Evaluation of adverse effects with COVID-19 vaccination in Pakistan

Objectives: Vaccinations work with different mechanisms to offer protection against disease; however, process of immunity building can cause symptoms. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the immediate side effects of COVID–19 vaccination in the Pakistani Population. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at Foundation University College of Dentistry, Islamabad from February to April 2021. 0.5 mL per dose of the Covid-19 vaccine was administered to the candidates. These 205 candidates receiving vaccination were then interviewed investigating the adverse effects of the vaccine. Post-vaccination side effects were compared among categorical groups using the Chi-Square test, whereas post-vaccination side effects were compared with age using independent samples T-test. A p-value of ≤0.05 was statistically significant. Results: Among post-vaccination side effects, fever was reported by 69 participants, while 56 of 205 reported soreness, redness, and swelling at the injection site. It was reported by 42/205 participants to have felt chills and rigor, whereas gastrointestinal disturbance and flu-like symptoms were reported in 55/205 and 28/205 participants, respectively. Younger participants were more likely to develop gastrointestinal disturbance and flu-like symptoms following vaccination as compared to older participants. Conclusion: Malaise, headache, and fever were observed to be the most common side effects of the vaccine, moreover there was a linear relationship between manifestations of adverse effects and history of comorbidities. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.7.4522 How to cite this:Abbas S, Abbas B, Amir S, Wajahat M. Evaluation of adverse effects with COVID-19 vaccination in Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(7):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.7.4522 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Field theories with higher-group symmetry from composite currents

Higher-form symmetries are associated with transformations that only act on extended objects, not on point particles. Typically, higher-form symmetries live alongside ordinary, point-particle (0-form), symmetries and they can be jointly described in terms of a direct product symmetry group. However, when the actions of 0-form and higher-form symmetries become entangled, a more general mathematical structure is required, related to higher categorical groups. Systems with continuous higher-group symmetry were previously constructed in a top-down manner, descending from quantum field theories with a specific mixed ’t Hooft anomaly. I show that higher-group symmetry also naturally emerges from a bottom-up, low-energy perspective, when the physical system at hand contains at least two different given, spontaneously broken symmetries. This leads generically to a hierarchy of emergent higher-form symmetries, corresponding to the Grassmann algebra of topological currents of the theory, with an underlying higher-group structure. Examples of physical systems featuring such higher-group symmetry include superfluid mixtures and variants of axion electrodynamics.

Effects of root–cortex relationship, root shape, and impaction side on treatment duration and root resorption of impacted canines

Summary Objectives This retrospective longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the factors that affect the orthodontic treatment duration (OTD) and external apical root resorption (EARR) of maxillary impacted canines (MIC) as root–cortex relationship, root shape, impaction side, and gender. Material and method Thirty-eight patients (mean age 15.28 ± 1.48 years) who had unilateral MIC and undergone orthodontic treatment were included in this study. Root–cortex relationship, root–cortex intersection amount, root shape, impaction side, height, alpha angle, impaction zone, and length of the MIC were evaluated on cone-beam computed tomography images at the beginning of the treatment. Final assessments were performed on ortopantograms at the end of the treatment as canine angulation and tooth length. The sample was characterized by descriptive statistics; t-tests, Mann–Whitney U-test, ANOVA, and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used for the comparison of EARR and OTD values between the categorical groups. Results Root shape affected OTD, and the longest value was detected in MIC with bent root (P < 0.000). The presence of root–cortex relationship also prolonged OTD for approximately 3 months (P = 0.006). MIC with risk factors like positive root–cortex relationship and bent roots had higher EARR values than those with negative root–cortex relationship and normal roots (P = 0.042, P = 0.021, respectively). EARR of the palatal MIC was also higher than the buccal MIC (P = 0.009). OTD was significantly influenced by root–cortex intersection amount (P = 0.004). Conclusion The presence of root–cortex relationship and abnormal root shape were risk factors for greater EARR of MIC along OTD, which was also significantly influenced by root shape and root–cortex relationship.

Solving equation systems in ω-categorical algebras

We study the computational complexity of deciding whether a given set of term equalities and inequalities has a solution in an [Formula: see text]-categorical algebra [Formula: see text]. There are [Formula: see text]-categorical groups where this problem is undecidable. We show that if [Formula: see text] is an [Formula: see text]-categorical semilattice or an abelian group, then the problem is in P or NP-hard. The hard cases are precisely those where [Formula: see text] has a uniformly continuous minor-preserving map to the clone of projections on a two-element set. The results provide information about algebras [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text] does not satisfy this condition, and they are of independent interest in universal algebra. In our proofs we rely on the Barto–Pinsker theorem about the existence of pseudo-Siggers polymorphisms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the pseudo-Siggers identity has been used to prove a complexity dichotomy.

SOME SPECIFIC FEATURES OF CONCEPTUAL CATEGORY ORGANIZATION (BASED ON RUSSIAN)

This article describes the notions of conceptual category, categorical and subcategorical concepts. The purpose of the work is to provide the rationale for applying the term “categorical concept”. We also offer the method for designing conceptual category structure and identifying its elements. The key role for the method is assigned to categorical concept features. To exemplify that, we performed lexicographical analysis of the categorical concept FAMILY in Russian linguaculture. We carried out the analysis using etymological, associative, definition dictionaries and dictionaries of synonyms. The study showed some peculiarities of a conceptual category structure. Particularly, it was demonstrated that not all features of subcategorical concepts correspond to the categorical concept, at the same time, some elements of a category can be assigned to different categorical groups. The analysis showed a number of concept FAMILY features: «association of people», «home», «unity», «size», «children», «belonging to someone», «strength of relationship», etc...

Cytokine and Chemokine Levels in COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma

Background The efficacy of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) is primarily ascribed as a source of neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. However, the composition of other immune components in CCP and their potential roles remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to describe the composition and concentrations of plasma cytokines and chemokines in eligible CCP donors. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 20 pre-pandemic healthy blood donors without SARS-CoV-2 infection and 140 eligible CCP donors with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Electrochemiluminescence detection based multiplexed sandwich immunoassays were used to quantify plasma cytokine and chemokine concentrations (n=35 analytes). A SARS-CoV-2 microneutralization assay was also performed. Differences in the percent detection and distribution of cytokine and chemokine concentrations were examined by categorical groups using Fisher’s exact and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, respectively. Results Among CCP donors (n=140), the median time since molecular diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 was 44 days(interquartile range=38-50) and 9%(n=12) were hospitalized due to COVID-19. Compared to healthy blood donor controls, CCP donors had significantly higher plasma levels of IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-15, IL-21 and MCP-1, but lower levels of IL-1RA, IL-8, IL-16, and VEGF-A(P<0.0014). Significant differences were also observed in plasma levels of IL-8, IL-15 and IP-10 between CCP donors with low(<40) vs. high(≥160) anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers(P<0.0014). The median levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, IL-12/IL23p40, MDC were significantly higher among CCP donors who were hospitalized vs. non-hospitalized(P<0.05). Conclusion Heterogeneity in cytokine and chemokine composition of CCP suggests there is a different inflammatory state among the CCP donors as compared to SARS-CoV-2 naïve, healthy blood donors.

Benchmarking the Agronomic Performance of Biodegradable Mulches against Polyethylene Mulch Film: A Meta-Analysis

Growers are interested in biodegradable alternatives to petroleum-based polyethylene mulch film (PEM). However, many growers cite limited knowledge about biodegradable mulch films (BDMs) as a significant barrier to adoption. Agronomic field tests of BDMs are often limited temporally or spatially, and the variability of performance results relative to PEM may be contributing to this perceived knowledge gap. Our objective was to use data available in the scientific literature to provide the first quantitative performance benchmark of BDMs against PEM. We extracted data from 66 articles for meta-analysis. Response ratios were calculated for comparison of BDMs relative to black PEM, and differences among categorical groups were determined using 95% bootstrap confidence intervals. Overall, BDMs reduced soil temperature by 4.5% ± 0.8% (±one standard error) compared to PEM, and temperatures were coolest beneath paper-based BDM. Starch-polyester BDM was less effective than PEM for weed control, but paper-based BDM reduced weed density and biomass by 85.7% ± 9.2%. Paper-based BDMs were particularly useful for controlling Cyperus spp. weeds. Despite differences in soil temperature and weed suppression, crop yields were not different between BDMs and PEM. Future research should focus on reducing costs, adding functional value, and increasing the biodegradability of BDMs.

Comorbidity and Risk Factors for COVID-19 Confirmed Patients in Wasit Province, IRAQ

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) isone of the updated challenges facing the whole world.Objective: To identify the characteristics risk factors thatpresent in humans to be more liable to get an infectionthan others.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted forpositively confirmed 35 patients with polymerase chainreaction in Wasit province at AL-Zahraa TeachingHospital from the period of March 13th till April 20th. Allof them full a questionnaire regarded by risk factors andother comorbidities. Data were analyzed by SPSS version23 using frequency tables and percentage. For numericaldata, the median, and interquartile range (IQR) were used.Differences between categorical groups were performed byfissure exact test.Results: The median age of the patients was 43 years oldand interquartile range (25-56 years). Majority of thepatients were female (60%) and (51%) of them were fromthe same region (AL-ezza). The dominant blood groupamong patients was (O) (40%). About 11.4% of patientshad a travel history especially to Islamic Republic of Iran,while (77.1%) had contact with positive cases. The highestpercentage of comorbidities among patients washypertension (40%), and the most presenting symptomswere cough and fever. About 51% of patients were withmild symptoms. Diabetes, coronary heart diseases, andchronic renal diseases were significantly related to diseaseseverity (P-value=0.02, 0.001, 0.01 respectively).Conclusion: Being a female, overweight or obese, andwith blood group (O) are the major risk factors amongpatients. Comorbidities can play an important role in theseverity of disease especially hypertension, diabetes,coronary heart diseases, and chronic renal diseases.

The systematization knowledge of articles adherent to familiness, entrepreneurial orientation and absorptive capacity

PurposeFamily businesses gain notoriety in academic research because they have peculiarities found only in this type of organization, and it is because of these attributes that this work aims to analyze, through an epistemological look, the results of a systematization that sought for works that use the unique characteristics of family businesses, called familiness, as well as two other constructs that showed attractive adherents and little researched in parities with familiness, organizational entrepreneurship, better known as entrepreneurial orientation and the ability to adapt, called absorption capacity.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this goal, an investigation of national and international academic production was carried out through a systematization called Proknow-C, being possible to identify the main categorical groups of authors in the area, main journals, besides identifying and analyzing the main objectives and contributions of selected scientific articles.FindingsAmong the results obtained, it was possible to consolidate some research intentions inherent to the junction of such constructs, besides directing, which can be the best and most promising fields of research for the application of these constructs and the most indicated methods, based on the three epistemological positions, subjectivism, objectivism and constructivism.Originality/valueThis study adds value to the literature on familiness, pointing to a relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and absorption capacity, in contrast to studies focused on other dimensions of social capital, which obtained divergent results. In addition, this study reinforces the unique characteristics of family enterprises, in which this work intends to consolidate a methodological proposal with arguments linked to positivism or interpretativism in the midst of epistemology. The study provides a valuable theoretical framework of familiness determinants connecting the cognitive perspective of the entrepreneur theory to a view of the absorptive capacity.