Kumbh Mela Religious Gathering as a Massive Superspreading Event: Potential Culprit for the Exponential Surge of COVID-19 Cases in India

ABSTRACT. The Kumbh Mela is a significant religious gathering of millions of Hindu devotees in India. It is celebrated on certain auspicious days in the Hindu calendar and attracts millions of pilgrims across the country. Despite the religious intention of millions of Hindu devotees, it raised public health concerns as it became a massive superspreading event for COVID-19. Being the second most populous country, India became the second most affected country during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the arrival of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants and the presence of the double mutated variant, which was first identified in India, the Kumbh Mela probably aggravated the country’s COVID-19 situation which resulted in an uncontrollable second wave. Several cases of COVID-19 across India had been contact-traced to returnees from the event who acted as a nidus to help spread the infection. As a consequence, India’s healthcare system was severely challenged as a result of the overwhelming hospitalizations and increasing fatalities resulting in an acute manpower shortage in healthcare along with the depletion of drugs and medical supplies despite being one of the largest pharmaceutical hubs globally. Leaders and governments around the world should learn from India’s experience and thereby take preventive measures to manage potential superspreading events to curb the spike of COVID-19 cases.

The Impact of the Industry 4.0 Concept on Slovak Business Sustainability within the Issue of the Pandemic Outbreak

Many studies have found that the most significant job structure changes in the Slovak business environment can be expected in production and logistics. The biggest manpower shortages are in the fields of mechanical engineering, production, construction, information sciences and communication technologies, and medical sciences. The smallest manpower shortage can be found in the humanities and social science areas. The main objective of this research was to assess the trends within the Slovak labor market from the perspective of the companies that participated in a survey focused on their assumptions on job structure changes in the context of the implementation of the elements of Industry 4.0. The estimation was based on a questionnaire conducted during the spring months of 2020 with the participation of 175 companies and institutions. The results showed that one third of companies anticipate job cuts in the implementation of smart industry. Along with the job position disposal and the qualified staffs’ need for new jobs, the demands of employers regarding the level of education are growing. On the other hand, three quarters of companies are not only willing but also ready to participate in human resource vocational training and requalification focused mainly on technical skills.

Constraints of Honey Production and Marketing in Ethiopia: A Review

Ethiopia has huge potential for beekeeping production and 1st in honey production in Africa because of its endowment with diversity in climate and vegetation resources offering potentially favorable conditions for beekeeping. It is important for sources of food and beverages, medication, income generation, creating employment opportunities, environmental balance through pollination. Even though it has a higher contribution, the sector is yet not potentially utilized due to various constraints. Therefore the objectives of this paper are to review the production constraints of honey in Ethiopia and to review the marketing constraints of honey in Ethiopia. Pests, Disease and Predators; weather problem; Shortage of bee forage; Absconding; shortage of trained manpower; shortage of equipment; poor management practices; chemicals; weak research and extension; poor infrastructures and etc. are constraints of honey production in Ethiopia. While linkages problem; lack of market center; lack of market information; price fluctuation; low awareness of post-harvest handling; lack of technology; poor market infrastructure, lack basic business concepts; and etc. are constraints honey marketing in Ethiopia. To overcome such constraints:- Adopting effective honeybee pests, disease and predators controlling methods; Introducing and expanding of full package improved beekeeping technologies with adequate practical skill; strengthen full package extension services; Support farmers for beekeeping business through credit availability, improving the barging power of beekeepers, strengthen linkage among different concerned institutions, cooperative formation, input supply, market facilitation and infrastructures as a whole; Giving attention on research and human resources development ; Expanding coverage of flowering plants especially economically important ones like horticultural crops and reducing the impact of agrochemicals and others are suggested recommendations.

Weak Presence of Women in Microelectronics: Analysis and Suggestions of the French Training Network to be More Attractive

The engineering sciences, and more particularly microelectronics, are a field where the presence of women is very low, although they should logically account for half of the staff. The electronic and microelectronics sector is growing rapidly due to the development of the Internet and connected objects more generally known as the digital society. Industrialists in the field are lacking in skills and have a large number of job vacancies which are difficult to fill. These jobs cover almost all the professional facets that are entitled " Skilled manpower shortage". The arrival in this sector of a large number of female candidates could reduce this deficit and increase the sector's capacity for innovation through their difference of appreciation on many societal aspects. This paper discusses and analyses the presence of French young women in science studies from secondary school to doctorate level by linking this behavior to societal aspects. It then proposes approaches that are currently being carried out by the national academic network at the French level with the profession in the context of the implementation of an electronic sector by the government. These approaches aim to limit the loss of female candidates to other fields and to increase the attractiveness for young girls.

P5516Short-term and long-term mortality among acute myocardial infarction patients admitted to hospitals on weekends as compared with weekdays

Background As in other countries, manpower shortage in weekends and holidays is a common problem in either private hospitals or public hospitals in Taiwan. Whether the manpower shortage in weekends and holidays is associated with poor quality of medical care is a noteworthy subject and several investigations from different countries have been published already. Purpose This study examined the difference of short-term and long-term mortality between acute myocardial infraction patients admitted to hospitals on weekends and weekdays in Taiwan. Methods We conducted a retrospective, nationwide cohort study based on the National Health Insurance claims database in Taiwan. Adult patients aged 20 years or older who were admitted with a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction between Jan. 1 2006 and Dec. 31 2014 were identified. Only the first attack of acute myocardial infarction was retained for analysis. The multivariate logistic regression model was applied with adjustment of baseline characteristics at both patient level and hospital level. The outcome variables included in-hospital mortality and one-year cumulative mortality after the index hospitalization. Results We identified 53861 patients with acute myocardial infarction as the weekend group, while 130908 patients as the weekday group. The mean age was 68 years old and 68% of the subjects were male in both groups. ST-elevation myocardial infarction constituted 23% of the patients and up to 46% of the subjects underwent percutaneous coronary intervention during the index hospitalization in both groups. Among the weekend group, the in-hospital mortality was 15.8% while the in-hospital mortality was 16.2% in the weekday group (standardized difference = 0.01). The one-year cumulative mortality was 30.2% and 30.9% in the weekend group and the weekday group, respectively (standardized difference = 0.02). The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) concerning in-hospital mortality of the weekend group compared with the weekday group was 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.95–1.01, p=0.11). Also we found no difference in one-year cumulative mortality between the two study groups (aOR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96–1.01, p=0.15). Conclusions As for acute myocardial infraction patients in Taiwan, admission on weekends or weekdays did not have a significant impact on either in-hospital mortality or one-year cumulative mortality. Acknowledgement/Funding Ministry of Science and Technology, the Executive Yuan, Taiwan (MOST 106-2410-H-002-218-, and MOST 107-2410-H-002-237-)