Teaching faculty perceptions, attitudes, challenges, and satisfaction of online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A national survey

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and associated preventative measures introduced a shock to the teaching paradigm in Saudi Arabia and the world. While many studies have documented the challenges and perceptions of students during the COVID-19 pandemic, less attention has been given to higher education staff. The aim of the present investigation is to evaluate the staff's perception and experiences of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methodsA validated survey was conducted between December 2021 and June 2022 in Saudi Arabian Universities to assess the status of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic among faculty members. The collected responses were exploratively and statistically analyzed. ResultsA total of 1117 response was received. About 66% of the respondents were male and 90% of them hold postgraduate degree. Although rarely or occasionally teach online pre-COVID-19, only 33% of the respondents think the transition was difficult and 55% of them support the move. Most respondents received adequate training (68%) and tools (80%) and 88% of the respondents mentioned that they did not accrue additional workload in online study design. While the perception of online teaching was mostly positive (62%) with high satisfaction (71%). However, 25% of the respondents reported that a poor internet bandwidth was an obstacle and 20% was unable to track students' engagement. Respondents with more years of experience, previous training, support, or perceived online transition as easy were also more likely to be satisfied with the process. Also, older respondents, those who support the transition and those with previous training were less likely to report barriers (all p < 0.001). ConclusionThe perception and experience of transition to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia were positive. Low internet bandwidth and inability to track students' limited effective online teaching. Work experience, previous training, and positive perception are the main factors that influence staff online teaching satisfaction.

The association between salivary zinc levels and dysgeusia in COVID-19 patients.

OBJECTIVE: Zinc insufficiency has been proposed to play a role in taste and smell impairment in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Therefore, this study aimed at comparing salivary zinc levels in COVID-19 patients with and without dysgeusia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 127 participants were recruited for this study. The patients were divided into three groups based on their COVID-19 test results and taste impairment. Groups I and II were COVID-19 positive with and without taste loss, respectively. Group III included the negative control participants. Salivary zinc levels were measured at baseline in all groups and three months after baseline in groups I and II. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the zinc levels between baseline and three months after baseline within each group. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare zinc levels between groups with different degrees of taste loss. RESULTS: Salivary zinc levels were significantly lower in the COVID-19 positive group with taste loss compared to levels in the group without taste loss or the negative controls (p<0.005). Three months after baseline, salivary zinc levels were significantly elevated in both COVID-19 positive groups (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 patients with dysgeusia had significantly lower levels of salivary zinc than positive and negative controls. Zinc levels were elevated after recovery, which may indicate that salivary zinc is directly associated with taste abnormalities and COVID-19 outcomes. This study showed that taste impairment is associated with lower salivary zinc levels in COVID-19 patients.

Filtration efficiency of face masks and veils as protective measures during COVID-19 pandemic

Wearing face masks have been implemented as a public and personal health control measure against the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, the protection level of non-medical face masks, such as women face veils, is still uncertain. This study aimed to assess the filtration efficiency (FE;percentage of particles retained by a mask) of different types of medical masks (either as sealed or unsealed, single or doubled), non-medical masks (cloth masks) and face veils. FE of face masks was evaluated using an in-house 3D-printed air duct connected to the Aerotrak particle counter with a capability of counting particle sizes of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1, 2 and 5 mu m. A set of 10 earloop surgical masks,10 tie-on surgical masks, 3 triple-layers reusable cloth masks and 3 types (short, medium and long) of traditional face veils were included in the study. The unsealed surgical masks showed intermediate FE (36.54-80.58%), with no observed differences between tie-on and earloop or single and doubled masks. For each mask type, the mean FE values of sealed surgical masks (FE=99.16%) was significantly higher (P<0.001) than the unsealed ones (FE=80.58%). No significant difference was observed in the mean FE values between unsealed surgical masks and either cloth masks (FE=23.19-75.35%, P=0.26) or face veils (FE=19.10-70.68%, P=0.14). However, a mockup experiment showed that wearing a surgical mask under the face veil significantly improve the FE (33.73-79.18%;P<0.001). We conclude that besides sealed surgical masks that ensure optimal filtration under the experimental conditions, the unsealed surgical and cloth masks and face veils showed comparable performance and acceptable protection at 5 mu m particle size, which is the most relevant particle size associated with COVID-19 infectious droplets. Wearing a surgical mask under the face veil significantly improves the FE compared to wearing a face veil alone.

Urban Transportation Networks Resilience: Indicators, Disturbances, and Assessment Methods

Due to a surge in the frequency and intensity of disruptive events, such as natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic, and intentional attacks, the concept of resilience has attracted increased attention in recent years. Many scholars have focused on transportation network resilience because of its importance in society's well-being and recovery efforts after disturbances. Existing studies have suggested various definitions, indicators, and methods for assessing the resilience of transportation networks. This variation is due to differences in the nature, scale, and impact of disturbances. This systematic literature review presents resilience assessment methods for transportation networks, indicators, and disturbance categories. A new representation is suggested for the relationships between performance, time, and resilience, emphasizing other network characteristics and their association with resilience. Resilience indicators are categorized, and disturbance categories are analyzed. Approaches are grouped based on their methodologies and presenting their strengths and limitations. This paper directs future studies toward investigating emerging threats, including climate change, pandemics, cybersecurity, failure propagation, and the impacts of new technologies and paradigms on urban transportation resilience. Additionally, it highlights the benefits of identifying a reference metric. Finally, this paper promotes resilience-based thinking to address challenges facing cities worldwide as a cornerstone for creating lasting sustainable development. © 2021 The Author(s)

Effect of virtual learning on delivering the education as part of the sustainable development goals in Qatar

In the recently identified pandemic of COVID-19, most countries have stopped their work, industrial activities, businesses and education activities. This pandemic also had a great impact on energy and environment research, which is a vital component in the transition to sustainable development. In response to this pandemic, Qatar had to stop all kinds of on-site education activities and shifted to virtual learning techniques (or distance learning). Using distant learning has a potential impact on the quality of education and research activities, especially energy and environment research. So, to assess the effectiveness of virtual learning in this pandemic time in Qatar, a structured survey is conducted for university students and staff to assess their perception about distant learning. The survey revealed that virtual learning overall had a positive impact, but it can affect the quality and the progress of education in the country. © 2020 The Authors