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Internet of medical things (IoMT) has made it possible to collect applications and medical devices for improving healthcare information technology. Today, limitations in technology enable COVID-19 call centers to restrict the number of calls per day. To this end, the unprecedented virality of COVID-19 makes call centers to be likely overstressed. Thus, people who are tested for COVID-19 virus may not get adequate guidance to manage and minimize both its risk and transmission. In addition, lack of patients privacy has restricted the sharing of COVID-19 data among health institutions. To resolve the above mentioned limitations, this paper proposes privacy infrastructure based on federated learning and blockchain technology. The proposed infrastructure has the potentials to enhance public communication and deliver alternative methods to disseminate COVID-19 information. Also, the proposed infrastructure can effectively resolve the issue of large data silos and provide a shared model while preserving the privacy of data owners. Furthermore, information security and privacy analyses show that the proposed infrastructure is robust against information security related attacks.
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The pandemic of Covid-19 has changed the lifestyle of people nowadays. Students has to adapt to the new norms in which they need to rely on the digital mediums to interact with others. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between social media use and the connectedness among the university students in Malaysia during this pandemic of Covid-19. It also aims to investigate connection between the purposes of social media use (academic, socialization, entertainment and informativeness) and the level of social connectedness. Thirdly, the genders difference between social media use and social connectedness are investigated. The measurement used include the online social networking usage questionnaire and the social connectedness scale, and were distributed through snowball sampling method via the online platforms. A total of 300 respondents were recruited in this study with the mean age of 22.26. The results indicate that no significant relationship between social media usage and social connectedness. However, there was significant relationship between the purposes of using social media and social connectedness. Thirdly, no difference was found between females and males on the social media usage and social connectedness. Finally, this study highlights that the purpose of using social media could enhance the social relationship. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic that strucked the world had changed the global health system and caused changes in clinical practice and practitioners' exposure. The aim of this research is to study the perception of UKM Obstetrics and gynaecology postgraduate students about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their specialist training. Methods: The survey had been carried out through Google Form among students enrolled in Doctor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (DROG) program in UKM and consist of three sections;socio-demographic information, changes in role during COVID-19 and perception towards training. Quantitative analysis performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: Out of 47 respondents, 13 were working in MOH hospitals, 17 in UKM Hospital and 17 in both MOH and UKM hospitals. Total of 32 students (68.1%) felt increment in seeing obstetric patients and 31 students (65.9%) performed more obstetric procedures during COVID-19 pandemic. For gynaecology, 29 students (61.7%) claimed had been seeing less gynaecological patients and 40 students (85.1%) performed less gynaecological surgeries. Total of 35 students (74.5%) agreed that COVID-19 pandemic had affected their mental well-being and 42 students (89.4%) agreed their social well-being had been affected. Total of 43 trainees (91.5%) agreed that COVID-19 pandemic had negatively impacted their surgical skills in gynaecology and 38 students (80.1%) claimed their overall learning opportunities had been affected. Mean for training perception score is 52.53 and there is no significant difference in score mean among students according to difference in study year and training hospitals. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic had caused negative impact to the specialty training among Obstetrics & Gynaecology postgraduate students in UKM. © 2022 UPM Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in China in 2019 and has caused a pandemic with half a billion infections and 6.46 million deaths. The accelerated development of current mRNA, viral vectored, and inactivated vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 utilized the S protein of the SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain. However, emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) with numerous mutations in the S protein considerably reduced the protective efficacies of current vaccines. Novel vaccines which utilize the mRNA or the viral-vectored vaccine have to be engineered to carry the S protein genes from the Omicron BA.4 or the BA.5 subvariants. Experimental vaccines in the Malaysian vaccine developmental landscape are the (i) modular mucosal vaccine produced in GRAS, (ii) NDV-based vaccine expressing RBD, and (iii) live attenuated Vibrio cholerae to deliver SARS-CoV-2 antigen. Next-generation vaccines that contain highly immunogenic and conserved epitopes capable of providing broader and long-lasting protection should be considered. .
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic that struck the world had changed the global health system and caused changes in clinical practice and practitioners' exposure. The aim of this research is to study the perception of UKM Obstetrics and Gynaecology postgraduate students about the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on their specialist training. Methods: The survey had been carried out through Google Form among students enrolled in Doctor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (DROG) program in UKM and consist of three sections: socio-demographic information, changes in role during Covid-19 and perception towards training. Quantitative analysis performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: Out of 47 respondents, 13 were working in MOH hospitals, 17 in UKM Hospital and 17 in both MOH and UKM hospitals. 32 students (68.1%) felt increment in seeing obstetric patients and 31 students (65.9%) performed more obstetric procedures during Covid-19 pandemic. 29 students (61.7%) claimed had been seeing less gynaecological patients and 40 students (85.1%) performed less gynaecological surgeries. Total of 35 students (74.5%) agreed that Covid-19 pandemic had affected their mental well-being and 42 students (89.4%) agreed their social well-being had been affected. 43 trainees (91.5%) agreed that Covid-19 pandemic had negatively impacted their surgical skills in gynaecology. Mean for training perception score is 52.53 and there is no significant difference in mean score among students according to difference in study year and training hospitals. Conclusion: Covid-19 pandemic had caused negative impact to the specialty training among Obstetrics & Gynaecology postgraduate students in UKM.
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Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic that struck the world had caused changes in clinical practice and practitioners' clinical exposure. This research aims to identify the challenges faced by UKM obstetrics and gynaecology postgraduate students during their specialist training during Covid-19 pandemic and to explore their suggestion on how to improve training. Methods: Participants were students enrolled in Doctor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (DROG) program in UKM in 2020 and 2021. The questionnaire consist of validated open ended question on perceived challenges and suggestion for University & MOH on how to improve the training aspects. Qualitative analysis was performed using content and thematic analysis. Results: Out of 47 respondents, 13 were working in MOH hospitals, 17 in UKM Hospital and 17 in both MOH and UKM hospitals. Thirty-nine respondents (83%) claimed their workload had increased during this pandemic and four (8.5%) had been deployed to Covid-19 unit. Main challenges faced by students are lack of clinical skills training and lack of face-to-face teaching due to Movement Control Order (MCO). Content and thematic analysis on the suggestion to improve training during Covid-19 pandemic had highlighted four themes, namely: 'diversify teaching and learning methods' (10 responds), 'increase clinical exposure' (5 responds), 'to be returned to Obstetrics & Gynaecology unit' (3 responds) and 'institutional management' (2 responds).Conclusion: Covid-19 pandemic and MCO had caused negative impacts to clinical specialist training among our respondents. It is important to encourage collaborative effort and synergetic actions between the universities and health ministry to minimize negative impacts on specialist training.
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INTRODUCTION: Kaduna State is among the three States with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, risk perception and practices of staff towards prevention and control of COVID-19 infection in schools to provide policy makers, education and health managers required information to manage the epidemic as the schools prepare to re-open. METHODS: This was a school-based survey conducted using purposive sampling of 55 schools located in nine LGAs with the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases as at October 2020. Five schools with the highest students'/pupils' enrollment in each of the LGA were selected and all staff were interviewed. Information on knowledge, risk perception and practices of prevention was collected. Descriptive statistics were generated using Stata v14 software. RESULTS: A total of 1065 staff in 55 schools completed the interview. Major sources of information are television (73%), radio (61%), and social media (57%);and 76% indicated that a virus is the causative agent of COVID-19. Overall, 70%, 19%, 7%, 9.3% and 0% respectively had adequate knowledge of cause, preventive measures, respiratory hygiene, modes of transmission and symptoms of COVID-19;however only 14% ever attended a workshop on COVID-19. Eighty-two percent and 89% respectively believed in the efficacy of face masks and handwashing as means of prevention;39% thought that they are likely to contract COVID-19. Ninety-nine percent and 90% have ever used face mask and hand sanitizer to prevent COVID-19;96% and 85% respectively have use these methods in previous 24hours. Between 42% and 73% of schools needed additional commodities/requirements/supplies to comply fully with COVID-19 prevention protocols. CONCLUSION: While knowledge of COVID-19 is suboptimal, perception is positive and practice is high. Thus, teachers need to be well informed and encouraged to sustain current levels of preventive measures. Government needs to provide schools with adequate preventive commodities to ensure compliance.
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Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic saw the involvement of many health non-governmental organisations (NGO) with volunteering work to help reduce the burden of healthcare workers (HCW). IMAM Response and Relief Team (IMARET) is one which is a chapter under the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (IMAM);which is also under the umbrella of the Federations of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA). IMARET often aids HCWs during natural and manmade disasters to help reduce their burden during challenging times by providing manpower, equipment, and logistical assistance. IMARET utilizes social media (SM) for spreading information on their activities to the public, like the COVID-19 fundraising efforts. The objective of this research is to determine the correlation between their Facebook activities and fundraising outcome. Materials and Methods: This is a cross sectional study of Facebook posts and its engagement with Billplz, an online payment platform focused during the initial COVID-19 fundraising effort. Results and Discussion: During the study period, we report 346 Facebook posts with a median (IQR) of 8.00 (6.00,9.00) posts per day. As many as 4,823 donations, median (IQR) at RM34.50 (18.75,86.00) was received per day. RM3425,50 (USD 830.52) (1369.00, 8376.25) was collected per day. `Organic Likes' correlated significantly with the number of donations (r=0.419,p=0.006) and amount received (r=0.355,p=0.021). Both `Post Reach' and 'Shares' significantly correlated with the number of donations (r=0.405,p=0.008) (r=0.515,p<0.01)and amount received (r=0.373,p=0.015) (r=0.453,p=0.003) respectively. Conclusion: The number of likes, reach and shares significantly correlated with the number and amount of donations received during the initial phase of the IMARET COVID-19 fundraising effort
ABSTRACT
Background: The world is currently facing the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Researchers from different parts of the world have employed diverse approaches to create a safe and effective vaccine as it saves millions of lives. Vaccines are created from the viral particle to train the body for a natural defense against invading pathogens. It is important to understand the concept of the vaccine design, especially the multi-epitope T-cells subunit vaccine. Methods: In this regard, we employed bioinformatics and immunoinformatic tools to illustrate the concept of the computer-based vaccine design. The computational methods consist of evaluation and selection of SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins, prediction of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, prediction of helper T-cell (HTL) epitope, multi-epitope vaccine candidate construct, antigenicity and allergenicity prediction of the designed candidate vaccine, physiochemical properties and solubility evaluation, secondary/tertiary structure prediction, refinement and validation of model vaccine tertiary structure, molecular docking of fusion proteins and Toll-like receptor 9 protein, and in silico cloning of the vaccine. Results: A total of 454 amino acid sequences were generated from CTL and HTL epitopes. The query solubility value (QuerySol) of the vaccine construct was 0.419, including the human beta-defensin-2 adjuvant and peptide linkers. A circular clone of vaccine and pEX-C-His plasmid was achieved after in silico ligation using the annealed primer. Conclusion: Here, we provide essential information on computer-assisted multi-epitopes T-cell subunit vaccine design.