A Meta-Synthesis Study on Adaptation of Academic and Research Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Public Universities

The ability of a tertiary institution to pursue academic studies and research during the pandemic and now endemic covid-19 is a measure of the strength of the university or college in facing the biggest test of this decade. Thus, various measures and approaches have been taken by the university management, especially in ensuring the momentum of study operations and even research at the university does not stop just like that. However, the biggest challenge seen and felt by all parties including students as the most important stakeholders is the online teaching and learning mechanism. Similarly, research planning and the ability of researchers are seen as very critical, especially in the success of data collection activities with the community and matters related to the study location. This meta-synthesis study potrayed the continuous efforts of the university in adapting and at the same time maintaining the quality of knowledge and skills taught are so significant and become the reason for the development of academic activities in crisis situations especially covid-19 pandemic. Studies from 2020 to 2021 were referred specifically to review teaching and learning situations as well as research during pandemics and endemics show that academics and researchers have an optimistic and dynamic attitude in adapting their respective teaching and research approaches

Lesson learned from the Pandemic, remediation of radio

Radio research is not a new thing, and in fact, it was portrayed as an under researched field. There is a long debate about radio acceptance, conventional radio migration to digital and will podcast kills conventional radio before the pandemic. However, pandemic Covid-19 affects the listenership of radio. At times of pandemics, radio has played a leading role, and throughout history, radio has been vital during major natural disasters and health emergencies. This research aims to recognise and address radio research's opportunities and challenges. A qualitative research approach is adopted through document analysis and observation. Findings show an increase in radio listening during the pandemic, the most flexible and accessible medium. Radio is the most versatile and experienced remediation at all times

Re-conceptualizing information credibility in the age of networking society

The main objective of this paper is to re-conceptualize the concept of information credibility. This is due to the fact that the current society, which is best labelled as ‘network society’ are becoming more complicated in relation to consuming information. The boundary of information producer and consumers are becoming thinner due to the advances in information technology. The existing body of knowledge about information credibility also warrant further investigation. Studies on information credibility are dispersed between the disciplines of communication, information technology and business studies. This has resulted in different conception of information credibility. Thus, this study was carried out using the Grounded Theory approach. There were four focus group discussions held to identify how the current society perceived information credibility. The choice of informants was based on the existing dialogue of digital natives and digital migrants. The finding shows that there is indeed new conception of information credibility. The concept of source and message are being strengthened, while two new concepts; ‘viral’ and ‘behaviour’ were added. The finding also reveals generational differences that warrant further investigation. The finding of this study is still open for further test due to the limitations of grounded theory approach

Characteristics and outcomes of an international cohort of 600 000 hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Background: We describe demographic features, treatments and clinical outcomes in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) COVID-19 cohort, one of the world's largest international, standardized data sets concerning hospitalized patients. Methods: The data set analysed includes COVID-19 patients hospitalized between January 2020 and January 2022 in 52 countries. We investigated how symptoms on admission, co-morbidities, risk factors and treatments varied by age, sex and other characteristics. We used Cox regression models to investigate associations between demographics, symptoms, co-morbidities and other factors with risk of death, admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Results: Data were available for 689 572 patients with laboratory-confirmed (91.1%) or clinically diagnosed (8.9%) SARS-CoV-2 infection from 52 countries. Age [adjusted hazard ratio per 10 years 1.49 (95% CI 1.48, 1.49)] and male sex [1.23 (1.21, 1.24)] were associated with a higher risk of death. Rates of admission to an ICU and use of IMV increased with age up to age 60 years then dropped. Symptoms, co-morbidities and treatments varied by age and had varied associations with clinical outcomes. The case-fatality ratio varied by country partly due to differences in the clinical characteristics of recruited patients and was on average 21.5%. Conclusions: Age was the strongest determinant of risk of death, with a ∼30-fold difference between the oldest and youngest groups; each of the co-morbidities included was associated with up to an almost 2-fold increase in risk. Smoking and obesity were also associated with a higher risk of death. The size of our international database and the standardized data collection method make this study a comprehensive international description of COVID-19 clinical features. Our findings may inform strategies that involve prioritization of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who have a higher risk of death

The value of open-source clinical science in pandemic response: lessons from ISARIC

International audienc

ISARIC-COVID-19 dataset: A Prospective, Standardized, Global Dataset of Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19

The International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) COVID-19 dataset is one of the largest international databases of prospectively collected clinical data on people hospitalized with COVID-19. This dataset was compiled during the COVID-19 pandemic by a network of hospitals that collect data using the ISARIC-World Health Organization Clinical Characterization Protocol and data tools. The database includes data from more than 705,000 patients, collected in more than 60 countries and 1,500 centres worldwide. Patient data are available from acute hospital admissions with COVID-19 and outpatient follow-ups. The data include signs and symptoms, pre-existing comorbidities, vital signs, chronic and acute treatments, complications, dates of hospitalization and discharge, mortality, viral strains, vaccination status, and other data. Here, we present the dataset characteristics, explain its architecture and how to gain access, and provide tools to facilitate its use