Injection-site reactions post mRNA COVID-19 vaccination

Background: To date, over 10 million doses of mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2 mRNA and mRNA-1273) have been administered in Singapore. Initial studies have shown that 0.8% of individuals who received Moderna mRNA vaccine developed delayed injection-site reactions. Reactions to the Moderna mRNA vaccine are thought to be benign and not a contraindication to further doses. Injection-site reactions associated with the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine are less clearly defined. We report the characteristics of mRNA COVID-19 injection-site reactions, comparing the clinical features between Moderna (mRNA-1273) and Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) reactions in the Singaporean adult population. Method(s): We retrospectively reviewed patients referred to the Dermatology Service / Allergy Centre of a tertiary hospital in Singapore for reactions post COVID-19 vaccination between 10 Jan 2021 and 26 Aug 2021. Inclusion criteria were adult patients who developed a localised injection-site reaction after either Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Result(s): 322 patients were referred for post-COVID- 19 vaccine reactions, of which 21 developed injection-site reactions. 11 (52%) had received the Moderna mRNA vaccine while 10 (48%) received the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine. Patients receiving the Moderna mRNA vaccine had a longer mean latency period (p = 0.047) and were more likely to have a latency duration of > 5 days (p = 0.007). Secondary dissemination of the injection-site reaction was seen in 2 patients. 11 (52%) of these reactions resolved without treatment;while the remaining 10 (48%) required symptomatic treatment with topical corticosteroids, antihistamines, or a combination of both. All 21 patients subsequently received the second vaccine dose, of which 2 (9.5%) developed recurrence of the reaction;both of which were mild and did not require treatment. Conclusion(s): Localised injection-site reactions post Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccination are uncommon and appear to be phenotypically different. Such reactions are benign and self-limited. While recurrence of the reaction can arise during repeat vaccine doses, these are mild and self-limited.

Assessing urban heat island in Jakarta, Indonesia during the pandemic of Covid-19

Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, is the most populated area in Indonesia, with a population of 10.56 million people or around 3.91% of the total Indonesian population. Jakarta has also become an important city in Indonesia as around 80% of Indonesian economic activity is located in this area. No doubt, the urban activity caused the air pollution to infuriate its microclimate, including the urban heat island phenomena. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Indonesia applied the partial lockdown for several areas to decrease virus transmission. Most of the transportation and commercial areas were closed, and most people worked from home. This significant shifting will affect the temperature and urban heat island conditions. Thus, the main objective of this research was to analyse the urban heat island during the early stage of the pandemic in Jakarta. We used Landsat 8 imagery to extract the land surface temperature (LST) and generated the urban heat island (UHI). The correlation was used to determine the relationship between the distribution of covid-19 cases with the UHI distribution. From the four different recording times (May, July, September, and December 2020) of Landsat 8 imagery, the highest UHI, 7.76°C was found in December 2020 (the late first year of the pandemic). The lowest UHI, 4.91°C was found in May 2020 (The early stage of the first year). Furthermore, the UHI hot spot moved from almost evenly in East Jakarta in May 2020, a tiny spot in East Jakarta in July and September 2020, and evenly distributed in Southeast Jakarta in December 2020. In addition, we found that the increase of covid-19 cases had a positive correlation with the UHI in Jakarta, which means the areas with the high UHI value have high new covid-19 cases. These results showed that the area with high activities is very prone to covid-19 transmission.

EFFECTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE LOW-INCOME URBAN COMMUNITIES’ (B40) WELL-BEING: A CASE STUDY OF PPR HILIRAN AMPANG, MALAYSIA

Coronavirus outbreak 2019 (COVID-19) and Movement Control Order (MCO) announced by the Government of Malaysia since mid-March 2020 have had significant implications for the movement of the population to carry out economic activities and activities to meet other daily needs. The low-income group especially in urban areas is a very vulnerable community that is experiencing some sudden lifestyle changes due to these MCOs and pandemics. The aim of this study is to compare the level of well-being of the low-income urban community (bottom 40 percent of income earners-B40) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of the B40 urban community throughout the pandemic. This case study is a quantitative study that focuses on the B40 urban community living in the housing area of the Hiliran Ampang People's Housing Program (PPR Hiliran Ampang). Two hundred seventy-four (274) heads of households were involved as a sample to fill in the questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and percentage) and inference (t-test, Pearson Correlation and multiple regression analysis). The findings show that the level of well-being of the PPR Hiliran Ampang community is at a moderate level with a mean score of 3.93 before the pandemic. This level of well-being decreased with a mean value of 0.02, making the mean score throughout the pandemic 3.92. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a declining monthly income of households and the fact that the number of non-income households increased by 12 percent throughout the pandemic. Based on the multiple regression analysis, it shows that the total monthly household income affects the three domains of B40 urban community’s well-being, namely the well-being in family and community relationships, economic as well as family and community health. © 2021, CA and C Press AB. All rights reserved.

Low-Carbon Tourism Approach as an Alternative Form for Tourism Development: A Review for Model Development

The tourism industry is a major contributor to the gross domestic product of several countries, including Malaysia. However, recent tourism growth has led to increase the industry's carbon dioxide (CO2). Low-carbon tourism, therefore, needs to be introduced to the sector to help curb global climate change. A comprehensive understanding of lowcarbon tourism needs to be developed to achieve this goal. This article looks at the relevant studies in the literature using content analysis. By adopting a qualitative methodology, the article collected and assessed measurements of tourism's carbon emissions and examined the effects of implementing a low-carbon tourism programme. Some of the low-carbon strategies were listed by going through the entire implementation process of lowcarbon tourism as an alternative form of tourism development. The discussion also focuses on how Covid-19 can influence lowcarbon tourism development. A blueprint for a low-carbon recovery proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is also presented at the end of the paper. The results of this study can be used as a basis for policy development and further research on low-carbon tourism in industry sub- sectors worldwide.

The Awareness of Cyber Security in Distance Learning

The present paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of a training program in improving the awareness of cyber security in distance learning among female primary school science teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To achieve the study objectives, the researcher used the quasi-experimental approach based on the one-group experimental design;the study tool was the cyber security awareness scale. The sample consisted of 30 teachers. The pre-application of the cyber security awareness scale was performed, then teachers were trained on the proposed program during the first semester of 2020–2021. At the end of the experiment, the post-scale was conducted. The results show that there are statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the teachers in the pre and post-application phases of testing of the cyber security awareness scale for the sake of the post application. These differences indicate the degree of effectiveness of the suggested training program. A number of recommendations are suggested in light of the obtained results © 2021, Scientific Journal of King Faisal University Basic and Applied Sciences. All Rights Reserved.

Trajectory Tracking for the Quadcopter UAV utilizing Fuzzy PID Control Approach

Currently, the quadcopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are playing a significant role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, which induced the researchers to design robust control techniques. In this paper, a fuzzy PID controller is designed to stabilize and/or track the desired trajectory of the quadcopter UAV. The mathematical model of the quadcopter UAV has been briefly presented, where it has been divided into two portions, the position dynamic and the attitude dynamic subsystems. Subsequently, a robust fuzzy PID controller has been designed for both the inner loop and outer loop to control and stabilize the position and the attitude of the quadcopter, which adaptively manipulate the system's input based on the tracking error. The proposed controller is benchmarked with the conventional PID controller to show the robustness of the fuzzy PID controller. Fuzzy PID controller has been verified through simulation work utilizing Matlab/Simulink, where better performance is achieved compared with the conventional PID controller. It is found that the errors in the quadcopter's attitude and position have been significantly reduced through using fuzzy PID controller by 70% and 87%, respectively. © 2021 IEEE.

Environmental dimension of pandemic COVID-19: case studies of Indonesia

Pandemic COVID-19 adversely affects all aspects of life. Industries and transportation reduce its activities, causing a decline in demand for logistics significantly. In Indonesia, 2.8 people predicted will be laid off, 2.9-5.2 million people lose a job, unemployment will increase to 7.5%, poverty increases to 27.5 million people (10.2%), economic growth minus 5.32%. On the other side, the air quality index decreased from 155 at the end of March to 69 in April. The indicator of air quality (PM 2.5) decreased from 63.4 ug/m3 to be 20.8 ug/m3. However, there has been increased in the amount of medical waste and energy consumption. This research aims to identify the impacts of pandemic COVID-19 on the environment and the commitment of the government to deal with climate change-related to SDGs. The result of research shows that the new normal increases the number of people infected by COVID-19 significantly. The government's commitment to dealing with climate change is decreased due to the policy to refocus and reallocate the budget to deal with pandemic COVID-19. It is required to balance the health aspect and economic aspect for the nation's sustainability and people's lives. © 2021 IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science