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BackgroundA devastating medical disorder, the coronavirus pandemic infection (COVID-19), produced by the coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2), is primarily characterized by severe pneumonia. Pulmonary hypertension (PH), which may cause right ventricular (RV) involvement and dysfunction, can occur as a result of lung parenchymal injury and disturbed pulmonary circulation. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is a very reliable noninvasive approach to determining the severity of PH. Similar to that, thorax computer tomography (TCT) can effectively detect the severity of lung damage during the acute phase of a COVID-19 infection.AimsThe goal of this research is to examine PH and altered right ventricular function by TTE in post-COVID-19 cases.Patients and methodsThis retrospective case-control study was conducted at Tanta Chest University Hospital, Tanta, Egypt. The study started from October 2021 to September 2022 on 50 post-COVID-19 cases with one or more clinical manifestations of PH. These cases underwent TTE (group I showed normal PAP "control group," groups II & III with PH further subdivided according to PaO2).ResultsRisk factors of age, BMI, diabetes mellitus, and smoking were substantially raised in group III, but sex and hypertension were insignificant. Symptoms of chest pain, dyspnea, and palpitation were worse in group III. Levels of LDH, d-dimer, ESR, and serum bilirubin were substantially increased in group III in comparison to the other groups. Post-COVID-19-associated lung fibrosis and embolism were higher in group III. Mean values of estimated systolic pulmonary artery pressure (esPAP) and right atrial and right ventricular diameters were substantially increased in groups III and II in comparison to group I. Mean values of RV-GLS and TAPSE were lower in groups III and II in comparison to group I. FEV1, FVC, PEFR, and FEF25-75% percentage of the predicted were significantly low in groups II and III. FEV1/FVC ratio was substantially lower in group II in comparison to groups I and III.ConclusionsThe incidence of pulmonary hypertension in post-COVID-19 patients with suspected manifestations of PH is 70%. Increased age, BMI, DM, smoking, decreased PaO2, increased CORADS score, and abnormal spirometry are risk factors for PH in post-COVID-19 patients. Patients with post-COVID-19 PH stay more either in ICU or ward.
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Background: Nursing is a noble profession that aims to care for individuals, families, and communities to achieve optimum health and quality of life. Nurses are the largest constituent of the healthcare team and nursing students’ motivation towards their field of inquiry affects their satisfaction and academic performance. Aim: To examine the academic motivation among nursing students in public universities in Jordan in the context of COVID-19. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in three public universities in Jordan. A total of 437 nursing students in their second, third, or fourth year of study answered a self-administered online questionnaire. Descriptive and multivariant analysis was conducted using SPSS 24. Results: Academic motivation among students from three public universities was below the averages reported in the international literature. Students’ mean scores on the academic motivation scale knowledge was 90.25 out of 196, and the average mean scores for all subscales were just above the midpoint, except for the extrinsic regulation scale, which was 14.57 out of 30. Students reported higher levels of extrinsic motivation. Conclusions: Educators must focus on nursing students’ need for support and consider the development of a curriculum that strengthens student learning and nurtures their internal and external motivation needs. © 2022 DSR Publishers ∕ The University of Jordan. All Rights Reserved.
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The success of mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 implies that this technology can be applied to target any pathogen. However, the scientific production and research trends using the bibliometric method are still unknown. The top 100 most cited articles on mRNA vaccine research were obtained from the Scopus database from 1995 to 2021. Bibliometrix, an R-Package, and VOSviewer 1.6.11 were used for data analysis. There is a rapid growth in scientific outputs with a gradual increase in 2021. The United States produced 45 (45%) of the articles, followed by Germany with 15 (15%) and Israel with 10 (10%). The New England Journal of Medicine published the most papers in this field 13 (13%), followed by Nature 6(6%). Barney S. Graham was the most productive author among the top 100 most cited mRNA vaccine articles. University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, US, was the top ranking institution, having 37 (37%). The visualization map clearly and spontaneously displayed the current state and research hot spots of mRNA research from a specific perspective. The most frequent keywords were COVID-19, vaccine, mRNA vaccine, mRNA, SARS-CoV-2, and immunogenicity, among others. A systematic review of the articles provided evidence that out of 100 articles, approximately 25 (25%) were focused on vaccine production and evaluation, followed by 26 (26%) in mRNA vaccine safety and efficacy, 23 (23%) were into mRNA vaccination, 23 (23%) considered risk factors associated with mRNA vaccination, while 8 (8%) of the articles covered the issue of mRNA vaccine delivery. In addition, 42% of the articles focused on COVID-19, 17% on cancer, 8% on influenza virus, 4% on COVID-19 and kidney disease, 3% COVID-19 and myocarditis, and 3% on rabies virus, among others. The findings of this systematic and thematic analysis provided the knowledge basis for further research on mRNA vaccines globally.
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Some agent-based models have been developed to estimate the spread progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to evaluate strategies aimed to control the outbreak of the infectious disease. Nonetheless, COVID-19 parameter estimation methods are limited to observational epidemiologic studies which are essentially aggregated models. We propose a mathematical structure to determine parameters of agent-based models accounting for the mutual effects of parameters. We then use the agent-based model to assess the extent to which different control strategies can intervene the transmission of COVID-19. Easing social distancing restrictions, opening businesses, speed of enforcing control strategies, quarantining family members of isolated cases on the disease progression and encouraging the use of facemask are the strategies assessed in this study. We estimate the social distancing compliance level in Sydney greater metropolitan area and then elaborate the consequences of moderating the compliance level in the disease suppression. We also show that social distancing and facemask usage are complementary and discuss their interactive effects in detail.
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To assess the effectiveness of a site-specific video educational material in improving patients' understanding and confidence regarding radiotherapy trajectory A quasi-experimental longitudinal pre-test post-test study was conducted at a referral radiotherapy center, from May 2020 to September 2020. It included 52 adult patients admitted for a first course radical radiotherapy. One generic and 6 site-specific (breast, pelvis, head and neck, brain, chest and abdomen and bladder) inhouse production, animated cartoon videos were developed to provide concise overview of the overall patient's trajectory in radiotherapy, with full visual description of the procedures and specific preparation measures. A 14-item questionnaire was designed to assess pre- and post-intervention levels of understanding and confidence of patients, with calculation of and an understanding and confidence score (UCS, range 0-14). The mean (SD) UCS in pre- and post-intervention was 9.36 (2.48) and 11.92 (1.34) out of 14, respectively, indicating a mean increase of 2.57 subsequent to the intervention (P < 0.001). The effect size was large with a Cohen's d = 1.01. Of the 14 dimensions explored, 8 were observed to have remarkable improvement, notably understanding the purpose of the tattoo mark, reason of daily or weekly imaging, and what to expect with radiotherapy. Participants with poor reading ability had greater increase in UCS (ΔUCS = 4.25 vs ≤2.33) and in 5 out of 8 dimensions with remarkable improvement The use of digital educational material in radiation oncology meets the urgent need for providing patients with concise and site-specific information, while sparing extra hospital visits to meet education coordinators during the COVID-19 crisis. Further studies are warranted to assess both the clinical and long-term effectiveness of the educational material, using a longitudinal controlled design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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The ongoing pandemic of novel coronavirus disease, COVID19, which first reported in Wuhan, China, inDecember 2019, [1] and caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV2) has resulted to more than 6,881,352 confirmed cases in the world, and 399,895 global deaths, as reported in 8:36am CEST, 8 June 2020. [2] It has been reported that the primary spread of COVID-19 via human transmission is during close contact, most often through small droplets spread by coughing, sneezing, and talking. [3] Researchers and health experts have discovered that wearing of appropriate face masks can significantly reduce the transmission up to the 75%.
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The COVID-19 pandemic, which was reported in early January 2020 in China and spread rapidly around the globe, will certainly remain as one of the most impactful disruptive events of the 21st century. To contain the spread of the virus while awaiting a vaccine, countries applied different approaches from simply giving advice on personal hygiene and applying progressive measures to total lockdown. This paper aims to investigate the impacts of the pandemic on travel behavior in Istanbul, Turkey, through a longitudinal panel study conducted in three phases during the early stages of the epidemic and pandemic. The paper reflects the travel behavior evolution during the development of the outbreak resulting from residents' self- regulation and governmental measures, distinguishing travel for commute, Social/Recreational/Leisure (SRL), and shopping activities, as well as use of different travel modes based on various socio-economic characteristics. Due to the application of the social distancing of at least 1.5â¯m, closure of numerous non-essential venues, encouraging teleworking and distance education, job losses and cancellation of all social gatherings in Istanbul between the second and third phase of our data collection, the transition in travel activity pattern and transport mobility appears to be quite extreme, particularly for commuting and SRL trips.
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To date, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) has spread to almost every region of the world, infecting millions and resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Although it was predicted that Africa would suffer a massive loss of life due to this pandemic, the number of COVID-19 cases has been relatively low across the continent. Researchers have speculated that several factors may be responsible for this outcome in Africa, including the extensive experience that countries have with infectious diseases and the young median age of their populations. However, it is still important for African countries to adopt aggressive and bold approaches against COVID-19, in case the nature of the pandemic changes. This short review will summarize the status of the outbreak in Africa and propose possible reasons for current trends, as well as discuss interventions aimed at preventing a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the future.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/mortality , COVID-19/transmission , Africa South of the Sahara/epidemiology , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/virology , Humans , Pandemics/statistics & numerical data , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , SARS-CoV-2/physiologyABSTRACT
Different agent-based models have been developed to estimate the spread progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to evaluate different control strategies to control outbreak of the infectious disease. While there are several estimation methods for the disease-specific parameters of COVID-19, they have been used for aggregate level models such as SIR and not for agent-based models. We propose a mathematical structure to determine parameter values of agent-based models considering the mutual effects of parameters. Then, we assess the extent to which different control strategies can intervene the transmission of COVID-19. Accordingly, we consider scenarios of easing social distancing restrictions, opening businesses, speed of enforcing control strategies and quarantining family members of isolated cases on the disease progression. We find the social distancing compliance level in the Sydney greater metropolitan area to be around 85%. Then we elaborate on consequences of easing the compliance level in the disease suppression. We also show that tight social distancing levels should be considered when the restrictions on businesses and activity participations are easing.