Performance Appraisal in the Era of New Normal

Performance Appraisal is the process of assessing the accomplishments of workforce & to ac­knowledge their capabilities for facilitating development. Performance evaluation is one of the areas in Human resource management which is considerably affected by the spread of pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2. This virus outbreak posed new challenges for the companies across the globe. As a result in order to tackle this uncertainty various organiza­tions have taken measures to cut down the expenses like deferment in the appraisal cycle or for muted salary increments. Thus one of the objectives of this paper is to study the impact of Covid -19 on performance appraisal of employees. Further this pandemic is equally challenging for the managers also. As social distancing and working remotely have become a new normal, employees work remotely from each other and from managers, and this will be more common in the fu­ture. Managers are now searching for new ways to ‘do visibility’ without always being physically present. It has also become the vital demand of the situation as managers must be aware of the circumstances in which employees are working in. Therefore another objective of this paper is to suggest an approach to manage the performance evaluations of remote working employees. It is recommended that managers should adopt the choice based approach for performance evaluation instead of control based approach. The review is formed on articles and reports from various internet sources and journals. Further some ways of managing the performance assessment of remotely working employees and scope for the future are also discussed

MRI diagnosis of tubal torsion: the whirlpool sign

Isolated fallopian tube torsion is a rare cause of acute lower abdominal pain with multiple described contributory factors resulting in tubal necrosis and gangrene. While clinical presentation is nonspecific with a wide clinical differential diagnosis, a combination of sonographic or MRI whirlpool sign with a dilated fallopian tube and normal appearing ipsilateral ovary helps make a preoperative diagnosis of tubal torsion. We report a case of a middle aged female who was diagnosed with tubal torsion on preoperative MRI and is the first description of MRI whirlpool sign for diagnosis of tubal torsion from the Indian subcontinent to our knowledge. The whirlpool mass in tubal torsion is much smaller than ovarian torsion and may be less obvious on ultrasound as in present case

Covid-19 and Tobacco Cessation:Lessons from India

OBJECTIVES: The Government of India prohibited the sale of tobacco products during the COVID-19 lockdown to prevent spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study assessed the tobacco cessation behaviour and its predictors among adult tobacco users during the initial COVID-19 lockdown period in India. STUDY DESIGN: : Cross-sectional study. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 801 adult tobacco users (both smoking and smokeless tobacco) in two urban metropolitan cities of India over a 2-month period (July–August 2020). The study assessed complete tobacco cessation and quit attempts during the lockdown period. Logistic and negative binomial regression models were used to study correlates of tobacco cessation and quit attempts, respectively. RESULTS: In total, 90 (11.3%) tobacco users reported that they had quit using tobacco after the COVID-19 lockdown period. Overall, a median of two quit attempts (interquartile range [IQR] 0–6) were made by tobacco users. Participants with good knowledge on the harmful effects of tobacco use and COVID-19 were significantly more likely to quit tobacco use (odds ratio [OR] 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2–4.0) and reported more quit attempts (incidence risk ratio [IRR] 5.7; 95% CI 2.8-11.8] compared with those with poor knowledge. Participants who had access to tobacco products were less likely to quit tobacco use compared with those who had no access (OR 0.3; 95% CI 0.2–0.5]. CONCLUSIONS: Access restrictions and correct knowledge on the harmful effects of tobacco use and COVID-19 can play an important role in creating a conducive environment for tobacco cessation among users

Impact of tobacco price and taxation on affordability and consumption of tobacco products in the Southeast Asia Region : a systematic review

Introduction: The objective of the review was to study the impact of tobacco taxes or prices on affordability and/or consumption of tobacco products in WHO-South East Asia Region (SEAR) countries, overall, and by socioeconomic status; and change in consumption of one tobacco product for a given change in price/tax on other tobacco product. Methods: The searches were run on five databases (Medline, Embase, Cinahl, EconLit, Tobacconomics) using keywords such as ‘tobacco’, ‘tax’, ‘price’, ‘impact’ with their synonyms. Additionally, first 100 articles through google search and e-reports from targeted sources were also reviewed. Studies illustrating the impact of prices/taxes on consumption/affordability of tobacco products in SEAR, available in English language, with no limitation on time were included in the review. After two steps of screening, data from 28 studies were extracted using a structured, and pre-tested data extraction form. Results: Out of the total twenty-eight studies, twelve studies reported an inverse association between price and consumption/affordability while 11 studies reported no or positive association between price and consumption/affordability of tobacco products. Five studies had unclear interpretations. Majority of studies estimated that the less affluent group were more price responsive as compared to the more affluent group. Some studies indicated increased consumption of one product in response to price rise of other product, although, the findings were inconsistent. Conclusions: The findings of our review support the use of tobacco tax and price measures as effective tools to address the tobacco epidemic. Our findings however also emphasise the importance of increasing tobacco product taxes and prices sufficiently to outweigh the effects of income growth, in order for the measures to be effective in reducing the affordability and consumption of tobacco products

Multivariable prediction model for suspected giant cell arteritis: development and validation

Purpose To develop and validate a diagnostic prediction model for patients with suspected giant cell arteritis (GCA). Methods: A retrospective review of records of consecutive adult patients undergoing temporal artery biopsy (TABx) for suspected GCA was conducted at seven university centers. The pathologic diagnosis was considered the final diagnosis. The predictor variables were age, gender, new onset headache, clinical temporal artery abnormality, jaw claudication, ischemic vision loss (VL), diplopia, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and platelet level. Multiple imputation was performed for missing data. Logistic regression was used to compare our models with the non-histologic American College of Rheumatology (ACR) GCA classification criteria. Internal validation was performed with 10-fold cross validation and bootstrap techniques. External validation was performed by geographic site. Results: There were 530 complete TABx records: 397 were negative and 133 positive for GCA. Age, jaw claudication, VL, platelets, and log CRP were statistically significant predictors of positive TABx, whereas ESR, gender, headache, and temporal artery abnormality were not. The parsimonious model had a cross-validated bootstrap area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.810 (95% CI =0.766–0.854), geographic external validation AUROC’s in the range of 0.75–0.85, calibration pH–L of 0.812, sensitivity of 43.6%, and specificity of 95.2%, which outperformed the ACR criteria. Conclusion: Our prediction rule with calculator and nomogram aids in the triage of patients with suspected GCA and may decrease the need for TABx in select low-score at-risk subjects. However, misclassification remains a concern

BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY The official journal of the Brazilian Society of Plant Physiology SHORT COMMUNICATION 28-Homobrassinolide alleviates oxidative stress in salt- treated maize (Zea mays L.) plants

The present investigation was undertaken to study the effects of 28-homobrassinolide on the activities of antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1), guaiacol peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7), catalase (EC 1.11.1.6), glutathione reductase (EC 1.6.4.2) and ascorbate peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.11), as well as protein and malondialdehyde concentrations in 30-d-old plants of Zea mays L. grown under salt stress. The seeds were soaked in 28-homobrassinolide solutions (0, 10 -8 , 10 -6 and 10 -4 mM) for 12 h and then sown in the field in a randomized block layout. The blocks were salinised with NaCl at concentrations of 0, 25, 50 and 75 mM. The activities of antioxidative enzymes and protein concentration increased in 28-homobrassinolide-treated plants. Despite the enhancement of enzyme activities under salt stress alone, lipid peroxidation increased and protein concentration decreased. However, pre-sowing treatments of 28-homobrassinolide further enhanced the activities of antioxidative enzymes in addition to lowering lipid peroxidation and increasing protein concentration, thus suggesting that 28-homobrassinolide can alleviate oxidative stress in salt-treated maize plants

Prevalence Of Type II Diabetes Mellitus And Assessment Of Risk Factors Along With The Health Seeking Behaviour Of Diabetics In Slums Of Delhi

INTRODUCTION: India has earned the dubious distinction of being the ‘diabetes capital of the world’.  As cited by the International Diabetes Federation, the diabetics in India are expected to rise from 40.9million to 69.9million by 2025 unless urgent preventive steps are taken3. The slum population seems to be at greater risk of developing diabetes therefore we have undertaken this study to ascertain the prevalence of type II diabetes and its risk amongst the slum population of Delhi and to assess their health seeking behaviour. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross sectional study was carried out in urban slums with 1000 participants aged 18 years and above. A pre-designed, pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was administered to subjects after a written informed consent. Status of type II diabetes mellitus was based on available health records. Indian diabetes risk score (IDRS) was used to assess individuals at risk of developing diabetes. Data was analyzed using SPSS v16.0. ‘p-value’ less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The interim data of 349 participants (53.9% males, 46.1% females) is being presented. Prevalence of diabetes was 6.0% (5.9% amongst males, 6.2% amongst females)(p>0.05), higher in age ≥50 years (20.5%) (p<0.001), sedentary workers (16.7%)(p=0.001), IDRS score >50 (18.5%)(p<0.001). Education, per-capita income, waist-hip ratio, family history did not have significant relationship with risk of DM. General symptoms reported were giddiness (47.6%), thirst (57.1%), frequent urination (85.7%), weight loss (28.6%), infections (14.6%). 2 out of 21 diabetics did not take medication and 2 were on insulin. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of type II DM was 6%, with increased risk among individuals aged 50 years or more, sedentary workers and IDRS score ≥50. There is a need to promote healthy lifestyle focusing on regular exercise and balanced diet

Socio-Economic Status (SES) differences in changing affordability of tobacco products from 2011-12 to 2018-19 in India

INTRODUCTION We studied the change in affordability of tobacco products, an important determinant of tobacco use, across the different socio-economic status (SES) in India. METHODS We calculated affordability in the form of relative income price (RIP-cost of tobacco products relative to income) for years 2011-12 and 2018-19 using three different denominators, i.e., per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) at national and state levels, respectively; monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE); and individual wages. We investigated RIP for cigarettes, bidis and smokeless tobacco (SLT) across different SES groups (caste groups, type of employment and education). RESULTS RIP increased marginally for cigarettes, bidis and remained almost constant for SLT across casual workers. However, when RIP was adjusted with SES variables, there was no significant change (p>0.05) in affordability of products for casual workers in year 2018-19 as compared to 2011-12. For regular workers, cigarettes and bidis became marginally less affordable (βvariables SLT reported no change in affordability. There was a marginal increase in affordability for all products when RIP was calculated with GDP. CONCLUSION Although implementation of GST has increased the price of tobacco products, it is still not sufficient to reduce the affordability of tobacco products, particularly SLT and especially for the lower SES group

Pediatric liver transplantation for acute liver failure at a single center: A 10-yr experience

Children transplanted for ALF urgently require an optimal graft and have lower post-transplant survival compared with children transplanted for chronic liver disease. Over 10 yr, 33 consecutive children transplanted for ALF were followed. Demographics, encephalopathy, intubation, dialysis, laboratory values, graft type ABOI, XL (GRWR \u3e 5%), DDSLT, LDLT and WLT were evaluated. Complications and survival were determined. ALF accounted for 33/201 (16.4%) of transplants during this period. Twelve of 33 received ABOI, five XL grafts, 18 DDSLT, and three LDLT. Waiting time pretransplant was 2.1 days. One- and three-yr patient survival in the ALF group was 93.4% and 88.9%, and graft survivals were 86.4% and 77.7%. Median follow-up was 1452 days. ABOI one- and three yr patient and graft survival in the ALF was 91.6% and 78.6%. No difference in graft or patient survival was noted in the ALF and chronic liver disease group or the ABOI and the ABO compatible group. A combination of ABO incompatible donor livers, XL grafts, DDSLT, LDLT and WLT led to a short wait time and subsequent graft and patient survival comparable to patients with non-acute disease. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons A/S