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Drawing on communities of practice and social cognitive learning theories, this paper explores language teachers' beliefs, knowledge and practices concerning the provision of high-quality education to learners with specific learning difficulties in various educational settings around the world. The data sample for this paper comprises qualitative data (videorecorded interviews and teaching resources) collected from six teachers working across various educational settings (primary, secondary, college and university) across several geographical areas (Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia). Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The findings suggest that teachers continue to experience challenges in educating learners with specific learning difficulties regardless of the educational setting. Limited opportunities for receiving specialised training in this area have been identified by several teachers as one of the key factors affecting the quality of their practice. The change in the mode of instruction from face-to-face to online was not always reported as negatively affecting the quality of educational provision to learners with specific learning difficulties. Technology-assisted online lesson delivery was seen as being advantageous to learners with some types of learning difficulties. Findings from this paper can be useful to teacher-practitioners and teacher-educators who are interested in improving the quality of language education for learners with specific learning difficulties.

Qualitative content analysis is used in this study to review related online education since the outbreak of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to summarize the impact of online teaching on the education industry during the pandemic, sum up the viewpoints of all kinds of people to draw conclusions, and conclude the practical countermeasures. Based on the result of the analysis, firstly, we think that students and teachers are satisfied with online education, but parents have expressed dissatisfaction with this kind of education. Secondly, this paper lists the advantages and common problems of online teaching during study at home from different aspects. According to deficits, we summarize the solutions from three aspects: network equipment, teaching, and self-adjustment. This research is of great significance. It is not only beneficial to the development of educational platforms and personalized teaching but also helps formulate education policy to reduce the burden of education.

The recent pandemic has forced the educational sector to unwillingly reform its strategies by compelling it to embrace technology as the savior of the educational process. COVID-19 has adversely affected this sector by forcing a halt to all face-to-face learning in educational institutes, which led to dependence solely on online education and adopting strategies fit solely to distant learning. Thus, this paper has focused on the English language learning strategies adopted during COVID-19. Moreover, this research aims to provide the latest information about online teaching strategies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic by English language instructors in Asia, especially in Middle Eastern countries. This study is qualitative in nature and utilizes the systematic literature review approach. The data for this research was gathered from renowned databases to maintain reliability. The results highlighted that among many strategies, three are most important in teaching the English language during COVID-19, first is collaborative learning (i.e., breakout classes, cloud-based collaboration), the second is flipped classroom, and the final is scaffolding. In the end, the study concluded with the recommendation as the findings of this research can help policymakers and educationists in developing effective or efficient strategies for tackling tough situations or pandemics.

A documentary review was conducted on the production and publication of research papers on studying the variable Digital Transformation, Education and COVID-19. The bibliometric analysis proposed in this document aims to know the main characteristics of the volume of publications registered in the Scopus database from 2020 to 2022, achieving the identification of 464 publications in total. The information provided by this platform was organized using tables and figures, categorizing the information by Year of Publication, Country of Origin, Area of Knowledge and Type of Publication. Once these characteristics were described, the position of different authors regarding the proposed topic was referenced through qualitative analysis. Among the main findings of this research, it is found that Spain, with 49 publications, was the country with the highest global production. The area of knowledge that made the most significant contribution to the construction of bibliographic material related to the study of Digital Transformation, Education and COVID-19 was the area of Social Sciences with 253 published documents, and the type of publication that was most used during the period mentioned above was the journal article, representing 54% of the total scientific production.

This paper presents research on girls' and boys' gendered perceptions of their learning during school closures due to COVID-19. The research was conducted in ten countries affected by displacement across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. We applied statistical analysis using multivariate logistic regression models from the results of a survey conducted with parents or caregivers and their children. We complemented the quantitative study with qualitative methodology, which provided a nuanced understanding of girls' and boys' perceptions of their learning and their voiced concerns during the COVID-19-related school closures. Our results show that the children in the displaced settings are likely to perceive a decline in learning during the pandemic, and that the factors influencing this perception differ between boys and girls. Girls' perceptions of learning "nothing" or only "a little bit" were more strongly associated with material barriers, such as limited access to learning materials and household economic circumstances, than was the case for boys. The boys' experience of learning "a little bit" or "nothing" was more strongly associated with increased negative feelings, including feeling sad or worried, increased violence in the home, and increased responsibility for looking after siblings or other children. This research notes the importance of supporting displaced children by providing adequate resources to enable equitable access to learning, and calls for cross-sectoral programming to support displaced children who are dealing with emotional pressure.

During a pandemic outbreak, it is important for health officials to know the proportions of deaths among infected individuals and to understand how these proportions change overtime, to accurately predict the impact of the pandemic and to implement effectively new intervention policies and health protocols and to adjust them accordingly. However, most studies where efforts have been made to estimate accurately the case fatality rates did not address the issue of measuring the dynamics of the pandemic deadliness during its course. Daily data on COVID-19 cases and deaths were collected from selected MENA countries. In this paper, two new measures of the pandemic fatality are developed based on the estimated time it takes hospitalized infected patients to eventually die from the disease. The first measure assigns COVID-19 deaths to its most significant lagged number of cases based on a fixed-effects panel data model. The second fatality measure relates pandemic deaths and cases based on their respective change points. The results find notable variations of the pandemic lethality between the Middle East countries, likely due to the difference in the quality of health care. Although crude case-fatality rate does not identify the pandemic lethality variations during the ongoing of the disease, this paper develops two novel measures for COVID-19 case fatality which can identify the dynamics and the variations of the pandemic deadliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study models the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of the private health-care sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. This paper aims to address the economic, societal and sustainability of the health-care sector. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from Bloomberg and the sample consists of 534 firm-year observations from 55 firms listed over 2010–2020. The authors apply panel data and control for the country and governance effects. Findings: The authors found heterogeneous results regarding the three sub-sectors. The pandemic has a negative effect on the accounting and market performances of the "Pharmaceutical companies" and an insignificant impact on "Healthcare Management and Facilities Services." Moreover, the impact of COVID-19 on health-care firms' performance depends on the country's economic classification and the degree of regulatory and governance frameworks. Research limitations/implications: Further studies may consider a larger sample and other regions. It is recommended to address the health-care sector's challenges to invest in new technologies such as "digital twin" and predictive and personalized medicine. It is worth testing model development theory and its effects on speeding up and designing models to ensure the proper functioning and developing mathematics to determine uncertainties in patient data and model predictions. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is novel as it is unique in modeling the impact of COVID-19 on the health-care public companies in the MENA region. The findings pinpoint firms' and countries' heterogeneous impacts on financial and market performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of ongoing challenges faced by the disruption of COVID-19, the current study attempts to investigate fintech growth during COVID-19 in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. The study applies descriptive analysis, content analysis, and keyword selection criteria to segregate current challenges and future prospects of fintech growth in the MENA region. Our study comprises 250 research articles, web reports, news articles, opinion papers, and commentaries. The study reported privacy issues, cybercrimes, financial disruption and instability, exploitation of social norms and values, rising inequalities, and non-compliance of regulatory authorities as major challenges posed by fintech startups in the MENA region. On the contrary, the future prospects of FinTech growth in the MENA region are employment opportunities, decentralization, cost-effectiveness, financial outreach, networking, and breaking traditional financial biases. The study recommended multiple implications for policymakers, regulation bodies, countries in the MENA region, and fintech developers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virus attacks have had devastating effects on mankind. The prominent viruses such as Ebola virus (2012), SARS-CoV or Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus called as the MERS (EMC/2012), Spanish flu (H1N1 virus-1918) and the most recent COVID-19(SARS-CoV-2) are the ones that have created a difficult situation for the survival of the human race. Currently, throughout the world, a global pandemic situation has put economy, livelihood and human existence in a very pathetic situation. Most of the above-mentioned viruses exhibit some similar characteristics and genetic pattern. Analysing such characteristics and genetic pattern can help the researchers to get a deeper insight into the viruses and helps in finding appropriate medicine or cure. To address these issues, this paper proposes an experimental analysis of the above-mentioned viruses data using correlation methods. The virus data considered for the experimental analysis include the distribution of various amino acids, protein sequences, 3D modelling of viruses, pairwise alignment of proteins that comprise the DNA genome of the viruses. Furthermore, this comparative analysis can be used by the researchers and organizations like WHO(World Health Organization), computational biologists, genetic engineers to frame a layout for studying the DNA sequence distribution, percentage of GC (guanine–cytosine) protein which determines the heat stability of viruses. We have used the Biopython to illustrate the gene study of prominent viruses and have derived results and insights in the form of 3D modelling. The experimental results are more promising with an accuracy rate of 96% in overall virus relationship calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory tract infections are a common cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The current paper aims to treat this respiratory disorder. Therefore, we elucidated the phytochemical profile of Euphorbia milii flowers and isolated chlorogenic acid (CGA) for the first time. The electrospraying technique was utilized to prepare CGA nanoparticles in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/PLGA polymeric matrix. Complete in vitro characterizations were performed to determine particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, loading efficiency (LE), scanning electron microscopy and in vitro release study. The optimum formula (F2) with a particle size (454.36 ± 36.74nm), a surface charge (-4.56 ± 0.84 mV), % of LE (80.23 ± 5.74), an initial burst (29.46 ± 4.79) and % cumulative release (97.42 ± 4.72) were chosen for further activities. In the murine lung infection model, PVA/PLGA NPs loaded with CGA (F2) demonstrated in vivo antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using a plaque assay, the in vitro antiviral activity was investigated. The F2 exhibited antiviral activity against coronavirus (HCoV-229E) and (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), NRCEHKU270). The IC50 of F2 against HCoV-229E and MERS-CoV was 170 ± 1.1 and 223 ± 0.88 μg/mL, respectively. The values of IC50 of F2 were significantly lower (p<.05) than that of free CGA. Therefore, the encapsulation of CGA into electrospray PVA/PLGA NPs would be a promising tool as an antimicrobial agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With regard to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Madagascar, little is known about the knowledge, the perceptions and the impacts of this disease on women of childbearing age. People's knowledge of COVID-19 can have an impact on their attitudes towards seeking care. The aim of the current study is to determine the knowledge of COVID-19 and associated determinants among women of childbearing age in Moramanga. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on questionnaire administration was used among women of childbearing age. Data collection was conducted from August to October 2021. A scoring method was applied to evaluate their knowledge level and perceptions about COVID-19 and its impacts on their lives. A binary stepwise logistic regression was performed to determine the sociodemographic determinants of their knowledge level about COVID-19. Results: A total of 885 women of childbearing age from urban and rural Moramanga areas were interviewed. Approximately 49.8% (441/885) lived in urban areas, and 50.2% (444/885) lived in rural areas. Approximately 35.3% (322/885) of the participants had a good level of knowledge of COVID-19. Multivariate analysis showed that the probability of having a good level of knowledge of COVID-19 had a significant statistical association (p value < 0.05) with living in an urban area [AOR: 2.89; 95% CI (1.89–4.42)], telephone ownership [AOR: 1.71; 95% CI (1.16–2.53)], radio ownership [AOR 2.2; 95% CI (1.43–3.38)], watching TV [AOR = 1.95; 95% CI (1.34–2.83)] and reading journal papers [AOR = 3.74 95% CI (1.69–8.27)]. Conclusions: Almost a third of the sampled women of childbearing age had a good level of knowledge of COVID-19. Access to information through telecommunications technologies increases the chances of being better informed about the disease. To avoid the negative repercussions of infectious disease epidemics, it is necessary to improve the awareness of childbearing women about these diseases by taking demographic features of the population into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the dynamical behavior of Middle East respiration syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) via a sense of Caputo fractal-fractional order system of differential equation is established. A novel approach of fractional operator known as fractal-fractional Riemann–Liouville derivative is applied to the model considered. Moreover, fractal-fractional derivative is applied to the said problem. Furthermore, the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the considered model are verified by the fixed-point theory approach. The local and global stability of developed system are investigated with the help of the Ulam–Hyers stability technique from nonlinear functional analysis. The fractal-fractional type Adams–Bashforth iterative method is used to establish the numerical solution of said problem. The proposed model is simulated by considering different fractal dimensions () and fractional order (δ) , converging to the integer order. Hence, it is evident that all the compartmental quantities possess convergence and stability in fractal-fractional form. Moreover, the Fractal-fractional techniques may also be used as a powerful technique/tool to investigate the global dynamics of the disease. However, it can be concluded from the results that quick recovery is possible for human population in the pandemic if there is no animal interaction with humans. In future, we are planning to extend the reported analysis to other fractional (fractal-fractional) operators. Furthermore, the behavior of different infectious models can also be analyzed with the help of newly developed scheme at different fractional orders lying between 0 and 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies show that the adoption of RME scenarios is still a matter of concern for non-western countries ((Mousa et al., Journal of Management Development 38:681–696, 2019), 2021a, 2021b). In this paper, we theoretically propose the potential direction of RME scenarios that business schools in Egypt and other similar cultural context to implement through articulating the main antecedents of RME before and after Covid-19. we used the method of multilevel research by combining different theoretical approaches. As an outcome of our analysis, we developed five propositions which form the main antecedents of RME in Egypt and similar regional Middle East business schools before and after Covid-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and work engagement (WE) in the Middle East region amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to test the mediating role of employee resilience (ER) and psychological empowerment (PE) on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: The sample size was 208 respondents working in the Middle East area during COVID-19. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis with bootstrapping. Findings: The findings indicate a significant positive impact of OL on WE. Moreover, both constructs – ER and WE – were identified as mediators for this relationship. Practical implications: Practical implications within this study call for organizations to focus on promoting a learning culture in order to adapt and respond effectively to unprecedented external challenges. Originality/value: The current study extends previous research and strengthens the antecedents of WE, namely, OL, ER and PE in the Middle East region while controlling for COVID-19 perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional infrastructure provides a context for leadership to implement its policies. Yet prior studies on South Korea's successful COVID-19 response have focused primarily on the administration's leadership, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), and the learning effects from Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Using South Korea as a case study, this paper introduces a theoretical framework that captures various institutional determinants to explain its COVID-19 response. Applying Williamson's (2000) theoretical framework on the four layers of social institutions, we show how two institutional infrastructures Confucian and — collective norms and legacies of the business-government networks may have — contributed to South Korea's COVID-19 response through policy compliance, supportive R&D policies and inter-ministry collaboration. One of the key implications of our research lies in the learning effects of MERS, which may have been limited without institutional infrastructure like business-government networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 and the stringency of the government policy response on stock market returns globally and at the regional level. Design/methodology/approach: Pooled-ordinary least squares (OLS) and panel data techniques are used to analyse the daily data set across 88 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa for the period of 1 January 2020 to 10 May 2021. Findings: Using pooled-OLS and panel data techniques, the analyses show that both the daily growth in confirmed cases and deaths caused by COVID-19 have significant negative effects on stock returns across all markets. The effects are non-linear and U-shaped. Stock markets react more to the growth of confirmed cases than to the growth in the number of confirmed deaths. The results, however, vary across regions. More specifically, this study finds that the negative effect of confirmed cases is stronger in the Americas and the Middle East, followed by Europe. The negative direct effect of deaths caused by COVID-19 is stronger in the European region, followed by the Middle East, in relation to the rest of the world. The stock market returns in the African region are not, however, statistically significant. The researcher finds evidence that stringent policy responses lead to a significant increase in the stock market returns, both globally and across regions. Practical implications: The results suggest that the integrity of the government and its interventions complemented by a stable and reliable monetary policy are crucial in providing confidence to firms and households in uncertain times. Originality/value: COVID-19 has a significant impact on national economies and stock markets, triggering various governments' interventions across all geographic regions. The pandemic has significantly affected all aspects of life, especially the stock markets. However, their empirical impact on stock returns is still unclear. This paper is the first of its kind to fill this gap by providing an in-depth quantitative analysis of the impact of both COVID-19 and stringency of the governmental policy responses on stock market returns globally and at the regional level. It is also the first to use an advanced analytical framework in analysing the effects of daily growth in both total and newly confirmed cases, and the daily growth in both total and new deaths caused by COVID-19 on them. The dynamic nature of the data on COVID-19 is taken into account. The non-linearity of the effects is also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in December 2019 as the cause of a respiratory illness designated coronavirus disease 2019, or Covid-19. Several therapeutic agents have been evaluated for the treatment of Covid-19, but none have yet been shown to be efficacious. Remdesivir (GS-5734), an inhibitor of the viral RNA-dependent, RNA polymerase with inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), was identified early as a promising therapeutic candidate for Covid-19 because of its ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. Besides, in nonhuman primate studies, remdesivir initiated 12 hours after inoculation with MERS-CoV9,10 reduced lung virus levels and lung damage. In the field of Medical Science, concerning the definition of the topological index on the molecular structure and corresponding medical, biological, chemical, pharmaceutical properties of drugs can be studied by the topological index calculation. In this paper, we compute some of the general temperature topological properties of remdesivir that the results in this paper may be useful in finding new drug and vaccine for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only led to a health crisis, but also to economic and labor market crises. In an effort to avert the public health threat, countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) initially put in place some of the world's most stringent government responses. This paper explores how labor market outcomes for MENA workers have evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper uses the Economic Research Forum (ERF) COVID-19 MENA Monitor (CMM) phone surveys in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia, with waves spanning November 2020 to August 2021. Analyses examine outcomes of employment, unemployment, and labor force participation, along with hours of work and hourly wages. Results show differences in the evolution of pandemic-era labor markets by workers' gender, age, and education, along with their February 2020 labor market status and industry, as well as their pre-pandemic income. Employment rates have largely recovered and hours of work generally increased. Inequality in wages was initially exacerbated by the pandemic, but there has been at least some recovery on this margin as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists first identified Human Coronavirus in the year 1965. Then, a study was performed on different human and animal viruses, which were named based on their crown-like appearance. Human coronaviruses are responsible for many children's upper respiratory tract infections. At least five new human coronaviruses have been identified since 2003, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, which caused significant morbidity and mortality.1 Per NL and the New Haven, the virus associated with upper and lower respiratory tract disease and likely common human pathogens are identified as the Group-I coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-I). The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-II), which appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, is responsible for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and causes respiratory symptoms that can feel like a cold, flu, or pneumonia. Geographical transmission of the virus and the sudden increase in cases are much faster than SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). COVID-19 is the first global pandemic caused by a coronavirus causing outbreaks in 211 countries. The vaccine against COVID-19 is an effective prophylactic strategy for controlling and preventing the virus. The vaccine is being developed in about 90 institutions worldwide. This research paper focuses on COVID-19 vaccine development strategies implemented by various institutions and pharmaceutical companies worldwide and regulatory requirements for vaccine approval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has devastating effects around the world, influencing daily life and putting communities into unprecedented situations of anxiety, hardship and loss. It has a particularly severe effect on the mental health of individuals and highlights pre-existing challenges in mental health provision in different countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the mental health response to COVID-19 in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) in relation to mental health concerns and the political situation. Design/methodology/approach: This study analyzes the double struggle of Palestinians not only dealing with COVID-19 but with the ongoing Israeli occupation and human rights violations and focuses on the challenges in providing mental health services due to existing inequalities, systemic discrimination and lack of resources as a result of the political system of oppression. The findings are based on previously published articles concerning mental health related to the COVID-19 outbreak in other countries, as well as the authors' clinical experience in the oPt and direct involvement in providing mental health services. Findings: The paper highlights how the current pandemic is being used to further attempts of annexation and political gains in Israel and how it exacerbated human rights violations due to the occupation. Emphasis is also put on the challenges in providing a Palestinian mental health response due to the high number of actors involved and the lack of preparedness at the level of mental health response provision. Originality/value: The value of the works lies in putting the current pandemic in relation to human rights violations in the oPt due to the ongoing Israeli occupation and in highlighting how a mental health response to COVID-19 can be implemented during a state of emergency and despite a lack of preparedness in response services in the oPt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Question: This conceptual research explores the role that academic entrepreneurship can play in Middle Eastern countries in addressing the effects of COVID-19 pandemic in the region. Motivation: Entrepreneurial universities are pivotal in contemporary economic systems due to their significant contributions in innovation efforts. Part of their mission is seen in the commercialization of their scientific knowledge through the creation of spin-offs (Cvijic et al., 2019; O'shea et al., 2005; Rodrigues et al., 2019). The challenges and constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated the importance of coordinating the efforts of all parties including those of entrepreneurial universities in order to develop vaccines and generate healthcare solutions which could be patented and commercialized afterwards. Hence, this paper identifies the factors which can reinforce the entrepreneurial insertion of universities and increase their capacity in supporting collective efforts aiming at combatting the COVID-19 aftermath. Idea: Based on a review of recent literature, the purpose of this conceptual study is twofold: identify the predictors and the success factors of academic entrepreneurship; and argue for research propositions that could guide future empirical research. In addition, this paper provides insights into the current evolution of the entrepreneurial experiences of Middle Eastern universities. Data: This explorative research was based on an extensive literature review of the core aspects relevant to academic entrepreneurship. Recent references published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals with the primary focus on the Middle East or other developing economies were targeted in order to build up the conceptual model revolving around nine research propositions. Tools: Selected references were reviewed and categorized around the mainstream themes identified by the authors, i.e., impact of entrepreneurial universities, antecedents of academic entrepreneurship, and its success factors. For each block, several research propositions were derived and presented. Findings: The literature review findings argue for the potential role that specific factors can play in promoting the entrepreneurial engagement of Middle Eastern universities, namely the national institutional framework, an easy access to funding sources, the existence of interrelations with local organizations and the quality of the university's organizational infrastructure. The conceptual framework assumes also that the performance of entrepreneurial universities would depend on the number and quality of relationships with the industry, the support of venture capitalists and the intensity of their entrepreneurial and market orientations. Contribution: This research contributes essentially in underlining the growing importance of academic entrepreneurship and how it can be a rewarding choice for Middle Eastern policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• While emerging diseases might be surprising and unpredictable; some could be foreseen. • Emerging diseases were the reason behind papers published by the WHO, and others, addressing likely pathogens causing future outbreaks. • Such announcements, as for coronaviruses, may be viewed as "warnings" and appeared since the SARS outbreak in the winter of 2002–2003. • Taking these warnings into consideration will doubtlessly aid in analyzing reports regarding possible future outbreaks as well as building various strategies for prevention and coping with such epidemics. Infectious diseases are known to act in both predictable and unpredictable ways, which leads to the notions of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. Emerging diseases with their disastrous consequences might be surprising and unpredictable, but they could be foreseen. For instance, some emerging diseases and recently the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were the reason for papers published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other researchers addressing the likely pathogens causing future outbreaks, according to the reports of the WHO in 2016 and 2018. Although it might seem like a wisdom in retrospect, several studies had already indicated possible future outbreaks caused by coronaviruses. Announcements, which may be viewed as "warnings," appeared since the emergence of the first coronavirus-related outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in the winter of 2002–2003 and a later outbreak caused by the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012–2013. Therefore, we were curious to review the medical literature prior to the COVID-19 pandemic with an aim to enumerate and evaluate studies addressing and warning against future outbreaks, and surprisingly pandemics, of members of coronaviruses. Interestingly, we found numerous studies that correctly predicted the current pandemic of COVID-19. While this part is highly interesting, how authorities reacted and prepared for warnings, if any, and how will they get prepared for the next warnings are our main messages. Taking these points into serious consideration will certainly aid in analyzing reports regarding possible future outbreaks as well as in developing various strategies for prevention and coping with such epidemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic presented numerous challenges to acute malnutrition screening and treatment. To enable continued case identification and service delivery while minimising transmission risks, many organisations and governments implemented adaptations to community‐based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programmes for children under 5. These included: Family mid‐upper arm circumference (MUAC); modified admission and discharge criteria; modified dosage of therapeutic foods; and reduced frequency of follow‐up visits. This paper presents qualitative findings from a larger mixed methods study to document practitioners' operational experiences and lessons learned from these adaptations. Findings reflect insights from 37 interviews representing 15 organisations in 17 countries, conducted between July 2020 and January 2021. Overall, interviewees indicated that adaptations were mostly well‐accepted by staff, caregivers and communities. Family MUAC filled screening gaps linked to COVID‐19 disruptions; however, challenges included long‐term accuracy of caregiver measurements; implementing an intervention that could increase demand for inconsistent services; and limited guidance to monitor programme quality and impact. Modified admission and discharge criteria and modified dosage streamlined logistics and implementation with positive impacts on staff workload and caregiver understanding of the programme. Reduced frequency of visits enabled social distancing by minimising crowding at facilities and lessened caregivers' need to travel. Concerns remained about how adaptations impacted children's identification for and progress through treatment and programme outcomes. Most respondents anticipated reverting to standard protocols once transmission risks were mitigated. Further evidence, including multi‐year programmatic data analysis and rigorous research, is needed in diverse contexts to understand adaptations' impacts, including how to ensure equity and mitigate unintended consequences. Key messages: COVID‐19 CMAM programme adaptations enabled service continuity despite pandemic‐related challenges. Further evidence is needed on long‐term impacts.Family MUAC was well‐accepted and addressed screening gaps from COVID‐19 disruptions. Challenges included sustaining caregiver measurement accuracy; handling inaccurate self‐referrals to encourage health‐seeking behaviours; and limited programme design and monitoring guidance and tools.Modified admission criteria and therapeutic food dosage reduced contact between staff and children and streamlined logistics and implementation. Concerns remained about effects on programme admissions and outcomes.Reduced frequency of follow‐up visits successfully reduced facility crowding and need for caregiver travel. However, infrequent monitoring of childrenmay miss deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To augment the international scientific approach to raising public mental health through active lifestyle among adults, we added the evidence of the association between physical activity and subjective wellbeing in the Middle East and North Africa region by emphasizing the mediator—COVID-19. This study aimed to identify the correlations between active mobility and subjective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample from Tabriz, Iran, which has not yet been tackled in previous study. Methods: We finalized an online survey (N = 603) from adults between 5 June and 15 July 2021. This group reported their individual and socio-economic characteristics and their perception features and location (e.g., home, work) during COVID-19. The paper developed three ordinal logistic regression (OLR) models to examine the association between active mobility types such as commute, non-commute, frequency of active travel to parks and services per week, and different subjective wellbeing including: 1- life satisfaction, 2- feeling energetic, and 3- peaceful mind while controlling for socio-economic variables (e.g., age, gender, education, job, and income) and objective commute distance. We also incorporated the most relevant objective (street length, land-use mix, number of intersections, and building and population density) and subjective (perceived distance to different services, perceived walking places, and perceived facilities attractiveness) factors. Results: Positive response relationships between four types of physical activity levels and subjective wellbeing scores were demonstrated in all of the three developed models (with significant levels of 0.05, and 0.1) with appropriate model fits, which confirmed the existing literature. However, these relationships showed different patterns (varied significant levels) for each type of subjective wellbeing. In addition, the factors including street length (p value: 0.004), perceived walkable places (p value: 0.021, 0.068, 0.017, and 0.025) (positively), population density, and perceived distance to shopping malls (p value: 0.076, <0.0001, and 0.059 (negatively) were associated with different indicators of subjective wellbeing. Conclusion: As for the implication of our study, special actions by urban authorities such as increasing mixed-use and creating attractive places will be required to enhance the walkability of the neighborhoods. Moreover, notifying the adults regarding the benefits of physical activity is much more needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency surgical treatment has been challenging and the risk of blood contamination has been high, which is a concern among the medical and dental fraternity. The risk outweighs the benefits in these unprecedented times if proper screening and inactivation of blood products are not performed. Pathogen reduction technologies incorporate various modalities for the inactivation of blood products mainly related to blood transfusion. Oral surgical procedures and periodontal surgeries use platelet-rich fibrin for various regenerative procedures that amplify the prognosis positively. The use of blood products for various treatments could result in contamination, a factor which should be significant attention. The objective of this study was to review the role of pathogen reduction technology in inactivating pathogens in blood products and its use in oral and periodontal surgical procedures. The literature presented in the study is from original studies from a period of 2000 to 2020 which was sourced from Medline, PubMed, and Cochrane central databases. Relevant published papers and in-press papers that provided information were identified and selected. The studies presented have shown data related to implementation of pathogen reduction technologies in relation to the severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and its possible implementation in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). The paper reviews the various technologies offered and the possibility to eradicate pathogens found in routine blood products, used in oral and periodontal surgical procedures. In all probability, the use of pathogen reduction technology might offer a ray of light to contain the spread among dental treatment procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a large family of viruses and are endemic in humans and animals, causing respiratory and intestinal infections. Coronavirus has become a challenge in China region due to its recent outbreak at the start of the year 2020. The current outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID) has resulted in many fatalities and has forced the people of Wuhan Province in China to remain confined in their homes. Two other two forms of CoV were epidemic in 2003 when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) spread in Hong Kong and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) spread in the Middle East region. This bibliometric study is an attempt to trace the trends of research associated with "Coronavirus" for a period of 50 years using the SCOPUS database. The study was carried out using the keyword Coronavirus and analyzed for annual growth, productive countries, institutes, authors, journals, highly cited papers, and research focus using keywords. There were two peaks when a large number of publications appeared. Most of the research publications were from the USA (31.67%), and the University of Hong Kong was the most productive institute. The Journal of Virology has published the most number of articles on CoV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its emergence in China in 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has affected all countries worldwide. The virus is easily transmitted from one person to another via infected aerosols or contaminated surfaces. Unlike its counterparts, the prognosis of COVID-19 ranges from asymptomatic to critical disease or death. Several factors play a role in determining the severity of the disease in infected patients. Among others, is the pre-existence of an underlying medical condition such as diabetes, cancer, and others. Furthermore, although children are less prone to the severe form of the COVID-19 disease, they require attention due to the report of many atypical presentations of the infection, post-asymptomatic exposure. In the Middle East, little is known about the prognosis of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in high-risk categories, notably patients with diabetes, cancer, and pregnant women. The aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge about this group of population in the middle eastern region as well as to highlight the gap in the literature. We have found that the majority of the papers were from the Gulf countries. Although, few studies were conducted; high-risk patients appear to have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 compared to their counterparts. Higher levels of inflammatory markers, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, D-dimer, and ferritin levels were also observed. Children are often asymptomatic or present with atypical presentations. More studies should be conducted to determine the clinical biomarkers of COVID-19 in high-risk categories to help in patient risk stratification and management in the middle eastern population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corona virus cause diseases ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Several therapeutic agents have been evaluated for the treatment of Covid-19, but none have yet been shown to be efficacious. Remdesivir Gilead Sciences number (GS-5734), an inhibitor of the viral RNA-dependent, RNA polymerase with inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), was identified early as a promising therapeutic candidate for Covid-19 because of its ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 invitro. Knowledge about the potential efficacy of Remdesivir against corona viruses has been restricted to in vitro studies and animal models. However, information related to COVID-19 is rapidly growing. Several clinical trials are ongoing for the management of COVID-19 using Remdesivir. Efficacy of Remdesivir (GS-5734) against Ebola virus has been demonstrated. In the field of Medical Science, concerning the definition of the topological index on the molecular structure and corresponding medical, biological, chemical, pharmaceutical properties of drugs can be studied by the topological index calculation. In this paper, we compute some reverse topological indices namely, the reverse general Randic index, the reverse atom bond connectivity index, the reverse geometric arithmetic index, the reverse forgotten index, the reverse Balaban index and the reverse Zagreb type indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper deals with the transmission of MERS-CoV model between the humans populace and the camels, which are suspected to be the primary source for the infection. The effect of time MERS-CoV disease transmission is explored using a non-linear fractional order in the sense of Caputo operator in this paper. The considered model is analyzed for the qualitative theory, uniqueness of the solution are discussed by using the Banach contraction principle. Stability analysis is investigated by the aid of Ulam-Hyres (UH) and its generalized version. Finally, we show the numerical results with the help of generalized Adams-Bashforth-Moulton Method (GABMM) are used for the proposed model, for supporting our analytical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global evaluations of response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Global Clinical Practice (a network of 12,942 clinicians from 151 countries), and the Global Response to Infections Disease have consistently rated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of the most effective medical responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In parallel, according to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer, public trust in the UAE government is 81%—a leading score in the Middle East. While widespread miscommunication rumours, and lack of coordination was observed in the early phases of COVID-19 globally, the UAE case demonstrates a comprehensive positive approach and experience. The research reported in this paper aimed to understand the role of media in the police response in relation to COVID-19 risk management in the UAE. Content analysis of documentary and data sources was conducted from public COVID-19-related meta-data sources. The findings suggest pre-defined conducive legislative and institutional structure, professionalism of media and police, and collaborative approaches among implementing agencies contributed to the success of the early phase COVID-19 risk management in the UAE. This research contributes to the body of knowledge in pandemic and infodemic risk management through analysis of the UAE experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have opened the door to investigations of the leadership practices needed to guarantee positive work-related outcomes among employees in organizations. Therefore, building on the norm of reciprocity, this research aims to propose a model to examine servant leadership's role in stimulating task performance and risk-taking behaviors during crisis times. In this model, safety climate was hypothesized to serve as a mediating variable between servant leadership, task performance and risk-taking behavior. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 237 staff (medial and administrative staff) working in Palestinian hospitals. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Common method bias remedies were presented. Findings: This study demonstrates that servant leadership is effective in fostering task performance and risk-taking behaviors in times of crisis through the mediation of safety climate. According to the results, safety climate demonstrated to fully mediate relationship between servant leadership and task performance (ß = 0.225, p-value = 0.000), and the relationship between servant leadership and risk-taking behavior (ß = 0.248, p-value = 0.000). Moreover, the results demonstrated that employees with higher experience tend to be more willing to engage in risk-taking behavior. Practical implications: The findings may be useful for hospital managers on the role servant leadership can play in generating positive work-related outcomes during crisis times. Originality/value: The paper is among the few empirical endeavors which examine the consequences of servant leadership in times of crisis, taking into account the intervening role of safety climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Preliminary country-specific reports suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on the mental health of the healthcare workforce. In this paper, we summarize the protocol of the COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) study, an ongoing, global initiative, aimed to describe and track longitudinal trajectories of mental health symptoms and disorders among health care workers at different phases of the pandemic across a wide range of countries in Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle-East, and Asia. Methods: Participants from various settings, including primary care clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, and mental health facilities, are being enrolled. In 26 countries, we are using a similar study design with harmonized measures to capture data on COVID-19 related exposures and variables of interest during two years of follow-up. Exposures include potential stressors related to working in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as sociodemographic and clinical factors. Primary outcomes of interest include mental health variables such as psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress disorders. Other domains of interest include potentially mediating or moderating influences such as workplace conditions, trust in the government, and the country's income level. Results: As of August 2021, ~ 34,000 health workers have been recruited. A general characterization of the recruited samples by sociodemographic and workplace variables is presented. Most participating countries have identified several health facilities where they can identify denominators and attain acceptable response rates. Of the 26 countries, 22 are collecting data and 2 plan to start shortly. Conclusions: This is one of the most extensive global studies on the mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a variety of countries with diverse economic realities and different levels of severity of pandemic and management. Moreover, unlike most previous studies, we included workers (clinical and non-clinical staff) in a wide range of settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New atypical pneumonia caused by a virus called Coronavirus (COVID-19) appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Unlike previous epidemics due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), COVID-19 has the particularity that it is more contagious than the other previous ones. In this paper, we try to predict the COVID-19 epidemic peak in Japan with the help of real-time data from January 15 to February 29, 2020 with the uses of fractional derivatives, namely, Caputo derivatives, the Caputo–Fabrizio derivatives, and Atangana–Baleanu derivatives in the Caputo sense. The fixed point theory and Picard–Lindel of approach used in this study provide the proof for the existence and uniqueness analysis of the solutions to the noninteger-order models under the investigations. For each fractional model, we propose a numerical scheme as well as prove its stability. Using parameter values estimated from the Japan COVID-19 epidemic real data, we perform numerical simulations to confirm the effectiveness of used approximation methods by numerical simulations for different values of the fractional-order γ , and to give the predictions of COVID-19 epidemic peaks in Japan in a specific range of time intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this paper was to explore the use of an artificial neural network (ANN) model in predicting real estate prices in the Middle East market. Although conventional modeling approaches such as regression can be used in prediction, they have a weakness of a predetermined relationship between input and output. In this regard, using the ANN model was expected to reduce the bias and ensure non-linear relationships are also covered in the prediction process for more accurate results. The ANN model was created using Python v.3.10 program. The model exhibited a high correlation between predicted and actual house price data (R=0.658). In this respect, it was realized that the model could be effectively used in appraising real estate by investors. However, a major limitation of the model was realized to be a limited dataset for large and luxurious houses, which were not accurately predicted as data distribution between actual and predicted values became sparse for high house prices. A key recommendation made is that future research should include more variables related to luxurious houses and macroeconomic factors to increase the ANN model accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study highlighted that the presence of diabetes alone was not a strong risk factor for increased COVID-19 mortality; however, it was shown that the confounding of demographic characteristics (age) and diabetes represented major risk factors. For example, a study in France[14] revealed that COVID-19 mortality rate was associated with the physician's density, and a Yale study[15] found that the lack of ICU hospital beds was associated with excess COVID-19 deaths. Several issues related to the coronavirus pandemic have not yet been fully and unequivocally identified despite the attempts made in the literature to explain why COVID-19 case-fatality rates vary among countries and why in some developed countries, fatality rates were high. [Extracted from the article]

The world is facing an unprecedented situation with COVID-19. The normal functioning of economies has been completely interrupted with the lockdowns in place. The consequences of pandemic have been deeply felt across the entire global tourism ecosystem. Travel restrictions that were put in place to reduce the outbreak of coronavirus, affected various sectors of every economy. Since recovery of tourism is crucial for the turnaround of any economy, this study aims to provide an overview of the impact of COVID-19 on global tourism and highlighted the ways that can lead the path of revival of the sector. To make this assessment, the paper studied three associated industries of tourism viz. airlines; hospitality with special focus on the hotel segment; and the MSMEs involved directly in tourism related business. Region-wise analysis reveals that the Asia-Pacific zone has been the worst affected followed by the Middle East. As countries are opening up their borders and encouraging tourism, the sector is facing the challenge of rebuilding the consumer confidence in order to promote future tourism. Hence, the paper also provides an overview of policy decisions taken worldwide which will be crucial for sustenance of the global tourism sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, individual and groups were extremely using face to face strategy to attain a native language and make advising associated with English language learning as there were a few applications of the online platforms incorporating in some enterprises, including pedagogic institutions. In this status quo, there is the rapid implementation of these programs, especially during the outbreak of Covid-19. Nowadays, many scholars affirmed the cooperation between virtual programs and language learning as they are overlapping and go hand in hand to cope with the immediate changes across the instructive institutions. This research will outline one of the fundamental topics, which is the role of an organizational platform to mitigate literacy and elevate the learner's language learning level. Initially, it will entirely answer the core questions in this paper: What is the virtual platform and its significance in the education field? Then, it will demonstrate a critical understanding of the significance of the online platform to promote English language learning on some contemporary theories. Later, a questionnaire will be disseminated to a group of General Foundation Program (GFP) students to collect their standpoint towards learning the English language through a virtual program. It will ultimately showcase an example of online learning applications, an initial move to a hypothesis where the two e-learning types, such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom are introduced, including a concise conversation the traits and weaknesses of each. Adding to that, the student's perspective towards these platforms in the context of English language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently identified novel coronavirus (CoV), the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While published data about other highly infectious human COVs [that is, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)] provide helpful information about the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, there is limited understanding surrounding knowledge of ocular manifestation of the virus. This paper reviews published data which reveal the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in tears and conjunctival scrappings of some COVID-19 patients by real-time-polymerase chain reaction assay, although the detection rate is low compared to samples from respiratory sites. Nevertheless, the ocular complications from SARS-CoV-2 infection are uncommon. The evidence partly supports the eye as a portal of entry for SARS-CoV-2 to infect respiratory cells or viral shedding from respiratory cells via the nasolacrimal duct unto the ocular surface. The possibility of ocular secretions as source for SARS-CoV-2 to spread externally has substantial public health implications [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccine development utilizing various platforms is one of the strategies that has been proposed to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Adjuvants are critical components of both subunit and certain inactivated vaccines because they induce specific immune responses that are more robust and long-lasting. A review of the history of coronavirus vaccine development demonstrates that only a few adjuvants, including aluminum salts, emulsions, and TLR agonists, have been formulated for the severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and currently the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in experimental and pre-clinical studies. However, there is still a lack of evidence regarding the effects of the adjuvants tested in coronavirus vaccines. This paper presents an overview of adjuvants that have been formulated in reported coronavirus vaccine studies, which should assist with the design and selection of adjuvants with optimal efficacy and safety profiles for COVID-19 vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: There are limited case series reporting the impact on women affected by coronavirus during pregnancy. In women affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), the case fatality rate appears higher in those affected in pregnancy compared with non-pregnant women. We conducted a rapid review to guide health policy and management of women affected by COVID-19 during pregnancy, which was used to develop the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' (RCOG) guidelines on COVID-19 infection in pregnancy.Methods: Searches were conducted in PubMed and MedRxiv to identify primary case reports, case series, observational studies and randomized controlled trials describing women affected by coronavirus in pregnancy. Data were extracted from relevant papers. This review has been used to develop guidelines with representatives of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and RCOG who provided expert consensus on areas in which data were lacking.Results: From 9965 search results in PubMed and 600 in MedRxiv, 21 relevant studies, all of which were case reports or case series, were identified. From reports of 32 women to date affected by COVID-19 in pregnancy, delivering 30 babies (one set of twins, three ongoing pregnancies), seven (22%) were asymptomatic and two (6%) were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), one of whom remained on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. No maternal deaths have been reported to date. Delivery was by Cesarean section in 27 cases and by vaginal delivery in two, and 15 (47%) delivered preterm. There was one stillbirth and one neonatal death. In 25 babies, no cases of vertical transmission were reported; 15 were reported as being tested with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction after delivery. Case fatality rates for SARS and MERS were 15% and 27%, respectively. SARS was associated with miscarriage or intrauterine death in five cases, and fetal growth restriction was noted in two ongoing pregnancies affected by SARS in the third trimester.Conclusions: Serious morbidity occurred in 2/32 women with COVID-19, both of whom required ICU care. Compared with SARS and MERS, COVID-19 appears less lethal, acknowledging the limited number of cases reported to date and that one woman remains in a critical condition. Preterm delivery affected 47% of women hospitalized with COVID-19, which may put considerable pressure on neonatal services if the UK's reasonable worst-case scenario of 80% of the population being affected is realized. Based on this review, RCOG, in consultation with RCPCH, developed guidance for delivery and neonatal care in pregnancies affected by COVID-19, which recommends that delivery mode be determined primarily by obstetric indication and recommends against routine separation of affected mothers and their babies. We hope that this review will be helpful for maternity and neonatal services planning their response to COVID-19. © 2020 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has threatened human life, so it has become necessary to study this disease from many aspects. This study aims to identify the nature of the effect of interdependence between these countries and the impact of each other on each other by designating these countries as heads for the proposed graph and measuring the distance between them using the ultrametric spanning tree. In this paper, a network of countries in the Middle East is described using the tools of graph theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose - This paper questions the change in patterns of use of the balcony during lockdown. It investigates whether residents, specifically of apartment buildings in Cairo, used their balconies more frequently or for different activities during the lockdown. Design/methodology/approach - The study was conducted through a mixed methods approach. More specifically, a sequential explanatory design was adopted where quantitative data were collected at first followed by qualitative data collection. The study proceeded in two stages. First, an online questionnaire with 160 respondents was conducted to depict the change in the frequency and use patterns of balconies pre/post lockdown in Cairo. The respondents were approached through snowball sampling. Second, in-depth semistructured interviews with 20 participants, approached through convenience sampling, were done. The interviews aimed to provide interpretation and rationale for the responses, patterns and correlations identified from the questionnaire results. Findings - The findings of this study confirm that there is a change in the pattern of use of balconies in terms of frequency and the types of hosted activities. The analysis revealed three key ideas that characterize those changes: the balcony as a found space, as a loose space and as a space of self-expression at home. It also expands on spatial qualities of balconies that promoted their use. The study emphasizes the significance of such outdoor private spaces in apartment buildings and puts forward balconies as an essential element of future dwellings design for the multiple benefits they behold. Originality/value - The originality of the study stems from tackling such a timely and unprecedented situation, where still few studies investigating the relationship between pandemic and the architecture of homes have been conducted. Furthermore, this study focuses particularly on exploring the use of balconies in Cairo, one of the largest cities in both Africa and the Middle East, during lockdown. Its findings might ultimately help formulate, define and characterize new trends in the architecture of homes that would embrace human needs in times of prosperity and rising tensions alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an abrupt transition to online learning in nursing education, presenting unprecedented challenges. This research aims to comprehensively assess the challenges faced by nursing students during this transition, exploring key issues, recommending strategies, and analyzing their impact on student perceptions. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, the study surveyed 941 nursing students across eight Arab countries—Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, KSA, UAE, and Egypt—to ensure a representative sample and enhance external validity. Data collection involved a thorough survey covering academic, technological, and administrative challenges. Reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, and variance analysis using Kruskal -Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests were conducted to examine differences between countries and sociodemographic variables. Results: Descriptive statistics revealed significant demographic disparities. Single individuals in Jordan and those with lower family income in Palestine and Lebanon reported notably higher challenges. Female students in Iraq and Lebanon perceived greater challenges compared to males. Students pursuing diplomas in Jordan and bridging programs in Lebanon faced elevated difficulties. Governmental university students in Lebanon and private university students in Jordan encountered distinct challenges. Lack of available internet was particularly challenging in Jordan and Lebanon, whereas students using tablets in Lebanon and laptops in Palestine reported heightened challenges. Economic disparities, notably in family income, further hindered engagement with online learning materials. Across countries, academic challenges included managing coursework and accessing resources, exacerbated by administrative inefficiencies, especially in Palestine and Lebanon. Students in the UAE reported fewer challenges, facilitated by robust internet infrastructure and comprehensive institutional support. Conclusion: This study provides critical insights into the challenges faced by nursing students during the Middle East's online learning transition. Key challenges encompass technological issues, academic workload, and administrative inefficiencies, with significant disparities across countries. The findings underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions, particularly in Palestine, to enhance online learning experiences. Policymakers and educational institutions can leverage these insights to advocate for student-centric approaches and policy development aimed at improving online learning across the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the resurgence of the Middle East conflict, government measures to support the economy have intervened massively in economic activity and thus influenced the real insolvency situation. This situation creates disruptive conditions in insolvency counselling and requires comprehensive risk management for the strategic safeguarding of internal processes in insolvency counselling companies. Despite a number of academic articles that address a lack of risk awareness in insolvency counselling, there have been no valid statistical surveys on this topic to date. The topic has also been largely ignored in practice. This article presents a study that examines risk management in insolvency advisory companies in the context of government intervention in the global economy from 2020 to 2023. The aim of the research is to assess the necessity and existence of risk management in these companies. A survey of 350 insolvency advisors was conducted between March and April 2024, from which 113 complete data sets could be analysed. The central hypothesis of the research study is that a significant majority of insolvency advisory companies have insufficient risk awareness and do not implement comprehensive risk management strategies. The survey results confirm that risk management is rarely practised and that a well-founded risk awareness is lacking in most consulting companies. It is noteworthy that two-thirds of those surveyed consider the benefits of risk management to be low, although more than half of those surveyed recognise increased risks due to government crisis measures. Ultimately, this study concludes with a recommendation that a standardised EU insolvency regulation could offer the greatest benefits for the insolvency sector, as it would simplify risk management for consultants in all member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a qualitative investigation of education policies and decision making during COVID-19 pandemic in five Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) countries: Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Qatar. It aims at scrutinizing how these countries responded to the education disruption caused by the pandemic between February 2020 and July 2021 and how they managed the resulting turbulence. We also investigate the extent to which these decisions were equitable and innovative. Data were collected from Ministerial notes, media content, and international organizations reports about the situation of education in the region. Walt and Gilson’s (1994) policy analysis triangle and the Cynefin framework (Kurtz & Snowden, 2003) guided the objectives and the analysis of the data. Findings revealed that these countries muddled through the education policy at the beginning of the pandemic, centralized decision making, and faced difficulties to implement online and distance learning. In the second phase, most of these countries tried to save education, but were halted by structural challenges. Some differences were witnessed among these countries in how they have dealt with the evolving crisis. However, some similarities have also been noticed at the levels of context, process and actors. The decisions taken often lacked innovation and led to less equitable outcomes. The discussion of the findings has some implications for education policy and education management in turbulent times in the MENA region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of the COVID-19 epidemic on the relationship between key audit matter (KAM) and auditing quality. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the ordinary least squares regression on data from 942 firm-year observations of Jordanian non-financial institutions across the period (2017–2022) to test the hypotheses. The authors use content analysis method to measure levels of KAM disclosure. Findings: The investigation's findings highlight the importance of KAM disclosure in achieving audit quality in line with international standard on auditing no. 701 (ISA-701) requirements. COVID-19 is also found to have a positive relationship with audit quality, further confirming the crisis's devastating impact on audit complexity and risks and providing evidence for the need for supplementary, high-quality audit services. Due to the correlation between KAM disclosure and increased auditor workload and responsibility, the analysis reveals that the COVID-19 factor strengthens the link between KAM disclosure and audit quality. Practical implications: This study has the potential to be used as a basis for the creation of a new regulation or standard regarding the reporting of unfavourable events in financial filings. This study's findings provide standard-setters, regulators and policymakers with current empirical data on the effects of implementing ISA-701's mandate for external auditors to provide more information on KAM. The COVID-19 crisis offers a suitable setting in which to examine the value of precautionary disclosures in times of economic uncertainty, as well as the significance of confidence interval disclosures and the role of external auditing in calming investor fears. This analysis is helpful for stakeholders, regulatory agencies, standard-setters and readers of audit reports who are curious about the current state of KAM disclosures and the implementation of ISA-701. The results may have ramifications for academia in the form of a call for more evidence expanding this data to other burgeoning fields to have a clear explanation of the real impact of reporting KAM on audit practices. Originality/value: To the authors' awareness, this research is one of the few empirical studies on the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on auditing procedures, and more specifically, the effect of disclosures on KAM by external auditors on audit quality. This study's findings represent preliminary scientific evidence linking the pandemic to business performance. Minimal research has been done on how auditors in developing nations react to pandemic investor protection and how auditors' enlarged reporting responsibilities affect them. The vast majority of auditing studies have been conducted in a highly regulated system, so this research contributes by examining audit behaviour in a weak legal context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has pressured governments to respond with restrictive and health resource-oriented policies to contain the spread of the virus. The aim of this paper is to assess differential policy implementation due to state fragility with a spatial scope of the Middle Eastern region. The policies implemented by the four strongest and six most fragile Middle Eastern countries were extracted from the CoronaNet Government Response Database and grouped into restrictive and resource-oriented categories. Clustering based on these categories informed dyadic analysis. Drawing from the Oxford Government Response Policy Tracker and COVID-19 World Symptom Survey, we found that fragile states tended to be characterized by a higher proportion of restrictive policies, lower government stringency, and lower compliance. The results identify sectors that would benefit most from humanitarian aid and raise the issue of whether restrictions are disproportionately implemented due to covert political agendas or lack of political and economic power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to measure and evaluate the performance of units and branches of banks, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak. Design/methodology/approach: 23 bank branches were measured and compared from the perspective of ISO10002:2018 using data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on an additive model with undesirable data. Performance assessment indicators were designed based on ISO 10002:2018 and a balanced scorecard (BSC) in four financial, growth and learning, internal process, and customer dimensions. Findings: The results indicated that among all private banks, 14 banks were inefficient (Iran Zamin, Eghtesad Novin (EN), Ayandeh, Parsian, Pasargad, Middle East, Refah, Mellat, Saderat, Qavamin, Karafarin, Tourism, Saman, Mehr Iran) and the others were efficient (Tejarat, Mehr-e-Eqtesad, Sarmayeh, Shahr, Resalat, Ansar, Mehr Iran, Sina, Day, Hekmat Iranian). Practical implications: The results determined the efficiency level and the change rate in the data (ISO 10002:2018 indicators) for inefficient banks to reach the border of efficiency and to optimize their performance. Such an issue can be used in management and planning to improve the performance of banks. Originality/value: Using customer complaints and customer satisfaction in studying banks' performance can provide better insight into improving the quality of services. Among the various matters in customer complaints, measuring and evaluating the performance of units and branches of banks, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak, via DEA and based on ISO-10002:2018 distinguishes this study from previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is going through the most unprecedented time with the outbreak of novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has become a threat to millions. A Coronavirus is a group of viruses that cause a variety of diseases in mammals and birds leading to a range of illnesses in humans including common cold and more severe forms like severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and COVID-19, which are life-threatening. The virus gets its name from its shape which takes the form of a crown with protrusions around it. In December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak was reported in the Wuhan City of China, which was later traced to a novel strain of Coronavirus and termed as Novel COVID-19. It typically causes flu-like symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath and is transmitted through human-to-human and there is no cure for it till now. Thus, this bibliometric study has been carried out to analyze the research progress in Coronavirus and literature published during a period of 30 years (1989-2019). Data for the study were fetched from Web of Science(WoS) multidisciplinary database and the publication trends in terms of total articles, productive countries, institutions, journals, productive authors, most cited articles and authors, etc have been analyzed. In total, 4917 articles were retrieved; these were from 711 sources and were contributed by 14442 authors. The collaboration index was 3.11, which clearly indicates that there has been a lot of collaboration in this field. The most preferred journal for the study period was "Journal of Virology" and the maximum contribution has been from the University of Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]