Forecasting COVID-19 Pandemic using Prophet, LSTM, hybrid GRU-LSTM, CNN-LSTM, Bi-LSTM and Stacked-LSTM for India

The COVID-19 Pandemic has been around for four years and remains a health concern for everyone. Although things are somewhat returning to normal, increased incidence of COVID-19 cases in some regions of the world (such as China, Japan, France, South Korea, etc.) has bred worry and anxiety in world, including India. The scientific community, which includes governmental organizations and healthcare facilities, was eager to learn how the COVID-19 Pandemic would develop. The current work makes an attempt to address this question by employing cutting-edge machine learning and Deep Learning algorithms to anticipate the daily incidence of COVID-19 for India over the course of the next six months. For the purpose famous timeseries algorithms were implemented including LSTM, Bi-Directional LSTM and Stacked LSTM and Prophet. Owing to success of hybrid algorithms in specific problem domains- the present study also focuses on such algorithms like GRU-LSTM, CNN-LSTM and LSTM with Attention. All these models have been trained on timeseries dataset of COVID-19 for India and performance metrics are recorded. Of all the models, the simplistic algorithms have performed better than complex and hybrid ones. Owing to this best result was obtained with Prophet, Bidirectional LSTM and Vanilla LSTM. The forecast reveals flat nature of COVID-19 case load for India in future six months. . © 2023 IEEE.

Deep CNN and LSTM Architecture-Based Approach for COVID-19 Detection

The severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS-CoV2) led to a pandemic of respiratory disease, namely COVID19. The disease has scaled worldwide and has become a global health concern. Unfortunately, the pandemic not just cost several individuals their lives but also, resulted in many people losing their jobs and life savings. In times like these, ordinary people become fearful of their resources in a world that gives its best resources to the wealthiest beings. Following the pandemic, the world suffered greatly and survival was rather difficult. As a result, numerous analytical techniques were developed to address this issue, with the key one being the discovery that the efficacy of clinically tested vaccines is actually quite poor. When researchers and medical professionals were unable to find a cure, radiologists and engineers created techniques to detect infected chests with the help of X-rays. Our proposed solution involves a CNN + LSTM model which has secured an accuracy of 98% compared to 95% of the trusted VGG-16 architecture. Our model's area under the curve (AUC) scores reached 99.458% while using RMSprop. A crucial feature of image processing till depth is accessible through scanning features from the layers of images using CNN. Our model uses 5 convolution blocks to detect the features. The coordination of activator functions, learning rates, and flattening has enabled accurate in-point predictions. With merely X-rays, models like ours ensure that anyone can easily detect covid-19. The best results obtained were at a learning rate =0.01 with RMSprop and Adam functions. The model has good fortune in detecting any other lung disease which occurs in the near future, as our data collectively rounds up to 4.5 gigabytes of data providing higher precision. © 2023 IEEE.

Covid19 Disease Assessment Using CNN Architecture

Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as one of the world's most critical public health concerns. One of the biggest problems in the present COVID-19 outbreak is the difficulty of accurately separating COVID-19 cases from non-COVID-19 cases at an affordable price and in the initial stages. Besides the use of antigen Rapid Test Kit (RTK) and Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), chest x-rays (CXR) can also be used to identify COVID-19 patients. Unfortunately, manual checks may produce inaccurate results, delay treatment or even be fatal. Because of differences in perception and experience, the manual method can be chaotic and imprecise. Technology has progressed to the point where we can solve this problem by training a Deep Learning (DL) model to distinguish the normal and COVID-19 X-rays. In this work, we choose the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) as our DL model and train it using Kaggle datasets that include both COVID-19 and normal CXR data. The developed CNN model is then deployed on the website after going through a training and validation process. The website layout is straightforward to navigate. A CXR can be uploaded and a prediction made with minimal effort from the patient. The website assists in determining whether they have been exposed to COVID-19 or not. © 2023 IEEE.

Engineering in a Crisis: Observing Students' Perceptions of Macroethical Responsibilities during Pandemics and Natural Disasters

When the ethical responsibilities of engineers are discussed in classrooms, the focus is usually on microethics, which concentrates on individual decision-making, rather than macroethics, that addresses broad societal concerns. Pandemics (e.g., COVID-19) and natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, derechos) have presented unique opportunities to observe engineering macroethical responsibilities, because unjust social, economic, and environmental systems have been brought to the forefront amidst the responses (e.g., inequitable transportation access). In this paper, we consider pandemics and natural disasters through the lens of engineering macroethics, aiming to understand students' perceptions about the macroethical responsibilities of engineers. In the fall of 2020, we deployed a survey to undergraduate engineering students at two universities (n=424). Students were asked to discuss what they perceived to be the role of engineering professionals in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters. We used a qualitative content analysis to explore the macroethical responsibilities mentioned in students' responses. Many of these responses include considerations of infrastructure resilience, resource distribution, and community equity. Logit models were used to identify which sociodemographic factors were associated with responses that included macroethical responsibilities, revealing engineering major (specifically, civil engineering), employment status, gender identity, and family size, among others as significant factors. The implications from this study include recommendations on curricular content, and identifying which student sociodemographic groups would especially benefit from macroethical content in coursework. © 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.

The sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates of COVID-19 vaccine concerns among urban college students

COVID-19 vaccine concerns remain high among Americans. Although recent studies have investigated the sociodemographic disparities in vaccine concerns, less attention has been given to reasons for vaccine skepticism and psychosocial factors that may explain it. The current study examined specific types of vaccine concerns among a diverse sample of college students (N = 1985) living in New York City. Participants who identified as Black, younger, with later immigrant generational status, and those with more conservative political leanings reported more vaccine concerns. Concerns regarding vaccine side effects were the most frequently reported source of concern. Reason for getting vaccinated, personal experiences with COVID, and COVID stress was also associated with vaccine concerns. Study results emphasize the importance of sociodemographic factors and COVID knowledge and stress in examining and addressing vaccine concerns.

Less About Privacy: Revisiting a Survey about the German COVID-19 Contact Tracing App

The release of COVID-19 contact tracing apps was accompanied by a heated public debate with much focus on privacy concerns, e.g., possible government surveillance. Many papers studied people's intended behavior to research potential features and uptake of the apps. Studies in Germany conducted before the app's release, such as that by Häring et al., showed that privacy was an important factor in the intention to install the app. We conducted a follow-up study two months post-release to investigate the intention-behavior-gap, see how attitudes changed after the release, and capture reported behavior. Analyzing a quota sample (n=837) for Germany, we found that fewer participants mentioned privacy concerns post-release, whereas utility now plays a greater role. We provide further evidence that the results of intention-based studies should be handled with care when used for prediction purposes. © 2023 ACM.

UK Students' Concerns About Security and Privacy of Online Higher Education Digital Technologies in the Coronavirus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has led to major changes in higher education around the world. Higher education institutions (HEIs) moved to completely online learning and a range of new technologies including online videoconferencing and chat tools. Research has shown that users have privacy and security concerns about such tools, but little is known about the attitudes of HEI students to these issues, apart from reluctance to use webcams during online teaching. A survey of 71 UK HEI students explored attitudes and concerns about privacy and security in online teaching in the pandemic. Participants knew little about institutional policies on these issues and few had had any training. Ratings of concern across a range of issues were generally low, however in open-ended questions, a range of concerns such as being recorded without permission, unauthorised people entering and disrupting of online sessions, not knowing where recordings are stored and who has access to them. The main concerns about online teaching situations related to being monitored in examinations. HEIs moved very rapidly to deploy online technologies for teaching in response to the pandemic, but going forward, more transparency and information to students could alleviate many of these concerns and create better informed students. Copyright © 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Ethical and social insights into synthetic biology: predicting research fronts in the post-COVID-19 era.

As a revolutionary biological science and technology, synthetic biology has already spread its influence from natural sciences to humanities and social sciences by introducing biosafety, biosecurity, and ethical issues to society. The current study aims to elaborate the intellectual bases and research front of the synthetic biology field in the sphere of philosophy, ethics, and social sciences, with knowledge mapping and bibliometric methods. The literature records from the Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index in the Web of Science Core Collection from 1982 to 2021 were collected and analyzed to illustrate the intellectual structure of philosophical, ethical, and social research of synthetic biology. This study profiled the hotspots of research focus on its governance, philosophical and ethical concerns, and relevant technologies. This study offers clues and enlightenment for the stakeholders and researchers to follow the progress of this emerging discipline and technology and to understand the cutting-edge ideas and future form of this field, which takes on greater significance in the post-COVID-19 era.

Associations between social COVID-19 exposure and psychological functioning.

The negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health have been widely reported, but less is known about how the impact of COVID-19 on others in one's social circle shapes these high distress levels. This study examines associations between social COVID-19 exposure-knowing someone who had a COVID-19 infection-and psychological functioning, as well as whether socio-demographic factors moderate these relationships. In June 2020, respondents (N = 343) from clinics in Tampa, Florida, U.S.A. reported whether they had social COVID-19 exposure, anxiety, depression, and stress, and other COVID-19-related concerns. Social COVID-19 exposure was associated with increased anxiety, stress, and concerns about a family member getting sick, and concerns about drinking and substance use. Several associations between exposure and psychological functioning were stronger in women, younger people, and people with lower income, implying these groups face elevated psychological risks due to the pandemic, and should be prioritized in mental health recovery efforts.

Coronavirus-Related Searches on the Internet Predict COVID-19 Vaccination Rates in the Real World: A Behavioral Immune System Perspective.

According to the smoke detector and functional flexibility principles of human behavioral immune system (BIS), the exposure to COVID-19 cues could motivate vaccine uptake. Using the tool of Google Trends, we tested that coronavirus-related searches-which assessed natural exposure to COVID-19 cues-would positively predict actual vaccination rates. As expected, coronavirus-related searches positively and significantly predicted vaccination rates in the United States (Study 1a) and across the globe (Study 2a) after accounting for a range of covariates. The stationary time series analyses with covariates and autocorrelation structure of the dependent variable confirmed that more coronavirus-related searches compared with last week indicated increases in vaccination rates compared with last week in the United States (Study 1b) and across the globe (Study 2b). With real-time web search data, psychological scientists could test their research questions in real-life settings and at a large scale to expand the ecological validity and generalizability of the findings.

Acceptance of and Concerns about Covid-19 Vaccination among Parents: A Cross-sectional Survey in Ras Al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Covid-19 has impacted the health and well-being of children worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate parental acceptance of and concerns about vaccinating their children against Covid-19 in Ras Al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The study adopted a cross-sectional design. Parental acceptance of and concerns about vaccinating their children were collected using a structured questionnaire. A total of 366 parents were selected, using purposive sampling from the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, during the period of November 2021 to February 2022. Of all, 5.3% (56) of the parents expressed a high level of concern regarding vaccinating their children against Covid-19, while 80.6% (295) expressed a medium level and 4.1% (15) a low level of concern. Parental acceptance was found to be medium and high among 71% (260) and 8.8% (69) of the parents respectively, as opposed to 10.1% (37) who were reluctant (low) to do so. The most important concerns for the low acceptance of Covid-19 vaccination were safety, side effects and effectiveness of the vaccination. The study reveals the need to initiate more targeted interventions to improve the acceptability of vaccines and the acceptance of the parents in order to alleviate the concerns of parents about vaccinating their children against Covid-19.

An investigation into the use of smart home devices, user preferences, and impact during COVID-19.

With the goal of designing smart environments that can support users' physical/mental well-being, we studied users' experiences and different factors that can influence success of smart home devices through an online study conducted during and after the COVID-19 restrictions in June 2021 (109 participants) and March 2022 (81 participants). We investigated what motivates users to buy smart home devices, and if smart home devices may have the potential to improve different aspects of users' well-being. As COVID-19 emphasized a situation where people spent a significant amount of time at home in Canada, we also asked if/how COVID-19 motivated purchase of smart-home devices and how these devices affected participants during the pandemic. Our results provide insights into different aspects that may motivate the purchase of smart home devices and users' concerns. The results also suggest that there may be correlations between the use of specific types of devices and psychological well-being.

Healthcare adjustments and concerns: a qualitative study exploring the perspectives of healthcare providers and administrative staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Healthcare systems have modified their strategies to manage their staff, supplies, and space to deal systematically with the COVID-19 pandemic. This research aimed to explore the nature of hospital adjustments and the concerns of healthcare providers and administrative staff working in Governmental and private hospitals throughout the Qassim Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) during the pandemic. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological study using semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 75 purposively selected healthcare providers and administrative staff working at three main hospitals in the Qassim Region, KSA. The maximum variation sampling technique was utilized. Recruitment of participants was continued until data saturation was reached. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. Results: Four core themes were identified in this paper: (1) changes in hospital policy and procedures, (2) workforce management, (3) the well-being of the workforce, and (4) apprehensions and expectations of the workforce. The participants showed satisfaction with timely administrative decisions and new policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the psychological health of healthcare professionals was affected more than their physical state. Finally, the providers perceived the emergence of multiple concerns in the coming months. Conclusion: Although healthcare providers were initially overwhelmed, they gradually accepted new administrative policies. Numerous innovative interventions effectively reduced their physical workload and increased their productivity, but they remained significantly affected by a wide range of psychological disorders, with a high prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder. There were some concerns about the new SARS-CoV-2 variant, but the majority were optimistic.

The role of traditional aspects, health consciousness and environmental concerns in Italian agri-food consumption during Covid-19

PurposeThe study investigates how consumers' food purchasing habits changed during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy. The research aims to understand if traditional aspects, health consciousness and environmental concerns have influenced and changed the purchases of food products post-pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed a theoretical model to understand whether health consciousness, traditional aspects and environmental concerns affect consumers' purchasing intention. The study collects secondary data to analyse state of the art and investigate consumer behaviour in the agri-food system after the pandemic. Thereafter, a survey was conducted via a convenience random sampling procedure. The data (n = 622) were analysed using the formulated research framework and tested through the structural equation modelling procedure.FindingsThe findings reveal that health consciousness and traditional aspects (culinary traditions, ingredients usage from one's territory of origin, products' origin attention) are among the main reasons for purchasing agri-food goods after the pandemic. Instead, environmental concerns negatively affect consumers' purchase intentions.Originality/valueThe study identifies which aspects influenced consumers' purchasing intentions after the Covid-19 pandemic. It also provides insights for food companies and policymakers on the factors to be improved to optimize the agri-food sector following a sustainable perspective and in order to develop effective business strategies.

The social representation and social action effect of critical issues: autonomic system and self-report measures

By combining words and images that impact emotions and generate empathetic storytelling, advertising (ADV) has evolved into a form of communication for promoting consumer awareness, positive social change, and ADV-related decisional processes, even on topics of high-social relevance such as crisis communication. This study explored consumers' emotional and cognitive responses to crisis-related ADVs using implicit (autonomic) and explicit (self-report) measurements. Nineteen participants watched twelve high-impact social communications about Covid-19, personal health, safety, and prosociality, while autonomic and self-report data were collected. Personal health, safety, and prosociality had higher skin conductance than Covid-19 stimuli, indicating higher arousal and engagement. Personal health reported lower heart rate variability values than Covid-19, suggesting greater emotional reactions for personal health topics, but also lesser mental load for Covid-19 stimuli. Self-report results confirmed autonomic findings. In conclusion, communications about personal health, safety, and prosociality generate higher emotional impact and allow for effective storytelling that facilitates viewer identification, developing a high level of empathy.

How Mass surveillance Crowds Out Installations of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Applications

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have developed contact tracing technologies to curb the spread of the disease by locating and isolating people who have been in contact with coronavirus carriers. Subsequently, understanding why people install and use contact tracing applications is becoming central to their effectiveness and impact. However, involuntary systems can crowd out the use of voluntary applications when several contact tracing initiatives are employed simultaneously. To investigate this hypothesis, we analyze the concurrent deployment of two contact tracing technologies in Israel: centralized mass surveillance technologies and a voluntary contact tracing mobile app. Based on a representative survey of Israelis (n=519), our findings show that positive attitudes toward mass surveillance were related to a reduced likelihood of installing contact tracing apps and an increased likelihood of uninstalling them. These results also hold when controlling for privacy concerns, attitudes toward the app, trust in authorities, and demographic properties. We conclude the paper by suggesting a broader framework for analyzing crowding out effects in ecosystems that combine involuntary surveillance and voluntary participation. © 2023 ACM.

HEALTH-RELATED ANXIETY, GENERALIZED ANXIETY, OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE TENDENCIES, AND COVID-19 ANXIETY AMONG VACCINATED AND NON-VACCINATED ADULTS DURING PANDEMIC

The objectives of the present study were two-folded: first, to examine the predictive association of health-related anxiety with generalized anxiety, obsessive compulsive tendencies and COVID-19 anxiety;second, to examine the differences between vaccinated and non-vaccinated adults on health-related anxiety, generalized anxiety, obsessive compulsive tendencies and COVID-19 anxiety. A purposive sample of 350 adults falling between ages of 25-55 years (Mage = 21.58, SD= 2.45) were administered Health Anxiety Inventory, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorders Scale and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale. Results of linear regression analysis reveal health-related anxiety as significant predictor of generalized anxiety, obsessive compulsive tendencies and COVID-19 anxiety. Further, independent t-test reveals that vaccinated adults scored significantly lower than non-vaccinated adults on health-related anxiety, obsessive compulsive tendencies, generalized anxiety and COVID anxiety. The implications and future directions are proposed.

Higher Education Leadership and the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study reports Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) leaders' response to COVID-19, issues that concern them during online education, and future actions based on their experience in Spring 2020. One hundred forty leaders from different HEIs in the Sultanate of Oman participated in an online survey. Leaders reported that protecting staff and students' health, maintaining academic integrity in online assessment, and achieving high-quality online teaching and learning were at the top of their concerns. Leaders believed in the importance of online education;therefore, they are ready to invest more in it by providing better resources, enhancing the instructional technology infrastructure, providing more training for the faculty, and investing in new online learning resources. Furthermore, the results revealed that leaders from the private HEIs would plan to reduce the financial effects of the pandemic more than their counterparts by cutting the workforce, reducing salary, applying for institutional loans, and requesting additional support from the government. © Common Ground Research Networks, Azzah Al-Maskari, Thuraya Al-Riyami, Habiba Al-Mughairi, Siraj Kunjumuhammed, All Rights Reserved.

Distress and pychosocial concers during the third wave of the pandemic among oncological patients and family caregivers: an exploratory analisis.

Aim. Describe the psychological distress and the psychosocial concerns during the third wave of the pandemic in oncological patients and family caregivers and analyze the evolution of these variables in cancer patients taking as references April and December of 2020. Method. The researchers developed a self-administered questionnaire. It was composed by items developed ad hoc to assess sociodemographic characteristics and social concerns and the Kessler K-6 scale to measure psychological distress. Results. The proportion of oncological patients and family caregivers who showed clinical levels of distress was higher than that the ones of non-oncological population during December 2020. Clinical distress was higher in oncological patients during the December 2020, compared to April levels. This increase was especially significant among women and younger patients in both assessment moments. The main social concerns at the third wave for oncological patients and family caregivers were: the fear of contracting COVID-19, restlessness and fear of the future, suspension of the social contacts, the absence of face-to-face contact and inactivity in the streets and shops. Conclusions. The results of this study highlight the need to provide the proper care to oncological patients and family caregivers due to the presence of socio-emotional needs, and to develop strategies that allow them to be covered from psychological impact of COVID-19.Copyright © 2023, Universidad Compultense Madrid. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 Pandemic Responses among National Guard Service Members: Stressors, Coping Strategies, Sleep Difficultiesand Substance Use.

The National Guard (NG) served as a critical component of the US COVID-19 response while concurrently managing personal COVID-19 responses. Understanding pandemic-related concerns, sleep difficulties, increased substance use, and stress management strategies can promote readiness for subsequent disasters. We surveyed 3221 NG service members (75% Army; 79% enlisted; 52% 30-49 years; 81% male) during COVID-19 (August-November 2020). Almost half were activated in response to COVID-19 (mean = 18.6 weeks) and completed the survey 2-3 months post-activation. Service members indicated great concern about family health (39%), the indefinite nature of the pandemic (35%), and their financial situation (23%). Over one-third reported changes in usual sleep amount, 33% described poor sleep quality, and 21% had trouble falling/staying asleep. Increased substance use was reported by 30%, including increased alcohol (13.5%), tobacco (9%), and caffeine/energy drinks (20.1%) consumption. Chi-square analyses and analyses of variance found those who activated reported more increased tobacco and caffeine/energy drink use versus non-activated, with no sleep difficulties nor alcohol use differences. Helpful stress management strategies included spending time outdoors (53%), exercising (48%), talking to family/friends (38%), and having a daily routine (38%). Specific health-, financial-, and job-related stressors were associated with COVID-19. Incorporating stress management in planning/preventive efforts promotes resilience during disasters.