Intolerance of uncertainty across stress, anxiety, and depression among university students in Pakistan: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

Background: The mental health issues due to COVID-19, such as intolerance of uncertainty (IOU), anxiety, stress, and depression, have attracted extensive attention from researchers. The challenges for Pakistani university students could be worse than developed countries due to the lack of online courses/programs and online mental health support provided by academic institutions. Therefore, the current study aims to assess the intolerance of uncertainty, depression, anxiety, and stress of Pakistani university students after the second wave of COVID-19 and the relationship among these constructs. Methods: A convenience cross-sectional sampling method was used to collect data from university students in Pakistan between January 2021 and April 2022 via a structured online questionnaire. The Descriptive analysis focused on frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation (SD) were calculated on IOU-12 and DASS-21. Covariance for the research model and confirmatory factor analyses fit indices for the IOU-12 and DASS-21 were analyzed by AMOS statistical packages. Results: As expected, anxiety, depression, and stress persist among Pakistani university students. On average, they report mild to moderate mental health problems regarding anxiety, depression, stress, and intolerance of uncertainty. Our results indicate a strong positive relationship among the three emotional distress components - anxiety, depression, and stress. However, our results suggest no significant relationship between IOU and the three subcomponents of emotional distress (anxiety, depression, and stress). Limitations: First, the cross-sectional survey design means we cannot conclude on the causal relations. Second, the self-report questionnaire embeds subjectivity issues. Last, the generalizability of the sample to the whole student population in Pakistan is limited, considering the sampling method. Conclusion: This study expanded the current knowledge in the psychological health domain (intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety, depression, and stress) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In practice, higher education institutions should further mitigate university students' mental health issues. For researchers, our findings inspire future studies to delve into the relationship between IOU and mental health issues due to COVID-19 since our findings display contrary evidence for various reasons.

Dynamic spillovers and portfolio risk management between defi and metals: Empirical evidence from the Covid-19

Using a novel TVP-VAR approach, we investigate the connectedness between precious metals, industrial metals, and decentralized finance (DeFi) assets during pre-pandemic and Covid sub-periods. We also calculate optimal portfolio weights, hedge ratios, and hedging effectiveness estimates for the portfolios of metals and DeFi assets. Results reveal that the association between DeFi-precious metal and DeFi-industrial metal pairs is weaker compared to the association between traditional precious and industrial metals. The interconnectedness of these markets increased during the Covid-19 period. All DeFi assets, as well as palladium, aluminum, zinc, and Nickel, are net importers of return spillover, while gold, silver, platinum, and copper are net exporters of return spillovers. The return transmission between these markets is rolling, with rapid fluctuations during the Covid-19 period. Finally, the optimal portfolio analysis reveals that adding DeFi assets to the metals-based portfolio is helpful in terms of diversification. These findings are insightful for portfolio managers and policymakers regarding portfolio construction, portfolio adjustment, hedging, and market stability.

Nuclear medicine practices during the COVID-19 pandemic—review of some recently published protocols

BackgroundWith the global surge in COVID-19 pandemic, it has become inevitable for everyone, inclusive of nuclear medicine personnel, to play their role in combating and containing its transmission. During fall 2019, China encountered a novel coronavirus in Wuhan city which was later on termed as COVID-19. The pneumonia caused by COVID-19 is characterized by dry cough, fever, fatigue, and shortness of breathing (dyspnea). Until now, this virus has spread worldwide and continues to cause exponential causalities.Main bodyThis global catastrophic scenario calls for stringent measures to control COVID-19 infection. Thus herein, the respective authors have endeavored to review precautionary measures for nuclear medicine department, encompassing its personnel as well as the patients so that intradepartmental transmission can be prevented. This requires development and execution of a robust and dynamic plan elaborating the healthcare guidelines. Hence, our review paper covers the arena of nuclear medicine services in particular.ConclusionNuclear medicine can play its role in mitigating COVID-19 transmission to personnel and patients if provided with ample PPEs and guidelines are strictly followed. With implementing SOPs (standard operating procedures) based on these guidelines, nuclear medicine facilities will be better prepared for impromptu actions in case of any future outbreak while retaining the smooth flow of obligatory healthcare services.

Haematological profile abnormalities; and its relationship with severity and outcome of COVID-19 infection.

Background: Corona virus disease (Covid-19) caused by corona virus (SARS Cov-2) has affected millions of people around the world. Many diagnostic modalities have been tested but the blood complete picture remains the initial and most easily accessible investigation in Covid-19. Objectives: The objective of this study was to find out the haematological abnormalities in relation to Covid-19 severity and outcome. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from April 2020 to July 2020. One--hundred and fifty polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed Covid-19 patients were inducted by random sampling. Haematological profile at admission was recorded. Data thus obtained was analyzed with respect to Covid-19 severity and outcome. The data was entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. Results: Out of a total of 150 patients included in the study, 77(51.3%) patients had mild disease at the time of admission, 42 (28%) had moderate disease while 31 (20.7%) had critical disease at the time of admission. Medians (interquartile range) of total leucocyte count (TLC), neutrophils, lymphocytes, neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio (NLR), platelets to lymphocytes ratio (PLR), neutrophils to monocyte ratio (NMR), monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR) were 8.11 (IQR=4.88), 5.95 (IQR=4.58), 1.66 (IQR=1.10), 3.48 (IQR=4.20), 146.24 (IQR=130.75), 18.87 (IQR=14.07), 0.16 (IQR=0.13). Median NLR was higher in patients with critical illness 11.23 (IQR=10.70) as compared to those with stable 2.51 (IQR=1.77) and moderate 3.22 (IQR=3.60) disease (p< 0.000). Similarly TLC (p< 0.000), neutrophils (p< 0.000), lymphocytes (p< 0.000), NLR (p< 0.000), PLR (p< 0.000, p=0.001), MLR (p< 0.000), NMR (p< 0.000) had significant relationship with the severity and outcome of Covid-19 infection. Conclusion: Many haematological parameters are significantly different and can be used to predict the severity and outcome of Covid-19 infection.

Framework for the analysis of renewable energy grid policies in the context of COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a severe global pandemic that has caught the whole world unprepared. In the absence of a clear timeline for this pandemic to end, it is need of the hour to investigate the effect of this pandemic on both previous and anticipated investments. Global economic unrest has hindered the ramping deployment of Renewable energy projects. The most quick actions that may be taken to mitigate the effects and to up-rise the investment portfolio policies are a very critical tool in hands of government for a very immediate effect have also been made without keeping the context of COVID-19 into account. New variants of diff rent nature are being discovered and every now and then new lock downs are happening. In this context different policies have to be evaluated under the pandemic scenario. A case study of a large scale renewable energy project for a higher education institute in Pakistan is being used to measure the difference during COVID and pre COVID times. This paper provides a framework to investigate the impact of COVID on renewable energy system projects under current net-metering, net-billing and self-consumption policies. A recent investment in a photovoltaic system is assessed based on previously projected financial benefits versus the pandemic effected ones. This research concludes that investing in photovoltaic systems are still a viable option even in an extreme pandemic situation with less than 0.5 years increase in payback period, and the government can still provide a stimulus for investing in green energy by implementing net-metering policies on a larger scale.

Precise and Prompt Analyte Detection via Ordered Orientation of Receptor in WSe2-Based Field Effect Transistor.

Field-effect transistors (FET) composed of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials have gained huge importance as biosensors due to their added advantage of high sensitivity and moderate bandgap. However, the true potential of these biosensors highly depends upon the quality of TMDC material, as well as the orientation of receptors on their surfaces. The uncontrolled orientation of receptors and screening issues due to crossing the Debye screening length while functionalizing TMDC materials is a big challenge in this field. To address these issues, we introduce a combination of high-quality monolayer WSe2 with our designed Pyrene-based receptor moiety for its ordered orientation onto the WSe2 FET biosensor. A monolayer WSe2 sheet is utilized to fabricate an ideal FET for biosensing applications, which is characterized via Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electrical prob station. Our construct can sensitively detect our target protein (streptavidin) with 1 pM limit of detection within a short span of 2 min, through a one-step functionalizing process. In addition to having this ultra-fast response and high sensitivity, our biosensor can be a reliable platform for point-of-care-based diagnosis.

Does financial stress wreak havoc on banking, insurance, oil, and gold markets? New empirics from the extended joint connectedness of TVP-VAR model

This study explores the dynamic and time-varying connectedness between the US stocks, financial sector, oil and gold markets, broad market volatilities, and financial stress. We examine if the traditional association between financial stress and its important factors and strategic commodities such as oil and gold has changed during the last decade, especially after the COVID-19. We use daily data set from July 2011 to June 2021, and employ the extended joint connectedness approach of Balcilar et al. (2021), which has several advantages over traditional connectedness models. Our findings show that traditional determinants of US financial stress are dynamic and change in response to the monetary injections in late 2019 more as compared with the COVID-19. In spite of the importance of COVID-19, our analysis points towards the enhanced significance of US monetary injections in driving joint connectedness between financial stress and its prominent factors and strategic commodities. Further, gold and oil show diversification potential in a portfolio of US stocks, financial sector and broad market volatilities. Therefore, important policy and investor implications are discussed for financial stability and portfolio choices.

Modeling the enablers of online consumer engagement and platform preference in online food delivery platforms during COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak globally during 2020, the usage and virtues of food delivery apps (FDA) have increased immensely, facilitating the consumer to access the food and food providers to keep functioning. However, this study aims to investigate the enablers of online consumer engagement (OCE) and platform preference in the foodservice industry, keeping in view the moderating role of peer pressure by following uses and gratifications theory (UGT). The data were collected from 322 FDA's user in China during the COVID-19 lockdown and analyzed employing partial least-square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM results revealed that consumer’s self-concept and platform interactivity affect OCE and platform preference. Further, OCE mediates the effect of the relationship between platform interactivity, self-concept, and platform preference. Furthermore, peer pressure significantly moderates the relationship between OCE and platform preference. This research contributes to the prevailing body of literature in a novel way by employing UGT on consumer behavior in the FDA. The study has value for online food businesses and implications for consumers, retailers, and practitioners to formulate and implement value-added strategies in a consumption-oriented emerging economy.

Impact Analysis of COVID-19 on Employment Trends (preprint)

Along with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, other crises have evinced in the form of employment trends around the globe. As it has affected the economies of the biggest countries, it has also affected the common person's daily life. There is a need to identify and understand the informational crisis and the sentiments of the general public towards the employment trends during the COVID-19. As the unemployment which can directly cost the mental health of the person, so it is really important to understand the relationship of the COVID-19 pandemic with the employment trends. As due to this virus, we have seen the social distancing and the self-isolation as well, so the work from home culture has also been seen in the employment trends during the specific period. In this research, we need to identify the sentiments of people on changing employment trends to analyze the impact of it on their daily life and mental health. As to how this pandemic has changed the trends from people losing jobs at a certain time when the it was at the peak to so many job opportunities after some months when it had the low density. In this research, we will be building a data set of COVID-19 tweets collected from twitter API and other dataset collected the dataset COVID-19 cases from WHO, furthermore we have calculated the employment related sentiments using VADER algorithm, also plot the COVID-19 cases timeline as well and did the trends analysis to see the sentiments of the users towards the employment trends during the COVID-19. Finally, after finding some major trends, these results are plotted on the visualizations graph using PowerBI tool.

Synthesis, kinetics, structure-activity relationship and in silico ADME studies of new diazenyl azo-phenol derivatives against urease, SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) and ribosomal protein S1 (RpsA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

In the present study, a new series of diazenyl azo-phenol derivatives (TC-1 to TC-8) have been synthesized via diazo-coupling approach between substituted aromatic amines and phenol derivatives produced azo–phenol compounds in moderate to good yields (40-80%). The appearance of characteristic prominent peak of azo derivatives i.e. N=N peak at 1500-1400cm−1 and disappearance of NH2 stretch at 3500-3200 cm−1, presence of a broad OH stretch in the range of 3300-3000 cm−1 in FTIR spectra, while presence of OH peak in spectral range of 15-10 ppm and aromatic protons in the region of 8.0-6.0 ppm and disappearance of NH2 peak in 5.0-4.0 spectral region in 1H-NMR spectra confirms the synthesis of new diazenyl azo-phenol derivatives. Similarly, appearance of carbon attached with -N=N- group in the range of 149-144 ppm, C−OH in the range of 164-162 ppm, C−N of pyridine ring at 175 ppm, aromatic carbons at 140-108 ppm while aliphatic carbons at 21-20 ppm in 13C-NMR spectra give strong indication of synthesis of proposed compounds and HRMS also confirmed the masses of proposed structure of diazenyl azo-phenol derivatives. In case of urease inhibition potential, the in vitro results suggested that the compound TC-6 (IC50 value 0.62±0.04 µM) to be most active compared to the standard drug thiourea (IC50 value 21.44±0.78 µM), kinetic analysis revealed that TC-6 behaved as a mixed-type inhibitor with irreversible mode of action. The SAR showed the stable docked complex due to the presence of dihydroxy hydrogen atoms in TC-6 (-6.01 kcal/mol) and strong binding interactions with the active site residues of the target protein urease (3LA4). The detailed in silico analysis of the diazenyl azo-phenol derivatives (TC-1 to TC-17) against the ribosomal protein S1 (RpsA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (4NNI) and main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 (6LU7) was also performed and SAR showed that among all the docked compounds, TC-6 and TC-9 showed best docked conformational poses by exhibiting strong interactions with the active site residues of the target proteins (4NNI & 6LU7) with minimum binding energy values i.e. -5.36 kcal/mol and -4.84 kcal/mol respectively. The ADME calculations showed that the synthesized ligands quietly obey rule of five without any considerable violations.

Cyberbullying Among Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practitioners in the Workplace: Protocol for a Cross-sectional Descriptive Study.

BACKGROUND: Cyberbullying is becoming prevalent among health care professionals and may cause a variety of mental health issues. Traditional and complementary medicine practitioners remain an important pillar of the health care system in Malaysia. OBJECTIVE: This paper presents a study protocol for an online survey (Cyberbullying Among Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practitioner [TCMPs]) that will collect the first nationwide representative data on cyberbullying behavior among traditional and complementary medicine practitioners in Malaysia. The objectives of the survey are to (1) evaluate the cyberbullying behavior among traditional and complementary medicine practitioners in Malaysia, (2) identify sociodemographic and social factors related to cyberbullying, and (3) evaluate the association between cyberbullying behavior, sociodemographic, and social factors. METHODS: A snowball sampling strategy will be applied. Traditional and complementary medicine practitioners who are permanent Malaysian residents will be randomly selected and invited to participate in the survey (N=1023). Cyberbullying behavior will be measured using the Cyberbullying Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). Data on the following items will be collected: work-related bullying, person-related bullying, aggressively worded messages, distortion of messages, sending offensive photos/videos, hacking computers or sending a virus or rude message, and threatening messages about personal life or family members. We will also collect data on participants' sociodemographic characteristics, social factors, and substance abuse behavior. RESULTS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was registered with Research Registry (Unique Identifying Number 6216; November 05, 2020). This research work (substudy) is planned under a phase 1 study approved by the Research Management Centre, Xiamen University Malaysia. This substudy has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Xiamen University Malaysia (REC-2011.01). The cross-sectional survey will be conducted from July 01, 2021, to June 30, 2022. Data preparation and statistical analyses are planned from January 2022 onward. CONCLUSIONS: The current research can contribute to identify the prevalence of workplace cyberbullying among Malaysian traditional and complementary medicine practitioners. The results will help government stakeholders, health professionals, and education professionals to understand the psychological well-being of Malaysian traditional and complementary medicine practitioners. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Research Registry Unique Identifying Number 6216; https://tinyurl.com/3rsmxs7u. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/29582.

COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing Applications and Techniques: A Review Post Initial Deployments

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe global pandemic that has claimed millions of lives and continues to overwhelm public health systems in many countries. The spread of COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the human mobility patterns such as daily transportation-related behavior of the public. There is a requirement to understand the disease spread patterns and its routes among neighboring individuals for the timely implementation of corrective measures at the required placement. To increase the effectiveness of contact tracing, countries across the globe are leveraging advancements in mobile technology and Internet of Things (IoT) to aid traditional manual contact tracing to track individuals who have come in close contact with identified COVID-19 patients. Even as the first administration of vaccines begins in 2021, the COVID-19 management strategy will continue to be multi-pronged for the foreseeable future with digital contact tracing being a vital component of the response along with the use of preventive measures such as social distancing and the use of face masks. After some months of deployment of digital contact tracing technology, deeper insights into the merits of various approaches and the usability, privacy, and ethical trade-offs involved are emerging. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive analysis of digital contact tracing solutions in terms of their methodologies and technologies in the light of the new data emerging about international experiences of deployments of digital contact tracing technology. We also provide a discussion on open challenges such as scalability, privacy, adaptability and highlight promising directions for future work.

COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing Applications and Techniques: A Review Post Initial Deployments (preprint)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe global pandemic that has claimed millions of lives and continues to overwhelm public health systems in many countries. The spread of COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the human mobility patterns such as daily transportation-related behavior of the public. There is a requirement to understand the disease spread patterns and its routes among neighboring individuals for the timely implementation of corrective measures at the required placement. To increase the effectiveness of contact tracing, countries across the globe are leveraging advancements in mobile technology and Internet of Things (IoT) to aid traditional manual contact tracing to track individuals who have come in close contact with identified COVID-19 patients. Even as the first administration of vaccines begins in 2021, the COVID-19 management strategy will continue to be multi-pronged for the foreseeable future with digital contact tracing being a vital component of the response along with the use of preventive measures such as social distancing and the use of face masks. After some months of deployment of digital contact tracing technology, deeper insights into the merits of various approaches and the usability, privacy, and ethical trade-offs involved are emerging. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive analysis of digital contact tracing solutions in terms of their methodologies and technologies in the light of the new data emerging about international experiences of deployments of digital contact tracing technology. We also provide a discussion on open challenges such as scalability, privacy, adaptability and highlight promising directions for future work.

The impact of substance use disorder on the mental health among COVID-19 patients: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Substance use disorder (SUD) is associated with a high risk of physical and mental illness such as anxiety, depression, personality disorders, eating disorders, and abnormal mood changes. During the pandemic, SUD, a significant problem related to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is affecting adolescents. The recent available literature also emphasizes understanding the relationship between mental illness and SUD. Hence, it is essential to evaluate the scientific approach and examine the presented findings of articles published on SUD during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review will be conducted using PubMed, PubMed Central, and Scopus bibliographic databases. The grey literature on the impact of SUD on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents will be identified using scholar google. The dependability and credibility of the findings will be examined using the ConQual approach. The methodologies of the included studies will be compared using ROBIS (risk of bias in systematic reviews tool), a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews (AMSTAR), and the JBI critical appraisal tool. The systematic review will be carried out on published articles, so it is exempt from ethics approval. The Center for Open Science (OSF) will be used as a data repository during the preparation of the protocol and completion of the systematic review. The research findings will be published in a related peer-reviewed journal.

Access and Use Experience of Personal Protective Equipment Among Frontline Healthcare Workers in Pakistan During the COVID-19 Emergency: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Healthcare workers are at the highest risk of contracting novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and, therefore, require constant protection. This study assesses access to personal protective equipment (PPE), availability of adequate information about PPE use, self-reported ability to correctly wear and remove (donning and doffing) PPE, and risk perceptions associated with COVID-19 among frontline healthcare workers in Pakistan. Using a structured and validated questionnaire, an online survey was conducted from May 9 to June 5, 2020. Responses were received from 453 healthcare workers. Of these, 218 (48.12%) were doctors, 183 (40.40%) were nurses, and 52 (11.48%) were paramedical staff. Only 129 (28.48%) healthcare workers reported having adequate access to PPE at all times, whereas 156 (34.44%) never had access to PPE and 168 (37.09%) had access to PPE occasionally. Lack of access to PPE led the majority (71.74%) of healthcare workers to use coping strategies such as reuse of N95 and surgical masks. A total of 312 (68.87%) respondents believed that the risk of contracting COVID-19 in the work environment was high and the majority (62.69%) adopted precautionary measures at home to keep their families safe. A significantly high (n = 233, 51.43%, P = .03) number of respondents reported self-medicating. Of all the respondents, only 136 (30.02%) were tested for COVID-19 at least once, of which 32 (23.53%) ever tested positive. These findings suggest that healthcare workers in Pakistan had limited access to PPE. Adequate provision and training is vital to protect the healthcare workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Water matrices as potential source of SARS-CoV-2 transmission – An overview from environmental perspective

Evidently, the emergence of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly blowout across the world. Since, the presence of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 in the fecal specimens and anal swabs of some infected patients, has raised emerging concern with the likelihood of fecal-based spread must be inspected and clarified. Therefore, herein, an effort has been made to spotlight the current scenarios and possible solutions to better understand the risks associated with the wastewater matrices as a potential source of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the environment. The information reviewed here constitutes a paramount intellectual basis to sustenance ongoing research to tackle the SARS-CoV-2 issue. Thus, this overview indicates the most accessible frontiers related to the detection, quantification, and possible transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the environment through water routes. The regulatory authorities and policymakers must assure the society via dissemination of evidence-based guidelines that the water matrices, including groundwater and drinking water resources are safe. Finally, we have identified and enlisted a number of pressing questions concerning the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 transmission or COVID-19 emergence issue that must be carefully answered to put further and deeper insight into SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 in future studies.