Factors prompting augmented reality adoption in sacred places

There is evidence that sacred places across the world are launching augmented reality (AR) applications. This application of AR is somehow prompted by the most recent Covid-19 pandemic where in-person experiences are altered by the virtual. AR, as an innovative technology, augments the physical environment with digitally generated imagery that can generate privileges for tourists in sacred places and become the reason to trigger cultural conflicts and religious controversy. This in-depth interview-based research aims to explore the tourists' views and ideas of applying AR in the Mosque City of Bagerhat of Bangladesh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in terms of possibilities, cultural conflicts, and religious controversy. Findings show that the application of AR in a sacred place can support tourists in many useful ways, can offer them positive experiences, and help in sustainability concerns of the site. However, the application of AR in a sacred place can be an element of conflicting interests between the religious and general tourists. Adequate attention is thus required from the parties involved in terms of applying AR in the Mosque City of Bagerhat of Bangladesh, a sacred religious site.

Intention of young travellers to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic

The global health pandemic (COVID-19) has led to a significant decline in tourism activities and challenged existing norms and practices of the tourism sector. As international travel is restricted, the tourism sector is trying to promote domestic tourism by following health guidelines. This study aims to measure the relationships among social media travel content, perceived social risk of travel, attitude toward travel, and intention to travel during the pandemic time. The data were collected from young travellers in Bangladesh. The structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was used to estimate the relationships among the constructs. The results show that both social media travel content and perceived social risk of travel are significantly related to attitude toward travel and intention to travel. The association between attitude toward travel and intention to travel is also found significant. Destination managers are recommended to implement social media activation programs (e.g., a persuasive advertising campaign) and promote safe travel on their social media platforms (e.g., Facebook) to reduce perceived social risk of travel and create a positive attitude of travellers toward travel domestically during the global pandemic.

Susceptibility-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging Highlights Brain Alterations in COVID Recovered Patients. (preprint)

The increasing number of reports of mild to severe psychological, behavioral, and cognitive sequelae in COVID-19 survivors motivates a need for a thorough assessment of the neurological effects of the disease. In this regard, we have conducted a neuroimaging study to understand the neurotropic behavior of the coronavirus. We hypothesize that the COVID-recovered subjects have developed alterations in the brain which can be measured through susceptibility differences in various regions of the brain when compared to healthy controls (HCs). Hence, we performed our investigations on susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) volumes. Fatigue, being of the most common symptoms of Long COVID, has also been studied in this work. SWI volumes of 46 COVID and 30 HCs were included in this study. The COVID patients were imaged within six months of their recovery. We performed an unpaired two-sample t-test over the pre-processed SWI volumes of both groups and multiple linear regression was performed to observe group differences and correlation of fatigue with SWI values. The group analysis showed that COVID recovered subjects had significantly higher susceptibility imaging values in regions of the frontal lobe and the brain stem. The clusters obtained in the frontal lobe primarily show differences in the white matter regions. The COVID group also demonstrated significantly higher fatigue levels than the HC group. The regression analysis on the COVID group yielded clusters in the anterior cingulate gyrus and midbrain, which exhibited negative correlations with fatigue scores. This study suggests an association of Long COVID with prolonged effects on the brain and also indicates the viability of the SWI modality for analysis of post-COVID symptoms.

Factors affecting young customers' smartphone purchase intention during Covid-19 pandemic.

Purchase intention has become a critical issue to the marketers of smartphones as the market has become very competitive, volatile, uncertain and dynamic during Covid-19 than ever before. For sustaining in the competitive market, every marketer is trying to upgrade its product appearance, product quality, service quality, attractive features, and latest version of software as a whole. This study has investigated the effects of product features, brand image, product price, and social influences on young customers' purchase intention of smartphone during this Covid-19 pandemic time. Survey was conducted using structured questionnaire by collecting data from 305 respondents by using convenience sampling technique. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) integrated with AMOS was employed for data analysis. Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability and average variance extracted (AVE) were used to test the reliability and validity of the collected data while hypotheses were tested by using Structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings of the study shows that, there is a significant effect of product features, brand image, and product price on purchase intention of a smartphone but social influences has no significant impact on young customers' purchase intention. The study results will help the smartphone marketers to redesign their pandemic and post pandemic segmenting, targeting, differentiation and positioning strategies. Practical and managerial implications along with the future research directions have been discussed at the end of this paper also.

Assessing functional connectivity differences and work-related fatigue in surviving COVID-negative patients. (preprint)

The recent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected all aspects of life around the world. Neuroimaging evidence suggests the novel coronavirus can attack the central nervous system (CNS), causing cerebro-vascular abnormalities in the brain. This can lead to focal changes in cerebral blood flow and metabolic oxygen consumption rate in the brain. However, the extent and spatial locations of brain alterations in COVID-19 survivors are largely unknown. In this study, we have assessed brain functional connectivity (FC) using resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) in 38 (25 males) COVID patients two weeks after hospital discharge, when PCR negative and 31 (24 males) healthy subjects. FC was estimated using independent component analysis (ICA) and dual regression. The COVID group demonstrated significantly enhanced FC in regions from the Occipital and Parietal Lobes, comparing to the HC group. On the other hand, the COVID group exhibited significantly reduced FC in several vermal layers of the cerebellum. More importantly, we noticed negative correlation of FC with self-reported fatigue within regions from the Parietal lobe, which are known to be associated with fatigue. Keywords: COVID, Functional Connectivity, ICA, Fatigue, RS-fMRI

Higher Limbic and Basal Ganglia volumes in surviving COVID-negative patients and the relations to fatigue. (preprint)

BackgroundAmong systemic abnormalities caused by the novel coronavirus, little is known about the critical attack on the central nervous system (CNS). Few studies have shown cerebrovascular pathologies that indicate CNS involvement in acute patients. However, replication studies are necessary to verify if these effects persist in COVID-19 survivors more conclusively. Furthermore, recent studies indicate fatigue is highly prevalent among long-COVID patients. How morphometry in each group relate to work-related fatigue need to be investigated. MethodCOVID survivors were MRI scanned two weeks after hospital discharge. We hypothesized, these survivors will demonstrate altered gray matter volume (GMV) and experience higher fatigue levels when compared to healthy controls, leading to stronger correlation of GMV with fatigue. Voxel-based morphometry was performed on T1-weighted MRI images between 46 survivors and 30 controls. Unpaired two-sample t-test and multiple linear regression were performed to observe group differences and correlation of fatigue with GMV. ResultsThe COVID group experienced significantly higher fatigue levels and GMV of this group was significantly higher within the Limbic System and Basal Ganglia when compared to healthy controls. Moreover, while a significant positive correlation was observed across the whole group between GMV and self-reported fatigue, COVID subjects showed stronger effects within the Posterior Cingulate, Precuneus and Superior Parietal Lobule. ConclusionBrain regions with GMV alterations in our analysis align with both single case acute patient reports and current group level neuroimaging findings. We also newly report a stronger positive correlation of GMV with fatigue among COVID survivors within brain regions associated with fatigue, indicating a link between structural abnormality and brain function in this cohort.