Perspectives and practices of dietitians with regards to social/mass media use during the transitions from face-to-face to telenutrition in the time of COVID-19: A cross-sectional survey in 10 Arab countries.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most healthcare professionals switched from face-to-face clinical encounters to telehealth. This study sought to investigate the dietitians' perceptions and practices toward the use of social/mass media platforms amid the transition from face-to-face to telenutrition in the time of COVID-19. This cross-sectional study involving a convenient sample of 2,542 dietitians (mean age = 31.7 ± 9.5; females: 88.2%) was launched in 10 Arab countries between November 2020 and January 2021. Data were collected using an online self-administrated questionnaire. Study findings showed that dietitians' reliance on telenutrition increased by 11% during the pandemic, p = 0.001. Furthermore, 63.0% of them reported adopting telenutrition to cover consultation activities. Instagram was the platform that was most frequently used by 51.7% of dietitians. Dietitians shouldered new difficulties in dispelling nutrition myths during the pandemic (58.2% reported doing so vs. 51.4% pre-pandemic, p < 0.001). Compared to the pre-pandemic period, more dietitians perceived the importance of adopting tele nutrition's clinical and non-clinical services (86.9% vs. 68.0%, p = 0.001), with 76.6% being confident in this practice. In addition, 90.0% of the participants received no support from their work facilities for social media usage. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the majority of dietitians (80.0%) observed a rise in public interest in nutrition-related topics, particularly those pertaining to healthy eating habits (p = 0.001), healthy recipes (p = 0.001), nutrition and immunity (p = 0.001), and medical nutrition therapies (p = 0.012). Time constraint was the most prevalent barrier to offering telenutrition for nutrition care (32.1%), whereas leveraging a quick and easy information exchange was the most rewarding benefit for 69.3% of the dietitians. In conclusion, to ensure a consistent provision of nutrition care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, dietitians working in Arab countries adopted alternative telenutrition approaches through social/mass media.

Medium-to Long-Term Socioeconomic Impact of Covid-19 in Arab Countries, 2022

COVID-19 pandemic is impacting institutions around the world. Its scope and economic dimensions pinpoint that it poses a major threat to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main objective of thisresearch is to discuss how the coronavirus pandemic may influence the SDGsand affect their implementation. The methods used entail an analysis of lite rature, observations and an assessment of current world trends and applied UNDP method to Arab countries. Methodology/approach—the motivation behind this research is to assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Todo so, as a first step, we conduct an initial factual analysis to identify the pat-terns of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the SDGs and has emphasized the interconnectedness of the SDGs. This target is achieved by con-ducting the methodology of the United Nations Development Program, withthe aid of Pardee Center at the University of Denver by using the impact of three different scenarios of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals,while capturing the multidimensional impacts of the pandemic over the coming decades. The main finding of this research is showing how governmentscan make choices today that have the greatest potential to advance progress inthe future, within planetary boundaries. This type of analysis can enable governments to turn COVID-19 from a short-term crisis into an opportunity to shift to sustainable development in the long term. © 2023 NSP Natural Sciences Publishing Cor.

Implications of the Recent Financial and Health Crises on Institutions of Higher Education in Arab Countries: Revisiting Existing Financial Models

The effects of the recent financial and debt crises, as well as the effects of the more recent sanitary crisis have had widespread and devastating consequences on institutions of higher education worldwide. Higher education in the US, as well as, in the Arab World have been particularly affected, with many institutions having either to adapt quickly to external pressures or shut down. No one knew what the full effects would be of what is now being called an economic and sanitary meltdown. In this chapter, we will first analyze the impact of the recent financial crises on higher education in the US, followed by an examination of the COVID-19 pandemic on Arab universities, drawing parallels with the impact on US universities. Initial data indicate that real wages for full-time faculty in the US has been on the decline for the first time since the Great Recession, and average wage growth for all ranks of full-time faculty was the lowest since 1972. In the Arab world, the situation is not that different, with data indicating that full-time faculty real wages have also been on the decline since the onset of the pandemic. Universities in the Arab region have implemented a wide range of actions/measures in response to financial difficulties stemming from the financial and debt crises and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under these measures, a new financial model is now emerging under which Arab Universities are now adapting to the new realities. Moreover, and in response to the pandemic, many Arab institutions that were already struggling to balance their budgets had to immediately lower their expenditures by implementing hiring freezes, salary cuts, fringe benefit cuts, furloughs, and layoffs. Finally, and under the new financial model, the newly implemented university budgets had to change various items under their expenditure and revenues sections in order to adapt to the new financial realities as dictated to them by the pandemic. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Do MENA countries practice digital diplomacy? An analysis of their embassies' websites in Spain

This research carries out an analysis of the websites published by MENA countries' embassies with a presence in Spain, in order to understand whether they practice digital diplomacy. Such activity is a low-cost, wide-ranging public diplomacy tool. The analysis covers a two-year period (2020-2022) that coincides with the Covid-19 pandemic, a context that prompted the digitization of many sectors. The article contributes to the literature on Arab and Israeli digital diplomacy, as well as on digital diplomacy as practiced by embassies. Specifically, this exploratory analysis examines the webpages and published press notes of four countries' embassies, including Saudi Arabia, Israel, Morocco, and Qatar. These countries were chosen because they have the most robust websites in Spanish, together with the fact that they were the MENA countries whose governments pioneered the use of Twitter as an instrument of digital diplomacy. The article examines the topics and interpretations provided by the press notes published on these embassies' websites. A discourse analysis methodology with references to the original sources is applied. Topics and interpretations are classified into four types of public diplomacy: media diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, niche diplomacy and nation branding. The conclusion is that the MENA countries studied neglect digital diplomacy on their websites in Spain, missing out on the opportunities it represents. The apparently four most digitized embassies in this group have errors on their webpages and often only publish messages from their respective foreign ministries, focusing on regional and internal issues rather than on their bilateral relationship with Spain. This is especially true of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Communication & Society is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Navarra, S.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Differential Impact of Different COVID-19 Stressors on Complex PTSD, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, and Executive Functions in Kuwait

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differential impact of various COVID-19 stressors (economic, infection fears, grief, and lockdown stressors) and their cumulative impact on peri-post-COVID-19 syndrome. Peri-post-COVID-19 syndrome (PPCS) is a mental health and cognitive syndrome associated with chronic traumatic stress, particularly COVID-19. The sample consisted of 490 Kuwaiti citizens aged 18-60 years (M = 24.97, SD = 9.10), with 66.3% being female. Data were collected from October 2021 to January 2022. We assessed how individuals felt about COVID-19 stressors, cumulative traumatic events and stressors, complex PTSD (CPTSD), PTSD, anxiety, depression, and executive functions. A structural equation was used to test the differential and cumulative impact of COVID-19 stressors. COVID-19 cumulative stressors, especially lockdown, had the strongest correlation with CPTSD. The highest variance was accounted for by lockdown stressors (R2 =.752). COVID-19 cumulative stressors had a medium-to-large effect on PPCS. In the affluent Kuwaiti context, lockdown stressors appear to have a greater impact on mental health and executive dysfunction than other COVID-19 stressors. In the PPCS, CPTSD appears to be the most robust outcome variable. Conceptually, the study provided preliminary evidence of the PPCS and associated cognitive deficits as powerful drivers for COVID-19 and of continuous/prolonged traumatic stress for COVID-19. The study highlighted the need for innovation in developing multiparameter intervention strategies with a pericognitive and cognitive training component to address the multiple impacts of the pandemic. © 2023 Hogrefe Publishing.

Factors affecting Arab consumers' attitudes toward online shopping in light of COVID-19: the moderating role of digital marketing

PurposeIn both developed and developing countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a new generation of first-time online shoppers. More significantly, academics and practitioners believe that the shift to online shopping will continue in the years to come. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of digital marketing tools as a moderator variable between the independent variables (i.e. consumption patterns, lifestyle, level of income, and payment methods) and dependent variable (i.e. the consumer's attitude towards online shopping) during the COVID-19 pandemic time in Arab countries.Design/methodology/approachA structured and self-administered online survey has targeted online shopping users in six different Arab countries based on a snowball and convenience sample. In total, 577 useable questionnaires were analyzed.FindingsThe findings show a significant positive relationship between the independent variables (i.e. consumption patterns, lifestyle, level of income, and payment methods) and the dependent variable (i.e. consumer attitude towards online shopping). Furthermore, the results reveal that the positive relationship between the independent and dependent variables is strengthened by the existence of the moderator variable, the digital marketing tools.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was based on cross-sectional data collection, rather than a longitudinal study and collected data from six Arab countries. It is suggested that future research should expand the survey in more similar countries to broaden the database for further generalizations and use a longitudinal approach to better assess changes in attitudes over time. In addition, this study focused on the issue from a consumer's viewpoint, so it is recommended that future research could be conducted, but from the viewpoint of marketing managers.Practical implicationsThis study represents a further deeper insight into consumer behaviour;it advocates giving more emphasis on organizations' awareness of their customers' consumption pattern, lifestyle, level of income, and payment method. The findings of this study can help managers and marketers to design a promotional mix to improve consumer's behaviour towards online shopping. The results suggest paying more attention to the high relevant effect of the consumption pattern, lifestyle, level of income, and payment method on the consumer attitude towards online shopping.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the few attempts that investigated consumer attitudes toward online shopping in the Arab world. Importantly, it identified the drivers of online shoppers' attitudes in the Arab world. This may be used to develop and implement e-marketing strategies. Furthermore, this paper examines the role of digital marketing as a moderator variable to provide empirical evidence to the body of knowledge of these drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic time in the Arab countries.

AraNPCC: The Arabic Newspaper COVID-19 Corpus

This paper introduces a corpus for Arabic newspapers during COVID-19: AraNPCC. The AraNPCC corpus covers 2019 until 2021 via automatically-collected data from 12 Arab countries. It comprises more than 2 billion words and 7.2 million texts alongside their metadata. AraNPCC can be used for several natural language processing tasks, such as updating available Arabic language models or corpus linguistics tasks, including language change over time. We utilized the corpus in two case studies. In the first case study, we investigate the correlation between the number of officially reported infected cases and the collective word frequency of "COVID” and "Corona.” The data shows a positive correlation that varies among Arab countries. For the second case study, we extract and compare the top 50 keywords in 2020 and 2021 to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on two Arab countries, namely Algeria and Saudi Arabia. For 2020, the data shows that the two countries' newspapers strongly interacted with the pandemic, emphasizing its spread and dangerousness, and in 2021 the data suggests that the two countries coped with the pandemic. © European Language Resources Association (ELRA).

Factors affecting Arab consumers' attitudes toward online shopping in light of COVID-19: the moderating role of digital marketing

PurposeIn both developed and developing countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a new generation of first-time online shoppers. More significantly, academics and practitioners believe that the shift to online shopping will continue in the years to come. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of digital marketing tools as a moderator variable between the independent variables (i.e. consumption patterns, lifestyle, level of income, and payment methods) and dependent variable (i.e. the consumer's attitude towards online shopping) during the COVID-19 pandemic time in Arab countries.Design/methodology/approachA structured and self-administered online survey has targeted online shopping users in six different Arab countries based on a snowball and convenience sample. In total, 577 useable questionnaires were analyzed.FindingsThe findings show a significant positive relationship between the independent variables (i.e. consumption patterns, lifestyle, level of income, and payment methods) and the dependent variable (i.e. consumer attitude towards online shopping). Furthermore, the results reveal that the positive relationship between the independent and dependent variables is strengthened by the existence of the moderator variable, the digital marketing tools.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was based on cross-sectional data collection, rather than a longitudinal study and collected data from six Arab countries. It is suggested that future research should expand the survey in more similar countries to broaden the database for further generalizations and use a longitudinal approach to better assess changes in attitudes over time. In addition, this study focused on the issue from a consumer's viewpoint, so it is recommended that future research could be conducted, but from the viewpoint of marketing managers.Practical implicationsThis study represents a further deeper insight into consumer behaviour;it advocates giving more emphasis on organizations' awareness of their customers' consumption pattern, lifestyle, level of income, and payment method. The findings of this study can help managers and marketers to design a promotional mix to improve consumer's behaviour towards online shopping. The results suggest paying more attention to the high relevant effect of the consumption pattern, lifestyle, level of income, and payment method on the consumer attitude towards online shopping.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the few attempts that investigated consumer attitudes toward online shopping in the Arab world. Importantly, it identified the drivers of online shoppers' attitudes in the Arab world. This may be used to develop and implement e-marketing strategies. Furthermore, this paper examines the role of digital marketing as a moderator variable to provide empirical evidence to the body of knowledge of these drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic time in the Arab countries.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on smoking (waterpipe and cigarette) and participants' BMI across various sociodemographic groups in Arab countries in the Mediterranean Region.

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco smokers are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19. Lockdown was a chosen strategy to deal with the spread of infectious diseases; nonetheless, it influenced people's eating and smoking behaviors. The main objective of this study is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on smoking (waterpipe and cigarette) behavior and its associations with sociodemographic characteristics and body mass index. METHODS: The data were derived from a large-scale retrospective cross-sectional study using a validated online international survey from 38 countries (n=37207) conducted between 17 April and 25 June 2020. The Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO-EMR countries) data related to 10 Arabic countries that participated in this survey have been selected for analysis in this study. A total of 12433 participants were included in the analysis of this study, reporting their smoking behavior and their BMI before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between smoking practices and the participant's country of origin, sociodemographic characteristics, and BMI (kg/m2). RESULTS: Overall, the prevalence rate of smoking decreased significantly during the lockdown from 29.8% to 23.5% (p<0.05). The percentage of females who smoke was higher than males among the studied population. The highest smoking prevalence was found in Lebanon (33.2%), and the lowest was in Oman (7.9%). In Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, the data showed a significant difference in the education level of smokers before and during the lockdown (p<0.05). Smokers in Lebanon had lower education levels than those in other countries, where the majority of smokers had a Bachelor's degree. The findings show that the BMI rates in Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, and Saudi Arabia significantly increased during the lockdown (p<0.05). The highest percentages of obesity among smokers before the lockdown were in Oman (33.3%), followed by Bahrain (28.4%) and Qatar (26.4%), whereas, during the lockdown, the percentage of obese smokers was highest in Bahrain (32.1%) followed by Qatar (31.3%) and Oman (25%). According to the logistic regression model, the odds ratio of smoking increased during the pandemic, whereas the odds ratio of TV watching decreased. This finding was statistically significant by age, gender, education level, country of residence, and work status. CONCLUSIONS: Although the overall rates of smoking among the studied countries decreased during the lockdown period, we cannot attribute this change in smoking behavior to the lockdown. Smoking cessation services need to anticipate that unexpected disruptions, such as pandemic lockdowns, may be associated with changes in daily tobacco consumption. Public health authorities should promote the adoption of healthy lifestyles to reduce the long-term negative effects of the lockdown.

Sex disparities in food consumption patterns, dietary diversity and determinants of self-reported body weight changes before and amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 10 Arab countries.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic along with its confinement period boosted lifestyle modifications and impacted women and men differently which exacerbated existing gender inequalities. The main objective of this paper is to assess the gender-based differentials in food consumption patterns, dietary diversity and the determinants favoring weight change before and amid the COVID-19 pandemic among Arab men and women from 10 Arab countries. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted based on a convenience sample of 12,447 households' family members (mean age: 33.2 ± 12.9; 50.1% females) and information from participants aged 18 years and above was collected about periods before and during the pandemic. Results: Findings showed that, during the COVID-19 period, the dietary diversity, declined by 1.9% among females compared to males (0.4%) (p < 0.001) and by 1.5% among overweight participants (p < 0.001) compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: To conclude, gender-sensitive strategies and policies to address weight gain and dietary diversity during emergent shocks and pandemics are urgently needed in the region.

A Snapshot of the Experience of Dietitians during the COVID-19 Crisis in Five Arab Countries: Findings from a Regional Cross-Sectional Study.

COVID-19's intimidating spread has challenged the resilience of the global health systems, causing shifts in the practices of healthcare workers, including dietitians. The current study aimed to assess the change in dietitians' practices and duties in hospitals/clinics after the commencement of COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study was conducted in five Arab countries between November 2020 and January 2021. A convenient sample of 903 dietitians filled an online self-administered questionnaire to meet the study aims. Nearly 40.0% of the dietitians experienced a change in their workload and caseload during the pandemic. Besides, 18.7% of the dietitians had been assigned additional tasks in their facilities. Nearly half the dietitians (46.9%) had started giving remote nutrition consultations, associated with a 21% drop in the number of dietitians offering in-person consultations (p = 0.001). Approximately 58.9% of the dietitians provided nutrition care to COVID-19 patients, with 48.4% having access to personal protective equipment. Moreover, 17.0% of dietitians supported COVID-19 patients with enteral and parenteral nutrition. In addition, 45.0% of dietitians reported that managing COVID-19 was challenging given that it was a newly discovered condition.

COVID-19 pandemic and Economic Impacts in Arab countries: Challenges and Policies

The economy of Arab countries faces an extremely difficult and complex year 2020. The crisis caused by the shock of the Covid-19 alters the production system by a double shock of supply and demand, it is crucial to draw up a first detailed assessment of the ramifications of this crisis, which would make it possible to better pose the challenges of the economic policy for future years, faced with a seemingly heavy economic record. This paper studies the impact of COVID-19 on the economy of Arab countries and more particularly on financial markets in terms of financial fragility as well as commercial services and the monetary and banking sector in terms of worsening poverty. It offers a series of recommendations in the short term to address the critical phase of the crisis and in the long term to make the economy of Arab countries more resilient. Such suggestions consist chiefly in: (i) central banks and Arab monetary institutions must take serious steps to curb the Corona-virus spread by introducing a package of incentive policies, (ii) the central banks and Arab monetary institutions must adopt expansionary monetary policies by lowering monetary interest rates. In this way, the international community must work to strengthen the synergy of efforts and to take joint measures and policies to reduce the Corona-virus consequences.

Exploring enablers and barriers toward COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among Arabs: A qualitative study.

Background: With the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and rapid vaccine development, research interest in vaccine hesitancy (VH) has increased. Research usually focuses on quantitative estimates which largely neglected the qualitative underpinnings of this phenomenon. This study aimed to explore the beliefs and views towards COVID-19 vaccination among Arabs in different countries. Furthermore, we explored the effect of confidence in the healthcare system, misinformation, and scientific approaches adopted to mitigate COVID-19 on how individuals are following the recommended preventative actions including vaccination. Methods: This study was based on the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE)-VH Model: A qualitative design that utilized in-depth, online interviews. The study was conducted in seven Arab countries (Egypt, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Libya, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Jordan) from June 2020 to December 2021. Transcripts were analyzed using NVivo 12 Software. Results: A total of 100 participants, 44 males and 56 females, of different age groups (37.1 ± 11.56 years) were interviewed. Findings revealed six themes as enablers and barriers to COVID-19 vaccination. Many participants indicated trusting the vaccines, the healthcare systems, and the vaccination policies were the main driver to get the vaccine. Participants showed concerns towards potential long-term vaccine effects. A consistent inclination towards collective responsibility, which is the willingness to protect others by own vaccination, was also reported. Conclusion: Enablers and barriers of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance in the Arab region, from sociocultural and political perspectives, are critical to guide policymakers in designing target-oriented interventions that can improve vaccine acceptance.

Distance teaching in media departments in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experiences from six Arab countries

The present study describes, assesses, and compares the experiences of distance teaching in media and communication departments in six Arab countries, including Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, and Qatar, during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. Three research questions were answered through a cross-country comparison. 1) Which organizational steps and arrangements had to be taken by the administration and teaching staff to transition to distance teaching? 2) How was distance teaching perceived by students in the six countries? 3) How was the transition evaluated by the teaching staff, and which suggestions can be made for the future? To answer the questions, we collected empirical data from different groups involved in the teaching process, including teachers, administration, and students, through interviews, focus groups and a questionnaire. Results show that the necessity of teaching online from a distance took most Arab universities by surprise. A lack of infrastructure and financial means proved to be the most relevant problem in conflict-ridden countries like Iraq and Yemen, but also in Egypt and Tunisia. Given their low expectations, students were generally satisfied with the digital tools used in their institution, even though in some countries, the skills of the teachers were underdeveloped, and the infrastructure was lacking. The teaching staff, however, highlighted that they saw these changes as a move toward the modernization of their teaching. © 2022 Inas Abou Youssef and Carola Richter.

COVID-19 Crisis: Forecasting the Arab World Economy Performance Using the ARIMA Model

This paper predicts Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)'s potential influence on the Arab country's economy by using the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model. The world bank offers data of the Arab countries' Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the period 1960-2019. As we show up at the pinnacle of the COVID-19 pandemic, quite possibly the most critical inquiry going up against us is: what is the potential impact of the progressing crisis on the Arab countries' economic improvement rate? The results have shown that the GDP growth is approximately -3.8% to 1.5% for 2021 and 2022, respectively. The referenced outcomes show that pandemic status significantly affects the Arab world economy special after the energy demand decline, which prompts a fall in oil price. In spite of the fact that the Arab world's financial development is growing again, it is not most likely going to re-visitation of business as usual for quite a while to come. © 2022 Newswood Limited. All rights reserved.

Mideast refugees left behind in COVID-19 vaccine race

Underlining the importance of equitable vaccine distribution, Rana Hajje, regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) of the World Health Organization (WHO), told attendees: “No one will be safe, unless we all are.” In the UAE, Hussein el-Rand, assistant undersecretary for health centres and clinics and public health, at the Ministry of Health, said the country’s flexible health system combined with a comprehensive medical awareness among the population has resulted in a successful vaccine campaign. All Arab countries in the region are members of COVAX, the facility for equitable access led by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which aims to distribute 2 billion doses globally in 2021.

Research on Older Persons’ Access and Use of Technology in the Arab Region: Critical Overview and Future Directions

This paper presents the findings of a scoping review that maps exploratory evidence and gaps in research on information and communication technology (ICT) access and use among older persons in the Arab region. This review is part of a larger project that studies ICT access and use and related challenges faced by older adults in Qatar. A search was conducted in eleven scientific databases and search engines covering empirical studies published in English and Arabic between January 2016 and June 2021. Eleven studies were retrieved in the final corpus. A thematic analysis alongside the PRISMA for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) was used to retrieve the findings. Our analysis identifies smartphones and social media applications for communication and information sharing as the most accessed and used technologies by older persons in the region. Moreover, our review highlighted the importance of the sociocultural factors in shaping ICT access and use by older persons in the region. The functional limitations of older persons in interaction with certain technology factors such as usability, functionality, and accessibility were also highlighted as major challenges inhibiting ICT access and use by this population segment. This scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of ICT access and use, and the factors affecting them among older persons in the Arab region. It highlights the scarcity of research on the subject in the region. It also stresses the fact that there is a need for more research on older persons and their caregivers in the context of the Arab world. More culturally appropriate need-based and adapted technologies are also recommended. Our review is a comprehensive source for researchers and technology developers interested in targeting and engaging older adults in the Arab region.

POST-COVID-19 VOLATILITY OF EXCHANGE RATE RETURNS A CASE STUDY OF PAKISTAN

The purpose of the study is to forecast the volatility for returns of the exchange rate of Pakistan concerning US dollars along with the impact of covid-19 so that we can find out the feasibility of holding this asset along with the risk and returns associated with it. For this purpose daily data has been taken from the State bank of Pakistan on a period from February 01,2001, to June 30, 2021, where covid-19 is used as a dummy variable. Furthermore, in methodology, we applied GARCH models after finding the presence of the ARCH effect which is at ARCH (6) in the series. It is found in all GARCH models that the past volatility of the exchange rate returns has a statistically significant influence on the current volatility of the exchange rate means there is time-varying and time-correlated volatility associated with exchange rate returns. According to GARCH-M, GARCH-M (variance) (1,1) and GARCH-M (SD) (1,1) results it is concluded that average returns of exchange rate are small but significant and there is no risk factor associated with exchange rate returns but the past square residual terms have a significant impact on risk volatility. Furthermore, Both T-GARCH and E- GARCH depicts that the impact of covid19, which is bad news, although has a significant impact but its magnitude has a lesser influence on exchange rate volatility than the good news.

Children's rates of COVID-19 vaccination as reported by parents, vaccine hesitancy, and determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children: a multi-country study from the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

BACKGROUND: Huge efforts are being made to control the spread and impacts of the coronavirus pandemic using vaccines. However, willingness to be vaccinated depends on factors beyond the availability of vaccines. The aim of this study was three-folded: to assess children's rates of COVID-19 Vaccination as reported by parents, to explore parents' attitudes towards children's COVID-19 vaccination, and to examine the factors associated with parents' hesitancy towards children's vaccination in several countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). METHODS: This study utilized a cross-sectional descriptive design. A sample of 3744 parents from eight countries, namely, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was conveniently approached and surveyed using Google forms from November to December 2021. The participants have responded to a 42-item questionnaire pertaining to socio-demographics, children vaccination status, knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines, and attitudes towards vaccinating children and the vaccine itself. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS- IBM, Chicago, IL, USA) was used to analyze the data. A cross-tabulation analysis using the chi-square test was employed to assess significant differences between categorical variables and a backward Wald stepwise binary logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the independent effect of each factor after controlling for potential confounders. RESULTS: The prevalence of vaccinated children against COVID-19 was 32% as reported by the parents. Concerning parents' attitudes towards vaccines safety, about one third of participants (32.5%) believe that all vaccines are not safe. In the regression analysis, children's vaccination was significantly correlated with parents' age, education, occupation, parents' previous COVID-19 infection, and their vaccination status. Participants aged ≥50 years and those aged 40-50 years had an odds ratio of 17.9 (OR = 17.9, CI: 11.16-28.97) and 13.2 (OR = 13.2, CI: 8.42-20.88); respectively, for vaccinating their children compared to those aged 18-29 years. Parents who had COVID-19 vaccine were about five folds more likely to vaccinate their children compared with parents who did not receive the vaccine (OR = 4.9, CI: 3.12-7.70). The prevalence of children's vaccination in the participating Arab countries is still not promising. CONCLUSION: To encourage parents, vaccinate their children against COVID-19, Arab governments should strategize accordingly. Reassurance of the efficacy and effectiveness of the vaccine should target the general population using educational campaigns, social media, and official TV and radio channels.

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

The new global situation of COVID-19 affects the whole world in all aspects of life including mental health. The study's goal is to detect the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Emotion Regulation (ER) difficulties under the COVID-19 condition. Methods: University students were asked to complete: 1) Emotion Regulation Difficulties Questionnaire (DERS) 2) PTSD Checklist (PCL- 5). 3) Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5). Results: There were 441 students with suspected COVID-19 symptoms out of 1195 students. When compared to students who did not have suspected COVID-19 symptoms, those who did had a greater prevalence of PTSD symptoms (18.2% vs. 4.7%) and DERS (34.5% vs. 23.3%). Additionally, correlation studies demonstrated a significant positive link (Ps< .01) between the PCL, the overall DERS, and all six categories of emotion regulation difficulties. Conclusion: Students with suspected COVID-19 symptoms have more difficulty with emotion regulation and post-traumatic stress disorder than students without such symptoms. This research recommends that during the pandemic, health professionals should implement a suitable psychological intervention for students who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms.