Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

A Bibliometric Analysis of 14 Private Universities of Himachal Pradesh between 2004 and 2019: A Publication in Scopus

Research evaluation plays a vital role to find out the strength and weakness of the given field. The current research was based on the Bibliometrics analysis of fourteen private universities of Himachal Pradesh between 2004 and 2019 using the Scopus database. A total of 3923 publications were examined in this study. In this research, we took basic parameters like year wise growth of publications, citation growth by University, year-wise citation growth, most prolific author, most favourite source and most global cited documents. The result showed that journal was the most preferred form of publication in this study. Further, the study reported that 2019 was the most productive year because there were 629 publications published in that year. In this study, we found that the most preferred journal for publication was “Journal of High Energy Physics” and the most prolific author was “Singh, G.” with 158. The highly cited paper found in this study was “Surface modification of inorganic nanoparticles for development of organic-inorganic nanocomposites - A review by Kango S., with 1102 citations”

Challenges of using marketing information system (MkIS) by SMEs in Fiji

The intention of this paper is to scrutinise the factors impacting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) eBusiness adoption and the challenges faced pertaining to the usage of marketing information system (MkIS) in Fiji and subsequently stress the potential solutions for those challenges. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the SMEs from five major towns in Fiji. A sample of 96 SMEs was surveyed sequentially. The research findings reveal that, SMEs in Fiji face massive challenges in employing MkIS. This result also illustrates that the challenges faced by SMEs in Fiji positively influence the use of marketing information system and alternatively ascertain the potential solutions which the SMEs acquires in order to overcome those challenges. Findings have also revealed that the level of SME eBusiness adoption is not the same as ICT adoption in Fiji

Determinants of organic food purchase intention: the moderating role of health consciousness

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of self-risk perception and health consciousness on the intention to purchase organic food. The study also explored external factors, such as social networking, culture and their impact on attitude, self-risk perception and purchasing organic food. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a quantitative research method to collect data from New Zealand and Fiji (N5701). The data analysis used the partial least squares path modeling technique (PLS-PM) to test the proposed model. Findings – The empirical results revealed that self-risk perception positively influenced organic food intention. The results show that the health consciousness level strengthens the relationship between self-risk perception, beliefs, values and purchase intention. The health consciousness level dampens the relationship between social networking and purchase intention. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the guidance and promotion of Fijian and New Zealand’s organic food industry. This study enables marketers to develop health-related promotional tactics to stimulate organic food sales. It gauges organic food promoters to use social media-oriented consumer networking to spread health awareness swiftly. Originality/value – This comprehensive study extends the literature by scrutinizing the profundity of selfrisk perception and health consciousness in influencing and explaining consumers’ purchase intentions. Aside from ample growth in the study of organic food purchase intention, which commonly replicates simple relationships, this study ascertains deeper meaning and new relationships to understand the moderating role of health consciousness levels in organic food studies, expanding the theory of planned behavior

Management Education in the Era of Globalisation: Challenges, Prospects & the Way Forward for the South Pacific Region

While internationally scholars have surveyed “management education in the era of globalisation” with reference to challenges and prospects within the context of HEIs, there is unquestionably a dearth of research investigation in the Pacific. The purpose of this paper is to discover the interconnection between globalisation and management education and draw from the review of the literature and the theoretical underpinnings, present the way forward in the milieu of a developing island state

Exploring gamers' crowdsourcing engagement in Pokémon Go communities

Purpose With the increasing popularity of online games like Pokémon Go, a new wave of crowdsourcing communities have emerged, allowing gamers to collaborate, communicate and share useful game-related information. This paper aims to examine the factors that influence gamers' crowdsourcing behaviour. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual framework is developed that combines the DeLone & McLean model, self-determination theory, and different levels of engagement behaviour. The online survey collected 371 responses that were analysed using Covariance Based Structural Equation Modelling (CB-SEM). Findings The results show that extrinsic and intrinsic motivation positively influenced gamers' crowdsourcing engagement intention. System quality and information quality were also confirmed to be positively associated with gamers' crowdsourcing engagement intention. Furthermore, crowdsourcing engagement intention was found to be positively associated with crowdsourcing content consumption, contribution, and creation. Practical implications The findings of this study are useful for the owners of Pokémon Go and other gaming-related crowdsourcing platforms in devising tailored strategies to increase the crowdsourcing engagement of gamers. Originality/value This study provides the first empirical evidence of factors motivating online gamers' crowdsourcing intention. This study also presents novel insight into online gamers' crowdsourcing intention by combining diverse theories which offer different perspectives and a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. Contribution to the research on the intention-behaviour gap by modelling three behavioural outcomes (content creation, contribution, and consumption behaviour) of crowdsourcing engagement intention, is another important contribution of this study

From brick and mortar to click and order: consumers' online food delivery service perceptions post - pandemic

Purpose This study explores consumers' intentions to utilize online food delivery services (OFDS) in a shared economy beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, employing the protection motivation theory (PMT) as the underlying framework. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing a random sampling technique, a quantitative approach was employed to gather responses from 347 Australian consumers. The proposed model was tested through covariance-based structural equation modelling. Findings The findings of this study demonstrate significant positive relationships between restaurant credibility, food quality, e-service quality, price, online food delivery applications, consumer e-satisfaction and e-loyalty. It reveals that consumers satisfied with OFDS may continue exhibiting e-loyalty intentions in a shared economy beyond COVID-19. The relationship between consumer e-satisfaction and e-loyalty intention is moderated by consumer-perceived COVID-19 risk. Practical implications This study offers practical implications for online food delivery providers, restaurants, regulators, application developers and policymakers. These implications aim to enhance the e-service quality, price value, usefulness and security of OFDS, along with strategies to improve the online food delivery application. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by examining a unique selection of antecedents, including the OFDS app, to determine consumer e-satisfaction and e-loyalty in the context of a shared economy beyond COVID-19. The utilization of the OFDS app as a second-order construct adds a meaningful contribution to the OFDS literature. Furthermore, this study investigates and contributes to the limited understanding of the moderation effect of consumer-perceived COVID-19 risk on consumer e-satisfaction and their intended continued use of OFDS

Etiology of vaginal infections and antimicrobial resistance pattern of aerobic bacterial isolates in women of reproductive age group attending a tertiary care hospital

Background: The vaginal flora is a complicated environment containing dozens of microbiological species in variable quantities andrelative proportions. Many women with vaginitis may remain undiagnosed and such forms of abnormal vaginal neither considered asnormal nor can be called bacterial vaginosis and are termed as “intermediate flora” and its management probably differs from that ofbacterial vaginosis. It is of crucial importance in pregnant females at risk of preterm delivery. Materials and Methods: Six hundredand ten high vaginal swabs both from indoor and outdoor patients were collected and cultured, and their susceptibility to variousantimicrobials was determined by standard methods. Result: Significant growth was obtained in 357 (58.5%) samples. Amongthe positive samples, 314 were positive for aerobic bacterial isolates, and 43 showed the growth of Candida species. The commonaerobic isolates were Escherichia coli (24.92%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (23.50%), Staphylococcus aureus (16.52%), Enterococcusspecies (8.40%), and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (6.44%). About two-third of the positive samples (71.0%) were fromoutdoor patients, while one-third (29%) were from indoor patients. The highest frequency of infection was observed at 25-30 yearsfollowed by 31-35 years of age group. The prevalence of aerobic vaginitis cases was higher among nonpregnant compared to pregnantcases. The Gram-positive organisms showed maximum resistance to ampicillin, followed by aminoglycosides, and ciprofloxacin.The Gram-negative isolates showed maximum resistance to ciprofloxacin followed by ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, gentamicin, andamikacin. Conclusion: The high prevalence of gynecological infections demands that the patients with gynecological symptomsbe investigated thoroughly. As the culture provides, the identification of causative microorganisms, it must invariably be done

Osmolytes in vaccine production, flocculation and storage: a critical review

Small molecule osmolytes, responsible for protecting stresses have long been known to rescue proteins and enzymes from loss of function. In addition to protecting macromolecules integrity, many osmolytes also act as potential antioxidant and also help to prevent protein aggregation, amyloid formation or misfolding, and therefore are considered promising molecules for neurodegenerative and many other genetic diseases. Osmolytes are also known to be involved in the regulation of several key immunological processes. In the present review we discuss in detail the effect of these compounds on important aspects of vaccines i.e., increasing the efficiency, production and purification steps. The present review therefore will help researchers to make a better strategy in vaccine production to formulation by incorporating specific and appropriate osmolytes in the processes

Marketing Information System (MkIS): Benefits for Small and Medium Enterprises in Fiji

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the benefits of using Marketing Information System (MkIS) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Fiji. The paper comprises of quantitative data, which is comprehensively analysed statistically. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the SMEs from five major towns in Fiji forming a sample of 96 SMEs. This research has found that, SMEs in Fiji are quite aware of the resulting benefits of MkIS, though the usage rate is low. This has resulted in changes for SMEs' business in terms of growth (sales and profits), from the time when SMEs started using MkIS or any form of technologies. The importance of MkIS in making extreme decision is also tested and analysed