ANTIPHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES AND VASCULAR THROMBOSIS IN PATIENTS WITH THE MOST SEVERE FORMS OF COVID-19

BackgroundThe presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) has been observed in patients with COVID-19 (1,2), suggesting that they may be associated with deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or stroke in severe cases (3). Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune disorder and the most common form of acquired thrombophilia globally. At least one clinical criterion, vascular thrombosis (arterial, venous or microthrombosis) or pregnancy morbidity and at least one laboratory criterion- positive aPL two times at least 12 weeks apart: lupus anticoagulant (LA), anticardiolipin (aCL), anti-β2-glycoprotein 1 (anti-β2GPI) antibody, have to be met for international APS classification criteria(4). Several reports also associate anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin antibodies (aPS/PT) with APS.ObjectivesTo combine clinical data on arterial/venous thrombosis and pregnancy complications before and during hospitalisation with aPL laboratory findings at 4 time points (hospital admission, worsening of COVID-19, hospital discharge, and follow-up) in patients with the most severe forms of COVID-19 infection.MethodsPatients with COVID-19 pneumonia were consequetively enrolled, as they were admitted to the General hospital Pancevo. Exclusion criteria were previous diagnosis of inflammatory rheumatic disease and diagnosis of APS. Clinical data were obtained from the medical records. Laboratory results, including LA, aCL, anti-β2GPI, and aPS/PT antibodies were taken at hospital admission, worsening (defined as cytokine storm, connection of the patient to the respirator, use of the anti-IL-6 drug- Tocilizumab), at hospital discharge and at 3-months follow-up and sent to University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia for analysis. Statistics was performed by using SPSS 21.Results111 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia were recruited;7 patients died during hospitalisation (none were aPL-positive on admission and at the time of worsening), 3 due to pulmonary artery embolism. All patients were treated according to a predefined protocol which included antibiotics, corticosteroids, anticoagulation therapy and specific comorbidity drugs;patients with hypoxia were supported with oxygen. During hospitalisation, pulmonary artery thrombosis occurred in 5 patients, one was aPL-positive at all time points (was diagnosed with APS), others were negative. In addition, 9/101 patients had a history of thrombosis (5 arterial thrombosis (coronary and cerebral arteries), none of whom was aPL-positive on admission and at follow-up, and 4 venous thrombosis, one of which was aPL-positive at all time points and received an APS diagnosis). Among 9/101 patients with a history of thrombosis, 55.6% were transiently positive at the time of discharge, compared to patients without prior thrombosis, in whom 26.1% were transiently positive at the hospital release (p=0.074). Two patients had a history of pregnancy complications (both had miscarriage after 10th week of gestation), but did not have aPL positivity at any time point.ConclusionAlthough aPL was expected to be associated with vascular disease in the most severe forms of COVID-19, all patients that have died in our cohort were aPL negative. At hospital discharge, 56% of patients with a history of arterial or venous thrombosis had positive aPL that became negative at the 3-months follow-up (were transienlty positive), which should be considered when prescribing therapy after hospitalisation.References[1]Trahtemberg U, Rottapel R, Dos Santos CC, et al. Anticardiolipin and other antiphospholipid antibodies in critically ill COVID-19 positive and negative patients. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2021;80:1236-1240.[2]Stelzer M, Henes J, Saur S. The Role of Antiphospholipid Antibodies in COVID-19. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2021;23(9):72-4.[3]Xie Y, Wang X, Yang P, Zhang S. COVID-19 complicated by acute pulmonary embolism. Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging 2020: 2: e200067.[4]Miyakis S, Lockshin MD, Atsumi T, Branch DW, Brey RL, et al. J.Thromb.Haemost. 2006;4: 295-306.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of nterestsNone Declared.

Mixup-Inf-Net: A data augmentation algorithm for segmentation of new coronary pneumonia infections

In 2020, the global spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 exposed entire world to a severe health crisis. This has limited fast and accurate screening of suspected cases due to equipment shortages and and harsh testing environments. The current diagnosis of suspected cases has benefited greatly from the use of radiographic brain imaging, also including X-ray and scintigraphy, as a crucial addition to screening tests for new coronary pneumonia disease. However, it is impractical to gather enormous volumes of data quickly, which makes it difficult for depth models to be trained. To solve these problems, we obtained a new dataset by data augmentation Mixup method for the used chest CT slices. It uses lung infection segmentation (Inf-Net [1]) in a deep network and adds a learning framework with semi-supervised to form a Mixup-Inf-Net semi-supervised learning framework model to identify COVID-19 infection area from chest CT slices. The system depends primarily on unlabeled data and merely a minimal amount of annotated data is required;therefore, the unlabeled data generated by Mixup provides good assistance. Our framework can be used to improve improve learning and performance. The SemiSeg dataset and the actual 3D CT images that we produced are used in a variety of tests, and the analysis shows that Mixup-Inf-Net semi-supervised outperforms most SOTA segmentation models learning framework model in this study, which also enhances segmentation performance. © 2023 SPIE.

METHODOLOGY for ASSESSING the FINANCIAL SECURITY of ENTERPRISES in the POST-PANDEMIC PERIOD of DIGITAL ECONOMY

The article considers the approaches to assessing the financial security of enterprises presented in the literature, determines the rsistance of the textile industry of Uzbekistan to the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the basis of statistical data, and reveals a significant differentiation of textile industry enterprises in terms of financial stability. Based on data on small enterprises in the textile industry of Uzbekistan, a method for assessing the financial security of an enterprise in the post-pandemic period is proposed and tested, taking into account the complex influence of non-financial parameters of economic security and assessing the deviations of the economic situation at a given enterprise from the patterns emerging in the relevant segment of the economy. In this research an econometric model was developed to determine the factors affecting the chemical industry and express their interrelationship, based on the conducted econometric analysis, the directions of development in our country were determined. According to the authors, it is necessary to continue these directions in order to ensure the economic security of industry enterprises in the country. © 2022 ACM.

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS FLARE FOLLOWING COVID-19 VACCINATION IN MALAYSIAN POPULATION AND ITS ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS

BackgroundFlare of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) following COVID-19 vaccination has been reported with a low occurrence observed in those patients with disease remission. However, no local data is available in our multi-ethnic Malaysian population.ObjectivesTo evaluate the prevalence of RA flare in Malaysian patients following COVID-19 vaccination and its associated risk factors.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study assessing RA flare based on patient-reported disease flare through self-administered questionnaires and physician-reported flare. Patient self-reported disease flare was defined as ‘a sudden worsening of rheumatology condition or arthritis within 1 month post-vaccination' while physician-reported flare was defined as ‘an increment of disease activity score 28-joint documented within 3 months post-vaccination‘ from either a scheduled or unscheduled clinic visit. A total of 186 RA patients attended the rheumatology clinic in Hospital Putrajaya from May to July 2022 who completed the primary COVID-19 vaccination under the Malaysian National Vaccination Programme were recruited. Demographic data, disease parameters including serology for rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA), cessation of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) around vaccination, type of vaccines and adverse events were examined using descriptive and univariate analyses.ResultsMajority (93%) of RA patients enrolled were female with a mean age of 58 years old (standard deviation, SD 12.2) and mean disease duration was 12 years (SD 7.7). More than half were seropositive (66% RF, 63% ACPA) with 47.4% had double seropositivity (RF and ACPA positive). All patients received DMARDs with the majority (71%) were on methotrexate (MTX), 21.5% were on leflunomide, 17.7% on other DMARDs, with a small proportion (14%) of patients were receiving prednisolone. Only 4.8% of patients were on biologics or targeted synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Half of the patients were in remission prior to vaccination. 62% of patients received Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the primary vaccine, followed by Sinovac-CoronaVac (24.6%) and Oxford-AstraZeneca (13.4%) vaccines. A booster dose had been administered to 80% of patients, of which 88.7% was Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. MTX therapy were discontinued in 39.4% of patients (n=52) post-vaccination for a week duration. The prevalence of RA flare was only 12.9% (n=24) in which 14 were self-reported and 10 were physician-reported flares (4 severe flare, 6 mild-moderate flare). Flare rates were higher during the first and second dose of vaccination with 29.2% respectively, and only 12.5% were reported after booster vaccination. Common vaccine adverse effects were fever (16.8%), myalgia (8.6%) and arthralgia (6.4%). There were no significant differences in the occurrence of flare post-vaccination between age, gender, disease activity prior to vaccination, types of vaccine, usage of MTX and prednisolone, and discontinuation of MTX post-vaccination. Although seropositivity did not exhibit statistically significant flare rate post vaccination, sub-analysis revealed four times higher rate of flare in those who has double positivity compared to seronegative RA patients (12% vs 4%).ConclusionPrevelance of RA flare post-COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysian RA population is low. No significant associated risk factors were identified although double seropositivity appeared to have higher number of flares.References[1]Bixio, R., Bertelle, D., Masia, M., Pistillo, F., Carletto, A. and Rossini, M. (2021), Incidence of Disease Flare After BNT162b2 Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis in Remission. ACR Open Rheumatology, 3: 832-833.[2]Li X, Tong X, Yeung WWY, Kuan P, Yum SHH, Chui CSL, Lai FTT, Wan EYF, Wong CKH, Chan EWY, Lau CS, Wong ICK. Two-dose COVID-19 vaccination and possible arthritis flare among patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Hong Kong. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022 Apr;81(4):564-568.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of InterestsNone Declared.

The Effect of Primary School Education on Preventive Behaviours during COVID-19 in Japan

Education plays a critical role in promoting preventive behaviours against the spread of pandemics. In Japan, handwashing education in primary schools was positively correlated with preventive behaviours against COVID-19 transmission for adults in 2020, during the early stages of COVID-19. The following year, the Tokyo Olympics were held in Japan, and a state of emergency was declared several times. Public perceptions of and risks associated with the pandemic changed drastically with the emergence of COVID-19 vaccines. We re-examined whether the effect of handwashing education on preventive behaviours persisted by covering a longer period of the COVID-19 pandemic than previous studies. A total of 26 surveys were conducted nearly once a month for 30 months from March 2020 (the early stage of COVID-19) to September 2022 in Japan. By corresponding with the same individuals across surveys, we comprehensively gathered data on preventive behaviours during this period. In addition, we asked about the handwashing education they had received in their primary school. We used the data to investigate how and to what degree school education is associated with pandemic-mitigating preventive behaviours. We found that handwashing education in primary school is positively associated with behaviours such as handwashing and mask wearing as a COVID-19 preventive measure but not related to staying at home. We observed a statistically significant difference in handwashing between adults who received childhood handwashing education and those who did not. This difference persisted throughout the study period. In comparison, the difference in mask wearing between the two groups was smaller but still statistically significant. Furthermore, there was no difference in staying at home between them. Childhood hygiene education has resulted in individuals engaging in handwashing and mask wearing to cope with COVID-19. Individuals can form sustainable development-related habits through childhood education.

Being a product consumer during the COVID-19 pandemic: profile of the Polish consumer in the organic dairy market

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to determine the profile of dairy product consumers in the organic market.Design/methodology/approachThe study was based on a survey questionnaire developed by the author and administered to a total of 1,108 respondents. The statistical analysis (including descriptive statistics, the analysis of the discriminative function and the Chi2 test was performed with the use of Statistica 13.1 PL. The respondents' gender was the factor behind the differences in how they behaved.FindingsThe consumers indicated the channels they rely upon to find information on organic dairy products;in addition to trusting the opinions of their family members and experts, they also use web platforms. Further, they specified their preferred locations for buying favorite products during the pandemic: specialized organic food shops, large distribution chains and online stores.Practical implicationsThese outcomes will help in identifying target consumer segments and information channels for specific information and advertising messages. They also form an important resource for developing some potential strategies which the supply chain stakeholders could implement to promote organic consumption of dairy products.Originality/valueThis study identifies consumers' preferred dairy products;motives for purchasing organic dairy products;barriers that consumers believe exist in the market;sources of knowledge about products purchased by consumers;and consumers' preferred channels for purchasing organic dairy products. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study of dairy product consumers in the organic market in Poland.

Turnover Intention Model: Self- Determination Theory Approach: Acces la Success

The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the influence of mental workload and person-organization fit on turnover intention, using basic psychological needs frustration (BPNF) as the intervening variable in the hospital in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta. The sample of this study is vocational nurse in the hospital in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta. The sample is carried out through survey from 153 respondents, which is processed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method. This study finds that mental workload does not have direct influence on turnover intention, but it is mediated (full mediation) by need for competence frustration and need for relatedness frustration. Person-organization fit has a positive influence on need for autonomy frustration. However, person-organization fit does not have an influence on turnover intention, and basic psychological needs does not mediate the relationship of these variables. This study also found that the category of mental workload is quite low, person-organization fit is low, basic psychological needs frustration is quite low, and turnover intention is low. Nurse has the extrinsic motivation of identified regulation, thus hospital leaders should bring their motivation from identified regulation to intrinsic motivation, through internalization by establishing supportive work environment, namely Islamic spiritual workplace (ISW), with basic psychological needs supporting in each of its dimension. This study is expected to be a reference for practitioners in human resource management, especially regarding human resource retention function through the implementation of ISW. ISW contributes to lower mental workload, the increase of person-organization fit, establishment of basic psychological need satisfaction, as well as the decrease of basic psychological needs frustration and turnover intention.

Investigation of demographic implicit discrimination and disparate impact in chest radiography image-based AI for COVID-19 severity prediction

It is important to evaluate medical imaging artificial intelligence (AI) models for possible implicit discrimination (ability to distinguish between subgroups not related to the specific clinical task of the AI model) and disparate impact (difference in outcome rate between subgroups). We studied potential implicit discrimination and disparate impact of a published deep learning/AI model for the prediction of ICU admission for COVID-19 within 24 hours of imaging. The IRB-approved, HIPAA-compliant dataset contained 8,357 chest radiography exams from February 2020-January 2022 (12% ICU admission within 24 hours) and was separated by patient into training, validation, and test sets (64%, 16%, 20% split). The AI output was evaluated in two demographic categories: sex assigned at birth (subgroups male and female) and self-reported race (subgroups Black/African-American and White). We failed to show statistical evidence that the model could implicitly discriminate between members of subgroups categorized by race based on prediction scores (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, AUC: median [95% confidence interval, CI]: 0.53 [0.48, 0.57]) but there was some marginal evidence of implicit discrimination between members of subgroups categorized by sex (AUC: 0.54 [0.51, 0.57]). No statistical evidence for disparate impact (DI) was observed between the race subgroups (i.e. the 95% CI of the ratio of the favorable outcome rate between two subgroups included one) for the example operating point of the maximized Youden index but some evidence of disparate impact to the male subgroup based on sex was observed. These results help develop evaluation of implicit discrimination and disparate impact of AI models in the context of decision thresholds © COPYRIGHT SPIE. Downloading of the is permitted for personal use only.

Opportunities for K-8 Students to Learn Statistics Created by States' Standards in the United States

Statistical literacy is key in this heavily polarized information age for an informed and critical citizenry to make sense of arguments in the media and society. The responsibility of developing statistical literacy is often left to the K-12 mathematics curriculum. In this article, we discuss our investigation of K-8 students' current opportunities to learn statistics created by state mathematics standards. We analyze the standards for alignment to the Guidelines for the Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE II) PreK-12 report and summarize the conceptual themes that emerged. We found that while states provide K-8 students opportunities to analyze and interpret data, they do not offer many opportunities for students to engage in formulating questions and collecting/considering data. We discuss the implications of the findings for policy makers and researchers and provide recommendations for policy makers and standards writers.

COVID ADVANCES CLINICAL TRIAL TRANSPARENCY

Growing public concerns about politics playing a role in vetting potential vaccines and therapies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted sponsors of leading clinical trials to make public their study protocols and statistical analysis plans. [...]AstraZeneca's timeframe for enrolling and assessing study participants was delayed by the need to address the report of a serious adverse event in its Phase III study. The disclosure of these usually confidential details on research endpoints, assessment timeframes, and study analysis plans aim to promote information sharing among vaccine developers, and also build public confidence.

Task-Technology Fit and ICT Use in Remote Work Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examines the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in remote work practice during the COVID-19 pandemic by integrating task-technology fit theory and the post-acceptance model of IS continuance into a research framework. In addition, it operationalizes the technological characteristics of TTF (task-technology fit) with the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory. The methodology to test the research model takes support from the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method using a sample of 320 employees. The results show that TAM significantly explains TTF. Furthermore, there is a positive impact of ICT use on individual and organizational performance. User satisfaction has the most significant effect on individual performance, organizational performance, and IS continuance intention. The authors provide some managerial implications for addressing the challenges of remote work related to ICT disruptions for the post-COVID-19 period.

Revisiting online academic networks within the COVID-19 pandemic – From the intellectual capital of knowledge networks towards institutional knowledge capitalization

Purpose: The study sets out to explore the mediating role of intellectual capital (IC) dimensions (i.e. human, structural and relational) between scholars' affiliation to online academic networks and institutional knowledge capitalization. Online academic networks are tackled through the lens of knowledge networks which have been of primary importance for new relevant knowledge acquisition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire-based survey of 305 academics from 35 different countries was conducted from July to December 2021, employing a partial least squares structural equation modelling technique. The database was initially filtered to ensure the adequacy of the sample, and data were analyzed using the statistics software package SmartPLS 3.0. Findings: Evidence was brought forward that the proposed conceptual model accounted for 52.5% of the variance in institutional knowledge capitalization, the structural and relational capital availed by knowledge networks exerting strong positive influence on the dependent variable. Research limitations/implications: The study has both research and managerial implications in that it approaches a topical phenomenon, namely the capitalization of online academic networks in the COVID-19 context, which has dramatically altered the way that research and teaching are conducted worldwide. Originality/value: The most important contribution of the paper resides in the comprehensive research model advanced which covers individual, organizational and network multifaced layers, starting with the personal and institutional motives to join a specialized network, continuing with the opportunities provided by knowledge networks in terms of intellectual capital harnessing, and ending with its influence on higher education organizations. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Intellectual Capital is the property of Emerald Publishing Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Identifying and evaluating COVID-19 effects on short-term statistics

The economic downturn due to lockdown measures at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis raised the question whether any adaptations to the short-term statistics (STS) were needed to ensure accurate and relevant output. We limit ourselves to STS on turnover and related variables like volume of production. We looked into the different stages of the production process - from data collection to output - and anticipated a number of potential lockdown effects. With respect to output relevance, there was an increased interest in faster and specific output. With respect to the output accuracy, we took measures to check whether the anticipated effects really occurred and measures to mitigate the consequences. Examples of such measures are the calculation of an additional editing score function, alternative imputations and extensions of the regular analysis step. In this paper we give an overview of the anticipated effects, the subsequent measures that we took, we evaluate to what extent the anticipated effects occurred in practice and we mention some unforeseen effects. We end this paper by discussing to what extent the developed measures are also useful to keep after the economy has recovered. © 2023 - IOS Press. All rights reserved.

ASSOCIATION OF URIC ACID LEVELS WITH COVID-19 SEVERITY DURING 2020 AND 2021 YEARS

BackgroundThe decrease in uric acid levels attracts more and more attention from clinicians every year [1]. In particular, a factor such as Covid-19 can cause a significant decrease in uric acid due to its increased excretion by the kidneys [2]. This retrospective study aimed to determine changes in the level of uric acid in different years, which allows us to assume the influence of different strains of Covid-19 on uric acid.ObjectivesTo analyze the relationship between uric acid levels through admission to the hospital and Covid-19 severity during 2020 and 2021 years.MethodsOur retrospective study includes 127 hospitalized patients with confirmed Covid-19 in 2021 and 63 patients in 2020 (only patients who didn't receive urate-lowering therapy). Most patients were over 45 years old (84,2% vs 90,5%), women and men almost equally. The severity of Covid-19 we determined by the type and presence of oxygen support ((1) without O2, (2) O2 by mask or nasal cannula, (3) continuous positive airway pressure, (4) positive bi-pressure in the airways or high-flow oxygen, (5) invasive ventilation). A chi-squared test and comparison of means were used.ResultsWe cannot establish the dependence of the uric acid level on the severity of the course of the Covid-19 disease, which is determined by the type of oxygen support in both 2020 and 2021. For example, in 2021, the difference between the least severe type (without O2) and the most severe (invasive ventilation) was almost the same (246.2 vs 277.12 µmol/L), as between O2 by mask or nasal cannula and positive bi-pressure in the airways or high-flow oxygen (257 vs 239.1 µmol/L). However, it was established that in 2020, higher indicators of the level of uric acid were observed for all types of oxygen support. For example, for patients who were without O2, it is higher by 72.95 µmol/L, which is statistically significant. In addition, we analyzed the dependence of the uric acid level on such indicators as the patient's age, the level of lymphocytes, C-reactive protein, and LDH at admission to the hospital. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the dependence is present for the LDH indicator (the lower the LDH, the higher the uric acid: chi-square at the level of 0.05), and for all other indicators, it was absent in 2021. In 2020, a positive relationship between CRP, LDH, and uric acid levels was also observed.ConclusionAlthough there is a trend towards lower uric acid levels in the background of Covid-19, it is not a marker of a severe disease course. The lower uric acid levels in 2021 are likely due to a feature of the strains circulating in 2021 that caused more significant renal excretion of uric acid.References[1]Hu F, Guo Y, Lin J, Zeng Y, Wang J, Li M, Cong L. Association of serum uric acid levels with COVID-19 severity. BMC Endocr Disord. 2021 May 8;21(1):97. DOI: 10.1186/s12902-021-00745-2. PMID: 33964922;PMCID: PMC8106517.[2]Dufour I, Werion A, Belkhir L, Wisniewska A, Perrot M, De Greef J, Schmit G, Yombi JC, Wittebole X, Laterre PF, Jadoul M, Gérard L, Morelle J;CUSL COVID-19 Research Group. Serum uric acid, disease severity, and outcomes in COVID-19. Crit Care. 2021 Jun 14;25(1):212. DOI: 10.1186/s13054-021-03616-3. PMID: 34127048;PMCID: PMC8201458.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of InterestsNone Declared.

New Paradigm: HR Professional Transformation in Manufacturing Company: Acces la Success

This study aimed to optimize the line managers performances in the human resources (HR) division in answering the role of the HR management function problem in Medan City Manufacturing Company. The novelty proposed is a concept of HR management called "Human Resources Professional Transformation". Specifically, this concept discussed the ability of HR division line managers to make adaptive changes to the company's business-oriented functional divisions with managerial competence, commitment, innovation capability, and readiness for changes towards work performance. The population of this research was the line manager of the HR division, totaling 185 respondents. The sampling technique used a probability sampling approach with simple random sampling through the slovin formula, totaling 126 respondents. The analytical tool used is structural equation software through the SmartPLS application program. The results showed that managerial competence, commitment, innovation capability had a positive and significant effect through the HR professional transformation on the performance of line managers in the HR division. Meanwhile, readiness for change has a positive and insignificant effect on the HR Professional Transformation. Readiness for change also has a positive and insignificant effect on the Line Managers Performances in the Human Resources Division through HR Professional Transformation. Based on the suitability test of the research model, it proved that the HR Professional Transformation can answer the problem of the role of the management function to improve the line managers performances in the HR division with managerial competence, commitment, innovation capability, and readiness for change of 0.907.

Social cash assistance for food security during a disaster: lesson learned from Indonesia

There was a change in the environment and food security threat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries, including Indonesia, are forced to allocate funds to reduce the risk of this disaster. The Government Republic of Indonesia, through the Ministry of Social Affairs, has launched a Social Cash Assistance Program for 10 million families affected by COVID-19. This study aims to identify how families affected by COVID-19 take advantage of this social cash assistance. The study was conducted on the beneficiaries of social assistance, in cash transfer of IDR 600,000 (USD 40), per month, for three months. This study involved 2290 beneficiaries as respondents spread across 12 provinces. The sampling technique was the Cohen Manion Morrison Table by proportional stratified random sampling. The findings show that (1) 99% of cash assistance is used for basic needs, especially for food, and (2) cash assistance could be used for basic needs for around two to three weeks, thereby strengthening food security. Recommendations are submitted based on the results of this study related to social cash assistance and food security. The first is that this assistance still needs to be continued until the COVID-19 pandemic is over. It is to help families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic meet their daily needs. Second, most respondents do not have a fixed income during the pandemic, so providing capital and business startups are needed to increase family income sustainably to maintain food security.

Youth Compliance Level in Covid-19 Prevention Efforts in Bangkalan Regency

Introduction: The covid-19 disease can be prevented, including by knowledge and public compliance, especially with adolescents in efforts to prevent Covid-19 disease. A preliminary survey of 40 adolescents showed that 30% of teenagers are knowledgeable and 60% of teenagers in Bangkalan are non-compliant in covid-19 prevention efforts. This study aimed to determine the level of compliance to prevent Covid-19. Methods: This research was conducted using a quantitative descriptive survey method. The population and sample were taken by simple random sampling, namely, all adolescents aged 14-21 years in Bangkalan as many as 200 respondents. The instrument uses a questionnaire about Covid-19 prevention efforts. Quantitative data analysis by calculating the frequency of values in a variable. Results: The results showed that 66% of adolescents washed their hands, 95.5% stated that they already knew how to wash their hands properly, and 96.5% used clean water and soap to wash their hands. All adolescents still leave the house, 46% avoid crowds and 97% have kept their distance. 96.5% of adolescents used masks when leaving the house. 84.5% of respondents exercised during a pandemic. 64% of respondents consume nutritious food, exercise, and add vitamins to maintain their immunity, and 59% wear masks, wash their hands and keep a suitable distance health protocol as an effort to prevent Covid-19. Conclusion: The level of adolescent adherence is very good in terms of all aspects of the efforts to prevent Covid-19 except for the physical distancing aspect, so there is a need for increased socialization to eliminate the stigma about physical distancing. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Malaysian Journal of Medicine & Health Sciences is the property of Universiti Putra Malaysia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF DAZODALIBEP (VIB4920/HZN4920) IN SUBJECTS WITH SJÖGREN'S SYNDROME: A PHASE 2, RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, PROOF OF CONCEPT STUDY

BackgroundSjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease affecting exocrine glands, primarily the salivary and tear glands, with potentially severe manifestations in multiple organs. No approved disease-modifying therapies exist. Dazodalibep (DAZ) is a biologic antagonist of CD40L.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of DAZ therapy in adult SS subjects with moderate-to-high systemic disease activity (NCT04129164).MethodsWe conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study to evaluate DAZ therapy in adult SS subjects with moderate-to-high systemic disease activity, as defined by a EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI) score ≥ 5. Eligible subjects were randomized 1:1 to receive intravenous DAZ 1500 mg or placebo (PBO) Q2W x 3 doses, then Q4W x 4 additional doses. Starting on Day 169, subjects initially randomized to DAZ received PBO Q4W x 5 doses and subjects randomized to PBO received DAZ Q4W x 5 doses and were then followed for 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was the change from Baseline in ESSDAI at Day 169. Safety assessments included the incidence of adverse (AEs), serious AEs (SAEs), and AEs of special interest (AESIs).ResultsThe 74 randomized subjects all received ≥1 dose of study medication (DAZ, N=36;PBO, N=38). The baseline demographics and disease characteristics were balanced between the two groups. The change from Baseline to Day 169 in ESSDAI score (LS mean ± SE), was -6.3 ± 0.6 in DAZ-treated subjects compared to -4.1 ± 0.6 in the PBO group, a difference of -2.2 (p = 0.0167). Compared to the PBO group, the DAZ group showed positive trends in the EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Patient Reported Index score, and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue score at Day 169. A post-hoc responder analysis of subjects achieving high levels (5 and 6 points) of improvement on ESSDAI favored DAZ (61.1% and 60.0%) over PBO (35.1% and 34.3%).The reported AEs were generally mild through Day 169 and similar in frequency between treatment groups. The most frequently reported AEs occurring in ≥5% of DAZ-treated subjects and >PBO were COVID-19, diarrhea, dizziness, ligament sprain, upper respiratory tract infection, contusion, device allergy, fatigue, hypertension, and oropharyngeal pain. Two SAEs were reported in a single DAZ-treated subject: this subject was a 59-year-old female who experienced a grade 3 SAE of COVID-19 infection and later died of unknown cause 46 days after last administration of DAZ (12 days after COVID-19 diagnosis). There was a single AESI of herpes zoster in a DAZ-treated subject.ConclusionDAZ is a potential new therapy for the treatment of systemic disease activity in patients with SS. SS subjects with moderate-to-high systemic disease receiving DAZ experienced a statistically significant reduction in disease activity relative to PBO as measured by the improvement in ESSDAI score. Except for a case of severe COVID-19 infection, DAZ therapy in SS subjects appeared to be well tolerated. Larger controlled trials of DAZ therapy for SS are warranted to further explore its safety profile and confirm its clinical efficacy.Table 1.Efficacy and Safety DataPBO N=38DAZ 1500 mg N=36EfficacyΔESSDAI, LS mean (SE) †-4.1 (0.6)-6.3 (0.6)*ΔESSPRI, LS mean (SE) †-1.12 (0.29)-1.80 (0.31)ΔFACIT-Fatigue, LS mean (SE) †5.8 (1.6)8.1 (1.6)AE Summary, n (%)≥1 AE23 (60.5)28 (77.8)≥1 related AE8 (21)10 (27.8)≥1 SAE01 (2.8)≥1 related SAE00≥1 AE leading to discontinuation00≥1 AESI01 (2.8)≥1 Death01 (2.8)Efficacy endpoints as of Day 169;† Analyzed using MMRM;Comparisons vs PBO;*p<0.05;AE summaries based on AEs that occurred through Day 169;AE, adverse event;AESI, adverse event of special interest;ESSDAI, EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index;ESSPRI, EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Patient Reported Index;FACIT-Fatigue, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue;PBO, placebo;SAE, serious adverse eventFigure 1.AcknowledgementsFunded by Horizon herapeutics. Medical writing support provided by B Lujan, PhD, an employee of Horizon Therapeutics.Disclosure of InterestsE. William St. Clair Consultant of: Horizon Therapeutics, Bristol Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Resolve Therapeutics, Sonoma Biotherapeutics. Royalties: UpToDate, Liangwei Wang Shareholder of: Horizon Therapeutics, Employee of: Horizon Therapeutics, Ilias Alevizos Shareholder of: Horizon Therapeutics, Employee of: Horizon Therapeutics, William Rees Shareholder of: Horizon Therapeutics, Employee of: Horizon Therapeutics, Alan Baer Consultant of: Bristol Myers Squibb, Wan Fai Ng Consultant of: Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbvie, BMS, Sanofi, MedImmune, Janssen and UCB, Ghaith Noaiseh Consultant of: Novartis, Chiara Baldini Consultant of: GSK, and Sanofi.

Perception and Practice Towards Hand Hygiene during Pandemic among Patients Visiting OPD in A Private Institution

One of the most significant and well-publicized prevention practises for Covid 19 is hand cleanliness. Face masks and social withdrawal are useless without good hand hygiene. The healthcare professionals can only intervene and raise awareness to enhance the public's hand hygiene practises after they are aware of the public's perceptions of and barriers to hand hygiene. A private dental facility had 150 outpatients participate in this cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Ten questions addressing various facets of hand hygiene and perceived obstacles made up the survey. The information from Google Forms was then imported into SPSS Version 15 using Excel. Data were presented as frequencies and percentages after the chi square test, and a p value of 0.05 or less was regarded as statistically significant.. In our study, 92.62 percent of outpatients at a private facility said that they continue to take measures against COVID19. 83.89% of our patients agreed that good hand hygiene habits are crucial for preventing COVID19. Whereas 38.26% of outpatients claimed to only wash their hands for 30 seconds, 33.56% of outpatients claimed to wash their hands for a full minute. In contrast to the 48.32 percent who said hand sanitizer is best and important for hand hygiene, 51.68 percent of outpatients said soap and water is best and essential for hand hygiene. According to the study's findings, the participants had a reasonable understanding of hand hygiene and its significance. Yet, there is a need for greater awareness of the finishing details on touch surfaces. Thus, it is advised that media-based propaganda and awareness campaigns have a positive impact and should be kept up, with a stronger focus on the finer points. © 2023 IEEE.

Assessing Robustness of a Deep Learning Model for COVID-19 Classification on Chest Radiographs

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a dramatic impact on human life, medical systems, and financial resources. Due to the disease's pervasive nature, many different and interdisciplinary fields of research pivoted to study the disease. For example, deep learning (DL) techniques were employed early to assess patient diagnosis and prognosis from chest radiographs (CXRs) and computed tomography (CT) scans. While the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the medical sector has displayed promising results, DL may suffer from lack of reproducibility and generalizability. In this study, the robustness of a pre-trained DL model utilizing the DenseNet-121 architecture was evaluated by using a larger collection of CXRs from the same institution that provided the original model with its test and training datasets. The current test set contained a larger span of dates, incorporated different strains of the virus, and included different immunization statuses. Considering differences in these factors, model performance between the original and current test sets was evaluated using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC AUC) [95% CI]. Statistical comparisons were performed using the Delong, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. Uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) was used to help visualize whether underlying causes were responsible for differences in performance between test sets. In the task of classifying between COVID-positive and COVID-negative patients, the DL model achieved an AUC of 0.67 [0.65, 0.70], compared with the original performance of 0.76 [0.73, 0.79]. The results of this study suggest that underlying biases or overfitting may hinder performance when generalizing the model. © 2023 SPIE.