Utility of Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and Platelet Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR) as A Predictor of Mortality in COVİD-19

Coronavirus-19 pandemic has stricken our world since December 2019; the disease, first reported in China, is now a pandemic. More than 400 million people have been affected, and 5 million people have succumbed to the disease. Hence, it is the need of the era to find readily available laboratory parameters to assess the mortality chances in these patients. Our study aims to determine the utility of NLR and PLR ratios as a predictor of severity and clinical outcome of COVID-19 patients.100 patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Karnataka, India, during the months April to July 2020 were studied. Only patients with a positive RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction) report for COVID-19 were included. Demographic data, comorbidities, and mortality status were collected from electronic hospital records. Lab parameters including- Total Count (TC), Absolute count of neutrophils and lymphocytes, platelet count were taken. NLR and PLR were derived from available lab parameters. Patients were categorized into varying severity depending on their SpO2 levels at admission. Neutrophil count (P=0.001) and NLR (P=0.002) were associated with an increased risk of mortality and disease severity. An increase in PLR ratio (P=0.05) shows a mild association with mortality but not with disease severity (P=0.096). In contrast, comorbidities, increasing age, and gender did not show any statistical significance for mortality. The presence of statistical significance concerning NLR and PLR should be utilized as an aid by clinicians to assess disease severity and chances of mortality. As new variants of the disease are uprising and a single therapeutic measure is not available currently for the treatment of COVID-19, clinicians should be well informed about how to monitor the disease in a cost-effective and easily accessible way to reduce the disease mortality and morbidity

From theory to practice: Understanding DevOps culture and mindset

AbstractDevOps is a potential solution to time and quality restrictions in software development. It aims to increase the frequency, quality, and speed of software delivery using automated procedures. DevOps is a culture transformation, not just a toolchain. DevOps emphasizes cooperation, automation, measurement, information sharing, and web service utilization. It positively impacts IT development, online services, and quality assurance. Before commencing the DevOps journey, it is necessary to understand DevOps principles, practices, tools, benefits, and underlying issues. Such vital parameters are critically reviewed in this article. This systematic review addresses gaps and recommendations related to DevOps, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of its culture and mindsets. The article presents an in-depth examination of DevOps, covering topics like architecture, components, tools, principles, and security challenges. It establishes a conceptual framework for practical implementation. Security has also been discussed in the paper, which is one of the difficult problems in DevOps implementations. The research findings aid in a better understanding of the phenomenon from a human factors perspective. The state-of-the-art discussion on several tools covering architectural and networking aspects in DevOps is included in this article to attract practitioners and researchers for DevOps adoption. Our analysis revealed three key themes related to DevOps culture and mindset: collaboration, continuous improvement, and automation. Moreover, DevOps is not immune to challenges. The proposed work presents the existing gaps and future research directions to address the same

Multicenter Case–Control Study of COVID-19–Associated Mucormycosis Outbreak, India

We performed a case–control study across 25 hospitals in India for the period of January–June 2021 to evaluate the reasons for an COVID-19–associated mucormycosis (CAM) outbreak. We investigated whether COVID-19 treatment practices (glucocorticoids, zinc, tocilizumab, and others) were associated with CAM. We included 1,733 cases of CAM and 3,911 age-matched COVID-19 controls. We found cumulative glucocorticoid dose (odds ratio [OR] 1.006, 95% CI 1.004–1.007) and zinc supplementation (OR 2.76, 95% CI 2.24–3.40), along with elevated C-reactive protein (OR 1.004, 95% CI 1.002–1.006), host factors (renal transplantation [OR 7.58, 95% CI 3.31–17.40], diabetes mellitus [OR 6.72, 95% CI 5.45–8.28], diabetic ketoacidosis during COVID-19 [OR 4.41, 95% CI 2.03–9.60]), and rural residence (OR 2.88, 95% CI 2.12–3.79), significantly associated with CAM. Mortality rate at 12 weeks was 32.2% (473/1,471). We emphasize the judicious use of COVID-19 therapies and optimal glycemic control to prevent CAM

Abstracts of AICTE Sponsored International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in Health

This book presents the selected abstracts of the International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in Health, hosted from the 28th to 29th of April 2022 in virtual mode by the LR Institute of Pharmacy, Solan (H.P.)-173223 in Collaboration with AICTE, New Delhi. This conference focuses on the implications of long-term symptoms on public health, ways to mitigate these complications, improve understanding of the disease process in COVID-19 patients, use of computational methods and artificial intelligence in predicting complications, and the role of various drug delivery systems in combating the complications. Conference Title:  International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in HealthConference Sponsor: AICTE, New Delhi.Conference Date: 28-29 April 2022Conference Location: OnlineConference Organizer: LR Institute of Pharmacy, Solan (H.P.)-173223

Abstracts of AICTE Sponsored International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in Health

This book presents the selected abstracts of the International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in Health, hosted from the 28th to 29th of April 2022 in virtual mode by the LR Institute of Pharmacy, Solan (H.P.)-173223 in Collaboration with AICTE, New Delhi. This conference focuses on the implications of long-term symptoms on public health, ways to mitigate these complications, improve understanding of the disease process in COVID-19 patients, use of computational methods and artificial intelligence in predicting complications, and the role of various drug delivery systems in combating the complications. Conference Title:  International Conference on Post-COVID Symptoms and Complications in HealthConference Sponsor: AICTE, New Delhi.Conference Date: 28-29 April 2022Conference Location: OnlineConference Organizer: LR Institute of Pharmacy, Solan (H.P.)-173223

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN