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People with chronic conditions such as cancer, kidney disease, lung disease, diabetes, dementia, obesity, and heart conditions are at elevated risk of developing severe complications, and are thus at greater risk of death due to COVID-19. The COVID-19 vaccine is an effective measure to manage the pandemic as it prevents severe illness and death. Nevertheless, many people are hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine due to fear of its side effects. The aim of this study was to identify the risk and protective factors of accepting COVID-19 vaccination among Saudi Arabian people with chronic diseases. This study extracted data from an online cross-sectional self-reported questionnaire conducted on the acceptability of a COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia in December 2020. The study included a sample of 521 adults who self-reported that they had chronic diseases. Multivariable regression analyses were employed to identify the factors associated with accepting COVID-19 vaccination in Saudi Arabia. The estimates were adjusted for confounding variables, including socio-demographic factors. Among the sampled participants of Saudi adults with chronic diseases, approximately 52% indicated that they were willing to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants had higher willingness to accept the vaccine if they received the seasonal influenza vaccination in the past [odds ratio (OR): 2.179; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.222–3.888], reported high or very high levels of concern about contracting COVID-19 (OR: 2.426; 95% CI: 1.209–4.867), or believed in mandatory COVID-19 vaccination (OR: 84.848; 95% CI: 37.651–191.207). Participants had lower willingness to be vaccinated if they had a history of vaccine refusal (OR: 0.211; 95% CI: 0.088–0.504). Among the socio-demographic factors, being male (OR: 2.153; 95% CI: 1.007–4.603), having a postgraduate degree (OR: 2.408; 95% CI: 0.985–5.886), and being unemployed (OR: 2.780; 95% CI: 0.876–8.827) were associated with an increased willingness of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The findings of this study demonstrate that willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination among Saudi Arabian adults with chronic conditions is low. Therefore, further policy measures are required to manage COVID-19–related infections and the death toll. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hazard-prone countries in the global south adopted an anticipatory-preparedness approach in disaster risk reduction (DRR) by shifting away from the response and rehabilitation approach. It was highly associated with the policy recommendations of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) framework. Nevertheless, challenges remained in managing disaster risks due to heterogeneous efficiency among disaster managers. This research examines the institutional effectiveness of the disaster management agency in cyclone-prone areas in southwestern coastal Bangladesh through network analysis. This research also explores institutional efficiency's impact on household preparedness in mitigating losses. We collected two distinct data sets from the local Union Disaster Management Committee (UDMC) and households in the same operational area of UDMC that were at risk of cyclonic disasters. To evaluate the effectiveness of local disaster management institutions, we conducted structured interviews with 336 representatives, spanning eight UDMCs in the cyclone-prone regions. To assess the impact of institutional performance (specifically, the UDMCs) on household disaster preparedness and loss mitigation, we collected data from 696 at-risk households. These households were located within the operational zones of the eight UDMCs, and the data was obtained using a structured questionnaire. Based on the application of social network analysis, our findings demonstrated that UDMC members were more active in the aftermath of disasters, as confirmed by three centrality measures - degree, eigenvector, and betweenness. Consequently, upon employing the Negative Binomial and Poisson regression models, we found a positive association between household engagement with UDMCs and participation in disaster preparedness training. This training appeared to enhance the knowledge and capacity of the respondents. The spill-over effects from disaster preparedness appeared to bolster the resilience of at-risk households, assist them in avoiding disaster-induced damages, and maintain consumption stability in the wake of disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a parametric study of the mechanical behaviour of self-pierced riveted (SPR) joints of steel sheets in two loading conditions (lap-shear and cross-tension). Higher strength was always observed in lap-shear testing than in cross-tension. In both loading conditions, the strength of a joint was greatly influenced by the hardness and thickness of sheet materials and die depth. An empirical model was developed to predict the joint strength in cross-tension loading using characteristic joint data determined directly from the SPR process (force-displacement) curve. All predictions of joint strength fell within 10% of the measured joint strength. Finally, a relationship was established between the joint strength in lap shear and cross-tension with < 8% error. The developed relationship provides a useful tool for further studies especially for different rivet and die geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuous development of microelectronics requires mechanically enhanced insulating materials with a lower dielectric (low- k) constant. To accomplish this, in this paper, low- k polymer nanocomposites were reinforced with hydrophobic ethane-bridged mesoporous organosilica (EMO) particles as fillers. In this study, three types of EMOs such as pure EMO, EMO functionalized with trimethoxyphenylsilane (PTS) (EMO-PTS) group, and EMO functionalized with 1-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]urea (UTS) (EMO-UTS) group were prepared via sol-gel self-assembly method. Mesostructures and surface areas of synthesized EMO particles were successfully characterized by XRD, TEM, and BET, whereas 13C and 29Si CP/MAS NMR spectra were also evidenced the presence of organic functional groups in the final EMO particles. Then, these filler materials were employed along with PMDA-ODA PAA (polyamic acid) solution for making efficient polyimide (PI) polymer composites. The good dispersion of EMO/EMO-PTS/EMO-UTS fillers into polyimide (PI) matrix were investigated using cross-section of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atom force microscopy (AFM). UV–visible spectroscopy has also shown optical transmittance more than 80% in the visible range. Dielectric constant (DC) was also found to be reduced from 3.42 (in PI) to 2.51 (in polymer composites) upon addition of 2–3 wt% of filler materials. The addition of these fillers into polymer PI has also significantly enhanced modulus, hardness and glass-transition temperature of the final composites. These results strongly suggest that EMO and functionalized EMO with either PTS or UTS could be used as promising " reinforcing mesoporous filler and low-k materials " with polyimide. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]