Impact of Remote Work on Project Risks Management: Focus on Unknown Risks

Unidentified risks, also called unknown unknowns, have been outside the scope of organization risk management for a long time. Many leaders believe uncertainties are difficult to find or imagine in advance. For instance, when COVID-19 spread quickly to different parts of the world in early 2020, the sudden shift of tens of millions of workers from on-site to remote work locations was experienced across the globe. Many businesses sent their staff to work at home, and most enterprises adopted technology to maintain their operations. Remote work has been aided by new technological platforms, including virtual private networks (VPNs), voice over Internet protocols (VoIPs), virtual meetings, and other collaboration tools. During this COVID-19 pandemic, these technologies have reduced the spread of the virus, enabled employers to decrease overhead expenses, helped workers to gain flexibility, and abridged overall organization risks. This study gathers critical information about remote work amidst unknown risks, such as COVID-19 pandemic, by relying on qualitative and quantitative data. The study develops a model to characterize unidentified risks by gathering employees' perspectives on remote working. Data collected will be compared in terms of the benefits and challenges of remote work. The findings and discussion will be used to suggest and recommend ways organizations can rely on remote work to improve performance and mitigate sudden, unknown risks. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Neurological impact of COVID-19: Sub-acute brain microstructural alterations in self-isolated individuals

Objective: This study investigates the effects of COVID-19 on brain microstructure among those recently recovering from COVID-19 through self isolation. Background: Microstructural differences have previously been detected in comparisons of COVID-19 patients with controls, particularly in regions related to the olfactory system. The olfactory system is connected with the caudate, putamen, thalamus, precuneus, and cingulate regions. Design/Methods: Here we report diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (3 T Siemens MRI) findings from 40 patients (mean age: 43.7, 68% female) who self-isolated after testing positive for COVID (COV+), and 14 COVID negative (COV-) subjects (mean age: 43, 64% female) who had flu-like symptoms. This is part of the Canadian-based NeuroCOVID-19 study. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), mode of anisotropy (MO), free water fraction (F), tissue-specific FA (FAt) and tissue-specific MD (MDt) were obtained using data with b=700 and 1400 (DIPY free-water model). Regions of interest in the grey matter and white matter were delineated using FreeSurfer. Differences between groups were assessed using an analysis of variance (ANOVA), the Kruskal-Wallis Test and the Mann-Whitney Test, corrected for false-discovery rate of 0.05. Effect size (Cohen's d) was also computed (d>0.45 deemed large effect). Results: In the COV+ group, all three tests revealed decreased FA and FAt in the insula, and increased MD in the parstriangularis cortex. Increased FA and FAt in the cuneus (along with decreased MD) was also found. MD was reduced in COV+ in the temporal and supramarginal areas. MO was lower in COV+ in the insula and amygdala regions. Conclusions: In patients, higher MD with lower FA and MO suggest increased extracellular fluids, while lower MD with decreased FA and MO may suggest necrotic debris built up following inflammation. The cuneus and insula are involved in visual and taste processing, respectively. This study highlights the need to study neurological effects of COVID-19.

“Long-hauler ” impact of COVID-19 on brain microstructure: a 3-month follow-up study

Objective: This study investigates the chronic effects of COVID-19 on brain microstructure. Background: Microstructural differences have previously been detected in comparisons of COVID-19 patients with controls, particularly in the insula, cuneus, inferior temporal and anterior cingulate regions. Design/Methods: Here we report diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (3 T Siemens MRI) findings from 20 participants (mean age: 45.3, 55% female), both immediately after recovery and at a 3-month follow-up. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), mode of diffusivity (MO), free water fraction (F), tissue-specific FA (FAt) and tissue-specific MD (MDt) were obtained using DTI data with b=700 and 1400 (DIPY free-water model). Regions of interest in the grey matter and white matter were delineated using FreeSurfer. To assess differences between baseline and follow-up, a paired t-test, the Wilcoxon Test and Friedman Test were performed, corrected for false-discovery rate of 0.05. Effect size (Cohen's d) was also computed (d>0.45 deemed large effect). Results: All three tests revealed decreased F in the hippocampus and decreased MD in the parahippocampal region of the WM at follow-up. In the GM, F was increased in the medial orbitofrontal region. In the WM, MD was increased in the paracentral region and MDt was increased in the parahippocampal and lateral orbitofrontal regions. Conclusions: These results suggest that microstructural abnormalities persist following recovery. Increased extracellular fluid (i.e. F and MD) in the frontal lobe suggest spreading of COVID-19 impact, while decreased F and MD in the hippocampal region suggest debris accumulation as part of the inflammatory process. None of the regions affected in sub-acute COVID-19 appear to fully recover within three months.

DC machines remote lab case study in Technical and Vocational University

Practical study such as laboratory activity helps students to learn about engineering technical courses. New electronic technologies and the Internet of Things allow students and researchers to do experiments remotely. During quarantine due to pandemics such as Covid-19 or when researchers and students are not present in the university, remote laboratories are used as a complementary teaching feature. In these conditions, the remote laboratories also allow the development of experimental-based research. This paper presents the design and development of a remote interactive laboratory for the teaching and practical learning of DC machines at Technical and Vocational University. This laboratory is designed using the Arduino board to make a data acquisition card and actuator controller. Also, LabVIEW is used, which is remotely controlled based on the Internet and allows students to observe and perform experiments related to the DC machines course anywhere and anytime. In this laboratory, to better adapt to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology criteria, the principle of teamwork to perform the experiments and achieve the final result has been considered. The case study results of a remote laboratory in Mohajer Faculty present the students' understanding and satisfaction in obtaining the required scientific competencies from the proposed laboratory.

Online teaching experiences in higher education institutions of Afghanistan during the COVID-19 outbreak: Challenges and opportunities

Due to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the higher education institutions of Afghanistan shifted to online teaching. This critical situation has rendered both opportunities and challenges in online teaching. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the opportunities and challenges of online teaching in the higher education institutions of Afghanistan during the COVID-19 outbreak. It also explored the differences in the opportunities and challenges of online teaching according to gender, academic qualification (degree), and teaching experience. A simple random sampling technique was employed to collect the data from 628 university lecturers in Afghanistan. Descriptive statistics, independent sample T-tests and ANOVA tests were employed to investigate the research questions. The findings of the study has revealed some major opportunities and challenges of online teaching. Besides, it was found that there was no significant difference in the opportunities of online teaching between genders, but a significant difference was obtained in the challenges of online teaching across genders. It was also revealed that academic qualifications and teaching experience has made a statistically significant difference in the opportunities obtained by the respondents. The qualification and teaching experience did not have any impact on the challenges of online teaching. Some implications and limitations of the study are also presented at the end of the study. © 2021 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Effects of COVID-19 on the academic performance of Afghan students’ and their level of satisfaction with online teaching

The outbreak of COVID-19 affected almost every sector, including higher education institutions across the world particularly Afghanistan educational system. For this purpose, the researcher aimed to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on the academic performance of Afghan students and their level of satisfaction with online teaching. It also explored the significant difference in academic performance of students along with their satisfaction level with online teaching across gender. There were 1231 respondents, including 867 males and 364 females, from public and private universities of Afghanistan. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were employed. The findings of the study revealed that COVID-19 has negatively affected the academic performance of Afghan students and the students were highly dissatisfied with online teaching during this critical moment. Besides, the study revealed significant differences in the academic performance of students and their level of satisfaction with online teaching across gender. A strong positive correlation was found between the academic performance of Afghan students and their level of satisfaction with online teaching during the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the findings of the study, several implications and recommendations have been provided. © 2021 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Follow-up and outcome of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions in patients with covid-19

Background: Olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions can be considered as important symptoms to screen for the mild cases of the COVID-19 disease. However, there are limited studies on the specificity of olfactory and gustatory changes in patients with COVID-19, and it is unclear to what extent the changes may be unique to the disease. This study aimed to evaluate the duration and outcome of olfactory and gustatory disorders in patients with COVID-19. Methods: The study population was patients with COVID-19 at Afzalipour Hospital whose disease was confirmed by nasopharyngeal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. 20 patients with olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions were studied. Data were collected using two forms, which were completed at the time of diagnosis and two weeks after the onset of the disease. Results: In 20% of the patients, olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions were among the early symptoms. In 85% of the cases, these dysfunctions were permanent during the disease. 30% of the cases had a chronic underlying disease such as sinusitis, nasal polyps, and allergy. In follow-up, 13 patients (60%) reported that their olfactory dysfunctions had completely improved. Conclusion: The patients whose only symptom is the sudden olfactory or gustatory dysfunction or the dysfunctions are among their early symptoms, should be screened for COVID-19. Most of the patients will recover over the time. Copyright: 2021 The Author(s);Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Citation: Hosseininasab A, Farokhnia M, Arabi Mianroodi A.A, Iranmanesh E, Mohammadi S, Soltani A, Ilaghi M, Shahdforush S, Hashemi A.R. Follow-up and Outcome of Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunctions in Patients with COVID-19. Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 2021;28 (2): 167-172.

Confidentiality challenges surrounding plasma therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case discussion in Iran

Maintaining confidentiality, both in national and international codes of ethics, is considered an important principle in healthcare and the medical profession for both patients and physicians. This case-report article focused on a real case. Based on the request of the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO) for plasma donation from recovered COVID-19 patients, we asked the names and personal information of those patients from hospitals affiliated with Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) and arranged for the subjects to be referred to the Medical Ethics Department of IUMS for consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Various ethical and legal aspects of this case were discussed in a special meeting, and practical solutions were then provided considering the limits of confidentiality and conditions for ethical access to patients' information during a pandemic. Since plasma therapy is not a definitive cure for COVID-19 and considering the ethical and legal points presented in this article, it is not recommended to announce the names of patients in the early stages. Given the potential impacts of the procedure and the possibility of patients being cured, however, their consent should be obtained in different situations and, if necessary, providing information to patients or educating them should be considered.