Exploring the Impact and Survival Strategies of COVID 19 Pandemic: A Conceptual Study on Independent Hotels in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Covid-19 had a devastating effect and hugely impacted the entire global economy, particularly in the hospitality business. The accommodation sector is one of the hardest hit, especially the smaller tourism businesses like independent hotels. In line with this, this conceptual paper aims to study how Covid-19 impacted independent hotels and how these hotels respond to the pandemic’s effect and remain viable in a competitive market. Given their limited ownership structure and absence of a distinct brand identity compared to chain hotels, these hotels are often short on resources and have trouble adapting their operations to crises such as Covid19. Thus, this research is an early attempt to explore the strategies and practices adopted by the independent hotels that managed to survive during this troubled period. This study will also explore the implications of the applied strategies and practices during the various movement restriction control orders. The outcomes of this prospective study should aid independent hotels in regaining revenue following a pandemic and dealing with future pandemic scenarios. It will also be valuable to the government and other relevant agencies that support the tourism and hotel industry’s growth and sustainability

The master hat

Are your left brain and right brain the same? No! The two halves of your brain may look similar, but they are not exactly alike. The two halves, known as hemispheres, have functional specialization whereby there is a preference to use one brain region more than others for specific functions. Brain lateralization refers to how some brain functions tend to localize primarily in one half of the brain

Multicenter Breast Cancer Collaborative Registry

The Breast Cancer Collaborative Registry (BCCR) is a multicenter web-based system that efficiently collects and manages a variety of data on breast cancer (BC) patients and BC survivors. This registry is designed as a multi-tier web application that utilizes Java Servlet/JSP technology and has an Oracle 11g database as a back-end. The BCCR questionnaire has accommodated standards accepted in breast cancer research and healthcare. By harmonizing the controlled vocabulary with the NCI Thesaurus (NCIt) or Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT), the BCCR provides a standardized approach to data collection and reporting. The BCCR has been recently certified by the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (NCI CBIIT) as a cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG®) Bronze Compatible product

Initial Experience with Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Partial Cystectomy in Urachal Diseases

Purpose: In this study, we report our initial experience with robot-assisted laparoscopic partial cystectomy (RLPC) in urachal diseases. Materials and Methods: Two men and two women with a mean age of 51.5??9.3 years underwent RLPC between June 2009 and December 2009. In each case, a single surgeon using the da Vinci-S robotic system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) used a transperitoneal approach with a 0?? robotic camera. After careful observation of the intravesical portion of the mass, the mass was excised by use of monopolar scissors circumferentially. The bladder was closed in two layers with watertight running sutures made with 2-0 Vicryl. Results: The mean operative time was 198 minutes (range, 130-260 minutes), the mean console time was 111 minutes (range, 70-150 minutes), and the mean estimated blood loss was 155 ml. The urethral catheter was removed on postoperative day 7 after a normal cystogram, and the surgical drain was removed on postoperative day 2.5 (range, 2-3 days). The mean hospital stay was 6 days (range, 4-7 days). There were no major complications. The pathology report revealed that one patient had a urachal cystadenoma, two patients had a urachal cyst, and one patient had a patent urachus. Conclusions: Our initial experience with RLPC for benign urachal disease is that it is a safe and feasible treatment modality. However, more cases are required to confirm the efficacy of RLPC. ?? The Korean Urological Association, 2010

Current understanding of hypospadias: relevance of animal models

Hypospadias is a congenital abnormality of the penile urethra with an incidence of approximately 1:200-1:300 male births, which has doubled over the past three decades. The aetiology of the overwhelming majority of hypospadias remains unknown but appears to be a combination of genetic susceptibility and prenatal exposure to endocrine disruptors. Reliable animal models of hypospadias are required for better understanding of the mechanisms of normal penile urethral formation and hence hypospadias. Mice and/or rats are generally used for experimental modelling of hypospadias, however these do not fully reflect the human condition. To use these models successfully, researchers must understand the similarities and differences between mouse, rat and human penile anatomy as well as the normal morphogenetic mechanisms of penile development in these species. Despite some important differences, numerous features of animal and human hypospadias are shared: the prevalence of distal penile malformations; disruption of the urethral meatus; disruption of urethra-associated erectile bodies; and a common mechanism of impaired epithelial fusion events. Rat and mouse models of hypospadias are crucial to our understanding of hypospadias to ultimately reduce its incidence through better preventive strategies