Understanding the Role of Online Support to Tourist Spots in India

The online travel agencies or popularly known as OTAs have become one of the most reliable options for the travellers to make their arrangements. The number of players both across the world and in India have seen a rise and the same has quite successfully helped in planning trips for many tourists. The study here is curious to understand the role of these OTAs in the process of resuming the tourist destination especially in India. The situation in India with respect to the use of OTAs is quite different as the country is an emerging one and there are issues of digital divide still persistent in the economy The study here collected 238 primary responses from tourist across the country to identify their perception about the online travel agencies and recognise the factors that cause an impact in the adoption process. The study has used a number of advanced statistical methods such as principal component analyses and multiple linear regression to establish the factors as well as the relationship with the adoption process. The regression model being formulated is able to estimate of variance of 14% on the intention of using online modes to put the two responses in India by highlighting the two main factors causing an impact on it. The perceived ease of use and the information transparency are the main reasons why a tourist based in India prefers to book their destination requirements using online travel agencies

A comparative study between supraclavicular brachial plexus block and Infraclavicular brachial plexus block for upper limb orthopedic surgeries: A prospective, randomized, double-blind study

Introduction: Supraclavicular brachial plexus block is a common approach as it provides faster and dense blockade. In the past few years, infraclavicular brachial plexus block has become a method of increased interest as it has a lower complication rate and near to equal efficacy. The goal of this study was to compare block performance time, block characteristics, quality of block, patient’s satisfaction, and complications between infraclavicular and supraclavicular techniques for brachial plexus block.Patients and Methods: 100 subjects were randomized in a double-blind fashion, to receive either an infraclavicular block (Group I, n=50) or supraclavicular block (Group S, n=50) using nerve locator apparatus. Block performance time, onset, peak, duration of sensory and motor blockade, any change in hemodynamics, complications were recorded at scheduled intervals intra-operatively and post-operatively as per study protocol. Data were analyzed using GraphPad INSTAT version 3.06 software by Chi-square test or Mann-Whitney U test to compare categorical variables.Results: The block performance time was faster in the Group S compared to the Group I (4.8±4.4 minutes vs. 6.3±1.39 minutes, p <0.001). The sensory block onset time was faster in Group S compared to the Group I (6.9±1.58 minutes vs. 7.6±1.34 minutes, p=0.019). Other observed variables were considered statistically not significant.Conclusion: From our study, it is inferred that nerve locator guided Infraclavicular block by a vertical coracoid approach using multineurostimulation method is less rapidly executed as nerve locator guided supraclavicular block with a similar degree of surgical anesthesia and lesser complication rate

Impact of Chronic Alcohol and Opioid Dependence on Biochemical Parameters: A Retrospective Case Control Study from a Tertiary Care Treatment Center in North India

Background: Assessment of biochemical parameters can help in the comprehensive management of patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). The aim of this study was to analyse the biochemical parameters of patients with alcohol and opioid dependence at an addiction treatment facility.Methods: This retrospective study analysed the investigation reports of male patients (aged 18 to 70 years) who visited outpatient department (OPD) with primary diagnosis as opioid dependence syndrome (ODS) or alcohol dependence syndrome (ADS). The data included liver function tests (LFTs), kidney function tests (KFTs), and electrolyte tests conducted in the laboratory in a span of one year.Findings: The study included 713 ADS, 654 ODS, and 227 controls. The ADS group showed significant elevations in mean values of bilirubin, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) as compared to other groups. A significant decrease in albumin levels in ADS group and raised potassium levels in ODS group was observed. De Ritis ratio above threshold (AST/ALT > 2.0) alone and along with raised GGT levels was observed among 11.3% and 9.7% of patients with ADS, respectively (P < 0.001). Electrolyte abnormalities were present in about 20% of patients with ADS and ODS as compared to 8.4% among controls (P < 0.001).Conclusion: LFT and electrolyte abnormalities are frequently observed in patients with alcohol and opioid dependence. De Ritis ratio along with raised GGT levels significantly denotes ADS group. These results merit attention in the course of clinical care of alcohol and opioid-dependent patients

Comparison of Recovery Capital in Patients with Alcohol and Opioid Dependence – An Exploratory Study

Background: Recovery capital helps in the assessment of the personal strengths and challenges that exist in an individual with substance use which may have an impact on recovery process. This study aims at finding out the factors which help such individuals to sustain their recovery and how these factors differ across the two groups of people suffering from Alcohol Dependence Syndrome and Opioid Dependence Syndrome.Methods: A cross-sectional observational was designed where sociodemographic and clinical variables, the recovery capital ARC (Assessment of Recovery Capital) Scale and Severity of substance use SDS (Severity of Dependence) Scale of patients diagnosed with Alcohol Dependence Syndrome (ADS group) and those with Opioid Dependence Syndrome (ODS group) were assessed among patients not reporting withdrawal symptoms.Findings: A total of 49 subjects in the ODS group and 30 subjects in the ADS group were enrolled. The majority of the subjects in both groups were married, belonged to urban areas, practiced Hinduism, and were living in nuclear families. There was a significant difference between the educational status (p<0.001), religion practiced (p<0.001), age of onset of dependence (p<0.001), severity of dependence (p=0.11), and duration of abstinence (p<0.001) between the ADS and ODS groups. The mean scores on ARC Scale were 45.9 (S.D. =3.5) in the ODS group and 47.4 (S.D. =4.3) in the ADS group. ADS group had higher scores in Social Support Domain (p=0.034) and Housing and Safety domain (p=0.025). Other domains like global health, citizenship, meaningful activities, risk-taking, coping, and recovery experience did not significantly differ between the groups.Conclusion: This study aims at comparing the recovery capital of ADS patients with ODS patients. It also suggests that tailored treatment plans for people with ADS and ODS especially in housing and social support and common treatment approach in other domains of recovery will help them sustain the state for a longer term

Using Large Language Models to Generate, Validate, and Apply User Intent Taxonomies

Log data can reveal valuable information about how users interact with web search services, what they want, and how satisfied they are. However, analyzing user intents in log data is not easy, especially for new forms of web search such as AI-driven chat. To understand user intents from log data, we need a way to label them with meaningful categories that capture their diversity and dynamics. Existing methods rely on manual or ML-based labeling, which are either expensive or inflexible for large and changing datasets. We propose a novel solution using large language models (LLMs), which can generate rich and relevant concepts, descriptions, and examples for user intents. However, using LLMs to generate a user intent taxonomy and apply it to do log analysis can be problematic for two main reasons: such a taxonomy is not externally validated, and there may be an undesirable feedback loop. To overcome these issues, we propose a new methodology with human experts and assessors to verify the quality of the LLM-generated taxonomy. We also present an end-to-end pipeline that uses an LLM with human-in-the-loop to produce, refine, and use labels for user intent analysis in log data. Our method offers a scalable and adaptable way to analyze user intents in web-scale log data with minimal human effort. We demonstrate its effectiveness by uncovering new insights into user intents from search and chat logs from Bing

A Computational Approach for Using Social Networking Platforms to Support Creative Idea Generation

Good design relies upon the generation of good ideas, but producing ideas, especially creative ones, is increasingly challenging. This may be due to limited relevant information, lack of creative skills, design fixation, or as a result of too many previously existing ideas. Conventional creativity tools, such as brainstorming and TRIZ, as well as advanced methods, such as design-by-analogy, are often employed by designers for idea generation to alleviate some of these challenges. In recent years, computational creativity tools have emerged to support creative idea generation. However, most of these computational tools are data-driven, and thereby employ various databases, for example, existing databases such as the ConceptNet containing past common-sense knowledge, and customized ones containing limited information. The limitations of these databases have constrained the capability of the computational creativity tools. Social media platforms, such as Twitter and Wikipedia, which allow users to create web-based content, have been reported to have billions of users. It can be considered a huge ‘unorganized’ database of information created by a crowd. However, to date little work has been done on the utilization of such crowd-generated knowledge from social media to support actual design activities, especially during the early stages of the design process. In this paper, the authors propose a computational approach to retrieve, process, and reuse the textual knowledge from social networks to prompt designers’ creative mind in producing ideas for new product design and development. They also propose a novel approach to construct crowd knowledge databases, which can be employed by computational tools, as well as used individually, for supporting creative idea generation. A case study involving the use of an existing social media analysis tool to construct a crowd database for helping designers produce ideas has been conducted to provide insights on implementing the proposed approach for creative idea generation

Opposite Modulation of RAC1 by Mutations in TRIO Is Associated with Distinct, Domain-Specific Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The Rho-guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RhoGEF) TRIO acts as a key regulator of neuronal migration, axonal outgrowth, axon guidance, and synaptogenesis by activating the GTPase RAC1 and modulating actin cytoskeleton remodeling. Pathogenic variants in TRIO are associated with neurodevelopmental diseases, including intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Here, we report the largest international cohort of 24 individuals with confirmed pathogenic missense or nonsense variants in TRIO. The nonsense mutations are spread along the TRIO sequence, and affected individuals show variable neurodevelopmental phenotypes. In contrast, missense variants cluster into two mutational hotspots in the TRIO sequence, one in the seventh spectrin repeat and one in the RAC1-activating GEFD1. Although all individuals in this cohort present with developmental delay and a neuro-behavioral phenotype, individuals with a pathogenic variant in the seventh spectrin repeat have a more severe ID associated with macrocephaly than do most individuals with GEFD1 variants, who display milder ID and microcephaly. Functional studies show that the spectrin and GEFD1 variants cause a TRIO-mediated hyper- or hypo-activation of RAC1, respectively, and we observe a striking correlation between RAC1 activation levels and the head size of the affected individuals. In addition, truncations in TRIO GEFD1 in the vertebrate model X. tropicalis induce defects that are concordant with the human phenotype. This work demonstrates distinct clinical and molecular disorders clustering in the GEFD1 and seventh spectrin repeat domains and highlights the importance of tight control of TRIO-RAC1 signaling in neuronal development.<br/