Digitizing Education During COVID-19 Pandemic in Bahrain Higher Education Context

This study is an endeavor to probe and explore digitizing education during COVID-19 Pandemic in Bahrain. The study is explorative in nature conducted with quantitative survey approach and utilizing the snowball and purposive techniques in collecting data. The sample focuses on the Academic Staff at public and private universities in Bahrain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Microsoft Excel and SPSS analytical packages were used to evaluate the data. The main results revealed the influential role of Covid-19 on the topics explored. This study presumed to highlight some of the emergent issues faced during the pandemic and the future direction of digital education. This study is the first study to focus on COVID-19 and Digitizing Education in Bahrain. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

E-Readiness of the Universities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Bahrain

This study examines the E-readiness of the Universities during the Covid-19 pandemic in the kingdom of Bahrain. The study uses quantitative methods and purposive techniques in collecting data during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data were collected from public and private universities in Bahrain during the Covid-19 pandemic. The public and private universities in Bahrain turned to remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The main results revealed the influential role of Covid-19 on teaching methods and the readiness of the Academic staff during the Covid-19 outbreak. This study highlights the impact of Covid-19 on the Academic staff's readiness in using and learning new skills to disseminate the courses' contents among students. The need of significant investment and IT governance infrastructure is essential for the digital transition in public and private universities in Bahrain. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

A Realist Perspective on Agile Policy for Future Skills in a Digital Age—An Example from the Kingdom of Bahrain

Within the context of the Kingdom of Bahrain, this case study applies a realist lens to analyse a new policy approach to education reform. Called the ‘Tertiary Action Plan' (TAP), the design and consultation of this policy process provides an example of a different more Agile policy approach. Critics of traditional linier policy processes highlight that they do not consider the cultural, social and economic complexities of the policy context. This has become particularly important within the future skills agenda driven by the fourth industrial revolution and post-COVID recovery. Interviews with policy experts directly involved at a senior level in the TAP process highlight key themes that describe the ‘different' approach. These themes include whole system change and different rhetoric used to describe education ‘transformation' rather than reform;focusing on educational and labour market outcomes over delivering KPIs;and high-level integrated collaboration and responsibility. The conclusion and recommendations state that there is some evidence of Agile policy making, but this could be made more explicit by ensuring realist evaluation and monitoring principles are added to the implementation of the various TAP initiatives. © 2023, Gulf Research Centre Cambridge.

The Granger Causality of Bahrain Stocks, Bitcoin, and Other Commodity Asset Returns: Evidence of Short-Term Return Spillover before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examines the tendency of short-term return spillover across Bahrain stocks, bitcoin, and other commodity assets factoring in the dynamic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employed vector autoregression (VAR) model using the daily returns of Bahrain All Shares Index, bitcoin, crude oil, and gold futures from January 2018 to March 2022. The results showed a persistent unidirectional short-term spillover of return from the Bahrain stock market to the futures gold market for both the period before and during the pandemic. Moreover, the results also showed that the significant positive shock in the bitcoin returns as granger-caused by the returns of the Bahrain stock market is only during the period before the pandemic. Finally, a significant negative contemporaneous short-term effect on the crude oil market returns can be statistically explained by the shocks in the Bahrain stock market only during the COVID-19 period. © 2023 IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Applications of the One Health concept: Current status in the Middle East

Background: The One Health concept (OHC) seeks to improve the health of plants, animals, and humans because improving animal and plant health will increase the capacity for improving human health. Many risks such as plant and animal biotechnology applications have the potential to generate new diseases that can be transmitted to humans. In this way, the health of humans, animals, and plants is interrelated and depends on one another. However, it has been difficult to apply the OHC in some countries, such as those in the Middle East. The absence of financial support in the region is a major hindrance to applying this concept in the region. The application of the OHC requires the support of specialists who can advocate the government for support in launching OHC-related projects. Here, we discuss the OHC in the context of antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases, and biosafety/biosecurity, which are important public health issues. Furthermore, we describe the current status of the OHC in the Middle East and recent research conducted related to this concept. There has been recent international solidarity in the application of the OHC to reduce risks that threaten the health of organisms. Several countries jointly launched the Global Health Security Agenda in 2014 with the aim of realizing a world that is free of infectious disease-related health risks. However, no previous review articles have examined the applications of the OHC in the Middle East region. This article discusses the OHC in terms of its needs and current applications in the Middle East. Methodology: The following keywords were used in the search: "One Health," "Middle East," "medicinal plants," "viruses," "rabies," "MERS," and "antimicrobial resistance." Related papers were obtained by searching for these keywords using available search engines, such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and Google search, as well as international organization websites. Conclusion(s): The concept of One Health is relatively new and has not been applied in most countries, possibly because the value of this concept for improving human health is not well understood. The key principle defining this concept and its importance is the interdependency of plants, animals, and human health. By applying the OHC, humans can benefit from healthy plants and animals by enhancing their growing conditions, medications, and environments. This would in turn improve general human health by allowing the safe extraction of therapeutics and food resources.Copyright © 2023

Epidemiological and clinical features of the first cohort of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Bahrain

Background: This study investigates the clinical characteristics of the first confirmed cases of Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in Bahrain. Methods: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional study including the first 247 confirmed cases in Bahrain. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were extracted from electronic medical records. Results: Mean Standard Deviation (SD) age of patients was 44.15 (16.5) years. More males were affected by the disease (61%;151/274). Mean (SD) of the duration between confirmation and discharge was 9.8 (5.1) days. Of 247 patients, 4 deaths were reported (1.6%);17.5% (24/137) showed a temperature of >37- on admission, with 4% (6/148) yielding an oxygen saturation of 94% or less. Leukopenia was reported in 36.8% of patients (63/171). One quarter of patients (25.5%) received oseltamivir, 24.7% received hydroxychloroquine sulfate (24.7%), and 1.2% received steroids. Conclusion: In this study, the authors have captured the epidemiological and clinical profiles of the first cases of COVID-19 pertaining to the first wave of the pandemic in Bahrain. The early strict measures may have contributed to the lower incidence as well as lower morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 infection in Bahrain. Major gaps in our knowledge of the clinical spectrum of COVID-19 and its prognosis, outcomes, and associated risk factors indicate the need for further research.

Managing health education during the COVID-19 pandemic: the RCSI Bahrain experience

The pandemic of Coronavirus disease- 2019 (COVID-19) introduced great challenges to the higher education sector and at the same time opened the door for future opportunities. This review aims to present the experience of Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Medical University of Bahrain in managing teaching and learning during COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, the university implemented several initiatives in ensuring that final year students graduate on time and quality of assessment in a fully digitised environment. The guiding principle for the university as the examination were redesigned, was to ensure that they remained valid to ensure students could demonstrate achievements of the core learning outcomes and be safely assessed as competent graduates. In achieving these goals, the university has well-developed formal and informal mechanisms to ensure the student voice is heard and listened to, and it was of paramount importance to ensure that this was continued and enhanced during these times. While university was successful in managing this unprecedented situation, more work must be done on analysing the author's experience, and that of others, to implement the needed changes to ensure student access to learning, without compromising their safety or that of the staff. The university sees the current impetus to provide education through technology enhanced learning as an opportunity to expand and diversify learning opportunities and resources for students. In universities such as ours, which has only healthy subjects, practice become essential components of the programme, making a blended model of face-to-face and online delivery the ideal fit.

THE MODERNIZATION OF THE STREET VENDORS SERVICES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC-THE FOOD TRUCKS PHENOMENON

Since Covid-19 began to spread, street food vendors' activities have raised many issues. The lockdown of restaurants and coffees to control the pandemic in the cities appeared to be a vital response to the city's dramatic procedures. Therefore, the development of street food vending in the form of food trucks was one of these activities that responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and became a phenomenon during the lockdown period in Bahrain. Food trucks are scattered in many areas serving the community by providing food services. But the unplanned location of some food trucks negatively affects the quality of the city's open spaces causing problematic urban changes and producing traffic jams;moreover, it needs to consider the landscape architecture elements. Therefore, the study explains the term street food vendors and their hazards due to COVID-19 circumstances, followed by illustrating the regulation that manages food truck activities. Then it analyzes the risks resulting from some case studies. The study ends with presenting design guidelines to improve the criteria of the site location of the food truck activities. These guidelines will assist the municipalities in avoiding any possible negative impacts and the haphazard positions of these food trucks in cities. © 2023, Jomard Publishing. All rights reserved.

Primary Care Physicians' Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Bariatric Operations in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Background: Obesity is an epidemic treatable disease. In Bahrain, the prevalence of obesity was 36.2%. Bariatric surgery should be considered for patients with BMI >= 40, or >= 30 with obesity-related comorbidities. Family physicians have a key role in identifying and counseling patients who may qualify for bariatric surgery. The most common reason for physicians' refusal of referral for bariatric surgeries is fear of complications followed by concern of ineffective weight loss following the surgery. Doctors are not comfortable providing post bariatric operation care. Aim(s): To study the PCPs' knowledge, attitude and practice towards bariatric surgeries in the kingdom of Bahrain. Method(s): this is a cross-sectional study of a convenient sample of physicians working in the Kingdom of Bahrain health centers, using an electronic and manual questionnaire to test the knowledge, attitude and practice towards bariatric surgery. Result(s): The sample included a total of 222 participants. 56.1% agreed that the BMI >= 40 without weight related comorbidities is an indication for bariatric surgery and 92.3% of them referred patients for bariatric surgery, with BMI (88.6%) as the most influential factor followed by presence of comorbidities (87.8%). On the other hand, lack of resources was the main cause for not referring patient for bariatric surgery (29.4%) followed by concerns with follow up (23.5%). 80.6% are comfortable to initiate conversations with their patients about bariatric surgery, while 36.1% feel comfortable explaining the procedural options to a patient. 83.8% agreed that additional medical education in bariatric surgical care would be useful. Conclusion(s): Primary care physicians showed well knowledge about the referral criteria to bariatric surgeries and that's reflected by the high referral rate (92.3%). But there is a gap in the knowledge mean score across different age groups and experience. Less than half of the physicians are not comfortable dealing with patients. Continuous medical education is essential to address the gap and to establish comprehensive obesity management guidelines for primary care physicians.Copyright © 2023, Bahrain Medical Bulletin. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting admission to intensive care unit of COVID-19 patients in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Objective: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a newly emerging infectious disease that has become a global pandemic. This study aimed to identify the risk factors at presentation to predict intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. Materials & Methods: This retrospective observational study recruited 188 confirmed laboratory COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in Jidhafs Maternity Hospital (JMH) from 1st June to 5th July 2020. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to Explore risk factors associated with the increased risk of ICU admission. Results: The study revealed that older age (>60 years old) (16[38.1%], P=0.044), male gender (30 [40.0%], P=0.000) were significantly associated with the increased risk of ICU admissions. The most prevalent symptoms in admission were myalgia (13[40.6%], P=0.035), fever (39[34.2%], P=0.002) and cough (37[31.4%], P=0.032). In addition, raised serum level of alanine amino-transferase (ALAT) (34.7% vs. 20.7%, P=0.033), D-dimers (30.7% vs 12.2%, P=0.012), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (31.6% vs 0.0%, P=0.025) and ferritin (37.7% vs 16.7%, P=0.011) found to be important predictor of ICU admission. Conclusion: The finding indicates that older age, male gender, with increased alanine transferase (ALT), increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), high D-dimer and high ferritin was associated with an increased risk of ICU admissions. Identification of such factors will help to detect people who are more likely to develop severe COVID-19 disease and will help physicians to determine if patients need regular health care or ICU admission.

COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Networks Datasets

In this research paper, COVID-19 tracing data are utilized to form two dataset networks, one is based on the virus transition between the world countries, as the dataset consists of 36 countries and 75 relationships between them. Whereas the other dataset is an attributed network based on the virus transition among the contact tracing in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This type of networks that is concerned in tracking a disease or virus was not formed based on COVID-19 virus transmission. © 2023 IEEE.

Patients' satisfaction with teleconsultations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic led to the restructuring of traditional clinical activity;hence, globally, 58% of countries implemented the use of telemedicine to meet their healthcare needs. Background: To examine patients' satisfaction with telemedicine medical service and experience at the level of primary care in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 335 patients who used teleconsultations in January 2022 in primary care. A validated questionnaire was modified to assess patients' satisfaction with teleconsultation medical services and experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: A total of 315 responses were included in the final analysis (response rate 94%). Almost all expressed extreme satisfaction with the medical service as they were able to easily explain their medical problem over the phone and fully understood their illness after the consultation. They were also satisfied with the ability of the doctor to understand their problem, explain their treatment, and provide appropriate management over the phone. Over 90% were satisfied with the consultation time that it does not require transportation and would like to use it in the future. Sharing private or personal information over the phone received the lowest satisfaction rate (77.5%). Conclusion: The overall satisfaction expressed by respondents of this survey with the teleconsultation medical service and experience is very high. Such a result confirms that patients have a positive attitude towards telemedicine services in primary care and are willing to use it again and, therefore, must be adopted as a proactive strategy to ensure long-term sustainability.

The Impact of Online Banking Services on Customer Spending Behavior

This paper is aimed on examining and testing the effect of mobile banking services on customer spending behavior and the changes caused by this influence of the COVID-19 pandemic in The Kingdom of Bahrain. In this study, the online banking services is the independent variable, where customer spending behavior is the dependent variable, COVID-19 pandemic is the moderator variable of the study. The study is focused on examining and testing the impact of the online banking services toward the consumer spending and saving behavior on making decision either to buy or save. The data will be collected in a primary form where the questionnaire survey method will be adopted to gather responses from bank consumers in the Kingdom of Bahrain and will be analyzed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS) tool by using the built-in functions such as regression, mediation, scale, correlation, coefficient, significant, and moderation analysis. The results of the study will show the acceptance and rejection of the hypotheses of the study. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Renewable Energy and Governance Resilience in the Gulf

The six Gulf monarchies—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE)—are more politically stable than their peers in the Middle East and North Africa. Explanations for governance resilience range from repression to neopatrimonial and instrumental legitimacy, hydrocarbon-based rentierism, and permissive regional and international environments. This paper considers, in view of the proliferation and uptake of renewable energy in the Gulf, how governance resilience may be affected as a result of changes in state-society relations during the energy transition away from a fossil-fuel-based energy system. It offers a qualitative analysis of the impact of renewable energy deployment in the Gulf, supported by a rich array of secondary literature and data. It also offers a deep, if brief, dive to highlight intra-regional nuances. The authors conclude that in the short term, renewable energy deployment has a very modest impact given its limited share of power generation. In the longer term, even assuming that stated ambitions for renewable energy are fulfilled, no negative impact on monarchial resilience is expected thanks to gains in legitimacy and revenue streams, as well as purposeful alignment with an external environment supportive of renewable power in developing countries.

Has the acceleration of privatization become inevitable in Bahrain?

Bahrain remains the most vulnerable Gulf country due to its limited savings and sharp rise in debt levels, leaving it exposed to high financing risks. The financial crisis has been deepened by the economic double blow of the decline in oil prices and the effects resulting from the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Bahrain has decreased subsidies and increased taxes on many products. Those measures seem, however, insufficient to mitigate the negative impacts on the economy. This paper presents a model based on a comparison between fast privatization and gradual privatization strategies undertaken in some Bahraini economic sectors. It shows that the contribution of privatization to economic restructuring is only as effective as the commitment of the government to maintain a high pace of privatization. This condition can provide needed revenues, and can particularly foster private investments and initiatives. Therefore, it may represent an appropriate context to elevate Bahrain out of the present equilibrium characterized by slow privatization and government dominance on the economy.

Burnout, depression and associated risk factors among frontline healthcare workers in Bahrain during COVID-19

Background: Caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic has put frontline healthcare workers in Bahrain at risk of burnout and depression. Aims: To determine the prevalence of burnout, depression, and associated risk factors among frontline healthcare workers in Bahrain during the pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2020 to April 2021. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-HSS) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were administered online to 431 healthcare workers in COVID-19 treatment and quarantine facilities. Results: Almost all participants reported some degree of burnout across all three subscales: emotional exhaustion (98.8%), depersonalization (94%) and lack of personal achievement (47.9%). Moderate to severe levels of burnout were observed across the domains of emotional exhaustion (47.2%) and depersonalization (39.5%). Over half of the participants reported depressive symptoms (56.8%) and a quarter recorded moderate to severe levels of depression (20.6%). Statistically significant correlations were observed between burnout and depression. Conclusion: Frontline healthcare workers in Bahrain reported moderate to severe levels of burnout and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Single female doctors aged 25 to 34 years, who worked with COVID-19 patients, were more likely to report burnout. Age, nationality, profession, and work experience were the most significant determinants of burnout. Those who reported burnout also reported feeling depressed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Could COVID-19 improve psychiatric awareness at the heart of the Middle East? - A personal reflection on Bahrain's response.

This perspective offers a personal insight into COVID-19 in Bahrain along with the response to this unprecented pandemic. In a country where a robust health care system and economic prosperity have allowed it to cope with the medical sequelae, the mental health consequences may have been less anticipated but more problematic. An unforeseen positive emerging from the pandemic might be the nation's recognition of the importance of mental health well-being and a new openness to discussing it.

Decision Tree and Random Forest Models for Internal Audit Effectiveness Factors Evaluation

this paper investigates the impact of auditors' competency, independency, member's size, and digital transformation as factors that enhance the effectiveness of internal audit in Bahraini Context during and after Covid-19 outbreak. In this quantitative study, this paper used a survey questionnaire. The survey used to collect data for a sample of 50 respondents from both public and private organization in Bahrain to measure the study variables among auditors. Findings, there is a strong relationship between internal audit effectiveness and management support, digital transformation, and IA member's size. While independency, competency, and auditors' experience positively affect the internal audit effectiveness. The results of this paper will encourage decision makers of such organizations to focus on the issue of that enhance the effectiveness of internal audit after pandemic outbreaks and will strengthen the internal audit capacity of these organizations. This Paper offer academic contributions to existing research of internal audit effectiveness in developing context. The decision trees and Random Forest approaches used in this paper will allow future researchers to reclassify the factors that enhance the effectiveness of internal audit. © 2023 IEEE.

Exploring the tourism development strategies of Gulf Cooperation Council countries: commonalities, contrasts and clusters

PurposeThis study aims to examine the commonalities and contrasts in the tourism objectives and strategies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, thereby revealing the foundations and pillars underlying the strategic initiatives implemented.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study applied the resource-based view (RBV) lens to the country level. A comparative analysis of the tourism strategy in each GCC country was undertaken to determine commonalities and contrasts between the different strategies and to classify them into clusters. In the next stage, in-depth interviews were carried out to validate the findings.FindingsFour distinct clusters were identified in this paper: lifestyle glamor, emerging giant, sports-induced country branding and eco-friendly regional-based strategies.Practical implicationsThe findings and cluster classification are pertinent to policymakers and industry marketers in crafting tourism development plans.Originality/valueThis study analyzed the economic diversification strategies adopted by GCC countries as new entrants in the tourism sector and classified them into four clusters.

Hospitality managers in turbulent times: The COVID-19 crisis

Purpose: This study aims to explore the role General Managers (GMs) play in mitigating the effects of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative structured interviews conducted online with 50 hospitality GMs from 45 countries are used to explore the impact of the pandemic on the industry's operational norms and the role of managers in both managing the crisis and planning contingencies for recovery. Findings: The findings enhance the conceptual capital in this emerging field and provide insights on how GMs behave during crises. Four related sub-themes emerged from the data analysis, namely, contingency planning and crisis management, resilience and impact on GM roles, the impact on hotels' key functional areas and some GMs' suggestions for the future of luxury hospitality. Research limitations/implications: This study generates empirical data that inform contemporary debates about crisis management and resilience in hospitality organizations at a micro-level operational perspective. Practical implications: Findings suggest that, in times of uncertainty and crisis, luxury hotel GMs are vital in coping with changes and leading their organizations to recovery. GMs' resilience and renewed role and abilities enable them to adapt rapidly to external changes on their business environment. Originality/value: This study is unique in terms of scale and depth, as it provides useful insights regarding the GM's role during an unprecedented crisis such as COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)