No one wants to be a host of ghost sessions: Techniques to improve student engagement and active participation

Ensuring students remain active and engaged in online sessions is one of the core challenges for teaching faculty. COVID-19 has thrown challenges at educators, but it has also opened many opportunities to be more practical and creative in our teaching styles. This chapter is based on the practical transformations needed to deal with what we call "ghost students" in remote synchronous online teaching - that is, nervous students behind the dark lens of webcams, sometimes "free riders," and occasionally "write-off" students hanging on in a class due to lack of previous performance and learning. This paper offers insights into complex situations and practical solutions. Different learning activities and techniques are explained to improve the learning curve of such students. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Public policy lessons from the Covid-19 outbreak: How to deal with it in the post-pandemic world?

Using cumulative confirmed cases of Covid-19 covering 163 countries, this paper tests several hypotheses that have received extensive attention in the popular media and academic research during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Our goal is to identify lessons for designing better public health policies in the post-pandemic era based on the past 6 months' experiences of these 163 countries. Based on 2SLS regression, we derive the following lessons. First, providing universal health care is a significant public health strategy for countries to help deal with similar outbreaks in the future. Second, tackling air pollution is a win-win solution, not only for better preparedness against Covid-19 or other airborne diseases, but also for the environment and climate change. Third, lockdowns may help to reduce community spread, but its impact on reducing Covid-19 incidence is not statistically significant. Similarly, antimalarial drugs have no significant effect on reducing the spread of the disease. Fourth, countries should encourage home-based work as much as possible until some treatment or cure is found for the virus. Fifth, the lessons of past SARS experience helped contain the spread of the infection in East Asian countries; other countries must adjust their social and cultural life to the new normal: wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping a distance from others in public places.

The Emotional Impact of COVID-19 News Reporting: A Longitudinal Study Using Natural Language Processing

The emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing social restrictions has been profound, with widespread negative effects on mental health. We made use of the natural language processing and large-scale Twitter data to explore this in depth, identifying emotions in COVID-19 news content and user reactions to it, and how these evolved over the course of the pandemic. We focused on major UK news channels, constructing a dataset of COVID-related news tweets (tweets from news organisations) and user comments made in response to these, covering Jan 2020 to April 2021. Natural language processing was used to analyse topics and levels of anger, joy, optimism, and sadness. Overall, sadness was the most prevalent emotion in the news tweets, but this was seen to decline over the timeframe under study. In contrast, amongst user tweets, anger was the overall most prevalent emotion. Time epochs were defined according to the time course of the UK social restrictions, and some interesting effects emerged regarding these. Further, correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations between the emotions in the news tweets and the emotions expressed amongst the user tweets made in response, across all channels studied. Results provide unique insight onto how the dominant emotions present in UK news and user tweets evolved as the pandemic unfolded. Correspondence between news and user tweet emotional content highlights the potential emotional effect of online news on users and points to strategies to combat the negative mental health impact of the pandemic. © 2023 Simon L. Evans et al.

CSR to tackle the Economic Effect of Covid 19:The case of Bangladesh

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the economic impact of COVID-19 and analyse how the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Islami banks (IBs) can contribute to reducing the adverse economic impact in the context of Bangladesh. Design/Methodology/approach: Currently eight full-fledged IBs are functioning in Bangladesh adhering to the underlying principles of Shariah;among them, seven are actively engaged in CSR activities to help the underprivileged segments of its citizens. This study, through employing a content analysis method examined the information available from these IBs as well as other government sources and published materials to address the COVID-19 economic impacts, specially the role of these IBs. Findings: This study finds that along the line with national and international funds, IBs' CSR funds can also help address the economic downturn in Bangladesh caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study further identified that if IBs develop a consortium among themselves, the CSR funds can be better utilised for the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. Research limitations/implications: The scope of this study is somehow limited, as it has only considered the impact of CSR funds by IBs in Bangladesh. Further research can be conducted in future considering the total CSR funds by all banks, i.e., conventional and Islamic banks. Practical implications: This study demonstrated that IBs spend USD 83.30 million annually, which means USD 417 in five years period. Based on the recommendations of this study, all IBs may work together to develop a joint CSR strategy for the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. Considering Bangladesh's poverty level, such a joint CSR strategy would be helpful for the vulnerable population of the country. Originality/value: This study is unique in the sense that it seeks to address the economic challenges of COVID-19 in the context of Bangladesh with support from the CSR initiatives of IBs. This study has created a new insight for IBs into developing an integrated CSR strategy, which is expected to bring significant contributions to the livelihood of the susceptible citizens of this country.

CSR to tackle the Economic Effect of Covid 19:The case of Bangladesh

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the economic impact of COVID-19 and analyse how the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Islami banks (IBs) can contribute to reducing the adverse economic impact in the context of Bangladesh. Design/Methodology/approach: Currently eight full-fledged IBs are functioning in Bangladesh adhering to the underlying principles of Shariah;among them, seven are actively engaged in CSR activities to help the underprivileged segments of its citizens. This study, through employing a content analysis method examined the information available from these IBs as well as other government sources and published materials to address the COVID-19 economic impacts, specially the role of these IBs. Finding(s): This study finds that along the line with national and international funds, IBs' CSR funds can also help address the economic downturn in Bangladesh caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study further identified that if IBs develop a consortium among themselves, the CSR funds can be better utilised for the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. Research limitations/implications: The scope of this study is somehow limited, as it has only considered the impact of CSR funds by IBs in Bangladesh. Further research can be conducted in future considering the total CSR funds by all banks, i.e., conventional and Islamic banks. Practical implications: This study demonstrated that IBs spend USD 83.30 million annually, which means USD 417 in five years period. Based on the recommendations of this study, all IBs may work together to develop a joint CSR strategy for the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. Considering Bangladesh's poverty level, such a joint CSR strategy would be helpful for the vulnerable population of the country. Originality/value: This study is unique in the sense that it seeks to address the economic challenges of COVID-19 in the context of Bangladesh with support from the CSR initiatives of IBs. This study has created a new insight for IBs into developing an integrated CSR strategy, which is expected to bring significant contributions to the livelihood of the susceptible citizens of this country. Copyright © 2023, Ibn Sina Trust. All rights reserved.

Online teaching-learning and assesment during COVID-19 period: Perception and fondness of preclinical MBBS Students of UniKL RCMP

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on education as the premises of the universities and schools were closed, and countries shut their borders in response to lockdown measures. Majority of the higher education institutions were quick to replace face-to-face teaching-learning (T&L) sessions with online learning. But these closures affected learning and assessments severely, and in some places the course had to defer or extended for weeks or months. Objective(s): The objective of the study was to determine the perception and fondness of preclinical MBBS students of UniKL RCMP on online teaching learning and assessment during COVID-19 period. Material(s) and Method(s): This was a cross-sectional study, conducted in December 2021 to January 2022, the study population included MBBS preclinical students. A set of questionnaire was prepared and distributed to the students who were willing to respond. The participants' responses were then entered and the analysis was done by using SPSS-25. Result(s) and Conclusion(s): Among the 162 students who responded, 43 (26.5%) were male while 119 (73.5%) were female, and 79 (48.8%) were from year 1 while 83 (51.2%) were from year 2. In this study, there was no significant relationship on perception and preference of online teaching-learning and assessment with gender distribution or year of study of the respondents. COVID-19 has given an unexpected, 360 degree impact on every spheres of life and especially in education sector. Students all around the globe were pushed to online classes that really has impacted badly on the medical students. Unfortunately, this study has shown that perception and fondness on online T&L activities and assessment are not significantly associated with gender or year of study of the respondents. Hence, there is a need for further study to uncover the impact of online teaching and assessment.

Aging Population: Social and Economic Concerns and Complexities During COVID-19

In the wake of the pandemic, many lessons have been learnt, and different challenges have been incurred, leading to the creation of not only stress but also limiting the activities of old-age people. One of the most vulnerable sections of the society is the ‘aging population’. This theoretical chapter discusses the concerns and complexities affecting the aging population in the present pandemic (COVID-19) and how the concerns and complexities impact social and economic activities. The chapter also explores the stress variable. The chapter uses the current scenario and secondary sources to explore the research phenomenon in-depth. Recommendations to the policymakers are given at the end. © 2022 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Deep Vein Thrombosis, Septic Pulmonary Emboli and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcal Aureus Bacteremia Complicated by a Furuncle in a Child

Staphylococcal aureus infection in children is a major public health problem globally. It causes a varied spectrum of clinical disease including bacteremia, endocarditis, skin and soft tissue infection, pleuro-pulmaonry and osteo-articular infection. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a known complication of staphylococcal infection. We report a case series which included, 10-year old boy developed DVT, septic pulmonary emboli and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcal aureus (MRSA) bacteremia following a furuculosis and 13 year old girl with thrombosis of internal and external jugular vein, cavernous sinus with pulmonary emboli and MRA bacteremia. Both patients are previously healthy showed complete recovery after aggressive appropriate antibiotics, anticoagulants and supportive care. The high index of suspicion of DVT in MRSA infection is needed, prompt diagnosis and aggressive appropriate therapies improve the outcomes and minimize the complications.

Strategic Management Through Digital Platforms for Remote Working in the Higher Education Industry During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Strategic management is a vital part of every industry;however, the COVID-19 crisis has further escalated the importance of strategic management and adaptability in the higher education industry. The convergence of digital, information and communication technologies coupled with lockdown measures imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed the adoption of digital platforms and technologies for online teaching and learning in higher education. This qualitative paper aims to examine the viewpoints of and challenges faced by students and lecturers pertaining to digital platforms and technologies in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research methodology encompasses the use of a networking approach;80 interviews were conducted with 38 students and 42 university lecturers in Europe, Australia, North America, and Asia. The selection of a sample was undertaken by means of a gatekeeper strategy combined with convenience sampling, while the saturation point was used as a benchmark to reach a representative sample size. The results revealed that digital platforms and technologies facilitate a participative teaching style and improve the learning capabilities of students. The results further highlight the fact that break-out rooms, pre-class videos and creative learning activities promote higher levels of student attendance and engagement. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that, despite the significant development of digital technologies and information and communication technologies (ICTs), both lecturers and students prefer traditional face-to-face teaching because it offers greater emotional connectivity. Major challenges unearthed include poor connectivity, a higher incidence of depression, feelings of self-isolation and a lack of emotional engagement. Recommendations and implications for the higher education industry relating to remote learning are presented in the latter part of this paper. © 2022, WSB University. All rights reserved.

Association of Dietary Behavior with Psychological Distress among House Officers in Karachi during Coronavirus Disease Pandemic

Objective: To observe the association between the officers' dietary behavior and psychological distress during the pandemic. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted Department of Community Health Sciences Bahria University Medical and Dental College, Karachi at the June 2020 to July 2020. Materials and Methods: The convenience sampling was used to collect data. A Chi-square test and bivariate Pearson correlation were conducted, and SPSS version 23 was used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 161 house officers participated in the study, of which, most (73.9%) house officers were females, with a mean age of 24.7± 2.2 years. An association between the officers’ junk food consumption and psychological distress was found to be statistically significant, p < 0.05. Similarly, a significant positive correlation was observed between dietary behavior and distress, p < 0.05. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has increased the burden on healthcare professionals globally and to cope with the situation the house officers are resorting to harmful behaviors such as consuming an unhealthy diet in Karachi. If not addressed, these behaviors will last and deteriorate their overall health and wellbeing in the long run.

Management of COVID-19-A Review

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has gained much popularity not only in the Wuhan city of China but internationally also;in January 2020, the corona rapidly spread to many countries like the USA, Italy, Russia, India, Singapore, Pakistan, Thailand, Canada, Australia, England, and so on through passengers traveling to other countries. Corona patients can be cured with synthetic drugs, traditional herbal medicines (THM), use of Vitamin D and the quarantine approach. Different allopathic medicines, herbal extracts, and vitamin D have been observed to be useful in the treatment of novel coronavirus, like Remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, Teicoplanin, Lopinavir+ Ritonavir, Ribavirin + corticosteroids, Glycyrrhizin, Sanguisorbae radix, Acanthopanacis cortex, Sophorae radix, etc. Various antiviral drugs are used to treat COVID-19, alone or in combination with other medications like Interferon-α, Lopinavir + Ritonavir, Arbidol, corticosteroids, etc., and some herbal extracts;also quarantine approach and Vitamin D are used that not only cure the infection but also boost up our immunity. For this review article, different papers were searched on Google Scholar, Scopus, WHO’s website, PubMed, clinicaltrials.gov and other relevant scientific research websites. In this review article, we have discussed the current strategies that are being used to treat COVID-19. Along with allopathic drugs, some herbal extracts can also be used to treat this novel coronavirus, like Glycyrrhizin, Sanguisorbae radix, Acanthopanacis cortex, Sophorae radix, etc. and even vitamin D.

Antibody responses after Oxford AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine among healthcare workers in Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Oxford AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine is the 1st vaccine administered in Bangladesh to prevent the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The antibody response after 1st and 2nd doses of this vaccine was assessed in health care workers of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh. Blood sample was collected from healthcare workers (teachers, clinicians and medical staff) after 28 days of 1st vaccination and 14 days after 2nd vaccination. Quantitative post-vaccination antibody responses were measured using the chemiluminescent immunoassay, ADVIA Centaur (Siemens, Munich, Germany) SARS-CoV-2 IgG (COV2G) assay (output index was 1.00). Vaccine related antibody was found in 126 (41%) participants after 1st dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. After 2nd dose of vaccine, reactive level of antibody was found in 172 (93%) participants. Antibody responses were significantly higher in previously infected participants compared to participants who had no history of previous COVID-19 after 1st dose (51.92+or-50.85 vs 23.67+or-41.07, p=0.001) as well as 2nd dose of vaccine (64.12+or-97.76 vs 35.04+or-64.84, p=0.001). No difference in antibody response was observed among participants with or without comorbidities. Oxford AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine induces a strong immune response after two doses of vaccination.

Perceptions of faculty teaching anatomy online during COVID-19, A Qualitative study

Aim: This study is designed to understand the views of the faculty involved in teaching anatomy using online platforms during recent covid-19 pandemic. An insight into their experiences may help policy makers to improve online sessions of anatomy in the future. Study design: Qualitative phenomenological study Place and duration of study: From September to December 2021 at Dental College, HITEC-IMS. Materials & methods: Semi structured interviews were conducted face to face and transcribed verbatim. All responses were subjected to qualitative analysis, and themes were derived. Results: A total of 15 female participants from three institutions gave feedback. One of the main themes identified was Teaching effectiveness with subthemes including, included Disconnection, feeling ineffective, Technological issues, administrative issues, student related issues, internet issues. Second theme was Opportunities with subthemes including professional development, logistics, blended learning. Third theme was continuing development of online teaching which had subcategories of teacher training, student motivation and connectivity. Conclusion: The study highlights the issues faced by the faculty, teaching anatomy online for the first time during a pandemic. The feedback about learning opportunities gained and advice for future teaching may help inform policy makers of curricular reforms regarding blended learning in future teaching of anatomy.

A dual-antigen self-amplifying RNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine induces potent humoral and cellular immune responses and protects against SARS-CoV-2 variants through T cell-mediated immunity.

Self-amplifying RNA vaccines may induce equivalent or more potent immune responses at lower doses compared to non-replicating mRNA vaccines via amplified antigen expression. In this paper, we demonstrate that 1 µg of an LNP-formulated dual-antigen self-amplifying RNA vaccine (ZIP1642), encoding both the S-RBD and N antigen, elicits considerably higher neutralizing antibody titers against Wuhan-like Beta B.1.351 and Delta B.1.617.2 SARS-CoV-2 variants compared to those of convalescent patients. In addition, ZIP1642 vaccination in mice expanded both S- and N-specific CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells and caused a Th1 shifted cytokine response. We demonstrate that the induction of such dual antigen-targeted cell-mediated immune response may provide better protection against variants displaying highly mutated Spike proteins, as infectious viral loads of both Wuhan-like and Beta variants were decreased after challenge of ZIP1642 vaccinated hamsters. Supported by these results, we encourage redirecting focus toward the induction of multiple antigen-targeted cell-mediated immunity in addition to neutralizing antibody responses to bypass waning antibody responses and attenuate infectious breakthrough and disease severity of future SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The urgency of wider adoption of one health approach for the prevention of a future pandemic

Recurring outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging zoonoses serve as a reminder that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected. Therefore, multisectoral, transdisciplinary, and collaborative approaches are required at local, regional, and global levels to tackle the ever-increasing zoonotic threat. The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 zoonosis has been posing tremendous threats to global human health and economies. The devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic teaches us to adopt a “One Health Approach (OHA)” to tackle a possible future pandemic through a concerted effort of the global scientific community, human health professionals, public health experts, veterinarians and policymakers through open science and open data sharing practices. The OHA is an integrated, holistic, collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach to tackle potential pandemic zoonotic diseases. It includes expanding scientific inquiry into zoonotic infections;monitoring, and regulating traditional food markets, transforming existing food systems, and incentivizing animal husbandry and legal wildlife trade to adopt effective zoonotic control measures. To adopt an OHA globally, research and academic institutions, governments and non-government sectors at the local, regional, and international levels must work together. This review aimed to provide an overview of the major pandemics in human history including the COVID-19, anthropogenic drivers of zoonoses, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARSCoV- 2) reverse zoonoses, the concept of OHA and how an OHA could be utilized to prevent future pandemic threats to the human-animal-ecosystem interfaces. In addition, this review article discusses the strategic framework of OHA and possible challenges to implement OHA in practice to prevent any future pandemics. The practices of open data sharing, open science, and international collaboration should be included in the OHA to prevent and/or rapidly tackle any health emergencies in the future.

Normalizing community mask-wearing: a cluster randomized trial in Bangladesh

Background: A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that face masks can slow the spread of COVID-19 and save lives, but mask usage remains low across many parts of the world, and strategies to increase mask usage remain untested and unclear.

Investigating the Emotional Response to COVID-19 News on Twitter: A Topic Modelling and Emotion Classification Approach

Media has played an important role in public information on COVID-19. But distressing news, e.g., COVID-19 death tolls, may trigger negative emotions in public, discouraging them from following the news, which, in turn, can limit the effectiveness of the media. To understand people’s emotional response to the COVID-19 news, we have investigated the prevalence of basic human emotions in around 19 million user responses to 1.7 million COVID-19 news posts on Twitter from (English-speaking) media across 12 countries from January 2020 to April 2021. We have used Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to identify news themes on Twitter. Also, the Robustly Optimized BERT Pretraining Approach (RoBERTa) model was used to identify emotions in the tweets. Our analysis of the Twitter data revealed that anger was the most prevalent emotion in user responses to the news coverage of COVID-19. That was followed by sadness, optimism, and joy, steadily over the period of the study. The prevalence of anger (in user responses) was higher for the news about authorities and politics while optimism and joy were more prevalent for the news about vaccination and educational impacts of COVID-19 respectively. The prevalence of sadness in user responses, however, was the highest for the news about COVID-19 cases and deaths and the impacts on the families, mental health, jails, and nursing homes.We also observed a higher level of anger in the user responses to the (COVID-19) news posted by the USA media accounts (e.g., CNN Politics, Fox News, MSNBC). Optimism, on the other hand, was found to be the highest for Filipino media accounts. Author

Cascading effects of mass gatherings on COVID-19 infections from a multi-hazard perspective: A case study of New York city

The devastating economic and societal impacts of COVID-19 can be substantially compounded by other secondary events that increase individuals' exposure through mass gatherings such as protests or sheltering due to a natural disaster. Based on the Crichton's Risk Triangle model, this paper proposes a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation framework to estimate the impact of mass gatherings on COVID-19 infections by adjusting levels of exposure and vulnerability. To this end, a case study of New York City is considered, at which the impact of mass gathering at public shelters due to a hypothetical hurricane will be studied. The simulation results will be discussed in the context of determining effective policies for reducing the impact of multi-hazard generalizability of our approach to other secondary events that can cause mass gatherings during a pandemic will also be discussed. © 2021 Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM. All rights reserved.