摘要
E-commerce plays an important and prominent role in the modern era, especially with the continued emergence of new technologies, which opened new horizons for entrepreneurs and business owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to pursue business growth. Currently, SMEs are no longer limited to practicing their business activities locally but internationally. Digitalization has a vital role in elevating the state of competitiveness between firms, which prompts many SMEs to acquire technologies that facilitate the business transition to e-commerce considering gaining a competitive advantage over their rivals and maintaining relevance in their field. This research will further explore the different challenges SMEs faced in Bahrain during the Covid-19 period and analyze the various obstacles faced during e-commerce adaptation. The analysis considers three main categories: organizational Readiness, environmental Readiness, and technological Readiness. This study aims to demonstrate SMEs' willingness to transition their business activities to e-commerce after the devastating repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. A questionnaire was designed and shared with 110 employees working at SMEs, and 100 responses were received and selected to be the research sample size. The research revealed that SMEs in Bahrain faced many obstacles to transform into e-commerce businesses during the pandemic and among the challenges were the financial cost of such transformation. The study provided further recommendations for future studies. © 2022 IEEE.
摘要
One positive side of the Covid-19 pandemic is the unprecedented opportunity it has offered to the Higher Education Institutions to experience digital learning like never before. During the pandemic, Distant Learning platforms, including Learning Management Systems and Video Conferencing Platforms, have been ubiquitous, and no single institution survived without them during the pandemic. Hence, one of the critical lessons that should be learned is the students' experiences with these platforms. This study aims to investigate the digital platform preferences of English major students in the College of Language and Translation at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia during the Emergency Remote Education due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its significance lies in the fact that it underscores and addresses students' needs and preferences with regard to the digital platforms to be used for language learning, a pragmatic examination of which has been carried out in the following pages. It focuses on reasons for the preferences of the two leading digital platforms used in King Saud University: Blackboard and Zoom. A Survey with open-ended and closed-ended questions was designed to answer the questions of the study: which digital platforms do students prefer to use during Emergency Remote Education, and what were the reasons behind students' preferences? A total of 300 students from both male and female campuses at different levels of study participated in the study. The results showed that students preferred the Zoom to Blackboard. Reasons of preferences were mainly the ease of use, followed by supporting smartphones, then having an app for smartphones. The thematic analysis of the open-ended question showed that technical problems and connection latency were the main reasons behind students' preferences of the Zoom. The findings also indicated gender differences in reasons of preferences.
摘要
Purpose: Using the theory of planned behavior as a theoretical base, this study aims to examine the effect of the personality attributes, risk-taking, creativity and locus of control on the entrepreneurial intentions of US business college students. The authors replicated previous studies from around the world but performed the research during the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The authors surveyed 353 students, comparing those with entrepreneurial intentions (n = 213) versus those without entrepreneurial intentions (n = 140). Findings: The authors found that risk-taking and creativity both significantly and positively predicted entrepreneurial intentions, but locus of control did not have a significant impact. Practical implications: Contextually, the authors performed this study during the widespread complications of the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors advise business educators to initiate programs that encourage student entrepreneurship by nurturing creativity and offering educational resources that assist students in reducing the perceived risk of entrepreneurship. Originality/value: The authors seek to increase awareness among business educators of the significance of entrepreneurship as a desirable career. The authors believe that one impact from the Covid-19 pandemic has been an expanded interest among students to start their own businesses. The authors propose that creative measures introduced into the business school curriculum by business educators will enhance students’ desire to take risks to create their own businesses. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
摘要
This study investigated the effect of the personality factors, creativity, risk-taking, and locus of control, on the entrepreneurial intentions of U.S. business college students, employing the theoretical lens of the theory of planned behavior. We surveyed 353 student respondents, comparing those with self-reported entrepreneurial intentions (n=213) versus those without entrepreneurial intentions (n=140). Our results indicated that the personality characteristics of risk-taking and creativity both significantly and positively predicted entrepreneurial intentions, but locus of control did not have a significant impact. Contextually, this study was undertaken during the extensive difficulties of the Covid-19 pandemic. One positive consequence of the pandemic has been a heightened interest in entrepreneurship. We advise business school educators to pursue activities that encourage nascent entrepreneurship by fostering creativity and providing educational initiatives that help students reduce the perceived risk of starting their own businesses. © 2021, North American Business Press. All rights reserved.
摘要
Aim: Coronavirus infection has caused disease at the pandemic level with several deaths worldwide and affected all aspects of human life. One way to minimize virus transmission and its effects is to perform mass vaccination within the general population so that herd immunity is developed against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, low health literacy and vaccine hesitancy are potential threats in achieving this. The present study is designed to measure the Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception levels towards COVID-19 and assess public perception and acceptance levels of the vaccine among the general population in the Hail province of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A bilingual, community-based questionnaire, consisting of the respondents' socio-demographic profile, COVID-19 knowledge, and attitude & perception towards COVID-19 vaccination, was circulated using different social media platforms. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Appropriate knowledge level was found in 74.8% of the respondents, whereas inappropriate knowledge levels were observed in females and participants with non-health-related occupations and were inversely related to willingness to the vaccine. More than 60% of the respondents had a negative attitude towards the COVID-19 vaccine, as only 51% were willing to get vaccinated. A negative attitude was significantly associated with female respondents. Conclusion: Our study reports a high knowledge level among the respondents in the Hail province. However, there is also a decreased willingness to be vaccinated, suggesting that more vaccine and health literacy seminars should be conducted to generate awareness among the general population in the Hail province, KSA.
摘要
INTRODUCTION: An emerging body of literature has shown an association between obesity and negative COVID-19 patient outcomes. However, most of these studies have been limited in scale and are not focused on hospitalized patients. Our study aims to report characteristics and outcomes associated with obesity in a large cohort of COVID-19 patients who were admitted during the peak of this pandemic. METHODS: We performed a retrospective single center study at a large tertiary care hospital. All index admissions of adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 between 3/1 and 4/30/2020 were included. A manual chart review was performed to collect data on baseline patient characteristics, medical comorbidities, and clinical outcomes. Patients were stratified into obese and non-obese cohorts for comparison. SAS 9.4 was used for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1983 patients met our inclusion criteria of which 1031 (51.9%) were obese and 952 (48.9%) were non-obese. Table 1 shows differences in baseline characteristics between these cohorts. Obese patients were younger (58.2 vs. 69.9;P < 0.001), more likely to be female (55% vs. 45%;P < 0.001) and a higher proportion were African American (66% vs. 52%;P < 0.001) compared to non-obese patients. Obese patients were also more likely to be diabetic (41% vs. 35%;P = 0.01) and have obstructive sleep apnea (15% vs. 5%;P < 0.001) and less likely to have cardiovascular disease (25% vs. 33%;P < 0.01) and malignancy (5% vs. 10%;P < 0.01) (Table 2a). Obese patients were found to have lower overall mortality compared to non-obese patients (15% vs. 25%;P < 0.001) however a logistic regression model revealed that this mortality difference was no longer significant when adjusted for patient age (OR 1.05, P = 0.685). This age-adjusted model also demonstrated increased odds of ICU admission (OR 1.39, P = 0.0044) and intubation (OR 1.40, P = 0.0096) in obese patients (Table 2b). There was a strong negative correlation (r2 = 0.2076, P < 0.001) between BMI and age among patients requiring ICU admission (Figure 1). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that obesity may predispose younger patients with COVID-19 to be hospitalized for their illness. Although obese patients do not have an increased mortality rate, they are at higher risk for requiring ICU admission and intubation during their hospital stay. Recognizing that obesity impacts morbidity in this manner allows medical providers to triage and manage these patients more effectively earlier in their clinical course. (Table Presented).
摘要
Background: There is increasing evidence suggesting that liver dysfunction is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness However, due to the low prevalence of liver disease and cirrhosis in the general population, larger studies looking at the impact of these conditions have utilized data from international registries which do not necessarily reflect the US population. Our study aims to assess the association between chronic liver disease and COVID-19 clinical outcomes across a single large inpatient cohort Methods: We performed a retrospective single-center study at a large tertiary care hospital All index admissions of adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 between 3/1/2020 and 4/30/2020 were included A manual chart review was performed to collect data on baseline patient characteristics, medical comorbidities, and clinical outcomes Patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and cirrhosis were compared to the control group, who had no known underlying liver disease SAS 9 4 was used for analysis Results: A total of 1935 patients met our inclusion criteria of which 1869 (96 6%) had no underlying liver disease, 66 (3 4%) had CLD, and 21 (1 1%) had cirrhosis Table 1 shows baseline patient characteristics There were a higher proportion of males in the CLD and cirrhosis cohorts compared to the control group (67% and 76% vs 50%;p=0 0105) Patients with cirrhosis and chronic liver disease also had a significantly lower average BMI compared to the control group (25 8 and 27 3 vs 31 8;p=0 002) There was no difference in comorbidities between all three cohorts. Patients with cirrhosis had a significantly higher mortality (RR 2 1 [95% CI 1 33-3 62;p=0 0022]) compared to non-cirrhotics There was also a trend towards increased 30-day readmission in the cirrhotic cohort (RR 2 35 [95% CI 0 86-6 42];p=0 0950) however no difference in rate of ICU admission or intubation Patients with CLD did not have an increase in mortality, ICU admission, intubation, or 30-day re-admission compared to the control group Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that cirrhosis is associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 while chronic liver disease in the absence of cirrhosis does not confer the same degree of clinical risk Future studies performed on a larger scale should evaluate how decompensated disease and MELD score may impact this risk profile.(Table Presented).
摘要
Background: Based on current literature there appears to be a high prevalence of liver injury (LI) in patients with COVID-19 However, there are limited large scale studies on risk factors, morbidity, and mortality associated with LI in these patients We aim to determine risk factors and outcomes of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and LI Methods: We performed a retrospective single-center study at a large tertiary care hospital. All index admissions of adult patients with confirmed COVID19 between 3/1 to 4/30/2020 were included Data on baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes was collected during manual chart review Mild elevation in LFTs (MEL), defined as peak levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and total bilirubin (TB) above upper limit of normal (ULN) but lower than the threshold for LI. LI was defined as peak ALT/AST three times ULN and/or peak ALP/TB two times ULN ULN threshold values of ALT 52, AST 35, TB 1 2, ALP 140 were used Both cohorts were compared with our control group, who had normal LFTs at presentation and throughout the hospitalization SAS 9 4 was used for analysis Results: A total of 1935 patients were included of which 507 (26 2%) had normal LFTs, 1030 (53 2%) had MEL, and 397 (20 5%) had LI Males were more commonly found in the MEL (p=0 0004) and LI groups compared to control (p< 0001) Patients in the MEL cohort were older (p=0 0005) African Americans were more likely to develop LI (p=0 0318) There was no difference in comorbidities between all groups Among patients with LI, 241 (61%) had a hepatocellular pattern, 20 (5%) had a cholestatic pattern, and 135 (34%) had a mixed pattern Patients with LI had an increased risk of mortality (RR 4 26 [95% CI 3 12, 5 81;p< 0001]), ICU admission (RR 5 52 [95% CI 4 07, 7 49;p< 0001]), intubation (RR 11 01 [95% CI 6 97, 17 34]);p< 0001) and 30-day readmission (1 81 [95% CI 1 17, 2 80;p< 0076]) (Table 2, Figure 1) compared to the control group Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that patients with COVID-19 who present with LI have a significantly increased risk of mortality, mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, and 30-day re-admission compared to patients with MEL and normal LFTs This information is important to appropriately manage COVID-19 patients Further research looking at risk prediction models and pooling multi-center data should include liver injury as a key variable.