Role of Serum Amyloid A as a Biomarker for Predicting the Severity and Prognosis of COVID-19.

Objective: To detect biomarkers that can be used to predict COVID-19 severity to identify patients with high probability of disease progression and poor prognosis. Methods: Of the 102 patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to King Fahd General Hospital, Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia, from July 1, 2021 to August 5, 2021, 50 were included in this cross-sectional study to investigate the influence of serum amyloid A (SAA) on disease severity and survival outcomes of COVID-19 patients. Dynamic shifts in SAA, C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC), lymphocytes, neutrophils, biochemical markers, and disease progression were examined. At admission, and at three, five, and seven days after treatment, at least four data samples were collected from all patients, and they underwent clinical status assessments. Results: Critically ill patients showed higher SAA and CRP levels and WBC and neutrophil counts and significantly lower lymphocyte and eosinophil counts compared to the moderately/severely ill patients, especially with regard to disease progression. Similarly, nonsurvivors had higher SAA levels than survivors. The moderately/severely ill patients and the survivors had significantly higher dynamic changes in SAA compared to the critically ill patients and nonsurvivors, respectively, with differences clearly noticed on the fifth and seventh day of treatment. ROC curve analysis revealed that the combination of SAA and CRP was valuable in evaluating the disease progression and prognosis of COVID-19 patients at different time points; however, a combination of SAA and lymphocyte counts was more sensitive for disease severity prediction on admission. The most sensitive parameters for predicting survival on admission were the combination of SAA/WBC and SAA/neutrophil count. Conclusions: The study findings indicate that SAA can be used as a sensitive indicator to assess the degree of disease severity and survival outcomes of COVID-19 patients.

TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES: THE CASE OF THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN JORDAN

This study is designed to assess and identify the status of hospitality training needs, methods and potential challenges within the hospitality industry, in order to recognize gaps and develop training programmes that address and enhance the competitiveness of small businesses within it. A qualitative approach was employed, whereby face-to-face and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 owners and managers of small businesses in the hospitality industry. Using thematic analysis, the study concludes that communication skills, especially foreign languages, are the most the important training need at both managerial and operational levels. Moreover, the study found that on-the-job training is one of the most important training methods. Furthermore, a lack of training budgets is found to be the most critical challenge to training. The study provides empirical evidence and practical implications for decision-makers in the hospitality industry.

The Effect of Curfew on the General Mental Well-Being of the Population in Saudi Arabia After the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Introduction Mental well-being is an essential aspect of general health. Assessing mental well-being is crucial to leading a healthy life. The global population is, presumptively, affected at a ratio of one out of four individuals with a mental or neurological disorder. This further emphasized the importance of the financial, social, and health implications that ensue. Methods and materials Data collection was performed using the symptoms checklist-90 (SCL-90) survey between March and April of 2021. The data collected included demographic data as well as nine domains that include some of the most common psychiatric symptoms. The collected questionnaires were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests. Non-parametric tests were utilized, as the SCL-90 dimensions and global index scores follow a non-normal distribution. Results The questionnaire yielded 387 responses. Females comprised the majority of the participants. The most prevalent symptom described as extremely common by females was waking up early in the morning. The most commonly described symptom described as not at all by females was hearing words that others do not hear. There was no statistical difference in mental well-being between males and females. Older participants (>40 years old) had better mental well-being in comparison to their younger counterparts. Conclusion During the fallout of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, much attention and resources were allocated toward the physical aspect of the pandemic, yet the psychological implications must not be understated. Multiple variables, such as age, marital status, and unemployment, may impact the mental well-being of the population and must be further assessed.

Virtual learning with remote proctoring for inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) training: A feasibility study for socially distanced education

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 has changed the educational landscape precluding in-person surgical training opportunities. We examine the utility and feasibility of remote proctoring for IPP surgical skills training using a full-procedural hydrogel simulation model. METHODS: 9 urology residents at the University of Rochester (PGY 1-4) were paired and remotely proctored by an expert at Boston University using the Zoom web conferencing tool. During IPP training sessions, both participants and proctor were given a model with a full surgical setup. Pre-learning included a narrated full-procedural demonstration by the proctor followed by a full procedure IPP simulation guided by proctor feedback. Pre- and post-training surveys assessed confidence (0-100) and procedural knowledge (15 questions). Opinions on virtual learning and its application to this training session were collected. RESULTS: 66.7% of residents never performed a live IPP placement, while the remaining completed a median (IQR) of 6 cases (4.5-8). All confidence and knowledge measures significantly increased after the remote session (Table 1). Knowledge assessment scores increased by 13% following the remote session, which was reflected in a 48%, 22% and 18% increase in participants' confidence in the ability to perform a simulated IPP procedure, knowledge of IPP procedural steps and applied anatomy respectively. Despite, 77.8% of residents with no prior experience with hands-on virtual training, 100% found remote training valuable and beneficial for learning basic IPP skills and steps of the procedure. The residents highly rated the ability to practice complex skills with zero-patient harm (88.9%), the non-biohazardous nature of the model (66.7%), and having their own hydrogel training model (88.9%). The limitations include single session, lower quality communication and lack of an interface for physical guidance within the virtual environment. CONCLUSIONS: Remote proctoring using a web conferencing tool and non-biohazardous IPP simulation model is feasible with improvement in both confidence and procedural knowledge. Despite its limitations, this approach provides opportunities for hands-on training with remote experts in a safe environment during the cessation of in-person training events.

Awareness towards covid-19 precautions among dental students: A short survey

Objective: To assess the awareness of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) among dental undergraduates, interns and postgraduate students. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire based online survey with regards to knowledge, attitudes, practice was completed by 424 dental students. The questionnaire was divided into 4 sections comprising 13 questions. The initial section collected demo-graphic information of the participants like age, gender, and education status. The knowledge, attitude, and practice of dental students regarding COVID-19 was evaluated in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th section, respectively. Results: An overall mean score of 9.74 ± 2.31 out of 15 was noted. The mean score for knowledge among participants was 3.06 ± 0.17, which indicated that the participants level of knowledge was fair. In total, 81.8% of participants were aware of the main symptoms of the disease. However, 78.8% of participants reflected a positive attitude towards the use of a mask specifical-ly for the carriers with a droplet spread disease. Students' t-test did not show any significant difference with respect to knowl-edge, attitude and practice among male and female participants. Whereas a statistically significant differences in participants' knowledge and attitude domains was noted with respect to the education levels, as postgraduate students possessed a higher mean scores when compared to interns and undergraduate students Conclusion: Awareness about COVID-19 among undergraduate, intern and postgraduate dental students was fair.

Amotosalen and ultraviolet A light treatment efficiently inactivates severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in human plasma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: During the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in plasma and platelet products from asymptomatic blood donors, raising concerns about potential risk of transfusion transmission, also in the context of the current therapeutic approach utilizing plasma from convalescent donors. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of amotosalen/UVA light treatment to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in human plasma to reduce the risk of potential transmission through blood transfusion. METHODS: Pools of three whole-blood-derived human plasma units (630-650 ml) were inoculated with a clinical SARS-CoV-2 isolate. Spiked units were treated with amotosalen/UVA light (INTERCEPT Blood System™) to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. Infectious titres and genomic viral load were assessed by plaque assay and real-time quantitative PCR. Inactivated samples were subject to three successive passages on permissive tissue culture to exclude the presence of replication-competent viral particles. RESULTS: Inactivation of infectious viral particles in spiked plasma units below the limit of detection was achieved by amotosalen/UVA light treatment with a mean log reduction of >3·32 ± 0·2. Passaging of inactivated samples on permissive tissue showed no viral replication even after 9 days of incubation and three passages, confirming complete inactivation. The treatment also inhibited NAT detection by nucleic acid modification with a mean log reduction of 2·92 ± 0·87 PFU genomic equivalents. CONCLUSION: Amotosalen/UVA light treatment of SARS-CoV-2 spiked human plasma units efficiently and completely inactivated >3·32 ± 0·2 log of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, showing that such treatment could minimize the risk of transfusion-related SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Covid-19 context-aware WSN approach

The apparition of the novel SARS 2 or Covid-19 pandemic and its level of infectiousness as well as its status as a global pandemic have upset the human’s life. The difficulty of this disease is its rapid evolution through people contact. All means of development, transportation, communication, industrial, economic and social revolutions and the emergence of advanced urbanization have been affected by covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, in the absence of a vaccine, countries are forced to revolutionize their response and preparedness policies to health emergencies and compel themselves to the new global dynamic. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs), with a context-awareness sensing ability, can greatly improve the way such devices work, both in terms of its accuracy and efficiency. As it is known, WSNs are highly distributed self-organized systems which comprise a large number of resource constrained sensor nodes. This paper proposes a covid-19 context-aware WSN approach to detect affected persons of Covid-19, described by its architecture and different emerging cases. ©2006-2021 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.