Parents' digital skills and their development in the context of the Corona pandemic.

We investigate parents' and guardians' digital skills and the extent of their development in the context of the spread of the Corona epidemic. In addition, we sought to explore the differences in digital skills between parents and their employment status, age, and responsibility in teaching children. We sought to rely on the descriptive-analytical approach and prepared a scale of eight theoretical dimensions with the participation of 250 students' Saudi parents. The application of the study was by online submission form (via Edit Submission). Our findings showed that there was a discrepancy in the performance of the sample, which was very high in the dimensions of operational skills, instrumental skills, and cognitive constructivism skills. There were also differences between the effect of computers on the instrumental skills and cognitive constructivism skills of the parents. Parents' dependence on alternative digital sources in exploring for information, formulating knowledge, manipulating it, and criticizing. The learner can reach the cognitive level in a more flexible manner, which allows him to gain learning objectives. The knowledge navigation can be developed because of different online outdoor exercises and software familiar. This requires self-organization to search for appropriate knowledge to use in the renewal of the cognitive structure.

COVID-19 the Gateway for Future Learning: The Impact of Online Teaching on the Future Learning Environment

The COVID-19 virus has altered the nature of education. These modifications may be reversed once universities reopen. Nevertheless, a few of these modifications afford novel options to match pre-COVID-19 suggestions. This study's purpose is to study staff members' perceptions of online teaching during COVID-19, describe future projections regarding teaching, and identify the drivers of change in the future learning environment. The study community represents faculty staff in Saudi universities. The sample consisted of 127 faculty staff in nine Saudi universities. Participants had positive perceptions of the usage of e-learning platforms during COVID-19 according to data analysis (though negative experiences existed). Future research must focus on the subtle challenges of aligning theoretical and methodological designs to appropriately analyze the phenomenon under inquiry while contributing to a well-executed body of research in the field of educational technology. Future study is required to determine how teachers perceive information and communications technology (ICT) trading strategies in the light of COVID-19.

The Secrets of Data Science Deployments

Much attention is paid to data science and machine learning as an effective means for getting value out of data and as a means for dealing with the large amounts of data we are accumulating at companies and organizations. This has gained importance with the major waves of digitization we have seen, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating digital everything. However, in reality, most machine learning models, despite achieving good technical solutions to predictive problems wind up not being deployed. The reasons for this are many and have their origin in data scientists and machine learning practitioners not paying enough attention to issues of deployment in production. The issues range all the way from establishing trust by business stakeholders and users, to failure to explain why models work and when they do not, to failing to appreciate the importance of establishing a robust quality data pipeline, to ignoring many constraints that apply to deployed models, and finally to a lack of understanding the true cost of production deployment and the associated ROI. We discuss many of these problems and we provide what we believe is a pragmatic approach to getting data science models successfully deployed in working environments.

Covid-19 Detection by using Deep learning-based Custom Convolution Neural Network (CNN)

The early diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 has been a challenge all over the world. It is challenging to manufacture many testing kits and even then, their accuracy rate is very low. Studies carried out recently show that chest x-ray images are of great help in the diagnosis of COVID-19. In this study, we have developed a COVID-19 detection model that by observing the chest x-ray images of the patient, detects that either the patient is affected by COVID-19 or not. The model is developed using a custom Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that differentiates between COVID-19 and healthy x-ray images so that the patient can be diagnosed and quarantined on time to prevent the spread of the pandemic. We used two different datasets which are publicly available for the training and validation of this model. Upon completion, the proposed model yields an accuracy of almost 98%. Upon further training, our model will be able to be used as a COVID-19 detection tool in hospitals worldwide and will play a vital role in early detection and timely containment of the pandemic.

Remote Healthcare Monitoring using Wearable IoT Devices and Cloud Services

With the strain on healthcare infrastructure and healthcare workers due to the ongoing COVID'19 pandemic, the need for novel ways to simplify the interaction between patients and physicians has increased. The aim is mainly to reduce face-to-face interactions and free more time and resources for those who urgently need it. This paper presents a Telemedicine system which can be used as an alternative method to a doctor's visit. The proposed system is considered as an interface that remotely connects the patient and the doctor. The system regularly measures and uploads readings from the patient to a database which the doctor can remotely review to decide on the state of the patient. The whole system is based on the internet of medical things (IoMT). In the proposed system, sensors collect and send data over the internet using the WIFI module connected to a node MCU controller. The developed prototype uses two sensors, one is used to measure both the percentage of oxygen in the blood and heart rate while the other sensor measures the temperature of the human body. The aim of this work is to help patients, by offering them this solution which can help them get the care they require from the comfort of their home and at the same time help doctors remotely give them the suitable treatment while reducing the need for unnecessary face-to-face interactions. © 2022 IEEE.

COVID-19 the Gateway for Future learning: The Impact of Online Teaching on the Future Learning Environment (preprint)

COVID-19 has changed the shape of education. These changes may be undone once universities return, and not all of them are reforms. Yet, some of these changes offer unique opportunities matching pre-COVID-19 proposals.This study’s purposes are to study staff members' perceptions of online teaching during COVID-19 and identify the drivers of change in the future learning environment. The study community represents faculty staff in Saudi universities. The sample consisted of 127 faculty staff in 9 Saudi universities. Participants had positive perceptions of the usage of e-learning platforms during COVID-19, according to data analysis (though negative experiences existed). Future research must focus on the subtle challenges of aligning theoretical and methodological designs to appropriately analyze the phenomenon under inquiry while contributing to a well-executed body of research in the field of educational technology. Future research is needed to see how lecturers view ICT trading post-COVID-19 strategies.Originality/valueThis research is unique in that it entails cloud computing applications in future education, as well as remote/distance learning, which have not before been investigated in the literature.

Interaction between cognitive styles and genders when using virtual laboratories and its influence on students of health college's laboratory skills and cognitive load during the Corona pandemic.

This study examined the interaction between cognitive style-gender within Virtual Laboratories (VL) and its influence on students of health college's Laboratory Skills (LS) and Cognitive Load (CL) during the Corona pandemic. This research method is a combination of quasi-experimental research and survey research; consisting of two male and two female experimental groups (contemplative and impulsive). Each group had 20 students from General Health colleges. In the third level, with the microbiological course, eight experiments were studied by a Virtual laboratory (Praxilabs) during the eLearning study in 2020's first semester. Results showed that VL-using Students of General Health colleges studying microbiology had better CL and LS, besides significantly distinguishing between males and females using VLs in CL and LS where males benefited more. Also, a significant difference was established between CS (contemplative/impulsive) VL-using students in CL and LS to the benefit of the contemplative cognitive style. There LS significantly differ due to gender-CS interaction; however, CL does not have any differences because of this interaction.

Unusual pattern of thrombotic events in young adult non-critically ill patients with COVID-19 may result from an undiagnosed inherited and acquired form of thrombophilia.

In 145 previously healthy non-critically ill young adults, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related symptoms, risk factors for thrombosis, coagulation and inflammatory parameters were compared, with 29 patients reporting unusual thrombotic events (UTEs) and 116 not having thrombotic events. The inflammatory indices, coagulation and prothrombotic platelet phenotype (PTPP) were significantly higher in patients with UTEs versus those without. Patients with UTEs were categorised according to detection of thrombophilic genes (TGs), coagulation and inflammatory markers to the non-TG and TG subcohort. A total of 38 UTEs were identified, which included splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT; 11), stroke (six), cerebral vein thrombosis (five), thrombotic microangiopathy (four), limb ischaemia and inferior vena cava thrombosis (three each), ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (two), superior vena cava thrombosis (two), upper limb deep venous thrombosis and retinal vein thrombosis, one each. We found a 55% prevalence of TGs mainly heterozygous coagulation factor II, thrombin (FII)-G20210A, Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)-V617F, protein-S, and antithrombin III deficiency with a high (76·9%) prevalence of venous UTEs, multiple vessels thrombosis, and recurrence rate among the TG versus non-TG subcohort. The presence of JAK2-V617F, and FII-G20210A mutations was linked with SVT. Thrombosis in the non-TG subcohort was associated with more haemorrhagic problems, thrombosis progression and a significantly higher level of inflammatory markers, PTPP, mean platelet volume, von Willebrand factor, and factor VIII, which remained high for up to 6 months, as well as elevated D-dimer. Acquired and inherited thrombophilia with endotheliopathy appeared to be a relevant mechanism to explain the occurrence of UTEs that are not correlated to COVID-19 severity.

Analysis of Serial C-Reactive Protein Levels in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients Receiving Tocilizumab

Background and Objective: COVID-19 can cause severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. With deteriorating disease, most of the patients may require intensive care admission. This study was carried out to determine and evaluate the response of Tocilizumab with special reference to C-reactive protein (CRP) in critically ill patients presented to Farooq Hospital, West Wood Lahore. Methods: This retrospective study included the data of 55 critically ill COVID-19 patients (respiratory rate ≥30, SpO2<93%, oxygen requirement ≥5L/min, PaO2/FiO2 ≤300 mmHg) admitted in Corona unit of Farooq Hospital West Wood Lahore, who were being treated with Tocilizumab alongwith standard treatment protocol between April 27 and June 21, 2020. The data has been retrieved from hospital records after taking appropriate permission and consent. Demographic, clinical features and serum CRP were recorded for each of them, before and after administration of Tocilizumab. Data analysis was done by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 and expressed as frequency and percentages. Results: Out of 55 patients who were administered Tocilizumab, 72.7% survived whereas 27.3% died. There was higher median reduction of CRP levels in patients who survived (77.5 to 34.9 mg/L) as compared to those who died (65.5 to 45.3 mg/L). There was a statistically significant difference between CRP levels at the time of admission, 72 hours after Tocilizumab was administered (P<0.0001). Conclusion: Tocilizumab administration might be helpful in reducing the complications of cytokine storm in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. © 2020, Biomedica. All Rights Reserved.

A First Look at CQVID-19 Messages on WhatsApp in Pakistan

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has prompted extensive online discussions, creating an 'infodemic' on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Twitter. However, the information shared on these platforms is prone to be unreliable and/or misleading. In this paper, we present the first analysis of COVID-19 discourse on public WhatsApp groups from Pakistan. Building on a large scale annotation of thousands of messages containing text and images, we identify the main categories of discussion. We focus on COVID-19 messages and understand the different types of images/text messages being propagated. By exploring user behavior related to COVID messages, we inspect how misinformation is spread. Finally, by quantifying the flow of information across WhatsApp and Twitter, we show how information spreads across platforms and how WhatsApp acts as a source for much of the information shared on Twitter.

Hematological laboratory parameters: may act as a surrogate of chest radiographs in Pediatric COVID-19 Pneumonia. (preprint)

Background: COVID-19 infection continues to be a serious health concern in pediatric patients, associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. An important clinical question is whether laboratory hematologic parameters may act as a surrogate for imaging findings in pediatric COVID-19 pneumonia, in order to reduce exposure to ionizing radiation. The aim is to investigate the relationship between radiographic findings and hematological laboratory parameters in pediatric patients with COVID-19 infection by directly comparing the findings from both studies. Methods: This was an institutional review board-approved retrospective study of 187 consecutive pediatric patients with microbiologically confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia and available initial chest radiographs at the time of diagnosis, obtained between March 2020 and December 2020. Two groups of patients were created: 1) 1st group (without radiographic evidence of COVID-19 pneumonia) and 2) second group (with radiographic evidence of COVID-19 pneumonia). Two experienced radiologists independently reviewed the initial chest radiographs for abnormalities. Patients’ medical records were reviewed for clinical presentation, hematological laboratory parameters, and patient outcomes. The relationship between initial chest radiographic findings and hematological laboratory parameters was evaluated between the two groups. Interobserver agreement was estimated with the Cohen k coefficient.  Results: The study population consisted of 187 chest radiographs from 187 individual pediatric patients (95 males and 92 females; mean age ± SD, 10.1 ± 6.0 years; range, 9 months – 18 years). Group 1 consisted of 103 chest radiographs (55.0%) from 103 individual pediatric patients (54 males and 49 females; mean age ± SD, 12.5 ± 5.2 years; range, 9 months – 18 years). Group 2 consisted of 84 chest radiographs (45.0%) from 84 individual pediatric patients (41 males and 43 females; mean age ± SD, 7.0 ± 5.6 years; range, 11 months – 18 years). In group 2, observed chest radiographic abnormalities included ground-glass opacity (GGO) in 75 patients (89.2%), GGO and consolidation in 6 (7.2%), peribronchial thickening in 1 patient (1.1%), consolidation in 1 patient (1.1%), and peribronchial thickening, GGO and consolidation in one patient (1.1%). In addition, group 2 patients (with radiographic abnormalities of COVID-19 pneumonia) had significantly elevated LDH (p = 0.001) compared to group 1 patients (without radiographic findings of COVID-19 pneumonia). All pediatric patients in both groups completely recovered from COVID-19 infection. Interobserver agreement for chest radiographic findings was nearly perfect between the two reviewers in both groups (k = 0.96, p = 0.001).Conclusion: The presence of radiographic abnormalities on initial chest radiographs correlates well with hematologic laboratory abnormalities, specifically elevated LDH, in pediatric patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that hematologic laboratory parameters may act as a surrogate for chest radiography in pediatric COVID-19 pneumonia and that chest radiography may not be clinically indicated in pediatric patients with COVID-19 infection with normal LDH level, resulting in decreased exposure to ionizing radiation in this vulnerable population.

Awareness of hand-washing among new misali cadet school students, Dera Ghazi Khan

Background: Hand washing is a simple and inexpensive preventive practice that has been around to thwart infectious diseases for centuries. With corona virus on the rise, its importance cannot be overstated. Aim: To assess the awareness of hand-washing among 3-11 years old Study Design: Cross-sectional comparative study Place and Duration of Study: New Misali Cadet School Students, Dera Ghazi Khan from 1st September 2019 to 31st March 2020. Methodology: Eighty five respondents were included. The responses for demographic, hand washing and level of awareness variables were gathered using a structured pre-tested questionnaire. Results: There were 65 males and 20 were females. Thirty three (38.80%) respondents had age between 3-6 years &52(61.20%) were between 7-11 years of age. Eighty (94.11%) claimed to be aware of hand washing but only 60 (70.60%) were found having satisfactory level of Awareness. Seventy six (89.4%) of them claimed to know the method of hand washing and 52(61.2%) practiced it more than twice a day. Forty seven (55.29%) got awareness from school. Fifty two (61.18%) were aware of benefits of hand washing like prevention of transmission of communicable diseases and 50 (58.80%) were aware of harms of not washing hands like susceptibility to fatal diseases such as diarrhea. Significant association was found between level of awareness and awareness of benefits of hand washing and. harms of not practicing it properly. Conclusion: Irrespective of under developed and remote city status, the school children of Dera Ghazi Khan are as well aware of hand washing as the school children of other developing countries. But the lower satisfactory percentages of hand washing awareness levels asserts the need for more awareness campaigns at the community and institutional level to thwart infectious diseases especially with corona virus on the rise. © 2020 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.

Could Bordetella pertussis vaccine protect against coronavirus COVID-19?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of today, there are 2.165.500 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 145.705 deaths in over 185 countries. Unfortunately, despite the tremendous efforts to develop a vaccine initiated by various leading health institutions all over the world, it may be 18 months before a vaccine against the coronavirus is publicly available. We are proposing a theory about testing the use of the Bordetella pertussis vaccine to protect against COVID-19. We deliver this theory to the scientific community, aiming to raise the concern about it, and to provide us with support by realistic and experimental evidence.