The Moderation Role of Innovation and Infrastructure on the Relationship between COVID-19 Crises and Health Care Performance: Evidence from Jordan

This study examines the moderation role of innovation and infrastructure on the relationship between covid-19 crisis and healthcare performance in Jordan. The methodology of this study includes a literature review to identify relevant studies and theories related to the topic and identify gaps in the existing research. Attention is paid to human behavior and personnel interaction in the hospitals that receive Covid-19 cases. The findings of this study will be used to identify areas where improvements can be made in healthcare infrastructure and innovative practices to support healthcare performance during future crises better. This paper identifies specific innovative and most effective infrastructure supporting healthcare performance during a crisis, such as telemedicine, remote monitoring, or emergency medical service (EMS) systems. Also, the paper informs policy-making by providing insights into the impact of innovative practices and infrastructure on healthcare performance and how these factors can mitigate future crises' impact on healthcare systems. The healthcare industry needs ideas and strategies as the Covid-19 pandemic grips the world. These strategies will help the industry deal with the unstable and continuously changing environment. © 2023 WITPress. All rights reserved.

The Challenges of Psychological Adjustment for International Students: A Critical Analysis of Coping Mechanisms and Support Services

This paper critically analyzes the challenges of psychological adjustment faced by international students and explores coping mechanisms and support services that can help them overcome these challenges. The essay first introduces the background information on international students and highlights the importance of psychological adjustment for their well-being and academic success. The challenges of psychological adjustment, including cultural, academic, social adjustment, and language barrier, are discussed in detail. The essay then explores coping mechanisms, including problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, seeking social support, and cultural adjustment programs, and the support services, including counseling services and international student services, that can help international students adjust to their new environment. Finally, the essay evaluates the effectiveness of these coping mechanisms and support services, emphasizing the importance of cultural competence in providing effective support services. This essay has practical implications for higher education institutions in providing tailored support to international students and highlights the need for future research to explore the effectiveness of coping mechanisms and support services for different groups of international students and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their psychological adjustment. © 2023 NSP Natural Sciences Publishing Cor.

Development of human resource scheduling model in the healthcare sector during the pandemic

Researchers have paid close attention to hospital resource planning in recent decades, but the impact of human factors, such as human immunity, on healthcare management has been neglected. This paper integrates physicians' differences to examine their effect on patient waiting time and patient satisfaction. A mixed-integer programming model is proposed by considering different levels of physicians and various types of departments. The model seeks an effective physician assignment between skills, experience, and immunity. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGS-II) is conducted to confirm the proposed verification of the model and perform human resource planning in hospitals based on these factors. The results of sensitivity analysis demonstrated that considering the classification of patients and physicians' issues causes a significant improvement in the efficiency of hospitals in the future. Furthermore, the number of physicians assigned to each department varies according to the type of patient, so the assignment of medical specialists in the hospital requires information about demands, including patient classification and morbidity rates in the healthcare sector. Healthcare organizations require the efficient allocation of clinical specialists. This model equips hospital administrators with sufficient knowledge of how to deal with the pandemic. © 2023 International Society of Management Science and Engineering Management.

An Era to Remember: Managing Offshore Drilling Campaign During World Pandemic Covid-19 Crisis

When the pandemic COVID-19 erupted and spreaded throughout the world, numerous rules and regulations were implemented to ensure the safety of everyone. The outcome of Covid-19 resulted in a global shutdown, where cases continued to grow rapidly that directly affected the normal processes in all business sectors. While the future is still uncertain, business plan must keep on progressing by managing all the obstacles to ensure the business goal is delivered efficaciously while keeping the impact as low as possible. In the early stage of the outbreak, there was limited knowledge and experience to manage a drilling campaign virtually, to ensure all plans are smooth despite all the restrictions to avoid additional cost and schedule impact to the company. Since the outbreak was quite abrupt, the main challenge faced by the team was to ensure a continuous operation like any other year before but with additional enforcement of stringent COVID-19 SOP and to come up with new modus operandi with stringent SOP at every location. During this pandemic, the operation is exposed to the risk of being on standby mode due to equipment unavailability, unreadiness of manpower or delay in vessel movement. Knowing that drilling operation is so dynamic, that a slight change to the drilling sequence could lead to operation shutdown if the required services are not readily onboard. This uncomplimentary impact is due to the new rules or regulations implemented on the manpower and equipment movement to reduce risk of Covid-19 infection. Therefore, a thorough planning is crucial to ensure the success of operation, in fact a few fallback plans must be in placed to minimize the cost and schedule exposure. This paper will address the challenges in managing equipment and manpower throughout the operation for BX-Project together with the solutions to ensure the governance, rules and regulations of Covid-19 are being followed. The approaches taken during this campaign is used as a baseline to run a drilling operation during Covid-19 pandemic in the upcoming year. Lessons learnt captured from this campaign can be replicated by other projects and finding the more efficient ways to implement the best practices. This pandemic has challenged our perseverance to deliver the project objectives while maintaining the dedication, health, focus as well as creativity to overcome unfamiliar circumstances. Copyright © 2022, Offshore Technology Conference.

Improved Outpatient Medical Visit Compliance with Sociodemographic Discrepancies in Vascular Telehealth Evaluations.

OBJECTIVE: The coronavirus pandemic has led to a rapid expansion in telemedicine across all medical fields but has also exposed tele-healthcare disparities with differing access to technology across racial and ethnic groups. The objective of our study was to investigate the impact of telehealth on vascular visit compliance and to explore the effect of sociodemographic factors on vascular surgery outpatient telehealth utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing outpatient vascular surgery evaluation between February 24, 2020 (the launch of our telemedicine program) and December 31, 2020, were reviewed. Baseline demographic and outcomes were obtained from the electronic medical record. Telehealth or in-person evaluations were defined according to the patient's index visit during this period. Medical visit compliance was established upon completion of the telehealth or in-person encounter. Chi square tests and logistic regression analyses were used. RESULTS: There were 23,553 scheduled outpatient visits for 10,587 patients during the study period. 1,559 of those were scheduled telehealth encounters compared to 21,994 scheduled in-persons encounters. Out of the total scheduled outpatient encounters, 13,900 medical visits (59.0%) were completed: 1,183 telehealth visits and 12,717 in-person visits. The mean travel distance saved for telehealth visits were 22.1±27.1 miles and the mean travel time saved was 46.3±41.47 minutes. We noted no sociodemographic differences between patients scheduled for telehealth vs. in-person visits. There was a trend towards a lower proportion of African American patients among the telehealth group vs. in-person group (7.8% vs. 10.6%, P=.116) respectively; however, this did not reach statistical significance. There was a significantly higher rate of medical visit completion among the telehealth group compared to the in-person group (79.5% vs. 59.4%, P<.001). Among patients who were scheduled for an outpatient medical visit, having a scheduled telemedicine evaluation (vs. in-person) was associated with 2.3 times the odds of completing the medical visit (Odds Ratio (OR)=2.31, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.05-2.61) adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity, language and the distance between the patient's home zip code and the outpatient vascular center zip code. Selecting for scheduled telemedicine visits, African American patients were associated with decreased odds of telemedicine utilization (OR=0.73, 95%CI:0.59-0.90) after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, language and visit type. CONCLUSIONS: The vascular surgery outpatient telehealth evaluation appears to improve medical visit completion in our region with apparent sociodemographic disparities. Further studies are needed to confirm if telemedicine expansion has improved access to care in other geographical areas.

Demographic Characteristics, Clinical Features, Laboratory, and Radiological Findings in Children Admitted to COVID19 Center in Amara City, Misan Province, Iraq

Background: Most pediatric patients with covid 19 had mild to moderate infection and some had severe challenging infection. Generally, they had variable signs and symptoms, laboratory, and radiological findings correlated with the patient age, the involved system, disease severity and probably any underlying disease. Aim: To identify the most common clinical features, the frequency of positive radiological findings, and laboratory results of the infected children hospitalized in Misan COVID-19 Center. Materials and method: A retrospective descriptive with some analytic study applied on 100 pediatric patients in the age range of (0-16) years, diagnosed with COVID-19 or were highly suspected cases, depending on clinical findings, laboratory tests, COVID-19 RT-PCR and/or chest (X-ray + CT), whom were admitted to the Pediatric Covid -19 Center in Amara City, Iraq during the time period of (February-June, 2021). Their medical records were reviewed for demographic information, (gender, age, and residence), medical history, clinical examination, laboratory and imaging studies, (X-ray + CT), O saturation, the duration of illness before admission of any underlying chronic diseases as well as the most common presenting signs and symptoms. Results: Children infected slightly more in the age range of (5-10 years), boys slightly more infected than girls as (54%) and (46%), respectively. The urban residents suffered more than the rural ones, 4% of all cases had low O2 saturation. Fever and malaise were the most common presenting symptoms as (93%) and (68%), respectively. The illness duration before hospitalization commonly was (<5days), (RT-PCR) was negative in 45% of patients, 54% had anemia with or without leukopenia and lymphopenia, CTs were positive in (62%) and CXR was positive in (53%), while the underlying chronic diseases were found in (23%) of the cases. Conclusion: Children of ages between (5-<10 years) were slightly more infected than others, fever, malaise, and cough were the most common manifestations, the urban predominance is high, and half of patients had anemia about one third and had lymphopenia. Likewise, one forth had thrombocytopenia, negative Covid-19 (RT-PCR), and/or CXR. The CT results did not exclude infection. Thus, we need further local studies to support our results. © 2023 by SPC (Sami Publishing Company)

Why do ventilation strategies matter in controlling infectious airborne particles? A comprehensive numerical analysis in isolation ward

A proper ventilation strategy in an isolation ward could promote better indoor air quality for the occupants. This could also reduce the risk of immunocompromised patients contracting healthcare-associated infections (HAI) or airborne diseases such as COVID-19, tuberculosis, and measles among others. This study aims to propose and examine appropriate ventilation strategies in a single-patient isolation ward that can reduce particle settlement in patients. A simplified CFD model of the isolation ward was developed and well-validated against established data. An RNG k-ε model and discrete phase model (DPM) were used to simulate airflow and particle transportation. The study examined the airflow and particle dispersion under a baseline case and four proposed ventilation strategies. Results showed that the baseline case study, which used the ceiling-mounted air curtain was insufficient to prevent the particles from dispersing into the vicinity of the patient. Likewise, the dilution effect under the baseline case and case 4 (wall-mounted air supply diffuser) were relatively weak due to the low air change rate (ACH) of 4/hr and 9/hr respectively. The ventilation strategy in case 4 has a negligible effect on reducing the particles (14%) settling on the patient although the ACH in case 4 was 2-times the baseline case. The present finding ascertains that utilising the combination of ceiling-mounted air diffuser and air curtain jet (case 3) results in zero particle settlement on both patient's and the patient's bed. It also reduced 57% of particles in the vicinity of the medical staff's breathing zone compared to the baseline case. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd

The Efficiency Drivers in Logistic Firm to Engage the Imminence Covid-19

It has been catastrophic for the year 2020 with a Covid-19 pandemic outbreak with more thanlO million confirmed cases and hundred thousand of deaths throughout the globe. Most countries issued a total lockdown in order to break the coronavirus chain and this is affecting the economic sectors as a whole especially in logistics sector. There have been uproars such as warehouse congestion due to lack of employees as per standard operation procedure and billions of dollars loss due to lack of ship call during Restricted Movement Order (RMO). Due to the perceived restriction, it was found that logistics firm fails to adapt with the sudden pandemic and most of them cannot come up with a contingency plan to confront with such situation. Thus, deep literature reviews in this study is to understand how logistic firms can adapt with the new norm and to explore the efficiency drivers affecting logistics system to operate effectively. In short, the findings of this study are vital for logistics firm to operate efficiently and to be well-prepared for a future sporadic exasperate pandemic. © 2022 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.

The impact of sex on D-Dimer levels and disease outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Background: Males and females are similarly susceptible to COVID-19 infection. Multiple studies report male mortality rate to be nearly double that of females. Hypercoagulability is common in severe COVID-19 patients. D-dimer was reported as a significant marker for disease severity and mortality risk. It is unclear whether D-dimer levels differ between males and females. The effect of D-dimers on disease outcomes remains under investigation. Aim(s): To evaluate the sex difference of D-dimer level in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and to determine the effect of sex on disease outcomes. Method(s): We searched EMBASE for articles published prior to October 1, 2021, evaluating D-dimer in adult males and females, hospitalized for COVID-19 and reporting on mortality, ICU admission, hospital stay and thrombotic complications. 3225 articles were retrieved. Comparative, observational prospective or retrospective, or case control studies were included. Studies including pregnancy, children, or a secondary disease focus were excluded. We meta-analysed data from 10 included studies using Cochrane RevMan 5 software. Result(s): Of 11,827 hospitalized COVID-19+ adults, 6519 (55%) were male and 5308 (45%) were female. Critical illness was experienced by 1681 (26%) males and 1228 (23%) females. Mortality occurred in 877 (13%) males and 548 (10%) females. In unadjusted analysis males had higher odds of experiencing critical illness and mortality. The Odds Ratios were 1.53 [95% CI: 1.36-1.72, I2 = 77%, p =< 0.00001] and 1.40 [95% CI: 1.24-1.57, I2 = 0%, p =< 0.00001], respectively. The mean difference between male and female D-dimer level was 0.18 [95% CI: 0.13-0.23, I2 = 83%, p =< 0.00001]. The reporting of D-dimer assay calibration was inconsistent and D-dimer unit magnitude varied greatly between studies. Conclusion(s): Males have higher mean D-dimer levels and are at higher risk of experiencing poor COVID-19 outcomes than females. The diversity in D-dimer reporting among different studies can impact data interpretation. (Table Presented).

COVID-19 coagulopathies-Highlights On 2020-2021 Reported Data

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has evolved dramatically over the past 2 years and literature on COVID coagulopathy has been overwhelming. Understanding literature and assessing the quality of data available is a challenge which is furthermore complicated by the difficulty in defining the 'waves of infection' across the globe. Aim(s): To provide highlights on literature regarding coagulation impairments, thrombotic complications, and anticoagulation use in severe COVID-19 patients, over the past 2 years of the pandemic. Method(s): Performed a systematic search on MEDLINE, EMBASE and EPUB Ahead of Print AND Other Non-Indexed Citations (from inception to 18th July 2021). Studies were eligible for inclusion if written in English, reporting severe COVID-19/ hospitalized patients and reporting coagulopathy data and thrombotic complications. Articles had to be published in journals with impact factor 3 or above. Data ed on country, total number of patients, age and sex, coagulation parameters, thrombotic complications, and anticoagulation data. Result(s): Identified 62 studies (PRISMA in Figure 1). A total of 18,581 patients reported from 16 different countries (Figure 2) published between March 2020 to July 2021 were included in this review. Coagulation lab parameters were reported in most studies with considerable heterogeneity on data reported. A key finding is a pro-coagulant profile with hypercoagulability more pronounced in ICU patients. Controversy existed around thrombocytopenia in association with severe or late disease. Elevated fibrinogen was reported in 37/41 (90%) studies. Elevated D-dimer was consistently reported and was predictive of thrombosis and poor outcome. 46 (74%) studies reported VTE which occurred despite guideline-recommended thromboprophylaxis. Anticoagulation was reported in all studies, but practices were diverse. Conclusion(s): Evident heterogeneity of clinical and laboratory findings of reported studies with inconsistent reporting on coagulation parameters, units of measurement and relationship to disease outcomes. This study can help investigators carefully design future studies related to coagulopathy in COVID-19. (Figure Presented).

Comparing Mortality and Morbidity of COVID-19 Omicron Variant vs. Other Variants in a Hemodialysis Population in Qatar

Background: Patients on dialysis are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection, with higher mortality and morbidity. In December 2021 the state of Qatar witnessed a surge in COVID 19 cases solely due to omicron variant. We compare the effect of omicron Vs pre-omicron variants COVID infection on hemodialysis patients in terms of incidence, severity and mortality. Method(s): This is an observational, analytical, retrospective, nationwide study. COVID-19 PCR was the method of diagnosis. During the Omicron wave, Rapid Antigen Test was accepted by Ministry of Health in Qatar as a diagnostic test. Our study followed patients for duration from 3/2020 to 1/2022. All positive results from 1st of December 2021 were assigned to the omicron group as per national genomic surveillance. Cases before that were assigned to the pre-omicron group. Primary outcome was to compare the incidence of omicron infections in haemodialysis patient compared to pre-omicron era. Secondary outcomes were to assess the mortality, ICU admissions, length of stay in ICU and need for ventilatory support in omicron vs pre-omicron phase. Patient demographics and clinical features were collected from a national electronic medical record. Result(s): 274 haemodialysis patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the omicron wave (2 months period) vs174 patients in the pre-omicron period (21 months). The incidence in omicron wave was 30.3%, which is significantly higher than preomicron waves of 18.7% (p <0.001). Omicron variant has lower mortality rate 2.4%, compared to other variants grouped together 15.5% (p <0.001). ICU admissions rate during the omicron wave was significantly less than pre-omicron waves (4.9% Vs 26.4% (p <0.001)), and there was less need for ventilatory support (0.01% Vs 0.16% (p <0.001)). ICU length of stay was not significantly different (16.7+/-8 days Vs 14.2 +/-17.5 days (p = 0.34)). Conclusion(s): This is the 1st national study to compare the outcome of omicron vs non-omicron COVID-19 variants infection among hemodialysis patients. The incidence of omicron variant was higher than pre-omicron variants, while mortality and ICU admission were significantly lower in the omicron era compared to pre-omicron era. ICU length of stay was not significantly different.

Forced Online and Distance Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic: Students’ Perceptions and Experiences

The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has forced educational institutions to change and adapt to ODL. This is to avoid disruption to students’ education and study plans. However, the forced actions resulted in mixed reactions from students and educators. Both parties were not ready and anticipated difficulties in executing forced ODL. Problems faced include internet connectivity, inadequate learning devices and lack of skills during the implementation of full ODL. This study was conducted to assess perceptions and experiences (i.e. challenges, advantages and disadvantages) of ODL among Diploma in Pharmacy students. Data were obtained through a cross-sectional survey through online questionnaires. Questionnaires which consisted of demographic, perspectives and experiences towards ODL were distributed using WhatsApp and email. A total of 262 respondents (209 females and 53 males) completed the questionnaires. Majority of the students (94.3%) chose to study at home and used both mobile phones (92.4%) and laptops (96.2%) for ODL. Most students preferred ODL because of convenience (83.6%) whilst reduced concentration (80.9%) and poor internet connection (76.3%) were among the challenges encountered. Most frequently used digital platforms include UFUTURE (98.9%), Microsoft Teams (94.3%) and Google Classroom (89.7%). Likewise, live video conferencing (72.1%), pre-recorded videos (67.2%) and videos from online sources (59.5%) were among the most used type of delivery modes by lecturers. Our findings may help to strengthen the understanding of current ODL implementation and teaching processes. Results from this study will assist in improving various aspects of ODL to increase its effectiveness and efficiency for students’ learning © 2022, Asian Journal of University Education.All Rights Reserved.

Quantifying Nighttime Light Changes in KL, Putrajaya, and Selangor from Human Activities Impact of Pandemic COVID-19

The Malaysian government has implemented extensive physical distancing measures to prevent and control virus transmission in response to the pandemic COVID-19. Particularly in the Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Selangor regions, quantitative, spatially disaggregated information about the population-scale shifts in an activity caused by these measures is extremely rare. A next-generation space-borne low-light imager called the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day/Night Band (VIIRS-DNB) can monitor changes in human activities. However, a cross-country examination of COVID-19 replies has not yet utilized the potential. To understand how communities have complied with COVID-19 measures in the two years since the pandemic. This study aims to quantify nighttime light (NTL) before and during COVID-19 using multi-year (2019-2021) monthly time series data derived from VIIRS nighttime light (NTL) products covering urban areas in Selangor, Putrajaya, and Kuala Lumpur. The NTL was processed in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. NTL data has documented the link between curfew orders, nationwide closures, and the uneven response to control measures between and within the areas. Our findings demonstrate satellite images from VIIRS DNB can examine public opinion regarding national curfews and lockdowns, laws, and the sociocultural elements that influence their effectiveness, particularly in unstable and sparsely populated areas. Statistical T-test analysis revealed that the p-value for Kuala Lumpur was 0.01687, and less than 0.05 meant a significant difference between NTL reduction before and during COVID-19. Petaling showed a p-value of 0.0034 and less than 0.05, indicating a significant difference between NTL reduction before and during COVID-19. However, for area Putrajaya, the p-value is 0.0957, and more than 0.05 means there is no significant difference between the reduction of NTL before and during COVID-19. © 2022 IEEE.

High Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG and RNA among Asymptomatic Blood Donors in Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia.

The gold-standard approach for diagnosing and confirming Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This method, however, is inefficient in detecting previous or dormant viral infections. The presence of antigen-specific antibodies is the fingerprint and cardinal sign for diagnosis and determination of exposure to infectious agents including Corona virus disease-2019 (COVID-19). This cross-sectional study examined the presence of SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) among asymptomatic blood donors in Makkah region. A total of 4368 asymptomatic blood donors were enrolled. They were screened for spike-specific IgG using ELISA and COVID-19 RNA by real-time PCR. COVID-19 IgG was detected among 2248 subjects (51.5%) while COVID-19-RNA was detected among 473 (10.8%) subjects. The IgG frequency was significantly higher among males and non-Saudi residents (p < 0.001 each) with no significant variation in IgG positivity among blood donors with different blood groups. In addition, COVID-19 RNA frequency was significantly higher among donors below 40-years old (p = 0.047, χ2 = 3.95), and non-Saudi residents (p = 0.001, χ2 = 304.5). The COVID-19 IgG levels were significantly higher among the RNA-positive donors (p = 001), and non-Saudi residents (p = 0.041), with no variations with age or blood group (p > 0.05). This study reveals a very high prevalence of COVID-19 IgG and RNA among asymptomatic blood donors in Makkah, Saudi Arabia indicating a high exposure rate of the general population to COVID-19; particularly foreign residents. It sheds light on the spread on COVID-19 among apparently healthy individuals at the beginning of the pandemic and could help in designing various control measures to minimize viral spread.

Payment Behaviour Among B40 Households During COVID-19 as a Mediator Towards Financial Well-Being

Households in the B40 income category who are economically disadvantaged would be much affected during COVID-19, where the Movement Control Order (MCO) has limited the economic activity of households and businesses. They may find difficulties in loan repayments during the pandemic. During the order, the use of FinTech would facilitate payments. Hence, this study aims to determine the mediation effect of payment behaviour in the influence of FinTech usage on financial well-being among 2,125 respondents from B40 households in Malaysia via multi-stage random sampling and influential factors on financial well-being were also determined in this paper. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed at the respondents’ residences. The mediated financial well-being model was a fit model based on the R square of 28.4 per cent;thus, the research findings have practical significance. Significant factors in the model comprised of income, savings, net-worth, health, internal locus of control, financial stress and FinTech usage in the first model. In the second model, payment behaviour mediated the effect of FinTech usage on financial well-being among B40 households. The models were valid models based on the significant F statistics. Prudent payment behaviour should be practised to elevate financial well-being. Though FinTech facilitates payments, a good financial situation would not be achieved without proper payments made for loans. Debt advisory services will be sought to assist households in improving their debt repayment practices. © 2022, Malaysian Consumer and Family Economics Association. All rights reserved.

Inequities in the deployment of COVID-19 vaccine in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, 2020-2021.

The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is characterised by a large range in routine immunisation coverage. We reviewed progress in access, deployment efforts, and use of COVID-19 vaccines in the EMR to identify bottlenecks and propose recommendations. We compiled and analysed data reported to WHO regarding the number of vaccines provided emergency use authorisation (EUA) in each country, the number of vaccine doses allocated and delivered by COVAX, the number of vaccine doses received bilaterally, the date of initiation of vaccination, vaccine usage rate and overall vaccination coverage. In June-July and October-November 2021, we conducted two rounds of a regional survey to assess vaccine acceptance and calculated the weighted proportion of individuals who would get vaccinated once a vaccine is available and recommended. We stratified the analysis according to four groups based on their participation status in COVAX, from the highest to lowest income, that is, (1) fully self-financing high-income countries (group 1), (2) fully self-financing upper middle-income countries (group 2), (3) Advance Market Commitment (AMC) countries not eligible to receive Gavi support (group 3) and (4) AMC countries eligible for Gavi support (group 4). As of 31 December 2021, the median number of vaccines provided with EUA was 6 for group 1, 11 for group 2, 8 for group 3 and 9 for group 4. On the same date, COVAX had delivered 179 793 310 doses to EMR countries. Vaccination started on 10 December 2020 in group 1, on 13 December 2020 in group 2, on 30 December 2020 in group 3 and on 20 January 2021 in group 4. The regional acceptance survey (first round) pointed to higher vaccine acceptance in group 1 (96%), than in others, including group 2 (73.9%), group 3 (78.8%) and group 4 (79.3%), with identical patterns in the second round (98%, 78%, 84% and 76%), respectively. Usage of vaccine allocated by COVAX to participating countries was 89% in group 1, 75% in group 2, 78% in group 3 and 42% in group 4. The full dose and partial dose coverage decreased with the income groups of countries, from 70% and 6% in group 1, to 43% and 8% in group 2, to 33% and 11% in group 3, and 20% and 8% in group 4. All 22 EMR countries introduced COVID-19 vaccines by 21 April 2021, but with major inequities in coverage. Additional efforts are needed to address the determinants of unequal vaccine coverage at all stages of the result chain to improve vaccine equity.

Immune-boosting effect of natural remedies and supplements on progress of, and recovery from COVID-19 infection

Purpose: To investigate the effect of natural remedies and supplements on the progress of and recovery from COVID-19 infection, and the role of safety precautions in controlling the spread of its causative pathogen. Methods: A questionnaire was designed and electronically distributed among previously infected individuals across countries. The survey included questions about the participants' demographic information, medical history, how they were infected, symptoms they have experienced, where they were isolated, the degree of precautions taken against the virus, and their consumption of natural remedies or supplements before and during the infection period. Results: The results showed that natural remedies and supplements are widely consumed among COVID-19 patients both before and during infection, either as a single remedy or in combination with other remedies. As the age of the participants increased, the incidence of their hospitalization increased. Significant results were observed when comparing the severity of infection with the number of natural remedies and supplements taken before (P 0.000) and during the infection (P 0.003). Conclusion: Increasing the intake of natural remedies and/or supplements before and during COVID-19 infection lowers the severity of the infection. Vitamin C, honey, and citrus fruits such as orange and lemon were the major remedies consumed before and during infection. A large number of the participants that experienced severe COVID-19 conditions, did not consume any natural remedies or supplements. © Pharmacotherapy Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, 300001 Nigeria. © 2022 The authors

Implementation of LoRa in River Water Quality Monitoring

Emergence of Long Range (LoRa) in network technologies become game changer for Internet of Things (IoT) application. Deployment of LoRa enable IoT application of environment monitoring to cover wide area while maintain at low energy and low cost. Water quality monitoring program was developed to maintain and protect quality of water resources for daily purpose. Also, to prevent pollution and disease epidemic peculiarly during Covid19. This research aimed to build autonomous water quality monitoring prototype implemented with LoRa network for support decision system. The Wireless Sensor Nodes (WSN) that embedded with five type of water quality sensors of pH, turbidity, total dissolved solid (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature linked to single gateway. Water environmentalist able to view the result of timely water quality from mobile application dashboard. Though the performance not severely affected, acquired results revealed non-line of sight condition, transmission power and Spread Factor (SF) value influenced LoRa performance in urban environment. In conclusion, a few improvements on the system grant LoRa high capabilities to be integrated with IoT environment application in urban environment. © The 2022 International Conference on Artificial Life and Robotics (ICAROB2022).

Revisiting the marketing approach between seaports and dry ports in Malaysia: current trend and strategy for improvement

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the comparative analysis of marketing strategies between seaports and dry ports. Second, this paper proposes a recommendation to improve marketing approaches in both nodes. Design/methodology/approach: This research analyzes current marketing approaches to improve the freight volume and enhance interrelation between them for a comprehensive collaboration in the freight supply chain. This research employed semi-structured interviews via an e-interview questionnaire. Findings: The result shows that dry port and seaport practices a mixed marketing strategy. Some marketing elements that seaport applies are also applied by dry port, like focusing on the target customer, joining exhibitions and face-to-face meetings. Customized service to clients, frequent discussion on the effective marketing plans, increasing the facilities at the seaport and dry ports can improve the marketing strategies in dry port and seaports. Originality/value: Seaports are the critical components in esteem-driven context, which add to supply chains by creating value-added services in the transport chain. Nonetheless, research between dry ports and seaports has increasingly drawn the attention of scholars during the last decade. Having said like that, there have not been any pragmatic studies undertaken in the Malaysian context that mainly discussing the marketing prospect of the dry ports and seaports especially during COVID-19 outbreak. © 2022, Pacific Star Group Education Foundation.

IoT Architecture Based Water Resources Conservation Management Using LoRa

Urbanization and anthropogenic activities are impacting the biodiversity of the water stream. Consequently, it interrupts water supply for daily purpose and sanitization requirement during pandemic Covid19. Water quality monitoring program designed to control water pollution. Development of IoT contributed to environment conservation including monitoring purpose for support decision system. This paper aims to study the integration of LoRa network with automatic water quality monitoring system. The proposed prototype of the system built with one gateway as base station and wireless sensor nodes (WSN) that embedded with water quality sensor of pH, turbidity, total dissolved solid (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature. The daily water quality status can be viewed in developed mobile application dashboard. Result shows that LoRa capabilities were affected from non-line of sight condition, transmission power and Spread Factor (SF) value. In conclusion, LoRa is compatible to be integrated with water quality monitoring system in urban environment. © 2021 IEEE.