bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unlocking the Potential of the Metaverse
Authors: Daradkeh Mohammad
Published: April 2023

This chapter explores the potential of the metaverse as an enabling technology for the development of intelligent libraries. The metaverse has provided new opportunities for growth and challenges to the competencies of intelligent librarians. The chapter evaluates the advantages of the metaverse and its supporting technologies, emphasizing its central role in propelling libraries towards complete intelligence. The impact of the metaverse on various aspects of library operations, including collection management, reading spaces, cultural promotion, reading experiences, and special user services, is analyzed. The chapter concludes that intelligent libraries must embrace this opportunity to pioneer a new form of immersive experiences, catalyzing a transformative breakthrough in the evolution of these institutions, driven by the diverse digital technologies of the metaverse. This exploration of the transformation of the intelligent library service model under the perspective of the metaverse is significant in driving the development of these institutions and enhancing their services.
Investigating the Impact of Joining a Business Management Program on Student Entrepreneurship Intentions
Authors: Mishra Amitabh , Pandey Chandi Prashad , Bhushan Padam
Published: April 2023

The study in hand aimed towards investigating the influence of business management program on intentions to opt entrepreneurship as career among undergraduate university students. The study was longitudinal in nature and data were collected in two phases. In phase I, students were interviewed at the time of joining the undergraduate business management program. That is, at the time of admission or during orientation classes. In phase II, same students were interviewed with same set of questions after the completion of one year in the university BBA program. The study was based on Azjen's theory of planned behavior (TPB) and investigated the intentions to opt entrepreneurship as career among university students. The study found a significant change in three attitude components as well as entrepreneurial intentions after joining the business management program. Further, subjective norms i.e., pressure from society, family, friends etc., were identified as most important factor influencing entrepreneurial intentions among undergraduate business management students in India.
Past, Present, and Future of Cultural Marketing
Authors: Sharma Nidhi , Arora Nilesh
Published: April 2023

All facets of human behavior are profoundly influenced by culture. The fact that culture is inherently changing makes it more difficult to comprehend how it affects people. There is a scarcity of research available that details the evolution and current state of cultural marketing study. Bibliometric analysis was used in this study to examine research in the field of cultural marketing. A total of 197 publications related to cultural marketing between 2001 and 2022 were identified. The data was gathered from Scopus database. To find out the current trends, key contributors, and emerging themes in domain of cultural marketing, bibliographic coupling, citation, co-word, co-citation analysis, and thematic maps techniques were used. All the analyses were done using the VOSviewer software and Bibliometrix package from R software. According to the findings, future study might be done on the emerging themes of marketing commerce. However, the current study used one database i.e., Scopus, so future studies can use other databases like Web of Science that will broaden the study's focus.
Social Commerce and Metaverse in a New Virtual World
Authors: Grover Abhay , Arora Nilesh , Sharma Pooja
Published: April 2023

Social commerce platforms are used for a variety of purposes including networking, shopping, and purchasing goods and services from others, while metaverse platform enables users to explore virtual 3D worlds and interact with other users in these environments. Although there are multiple benefits to embracing social commerce and metaverse platforms, regrettably these platforms sometimes lead to harassment, trolling, or abuse. Women face the risk of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, sexual harassment, graphic imagery, and hate speech while engaging in activities on social commerce or metaverse platforms. There are various studies available that have examined impulse buying behavior and attitudes toward social commerce or metaverse, but hardly any study is available that studied the risk and social support aspects about the adoption of these new emerging virtual platforms. Therefore, this study is an attempt to fill the research gap. It aims to study the influence of perceived risk and social support on women's adoption intentions toward social commerce and metaverse platforms.
Strategic Management Accounting on Competitive Advantage
Authors: Ditkaew Kanthana
Published: April 2023

This study investigates the effect of business strategy on strategic management accounting (SMA) and its indirect effect on the competitive advantage of the rice export business in Thailand. A total of 215 major rice export businesses in Thailand in 2022 are chosen as the sample population, and data are collected. The results of the structural equation model (SEM) of the analysis model are found using an index that examines the absolute quality-of-fit measure. Additionally, the results of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis, path coefficients, and hypothesis testing show that business strategy positively affects SMA. In addition, SMA plays a positive and significant role in competitive advantage. As for the theoretical contribution, conceptual SMA is explained by a resource-based view that focuses on resources influence on sustainable performance through competitive advantage. It is hoped that the present study will contribute significantly to the managerial contribution of rice export businesses, as SMA could support organizations in creating a competitive advantage.
Structure Graph Refined Information Propagate Network for Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis
Authors: Huang Weihao , Cai Shaohua , Li Haoran , Cai Qianhua
Published: April 2023

The main task of aspect-based sentiment analysis is to determine the sentiment polarity of a given aspect in the sentence. A major issue lies in identifying the aspect sentiment is to establish the relationship between the aspect and its opinion words. The application of syntactic dependency trees is one such resolution. However, the widely-used dependency parsers still have challenges in obtaining a solid sentiment classification result. In this work, an information propagation graph convolutional network based on syntactic structure optimization is proposed on the task of ABSA. To further complement the syntactic information, the semantic information is incorporated to learn the representations using graph information propagation mechanism. In addition, the effects of syntactic and semantic information are adapted via feature separation. Experimental results on three benchmark datasets show that the proposed model achieves satisfying performance against the state-of-the-art methods, indicating that the model can precisely build the relation between aspect and its context words.
Assessing the Predictive Performance of Machine Learning in Direct Marketing Response
Authors: Choi Youngkeun , Choi Jae W.
Published: April 2023

This paper intends to better understand the pre-exercise of modeling for direct marketing response prediction and assess the predictive performance of machine learning. For this, the authors are using a machine learning technique in a dataset of direct marketing, which is available at IBM Watson Analytics in the IBM community. In the results, first, among all variables, customer lifetime value, coverage, employment status, income, marital status, monthly premium auto, months since last claim, months since policy inception, renew offer type, and the total claim amount is shown to influence direct marketing response. However, others have no significance. Second, for the full model, the accuracy rate is 0.864, which implies that the error rate is 0.136. Among the patients who predicted not having a direct marketing response, the accuracy that would not have a direct marketing response was 87.23%, and the accuracy that had a direct marketing response was 66.34% among the patients predicted to have a direct marketing response.
Automatic Mapping of Physical Urban Problems Using Remotely Sensed Imagery
Authors: Lempesis Nikolaos
Published: April 2023

While big cities are expected to exercise cost-effective, evidence-based planning, many are under reactive management, facing simultaneous problems and limited resources. This project develops a proof-of-concept workflow for the automatic monitoring of physical urban problems by combining remote sensing for detection and cartography for visualization. The example problem treated was the obstructive parking of vehicles on pavements as proxy for restricted urban mobility. Nine aerial images of UK urban areas were processed by a deep learning object detector of standard cars, achieving an F-score of 70.72%. Two large scale map reports of 200m wide areas were produced, featuring car detections and overlaps with topographic mapping features. Complementary analysis included the calculation of total detection window overlap per roadside pavement and its change with time. The proposed method combines uniform city-wide coverage with fast interpretation and can inspire the development of professional urban planning tools.
Group Cooperative Teaching Design With Knowledge Graphs in Project-Driven Learning
Authors: Liu Chunhong , Zhang Jieyu , Zhang Haoyang , Li Xiaoniu , Zhang En
Published: April 2023

Using the educational knowledge graph to express the logical characteristics of knowledge, this paper takes project-driven learning in the teaching of “Information Technology in Secondary Schools” as an example and studies the group cooperative teaching mode based on the educational knowledge graph. The relationship between knowledge points in subject courses is described in the form of a knowledge graph, and the learning activities of coordinating the cooperation of each group are completed through the integration process of the knowledge graph. The use of a group cooperation teaching mode in the classroom can not only build a collaborative knowledge system between teachers and students but also help to carry out project-driven learning. The application of the knowledge graph of “Information Technology in Middle School” in the classroom can better show the logic between knowledge, and its graphical structure can help students to structure the knowledge they have learned.
Challenges of Teaching and Learning Mathematics Courses in Online Platforms
Authors: Denbel Dejene Girma
Published: April 2023

The study investigated the challenges encountered by mathematics postgraduate students' learning courses via online platforms. An online survey included 31 postgraduate mathematics students. Mean responses and regression analysis were used for data evaluation. The results indicate social-related challenges are the most important factor to learn mathematics in an online platform, although the challenges including accessibility of online learning resource, course nature, online learning skill, and instructor-related challenges are confirmed with a higher mean response. Moreover, a multiple regression analysis has indicated that social and instructor related challenges are significant predictors of students' overall expectation of learning mathematics courses on the online platform. The study concluded that students prefer learning mathematics courses via face-to-face approach over online platforms, and students do not want to extend semester courses with an online approach. From the finding, adapting a blended approach is recommended for a similar situation of the current study.
Improving Organizational Sustainable Performance of Organizations Through Green Training
Authors: Yadav Preksha , Mathew Jain
Published: April 2023

It is necessary to equip employees with green abilities as well as to develop their dedication towards green behaviour, in order to improve an organization's environmental performance. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the direct impact of green training on organizational environmental performance (OEP) and the mediating effect of organizational citizenship behaviour on the environment (OCBE). The study is based on responses from 107 employees of the IT sector in India. The findings suggest that green training has a significant positive impact on the organizational environmental performance, and that the impact is strengthened by organizational citizenship behaviour towards the environment. The findings are of particular importance given the growing importance of sustainability in the organizational context.
Modelling Urbanization, Economic Growth, and Ecological Footprint Using Environment Kuznets' Curve in Selected Asian Countries
Authors: Kaur Ramanpreet , Kaur Tushinder Preet
Published: April 2023

This paper examines the relationship between urbanization, economic growth, and environmental quality using environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The hypothesized link is tested using time-series analysis of 10 selected Asian countries over the period 1990–2018. First, the EKC hypothesis is tested through examining the relationship between EF, GDP, and URB. Further, the long-run relationship between EF, URB, and GDP is investigated using a vector error correction model. It was found that there is a cointegrated relationship between the variables in the countries China, Malaysia, and Thailand. Additionally, almost all error correction terms are correct in sign and are significant, which implies that some percentage of disequilibrium in EF in the previous year adjusts back to the long-run equilibrium in the current year. Therefore, an efficient trade-off between environmental protection and economic benefits should be taken, and EF should be reduced through changing consumption patterns, improving the efficiency of use of resources and cleaner technology choices.
The Analysis of Enterprise Improvement in Global Commodity Price Prediction Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Huang Anzhong , Chen Hong , Hu Xuan , Dai Luote
Published: April 2023

The article expects to solve the traditional econometric statistical model, shallow machine learning algorithm, and many limitations in learning the nonlinear relationship of related indicators affecting commodity futures price trend. This article proposes a neural network commodity futures price prediction model by the mixture of convolutional neural networks (CNN) and gated recurrent unit (GRU). Firstly, the dimension reduction algorithm of multidimensional data by principal component analysis (PCA) is used. Through linear transformation, the original variables with correlation are transformed into a set of new linear irrelevant variables, and the high-dimensional time series data of commodity futures are reduced. Secondly, the variable features are extracted from the CNN network module in the CNN-GRU model, and the GRU network module learns the periodicity and trend of the original data. Finally, the full connection layer outputs the forecast results of commodity futures price.
Exploring the Over-Time Variation in Customer Concerns on Sharing Economy Services
Authors: Bai Shizhen , Bi Xinrui , Han Chunjia , Yang Mu , He Hao
Published: April 2023

The sharing economy represented by Airbnb has evolved rapidly. It is particularly important to identify and understand how consumer concerns change over time. As a result, this study employs structural topic modelling using room type and time as covariates to extract topics from 896,658 Airbnb reviews in London and to observe the variation in the prevalence of topics over time. The findings show that the topic proportion changed relatively sharply in the early years of Airbnb (2010-2013) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022), but relatively smoothly in the middle period (2014-2019). This research also discovered that the proportion of topics on customers' special experiences has been decreasing while the proportion of topics on their overall experience has been increasing. This shift could be attributed to an increase in the number of professional hosts, which has accelerated the standardisation of the Airbnb service.
Analysis of the Configuration and Path of Factors Influencing the Performance of High-Tech Industries
Authors: Wei Wenwan , Yang Xinyu , Chen Wan
Published: April 2023

Exploring the joint effects factors affecting high-technology industries' performance is crucial to enhancing the country's overall strength. However, maintaining high industry performance levels has always been a complex issue. The literature mainly focuses on the net effects of single factors. In that case, the authors put forward a configurational framework that is the performance of high-tech industries, and does not depend on a single condition. Based on a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of high-tech industry performance across Chinese provinces, the authors identify eight conditions affecting industry performance under four latitudes – economic environment, scientific research, technological progress, and government support. The results show that high and non-high levels of performance can be achieved through the different configurations of antecedents. Both economic development and science and technology inputs play an irreplaceable role in industrial performance.
A comparative study of two single-stage oral mucosal substitution urethroplasty (Kulkarni and Asopa) in the surgical treatments of lichen sclerosus urethral strictures
Authors: Wan Xiang , Yao Hai-Jun , Xie Min-Kai , Ni Jian-Shu , Gao Da-Jun , Wang Zhong , Xu Bin , Zheng Da-Chao
Published: April 2023

Long-segment lichen sclerosus (LS) urethral stricture is a challenge for urologists. Limited data are available for surgeons to make a surgical decision between Kulkarni and Asopa urethroplasty. In this retrospective study, we investigated the outcomes of these two procedures in patients with LS urethral stricture. Between January 2015 and December 2020, 77 patients with LS urethral stricture underwent Kulkarni and Asopa procedures for urethroplasty in the Department of Urology, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (Shanghai, China). Of the 77 patients, 42 (54.5%) underwent the Asopa procedure and 35 (45.5%) underwent the Kulkarni procedure. The overall complication rate was 34.2% in the Kulkarni group and 19.0% in the Asopa group, and no difference was observed (P = 0.105). Among the complications, no statistical difference was observed in the incidence of urethral stricture recurrence (P = 0.724) or glans dehiscence (P = 0.246) except for postoperative meatus stenosis (P = 0.020). However, the recurrence-free survival rate between the two procedures was significantly different (P = 0.016). Cox survival analysis showed that antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy use (P = 0.020), diabetes (P = 0.003), current/former smoking (P = 0.019), coronary heart disease (P < 0.001), and stricture length (P = 0.028) may lead to a higher hazard ratio of complications. Even so, these two techniques can still provide acceptable results with their own advantages in the surgical treatment of LS urethral strictures. The surgical alternative should be considered comprehensively according to the patient characteristics and surgeon preferences. Moreover, our results showed that antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy use, diabetes, coronary heart disease, current/former smoking, and stricture length may be contributing factors of complications. Therefore, patients with LS are advised to undergo early interventions for better therapeutic effects.
Primary Mucosal Melanoma Masquerading as Nasal Polyp: A Diagnostic Challenge
Authors: Raj Swati , Gupta Mamta , Singh Monika , Mittal Richa , Thapliyal Naveen
Published: April 2023

Nasal mucosal melanoma (MM) is a rare and aggressive tumor, first described by Lucke in 1869. It accounts for 0.5%–2% of all melanomas. Its incidence is more in fair skinned individuals, and most commonly seen in the mean age of 60 years with slight male predominance. MMs are associated with poor prognosis and overall less survival rates as symptoms develop slowly; therefore, many patients are lately diagnosed. An Indian female in her early 50s came to the ear, nose, and throat outpatient department with complaints of bleeding from her nose for 20 days and mass in the right nasal cavity. On examination, a dirty black mass arising from the septum and deviated nasal septum to the right side were noted on rhinoscopy. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed features of nasal polyp. Fine-needle aspiration cytology was performed and found to be inconclusive. A punch biopsy was done and sent for histopathological examination (HPE), tiny biopsy showed features suggestive of melanosis with focal atypia. After 3 months, the patient reported with recurrence of nasal mass that was progressive in size. An excision biopsy was performed by endoscopic surgery under local anesthesia and sent for HPE. To confirm the diagnosis, immunohistochemistry was performed by application of S100, HMB45, and vimentin (after bleach treatment) showed diffuse strong intensity nuclear and cytoplasmic positivity in all pigmented cells. Thereafter, diagnosis of “Nasal mucosal melanoma” was awarded.
Advocating workplace learning in medical education
Authors: Shrivastava Saurabh RamBihariLal , Lubis Rizki Indah Putri
Published: April 2023

The journey of a medical student during the undergraduate training period is quite challenging as they are expected to become competent in a wide range of attributes which are essential to a future health-care professional. It is quite obvious that considering the complex nature of attributes that a medical student must acquire, we must expose them to a number of learning opportunities, preferably in their workplace settings. Various learning theories have explained the ways, in which a medical student can learn various skills in workplace settings. However, it is the responsibility of the teacher to optimize the learning experience. Workplace learning in the field of medicine carries immense potential and offers a crucial opportunity for teachers to shape the career of medical students, who will be our future health-care providers. To conclude, workplace learning is an indispensable component of the medical curriculum. As we move forward in our global vision to improve the health indicators and quality of life of the members of the community, we have to strengthen workplace learning across all medical institutions worldwide and this will essentially require the support of all the stakeholders.
Diffusion-weighted imaging in differentiating benign versus malignant lymphadenopathy
Authors: Sumith K. M. , Vinoth T. , Jenikar P. , Kumar M. Vasantha
Published: April 2023

Background:

Lymphadenopathy requires differentiation into benign and malignant for appropriate management. The current study was done to find out if diffusion-weighted images and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) will be able to differentiate benign from malignant cervical lymphadenopathy.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study was done in the Department of Radiology at Sri Ramachandra Medical College from April 2016 to August 2018. A total of 54 patients with a history of lymphadenopathy were recruited. Histopathological examination (HPE) and magnetic resonance imaging were done for all patients after a complete history and physical examination. The ADC was correlated with HPE in differentiating benign and malignant lymphadenopathy.

Results:

Majority (46.30%) were in the age group of 51 years and above. Twenty-eight (51.85%) had benign, whereas 26 (48.15%) had malignant lesions. There was a statistically significant difference between the nature of the lesion in ADC value ([× 10–3 mm2/s] [P < 0.001]). The ADC had good predictive validity in predicting malignancy, as indicated by the area under the curve of 0.904 (95% confidence interval 0.821 to 0.987, P < 0.001).

Conclusion:

ADC values can be used as a complementary tool in assessing the malignant potential of lymph nodes in various conditions and hence play an essential role in the further course of management.
Morphological variations and biometrics of ear
Authors: Jan Shah Sumaya , Sobiya  , Shah Bashir Ahmad , Saleem Sheikh Mohd
Published: April 2023

Background:

Anthropometric data for a specific population is always required for identification, product design, ear reconstruction, and manufacture of ear-related instruments. This study aimed to determine the anthropometric measures of the external ear and compare them on both the sides and in either sex among the ethnic Kashmiri population.

Methods:

The study sample had 98 boys and 102 females aged 18–25. Subjects with a history of craniofacial trauma, ear diseases, congenital defects, or ear surgery were excluded from the study after racial confirmation. A single investigator took all measurements on both the ears using a standard digital Vernier's caliper capable of measuring to the nearest 0.1 mm.

Results:

It is observed that the total ear width (EW) in the right ear ranged from 2.92 ± 0.19 to 3.12 ± 0.22 in cm. The mean EW on the left ear was found more significant than on the right side in the studied population. The mean TEH among the males in the right ear was found to be 6.02 ± 0.34, while in the left, it was 5.78 ± 0.33. Furthermore, the mean EW among the females on the right side was 2.88 ± 0.21 compared to 2.85 ± 1.25 for the left and right ears respectively. The association was found to be significant (P ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion:

Identifying landmark variations in distinct ethnic groups could help establish morphological assessment and morphometric variations of human ears.
Comparative evaluation of bupivacaine with magnesium sulphate and dexamethasone as adjuvants in ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block for open unilateral inguinal hernia surgeries: A randomised controlled trial
Authors: Shambhavi T , Das Saswati , Senapati Laxman K. , Padhi Pulak P.
Published: April 2023

Background and Aims:

Inguinal hernia repair is associated with moderate to severe pain that is most extreme in the first 24 hours. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of dexamethasone versus magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) with bupivacaine in ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block for patients undergoing unilateral inguinal hernioplasty.

Methods:

Eighty patients were randomly allocated to two groups to receive ultrasound-guided TAP block postoperatively with either 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine with 8 mg of dexamethasone (Group BD) or 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine with 250 mg of MgSO4 (Group BM). Patients were assessed for the first 24 hours after surgery for pain at rest and movement using a numerical rating scale (NRS). Two mg/kg of tramadol was administered as rescue analgesia. The time to first demand tramadol, total consumption of tramadol, patient satisfaction score and side effects were evaluated.

Results:

The time to the first dose of rescue analgesia was significantly longer in BD group (596.13 ± 57.93 min) than in the BM group (422.50 ± 51.95 min). The NRS scores in the BD group were significantly lower compared to the BM group both at rest and on movement. The total requirement of tramadol was significantly less in the BD group (154.55 ± 59.11 mg) compared to the BM group (270.25 ± 105.72 mg). The incidence of side effects was lower and patient satisfaction was higher in BD group compared to BM group.

Conclusion:

Bupivacaine with dexamethasone in TAP block after unilateral open inguinal hernioplasty provides increased duration of analgesia and decreased requirement for rescue analgesics compared to magnesium sulphate, with lesser side effects and better patient satisfaction.
Comparison of the efficacy of pericapsular nerve group block (PENG) block versus suprainguinal fascia iliaca block (SFIB) in total hip arthroplasty: A randomized control trial
Authors: Vamshi Chethan , Sinha Chandni , Kumar Ajeet , Kumar Abhyuday , Kumari Poonam , Kumar Amarjeet , Kumar Sudeep , Arun SK
Published: April 2023

Background and Aims:

Hip replacement surgery is a commonly performed surgery with the aim of improving mobility in patients suffering from hip conditions. Though the modified suprainguinal approach of fascia iliaca block (SFIB) is commonly used, the analgesic efficacy is moderate and is associated with quadriceps weakness. The pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block has been used to block the sensory articular branches of the hip joint in various hip surgeries. This study aimed to compare SFIB with PENG block in terms of pain relief, opioid consumption and their adverse effects in patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasties. (THA).

Methods:

Seventy ASA I/II patients undergoing primary THA were enrolled in this double-blinded, randomized trial. Patients were randomly allocated to one of the two groups: Group P: ultrasound (US)-guided PENG block and Group S: patients received the US-guided SFIB.

Results:

Postoperatively, there was statistically significant difference in numerical rating scale (NRS) scores at all-time intervals. Total morphine consumption in 24 hours and 48 hours was statistically more in SFIB group. Five patients had quadriceps weakness in the SFIB group. There was no difference in any other adverse effects.

Conclusion:

US-guided PENG block significantly reduces perioperative morphine consumption and pain scores in THA patients when compared to SFI block. It is not associated with quadriceps weakness as seen in SFIB.
Ultrasound-guided transversalis fascia plane block for postoperative analgesia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Nair Abhijit , Dudhedia Ujjwalraj , Rangaiah Manamohan , Borkar Nitin
Published: April 2023

Ultrasound-guided transversalis fascia plane block (TFPB) has been used for providing postoperative analgesia after various lower abdominal surgeries like iliac crest bone harvesting, inguinal hernia repair, caesarean section and appendicectomy. After registering the protocol in PROSPERO, various databases like PubMed/Medline, Ovid, CENTRAL and clinicaltrials.gov were searched for randomized controlled trials and observational, comparative studies till October 2022. The risk of bias (RoB-2) scale was used to assess the quality of evidence. The database searched identified 149 articles. Out of these, 8 studies were identified for qualitative analysis and 3 studies were TFPB was compared to control in patients undergoing caesarean section were selected for quantitative analysis. At 12 hours, pain scores were significantly less in TFPB group when compared to control on movement with no heterogeneity. At other times, the pain scores were comparable. 24-hr opioid consumption was significantly less in TFPB group when compared to control with significant heterogeneity. Time to rescue analgesia was significantly less in TFPB group when compared to control with significant heterogeneity. Number of patients requiring rescue analgesia were significantly less in TFPB group when compared to control with no heterogeneity. Postoperative nausea/vomiting (PONV) was significantly less in TFPB group when compared to control with minimal heterogeneity. In conclusion, TFPB is a safe block which provides opioid-sparing postoperative analgesia and a delayed time to rescue analgesia with no significant difference in pain scores and lesser PONV postoperatively when compared to control in patients undergoing caesarean section.
Comparison of Quality of Recovery (QoR-15) following the administration of intravenous lignocaine and fentanyl in patients undergoing septoplasty under general anaesthesia: A double-blinded, randomised, controlled trial
Authors: Chhabra Alka , Dave Milan , Jeenger Lalita , Meena Reena , Aggarwal Ila , Partani Seema
Published: April 2023

Background and Aims:

Recovery from surgery and anaesthesia is usually observed through conventional indicators. The Quality of Recovery (QoR-15) score was specially designed to measure psychometric and functional recovery from the patient’s perspective. This study aimed to evaluate QoR-15 following the administration of intravenous (IV) lignocaine or IV fentanyl in patients undergoing septoplasty surgery.

Methods:

This randomised, controlled trial was conducted on 64 patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I and II, of either sex, of ages between 18 and 60 years, and who were scheduled for septoplasty. The primary end point was to compare the quality of recovery following the administration of IV lignocaine(group L) and IV fentanyl (group F) using the QoR-15 score in patients undergoing septoplasty. Secondary end points were to compare postoperative analgesia, recovery characteristics, and adverse effects in both groups. Statistical analysis was done using the Shapiro–Wilk test, paired t test/ Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and unpaired t test/Mann–Whitney U test. A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results:

There was a significant improvement in the postoperative QoR-15 score than in the preoperative score in both groups (P < 0.000). However, the postoperative QoR-15 score was significantly higher in group L compared to group F (P < 0.001). Total consumption of analgesic doses were reduced in group L (P=0.000). Time taken to achieve an Aldrete score >9 and gastrointestinal recovery was shorter in group L compared to group F.

Conclusion:

Both IV lignocaine and IV fentanyl improved postoperative QoR-15 score; however, lignocaine had a higher postoperative QoR-15 score than fentanyl, in addition to showing early discharge readiness, better analgesia, and better recovery profile in patients following septoplasty surgery.
Comparison of two ultrasound-guided techniques for radial arterial cannulation in adults – Observational cross-sectional study
Authors: Safiya Sherrin M K , Raphael Paul O , Chacko Lini
Published: April 2023

Background and Aims:

Short axis, out of plane (SAOOP) and long axis, in-plane (LAIP) are two approaches employed under ultrasound-guided radial arterial cannulation. Dynamic needle tip positioning (DNTP) is a recently introduced approach which integrates the features of both.

Methods:

A total of 114 adult patients from American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) I-IV were studied in this hospital-based cross-sectional study after getting Institutional Ethical approval, CTRI registration and prior written informed consent. The primary objective was to compare the success rates among LAIP and DNTP techniques. The radial arterial diameter and its depth were correlated to the success rates in both. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 23.0.

Results:

Success rates were similar in both (P value-0.094). Ultrasonographic location time (in seconds) was shorter in DNTP (4.351 ± 0.9727) compared to LAIP (7.140 ± 1.0763) (P value-0.0001). The mean overall diameter and depth of radial artery (in mm) were found to be 2.36 ± 0.02 and 2.51 ± 0.12, respectively. Pearson’s correlation coefficient between cannulation time and diameter was found to be -0.602 (P value-0.0001) and with depth of the radial artery was 0.034 (P value 0.723).

Conclusion:

The success rates were similar in both techniques. Ultrasonographic location time of the radial artery was more in LAIP although cannulation time was similar in both. Cannulation time decreased with an increase in the diameter of radial artery but was unaffected by the depth of the radial artery.
Persisting and New Onset Symptomatology and Determinants of Functional Limitation of Post Acute COVID-19 Syndrome Cases- A Study from a Northern District of Kerala
Authors: Chathoth Anuradha Thalian , Anaswara Naveen , Meethal Arjun Chathoth , Vasudevan Jayasree , Gopal Parvathi V.
Published: April 2023

Background:

COVID-19 disease has a wide range of persisting and new onset clinical manifestations even long after the acute phase. This study was conducted to identify the persisting and new onset symptomatology of post-COVID-19 syndrome patients from clinics in urban and peri-urban Kozhikode, South India, as well as to grade their functional limitation; assess the determinants and predictors.

Material and Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 938 subjects attending the post-COVID clinics. Symptom profile, functional assessment, and limitation grading were done using the Post-COVID-19 Functional Status (PCFS) scale. Statistical analyses were done using the SPSS ver.20.

Results:

Mean age was 41.50 ± 16.90 years. Fever, anosmia, dysgeusia, headache, and myalgia were the common acute COVID-19 symptoms (505,54%; 433,46.3%; 420,44.9%; 323,34.4%; 252,26.9%, respectively). Post-COVID-19, common persisting symptoms were myalgia (167,17.8%), fatigue (149,15.9%), dyspnea (113,12%), and headache (85,9.1%); the common new onset symptoms were shortness of breath and fatigue (228,24.3% and 220,23.4%, respectively). A total of 91 cases (9.7%) had post-COVID sleep disturbances; 16 (1.7%) had symptoms of anxiety and depressive thoughts. PCFS grading showed that 552 (63.8%) had negligible limitations (Grade I). Only one person had Grade IV limitation. Significant association (p < 0.05) was found between functional impairment grading by PCFS and age, gender, locality, type of family, duration of hospitalization, duration of unemployment following illness, source of infection, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Male gender, married status, CAD, and smoking had significant higher risks; urban locality and hospitalization decreased the risk.

Conclusions:

SARS-CoV-2 cases have persistent and new onset symptoms and some degree of functional impairment post-COVID. Significant association was identified for various sociodemographic and clinical variables with the PCFS functional impairment grading.
Time Trend and Prevalence Analysis of Transfusion Transmitted Infections among Blood Donors: A Retrospective Study from 2001 to 2016
Authors: Shrivastava Manisha , Mishra Shweta , Navaid Seema
Published: April 2023

Context:

Transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) remain a major threat to the patients receiving blood. The incidence of the transmission of various infectious agents has reduced ever since the introduction of various molecular techniques for detection.

Aims:

The study tried to figure out accurate estimates of risk and trend of TTI over a period of sixteen years, essential for monitoring the safety of blood supply and evaluating the efficacy of the currently employed screening procedures.

Methods and Material:

A total of 57942 blood donors’ records were analyzed for the period from January 2001 to December 2016. Chi-square test (c2) was used to evaluate the relationship between serological positivity and particular donor characteristics. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results:

Of the 57942 donations, overall prevalence of TTI was 2.7%. Of these, the reactivity rate of hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C, HIV, syphilis, and malaria was 1.8%, 0.42%, 0.2%, 0.31%, and 0.017%, respectively with significant P value (P < 0.05, CI: 95%). Overall prevalence was higher in replacement donors as compared to voluntary blood donors. Trend of TTI prevalence decreased from 2001 to 2016.

Conclusions:

This epidemiological research on TTI is important for the region, as estimated disease burden based on comprehensive epidemiological research provides the foundation for public policy to ensure an easily accessible and adequate supply of safe and quality blood and blood components to the needy patients.
Emotional Intelligence from Gender Perspective during Mid to Late Adolescence in an Indian Context
Authors: Kulkarni Priya Yogesh , Velhal Gajanan
Published: April 2023

Background:

Emotional Intelligence (EI) contributes to overall success in life. Our objectives are to explore EI among adolescents and its gender differences as per some parameters of social environments.

Material and Methods:

Present cross-sectional study was conducted in secondary schools in one of municipal corporations in western Maharashtra EI of adolescents studying in tenth standard in randomly selected secondary schools, was assessed by Schutte’s Self-Reported Emotional Intelligence Test with collection of relevant sociodemographic information maintaining confidentiality. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software.

Results:

Total 1060 adolescents in 14-16 years of age participated in the study. Socio-economic status affected EI of adolescent girls more adversely than adolescent boys (P = 0.003, P = 0.036 respectively). Co-educational type of school favored lower EI than gender specific schools (P < 0.001). After gender wise stratification, EI did not differ significantly among boys (P = 0.154) with respect to type of schooling, but differed significantly (P = 0.001) among girls.

Conclusion:

Apart from continued efforts directed to for improvement in SES, mental health component of school health services needs to take a step forward for assessment and improvement of towards mental health parameters including EI of adolescents. EI training programs commenced in school activities based on gender, socio-economic status and other issues relevant to the situation shall prove beneficial in long run.
Prevalence and Complications of Subclinical and Overt Hypothyroidism in Pregnancy at North Indian Tertiary Care Center
Authors: Prabhat  , Jain Anju , Ahirwar Ashok , Dwivedi Shailendra , Rath Rama S.
Published: April 2023

Background:

Thyroid disorders are one of the commonest endocrine problems among pregnant women. It is often argued that it is not only overt, but subclinical thyroid dysfunction also has similar adverse effects on maternal and fetal outcomes. There is a huge deficiency of data from the Indian population to assess the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in pregnancy. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of thyroid disorders in pregnancy and their impact on obstetrical outcomes in the Indian population. The study also had the objective of finding a correlation between maternal and fetal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in hypothyroid pregnancies.

Materials and Methods:

Around 1055 pregnant women in the first and second trimesters were enrolled in the study. A detailed history was noted and general examinations were done. Apart from routine obstetrical investigations, TSH level estimation was done. If the TSH level was deranged, then free T4 (fT4) and free T3 (fT3) levels were also estimated. Furthermore, 50 hypothyroid and euthyroid pregnant women from the same cohort were followed till delivery. Their obstetrical and perinatal outcomes were noted.

Results:

The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction was 36.5% in this study, which was quite high in the population. Moreover, hypothyroid groups were prone to have pregnancy-induced hypertension (P = 0.03), intrauterine growth restriction (P = 0.05), and preterm delivery (P = 0.04) as compared to control. Cesarean section rate for fetal distress was significantly higher among pregnant hypothyroid women (P = 0.05). Neonatal respiratory distress and low appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration (APGAR) () scores were significantly more in the hyperthyroidism group (P = 0.04 and P = 0.02, respectively). Maternal TSH was significantly correlated with hemoglobin levels, HbA1c, and systolic blood pressure.

Conclusions:

Significant adverse effects on maternal and fetal outcomes were seen emphasizing the importance of routine antenatal thyroid screening.
Implementation of Pediatric Allergic Rhinitis Module as a Part of AETCOM among First-Year Medical Undergraduates: Mixed Methods Evaluation
Authors: Mishra Nihar Ranjan , Peralam Prakash Y. , Dongre Amol R. , Singh Ramji , Goswami Kalyan , Ray Biswabina , Nagaraju Late Major Kuravi , Ghosh Debangshu , Patra Jayasri , Vivekprana Prabrajika
Published: April 2023

Background:

Children suffering from allergic rhinitis (AR) in their earlier days of life, not receiving proper treatment, subsequently develop asthma. To sensitize the first-year medical undergraduates about AR by implementing pediatric allergic rhinitis (PAR) module as a part of their attitude, ethics, and communication (AETCOM) curriculum.

Materials and Methods:

Triangulation type of mixed method study was conducted from January 2021 to June 2021 among 125 first-year medical undergraduate students. The PAR module communication checklist was developed and validated by an interprofessional (IP) team. Twenty multiple-choice questions (MCQs) were framed for both pretest and posttest cognitive assessment of the students. The pretest assessment was done (first 15 min) followed by the teaching of the PAR module (30 min), and lastly the posttest assessment along with open-ended feedback (last 15 min). Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) communication checklist along with the guidelines was given to the observer during the student-patient encounter to score the learner and to assess the communication skill. Apart from descriptive analysis, paired t-test and content analysis were done.

Results:

A statistically significant difference in the mean scores before and after the PAR module and communication checklist (P < 0.001). Majority (78/81, 96%) of the students favored this module, while (28/81) 34.6% suggested modifications. Most of the parent’s feedback was good about the student’s communication skill in terms of empathy (118), behavior (107), and greet (125); however, 33 parents were about the opinion of difficulties in closing the session, 17 parents commented about student’s language problem and 27 about feedback.

Conclusion:

The PAR module should be taught in the current medical curriculum as a part of AETCOM in the foundation course as early clinical exposure with some modifications in the existing module.
Unmarried Women and Unintended Pregnancy: An Indonesian Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Laksono Agung D. , Wulandari Ratna D. , Rohmah Nikmatur , Matahari Ratu
Published: April 2023

Background:

Indonesia has moral norms consider pregnancy among unmarried women a disgrace. The study analyzes the factors influencing unintended pregnancies among unmarried women in Indonesia.

Material and Methods:

The study examined 1,050 women. The author analyzed unintended pregnancy and six other variables (residence, age, education, employment, wealth, and parity). Multivariate analysis used binary logistic regression.

Results:

15.5% of unmarried women in Indonesia have experienced an unintended pregnancy. Women living in urban areas are more likely to experience unintended pregnancies than women in rural areas. The 15–19 have the highest chance of experiencing an unintended pregnancy. Education is a protective factor from unintended pregnancy. Employed women are 1.938 times more likely than unemployed. Poverty is a risk factor for experiencing an unintended pregnancy. Multiparous is 4.095 times more likely than primiparous.

Conclusion:

The study identified six variables that affect unintended pregnancy among unmarried women in Indonesia: residence, age, education, employment, wealth, and parity.