AbstractTechnology‐driven disruption is taking place at a pace and scale not witnessed before in history. Waves of technology, such as the internet of things, big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, are reshaping our personal and professional lives in profound ways. A new world is emerging in which many of the current job classes will disappear, while new ones, requiring entirely different sets of skills, are emerging. Public administrators are unprepared for the challenges they must face in order to cope with this nonincremental and exponential change. Many of the existing government structures and processes that have evolved over the last few centuries will likely become irrelevant in the near future. There is a compelling need to lay the groundwork for governments to rethink how they will be able to best serve their constituents.
Retail became a buzz word in India before recession; in fact the word 'booming' was found only attached to this sector. The recent few years gone by were packed with several significant developments for the Indian retail industry, including the entry of many global players, growing acceptance of the modern formats, the success of many speciality retail formats, and the rising competition in the regional markets beyond the metros and Tier 1 cities. But as recession took its toll 99% of sectors went for a toss including retail. The current slowdown is expected to last 12–18 months conditional on government incentives in increasing spends on infrastructure, development initiatives and other activities to stimulate the economy. This study focuses on comparison of Indian retail before recession & after recession. In this research we have analysed the effect of recession over different commodities in retailing based on some key parameters. Along with the study of effect this research paper also provides certain strategies which could be beneficial for the retailers in the long run. This study lime lights the strategies that the key players are planning to implement in order to recover from the ill-effect of recession.
Not Available ; The present work was carried out to investigate the global gene expression profile to search deferentially expressed candidate transcripts between parthenogenetic and in vitro–fertilized (IVF) caprine morula. For this study, total RNA was isolated from diploid parthenogenetic and IVF embryos, and complementary DNA was synthesized. Microarray and relative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis were performed to check global gene expression profile and validation, respectively. According to the microarray analysis, the total number of up regulated (UR) and down regulated (DR) genes was 613 and 220, respectively in diploid parthenogenetic morula as compared with IVF morula. The number of genes showing about two-, two- to five-, five- to 10-, 10- to 20-, and above 20-fold UR and DR genes was 147, 229, 122, 59, and 56 and 94, 73, 18, 13, and 22, respectively. Five UR genes validated (PTEN, PHF3, CTNNB1, SELK, and NPDC1) and all of them were significantly higher in parthenotes, which was in accordance with microarray results, whereas the expression of DR (AURKC and KLF15) genes were down regulated in parthenotes as observed in microarray results but the difference was not significant (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our findings demonstrate differential expression of a large number of genes in parthenotes compared with IVF embryos, which may be the reason for aberrant parthenogenetic embryo development in caprine species. ; National Agricultural Innovative Project (NAIP), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Government of India.
ABSTRACTObjectivesThis study assessed the oral health status, dental utilization and dental needs of the homebound elderly (HBE) care patients within the Mount Sinai Visiting Doctor program.MethodsOf the 334 eligible patients, 57% agreed to participate and 95.4% completed the clinical examinations, the Dental Utilization and Needs survey and Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index conducted in each subject's home by a trained research team.ResultsAmong 75% who were dentate subjects, 40% needed restorative dental care, 45.6% needed dental extractions, and 33% complained of current oral pain. Overall, 92.0% needed some type of dental care and 96% stated that they had not seen a dentist since they became homebound (mean number of years in program = 3.2 ± 2.58).ConclusionFindings show the oral health status of these homebound elderly was poor and their quality of life was significantly affected by the lack of basic dental care.
Background Surgery is the main modality of cure for solid cancers and was prioritised to continue during COVID-19 outbreaks. This study aimed to identify immediate areas for system strengthening by comparing the delivery of elective cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic in periods of lockdown versus light restriction. Methods This international, prospective, cohort study enrolled 20 006 adult (≥18 years) patients from 466 hospitals in 61 countries with 15 cancer types, who had a decision for curative surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic and were followed up until the point of surgery or cessation of follow-up (Aug 31, 2020). Average national Oxford COVID-19 Stringency Index scores were calculated to define the government response to COVID-19 for each patient for the period they awaited surgery, and classified into light restrictions (index 60). The primary outcome was the non-operation rate (defined as the proportion of patients who did not undergo planned surgery). Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used to explore the associations between lockdowns and non-operation. Intervals from diagnosis to surgery were compared across COVID-19 government response index groups. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04384926. Findings Of eligible patients awaiting surgery, 2003 (10·0%) of 20 006 did not receive surgery after a median follow-up of 23 weeks (IQR 16–30), all of whom had a COVID-19-related reason given for non-operation. Light restrictions were associated with a 0·6% non-operation rate (26 of 4521), moderate lockdowns with a 5·5% rate (201 of 3646; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·77–0·84; p<0·0001), and full lockdowns with a 15·0% rate (1775 of 11 827; HR 0·51, 0·50–0·53; p<0·0001). In sensitivity analyses, including adjustment for SARS-CoV-2 case notification rates, moderate lockdowns (HR 0·84, 95% CI 0·80–0·88; p<0·001), and full lockdowns (0·57, 0·54–0·60; p<0·001), remained independently associated with non-operation. Surgery beyond 12 weeks from diagnosis in patients without neoadjuvant therapy increased during lockdowns (374 [9·1%] of 4521 in light restrictions, 317 [10·4%] of 3646 in moderate lockdowns, 2001 [23·8%] of 11 827 in full lockdowns), although there were no differences in resectability rates observed with longer delays. Interpretation Cancer surgery systems worldwide were fragile to lockdowns, with one in seven patients who were in regions with full lockdowns not undergoing planned surgery and experiencing longer preoperative delays. Although short-term oncological outcomes were not compromised in those selected for surgery, delays and non-operations might lead to long-term reductions in survival. During current and future periods of societal restriction, the resilience of elective surgery systems requires strengthening, which might include protected elective surgical pathways and long-term investment in surge capacity for acute care during public health emergencies to protect elective staff and services. Funding National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit, Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, Medtronic, Sarcoma UK, The Urology Foundation, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research.
Background Surgery is the main modality of cure for solid cancers and was prioritised to continue during COVID-19 outbreaks. This study aimed to identify immediate areas for system strengthening by comparing the delivery of elective cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic in periods of lockdown versus light restriction. Methods This international, prospective, cohort study enrolled 20 006 adult (≥18 years) patients from 466 hospitals in 61 countries with 15 cancer types, who had a decision for curative surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic and were followed up until the point of surgery or cessation of follow-up (Aug 31, 2020). Average national Oxford COVID-19 Stringency Index scores were calculated to define the government response to COVID-19 for each patient for the period they awaited surgery, and classified into light restrictions (index 60). The primary outcome was the non-operation rate (defined as the proportion of patients who did not undergo planned surgery). Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used to explore the associations between lockdowns and non-operation. Intervals from diagnosis to surgery were compared across COVID-19 government response index groups. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04384926. Findings Of eligible patients awaiting surgery, 2003 (10·0%) of 20 006 did not receive surgery after a median follow-up of 23 weeks (IQR 16–30), all of whom had a COVID-19-related reason given for non-operation. Light restrictions were associated with a 0·6% non-operation rate (26 of 4521), moderate lockdowns with a 5·5% rate (201 of 3646; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·77–0·84; p<0·0001), and full lockdowns with a 15·0% rate (1775 of 11 827; HR 0·51, 0·50–0·53; p<0·0001). In sensitivity analyses, including adjustment for SARS-CoV-2 case notification rates, moderate lockdowns (HR 0·84, 95% CI 0·80–0·88; p<0·001), and full lockdowns (0·57, 0·54–0·60; p<0·001), remained independently associated with non-operation. Surgery beyond 12 weeks from diagnosis in patients without neoadjuvant therapy increased during lockdowns (374 [9·1%] of 4521 in light restrictions, 317 [10·4%] of 3646 in moderate lockdowns, 2001 [23·8%] of 11827 in full lockdowns), although there were no differences in resectability rates observed with longer delays. Interpretation Cancer surgery systems worldwide were fragile to lockdowns, with one in seven patients who were in regions with full lockdowns not undergoing planned surgery and experiencing longer preoperative delays. Although short-term oncological outcomes were not compromised in those selected for surgery, delays and non-operations might lead to long-term reductions in survival. During current and future periods of societal restriction, the resilience of elective surgery systems requires strengthening, which might include protected elective surgical pathways and long- term investment in surge capacity for acute care during public health emergencies to protect elective staff and services. Funding National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit, Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, Medtronic, Sarcoma UK, The Urology Foundation, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research.
