The Reduction of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Concentration in the Presence of Sewer Biofilms

Wastewater surveillance has been widely used to track the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in communities. Although some studies have investigated the decay of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, understanding about its fate during wastewater transport in real sewers is still limited. This study aims to assess the impact of sewer biofilms on the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration in naturally contaminated real wastewater (raw influent wastewater without extra SARS-CoV-2 virus/gene seeding) using a simulated laboratory-scale sewer system. The results indicated that, with the sewer biofilms, a 90% concentration reduction of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA was observed within 2 h both in wastewater of gravity (GS, gravity-driven sewers) and rising main (RM, pressurized sewers) sewer reactors. In contrast, the 90% reduction time was 8–26 h in control reactors without biofilms. The concentration reduction of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was significantly more in the presence of sewer biofilms. In addition, an accumulation of c.a. 260 and 110 genome copies/cm2 of the SARS-CoV-2 E gene was observed in the sewer biofilm samples from RM and GS reactors within 12 h, respectively. These results confirmed that the in-sewer concentration reduction of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was likely caused by the partition to sewer biofilms. The need to investigate the in-sewer dynamic of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, such as the variation of RNA concentration in influent wastewater caused by biofilm attachment and detachment, was highlighted by the significantly enhanced reduction rate of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater of sewer biofilm reactors and the accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewer biofilms. Further research should be conducted to investigate the in-sewer transportation of SARS-CoV-2 and their RNA and evaluate the role of sewer biofilms in leading to underestimates of COVID-19 prevalence in communities.

Vaccine Rate Coverage Forecast in Brazil: Is It Possible to Keep Polio Eradicated?

Objectives: Brazil's annual vaccination coverage rate (AVCR) for Polio has risen to alarming levels in recent years. Given the imminent possibility of the return of the disease eradicated 32 years ago in Brazil, the objective was to assess the historical data of AVCR and foresee the Brazilian performance in the next five years. Method(s): We apply a classic linear forecasting model Holt Winter (HW), composed of a forecasting equation and three corresponding smoothing equations alpha, beta, and gamma. The Polio AVCR between 1994 and 2022 was collected from the National Immunization Program and was evaluated in two stages using the R software involving (i) analysis of data, (ii) application of the HW using least squares adjustment. Result(s): The AVCR showed a growing trend between 1994 (38%) and 1999 (86%). From 2000 to 2015, the average AVCR was 78.72%, with the best coverage in 2015 (95.07%). Between 2016 and 2022, the AVCR was 66.75%, with a tendency to reduce over time. Between 2020 and 2022, AVCR had its lower result (64.44%), which can be explained by the postponement of Polio vaccination due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The best adjustment of smoothing alpha, beta and gamma was achieved (0.67, 0, 0) by HW. The forecast showed positive results in the average AVCR, with a growth of 16.71% in the next five years and with an AVCR projection of just 75.89%, in the case of no public health action is endowed by the country. To reach the best AVCR achieved in 2015, it is necessary to expand it by 48.5%. Conclusion(s): Forecasts using HW are recommended for public health monitoring, helping managers make decisions with limited resources. The results indicate that it is necessary to develop a strategic plan to expand AVCR to keep Polio eradicated from Brazil, mainly due to both disease gravity and treatment unavailability.Copyright © 2023

EXITitis in the UK: Gravity Estimates in the Aftermath of Brexit.

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union has had disruptive effects on international trade. As part of its 'Global Britain' strategy in the wake of Brexit, the UK is pursuing a series of Free Trade Agreements with countries around the world, including Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and possibly the United States. Closer to home, the UK is under mounting pressure to dissuade Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales from seeking independence to regain the severed ties with the EU. We analyze the economic consequences of these scenarios with a state-of-the-art structural gravity model for major economies around the world. We find that 'Global Britain' yields insufficient trade creation to compensate for Brexit-induced trade losses. Our results also reveal that secession from the UK in itself would inflict greater post-Brexit economic harm on the devolved nations of Great Britain. Nevertheless, these effects could be offset when secession from the UK is combined with regained EU membership.

The role of heritage sites and other influential factors in domestic tourism inflow to Australian states: a gravity model approach

Domestic tourism plays a crucial role in the Australian economy, generating revenue, creating employment opportunities, fostering cultural identity, and facilitating tourism growth and development. The remote regions of Australia are particularly reliant on domestic inbound tourism to stimulate their local economies. This study investigates the influence of heritage sites and various factors on domestic tourism inflows to eight states in the Australia between 1998-2021. The gravity method and random effect model are employed for the empirical analysis. The results indicate that the macro determinants, including population of origin state, gross state product per capita, infrastructural development, shared border between states, and the number of heritage sites, have significant and positive impact on domestic tourism inflow. Conversely, the consumer price index, distance, and pandemic outbreak have a negative influence on domestic tourism inflow. These findings hold important practical implications. Given Australia's geographical remoteness, promoting domestic tourism becomes imperative to boost the tourism industry and local economies. Therefore, it is recommended that authorities prioritize domestic tourism flows and invest in infrastructure, preserve heritage sites, stabilize prices, implement effective marketing strategies, and respond swiftly to public emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 shock and services trade decline: potential for digitalization matters

Global services trade declined by 20% during 2020 with significant heterogeneity across countries, geographical regions and sectors. We present stylized facts and provide hypotheses and empirical analysis seeking to explain this heterogeneity. The decline is found to be correlated with COVID-19 case and mortality rates;stringency of imposed lockdowns;the decline in merchandise trade;and with different ways of transacting services trade. The latter depends on the sectoral composition of services trade across countries, which in turn emanates from more fundamental determinants of comparative advantage in services, generating testable hypotheses to explain the observed heterogeneity in services trade decline. Focusing on attributes of digitalization and the role of value-chains, we find that human-capital-intensive countries with favourable digital-trade policies and greater ability to leverage ICT infrastructure were associated with relatively smaller declines. Moreover, the expected role of GVC-integration in accentuating the services trade decline finds little support in empirical results across sectors providing evidence instead for the GVC-resilience narrative. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Gravity Settling of Particles and Ventilation Characteristics by Natural Ventilation Method

It has been suggested that COVID-19 causes airborne infection by fine particles called droplet nuclei and reducing the risk of indoor infection by ventilation is attracting attention as an infection control measure. However, the characteristics of fine particles are not considered in indoor ventilation plans, and the behavior and removal effect of particles by ventilation have not been sufficiently clarified. Therefore, in this study, numerical analysis using a single aperture model is performed under various conditions to evaluate how indoor concentration trends and ventilation rates are affected by these factors in order to properly evaluate the outflow characteristics of chemical species and particulate matter due to ventilation. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

THE EFFICIENCY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE LOGISTICS GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN ACTIVITIES TO VIETNAM EXPORTATION: AN EMPIRICAL CASE STUDY

Purpose: This research paper aims to determine the factors affecting the efficiency and logistics performance index (LPI) of Vietnam's exports to foreign partners during 2018-2022 are due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Theoretical Framework: Based on the primary factors affecting the efficiency and performance of global supply chain activities in logistics for Vietnam's exports, including practical impact and logistics results of enterprises in Vietnam. Based on the primary factors affecting the efficiency and performance of global supply chain activities in logistics for Vietnam's exports, including (1). Customs efficiency (speed, simplicity and predictability of customs clearance procedures) (2). Quality of infrastructure related to trade and transport, including Roads, railways, ports, airports, warehouses and information technology ...(3). The level of ease when arranging to transport import and export goods with competitive prices (costs such as warehousing fees, port fees, tolls ...) (4). Capacity and quality of logistics service providers ... (5). Ability to track and trace shipments. (6). Timeliness of the shipment to the destination within the specified time limit. The practical impact and logistics results of enterprises in Vietnam. Method: The panel approach allows the authors to explore the heterogeneity in data across countries. Fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) models were used to estimate the model. Then, the Hausman test is carried out to decide which model is appropriate. The data were collected from 240 observations from Vietnam and 80 major export partner countries of Vietnam. Findings: The research results show that the cost, time and capacity of providing logistics services have the most significant impact on Vietnam's exports. Practical & social implications: Overall, to increase the efficiency and logistics efficiency of enterprises. The Vietnamese Government needs to cooperate and propose ideas to partner countries to improve logistics activities for exports from Vietnam. Logistics is beginning to play an increasingly important role in the competitiveness of economies. Originality values: This study also confirms the sustainability of the extended gravity model using OLS and RE methods by substituting different variables for the country's logistics efficiency and solving the endogenous problem in the model while applying the regression method to industrial variables. We find that an 1% improvement in Vietnam's logistics would increase Vietnam's exports by 1.443%, and an 1% improvement in a partner country's performance would help promote Vietnam's exports to this country by 0.546%. © 2023 Seventh Sense Research Group®

The Role of Mobility in the Dynamics of the COVID-19 Epidemic in Andalusia.

Metapopulation models have been a popular tool for the study of epidemic spread over a network of highly populated nodes (cities, provinces, countries) and have been extensively used in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the present work, we revisit such a model, bearing a particular case example in mind, namely that of the region of Andalusia in Spain during the period of the summer-fall of 2020 (i.e., between the first and second pandemic waves). Our aim is to consider the possibility of incorporation of mobility across the province nodes focusing on mobile-phone time-dependent data, but also discussing the comparison for our case example with a gravity model, as well as with the dynamics in the absence of mobility. Our main finding is that mobility is key toward a quantitative understanding of the emergence of the second wave of the pandemic and that the most accurate way to capture it involves dynamic (rather than static) inclusion of time-dependent mobility matrices based on cell-phone data. Alternatives bearing no mobility are unable to capture the trends revealed by the data in the context of the metapopulation model considered herein.

The Impact of Foreign Trade on International Equity Investments During Global Financial Crisis and Great Lockdown Period

Countries more invest to their close trade partners and this relationship between trade and financial investments differs during the global crisis processes. This study analyzes the effect of commodity trade on bilateral equity investments and how this effect changed in the context of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the Great Lockdown with the gravity model. The gravity model has been estimated with the instrumental variable method to avoid the endogeneity between two flows. The results show that trade reduces equity investment. While this relationship did not change in the 2008 crisis, it is seen that the import increased the equity investments in the Covid-19 crisis.

The Gravity Model of Indonesian Tourism Trade and Investment

This study aimed to determine the performance of tourism investment and trade in Indonesia following the outbreak of COVID-19 and other economic and non-economic factors. Goods and services for Indonesian tourism from 8 sample countries over 26 years were examined using a tourism economy approach and a gravity panel model of the flow of investment and trade. Regarding research originality, the model developed is constructing tourism economic theory applying the Keynesian method. The results showed that economic factors, such as GDP per capita, interest rates, exchange rates, prices, and economic distance, and non-economic factors, such as population, travel alerts, and pandemics, significantly affect investment flows and the tourism trade. Furthermore, tourism competitiveness increased globally in 2019. However, potential economic leakage in FDI and trade were identified. As a result, the government must emphasize long-term and efficient investment and trade in the tourism sector, particularly in the context of systemic shocks such as a pandemic.

Study on the Spatial Evolution of China's Pulp and Paper Product Import Trade and Its Influencing Factors

The purpose of this research is to study the changes in the market structure of China's pulp and paper product imports. In particular, the import trade environment and market layout of Chinese pulp and paper products have changed under the international context of the coronavirus pandemic and the Sino-US trade dispute and the domestic policy context of zero imports of Chinese waste paper. This study attempts to fill the gap regarding the influencing factors of market structure, while contributing new ideas on China's trade in pulp and paper products. Based on pulp and paper product import and export trade data from 2005 to 2021, a trade gravity model was used to explore the changes in the share of China's trade partners for pulp and paper product imports and their influencing factors. The results indicated that the outbreak of COVID-19 led to a significant increase in China's imports of packaging paper products, bringing about an increase in Indonesia's status as a partner in China's pulp and paper product trade. The US-China trade dispute had an impact on pulp and paper product trade between the two countries, with China's tax countermeasures causing the US to lose its status as a trading partner in China for pulp and paper product imports. The center of gravity for paper product imports has moved from the US and Japan to Indonesia and Russia. The restrictions on waste paper imports have shifted the focus of China's paper raw material imports, with the US no longer being the main importer of China's paper raw materials. Specifically, the main importers of wood pulp are Brazil and Chile, while the main importers of waste paper pulp are Thailand and Malaysia. In the future, China needs to continuously strengthen dialogue with the United States to resolve trade disputes and create a favorable environment for trade in pulp and paper products. At the same time, China's paper enterprises should strengthen the expansion of the Southeast Asian market and reduce dependence on the US market, and China should continue to improve the waste paper recycling system and improve the utilization rate of domestic waste paper.

Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on adult patients with congenital heart disease

Background: COVID-19 is responsible for a worldwide pandemic, causing more than 18,000 deaths to date in Portugal. Data already exists regarding the increased risk of adverse events in patients with cardiovascular diseases, however the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients (P) with congenital heart disease (CHD) is still under investigation. Purpose(s): To study the impact of COVID-19 in a adult patients with CHD Methods: Adult patients seen at the CHD outpatient's clinic at a tertiary centre, who became infected with SARS-CoV-2 infection up to December 2021 were included. Assessment of patients' symptoms, need for hospitalization and admission in an intensive care unit was assessed based on medical records. Result(s): We identified seventy-nine patients (pts) with COVID-19 infection. Symptoms were present in 67 (84%). The median age was 44 (15) years, 52% were females. Eight P (10%) had complex cyanotic disease;seven Tetralogy of Fallot;five (6%) transposition of great arteries;eight (10%) right ventricle obstacle;two (3%) atrioventricular canal defect;sixteen (20%) atrial septal defect;nine (11%) ventricular septal defect;eight (10%) aortic coarctation;two (3%) had Eisenmenger syndrome. 49% of P had previous surgery or percutaneous procedure. 63% of P were at New York Heart Association (NYHA) class of I and 30% at NYHA II. Mild symptoms were reported by 56 P (71%). Ten adults (7,9%) experienced moderate symptoms (dyspnea and hypoxia) that led to hospitalization for oxygen therapy, none required mechanical ventilation. One death was reported in an 83-year-old patient with non-corrected interventricular communication and compromised biventricular function. There was a significant association between the gravity of CHD and hospitalizations (p=0.02). Conclusion(s): Our pts had mainly mild to moderate symptoms and did not appear to have a disproportionately negative outcome;the need for hospitalization was more frequent in patients with higher CHD gravity. These findings are in line with the emerging data regarding COVID-19 in CHD P, and may be in part explained by the patient's young age and functional status.

Development of Trade and Financial-Economical Relationships between China and Russia: A Study Based on the Trade Gravity Model

This article empirically assessed new opportunities and provides a conceptual justification for promising areas of trade and financial and economic relations between China and Russia amidst ongoing global turbulence, the post-COVID situation, and sanctions pressure. The study utilized the trade gravity model, taking into account the latest trends in the development of the research subject and object, as well as current challenges and trends in the global economy. The study revealed similarities between the political systems, reforms, and policies of China and Russia, with centralized power structures overlapping and supporting each other at international forums such as the UNSC. The findings suggest that both countries plan to increase trade volume in the next two years, with China focusing more on trade and economic development, while Russia works to promote security and political stability. This study provides valuable insights into the economic relationship between Russia and China, its impact on the US and Europe, and highlights the need for effective policy interventions to address the challenges posed by this relationship. It offers significant theoretical and practical contributions, including the potential to unlock the potential of national economies, increase their competitiveness and help states enter a phase of advanced and sustainable development. This article provides several policy recommendations to ensure the long-term sustainability of the economic relationship between Russia and China and foster mutual understanding and trust between their peoples. These include promoting trade diversification, enhancing financial cooperation, addressing trade barriers, strengthening political and security coordination, mitigating negative impacts on other countries, promoting sustainable development, and fostering people-to-people exchanges. © 2023 by the authors.

Idiopathic anomalous congenital band causing small intestinal obstruction in a 5-month-old dog

A 5-month-old, intact male, yellow Labrador retriever was presented with a 24-hour history of anorexia and vomiting. Abdominal imaging revealed the presence of a mechanical obstruction in the jejunum and peritoneal effusion. Cytologic evaluation and culture of the effusion prior to surgery identified a suppurative exudate with bacteria consistent with septic peritonitis and suspected to be related to the intestinal lesion. An exploratory laparotomy was performed, and a segment of jejunum was circumferentially severely constricted by an off-white, fibrous band of tissue. Resection and anastomosis of the strangulated segment of jejunum and excision of the constricting band provided resolution of the clinical signs. The dog made a complete recovery. Histologic evaluation revealed the band to be composed of fibrovascular and smooth muscle tissue, consistent with an idiopathic anomalous congenital band. No other gastrointestinal lesions were observed, either grossly at surgery or histologically in the resected segment of intestine. To our knowledge, a similar structure has not been reported in the veterinary literature.Copyright © 2022 Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. All rights reserved.

Thromboembolic complications induced by COVID-19 vaccines

Background: The majority of adverse reactions (ARs) induced by COVID-19 vaccines were considered as mild-to- moderate reactogenicity events. but, despite the well proven efficacy and the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, some serious adverse have been emerging including neurological and thromboembolic complications (TEC) that are rare but life-threatening Method: we had included all patients with thromboembolic complications following COVID-19 vaccines notified the department of pharmacovigilance of the university hospital of Monastir Results: From total of 339 ADRs related to COVID-19 vaccination, 8 patients had TEC (two females and 6 males with median age of 68 years (31 -82 and)). The most common thromboembolic adverse events were ischemic cerebral stroke (62.5%) and deep vein thrombosis (37.5%). Medium time to the onset of TEC was 13.3 days (1-30 days). TEC were associated with the first dose of vaccine. Related vaccines with TEC were COMIRNATY (Pfizer/BioNTech) in 6 cases and Vaxzevria (Oxford/ AstraZeneca) in 2 cases. All patients were hospitalised. Seven patients had recovered with two of them having motor deficit sequelae while one patient had a fatal evolution. Vaccine's imputability was probable in four cases taking into consideration the clear temporal relationship between their administration and the onset of symptoms and the exclusion of other alternative causes after exhaustive investigations. However, three patients had predisposing factors for thrombosis and the imputability of the vaccines were uncertain. Since the gravity of these ARs, the second dose of the related vaccine was contraindicated. An inactivated COVID-19 vaccine were recommended as an alternative to the second dose of vaccination. Conclusion(s): In literature, reports of TEC had been increasingly described with mRNA and adenoviral vaccines with unproven causality. Vaccine's benefits outweigh the risk of any adverse complications associated with its use. As causal association is still controversial, further study is, however, necessary to better prove it.

Model of International Tourism Demand in Indonesia During the Covid-19: Gravity Model Approach

This study examines the factors influencing tourism demand during the Covid-19 pandemic for foreign tourists in Indonesia by employing a Gravity model. This study used panel data analysis of the random effects model (REM) on Indonesia's top nine source countries of foreign tourists from 2007 to 2021. The study results show that the GDP per capita of origin countries, "Wonderful Indonesia" nation branding, and the policy of developing ten priority tourism destinations (10 new Balis) variables positively and significantly impacted the number of foreign tourists arrivals in Indonesia. On the other hand, the variables of distance, relative price, and Covid-19 negatively and significantly affected the number of foreign tourist visits in Indonesia. Therefore, the government is expected to improve cooperation in expanding international flight routes to increase the number of tourists from various countries, improve tourism facilities, continuously strive to build a positive image of the country through a nation branding strategy, and have a blueprint of policy strategy for Indonesia's tourism to deal with crisis conditions © 2022, e-Review of Tourism Research.All Rights Reserved.

COVID-19 impact on tourism inflow in selected Asia-Pacific countries: a gravity model framework

Purpose: The main objective of this paper is to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism flows of eight Asia-Pacific Countries: Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Design/methodology/approach: Using monthly data from 2019M1 to 2021M10 and 48 origin and eight destination countries in a panel Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) estimation technique and gravity equation framework, this paper finds that after controlling for gravity determinants, COVID-19 periods have a 0.689% lower tourism inflow than in non-COVID-19 periods. The total observations in this paper are 12,138. Findings: A 1% increase in COVID-19 transmission in the origin country leads to a 0.037% decline in tourism flow in the destination country, while the reduction is just 0.011% from the destination. On the mortality side, the corresponding decline in tourism flows from origin countries is 0.030%, whereas it is 0.038% from destination countries. A 1% increase in vaccine intensity in the destination country leads to a 0.10% improvement in tourism flows, whereas vaccinations at the source have no statistically significant effect. The results are also robust at a 1% level in a pooled OLS and random-effects specification for the same model. Research limitations/implications: The findings provide insights into managing tourism flows concerning transmission, death and vaccination coverage in destination and origin countries. Practical implications: The COVID-19-induced tourism decline may also be considered another channel through which the global recession has been aggravated. If we convert this decline in terms of loss of GDP, the global figure will be huge, and airline industries will have to cut down many service products for a long time to recover from the COVID-19-induced tourism decline. Social implications: It is to be realized by the policymaker and politicians that infectious diseases have no national boundary, and the problem is not local or national. That's why it is to be faced globally with cooperation from all the countries. Originality/value: This is the first paper to address tourism disruption due to COVID-19 in eight Asia-Pacific countries using a gravity model framework. Highlights: Asia-Pacific countries are traditionally globalized through tourism channels This pattern was severely affected by COVID-19 transmission and mortality and improved through vaccination The gravity model can be used to quantify the loss in the tourism sector due to COVID-19 shocks Transmission and mortality should be controlled both at the origin and the destination countries Vaccinations in destination countries significantly raise tourism flows. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

An anatomy of the impact of COVID-19 on the global and intra-Commonwealth trade in goods.

This article employs gravity modeling to examine the effect of COVID-19 on global and intra-Commonwealth trade. It uses bilateral monthly exports, number of COVID-19 cases and deaths and the stringency of measures. The main novelty is the use of price indices as proxies for multilateral resistance terms, which allow us to identify, supply, and demand effects of COVID-19 on bilateral trade. The incidence of COVID-19 impacts Commonwealth trade flows, the effect varies with the development level. High numbers of COVID-19 cases, including deaths, in low-income importers reduced Commonwealth exports unlike high-income importers that show higher exports. The incidence of COVID in an exporters' neighbouring countries impacted trade and restrictions in high-income countries increased Commonwealth trade. Short-term trends project a negative change in both exports and imports of Commonwealth countries.

First Application of Coiled Hose in Indonesia and First Deployment of Coiled Hose with Roller Boogies in the World to Access Highly Deviated Well

The paper is aimed to present the engineering design and execution of first application of coiled hose in Indonesia to perform nitrogen unload including its first deployment with roller boogies in the world to tackle the challenge of highly deviated well. The new well of XX-107 was completed with 2 (two) gravel pack zones and tubingless section. In order to produce the well from the gravel pack zones, completion fluid, which filled in the XX-107 well, should be displaced to ensure underbalance condition once the SSDs of those gravel pack zones were opened. After comparing several available methods, coiled hose was chosen to perform nitrogen unload due to its compact and lightweight nature in comparison to conventional coiled tubing. Coiled hose enabled seamless deployment right after the well was completed by the workover unit. Furthermore, the maximum deviation of 84 deg in XX-107 well provided additional challenge to access the well since coiled hose was gravity feed. Several simulations were performed and they resulted in the utilization of roller boogies to minimize friction during RIH and increase the reach of coiled hose in this well. As a result, this operation achieved its main objective of displacing the completion fluid out of the well and created underbalance condition in front of the gravel pack zones. Although the efficiency was only 67.5%, it managed to create 1071 psi of underbalance value and consequently the well flowed at 8 MMscfd. Its lightweight nature was like electricline unit and it consumed less space on the upper deck of the platform. Moreover, the deployment and setup process was performed offline which optimized the operating time event further. The cumulative operating time was only 13 hours including demobilization process while in terms of logistic coiled hose only required 1 trip whereas coiled tubing unit required at least 3 trips. Lastly, this operation requires only 10 personnel for 24-hr operation in comparison to 15 coiled tubing personnel which meant, in this Covid-19 pandemic, provided less risky solution. Copyright © 2022, Offshore Technology Conference.

Adapting Gravity Model for Predicting the Risk of COVID -19 in Nigeria

Background: It is against the background of the emerging incidence of coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria and the need for its management that this study adapts the gravity model for predicting the risk of the disease across states of the country. Method(s): The paper relied on published government data on population and gross domestic product, while the distance of town to the nearest international airport was also obtained. These data were log-transformed and further used in the calculation of gravity scores for each state of the federation. Result(s): The study discovered that with the gravity score ranging from 2.942 to 4.437, all the states of the federation have the risk of being infected with the pandemic. Meanwhile, Ogun State (4.837) has a very high risk of being infected with the disease. Other states with high risks are Oyo (4.312), Jigawa (4.235), Niger (4.148), and Katsina (4.083). However, Taraba State has the least infection risk of pandemic in Nigeria. Factors influencing the risk level of the pandemic are proximity, the porous boundary between states, and elitism. Conclusion(s): The paper advocates border settlement planning, review of housing standards, and advocacy for sanitation in different states. It, therefore, concludes that adequate urban planning in unison with economic and epidemiology techniques will provide a strong strategy for the management of the disease.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.