DETERMINANTS OF DIGITAL FINANCIAL LITERACY FROM STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVE

In Malaysia, there has been an increase in bankruptcy cases among the younger generation, indicating poor money management among youths. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) outbreak has exacerbated this emerging financial issue since financial transactions are now more accessible through the growth of online digital financial products and services (DFS) (Mansour, 2022). Therefore, it is crucial that the younger generation is financially literate from the digital perspective — digital financial literacy (DFL). This study identified factors that may affect one‘s DFL that have not been previously explored in the financial literacy literature. In a survey that involved 183 Malaysian university students, determinants of DFL were identified, namely: financial knowledge score (FKS), programme or study level (PL), gender, age, as well as parental influence (PRI), peer influence (PEI), and social media influence (SMI). The data were analysed using partial least squares (PLS) modelling. The structural model analysis revealed that FKS and SMI positively impacted DFL, highlighting the importance of social media for financial education. Age had an insignificantly negative effect on DFL, contradicting earlier studies that used age as a proxy for financial experience. This research outcome adds to the existing and growing literature on DFL, which has lately gained prominence due to the proliferation of DFS. © 2023 The Authors.

Clinical Characteristics of Deceased with COVID-19 Infection: Data from the Largest COVID-19 Dedicated Hospital in Bangladesh

The death t toll of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been considerable. Several risk factors have been linked to mortality due to COVID-19 in hospitals. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of patients who either died from COVID-19 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in Bangladesh. In this retrospective study, we reviewed the hospital records of patients who died or recovered and tested positive for COVID-19 from May 3 to August 31, 2020. All patients who died during the study period were included in the analysis. A comparison group of patients who survived COVID-19 at the same hospital during the same period was systematically sampled. All available information was retrieved from the records, including demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables. Of the 3115 patients with confirmed COVID-19 during the study period, 282 died.The mean age of patients who died was higher than that of those who survived (56.7 vs 52.6 years). Approximately three-fourths of deceased patients were male. History of smoking (risk ratio 2.3;95% confidence interval: 1.6-3.4), comorbidities (risk ratio: 1.5;95% confidence interal:1.1-2.1), chronic kidney disease (risk ratio: 3.2;95% confidence interval: 1.7-6.25), and ischemic heart disease (risk ratio:1.8;95% confidence interval: 1.1-2.9) were higher among the deceased than among those who survived. Mean C-reactive protein and D-dimer levels [mean (interquartile range), 34 (21-56) vs. 24 (12-48);and D-dimer [1.43 (1-2.4) vs. 0.8 (0.44-1.55)] were higher among those who died than among those who recovered. Older age, male sex, rural residence, history of smoking, and chronic kidney disease were found to be important predictors of mortality. Early hospitalization should be considered for patients with COVID-19 who are older, male, and have chronic kidney disease. Rapid referral to tertiary care facilities is necessary for high-risk patients in rural settings.Copyright © 2023 Hoque MM.

Idiopathic fibrosing mediastinitis with esophageal varices: A case report.

Fibrosing mediastinitis (FM) is a rare cause of lung fibrosis with multiple etiologies ranging from infectious to autoimmune to idiopathic. Common causes of FM include histoplasmosis and a relatively new cause of IgG4-related disease. We present a 55-year-old male with symptoms of esophageal varices, intractable hiccups, and progressive difficulty in breathing. A chest X-ray showed right lung fibrosis with pleural effusion and loss of lung volume, which was originally thought to be the sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 or metastasis, but computed tomography of the chest revealed FM. His variceal bleeding was controlled, and he was discharged home. However, treatment for FM was not pursued because the cause was not identified. Using corticosteroids may not cease the progression of the disease, and surgical options are available when symptoms persist. Idiopathic FM requires laboratory and radiological findings to exclude relevant differential diagnoses.

Quinone and SARS-CoV-2

Scientists provide initial biochemical screenings with recombinant pure severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease (Mpro) to discover prospective lead compounds for future coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) therapies because viral proteases, after polymerases, are the most likely targets for antiviral drug development. Quinones attach to cysteine-rich proteins, and COVID-19 central protease contains a Cys145-rich active site. The antiviral action of five embelin-containing plant products from Bangladesh against influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1) MDCK infected cells was examined. All the evidence pointed to scaffold simplification and changing the shikonin naphthazarin nucleus as appropriate approaches for reducing shikonin cytotoxicity as a natural SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitor. As a part of an extensive investigation of the biological properties of naphthoquinones with shikonin as a lead, and to contribute to drug discovery against COVID-19, the present study led to the development of juglone and its enhanced version as potent and effective Mpro inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2, which are promising antiviral medication candidates awaiting further analysis. A fluorescently labeled short peptide carrying a Q-S carboxyl link was used to test the inhibitory activity of synthesized quinones on Mpro of SARS-CoV-2. In the first library of chemicals, the capacity of several natural naphthoquinones and synthetic vitamin K3 was determined to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Mpro at 10mM. According to a process described in a recent study on the suppression of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro by a methide quinone Celastrol, while attacking the carbonyl carbon, the development of the S–C covalent bond results in a tetrahedral output where the bond develops at the same carbon to which the hydroxy group is connected. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Long COVID? Fatal case report of ischemic stroke and pulmonary embolism post COVID-19 infection.

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) may lead to post-COVID syndrome a few weeks to months after the infection with various symptoms. Post-COVID thromboembolic syndrome may be a result of coagulopathy that occurs in both the arterial and venous circulation. Apart from direct cellular infection, post-COVID syndrome may occur due to immune system dysregulation, endothelial injury, and hypercoagulability, leading to thrombosis. We present a 32-year-old man who was diagnosed with mild symptoms of COVID-19 infection 4 months before an acute ischemic stroke and an asymptomatic pulmonary embolism. A COVID-19 antigen test was negative. An analysis of prothrombotic factors was negative. He could not receive any therapeutic intervention before his demise. The extent of COVID-19 infection after the onset of symptoms is a mystery and poses a fatal concern due to the increasing number of complications. The long-term complications after COVID-19 infection are still not understood. Clinicians need to be aware of any signs and symptoms that may arise months after COVID-19 infection and its possible causal relationship.

Were Employee Welfare and Work Commitment Impacted by the High Performance Work System?

The High Performance Work System (HPWS) serves as a decisive tool that enables organizations to prioritize quality work. Despite this, instructors in both public and private higher education do not have a strong enough collective voice to influence its policies at the state and federal levels. This study focuses in particular on the instructors of Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan, to investigate the influence of the HPWS on Employee Welfare and Work Commitment in the context of COVID-19. Nineteen items on a 5.0-point Likert scale, with "1” denoting "Strongly Disagree" and "5” indicating "Strongly Agree" was included in a survey for this study that covers its three latent variables, i.e., HPWS, Work Commitment, and Employee's Welfare. 204 teaching professionals/instructors from higher educational institutions, both public and private, made up the study's participant pool. SmartPLS was used in the measurement and structural model analyzes with Confirmatory Factor Analysis and inter-construct correlation of this study. The study concluded that the HPWS has an implicit and substantial impact on Employee Welfare and determined that Work Commitment significantly mediates the association between HPWS and Employee Welfare. This study includes earlier research on HPWS with effective collaboration and opposing viewpoints. This study contributed to the existing literature novel by concentrating on the complexity of Employees' performance and their workplace environment. This study significantly implicates the HR strategists and managers that to enhance employee engagement with their jobs and duties and to improve employee welfare, academic and corporate institutions should have efficient HPWS implemented within their organizations. © 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.

Detecting Early Warning Indicators of Covid-19 Pandemic in the Context of United States: An Exploratory Data Analysis

This work aims to investigate if social media data, Twitter in particular can be used to detect early warning indicators of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (US). To demonstrate the viability of this work, English tweets were collected with a hasghtag of COVID-19 related topics ranges from 12th March to end of April 2020. With the help of with N-gram language model and Term Frequency and Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) significant bi-grams such as ("new york”), ("social, distancing”), ("stay, safe”), ("toilet, paper”), ("wash, hand”), ("tested, positive”), (look, like), ("front, line”), ("grocery, store”) etc. are extracted. Our analysis shows that, the natures of the bi-grams directly reflect the characteristics of the infection cases and are almost similarly distributed over different clusters. This study also reveals that, the tweets of ("new york”) increases with ("stay, home”), ("social, distancing”), ("stay, safe”), ("look, like”) and ("tested positive”);and decreases with ("toilet, paper”). Bi-grams with such relationships are recognized as indicators and are validated with the number of infection cases on each day. Results show that, social media data can project the actual scenario of infection curve and able to detect warning indicators once the pandemic is moderately recognized. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Design and Development of Face Mask Reminder Box Technology using Arduino Uno

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic on 12 Mar, 2020, due to the growth in the number of cases worldwide. WHO advises wearing a face mask and practicing social distancing, which has played a crucial role in prevention and control measures that can prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thus, this paper presents the process through which face mask box is equipped with a voice reminder and sensor. It is made with the help of an Arduino Uno board to give awareness or reminder whenever a person is alerted with a voice reminder to wear a face mask before going outside. It can be helpful, especially in the pandemic era, as a new norm of practice in wearing a mask.

Perception of primary caregiver toward virtual pediatric clinics for type 1 diabetes mellitus during COVID-19 pandemic in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Virtual phone clinics were adopted at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as an alternative to in-person routine outpatient visits amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess primary caregiver perceptions of the virtual phone clinics towards routine care of pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Methods: A cross-sectional research design was employed through a web-based research tool where the primary caregivers of pediatric patients with T1DM participated. Data were analyzed descriptively and statistically using independent t-tests and one-way analysis of variance. Results: In total, 214 participants were included in this study. The average primary caregiver perception value towards virtual phone clinics was 66.71 ± 23.1%, which suggested a satisfactory perception of their experience. Statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were not found between the mean perception values and demographic characteristics. Higher mean primary caregiver perception values were associated with those who: (1) agreed or strongly agreed to be contented with their current state of health, (2) did not ask their physicians to be physically seen during a virtual visit, (3) preferred having four virtual visits or more, and (4) preferred having single to no in-person visits at all. Conclusion: This study revealed a generally acceptable primary caregiver perception regarding virtual clinics. Telemedicine is recommended for routine treatment alongside regular in-clinic appointments to improve the quality of care for pediatric patients with T1DM.

Collaborative mathematics learning model for the Covid-19 pandemic era: Middle school students' independent habituation

In principle, the goal of this study is to create a collaborative-based model for managing mathematics learning in the Covid-19 pandemic that is efficient at improving learning output. The specific objectives of the research in this article are to describe (1) collaborative-based learning of mathematics during the Covid-19 pandemic era and (2) independent habituation of junior high school students. The type of this study is research and development. It considers a qualitative ethnographic research design. Math teachers, principals, and students from SMP Negeri 1 Colomadu Karanganyar participated as research subjects. The method of data collection was done by conducting observations and field notes, interviews, and documentation. The data analysis technique was done inductively. The results of this study are (1) collaborative-based learning of mathematics during the Covid-19 pandemic era, in the paradigm of "students actively construct meaning - teacher as facilitator, students find concepts - teacher facilitates problem solving". That mindset is a change of reflection and action. The management model is carried out in three stages with five provisions. (2) Making students ready to be independent, requiring teachers to be independent, enabling, and building students' abilities, from before to the time of learning. Independent students were based on a strong religion, core character, lifestyle character, respect for others, and the potential to be intelligent, creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial. © 2022 Author(s).

Opaganib in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia: Results of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Phase 2a Trial.

Background: Opaganib, an oral sphingosine kinase-2 inhibitor with antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, was shown to inhibit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 replication in vitro. We thus considered that opaganib could be beneficial for moderate to severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. The objective of the study was to evaluate the safety of opaganib and its effect on supplemental oxygen requirements and time to hospital discharge in COVID-19 pneumonia hospitalized patients requiring supplemental oxygen. Methods: This Phase 2a, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted between July and December 2020 in 8 sites in the United States. Forty-two enrolled patients received opaganib (n = 23) or placebo (n = 19) added to standard of care for up to 14 days and were followed up for 28 days after their last dose of opaganib/placebo. Results: There were no safety concerns arising in this study. The incidence of ≥Grade 3 treatment-emergent adverse events was 17.4% and 33.3% in the opaganib and placebo groups, respectively. Three deaths occurred in each group. A numerical advantage for opaganib over placebo was observed in in this nonpowered study reflected by total supplemental oxygen requirement from baseline to Day 14, the requirement for supplemental oxygen for at least 24 hours by Day 14, and hospital discharge. Conclusions: In this proof-of-concept study, hypoxic, hospitalized patients receiving oral opaganib had a similar safety profile to placebo-treated patients, with preliminary evidence of benefit for opaganib as measured by supplementary oxygen requirement and earlier hospital discharge. These findings support further evaluation of opaganib in this population.

Effectiveness Virtual Instructional Strategy in Improving Al-Quran Literacy Skills for Muslims during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of virtual instruction in improving the literacy skills of the Qur'an of Muslims during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used a purposive sampling technique for selecting samples. This technique was chosen with the aim of selection to represent the desired population characteristics. For this reason, the sample taken is a group of participants in the regular group, which is considered capable of representing the characteristics of the student population. The number of pieces is 699 respondents, with 532 women and 167 men. The research method used is an experiment with a mixed-method approach. This type of survey research was chosen because it was adapted to the purpose of this study, namely, to determine the effectiveness of virtual instructional strategies to improve Al-Quran literacy skills. The research instrument before being used was validated by an instrument expert in the field of instructional design. The results of the study show that virtual instructional strategies are very effective in improving the literacy skills of the Qur'an of Muslims during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Respiratory outcomes after twelve weeks in patients recovered from COVID-19 managed with non-invasive positive pressure ventilation

Aim: To assess the respiratory outcomes twelve weeks after the management with non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in patients recovered from severe corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methodology: The cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the Department of Pulmonology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore between October 2020 and March 2021. Total 124 patients visiting the hospital twelve weeks after recovery from COVID-19 were enrolled using convenience sampling. After excluding patients with a history of previous respiratory symptoms before the development of COVID-19, data from 87 patients who required oxygen >15 L/minute and NIPPV support were subjected to final analysis. Results: The proportion of middle-aged adults was 52.9%, males 64.4% and smokers 49.4%. Twelve weeks after treatment with NIPPV, O2 saturation <97.0% at rest was found in 97.7% patients, PR >100 at rest in 16.1% patients, severe dyspnea in 65.5% patients, O2 dependency >5 L/min in 2.3% patients, severe CXR abnormalities in 20.7% patients and lung fibrosis in 27.6% patients. The distribution of SpO2, PR, and dyspnea status twelve weeks after recovery from severe COVID-19 were not significantly different between NIPPV duration groups (p-value >0.05). However, the number of patients with O2 dependency, severe CXR abnormality, and lung fibrosis were significantly different between NIPPV duration groups (all p-values <0.05). Conclusion: Oxygen desaturation, severe dyspnea and severe CXR abnormalities twelve weeks after the treatment with NIPPV were common among patients recovered from COVID-19. Severe CXR abnormality, lung fibrosis, and O2 dependency were significantly associated with prolonged duration of NIPPV.

The Influence of social media and Public Policy on Public Political Participation in Handling COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study from Indonesian Domestic and Overseas Youngsters’ Perspective

The social media usage was increased during the COVID-19 pandemic because most of population was isolated and were working form their homes. Consequently, the social media usage was increased to get information around the globe. Hence, social media might be a potential solution for problems of political participation. However, if the youngsters are not actively involved on social media, then they could not get update about the political activities that could reduce the public participation in political activities. Similarly, not proper addressing the public policies could also reduce the participations of public in political activities. Therefore, the study objective remained to study the effect of social media, public policy on public political participation in handling covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. For this objective, the data was collected from 600 domestic and overseas youngsters of Indonesia by using a convenient sampling technique which shows 60 percent response rate. Using cross sectional research design and quantitative research approach. The Partial Least Square (PLS)-Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) results had shown that social media was positively and significantly effect to public political participation while public policy was not positively influence to public political participation. Such discoveries can contribute a body of literature that could help to the researcher to conduct research in future. The research can also help to the politicians to be aware of the significance of social media to increase the participation in public political activities. The research limitations as well as future directions were also discussed at the study end. © 2021, Institute for Development and International Relations. All rights reserved.

IoT in the Wake of COVID-19: A Survey on Contributions, Challenges and Evolution.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic, has brought with it changes to the general way of life. Major sectors of the world industry and economy have been affected and the Internet of Things (IoT) management and framework is no exception in this regard. This article provides an up to date survey on how a global pandemic such as COVID-19 has affected the world of IoT technologies. It looks at the contributions that IoT and associated sensor technologies have made towards virus tracing, tracking and spread mitigation. The associated challenges of deployment of sensor hardware in the face of a rapidly spreading pandemic have been looked into as part of this review article. The effects of a global pandemic on the evolution of IoT architectures and management have also been addressed, leading to the likely outcomes on future IoT implementations. In general, this article provides an insight into the advancement of sensor-based E-health towards the management of global pandemics. It also answers the question of how a global virus pandemic has shaped the future of IoT networks.

Modeling the Spread of COVID-19 by Leveraging Machine and Deep Learning Models

Corona Virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a worldwide pandemic of cough, fever, headache, body aches, and respiratory ailments. COVID-19 has now become a severe disease and one of the leading causes of death globally. Modeling and prediction of COVID-19 have become inevitable as it has affected people worldwide. With the availability of a large-scale universal COVID-19 dataset, machine learning (ML) techniques and algorithms occur to be the best choice for the analysis, modeling, and forecasting of this disease. In this research study, we used one deep learning algorithm called Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and several ML algorithms such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), polynomial regression, and Bayesian ridge regression (BRR) modeling for analysis, modeling, and spread prediction of COVID-19. COVID-19 dataset, maintained and updated by JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY was used for ML models training, testing, and modeling. The cost and error generated during ANN training process was reduced using technique called back propagation which dynamically adjust the synapses weights to perform better predictions. The ANN architecture included one input layer with 441 neurons, 4 hidden layers each have 90 neurons and one output layer. ANN along with other ML algorithms were trained to model the prediction of COVID-19 spread for the next 10 days. Experimental results showed that BRR technique overall performed better prediction of COVID-19 for the next 10 days. The modeling of infectious diseases can help relevant countries to take the necessary steps and make timely decisions.

Iraqi dentist response to the covid-19 spreading

Introduction: These new generations of virus “COVID-19” now are not the chines nightmare only however soon as speedy as feasible spread all over the world and grew to be the most existence threating health disorder in the world. Aim: This descriptive research aim to measure the commitment of Iraqi dentists to the Iraqi dental association recommendations at the time of lockdowns during the corona virus infection. Result: In this study the Iraqi dentists who had participated in it were 169 from all over the country, this descriptive research shows great response of the Iraqi dentists to control infection and reduce the spread of “COVID-19”. Discussion: “COVID-19” is a pandemic disease lead to large changes all over the world, actually dentistry were one of the careers affected by this disease, the dentist during the daily work with dental slow speed handpiece or high speed turbine produce droplets and aerosols which probably are contaminated with the virus “COVID-19”. Conclusion: This study had been showed that the Iraqi dentists have a great commitment toward the society during the period of curfew they had been attend to close their privets clinic in order to reduce the viral spread and control the infection.

Pandemic catch-22: The role of mobility restrictions and institutional inequalities in halting the spread of COVID-19.

Countries across the world responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with what might well be the set of biggest state-led mobility and activity restrictions in the history of humankind. But how effective were these measures across countries? Compared to multiple recent studies that document an association between such restrictions and the control of the contagion, we use an instrumental variable approach to estimate the causal effect of these restrictions on mobility, and the growth rate of confirmed cases and deaths during the first wave of the pandemic. Using the level of stringency in the rest of the world to predict the level of stringency of the restriction measures in a country, we show while stricter contemporaneous measures affected mobility, stringency in seven to fourteen days mattered most for containing the contagion. Heterogeneity analysis, by various institutional inequalities, reveals that even though the restrictions reduced mobility more in relatively less-developed countries, the causal effect of a reduction in mobility was higher in more developed countries. We propose several explanations. Our results highlight the need to complement mobility and activity restrictions with other health and information measures, especially in less-developed countries, to combat the COVID-19 pandemic effectively.

Towards the development of sustainable tourism in pakistan: A study of the role of tour operators

The literature on sustainable tourism is scant, particularly in the least developed countries. Very few studies touch upon the concept and no holistic theoretical or conceptual frameworks around the idea of sustainable tourism have been formulated. This study aims at exploring the role of tour operators in developing sustainable tourism in Pakistan and how the tour operators (TOs) conceive their role in this regard. TOs were reached through phone calls, emails, and virtual sources as face-to-face interviews were not possible due to COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel by the government. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data. Results suggest that the TOs although realize the importance of social, environmental, and economic dimensions of tourism on the communities but have no management systems in place to cater accordingly. There are no incentives in place by the government facilitate TOs to design and implement such systems. The TOs do not select a destination based on Global Sustainable Tourism Council criterion, but rather the selection of destination is mostly demand-based and profit-oriented. The study suggests that corporate profit motive is the sole criterion for decision making and is one of the major causes impeding sustainable tourism in Pakistan. The role of TOs in developing sustainable tourism is vague as the TOs do not have any systems in place to implement sustainable models. The study recommends that efforts need to be put in place to incentivize sustainable tourism in Pakistan and proper laws should be set forth by the authorities to comply by the TOs. The role of TOs is important and understood, however, there is a need to put proper systems in place. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Behavior of pharmacists and satisfaction of patients in coronavirus disease-19 pandemic

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of the pharmacists and patients' satisfaction in coronavirus disease-19 pandemic in Pakistan. Materials and Methods: A total of 314 participants participated in the study by cross-sectional study design and convenient sampling technique. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Results: Results revealed that significant number of respondents was not fully satisfied with behavior of the pharmacists. Around half of the respondents were agreed that pharmacists dispensed the same medication as prescribed by the prescribers. Around 38.9% of respondents noticed that pharmacists were not taking keen interest in resolving their health issues. Statistically, significant association (P < 0.05) was observed among patients' overall satisfaction with pharmacists' behavior and services, and precise dispensing of medications, medications counseling, interest in resolving patients' health problems, and general attention given by the pharmacists toward patients. Conclusion: The study concluded that pharmacists should pay more attention to deal with their patients, especially during such pandemics when there is a more need of empathy and good behavior to increase patients' satisfaction and decrease health-related problems.