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Experience shows that various economic and financial crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, pose complex challenges for the central bank when it comes to implementing macroprudential policy. From a broader perspective, macroprudential policy consists of three pillars-balanced intermediation, system resilience and inclusion-which correspond to the problems that need to be addressed by central bank policy. In the future, macroprudential policy will encounter challenges associated with digitalization and the surge of fintech and bigtech, increasing social inequality, and climate-change risks, all of which will embolden policy transformation and the innovation of its instruments. © BI Institute 2022. All rights reserved.
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The specialness of New Year eve traffic is a telecoms industry fable. But how true is it, and what's the impact on user experience? We investigate this on the four UK cellular networks, in London, on New Year eve in 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 (covid cancelled 2020/21 & 2021/22). Overall, we captured 544,560 readings across 14 categories using 3G/4G/5G devices. This paper summarises our longitudinal readings into 10 observations on the nature of network performance, from a user's perspective, on special days such as New Year eve. Based on these, we confirm that mature 3G/4G networks are unable to deliver a consistent user experience, especially on atypical days. For example, on 4G, a user had a 60% chance to get a latency below 50 ms and 90% chance for 500ms. If repeated in mature 5G networks, it suggests that it is inadequate to support safety-critical 5G use cases. © 2022 IEEE.
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Due to the emergence of the need for sustainable development, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to conduct business within the framework of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, businesses are facing a difficult environment in which they struggle to achieve and maintain competitiveness. To conduct business in today's globalized environment, innovation, behavior, and information are becoming increasingly important constructs to consider. This article investigates the effects of green innovation, green behavior, and information systems on the sustainable performance and competitiveness of businesses. The relationships between the constructs are discussed in terms of long-term development and post-pandemic business trends. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze data collected from 221 managers of small and medium-sized enterprises. All hypotheses are supported, and the results reveal the influence of green innovation, green behavior, and information systems on sustainable business performance and competitiveness. The findings are discussed, and managerial implications are highlighted, along with suggestions for future research. © 2022 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved.
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One of the most significant changes in the ecology of information and communication is the internet. It not only enables contact and engagement in real time across time zones, but also successful social growth and crisis management, including the promotion of distance learning, especially during the COVID-19 epidemic and the associated compartmentalisation of education systems. This disruption to education poses a threat to learning in Nigeria, and the consequences of continued closure of schools and academic programmes could have detrimental consequences for students, parents and the country. Students can be encouraged to explore their own interests and actively learn during lockdowns by using internet-enabled ICT as a resource. However, this has not been the case in the Nigerian education system. This work aims to provide a simple, cost-effective and alternative pedagogical system for use during and after the epidemic, especially for open schools and institutions. This study provides an e-learning/e-teaching system based on the use of a computer and android smartphone apps to mitigate the adverse effects of the prolonged lockdown on the Nigerian education system, or what is referred to in this study as ???edu-lockdemic???. The proposed system was developed as a framework based on a comprehensive review of existing literature and is designed to enable heads of institutions monitor school and academic teaching and learning activities in a virtual learning area known as ???CT-learning area???. Policy recommendations are made in the conclusion.
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Background: Infectious diseases have been a constant threat to people's health and survival, at least thirty re-emerging and emerging diseases (Parks, 2009) are known to be of public health importance posing a burden to the health system;in addition, emergence of COVID-19 further tested the resilience of the health system to respond to public health emergencies (NCDC, 2020). This study assessed the effect of COVID-19 on use of maternal and child health (MNCH) services with objectives being the impact on family planning use, antenatal care visits, facility-based delivery and child related services such as immunization, child nutrition and outpatient clinic in FMC Gusau. Data from units offering MNCH services for six months, three months pre-covid-19 index case (January to March) and three months post covid-19 index case (April to June), corresponding to the period of lockdown, in addition same periods in the previous year (2019) was retrieved and entered into Statically package for social sciences (SPSS) now IBM statistic, comparison was made using comparable period of the year as well as a pre and post Covid index case. Over the six-months period, aggregate data shows that hospital visit for all categories of maternal newborn and child health reduced three months (April, May and June) post covid index case in the facility and subsequent proclamation of lockdown in the State, as compared to three-months pre-covid (January, February and first three weeks of March) Despite the additional burden imposed by the emergence of COVID-19 in FMC Gusau and the Attendant stretched on health system, the resilience of the health system was brought to fore, however with support from Federal ministry of health, National Centre for disease control and other agencies, FMC Gusau was able to use the COVID-19 emergency to strengthen service provision.
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Noise poses challenge to nonlinear Hammerstein-Wiener (HW) subsystem model application, because HW subsystem need large number of parameter interactions. However, flexibility, soft computing, and automatic adjustment to dynamic observation for best model fitting make it potential for forecasting nonlinear data. In this article, we adopted improved HW inference from Levenberg-Marquardt optimization algorithm to optimize HW subsystem and to select best model parameters. Therefore, the adopted model is tested on COVID-19 confirmed reported cases, to estimate transmission rate of COVID-19 virus for period from 15th March 2020 to 29th April 2020. Model validation is carried out on small dataset, which outperforms some existing models. The adopted model is further evaluated using statistical metrics and reported best accuracy of 0.127 and 0.998 for Mean Absolute percentage error (MAPE) and coefficient of determination (R2) respectively, with best model complexity of 1.86. The obtained results are promising enough in predicting spread of COVID-19 virus and may inspire as guidance to relax lockdown restriction policies. © 2022, IAENG International Journal of Applied Mathematics. All Rights Reserved.
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The novel human coronavirus (CoV) 2019, similar to previous severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-1 outbreaks, has posed the unprecedented challenges that have shaped global action on preventive and easy to employ measures and policies, including regular disinfection. There is an indiscriminate use of antimicrobial agents, which may pose toxicity to humans, environmental hazards, and, in some cases, development antiviral drug resistance. This review comprehensively highlights the physical and chemical countermeasures applied to prevent various CoV infections and their potential toxicity on humans and the environment, as well as the danger of developing drug resistance. Literature information was sourced from PubMed, ScienceDirect, Embase, MEDLINE, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases using Google Scholars and Free Full PDF as search engines. Articles written in the English language were retrieved and included in the study. Researches covering the literature on physical and chemical severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 preventive measures, their toxicity, and possible ways of developing drug resistance were also discussed. The literature review reveals that physical inactivation under the influence of temperature, humidity, and light, especially ultraviolet-C radiation, has proven effective in reducing the spread of CoV infections. Similarly, chemical countermeasures such as the use of alcohol- and iodine-based disinfecting agents have demonstrated inhibitory potentials of the viruses on surfaces depending on nature, dose, and exposure time. The inactivation occurs through the interference of these agents with the lipid envelope, thereby disrupting the viral activity. A vast majority of the antimicrobial agents are reported to contain corrosive chemicals that are toxic to humans, especially children, and the environment. The toxicity is due to the unhealthy accumulation and pollution caused by the inappropriate disposal of biomedical waste. This study showed that chemicals might have long-term effects on public health, such as reproductive disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancers, skin damage, and central nervous system impairment. Therefore, further research on long-term preventive alternatives such as the formulation of these agents with natural products as active ingredients is necessary to mitigate the effects of alcohol- and iodine-based chemicals on humans and the environment. © 2022. Sani Yahaya Najib et al.
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Borno State, Nigeria has experienced active COVID-19 with quite a number of cases and mortalities. The extensive global campaign to create awareness about the pandemic and safety measures through various stakeholders appeared to have worked, especially when it became obvious that people in Borno keyed into safety protocols and observed the lockdown. They wore face masks, routinely applied hand sanitizers and handwashing in public places. It was observed, at some points however, there was obvious nonadherence to these protocols. Therefore, this study examines adherence to COVID-19 safety protocol issues in the state. Could the noncompliance be by those not aware or knowledgeable about the pandemic? Are there issues with the sources of information? The objectives of the study are to determine: the sources of information/knowledge on COVID-19;the effectiveness of the sources of information/knowledge on COVID-19;level of compliance to COVID-19 preventive/safety measures, and to identify challenges in complying with COVID-19 safety/preventive measures. The study used knowledge, attitude and practice theory employed survey method as well as convenience and purposive sampling techniques to select 2949 respondents across three LGAs in the state. The study found that people are aware and knowledgeable about the pandemic. The mass media, especially radio are the major sources of information. The noncompliance to COVID-19 safety protocol is largely due lack of fund to purchase and use face mask and hand sanitizer. It concludes that there are diverse sources of knowledge and information with poor compliance to the safety protocols in Borno State. © 2021, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Journalism. All rights reserved.
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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that affects the respiratory system. The emergence and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused confusion, anxiety and fear among the community, including university students. Anxiety to the COVID-19 pandemic causes various psychological manifestations, including fear of disease transmission, loss of loved ones, and decline in future socio-economic aspects. Anxiety can also lead to physical responses like gastrointestinal symptoms. This study aimed to determine the relationship between anxiety to COVID-19 pandemic and gastrointestinal symptoms complained by university students. Methods: This observational analytic study using cross-sectional approaches involved 311 university students of Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Anxiety to COVID-19 pandemic was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale questionnaire, while gastrointestinal symptoms were measured using the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale questionnaire. Result: Of the 311 respondents, 157 (50.5%) of them felt anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic, with 28 (9%) and 13 (4.2%) students experienced severe and very severe anxiety, respectively. Besides, 264 (84.9%) university students complained of gastrointestinal symptoms, both upper and lower gastrointestinal tracts. There was a significant relationship between the level of anxiety to COVID-19 pandemic and gastrointestinal symptoms. Conclusion: In conclusion, anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic can cause gastrointestinal symptoms amongst university students. Therefore psychological assistance is needed to reduce psychological and physical disorders during the pandemic.
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Background: Hydroxychloroquine(HCQ), one of the repurposed drugs in COVID-19, has several known cardiovascular(CVS) toxicities. Methods: VigiBase data were used to analyze the reported ADEs linked to HCQ. The data were analyzed based on age, gender, and seriousness of ADEs at the System Organ Classification level and the individual Preferred Term level. Results: The majority were above 18 years(91.6%) and from Europe(41.6%). A total of 5,315 ADEs were associated with HCQ use in COVID-19. Of these, 918 ADEs were attributed to CVS and reported from 773 patients. Grossly, CVS ADEs were associated with concomitant use of HCQ and azithromycin(AZM), and only 40 ADEs were solely due to HCQ. The majority were serious (69.3%) and resolved afterward (51%). In CVS ADEs, there were 366 cardiac disorders, 38 vascular disorders, and 514 ADEs under investigation. Among the cardiac disorders, palpitation was the most typical (N=65), followed by bradycardia(N=44) and tachycardia(N=33). Among arrhythmias, QT prolongation (N=469), atrial fibrillation (N=25), and ventricular tachycardia(N=16) were common. The odds of developing serious CVS ADEs increased with age, patients aged 45-64 years(OR=1.75;p=0.015) and >65 years(OR=1.93, p=0.003) as compared to younger ones. Conclusion: Hydroxychloroquine with known CVS toxicities and increased risk with co-administering AZM makes physicians cautious while prescribing in COVID-19 patients.
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The global spread of coronavirus and the associated lockdown by various countries, communities and organizations is worrisome. However, literature has revealed that one of the biggest roles librarians can to play in the national response to the pandemic is that of information literacy specialist. This study, therefore, evaluated sensitization and promotion of information literacy on COVID-19 pandemic by librarians in Public University Libraries in South-Western Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The data for the study was collected from librarians in Public University Libraries in South-Western Nigeria. A total of 315 librarians participated in the study through an online questionnaire due to the COVID-19 pandemic while 233 (74.0%) returned copies of filled questionnaire by the respondents was analysed. Frequency counts, percentages and mean were used to analyse the data collected. Librarians sensitized their communities through various ways on preventive COVID-19 information and used mobile phones and social media very effectively in disseminating preventive COVID-19 information. A significant relationship existed between sensitization and promotion of information literacy on COVID-19 pandemic by librarians. However, librarians were confronted with many challenges in promoting preventive COVID-19 information. It is therefore, recommended that librarians and other information stakeholders should put more efforts on sensitizing their communities about this COVID-19 pandemic, so as to reduce the high level of ignorance about the pandemic in the communities. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.
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Background: Nigeria recorded the first case of COVID 19 in February 2020 and imposed non pharmaceutical interventions including full-scale lockdown from April-May 2020. The lockdown and ensuing restrictions had an impact on routine HIV/AIDS services delivery among key population individuals (e.g. men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, sex workers, transgender individuals and people in prisons). This study analyzed the impact of COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions on HIV/AIDS services including testing, identification of positives and linkage to treatment on a PEPFAR program in North Eastern Nigeria. Methods: A multi-centric retrospective study conducted in two states to assess the impact of COVID 19 on access to HIV services (testing, positives identified and linkage to HIV treatment). HIV services data from November 2019 to September 2020 was collected from source documents. We classified this period into four: pre-COVID (September 2019-March 2020), COVID lockdown (April-May 2020), COVID restrictions (June-July 2020) and relaxed restrictions (August-September 2020). A simple trend analysis of HIV services was done using a combination chart. Linear regression was conducted to understand the impact of COVID-19 on HIV services. The model for the Linear regression curve was plotted to compare the observed values with predicted (Linear) values. Results: We observed a sharp dip in HIV services during COVID lockdown and restriction (figure 1). The plots indicated a linear relationship between the month services were provided and HIV service outcome. The months services were conducted significantly predicted the number of testing (F(1, 9) = 20.689, p = .001), positives (F(1,9) = 15.857, p=0.003) and treatment (F(1,9) = 16.699, p=0.003) provided, accounting for 66.3%, 59.8% and 61.1% of the variation in number of HIV tests conducted, total HIV positive clients identified and clients placed on treatment respectively with adjusted R2 = 0.663, 0.598, and 0.611 for testing, positive and treatment respectively. The linear curve estimation showed that the actual HIV services outcome were below the projected estimated target in the months most affected by COVID 19 lockdown and restrictions. Conclusion: New pandemics can have negative effects on the control of other diseases such as HIV where health gains have been achieved in the past. Hence, a robust pandemic readiness plan must be developed for a possible second wave of COVID-19 to sustain the gains from several years of HIV intervention efforts.
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Today, the family experiences dysfunction because their functions are taken over by the state and the market. Before the Industrial Revolution, most people still relied on their families and communities for food, shelter, education, and employment. New communication and transformation technologies enable markets and governments to pull people out of family security and enter the market as individuals. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the authors saw a tendency for the return of family functions that had been taken away by the state and the market. People are getting closer to their families, especially because of the effects of physical distancing rules by the state. So far there have been no studies that show in detail how a pandemic really influences family functioning. The authors tries to investigate the functions of families returning to work using the daily data of UGM Cultural Anthropology students collected in the Rural Studies class in Indonesia from 30 March 2020 to 29 April 2020. Findings show that family refunction occurred during the pandemic. © 2019 Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry. All rights reserved.
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At the onset of 2020, Covid-19 pandemic began and disrupted teaching and learning activities with substantial implications for resources and operations. Against this backdrop, the configural causal effects of task-technology fit, technology-induced engagement and motivation, gender, and residential location on learning performance are examined. The proposed association was tested with a dyad sample of faculty members and students (n = 16) using fuzzy sets (fsQCA) analysis. Results show that (i) task-technology fit, and technology-induced motivation emerge as necessary conditions for high learning performance; (ii) task-technology fit, technology-induced engagement and motivation are sufficient conditions for high learning performance among female students, (iii) task-technology fit, technology-induced engagement and motivation are sufficient conditions for high learning performance among students living in urban areas and (iv) task-technology fit is a sufficient condition for high learning performance among female students living in rural areas irrespective of technology-induced engagement and motivation. Implications for theory and policy prescriptions are offered for practitioners.
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Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) remains one of the promising AI techniques to handle data over-fitting and as well, improves generalization. Presently, many ANFIS optimization techniques have been synergized and found effective at some points through trial and error procedures.In this work, we tune ANFIS using Grid partition algorithm to handle unseen data effectively with fast convergence. This model is initialized using a careful selection of effective parameters that discriminate climate conditions;minimum temperature, maximum temperature, average temperature, windspeed and relative humidity. These parameters are used as inputs for ANFIS, whereas confirmed casesof COVID-19 is chosen as dependent values for two consecutive months and first ten days of Decemberfor new COVID-19 confirmed cases according to the Department of disease control (DDC) Thailand. Theproposed ANFIS model provides outstanding achievement to predict confirmed cases of COVID-19 with $R{2} of 0.99. Furthermore, data set trend analysis is done to compare fluctuations of daily climatic parameters, to satisfy our proposition, and illustrates the serious effect of these parameters onCOVID-19 epidemic virus spread. © 2013 IEEE.