Social innovation in higher education: Business and social impacts and implications

The role of higher education is to benefit society at large to generate sustainable socio-economic returns. Therefore, research and knowledge creation must be rendered to achieve anodyne to overcome social challenges and foster new and better practices. Hence, social innovation is the need of society, especially from higher education providers. Especially after the outbreak of COVID-19, there is a need of social innovation by all stake holders in order to attain a sustainable economy. Although, to provide catalyst to the model of social change and innovation, there is a need of an entrepreneurial model for higher education. However, most of the prior studies with the reference of education are not related with the innovation but with societal impact and produce educational change. Thus, this chapter has been written purposely to describe social innovation by higher education providers. The chapter also includes various examples of social innovation with respect to the higher education sector in order to make readers understand the importance of social innovation in the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 worlds. © 2023, IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Ginger ring compounds as an inhibitor of spike binding protein of alpha, beta, gamma and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2: An in-silico study

The available drugs against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVOD-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), are limited. This study aimed to identify ginger-derived compounds that might neutralize SARS-CoV-2 and prevent its entry into host cells. Ring compounds of ginger were screened against spike (S) protein of alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2. The S protein FASTA sequence was retrieved from Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) and converted into ".pdb” format using Open Babel tool. A total of 306 compounds were identified from ginger through food and phyto-databases. Out of those, 38 ring compounds were subjected to docking analysis using CB Dock online program which implies AutoDock Vina for docking. The Vina score was recorded, which reflects the affinity between ligands and receptors. Further, the Protein Ligand Interaction Profiler (PLIP) program for detecting the type of interaction between ligand-receptor was used. SwissADME was used to compute druglikeness parameters and pharmacokinetics characteristics. Furthermore, energy minimization was performed by using Swiss PDB Viewer (SPDBV) and energy after minimization was recorded. Molecular dynamic simulation was performed to find the stability of protein-ligand complex and root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) as well as root-mean-square fluctuation (RMSF) were calculated and recorded by using myPresto v5.0. Our study suggested that 17 out of 38 ring compounds of ginger were very likely to bind the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. Seventeen out of 38 ring compounds showed high affinity of binding with S protein of alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2. The RMSD showed the stability of the complex was parallel to the S protein monomer. These computer-aided predictions give an insight into the possibility of ginger ring compounds as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 worthy of in vitro investigations. © 2023, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala. All rights reserved.

Spectrum of echocardiographic findings in patients with severe and critical COVID-19: a single center experience

Introduction: Information on the cardiac manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is scarce. In this study we assessed the echocardiogram of consecutive patients with COVID-19 infection to assess the frequency of cardiac abnormalities. Materials and Methods: This retrospective descriptive study examined the echocardiographic study of 43 patients with severe and critical COVID-19 infection admitted at the ICU of Chitwan Medical College from May 16, 2021 to June 05, 2021. The study focused on left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV) function. The results were then compared between severe and critical infections to examine if any differences exist between them. Results: The mean age of the study population was 54 years and predominately males. One-third were classified as critical COVID-19 while the remaining were severe COVID-19. Majority(83.7%) had a normal echocardiogram. Among the patients with abnormal reports, the distribution of echocardiographic pattern were biventricular dilation with biventricular dysfunction in two patients (4.6%), LV dialtion with LV dysfunction in two patients (4.6%) and isolated LV dysfunction (diastolic and systolic) in three patients (6.9%). None of the echocardiographic parameters were significantly different between the severe and the critical infection. Conclusion: COVID-19 in primarily a respiratory disease and the cardiac complications is largely attributed to the critical nature of the illness than the specific infection. Considering the risk of infection spread, routine echocardiography for all patients with COVID-19 infection is not advisable.

Detection of Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Clades using COVIDSeq-NGS among International Travelers

Introduction/Objective Numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants/lineages have been identified based on genome sequencing. As of June 15, 2022 almost 11,399,573 whole genome sequences have been deposited in the GISAID-database. Severity and spread of COVID19 is based on their efficiency of infection and to multiply in host. That largely depend upon the structural mutation in spike, ORF and N proteins etc. That happens due to translation of genomic mutations during polypeptide synthesis. Also, the mutations are region/country specific. Specific mutation and combination of mutation causes the emergence of new strains. However, the strains can migrate from one region to other through travelers. The main objective of the current study is profiling of mutations in the genome of SARSCoV2 using Next- Generation-Sequencing (NGS) in international travelers and phylogenetic analysis of the sequences to find out different clades of SARSCoV2. Methods/Case Report A total of 557 SARSCoV2 genomes were sequenced on S4-sequencing flow-cell on NovaSeq 6000. For NGS of SARS-CoV-2 genome, Illumina, COVIDSeq kits and the protocols will be used strictly as recommended by the manufacturer. After NGS the analysis was done followed by FASTA sequences retrieval, mutations recording and phylogeny. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) This study reports 11 clades (19A, B, 20A, B, C, D, 20E;EU1, 20G, 20H;Beta V2, 20I: Alpha V1, 21D;and Eta) for the first time in international travelers. To best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the COVIDSeq approach for detection of mutation in SARSCoV2 genomic clades. The study revealed some dominants mutations was (Orf1a: P2018Q, K1053R, E176V, Orf1b: A520V, T2165A, S: D1127G, D614G, L18F etc. in other genes). Conclusion Profiling of common mutations among travelers could fill some gaps about the existence of SARS-CoV-2 variants information. However, further studies are needed to consolidate these findings before to be utilized for development of a potential therapeutic strategy.

Identify Type of Lung Infection from Lung Patients X-RAY Image LIVERAGING Computer Vision

This research proposes a computer vision-based solutions to identify whether a patient is covid19/normal/Pneumonia infected with comparable or better state-of-The-Art accuracy. Proposed solution is based on deep learning technique CNN (Convolutional Neural networks) with multiple approaches to cover all open issues. First approach is based on CNN models based on pre-Trained models;second approach is to create CNN model from scratch. Experimentation and evaluation of multiple approaches helps in covering all open points and gaps left unattended in related work performed to solve this problem. Based on the experimentation results of both the approaches and study of related work done by other researchers, Both the approaches are equally effective can be recommended for multi-class classification of lung disease. © 2023 IEEE.

Work Ethics of Muslim Women Facing Challenges in the Pandemic Era: Adaptation of the Story of Two Madyan Girls

Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was contagious and a pandemic was declared in early first quarter of 2020. The effect of the rapid infection caused the Malaysian government to impose a Movement Control Order (PKP) throughout the country. After a year, the current conditions left a negative effect on the people, especially involving the economic sector, so that many lost their livelihood. This situation encourages some women to help out in earning a living to ease the burden of the family. However, the difficulty of sexual harassment, depression, excessive workload, childcare problems are becoming more serious among female workers owing to the new normative work culture. The question is, what is the solution that can be put forward to curb the crisis? Thus, this investigation seeks to identify and highlight ethics for working women, adapted from the story of two Madyan girls recorded in surah al-Qasas (28: 23-25). Based on the study of this story, this study found that the ethics of women in career and economic activities can be summarized into 8M, namely: mas'uliah (responsibility);muru'ah (maintaining self-esteem);ma'rifah (having knowledge);maharah (having skills);ma'manah (keeping safe);muhadathah (communication), muwanah (teamwork);and mushawarah (consultation). The work ethics outlined are able to provide a positive impact in meeting some of the conditions and good practices in the career or working world.

Diaphragm dysfunctions among patients recovered from COVID

Introduction: Due to the presence of ACE 2 receptors in the diaphragm, its involvement is likely among patients with Covid 19. This study aimed to describe the presence of diaphragm dysfunction among patients who have recovered from Covid 19. Method(s): The thickness fraction (TF) of the diaphragm was assessed via ultrasonography in supine or semirecumbent posture in the right hemidiaphragm in the zone of apposition. A TF of less than 20% was classified as diaphragm dysfunction. Result(s): A total of 50 (males 34) with a mean age of 49.36 years and recovered from acute Covid were enrolled in the study. Among these 50 participants, 11, 12, and 27 had recovered from mild, moderate, severe Covid, respectively. Overall, 37(74%) subjects were hospitalized, 13 (26%) cases were home quarantined;30 (60%) subjects required oxygen during the course of illness. The average weeks from the onset of symptoms to enrolment was 7.1 weeks. Among the study participants, 9 (18%) subjects (8 males and 1 female) had diaphragm dysfunction (thickness fraction less than 20%). Among subjects who were managed at the hospital (n=37), diaphragm dysfunction was observed in 8 (21.6%). Of patients who had diaphragm dysfunction, 3 out of 9 had mild disease, whereas 6 of 9 (66.6%) subjects had severe illness. sub7 out of 9 (77.7%) subjects were hospitalized and 6 required oxygen during the illness. Conclusion. A significant percentage of COVID-19 survivors had diaphragm dysfunction which may also attribute to the persistent shortness of breath. There is an urgent need for large-scale (nationwide) assessment of diaphragm function among the survivors.

Real-world response to dupilumab in patients with atopic dermatitis: a retrospective review of 100 patients

Dupilumab is a monoclonal antibody approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in 2018. It is indicated for patients who have not responded to at least one systemic medication or in whom these are contraindicated or not tolerated. Response criteria to allow continued treatment include at least a 50% reduction of Eczema Area and Severity Score (EASI) and/or at least a 4-point reduction in the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) score. Phase III clinical trials of dupilumab in AD reported a 75% reduction in EASI (EASI 75) of 51% in SOLO1 and 44% in SOLO2. Real clinic responses may differ from trials so we performed a retrospective review of 100 patients between June and August 2020 who had received dupilumab (44% female, 56% male;mean age 41 years). Fifty-eight per cent had a recorded diagnosis of asthma and 39% had a recorded diagnosis of allergic rhinitis. Seventy-six per cent of patients had received previous phototherapy. Ninety-seven per cent of patients received at least one systemic medication prior to commencing dupilumab. Thirty per cent (n = 29) received one, 33% (n = 32) received two, 33% (n = 32) received three and 4% (n = 4) received four prior to starting dupilumab. The most common were methotrexate (61%), followed by ciclosporin (22%) azathioprine (16%) and alitretinoin (1%). EASI scores were documented at baseline. The target time for EASI response assessment was 16 weeks, but we included outcome data recorded between 8 and 16 weeks, using the score nearest to 16 weeks where multiple scores were available. Seventy-five patients had response data recorded, 18 had stopped dupilumab and seven had missing data. Outcomes were 50% reduction in EASI [EASI 50;84% (n = 62)], EASI 75 [61% (n = 45)] and a 90% reduction in EASI [EASI 90;35% (n = 26)]. Mean (SE) EASI score pretreatment was 22 2 (1 2);at 16 weeks it was 5 8 (0 9). Sixty-five per cent of patients had a documented DLQI score at 8 and/or 16 weeks. Mean (SE) DLQI scores were 17 5 (0 7) predupilumab, 5 5 (1 1) at 8 weeks and 3 7 (0 8) at 16 weeks. Mean reduction was 13 8 (1 0). Eighty-six per cent (n = 56) had a reduction of four or more. Fifty-nine per cent of patients had Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure scores recorded. Mean (SE) values were 22 5 (0 5) predupilumab, 6 2 (1 2) at 8 weeks and 7 1 (1 1) at 16 weeks. Mean reduction was 15 4 (1 0). Compared with prospective clinical trials, real-world data have the limitations of missing data and slight scoring date variations, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on missed appointments. Sixteen-week outcome data are not available for patients who withdrew from treatment. However, for the 75 patients with outcome data the proportion achieving EASI 75 and a 4-point reduction in DLQI is encouraging and similar to data from phase III trials.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Covid-19 in Different Universities across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

There have been 6,566,610 fatalities and 626,337,158 reported cases of COVID-19 worldwide. Pakistan presently has over 1,573,922 confirmed cases and 30,625 deaths. A survey-based study was performed from January to September 2022 among different university communities to find out their KAP level. Data was collected in Google Forms through a questionnaire. The Independent t-test, Multinomial regressions, and Non-parametric Mann-Whitney test were used to assess the level of significance (p-value ≤0.05). 317 out of 605 participants were male (52.5 %), the majority of participants were 15-29 years old (72.7 %), unmarried/divorced (71.6 %), have no children (82.1 %), residing in the urban area (54.9 %) and possess a college/university degree (59.5 %). The majority of participants correctly answered five out of six knowledge questions (M = 4.96, SD = 1.03) and correctly identified the primary symptoms of COVID-19 (94.4 %) along with the proper identification of mode of transmission (95.2 %) while 1.8% wrongly replied and 2.1 % did not reply. A knowledge test revealed the significant frequency of misconception, with nearly half of the respondents (46.3 %) assuming that illness might be contracted by eating or coming into touch with wild animals. Wearing a facial mask is highly practiced (M = 3.59, SD = 0.91), followed by avoiding crowded places (M = 3.44, SD = 0.95) and practicing hand hygiene (M = 3.36, SD = 1.04). Females, the elderly, and the less educated, on the other hand, have less understanding of COVID-19, making them especially susceptible to the pandemic. It is proposed that further awareness might contribute to a favorable attitude and practice. © Pakistan Academy of Sciences.

Combatting with challenges in medical education during COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study on the effectiveness of e-learning in pediatric clinical clerkship of a university hospital, Pakistan

The purpose of this research is to ascertain the effectiveness of using the e-learning method for a module in pediatric clerkship at the [redacted name] University Hospital, Karachi. The fourth-year undergraduate medical students, who rotates for eight weeks in Pediatric clerkship, participated in this study. It was a sequential (Quantitative-Qualitative) mixed-method study, which was conducted from May-August 2020. Students were divided according to their status of in-person rotation (Novice, Semi-expert, Expert). The quantitative component of the study consisted of pre and post-tests and pre-validated post-session feedback., while focused-group discussions were done to explore students' experiences. SPSS version 20.0 was used for quantitative data while qualitative data underwent content analysis. Fifty-nine participants (68.8%) were female. The intervention batch comprised of 102 students (41 Novice (40.2%), 21 Semi-expert (19.6%), and 40 Expert (39.2%)). Using paired t-test analysis between pre and post-test scores of each session, it was discerned that there was indeed a positive effect on knowledge acquisition during each session, depicted by the improvement in test scores. The Semi-expert and Expert groups were merged for analysis. The Novice group was found to be statistically significant for only the common newborn problem session. The qualitative component explored students' views, and three main themes emerged, i.e., the effectiveness of online learning, barriers and challenges to online learning, and future goals to enhance online learning. In conclusion, E-learning is an effective way of continuing the process of delivering medical education, especially in unprecedented times. Technological enhancements will help carry the impact forward as a blended-learning pedagogical approach in undergraduate medical education. © The Author(s) 2023.

COVID-19 Infection: A Review of Summarized Clinical Trials Study for the Treatment

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a widely infectious and pathogenic viral infection. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was reported in Wu-han, China, and spread throughout the world. Coronavirus is indeed an enveloped RNA virus of the ge-nus Betacoronavirus, which is transmitted to birds, humans as well as other mammals. The fastest human to human transition has been generally established. On July 19, 2020, the WHO has reported total confirmed cases: 1,40, 43,176, total confirmed new cases: 1,66,735, total deaths: 5,97,583, and total new deaths: 4,496 globally. Material(s) and Method(s): In this review, the Clinical trial database is analyzed and systematically summarized drugs which are in the recruiting phase and the completion phase of the clinical trial. Result(s): Total 383 clinical trials are listed, involving more than 350 medicines such as Deferoxamine, Favipiravir, DAS181, Tocilizumab Injection, Sarilumab, Placebo, Sildenafil citrate tablets, Sargramo-stim, Lopinavir/ritonavir, Remdesivir, Bevacizumab, Tetrandrine, Fingolimod, Methylprednisolone, Plaquenil, Tocilizumab, Hydroxychloroquine, Abidol hydrochloride, Bevacizumab Injection, Methyl-prednisolone, Amoxicillin-clavulanate, Moxifloxacin, Sarilumab, Darunavir, Cobicistat, etc. Conclusion(s): There is no commercially authorized antiviral treatment or vaccine suitable for use against COVID-19. However, clinical trials represent an effective approach because they facilitate the development of new types of pharmaceutical drugs.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

Nigella Sativa: An Immunity Booster as Pandemic Treatment Solution Against SARS-CoV-2

Nigella sativa (Family Ranunculaceae) is a common medicinal plant all across the world. It is quite popular in different traditional medicinal systems such as Unani, Ayurveda, Tibb, and Siddha. Oil and Seeds have a long tradition of folk medicine utilized in different medicinal systems and food. The seeds of N. Sativa have indeed been widely applied in the treatment of many diseases, ailments, and also as an immune booster. Our research goal was to primarily concentrate on the therapeutic efficacy of Nigella sativa in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

A review on biochemical constituents of pumpkin and their role as pharma foods, a key strategy to improve health in post COVID 19 period

Progression of today's world has been given setback due to the adversity of a novel, viral, deadly outbreak COVID 19, which raised the concerns of the scientists, researchers and health related officials about the inherent and adaptive immune system of the living body and its relation with healthy diet balanced with pharma foods. Now world is coming out of the destructive pandemic era, the choice of right food can help to build and boost adaptive immunity and pumpkin due to excellent profile of functional and nutraceutical constituents could be the part of both infected and non-infected person's daily diet. Vitamins like A, C and E, minerals like zinc, iron and selenium, essential oils, peptides, carotenoids and polysaccharides present in pumpkin could accommodate the prevailing deficiencies in the body to fought against the viral pathogens. In current post COVID 19 scenario adequate supply of healthy diet, balanced with pharma foods could play a basic role in boosting immune system of the populations. This review covers the pharmacological activities of pumpkin functional constituents in relation with COVID 19 pandemic. Pumpkins are well equipped with nutraceuticals and functional bioactives like tocopherols, polyphenols, terpenoids and lutein therefore, consumption and processing of this remarkable vegetable could be encouraged as pharma food due to its antihyperlipidemic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, immunomodulatory, antihypertensive, antimicrobial and antioxidant potential. Need of healthy eating in current post COVID 19 period is very crucial for healthy population, and medicinal foods like pumpkin could play a vital role in developing a healthy community around the globe. Graphical : [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2023, The Author(s).

Image retrieval effectiveness of Bing Images, Google Images and Yahoo Image Search in the scientific field of tourism and COVID-19

The year 2020 brought a big concern for the global community because of COVID-19, which affected every sector of society, and tourism is no exception. Researchers across the globe are publishing their studies related to different dimensions of tourism in the context of COVID-19, and images have formed an essential component of their research. In tourism, images related to COVID-19 can open new dimensions for scholars. The main aim of the research is to measure the retrieval effectiveness of three image search engines (ISEs), that is, Bing Images, Google Images and Yahoo Image Search, concerning images related to COVID-19 and tourism. The study attempts to identify the capability of the ISEs to retrieve the desired and actual images related to COVID-19 and tourism. The PubMed Central (PMC) Database was consulted to retrieve the desired images and develop a testbed. The advanced search feature of PMC Database was explored by typing the search terms ‘COVID-19' and ‘Tourism' using ‘AND' operator to make the search more comprehensive. Both the terms were searched against the ‘Figure/Table' caption to retrieve papers carrying images related to COVID-19 and tourism. Queries were executed across the select ISEs, that is, Bing Images, Google Images and Yahoo Image Search. Retrieved images were individually analysed against the original image from the articles to determine the Precision, Relative Recall, F-Measure and Fallout Ratio. The format of the images in JPG/JPEG, besides checking the original image rank in the retrieved lot, was also ascertained. Bing Images scores more in terms of Mean Precision, followed by Google Images and Yahoo Image Search. For the Relative Recall measure, Google Images scores high, followed by Bing Images and Yahoo Image Search, respectively. Regarding F-Measure and Fallout Ratio, Bing Images outperforms Google Images and Yahoo Image Search. In retrieving the sought format of JPG/JPEG, Google Images performs best, followed by Yahoo Image Search and Bing Images. Google Images produces the original image at the first rank on more than one occasion. In contrast, Bing Images retrieves the original image at the first rank in two instances. Yahoo Images performs poorly over this metric as it does not retrieve any original image at the first rank on any other instance. The study cannot be generalised as the scope is only limited to the images indexed by PMC. Furthermore, the retrieval effectiveness of only three ISEs is measured. The study is the first to measure the retrieval effectiveness of ISEs in retrieving images related to the COVID-19 pandemic and tourism. The study can be extended across other image-indexing databases pertinent to tourism studies, and the retrieval effectiveness of other ISEs can also be considered. © The Author(s) 2023.

Colorectal cancer in patients with SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) are more likely to develop severe course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and experience increased risk of mortality compared to SARS-CoV-2 patients without CRC. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in CRC patients and analyse the demographic parameters, clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes in CRC patients with COVID-19 illness. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched Proquest, Medline, Embase, Pubmed, CINAHL, Wiley online library, Scopus and Nature for studies on the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in CRC patients, published from December 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021, with English language restriction. Effect sizes of prevalence were pooled with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Sub-group analyses were performed to minimize heterogeneity. Binary logistic regression model was used to explore the effect of various demographic and clinical characteristics on patient's final treatment outcome (survival or death). RESULTS: Of the 472 papers that were identified, 69 articles were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis (41 cohort, 16 case-report, 9 case-series, 2 cross-sectional, and 1 case-control studies). Studies involving 3362 CRC patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 (all patients were adults) were analyzed. The overall pooled proportions of CRC patients who had laboratory-confirmed community-acquired and hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections were 8.1% (95% CI 6.1 to 10.1, n = 1308, 24 studies, I2 98%, p = 0.66), and 1.5% (95% CI 1.1 to 1.9, n = 472, 27 studies, I2 94%, p < 0.01). The median patient age ranged from 51.6 years to 80 years across studies. The majority of the patients were male (n = 2243, 66.7%) and belonged to White (Caucasian) (n = 262, 7.8%), Hispanic (n = 156, 4.6%) and Asian (n = 153, 4.4%) ethnicity. The main source of SARS-CoV-2 infection in CRC patients was community-acquired (n = 2882, 85.7%; p = 0.014). Most of those SARS-CoV-2 patients had stage III CRC (n = 725, 21.6%; p = 0.036) and were treated mainly with surgical resections (n = 304, 9%) and chemotherapies (n = 187, 5.6%), p = 0.008. The odd ratios of death were significantly high in patients with old age (≥ 60 years) (OR 1.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.96; p < 0.001), male gender (OR 1.44, 95% CI 0.41-0.47; p < 0.001) CRC stage III (OR 1.54, 95% CI 0.02-1.05; p = 0.041), CRC stage IV (OR 1.69, 95% CI 0.17-1.2; p = 0.009), recent active treatment with chemotherapies (OR 1.35, 95% CI 0.5-0.66; p = 0.023) or surgical resections (OR 1.4, 95% CI 0.8-0.73; p = 0.016) and admission to ICU (OR 1.88, 95% CI 0.85-1.12; p < 0.001) compared to those who survived. CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 infection in CRC patient is not uncommon and results in a mortality rate of 26.2%. Key determinants that lead to increased mortality in CRC patients infected with COVID-19 include older age (≥ 60 years old); male gender; Asian and Hispanic ethnicity; if SARS-CoV-2 was acquired from hospital source; advanced CRC (stage III and IV); if patient received chemotherapies or surgical treatment; and if patient was admitted to ICU, ventilated or experienced ARDS.

Classification of Post-COVID-19 Emotions with Residual-Based Separable Convolution Networks and EEG Signals

The COVID-19 epidemic has created highly unprocessed emotions that trigger stress, anxiety, or panic attacks. These attacks exhibit physical symptoms that may easily lead to misdiagnosis. Deep-learning (DL)-based classification approaches for emotion detection based on electroencephalography (EEG) signals are computationally costly. Nowadays, limiting memory potency, considerable training, and hyperparameter optimization are always needed for DL models. As a result, they are inappropriate for real-time applications, which require large computational resources to detect anxiety and stress through EEG signals. However, a two-dimensional residual separable convolution network (RCN) architecture can considerably enhance the efficiency of parameter use and calculation time. The primary aim of this study was to detect emotions in undergraduate students who had recently experienced COVID-19 by analyzing EEG signals. A novel separable convolution model that combines residual connection (RCN-L) and light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) techniques was developed. To evaluate the performance, this paper used different statistical metrics. The RCN-L achieved an accuracy (ACC) of 0.9263, a sensitivity (SE) of 0.9246, a specificity (SP) of 0.9282, an F1-score of 0.9264, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.9263 when compared to other approaches. In the proposed RCN-L system, the network avoids the tedious detection and classification process for post-COVID-19 emotions while still achieving impressive network training performance and a significant reduction in learnable parameters. This paper also concludes that the emotions of students are highly impacted by COVID-19 scenarios.

COVID-19 impact on dairy sector: The mediating role of knowledge sharing and trust on innovation capability

Background: In the current era, innovation has become the basis for the success of all industries. In reality, fast innovation facilitated by rapidly changing technological discoveries is critical to global economic progress. Aim: The primary goal of this article is to examine the effect of knowledge exchange and development of supervisory support, trust, training, information technology, and industrial cluster resources on innovation capabilities in the dairy sector of Pakistan. Setting: From a total of 520 small and medium enterprise (SMEs) dairy farms, 227 owners and managers were carefully chosen to participate in the survey. Method: The current study's research framework was based on the resources and diffusion of innovation perspective theories. The data were gathered from dairy farm owners and managers in Punjab, Pakistan. SmartPLS-SEM was used to examine the multivariate connection among the variables. Results: The current research finds that training and development, supervisory assistance, and industrial cluster resources strongly influence knowledge sharing. Furthermore, trust has a favourable influence on innovative capabilities. However, the mediation effect of knowledge sharing (KS) did not support information technology (IT) training and development (T&D) and innovative capabilities (IC). Conclusion: According to findings in the study, T&D as a form of learning connect employees through the sharing of new ideas, allowing the business to improve and the concept to be modified. This study found that supervisory assistance significantly impacts innovative capabilities and knowledge sharing. © 2023. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS.

Teaching from home: Exploring lecturers' perceptions and attitudes towards moodle and google meet integration

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education systems, it becomes important to understand and analyze the perception of e-learning management systems. One essential learning management system (LMS) is Moodle. It is being recently implemented at the University of Warith Al-Anbiyaa (UOWA), Iraq and integrated with Google Meet to serve as a complete e-learning environment. This chapter uses technology acceptance model (TAM) to help the university decision-makers in predicting the behavioural intention to use Moodle. The core TAM model and other external variables like perceived enjoyment and perceived self-efficacy were examined. A quantitative research approach was implemented to perform the survey with a questionnaire to obtain the required data from 164 lecturers at the university. The data analysis processes reveal that lecturers see Moodle as easy to use and enjoyable, and they are able to master its capability easily. The obtained results have confirmed the TAM model's importance in understanding and predicting the acceptance of Moodle by UOWA lecturers. © 2023, IGI Global.

Monitoring the Trend of Energy Consumption during the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on socioeconomics and directly impacted the electrical system. In Malaysia, Grid System Operators (GSOs) were found to lack detailed information to differentiate the total energy demand before and during a pandemic. Working from home during the pandemic has changed the way of life and daily energy management methods for the domestic sector. This paper aims to study the national energy demand during the pandemic and then look into domestic energy management. The study included 3 phases. Phase 1 involved the analysis of data from the GSO to identify differences in energy demand before and during the pandemic. Next, in phase 2, a survey will be conducted on the energy management of the domestic sector. Finally, phase 3 involves household energy-saving proposals through examples of structural improvements. During the 2020 Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia, the average total decrease in energy demand compared to 2019 was 15.82%. This high percentage is due to the closure of several economic sectors, such as trade and industry. From the survey, 88 110 respondents reported that domestic electricity bills increased during the MCO. Statistical analysis using ANOVA indicated no significant link between age range and behavior, knowledge, and total bills paid by respondents. Furthermore, this study also suggested structural upgrades incorporating 5-star air conditioning that can save RM389.47 per year, which will take 4.78 years to repay. This study concluded with suggestions on changes that can be implemented to aid homeowners with energy savings. © 2022 IEEE.

The Infant Transcriptome in Meningococcal Septic Shock: A Force in Precision Cellular Dysfunction Suggesting a Cytokine Storm?

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The ideal biomarker(s) to track evolution and the underlying basis of sepsis remain elusive. We hypothesized that assessing differential mRNA gene expression may aid in tracking sepsis pathogenesis in infants with meningococcal septic shock (MSS). METHOD(S): Temporal paediatric gene expression datasets from Meningococcal Group B sepsis studies in the United Kingdom (MSS1, 29 samples) and Holland (MSS2, 41 samples) underwent Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). RESULT(S): Gene-expression clustering algorithm for both datasets demonstrated a baseline state on admission, an intermediate state, and a final state. Additionally, PCA plots suggested a gene-expression trajectory. The MSS1 study showed that 410 genes differentiated survivors from a nonsurvivor, including the ICAM-3 gene. Moreover GSEA t-Test identified apoptosis to be significantly differently (p = 0.02 and q = 0.15) associated with the fatal case compared to the four survivors in MSS1. Also in MSS1, we identified a genesignature for cytokine production which included 5 genes (CLC, HFE, HLA-F, NLRP3, TNFRSF1B) from the cytokine GSEA gene panel. The genes NLRP3 and TNFRSF1B have been noted in the cytokine storm of Coronavirus infection. Also Transcript Time Course Analysis (TTCA) confirmed differential gene function associated with Coronavirus. CONCLUSION(S): Transcriptomic analysis in two independent datasets in infants with MSS identified a trajectorial pattern. Further, the transcriptome expression differed between survivors and non-survivors, suggesting differences in cytokine signalling. Including the existence of genes associated with the cytokine storm of SARS-CoV2. The exploitability of transcriptome analysis to guide therapy and prognosis requires further investigation. (Figure Presented).