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This study aims to determine the suitability of lung ultrasound as an alternative to CT chest to aid in the initial management of these patients. The aim was to determine the value of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of lung parenchymal affection in patients with COVID-19. Patients and Methods: A prospective including 150 patients was carried out in the Chest, Interventional Radiology and Clinical Pathology Departments in Bab-El-Sha'aria and Al-Hussin Hospitals, Al-Azhar University, during the period from May 2020 to September 2020. Lung ultrasound was performed in 150 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia diagnosed based on the integrated clinical, laboratory, and CT chest radiological data. Result(s): Among 150 patients, there were 86 males and 64 males, ranging in age from 30 to 75 years and a mean age of 55.8+/-12.1 years. Bilateral lung infiltrates in the CT scan were present in 146 patients (97.3%), CXR infiltrates were present in 63 patients (42%), sonographic evidence of pleuropulmonary involvement was present in 139 patients (92.7%), B lines and pleural line thickening were present in all patients with ultrasound findings (100%), subpleural consolidation associated with B lines was present only in 33 patients (23.7%) and pleural effusion was absent in all cases;crackles were only present in 53 (35.3%) patients. Conclusion(s): Because of its simplicity in interpretation, bedside availability, lack of risk of radiation and good sensitivity in the detection of lung parenchymal affection, the chest ultrasound is a useful tool in the management of patients with symptoms suspicious of COVID-19 infection and seems to be a suitable substitute for the CT chest in such circumstances.
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Higher education in Palestine, as in other countries, suddenly found itself in the middle of the Covid19 pandemic. It was in March 2020 that the government declared the state of emergency and ordered educational institutions on lockdown, replacing oncampus teaching with online teaching. Within almost two weeks, all universities started teaching in the new modality. This research aims to reveal the procedures Palestinian universities resorted to during the emergency, due to Covid19 pandemic;and to propose future policies for the continuity of teaching and learning in times of emergency. The research used two data collection techniques, a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaire was distributed online to all faculty members at 10 Palestinian universities in the West Bank. It was able to collect 249 responses. Interviews were conducted with three vice presidents for academic affairs. Results showed a diversity of procedures and actions were executed by universities to assist students continue learning, such as the quick decision to switch to eLearning. In addition, universities managed to keep students safely learning at distance;administrative and support departments managed to keep up with their duties. Results also revealed that universities were not adequately prepared for e-Learning as there were no clear and integrated plans and policies, neither they were able to manage learning within the new modality. This study proposes some future policies for universities to follow when adopting and implementing e-Learning: through e-Learning quality control policy;e-Learning assessment policy;and readiness policy in emergencies for universities. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
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Coronavirus drastically changes people’s travel behavior all over the world. This study aims to investigate the effect of people’s adaptive travel behavior on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in south Asian countries. We estimate the changes in GHG emission due to the COVID-19 global restrictions during the period of March-May 2020. An online questionnaire survey was conducted to explore the travel distance, the number of trips, and travel modes in pre-pandemic and during the pandemic in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The travel distances were converted to GHG emission using IPCC and UNEPA emission factors for different modes of travel. COVID-19 suddenly declined the choice of public transport, taxi, and office transport by 55.80 percent, 33.33 percent, and 55.81 percent, respectively. The choice of walking, car, and motorcycle was increased by 42.85 percent, 16.21 percent, and 9.28 percent, respectively. Avoidance of travel was increased by 229 percent. These sharp changes in the choice of travel modes are attributable to the control measures, risk perception, and adaptive behavior, e.g., remote working, online shopping, virtual teaching-learning and meetings, and stay at home. Travel length for all modes was declined including walking, rickshaw, tuktuk, taxi, private car, office/campus transport, and public transport, while the bicycling length was increased by 40.75 percent. Pandemic reduced emission by 52.34 percent, 22.84 percent, 57.28 percent, 46.05 percent, and 30.16 percent for public transport, private car, office/campus transport, taxi, and motorcycle, respectively. COVID-19 caused a notable 32.81 percent reduction in emission in the month of May 2020 in the study area. The control measures and risk perception of COVID-19 made some sustainable impressions on travel behavior expected to be continued apart from COVID-19 that would contribute to the reduction of 35 percent GHG emission by 2050 that is assigned to the transport sectors in the Paris Climate Agreement. The findings are useful in sustainable transport planning, decision, and the policymaking process to capture travel behavior in pandemics. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Background: Given the low levels of COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa, despite high levels of natural SARS-CoV-2 exposures, strategies for extending the breadth and longevity of naturally acquired immunity are warranted. Designing such strategies will require a good understanding of natural immunity. Methods: We used ELISA to measure whole-spike IgG and spike-receptor binding domain (RBD) total immunoglobulins (Igs) on 585 plasma samples collected longitudinally over five successive time points within six months of COVID-19 diagnosis in 309 COVID-19 patients. We measured antibody neutralizing potency against the wild-type (Wuhan) SARS-CoV-2 pseudo-virus in a subset of 51 patients over three successive time points. Binding and neutralizing antibody levels and potencies were then tested for correlations with COVID-19 severities, graded according to the National Institute of Health (NIH), USA criteria. Results: Rates of sero-conversion increased from Day 0 (day of PCR testing) to Day 180 (six months) (63.6% to 100 %) and (69.3 % to 97%) for anti-spike IgG and anti-spike-RBD binding Igs, respectively. Levels of these binding antibodies peaked at Day 28 (P<0.0001) and were subsequently maintained for six months without significant decay (p>0.99). Similarly, antibody neutralizing potencies peaked at Day 28 (p<0.0001) but had decreased by three-folds, six months after COVID-19 diagnosis (p<0.0001). Binding antibodies levels were highly correlated with neutralizing antibody potencies at all the time points analyzed (r>0.6, P<0.0001). Levels and potencies of binding and neutralizing antibodies increased with disease severity. Conclusion: Most COVID-19 patients from Sub-Saharan Africa generate SARS-CoV-2 specific binding antibodies that remain stable during the first six months of infection. Although antibody binding levels and neutralizing potencies were directly correlated, the respective neutralizing antibodies decayed three-fold by the sixth month of COVID-19 diagnosis suggesting that they are short-lived, consistent with what has been observed elsewhere. Thus, just like for other populations, regular vaccination boosters will be required to broaden and sustain the high levels of predominantly naturally acquired anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies.
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COVID-19ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has birthed a wealth of information through many publicly accessible sources, such as news outlets and social media. However, gathering and understanding the content can be difficult due to inaccuracies or inconsistencies between the different sources. To alleviate this challenge in Australia, a team of 48 student volunteers developed an opensource COVID-19 information dashboard to provide accurate, reliable, and real-time COVID-19 information for Australians. The students developed this software while working under legislative restrictions that required social isolation. The goal of this study is to characterize the experiences of the students throughout the project. We conducted an online survey completed by 39 of the volunteering students contributing to the COVID-19 dashboard project. Our results indicate that playing a positive role in the COVID-19 crisis and learning new skills and technologies were the most cited motivating factors for the students to participate in the project. While working on the project, some students struggled to maintain a work-life balance due to working from home. However, the students generally did not express strong sentiment towards general project challenges. The students expressed more strongly that data collection was a significant challenge as it was difficult to collect reliable, accurate, and upto-date data from various government sources. The students have been able to mitigate these challenges by establishing a systematic data collection process in the team, leveraging frequent and clear communication through text, and appreciating and encouraging each other's efforts. By participating in the project, the students boosted their technical (e.g., front-end development) and nontechnical (e.g., task prioritization) skills. Our study discusses several implications for students, educators, and policymakers.
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The worldwide Covid-19 widespread in 2020 has turned into a phenomenon that has shaken human life significantly. It is widely recognized that taking faster measurements is crucial for monitoring and preventing the further spread of COVID-19. The advent of distributive computing frameworks provides one efficient solution for the issue. One method uses non-clinical techniques, such as data mining tools and other artificial intelligence technologies. Spark is a widely used framework and accepted by the big data community. This research used a cross-country Covid-19 dataset to assess the performance of the Apriori and FP-growth through different components of Spark (different numbers of cores and transactions). This involves a scheme for classification and prediction by recognizing the associated rules relating to Coronavirus. This research aims to understand the difference between FP-growth and Apriori and find the ideal parameters of Spark that can improve the performance by adding nodes. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Objective: To investigate medical specialty students' perceptions, experiences, and barriers regarding online learning as a new direction for education after the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Egypt. Methods: This cross-sectional survey distributed a three-domain questionnaire focusing on perceptions, experiences, and barriers to physiotherapy students of the Egyptian Chinese University at the end of the second semester 2020/2021. Results: The study involved 413 students, with a mean age of 21.9 +/- 1.4 years. The majority (90.1%) had access to a computer, and nearly all had internet access. The mean total scores for student perception and experience were 35.9 +/- 9.2 and 45.6 +/- 12.5, ranging from 20 to 50 and 26 to 65, respectively. Students' perception and experience scores were affected by several factors, including sex, computer experience, and training for online courses. Students' most significant barrier was network problems (77.2%), followed by a lack of required skills (67.8%), costs (65.6%), lack of technical support (65.4%), and lack of motivation (62.7%). Conclusion: This research analyzed real-life experiences and identified how students' new experiences during the pandemic could be enhanced. Sex, computer availability, and training independently impacted students' online learning perception and experience scores. Network problems were the most significant barrier for students.Online learning experiences present challenges and opportunities during the pandemic. Instruction, encouragement, and better internet networks are ways to enhance online learning.
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Background: People’s perceptions of pandemic-associated risk are key factors contributing to increased public participation in disease preventive measures. The aim of the study was to investigate risk perceptions regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, among the general population. A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used with a convenience sample of 723 participants, recruited from the general population of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan. Data collection was performed using a standardized risk perception assessment questionnaire, in April 2020. Results: The mean score for the perception of COVID-19 seriousness was significantly higher and the mean scores for the perception of disease susceptibility and extent of anxiety were also higher among Saudi Arabian participants than participants from Egypt and Jordan. Participants from Egypt had significantly lower mean scores for the perception of efficacy and self-efficacy to cope with COVID-19, and significantly lower intention to comply with COVID-19 precautionary measures than the other populations. A significant positive correlation was detected between the perception of COVID-19 seriousness and self-efficacy to handle COVID-19, for the entire sample. The primary reasons reported by participants driving their willingness to perform certain preventive measures against COVID-19 was a feeling of responsibility toward their own health, followed by preventing transmission to other people and the feeling that COVID-19 can be serious. Most of the study sample reported a desire to receive information about COVID-19 treatment, ways to prevent disease contraction, and the incubation period for the novel coronavirus. Also, most of the study sample reported that they prefer receiving COVID-19 updates from national authorities. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, communications designed to promote the adoption of preventive behaviors should focus on increasing the perception of seriousness, the risk perception, self-efficacy to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effectiveness of the adopted behavioral measures for reducing risk. Health education programs that are tailored to various sociodemographic categories, to improve public awareness, perceptions, and attitudes, are vital for increasing the adoption of outbreak preventive measures. © 2020, The Author(s).
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BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic can provoke anxiety, stress, sadness, and fear;therefore, the timely assessment of individual psychological health status is urgently necessary for society. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the emotional states (depression, anxiety, and stress), functional health patterns, and self-efficacy among individuals from Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia during the home quarantine experience associated with COVID-19. METHODS: A descriptive and cross-sectional research design was applied to a convenience sample that included 704 participants from Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Data collection was performed in April 2020, using a self-administered questionnaire that consisted of a sociodemographic data sheet, the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS), a functional health pattern survey, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES). RESULTS: Overall, the sample was found to have mild-level DASS scores, with significantly higher scores identified for Egyptian participants compared with those from other countries. In contrast, participants from Egypt presented significantly reduced GSES scores than those from other countries. Higher mean DASS scores were identified among females, participants who reported inappropriate housing conditions and participants who were unemployed, young, widowed, and school-educated. A high mean DASS score was significantly associated with reported disturbances in sleep, sexuality, and social communication, work schedule changes, the inability to concentrate on positive thoughts, the inability to empty their brains of daily thoughts, and not caring about regular interactions with family. Increased mean GSES scores were significantly associated with males, participants who reported appropriate housing conditions, participants who live alone, are older, married, hold higher education degrees, and who are employed with sufficient incomes, whereas lower mean GSES scores were significantly associated with participants who reported engaging in regular exercise, experiencing disturbances in sexuality and social communications, and reduced appetites. However, a significant inverse correlation was detected between the mean DASS and GSES scores, with significant positive correlations among the DASS. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 quarantine was associated with a mild level of depression stress and normal anxiety levels, with higher psychological distress and lower self-efficacy identified among participants from Egypt. The emotional status of individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic should be explored further, and awareness programs, designed to address the psychological effects of quarantine, should be promoted, through mass media and other means, with consideration of the effects on the general population, COVID-19 cases, individuals with close contacts with COVID-19 cases, and health-care professionals.
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Background: Emotional intelligence is considered to be one factor that helps individuals control their feelings. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the emotional intelligence and uncertainty among undergraduate nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used on a convenience sample, consisting of 284 undergraduate nursing students at the Faculty of Nursing, Zagazig University, Egypt, Faculty of Applied Medical Science, Taibah University, and Al-Ghad International Colleges, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Data were collected as responses to a questionnaire, which incorporated a sociodemographic datasheet, the Emotional Intelligence Scale, and the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale. Results: The results showed significant differences in emotional intelligence mean scores between Saudi nursing students, who scored higher than their Egyptian counterparts, whereas the uncertainty mean scores were significantly higher among nursing students in Egypt than those in Saudi Arabia. Students in Saudi Arabia were significantly more satisfied with online education and online exams compared with those in Egypt. A negative correlation was identified between emotional intelligence mean scores and uncertainty mean scores among nursing students. Conclusion: A focus on the concept of emotional intelligence during university education may assist in the establishment of a supportive environment that can reduce uncertainty among nursing students. Improving, updating, financing, and facilitating online education technology should be a focus of educational institutions and ministries of education worldwide. © 2020 Hussien et al.