cases per million population in later stage (r(20): -0.5504; R2 = 0.3029; p value: 0.0119 vs r(20): -0.4435; R2 = 0.1967; p value: 0.0501), whereas the correlation with deaths per million population became insignificant (r(20): -0.3935; R2 = 0.1549; p value: 0.0860 vs r(20): -0.4378; R2 = 0.1917; p value: 0.0535). Considering divergence of vitamin D levels from the mean in subgroups, e.g. children, women, aged, dedicated exploratory studies with carefully chosen matched target groups is advisable.