First Week Of March Research Articles

Attitude of Health Care Workers On COVID 19 Care In a Selected Hospital Setting

Introduction: From the first week of March 2020 till Nov 2020 the attitude of HCWs, mental health or perceptions changing regularly as the COVID-19 pandemic changing its image. New treatment, new information new training and practice changing attitude towards positivity as the death rate reducing and patient recovery rate increasing. Methods: A cross sectional study was done by a Likert type five-point attitude scale by survey method and conveniently selected 120 health care workers from a single setting. Different categories of HCWs were participated namely doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, lab technicians and X-ray technicians. Results: result showed mean age of HCWs were 26.9. Female HCWs are more than male. 80% HCWs attitude is favorable 20% neutral and no one have unfavorable attitude. Chai square test revealed that there is highly significant association of attitude with marital status and residence area, significant with age and year of experience. Conclusion: Generalization is not possible because this is single center data. But research showed maturity and better practice improves attitude. HCWs attitude improve care and recovery rates.

Plant communities exhibit low resource partitioning for pollinator guilds under sub-tropical conditions of Pakistan.

Assessment of resource partitioning in pollinators at a particular place can be used to conserve plant communities by minimizing their inter-specific competition. Current study was conducted to investigate the occurrence of this phenomenon among plant communities under sub-tropical conditions for the first time in Pakistan. We considered the entire available flowering plant and floral visitor communities in the study area—Lal Suhanra forest of Bahawalpur, Pakistan- along with different variations among them based on morphology, color and symmetry (functional groups) i.e. four functional groups among insects and nine among plants. Weekly floral visitor censuses were conducted during spring season -from the first week of March to the fourth week of May 2018. Thirty individuals of each plant species -in bloom- were observed for floral visitors in each census. Plant species with different floral shapes, colors and symmetry did not show any significant resource partitioning. The Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis followed by one-way ANOSIM test showed non- significant differences among all the pair of floral shapes, colors (except white and yellow) and symmetry (R-value < 0.168). However, SIMPER test suggested that flies were the most common group that contributed more towards within group similarities of different floral shapes (19 to 21% similarity), colors (16 to 30%) and symmetry (19%) followed by long-tongue bees i.e. 14 to 21%, 9 to 19% and 18%, respectively. Our results suggest that plant communities under sub-tropical conditions of Pakistan exhibit a generalist pollination system with no significant resource partitioning in pollinator species. Therefore, plant communities may have high competition for pollinator species which exhibits fewer implications of species loss on overall pollination process. Our study provides the basis for understanding the partitioning of pollinator guilds under sub-tropical conditions. Future studies should focus on functional traits in more detail at the community and the population scales for their possible impact on resource partitioning.

Patient factors and temporal trends associated with COVID-19 in-hospital mortality in England: an observational study using administrative data

BackgroundAnalysis of the effect of COVID-19 on the complete hospital population in England has been lacking. Our aim was to provide a comprehensive account of all hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in England during the early phase of the pandemic and to identify the factors that influenced mortality as the pandemic evolved.MethodsThis was a retrospective exploratory analysis using the Hospital Episode Statistics administrative dataset. All patients aged 18 years or older in England who completed a hospital stay (were discharged alive or died) between March 1 and May 31, 2020, and had a diagnosis of COVID-19 on admission or during their stay were included. In-hospital death was the primary outcome of interest. Multilevel logistic regression was used to model the relationship between death and several covariates: age, sex, deprivation (Index of Multiple Deprivation), ethnicity, frailty (Hospital Frailty Risk Score), presence of comorbidities (Charlson Comorbidity Index items), and date of discharge (whether alive or deceased).Findings91 541 adult patients with COVID-19 were discharged during the study period, among which 28 200 (30·8%) in-hospital deaths occurred. The final multilevel logistic regression model accounted for age, deprivation score, and date of discharge as continuous variables, and sex, ethnicity, and Charlson Comorbidity Index items as categorical variables. In this model, significant predictors of in-hospital death included older age (modelled using restricted cubic splines), male sex (1·457 [1·408–1·509]), greater deprivation (1·002 [1·001–1·003]), Asian (1·211 [1·128–1·299]) or mixed ethnicity (1·317 [1·080–1·605]; vs White ethnicity), and most of the assessed comorbidities, including moderate or severe liver disease (5·433 [4·618–6·392]). Later date of discharge was associated with a lower odds of death (0·977 [0·976–0·978]); adjusted in-hospital mortality improved significantly in a broadly linear fashion, from 52·2% in the first week of March to 16·8% in the last week of May.InterpretationReductions in the adjusted probability of in-hospital mortality for COVID-19 patients over time might reflect the impact of changes in hospital strategy and clinical processes. The reasons for the observed improvements in mortality should be thoroughly investigated to inform the response to future outbreaks. The higher mortality rate reported for certain ethnic minority groups in community-based studies compared with our hospital-based analysis might partly reflect differential infection rates in those at greatest risk, propensity to become severely ill once infected, and health-seeking behaviours.FundingNone.

SIOS’s Earth Observation (EO), Remote Sensing (RS), and Operational Activities in Response to COVID-19

Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIOS) is an international partnership of research institutions studying the environment and climate in and around Svalbard. SIOS is developing an efficient observing system, where researchers share technology, experience, and data, work together to close knowledge gaps, and decrease the environmental footprint of science. SIOS maintains and facilitates various scientific activities such as the State of the Environmental Science in Svalbard (SESS) report, international access to research infrastructure in Svalbard, Earth observation and remote sensing services, training courses for the Arctic science community, and open access to data. This perspective paper highlights the activities of SIOS Knowledge Centre, the central hub of SIOS, and the SIOS Remote Sensing Working Group (RSWG) in response to the unprecedented situation imposed by the global pandemic coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19). The pandemic has affected Svalbard research in several ways. When Norway declared a nationwide lockdown to decrease the rate of spread of the COVID-19 in the community, even more strict measures were taken to protect the Svalbard community from the potential spread of the disease. Due to the lockdown, travel restrictions, and quarantine regulations declared by many nations, most physical meetings, training courses, conferences, and workshops worldwide were cancelled by the first week of March 2020. The resumption of physical scientific meetings is still uncertain in the foreseeable future. Additionally, field campaigns to polar regions, including Svalbard, were and remain severely affected. In response to this changing situation, SIOS initiated several operational activities suitable to mitigate the new challenges resulting from the pandemic. This article provides an extensive overview of SIOS’s Earth observation (EO), remote sensing (RS) and other operational activities strengthened and developed in response to COVID-19 to support the Svalbard scientific community in times of cancelled/postponed field campaigns in Svalbard. These include (1) an initiative to patch up field data (in situ) with RS observations, (2) a logistics sharing notice board for effective coordinating field activities in the pandemic times, (3) a monthly webinar series and panel discussion on EO talks, (4) an online conference on EO and RS, (5) the SIOS’s special issue in the Remote Sensing (MDPI) journal, (6) the conversion of a terrestrial remote sensing training course into an online edition, and (7) the announcement of opportunity (AO) in airborne remote sensing for filling the data gaps using aerial imagery and hyperspectral data. As SIOS is a consortium of 24 research institutions from 9 nations, this paper also presents an extensive overview of the activities from a few research institutes in pandemic times and highlights our upcoming activities for the next year 2021. Finally, we provide a critical perspective on our overall response, possible broader impacts, relevance to other observing systems, and future directions. We hope that our practical services, experiences, and activities implemented in these difficult times will motivate other similar monitoring programs and observing systems when responding to future challenging situations. With a broad scientific audience in mind, we present our perspective paper on activities in Svalbard as a case study.

Cross-sectional observational study of epidemiology of COVID-19 and clinical outcomes of hospitalised patients in North West London during March and April 2020

ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to describe evolution, epidemiology and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in subjects tested at or admitted to hospitals in North West London.DesignObservational cohort study.SettingLondon North...

A Founder Effect Led Early SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Spain.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) whole-genome analysis has identified five large clades worldwide which emerged in 2019 (19A and 19B) and in 2020 (20A, 20B, and 20C). This study aimed to analyze the diffusion of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain using maximum-likelihood phylogenetic and Bayesian phylodynamic analyses. The most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was estimated to have emerged in Wuhan, China, around 24 November 2019. Phylogenetic analyses of the first 12,511 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences obtained worldwide, including 290 from 11 different regions of Spain, revealed 62 independent introductions of the virus in the country. Most sequences from Spain were distributed in clades characterized by a D614G substitution in the S gene (20A, 20B, and 20C) and an L84S substitution in ORF8 (19B) with 163 and 118 sequences, respectively, with the remaining sequences branching in 19A. A total of 110 (38%) sequences from Spain grouped in four different monophyletic clusters of clade 20A (20A-Sp1 and 20A-Sp2) and 19B clade (19B-Sp1 and 19B-Sp2) along with sequences from 29 countries worldwide. The MRCAs of clusters 19A-Sp1, 20A-Sp1, 19A-Sp2, and 20A-Sp2 were estimated to have occurred in Spain around 21 and 29 January and 6 and 17 February 2020, respectively. The prevalence of clade 19B in Spain (40%) was by far higher than in any other European country during the first weeks of the epidemic, probably as a result of a founder effect. However, this variant was replaced by G614-bearing viruses in April. In vitro assays showed an enhanced infectivity of pseudotyped virions displaying the G614 substitution compared with those having D614, suggesting a fitness advantage of D614G.IMPORTANCE Multiple SARS-CoV-2 introductions have been detected in Spain, and at least four resulted in the emergence of locally transmitted clusters that originated not later than mid-February, with further dissemination to many other countries around the world, and a few weeks before the explosion of COVID-19 cases detected in Spain during the first week of March. The majority of the earliest variants detected in Spain branched in the clade 19B (D614 viruses), which was the most prevalent clade during the first weeks of March, pointing to a founder effect. However, from mid-March to June 2020, G614-bearing viruses (clades 20A, 20B, and 20C) overcame D614 variants in Spain, probably as a consequence of an evolutionary advantage of this substitution in the spike protein. A higher infectivity of G614-bearing viruses than D614 variants was detected, suggesting that this substitution in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein could be behind the variant shift observed in Spain.

Awareness amongst Non-teaching Professionals Regarding COVID-19 in a Rural Teaching Hospital: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has enforced a huge burden on the primary health care systems around the world to deal with this global health challenge. The recent global threat of this pandemic is rapidly progressing and has placed a high priority on investigation of medicaments. The rapid rise in COVID-19 occurred during the first week of March 2020, wherein, cases of COVID-19 reached over 100 countries with more than 100,000 cases reported. Aim: To assess the knowledge and perception regarding COVID-19 amongst non-teaching professionals of a rural teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study and was conducted over a period of two months from start of May, 2020 to end of June, 2020. Total number of participants enrolled were 70. Each questionnaire had a total of 27 questions in their vernacular language, through which their knowledge (9 questions) and perception (18 questions) regarding COVID-19 were assessed. Moreover, one question related to five steps of the 20 second handwash technique was also included with pictorial graphics. Questionnaires filled by the participants were collected for statistical analysis and the results were expressed as percentage. Results: A total of 70 participants were included in the present study. Regarding questions related to knowledge of coronavirus, 91.43% of participants had heard about the recent coronavirus. However, 68.57% were not aware about coronavirus spread from person-to-person through small drops from the nose or mouth, that can be dispersed widely through an infected person when they cough or breathe. Nearly 44.29% participants knew that coronavirus can cause difficulty in breathing. Concerning questions related to prevention and safety, all the participants were aware of wearing face masks. Conclusion: Though majority of the participants are aware about coronavirus, they had lack of in-depth knowledge as seen in their perception of knowledge through detailed questions. Hence, there is a need for increased awareness regarding the symptoms, implementation of precautionary measures and guidelines laid down by the authorities from time to time.

‘A Terrible Storm’: Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Sri Lanka

‘COVID-19’ has taken the world by storm, challenging the norm of ‘normal’ in most aspects of life. The pandemic situation ‘halted’ almost all economic activities of Sri Lanka. This review study comprehensively examines the impacts of COVID-19 on GDP, employment, poverty, tourism, household income, exchange rate and remittances in Sri Lankan context. The analysis reveals COVID-19 creates adverse impacts on both GDP and employment in Sri Lanka, despite magnitude of the impacts is significantly lower than that of South Asian average. Declining tourism receipts, declining export earnings and outstanding foreign debt repayments are essentially increasing the pressure on the foreign exchange rate. Accordingly, from the first week of March 2020, the Sri Lankan rupee began to depreciate against the major currencies. It reporting one of the highest depreciation in history. Moreover, COVID-19 adversely affected on tourism sector, construction, transport, hotel and apparel sectors while enhancing unemployment rate as a whole. Due to job lost, unemployment rate was increased while increasing the poverty line as well. Predictions show that under the current pandemic, poverty associated with all forms of poverty is likely to increase. Ultimately, the welfare impact of COVID-19, which is rising more than expected, will inevitably hamper the country's long-term economic development process. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken to control the spread of the epidemic and to revive the economy.

Adolescence Development and the Math Gender Gap

Using different production function models, we study the causal association between adolescence development and the increase in the gap in math performance between boys and girls. We use data from the 1958 British National Child Development Study, a longitudinal survey of all British children born in the first week of March 1958, containing unique information on puberty development and educational outcomes from childhood into adolescence. We first document a widening of about 10 percent of a standard deviation in the gender gap in maths from primary to secondary school in the UK, and show that adolescent development contributes to explain almost two thirds of the widening of the math gender gap during the adolescence years. We also explore the mechanisms behind these effects. Our evidence regarding differences in the impact of puberty development by age, subject and self-perceived math ability suggests that both social conditions and biological factors are behind the estimated relationships between adolescent development and the increase in the gender gap in math in secondary school.

Anxiety and Leisure-Domain Physical Activity Frequency, Duration, and Intensity During Covid-19 Pandemic.

This study investigated relationships between state anxiety and leisure-domain physical activity levels during Covid-19 pandemic. We used frequency, duration, and intensity as key variables of physical activity. Trait anxiety, state anxiety before pandemic, age, gender, and education level were also included in the analysis. Our general hypothesis was that participants who declared doing more physical activity levels would exhibit lower levels of anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. A convenient sample of 571 volunteer adults (mean age 39 ± 14 years) was drawn mainly from São Paulo State (89.2% of the sample), the epicenter of Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil. To obtain the participants’ levels of anxiety (trait, state before pandemic, and state during pandemic) we used a validated short-version of the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. Levels of physical activity were measured via questions from VIGITEL, a validated questionnaire about the individual’s habits on risk factors. Answers were given regarding the first week of March 2020 (before pandemic) and at the very moment the participant was filling in the electronic form (June 2020). Data analyses were conducted through descriptive and inferential techniques, with the use of non-parametric tests and linear regression models. Overall, participants’ responses indicate that anxiety levels were higher during the pandemic compared to the period that preceded the pandemic, and that frequent and long physical activity in the leisure-domain reduced anxiety, regardless its intensity. The regression models revealed an inverse relationship between physical activity and anxiety (the more physical activity, the less anxiety) and independent of gender, age, education level, trait anxiety, and physical activity before pandemic.

Climate changes and trends in phenology of Cassia fistula L. in Agra (India)—1965-2019

Aim. The phenological observations help in identifying how plant species respond to regional climatic changes in particular such as ambient temperature. The study of trends in phenology of Cassia fistula L. (Caesalpiniaceae, Fabaceae) to climate changes in Agra (India) was the aim of the researches. Methods. The data on the average annual temperature in India and Agra were collected for 1965 to 2019 from the Meteorological Department. Commencement of leaf fall, time of new flush of leaves, flowering period (initiation, full bloom, and end) and the rest of phenophases in trees planted at Raja Balwant Singh College (Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India) were recorded from 25 marked trees during 1965–2019. Results. In C. fistula trees leaf fall started in the second and third week of February. Trees became completely leaf-less at the beginning of March. Flowering commenced in the first week of March, and the trees were in full bloom during the second week of March. Flowering continued till the beginning of May, and it was over in the second week of June. Fruiting commenced in December and continued till April. The timing of phenological events was consistent in 1965–2000. However, after 2001, there was a gradual shift recorded, and the shift was evident in 2009–2019. During the period 1965–2008, the average annual temperature ranged between 23.23o–25.13oC there was a liner increase in the temperature. The increase in average yearly temperature became more pronounced in 2009, and this trend is rising in temperature continued till 2019. In Agra in 2009–2019, temperature increase by 0.75–1.0oC had been recorded. The shift of phenoevents in C. fistula is correlated with the rise in annual average temperature. Conclusions. The shift in the timing of various phenoevents is the trees of C. fistula at Agra (India) are influenced by the change in the climate and rise in temperature. It is suggested that a phenological model should be developed to estimate the impact of climate change on fruit trees, horticultural plants and crops development in different regions of India.

PSVIII-26 Extending the grazing season for grass-fed beef production into the spring transition period

Abstract In the Gulf Coast region, the spring transition period is a 45–60 d period between late April and mid-June. Red and white clovers’ growth pattern is delayed compared to winter grasses making them suitable for this transition period; however, an appropriate rest period allowing stockpiling is needed. Three treatments were evaluated on pastures planted in September of three consecutive years: 1) grazed until mid-February (MF); 2) grazed until first week of March (EM); and 3) grazed until last week of March (LM). Grazing re-started on May 1. Pasture was a mixed of annual ryegrass, red, white and berseem clover. Each year, 24 crossbred steers (330 ± 11 kg) were blocked by BW, allotted to 1 of 6 groups (2 replicates/treatment), and continuously stocked at 995 kg BW/ha. Forage mass at the beginning of the grazing period was greater (P &amp;lt; 0.05) in MF, followed by EM and LM. This represented a forage allowance of 2.0, 1.6, and 1.1 kg DM/kg BW. On d0, the proportion of annual ryegrass was greater (P &amp;lt; 0.05) in MF than in EM and the smallest in LM. Proportion of clovers was greater (P = 0.04) in EM in Year 2 while MF and LM were similar but greater for MF in Year 1. Berseem clover represented 59% of the clover biomass in MF while red clover was 72% of the clover biomass in LM. Proportion of clovers decreased with time while annual ryegrass became mature affecting its palatability. Steers that grazed on MF and EM had greater ADG (1.83 and 1.71 kg) than those on LM (1.41 kg). Grazing season was longer (P = 0.03) for MF (66 days) than for LM (39 days) while EM was intermediate (50 days). A rest period from early March to late April would allow grazing of high-quality pastures during the spring transition period.

Hospital Preparedness for Critical Care during COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploratory Cross-sectional Study

AIM: The researchers conducted the study to assess intensive care units (ICUs) preparedness in Cairo University Hospitals to deal efficiently and effectively with COVID-19 upcoming waves.&#x0D; METHODS: An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted at Cairo University Intensive Care Units 6 pediatric ICUs, and 2 adult ICUs in the period from the end of February to the first week of March, 2020; almost 2 weeks after the appearance of the first case of COVID-19 in Egypt by hand-delivered questionnaire method with one of the ICU staff members who were available and have time to take part in the study. WHO checklist for hospital readiness was used; this checklist based on current knowledge and available evidence on the COVID-19 pandemic for WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The WHO has developed the checklist to help hospital managers prepare for COVID-19 patient management by optimizing each hospital’s capacities. The list composed of 10 key components: (1) Leadership and coordination; (2) operational support, logistics and supply management; (3) information; (4) communication; (5) human resources; (6) continuity of essential services and surge capacity; (7) rapid identification; (8) diagnosis; (9) isolation and case management; and (10) infection prevention and control.&#x0D; RESULTS: The overall preparedness in both pediatric and adult ICUs was 54%. Overall, adult ICUs were more prepared than pediatric ICUs, especially in communication; continuity of essential services and surge capacity; rapid identification; diagnosis; isolation; and case management. Both of them were comparable regarding operational support, logistics and supply management; human resources; and infection prevention and control, while information component was lower in both types but reached critical values 10% in adult ones.&#x0D; CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrated the intermediate readiness of ICUs at initial outbreak; further assessment during different phases of pandemic is required. Continues education of HCWs and active communication should be established.

Stress and myths related to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on remote work

ObjetivoConhecer as implicações do COVID-19 no local de trabalho para desenvolver estratégias de pesquisa relacionadas a questões do comportamento humano e organizacional desde uma perspectiva de negócios.Desenho/MetodologiaQuantitativo, exploratório, e baseado em fontes primárias e secundárias. Um questionário online com 33 itens foi elaborado e aplicado no ambiente de trabalho mexicano, durante o período de 7 a 16 de março, ou seja, na mesma semana em que a OMS fez a declaração da pandemia de COVID-19, obtendo um total de 332 respostas.ResultadosCom as análises descritivas realizadas, foi possível conhecer a percepção que as pessoas têm sobre diversos aspectos relacionados ao COVID-19. Posteriormente foram realizados os correspondentes testes de confiabilidade, obtendo-se índices alfa de Cronbach superiores a 0,8. No início da declaração da pandemia do COVID-19, havia uma relação entre o estresse e vários aspectos relacionados à chegada do COVID-19, evidenciando seu impacto nos trabalhadores.ImplicaçõesO desenvolvimento desta pesquisa fornece ideias para acadêmicos, gestores e áreas de recursos humanos promovendo o crescimento e desenvolvimento de pessoas. O objetivo é alcançar o bem-estar integral no local de trabalho, gerando melhores condições de trabalho através do trabalho remoto como estratégia de sucesso na função de recursos humanos, no local de trabalho e na melhoria da sociedade em geral.Originalidade/valorEsta pesquisa, além de ser realizada com informações obtidas nas primeiras semanas de março de 2020, apresenta um modelo com ideias e tópicos para desenhar futuros projetos de pesquisa e poder analisar os efeitos pós-COVID no ambiente de trabalho com uma perspectiva empresarial, humana e organizacional.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspective of an Italian Tertiary Care Pediatric Center.

Since February 2020, Italy has been faced with the dramatic spread of novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This impetuous pandemic infection forced many hospitals to reorganize their healthcare systems. Predicting a rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within our region, the Department for Women’s and Children’s Health promptly decided (i) to revise the distribution of the clinical areas in order to create both designated COVID-19 and COVID-19-free areas with their own access, (ii) to reinforce infection prevention control (IPC) measures for all healthcare workers and administrative staff and (iii) to adopt the new “double-gate approach”: a phone call pre-triage and nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 detection before the admission of all patients and caregivers. Between 21 February 2020 till 04 May 2020, only seven physicians, two nurses and two of the administrative staff resulted positive, all during the first week of March. No other cases of intra-department infection were documented among the healthcare workers since all the preventive procedures described above were implemented. It is predicted that similar situations can happen again in the future, and thus, it is necessary to be more prepared to deal with them than we were at the beginning of this COVID-19 pandemic.

Knowledge and Perception of COVID-19 among Healthcare Professionals in the United Arab Emirates: A Cross-sectional Online Survey

Background: During the first week of March, a large number of cases of COVID-19 were reported across the world including the UAE. Aim: To assess the knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 among HCPs in the UAE. Methods: During the first week of March, a cross-sectional study was conducted among EMA HCPs. A 23-item survey questionnaire on knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19, including specific questions related to the different sources of information was used. Each correct response was scored as “1” and wrong as “0”. The sum of the knowledge scores ≤4 out of 7 was considered as poor knowledge and the sum of the perception scores (score &gt;5 out of 7) as a positive perception. Results: A total of 353 HCPs completed the study and half of them were male (n=178; 50.4%), doctors (n=257;72.8%), and aged between 35-44 years (n=116; 32.9%). Although most of the participants were aware of COVID-19 (n=350; 99.2%), only a limited (n=168;47.6%) proportion of them got the opportunity to attend lectures/discussions related to COVID-19. Government websites (43.1%) and news bulletins (36%) were the primary sources for COVID-19 information. HCPs' knowledge about COVID-19 was found to be satisfactory (58.4%) and their perceptions were positive (78.5%). Conclusion: As the number of COVID-19 cases is consistently increasing in the UAE, it is important to improve the level of knowledge and perceptions among HCPs. Educational interventions focusing on prevention and control of COVID-19 should be prioritized to empower HCPs in infectious disease outbreaks.

Humic Acid and Boron to Minimize the Incidence of Alternate Bearing and Improve the Productivity and Fruit Quality of Mango Trees

Mango production faces several challenges, such as nutrient deficiency, physiological stress, and alternate bearing, which eventually affect tree productivity. This study was carried out during the 2017 and 2018 seasons to evaluate the effect of single and combined applications of humic acid (as potassium humate; 0.15%, 0.30%, 0.45%) and boron (as boric acid; 300, 600 mg·L−1) on ‘Zebda’ mango trees grown at Dir AlMalak region, Sharkeya Governorate, Egypt. Foliar spray was applied twice before flowering (first week of January and first week of February), and a third spray was applied by the beginning of flowering (first week of March) in both seasons. Humic acid and boron effectively enhanced tree growth, flowering, yield, and fruit quality. Humic acid was more effective than boron in this respect. Combined application of both materials surpassed the single application of each material on overall tree physiology and annual productivity. The observed results may be a consequence of the increase in tree photosynthetic pigments, nutrients, organic solutes, and phytohormones such as auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins. The reduction in abscisic acid content may be related to the role of humic acid and boron protecting the plant against destructive oxidative reactions; improving the ability of the trees to withstand environmental stresses; thereby reduce floral malformation percentage, minimize the incidence of alternate bearing, and improve annual tree productivity and fruit quality. The most pronounced effect in this regard was noted with the application of 0.30% humic acid + 600 mg·L−1 boric acid.

Emergency department preparation for COVID-19: accelerated care units

By 11 February 2020 when the WHO named the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes (COVID-19), it was evident that the virus was spreading rapidly outside of China....

Knowledge and understanding among medical imaging professionals in India during the rapid rise of the covid-19 pandemic.

During the first week of March,2020 the surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases reached all over the globe with more than 100,000 cases. Healthcare national and international authorities have already initiated awareness and lockdown activities. A poor understanding of the disease among medical imaging professionals (MIPs) may result in rapid spread of infection. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and understanding of MIPs about COVID-19. A cross-sectional, web-based study was conducted among MIPs about COVID- 19 during the fourth week of March 2020. An online sample of MIPs was successfully recruited via the authors’ networks in India using data collection tool – write google forms. A self-developed online KAP questionnaire was completed by the participants. The knowledge and understanding questionnaire consisted questions regarding the clinical characteristics and transmission routes of COVID-19. Assessment on practices towards COVID-19 included questions on techniques while imaging against COVID-19 suspected patients. Of 700 participants, a total of 550 MIPs completed the survey (response rate: 78.57%); 56.7% were males, 85.4.1% were aged 17–26 years, and most were undergraduates (77.6%) and postgraduates (17.1%). Regarding COVID-19, most of the participants answered correctly (95.5%) on symptoms, (84.4%) time interval for visible symptoms, (98.0%) transmission and (44%) airborne transmission respectively. A significant proportion of MIPs (36.4%) had poor knowledge about wearing multiple masks as an effective measure against coronavirus infection. Most of the respondents (48.5%) incorrectly considered X-ray as the reliable method of diagnosis for suspected COVID-19 patients. 44.6% of the respondents lacked knowledge about the steps involved in hand washing technique which is one of the most important safety practice methods in medical imaging to prevent spread of infection. Factors such as age and occupation were associated with inadequate knowledge and poor perception of COVID-19. As the current global threat of COVID-19 continues to emerge, it is crucial and critical to improve the knowledge and understanding of MIPs. Educational videos and live webinars are urgently needed to reach MIPs and further detailed studies are the need of the hour.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s12553-020-00437-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

COVID-19 convalescent plasma: phase 2.

See editorial on page 1123–1127, in this issue