ABSTRACT
This paper critically analyzes the challenges of psychological adjustment faced by international students and explores coping mechanisms and support services that can help them overcome these challenges. The essay first introduces the background information on international students and highlights the importance of psychological adjustment for their well-being and academic success. The challenges of psychological adjustment, including cultural, academic, social adjustment, and language barrier, are discussed in detail. The essay then explores coping mechanisms, including problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, seeking social support, and cultural adjustment programs, and the support services, including counseling services and international student services, that can help international students adjust to their new environment. Finally, the essay evaluates the effectiveness of these coping mechanisms and support services, emphasizing the importance of cultural competence in providing effective support services. This essay has practical implications for higher education institutions in providing tailored support to international students and highlights the need for future research to explore the effectiveness of coping mechanisms and support services for different groups of international students and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their psychological adjustment. © 2023 NSP Natural Sciences Publishing Cor.
ABSTRACT
A proper ventilation strategy in an isolation ward could promote better indoor air quality for the occupants. This could also reduce the risk of immunocompromised patients contracting healthcare-associated infections (HAI) or airborne diseases such as COVID-19, tuberculosis, and measles among others. This study aims to propose and examine appropriate ventilation strategies in a single-patient isolation ward that can reduce particle settlement in patients. A simplified CFD model of the isolation ward was developed and well-validated against established data. An RNG k-ε model and discrete phase model (DPM) were used to simulate airflow and particle transportation. The study examined the airflow and particle dispersion under a baseline case and four proposed ventilation strategies. Results showed that the baseline case study, which used the ceiling-mounted air curtain was insufficient to prevent the particles from dispersing into the vicinity of the patient. Likewise, the dilution effect under the baseline case and case 4 (wall-mounted air supply diffuser) were relatively weak due to the low air change rate (ACH) of 4/hr and 9/hr respectively. The ventilation strategy in case 4 has a negligible effect on reducing the particles (14%) settling on the patient although the ACH in case 4 was 2-times the baseline case. The present finding ascertains that utilising the combination of ceiling-mounted air diffuser and air curtain jet (case 3) results in zero particle settlement on both patient's and the patient's bed. It also reduced 57% of particles in the vicinity of the medical staff's breathing zone compared to the baseline case. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
ABSTRACT
Background: The main challenge in managing COVID-19 pandemic is containment of the infection by early detection of the disease and wide dissemination of diagnostic tests with high sensitivity and specificity. Various imaging features were identified by chest CT with different patterns from early disease to diffuse disease with complications. However, CT cannot be performed for all patients. The arterial oxygen partial pressure/fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO(2)) ratio is evaluated as a rapid and widely available test for the preliminary assessment of disease severity. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and chest CT imaging features of COVID-19 in Egyptian patients as well as assess the correlation between the chest CT total severity score and the PaO2/FiO(2) ratio to determine its value for preliminary assessment of disease severity. Results: The most common symptoms were fever (83.2%), dry cough (77%), malaise (68.8%), prolonged headaches (48.5%), and dyspnea (37.6%). CT was positive in 79.2% of the patients. The CT features at presentation were ground-glass opacities only (40%), ground-glass opacities with consolidation (34.4%), and consolidation only (25.6%). Associated findings included crazy paving (17.5%), interlobular septal thickening (47.5%), air bronchogram (15%), bronchiectasis (12.8%), fibrous bands (8.1%), vascular enlargement within the lesion (45.6%), nodules (6.8%), pericardial thickening (5%), and pleural thickening (24.7%). The lesions were typically multilobar (50.5%), posterior (58.1%) with peripheral and central distribution (41.9%). Moderate negative correlation was observed between the CT total lung severity score and PaO2/FiO(2) ratio with r = - 0.42 and P < 0.001. Conclusion: The most common pattern of COVID-19 pneumonia in multiple quarantine hospitals was peripheral and central ground-glass opacities with bilateral multilobe posterior involvement and fever was the most common symptom. PaO2/FiO(2) ratio has a moderate negative correlation with the CT total severity score and thus can be used in the preliminary assessment of disease severity.
ABSTRACT
Monitoring the COVID-19 virus through patients' saliva is a favorable non-invasive specimen for diagnosis and infection control. In this study, salivary samples of COVID-19 patients collected from 6 patients with the median age of 58.5 years, ranging from 34 to 72 years (2 females and 4 males) were analyzed using an Au/fiber Bragg grating (FBG) probe decorated with GO. The probe measures the prevalence of positivity in saliva and the association between the virus density and changes to sensing elements. When the probe is immersed in patients' saliva, deviation of the detected light wavelength and intensity from healthy saliva indicate the presence of the virus and confirms infection. For a patient in the hyperinflammatory phase of desease, who has virus density of 1.2 × 108 copies/mL in saliva, the maximum wavelength shift and intensity changes after 1600 s were shown to be 1.12 nm and 2.01 dB, respectively. While for a patient in the early infection phase with 1.6 × 103 copies/mL, these values were 0.98 nm and 1.32 dB. The precise and highly sensitive FBG probe proposed in this study was found a reliable tool for quick detection of the COVID-19 virus within 10 s after exposure to patients' saliva in any stage of the disease.