Predicting Aramco's IPO Long-Term Performance During COVID Times

This paper aims to assess whether the outbreak of the highly contagious pandemic had an impact on the share prices of recently listed Aramco in light of the Fads hypothesis using the methods of neural network and ARIMA. The IPO of Aramco, the world's largest oil company, was a much-hyped affair. Given the relevant importance of the company, it was expected that Aramco's share prices would not underperform in the long run. But the analysis indicates the opposite. The study uses two time periods using the announcement of the pandemic by the World Health Organization as the threshold date to see the impact of the pandemic on Aramco's share prices. The forecasting results validate the Fads hypothesis implying that Aramco's share prices would have underperformed in the long run, even in the absence of a pandemic outbreak. Finally, the study cautions investors against the hype created by IPOs. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Computational Method on Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin for SARS-CoV-2: Binding Affinity Studies

World is facing a new pandemic called covid-19SARS-CoV-2) since a year ago. Unfortunately there is no treatment for Covid 19 nowadays as well as no potential therapies has been developed to overcome from coronavirus pandemic. Some potential drug molecules with combination have ability to respond for covid19 virus. From the research it was found that the reduction of viral load can be treated with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin combination. We evaluate the mode of interactions of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin with the dynamic site of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus main protease. Molecular Structure-based computational approach viz. molecular docking simulations were performed to scale up their affinity and binding fitness of the docked complex of novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus protease and hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. The natural inhibitor N3 of novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus protease were exhibited highest affinity in terms of MolDock score (-167.203Kcal/mol), and hydroxychloroquine was found with lowest target affinity (-55.917 Kcal/mol).The amino acid residue cysteine 145 and histidine 41 is bound covalently and formed hydrogen bond interaction with SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor known as inhibitor N3 as such, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin also formed hydrogen bond interaction. The binding patterns of the inhibitor N3 of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus main protease could be used as a guideline for medicinal chemist to explore their SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory potential. Copyright © RJPT All right reserved.

Effusive Constrictive Pericarditis After Covid19 Vaccination

Case Report: A 42-year-old male with no significant past medical history presented to the emergency department (ED) after a three-week history of myalgias, non-productive cough, and progressively worsening dyspnea accompanied by a two-week history of right-sided chest pain that all started four days after receiving his Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccine. Chest pain was described as constant, non-radiating, and aggravated by positional changes. On ED arrival, the patient was febrile to 102.9degreeF and tachycardic with initial labs significant for leukocytosis of 13.6 Thou/uL, Creactive protein at 17.18 mg/dL, troponins negative x2, and a negative COVID-19 NAAT testing. EKG revealed diffuse T wave inversions and chest x-ray was noncontributory. Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) obtained showed a small fibrinous circumferential pericardial effusion with no evidence of cardiac tamponade;however, there was an interventricular septal bounce suggestive of effusive-constrictive pericarditis. This diastolic septal bounce was also seen on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, along with a pericardial enhancement measuring up to 0.2 cm2 in thickness. With a negative infectious and autoimmune workup, along with low clinical suspicion for tuberculosis or malignancy, the leading differential was the temporal relationship between receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccine and the development of effusive-constrictive pericarditis (ECP). The patient was started on Colchicine 0.6 mg twice daily, Ibuprofen 400 mg three times daily, and subsequently discharged after symptomatic improvement and being afebrile for 72 hours with plans for close cardiology follow-up. Discussion(s): ECP is a rare syndrome characterized by a concurrent decrease in pericardial compliance with pericardial effusion and is seen in 4.5% to 6.9% of patients who present with pericardial effusions. To date, less than five other case reports internationally have delineated a relationship between COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and the development of ECP, making recognition of this etiology challenging. In patients who have a mixed hemodynamic picture with subacute features of both cardiac tamponade and constrictive pericarditis, clinicians should have a high index of suspicion for ECP.

Taste And Smell Sensation Dysfunction In Covid-19 Patients

A significant proportion of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 report a new onset of smell or taste loss. The duration of the chemosensory impairment and predictive factors of recovery are still unclear. In this study, we aim to describe the prevalence and features of loss of smell (anosmia) and loss of taste (ageusia) in Covid-19 patients. This study was done during second wave of Covid-19 to assess the smell and taste sensations dysfunction in Covid-19 infected subjects. Subjects above age of 18 years who were infected with Covid-19 virus and recovered from Covid-19 infection were included in this study. 50.49 % subjects had loss of smell sensation. 36.76% subjects had loss of taste sensation, whereas 34.31 % subjects had loss of both smell and taste sensation. Chemosensitive dysfunction is associated with coronavirus disease and may be the only symptom that presents the disease. Smell and taste loss are highly prevalent in COVID-19. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.

DETERMINATION OF AURINTRICARBOXYLIC ACID (A VIRAL INHIBITOR) USING MIXED MICELLAR CLOUD POINT EXTRACTION PROCEDURES

Objective: Development of micelle mediated cloud point extraction (CPE) and preconcentration of aurintricarboxylic acid (ATCA) (a viral inhibitor). Methods: The method is based on the ion-pair formation between ATCA and a cationic surfactant tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB), which is extracted into the Triton X-114 (TX-114, a non-ionic surfactant) at a pH 4.4. The effect of different important parameters like pH, the concentration of surfactants (TX-114 and TBAB), salt, temperature, and time for the extraction of ATCA was optimized. Results: Extraction efficiency of 90.28 % for CPE of ATCA was obtained using mixed micelles of TX-114 and TBAB. The linear range and limits of detection for ATCA was found to be 8.44-84.47 µg ml-1 and 8.14 ng ml-1, respectively. Conclusion: The suggested CPE method has been applied to the determination of ATCA in aqueous solutions.

AI & COVID-19: Deep Learning Approaches for Diagnosis and Treatment

Automatic Covid-19 detection is one of the high requirements in pandemic time, as there is limited medical staff and limited medical equipment. To avoid the manual check and predict Covid-19, in this project automatic diagnosis and treatment prediction with the help of same algorithm can be done. We used „Sarscov2_Dataset‟, which has Covid lung CT images 1252 and non-covid images around 1230. To improve health care system as well as to make it smart health care system, proposed method is designed which is automatic diagnosis and treatment prediction for covid. There are famous three techniques area implemented in this project as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Extreme Machine Learning (EML) and Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN). These techniques are artificial intelligence-based techniques which gives us very fast diagnosis. User-friendly interface is prepared for researchers and physicians to diagnose as Covid-19 or no Covid and get treatment details from CT scan images of Lung. It is observed from analysis that proposed CNN -GAN technique gives better accuracy than EML and LSTM.

Stuck mechanical valve complication in non-COVID-19 patients during COVID-19 pandemic: single center experience

Background: Stuck valve is a very rare and severe complication that occurs in mechanical valve replacement patients with ineffective anticoagulation. However, with COVID-19 restriction measures, it became challenging to regularly assess INR to make sure it falls within the target therapeutic range to prevent this complication. Purpose: We wanted to explore how did the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions impacted mechanical valve replacement patients on chronic anticoagulation and the long-term consequences of limiting their access to health service. Methods: We present a series of 10 patients on warfarin anticoagulation therapy who either underwent transthoracic echocardiography for a suspected stuck valve or were seen at the outpatient valve clinic with the residual consequences of a stuck valve during the COVID-19 restriction measures in our institute. Results: Eight patients were female, two of whom were pregnant at the first trimester and eventually went on to receive an abortion;six patients received urgent valve replacement cardiac surgery;four patients were managed medically e.g. with heparin;none had thrombolytic therapy. Stuck prosthetic valves incident has increased significantly during this period, particularly those in the mitral position for which urgent replacement and prolonged hospitalization including intensive care admission, with high in-hospital mortality rates and high costs were necessary. Mean hospital admission time was 27.5 ± 18.5 days. The cost of treatment, as average estimated reimbursement, was 11,000 USD for medical admission only, and 43,200 USD when surgery was required, up to 64,000 USD when ECMO was part of patient management. Conclusion: Despite governments' efforts to implement telemedicine and virtual clinics, COVID-19 restrictions and health-messaging affected the routine follow-up of non-COVID-19 patients. We report dramatic consequences to this drastic change in healthcare: clinical complications, lost lives and inflated healthcare costs in patients with a prosthetic valve. We believe that non-COVID-19 patients have paid, and will continue to pay in the future, a price that is much greater than those patients who have suffered from COVID-19. Active engagement of patients should be implemented in a time of emergencies, and further studies should address the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of public policies aimed to decrease the burden of avoidable complications and missed diagnoses.

Delivery Robot Using GPS Technology

It is the service sector for any nation that offers the government the maximum income. This service industry comprises a broader range of services and every individual in the nation will be affected by any bad impacts on this sector. The covid pandemic has become a threat to good health and has created fear due to the spread of the virus and a serious impact on the economy and the livelihood of people in the country. Logistics and delivery are some of the areas badly affected by covid. Because this virus is a contagious disease and very quickly spreads to neighbours. The reduction of human interference in the delivery of goods was very important. This paper presents a delivery robot that can safely and securely deliver the goodseven for the virus affected persons since this robot is a virus free agent. The key features are face recognition, obstacle detection, live streaming, GPS tracking and we achieve these features using Raspberry Pi and Node MCU. The prototype we create is for small organizations such as colleges and hospitals where objects must be transported safely and securely. This robot can also be used to safely provide patients with medicines and food. This can be extended to a greater area and can be used to replace the normal human resources delivery system. © 2021 IEEE.

COVID-19 Pandemic and the Reaction of Asian Stock Markets: Empirical Evidence from Saudi Arabia

The study examines the influence of COVID-19 on the stock market returns of Saudi Arabia. The data was analyzed through event study methodology using daily price data of Tadawul All Share Index (TASI). The study examines the behavior pattern of the Saudi Arabian stock market in different phases during the event period by selecting six-event windows with a range of 10 days. The results report a negative Abnormal Return (AR) of -0.003 on the event date, while the abnormal returns reversed the next day to 0.005 positively. The result of Cumulative Abnormal Return (CAR) is negative and significant at the 1 percent level in all the six-event windows starting from the event date to day 59 after the event for the TASI index. Even though the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic decreased after 30 days of the event date, it increased during the last ten days of the event window. The stock market volatility of Saudi Arabia increased during the post-event period compared to the pre-event period with a negative mean return of -0.326 and a greater standard deviation. In a conclusion, the study found a significant influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the stock market returns of TASI.

Higher education for the creation of prosperity, sustainability in security and development in times of COVID-19 pandemic: A case study

Higher education has an important role in contributing to the creation of prosperity and alleviate poverty in society by enhancing the quality of life of the students. Past studies indicate that prosperity can be attained through the sustainability in security and development, in the sense which resources are effectively and efficiently managed for the state and its society. The creation of the state's prosperity includes the development of human capital through the platform of education. However, the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic outbreak had disrupted higher education sector. In Malaysia, the Movement Control Order (MCO) or 'Malaysia lockdown' was declared by the authority starting from March 18, 2020, to curb the spread of COVID-19. The COVID-19 outbreak and MCO restriction disrupted the higher education stakeholders to ‘normally’ continue with their academic activities. The disruption of the academic activities has affected the students’ well-being and welfare, especially those from the bottom billion families. The main aim of the study is to obtain a preliminary understanding of the students’ experiences on their well-being and welfare during the MCO in times of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The study was conducted during the first phase of the MCO period from 18 to 31 Marchusing multiple Phone Calls interviews. Thirty-three (33) respondents from Bottom40 families participated in the study. The study managed to gather twenty (20) variables clustered in the ‘Prosperity Quadrant for Sustainability in Security and Development during the MCO in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic' based on experiences highlighted by the respondents from B40 families. The preliminary findings obtained in the study could provide valuable insights for the decision-makersof HEIs in prioritizing their strategic short, middle and long-term planning in a time of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.