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Introduction: Numerous studies have shown both hyponatremia and hypernatremia to be independently associated with mortality. Patients infected with Covid-19 infection can develop severe life threatening pneumonia and the mortality in these patients can be as high as 20.3% to 27.9%. While respiratory tract involvement is one of the main manifestation of Covid -19 infection, many patients also have associated dysnatremias. The reported prevalence of hyponatremia and hypernatremia in Covid -19 patients has been 25%-45% and 3% to 7% respectively. Recently, it has also been observed that patients with covid-19 infection develop severe treatment resistant hypernatremia > 150 mEq/L, which is difficult to correct. In patients with Covid-19 infection, dysnatremia is a frequent occurrence, although its relationship with mortality needs to be established. We aimed to study the frequency of dysnatremia in patients with Covid -19 infection at different stages of admission. Method(s): This retrospective analysis was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan over a period of twelve weeks. All admitted adult patients with covid -19 were included. Three levels of serum sodium were recorded: on admission, maximum level anytime during hospital stay and at the time of discharge or death (+/- 48 hours). Based on the serum level of sodium, three definitions were used: hyponatremia, hypernatremia and normonatremia. Hypernatremia was further categorized into mild, moderate and severe. Patients developing acute kidney injury (AKI) was also recorded. The main outcome measure was inpatient mortality. Result(s): The study included 574 patients;median age was 55.6 +/-14.4 years. On admission, the mean sodium was 135.9 +/- 6.4 mEq/L, 39% patients had hyponatremia and 4.7% had hypernatremia. During hospital admission, the percentage of hypernatremia increased to 18.8%: 12.7% had mild, 4.5% had moderate and 1.6% had severe hypernatremia. The mean serum sodium, during hospital stay, in patients who survived was around 140.6 +/- 5 as compared to 151 +/- 9.9 mEq/L in those who died with p value <0.001. The last mean serum sodium checked before death or discharge (+/- 48 hours) was 145.4 +/- 9.4 mEq/L as opposed to 137.7 +/- 3.7 mEq/L with p value of <0.001 in patients who died and survived respectively. The mean serum creatinine on admission was 1.3 +/-1.3 mg/dl;200 (34.8%) patients developed AKI;100 (50%) patients developed stage 1 AKI, 49 (24.5%) had stage 2 and 50 (25%) had stage 3 AKI. Around 36 (6.3%) required renal replacement therapy. The predictors of AKI included severity of Covid-19 [p = 0.001], age [p = <0.001], hypertension [p = 0.04] and invasive ventilation [p = 0.01]. Overall, mortality was 10.97%. Conclusion(s): Hyponatremia on admission is commonly seen in patients admitted with Covid -19 infection, whereas hypernatremia is a frequent finding in patients who could not survive, however their association with mortality needs to be established. No conflict of interestCopyright © 2023
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Herein, we have developed highly sensitive and selective non-enzymatic bioinspired polydopamine derived nitrogen rich carbon (NC) coated bimetallic zeolitic imidazolate framework (BM-ZIF) electrochemical sensor via simple hydrothermal approach for monitoring adrenaline (AD) from COVID-19 quarantined person blood and pharmaceutical sample. The designed NC-BM-ZIF electrode shows excellent sensitive and selective performance towards AD monitoring with detection limit (LOD) of 0.01 nM and 0.1931 μA/nM/cm2 sensitivity over a wide linear range of 50–1625 nM. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of using of NC-BM-ZIF electrode for the electrochemical sensing of AD from quarantined person blood and pharmaceutical sample. © 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
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This book highlights all aspects of innovative 21st-century education technologies and skills which can enhance the teaching and learning process on a broader spectrum, based on best practices around the globe. It offers case studies on real problems involving higher education, it includes policies that need to be adaptable to the new environments such as the role of accreditation, online learning, MOOCs, and mobile-based learning. The book covers all aspects of the digital competencies of teachers to fulfill the required needs of 21st-century classrooms and uses a new pedagogical approach suitable for educational policies. Innovative Education Technologies for 21st Teaching and Learning is the first book that addresses the teaching and learning challenges and how those challenges can be mitigated by technology which educational institutions are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is suitable for teachers, students, instructional and course designers, policymakers, and anyone interested in 21st-century education. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Muhammad Mujtaba Asad, Fahad Sherwani, Razali Bin Hassan, and Prathamesh Churi;individual chapters, the contributors.
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This study aims to explore measures taken into consideration by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in response to COVID-19. The study analyzed publicly available published information and updates on the institutions' management of COVID-19's impact and allied literature. The study found that most of the universities were diligent in facing the sudden invasion of the pandemic, primarily focusing on the impact of face-to-face teaching. The study further identified opportunities that have evolved, as well as improvements that have been incorporated into teaching, along with challenges that have been faced by students and faculty members or are yet to be catered to. Hence, to maintain sustainability in the quality of education, the study suggested the increase of training and dependence on technology, ultimately blending learning in higher education for GCC countries. © 2022. Common Ground Research Networks, Hessa Al-Fadhel, Abdulla Al-Jalahma, Mesfer Al-Muhanadi, Muzaffar Asad, Umaid A. Sheikh. All Rights Reserved.
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This paper examines the systemic and complex influences of the 2020 Coronavirus epidemic on the supply chains (SCs) of international clothing companies through a global business risk management perspective. The Coronavirus pandemic has triggered supply and demand disturbance risks that strongly affect supply chain (SC) management, signifying a necessity to develop the agility to alleviate such risks. This study revealed that the lean-SC management model is inadequate due to the dearth of transparency in the SCs caused by the growing demand uncertainty detected even before the Coronavirus pandemic. Although agile-SC management copes with this issue by improving the purchaser-supplier relations and communication to enhance information exchange, this model also requires a related rise in business stock and inventory costs. Hence, the paper provides several strategies that companies can implement to manage the risks and identify main fields for future studies, including the parties in the clothing SCs both downstream and upstream. IEEE
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Background: Anxiety is seen among students even during normal times. The COVID-19pandemic is believed to have increased anxiety and depression among the students. Purpose: An investigation was done to assess the anxiety levels and coping strategies of nursing students in Saudi Arabia. The influence of demographics on the anxiety levels and coping strategies were also determined. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire through Google forms. The questionnaire had items related to demographics such as age, sex, etc., along with a question to know about the confidence of students to work as nurses. A GAD-7 scale was used to assess anxiety levels and BriefCope was used to determine coping strategies. Statistics were performed using non-parametric tests, factorial analysis, and linear regression. Results: More than half of the participating students experienced moderate to severe anxiety. The anxiety levels were not influenced significantly by demographics except the young age. More than 50% of the students were reluctant to work as nurses and this affected the anxiety score significantly. Factorial analysis grouped variables into six factors. Linear regression showed a positive correlation of these factors with anxiety. Conclusion: Anxiety score revealed that Saudi nursing students had moderate to severe anxiety. The combined number of students reluctant or scared to work was more than those who were confident to work as nurses. A positive association was observed between factor variables with mild and moderate anxiety.
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Purpose: Pandemics always have an impact on everything;for wildlife it is somehow positive and for human health and safety it is negative. But yet there is not any critique on its impact on the agriculture sector and farmer community. The world is not aware of the hazards which will be caused by crop loss. On the globe the largest country by population is China, where natives in China consume rice as staple food. In past few years, it was among the highest rice producing and consuming countries. Rice is planted in February to May mostly in China, and rice crop production is strongly dependent on preplanting activates which farmers are unable to perform because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread and the need to follow safety measures. So, the purpose of this documentary analysis is to indicate the impact of coronavirus disease on the agricultural sector in China specifically for rice production. Design/methodology/approach: In this article, a documentary analysis approach has been utilized. Moreover, due to the new and latest issue, not much research has been published in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the agriculture industry in China. Whereas, several online reports and expert reviews have been reviewed which have been published in online platforms and blogs websites. A total of 45 resources (journal articles, expert reviews) have been downloaded from reputed databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, out of which 31 of them were more relevant and related to the context of study. Findings: The outcome based on this study has indicated that the rice cultivators and farmers are in uncertainty and not comfortable to work in their fields without proper safety measures due to the pandemic situation which will badly affect their lives and the economy of the country. Therefore, this study suggests that to overcome this issue, a proper safety framework is needed to be developed which can be implemented and which can facilitate the rice farming community. Practical implications: Agriculture is important in so many ways including providing employment to the bulk of the population and providing the basic necessity of life and also contributing to the national economy. The outcome of this study will facilitate the agricultural scientist, economist and seasonal crop production stakeholders to indicate the most problematic domain and upcoming challenges faced by the rice farming community in China due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: This is the first documentary analysis which is addressing the current issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the agriculture industry and specifically in the rice cultivation and producing community safety concerns and issues in China which is the first and most affected nation due to the coronavirus. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Purpose: Online learning is essential in today’s world. The COVID-19 has resulted in shutting down all the universities across the globe. Countries like India and Turkey (lower-income countries) are suffering a lot in giving the best classroom practice to their students through online mode. The entire way of teaching-learning has changed drastically, and it is a need of an hour. Research suggests that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay. It is therefore important to understand from student’s perspectives about learning online. The paper systematically surveys the perception of learning online for Indian and Turkan students. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this goal, 594 samples of students (from India and Turkey country) have been taken into considerations, and through statistical measures, the results were analyzed. The set of four research questions comprising of effect of study on COVID-19 pandemic, perception of learning online in COVID-19 pandemic, perception of different genders in learning online and perception of Indians over Turkan students in learning online were analyzed through statistical measures such as mean, standard deviation and so on. Findings: The descriptive statistics of various responses across various dimensions (gender, country) reveals that there is no effect in learning online as compared to classroom-based teaching. On the other hand, there is no significant difference in gender and country in learning online. Originality/value: Online learning has become crucial in higher education as far as pandemic situation is concerned. Many higher education institutions across different countries are suffering various problems from student point of view. Middle-income countries who are with limited assets and less advancements in higher education need to adhere to certain guidelines in online learning. This empirical study will help to understand the perception of students in online learning across India and Turkey. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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This research is being conducted on small and medium enterprises in order to explore the critical areas that have been affected because of COVID-19, so that concerned persons may pay special attention towards those areas. Small and medium enterprises have a significant contribution in gross domestic product, employment, and exports of developing countries. In order to explore the critical factors that have been affected because of COVID-19, a qualitative study has been designed and data was collected through interviews. Based on the literature, interview guide was developed. The owners, managers, and workers working in the small and medium enterprises have been chosen for interviews. After recording the interviews, the data was transcribed and coded. Finally, data reduction took place and significant factors were identified. It has been observed that because of COVID-19 several small and medium enterprises are at the verge of closure, and are facing huge losses. However, those small and medium enterprises that were innovative and explored opportunities in the crucial time not only survived, rather earned profits. Likewise, the management that was flexible, allowed their employees to work from home, and continued their operations with minimum delays in orders, performed in a sustainable way. The findings also revealed that government support, especially in deferring the taxes and provision of financial support, helped small and medium enterprises to survive during pandemic. The research findings are significant for the future researchers to empirically test the constructs and to develop theories for handling small and medium enterprises during crisis. The findings are significant for the policy makers as they can now better understand that which factors needed to be catered. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the University of Bahrain.
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Objective: A novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread all around the world. The progression from initial signs to a diagnosis of acute respiratory failure is usually related to spontaneous cytokine production. There is a growing need to classify appropriate medicines for treatment care. The inhibitory effect of chloroquine (CQ) is potential. However, CQ can lead to serious side effects. Various studies recommend hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have similar antiviral effect as of CQ and maybe a better therapeutic solution. Therefore, we aim to explore the mechanism by which HCQ can inhibit replication of coronavirus. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out using online databases from 2003 to 2020. Results: The obtained results showed that HCQ can inhibit viral replication and entry inside the cell through raising lysosomal pH and binding to specific receptors on the cells, thereby, preventing viral entry. Conclusion: HCQ has a better safety profile than CQ and also modulates cytokine syndrome. However, further studies are needed to explore this mechanism.