An overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports industry: Causes, implications, and options

The effects of COVID-19 are being felt throughout the world’s health, educational, financial, and commercial institutions, and the sports ecosystem is no exception. Matches and competitions are being cancelled or postponed, disrupting planning by governing bodies, organizers, teams and athletes — as well as non-stop live sports content we have come to expect. Owners, broadcasters, and sponsors are trying to navigate the impacts and implications of event cancellations and modifications. In a frenetic one-month period, countless sporting events — local, national or international — have been postponed at best or cancelled at worst. No sporting events were spared, even the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the UEFA EURO 2020 have been postponed until 2021. The corona virus outbreak has left host cities in total disarray with no option but to revise their plans. More than 84% of host cities surveyed believe that COVID-19 has had a significant impact on all sports events planned for this year. However, when asked about the future, 58% think that the virus outbreak will only have a minor impact in 2021. In other words, host cities expect that things will soon get back to normal

Senior interior design students’ perceptions about distance learning in the shadow of COVID-19

Background: Like many international universities and institutions of higher education that have shifted the entire educational system from the traditional face-to-face education model to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, universities in Saudi Arabia have expended great effort to change the behavior of educators and students to accommodate the transition. This rapid shift has had a significant impact on students, especially in programs such as interior design, in which different practical courses are taught along with the theoretical ones. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the benefits and challenges senior interior design students experienced while taking their classes online.Design and Methods: The current paper has adopted a qualitative approach for assessing the data obtained. Semi-structured interview was used to collect all the needed information regarding participants’ opinions about distance learning.Results: Increased time to spend on assignments, reduction of costs to the student, and improvement in achievement of learning outcomes were the three main benefits students reported in their experience of distance learning. On the other hand, technical issues, changes in grade distribution, and changes in project types were identified as student concerns. Although students found many advantages in communicating with others remotely, some issues arose.Conclusions: Students expressed a preference for the hybrid learning method, or at least for having their exams, juries, and presentations on campus in person, not remotely

Lecturers’ Perceptions and Satisfaction of Employing Electronic Learning Tools at the Arab Universities During COVID-19

This study aimed to identify the trends of faculty members in Arab universities toward the use of electronic learning tools in the context of the Corona pandemic. To achieve the study objectives, the questionnaire was the main instrument for collecting study data. The study was applied to a sample consisting of (82) faculty members at Altaif University, Irbid Alahlia University and Middle East University, who were selected randomly. The results revealed that attitudes and satisfaction of faculty members in Arab universities toward the use of e-learning tools in light of the Corona pandemic were medium. Also, the results showed that there are no significant impact of gender, academic ranking and experience but there is a significant impact of the university according to the point of view of faculty members on the use of e-learning tools in Arab universities

Liver diseases in pregnancy and outcomes: A retrospective study from Saudi Arabia

Liver diseases unique to pregnancy are common causes of both maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. We retrospectively studied liver diseases unique to pregnancy, including hyperemesis gravidarum (HG); intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy; eclampsia; preeclampsia; hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and a low platelets (HELLP) syndrome; and acute fatty liver of pregnancy. We collected data including maternal age, gestational weeks at presentation and at delivery, mode of delivery, number of parity, and laboratory markers at 0, 1 week, and within 24 hours after delivery; from 112 patients (mean age, 29.8 years) from April 2015 - March 2017. SPSS 22 was used for statistical analysis. We The commonest liver disease in pregnancy was pre-eclampsia followed by HG. HG patients were younger compared with those with eclampsia and preeclampsia (P=0.025). Gestational week at presentation and the week of delivery were significantly greater for preeclampsia/eclampsia and HELLP patients compared to HG. Primigravida represented 42.9% of our patients. Fetal complications were reported in 29 (26%) of cases. Of those, 17 had fetal or neonatal death. Fourteen mothers (12.5%) had ICU admission. Pregnancy related liver diseases are important causes for fetal mortality and morbidity. Maternal age and gestational weeks are important predictors of fetal and maternal outcomes.   Les maladies du foie propres à la grossesse sont des causes courantes de mortalité et de morbidité maternelles et foetales. Nous avons étudié rétrospectivement les maladies du foie propres à la grossesse, y compris l'hyperemesis gravidarum (HG); cholestase intrahépatique de la grossesse; éclampsie; prééclampsie; hémolyse, élévation des enzymes hépatiques et syndrome de bas taux de plaquettes (HELLP); et stéatose hépatique aiguë de la grossesse. Nous avons recueilli des données comprenant l'âge maternel, les semaines de gestation à la présentation et à l'accouchement, le mode d'accouchement, le nombre de parité et les marqueurs de laboratoire à 0, 1 semaine et dans les 24 heures suivant l'accouchement; de 112 patients (âge moyen, 29,8 ans) d'avril 2015 à mars 2017. SPSS 22 a été utilisé pour l'analyse statistique. Nous La maladie hépatique la plus courante pendant la grossesse était la pré-éclampsie suivie de l'HG. Les patients atteints de HG étaient plus jeunes que ceux atteints d'éclampsie et de prééclampsie (P = 0,025). La semaine gestationnelle lors de la présentation et la semaine de l'accouchement étaient significativement plus importantes pour les patients prééclampsie / éclampsie et HELLP par rapport à HG. Primigravida représentait 42,9% de nos patients. Des complications foetales ont été rapportées dans 29 (26%) des cas. Parmi ceux-ci, 17 ont eu un décès foetal ou néonatal. Quatorze mères (12,5%) ont été admises à l'USI. Les maladies hépatiques liées à la grossesse sont des causes importantes de mortalité et de morbidité foetales. L'âge maternel et les semaines de gestation sont des prédicteurs importants des issues foetales et maternelles. &nbsp

Recreational physical activity participation among women in Saudi Arabia

Background. Despite that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia places emphasizes on importance of protecting female population, with the absence of physical education for girls in schools that only ceased till very recently, limited number of fitness centres and gyms for women, a particular body image and prevalence of women staying at home and having rather passive or static life have created a somewhat unhealthy lifestyle among women. Methods. Participating women (161; ages 17–44), from Saudi Arabia, completed the survey that assessing fitness environment in the physical centre which are layout, aesthetics and personnel as well the intangible like social interaction and gym experience can be positively influence attendees’ motivation and increase the numbers of the fitness clubs. Therefore, motivation factors could have positive influence on willingness to come back to the gym among females. Results. SPSS showed tangible attributes of the fitness were not significant while social factors were significantly affected motivation to attend the female centres (p< 0.001). On the other hand, the influence of motivation is showing to be significant in willingness to come back to the centre (p< 0.001)

The impact of rumors in KSA and its resolution as stated in hadith

The danger of rumor-mongering became familiar since Adam was expelled from AI-Jannah (Paradise). This led the researcher in this study to evaluate the position of people with regards to rumors and its effect on the society. This research adopted the typical approach to investigate the Prophet's traditions on rumors from the nine basic collections of hadith and analyze their texts to bring out the negative religious, social and economic effects of rumors on the individual and society. Also, this research used the questionnaire as one of the quantitative approach tools to attain precise results in the study that was conducted on Saudi Arabia by selecting several random samples to whom the questionnaires were distributed, and feedback was collected. (97%) of the total feedback collected was suitable for analysis. However, the questionnaire contained the aspects such as position of people regarding rumors and effect of rumors on the individual and society religiously, socially and economically. The study concluded that there are few numbers of people who pay attention to spreading every news they hear or read without verification. In the study, the researcher also discussed the religious, social and economic effects of rumors on the individual and society and it became clear that rumors affect the individual religiously, socially and economically at a (very low level). Also, the recommendations including: to conduct a careful and specialist study of this subject, to generalize the teachings of the dangers of rumor mongering in order to curtail it and to establish a specialized body to fight rumormongering

Frequency of venous thromboembolism during hajj sessions 2017-2019 in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), both are serious health risks. In western countries, VTE affects about 114 to 184 people per 100,000. Asian populations have a significantly lower incidence than western populations. The true incidence of VTE is still not well documented in Saudi Arabia (KSA). There are different major risk factors especially in hajj season that predispose a person to thrombosis. The mortality rate of autopsy-based pulmonary embolism reaches up to 30%. Methods: This single-centered retrospective descriptive study was done in security forces hospital Makkah, Saudi Arabia during hajj period (30 days) for consecutive three-year. All admitted confirmed DVT and PE patients (N=32) of both genders with age &gt;14 years were included. Patients’ data were extracted from the electronic medical record. Data were analysed by SPSS version 23. Results: Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) was developed in 67.7% while 19.3% of patients suffered from pulmonary embolism (PE) out of a total of 32 subjects. Females were more affected by 18 (56.3%) than males by 14 (43.8%). The mean age of patients was 51.78 years (SD ±16.21). A statistically significant association (p&lt;0.005) between provoked VTE status and age, immobility, and history of surgery was seen. There was no mortality documented in this study. Conclusions: This study provides insights into hajj period hospital admitted patients’ frequency of VTE, changing patient profiles, management strategies, and subsequent outcomes in patients with venous thromboembolism. There is a need for greater awareness of VTE prophylaxis about its prevention, especially in hajj season

HNRNPK is retained in the cytoplasm by Keratin 19 to stabilize target mRNAs

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (HNRNPK) regulates pre-mRNA processing and long non-coding RNA localization in the nucleus. It was previously shown that shuttling of HNRNPK to the cytoplasm promotes cell proliferation and cancer metastasis. However, the mechanism of HNRNPK cytoplasmic localization, its cytoplasmic RNA ligands, and impact on posttranscriptional gene regulation remain uncharacterized. Here we show that the intermediate filament protein Keratin 19 (K19) directly interacts with HNRNPK and sequesters it in the cytoplasm. Correspondingly, in K19 knockout breast cancer cells, HNRNPK does not localize in the cytoplasm, resulting in reduced cell proliferation. We mapped cytoplasmic HNRNPK target mRNAs using PAR-CLIP where transcriptome data to show that, in the cytoplasm, HNRNPK stabilizes target mRNAs bound to the 3’ untranslated region at the expected C-rich sequence elements. Furthermore, these mRNAs are typically involved in cancer progression and include the p53 signaling pathway that is dysregulated upon HNRNPK knockdown or K19 knockout. This study identifies how a cytoskeletal protein can directly regulate gene expression by controlling subcellular localization of RNA binding proteins to support pathways involved in cancer progression