Conversion strategy builds supply chain resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: A typology and research directions.

This study proposes a novel typology of adaptation to hazards-a conversion strategy as a countermeasure to manage risks in interconnected supply chains. Conversion strategies are intended to transform one or multiple supply chain functions for a different one to manage the changing environment. Supply chain disruptions due to natural hazards have been researched in key manufacturing-based economies like Thailand, the US, Japan, and China. Limited studies, however, have looked at the nature of interconnected risks and its effective countermeasures that arise when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt supply chains. Here, we examine systemic risks by contrasting supply chain disruptions caused by natural hazards and the pandemic. Our study investigates whether businesses can manage systemic risks brought on by the pandemic by learning from dealing with disruptions caused by natural hazards. We offer a typology of conversion strategies to demonstrate how conversion strategies can be a successful response to pandemic scenarios. Specifically, we propose six conversion types: production location, production line, storage, usage, distributional channel, and workforce skill set. Then, we conclude with the future research directions as well as the kinds of policy supports required to assist businesses in implementing conversion measures by drawing on prior work addressing natural hazards.

Effect of measles prevalence and vaccination coverage on other disease burden: evidence of measles immune amnesia in 46 African countries.

BACKGROUND: Measles is highly infectious that leads to a high disease burden among the vulnerable population, especially in developing countries, despite the availability of highly effective measles vaccine. Immune amnesia, the resetting of the immune systems of infected patients, has been observed in developed countries. This paper is the first to use various African countries to evaluate the extent of immune amnesia. METHODS: We used two panel datasets from 46 African countries between 1990 and 2018 among children, one is the disease prevalence from Global Burden of Disease, and another is on the measles vaccination coverage from WHO/UNICEF Joint Reporting Form. We used panel regression to estimate the effect of measles prevalence or measles vaccination coverage on other disease prevalence (diarrhea, lower respiratory infection, malaria, meningitis, and tuberculosis). RESULTS: We found the strong evidence that the increase in the measles prevalence led to an increase in other disease prevalence and mortality. We also found that the increase in the measles vaccination coverage decreased the prevalence of and the mortality due to other diseases. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Measles vaccination can have a large impact on children's health because not only does it reduce the prevalence of measles cases and deaths but also could it potentially reduce the prevalence of and deaths due to other diseases.

Effect of suplatast tosilate, an antiallergic selective Th2 cytokine inhibitor, on acute eosinophilic myocarditis: a case report.

We encountered a 44-year-old woman with acute eosinophilic myocarditis that showed positive immunostaining for interleukin-4 in the area of marked infiltration of eosinophils into the myocardium. When prednisolone alone proved ineffective, supplementary treatment with suplatast tosilate, an antiallergic selective Th2 cytokine inhibitor, improved the patient's inflammation, reduced the level of cardiac enzymes, and allowed for a reduction in corticosteroid dosage without any adverse effects.

Excessive ventilatory response during exercise in patients with non-hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.

The slope of the regression line between carbon dioxide output (VCO2) and minute ventilation (VE) (SLOPE) is useful for evaluating ventilation-perfusion inequality during exercise. A cardiopulmonary exercise test was carried out in 8 pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients without hypoxemia (group PH), 38 male patients with old myocardial infarction (group OMI), and 20 healthy men (group Ctrl). The average SLOPE for each group was 36.3+/-3.3, 28.7+/-0.9 and 25.6+/-0.5, respectively. There were significant differences among them. Group OMI was divided into 3 groups: OMI class 0: peak oxygen consumption (VO2) > or =21 ml x kg(-1) min(-1); OMI class I: 14 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1) < or =peak VO2<21 ml x kg(-1) min(-1); OMI class II: peak VO2< 14ml x kg(-1) x min(-1). There were no significant differences in peak VO2 between the groups PH and OMI class I, but the SLOPE in the group PH was greater than the SLOPE in OMI class I (p=0.0019). Compared with OMI class II, group PH had a greater peak VO2 (p=0.0215), although their SLOPE was equivalent to that of OMI class II. These results suggest that PH patients have severe ventilation-perfusion inequality despite good exercise capacity. When performing a cardiopulmonary exercise test on PH patients, it is necessary to observe not only VO2 or VCO2, but also VCO2/VE, in order to prevent aggravation of the ventilation-perfusion inequality, which leads to exercise-induced hypoxemia.