A nationwide study on the knowledge, awareness, and practices towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To investigate public knowledge, awareness and practice regarding COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted, with a 16-item self-administered questionnaire. Data was collected using social media as the platform a day after the lockdown commenced in Saudi Arabia and data collection lasted from March 25 to April 25, 2020. Chi-square test was performed to determine the association between the variables.Results: The results showed that 96 % (n = 1505) of adults were aware of the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and 57.9 % (n = 908) correctly identified that a stuffy nose and sneezing were less common in persons infected with the virus. A majority (95.4 %, n = 1495) agreed that there was no established therapeutic treatment for COVID-19. Further, 91.7 % (n = 1437) agreed that the virus could spread via respiratory droplets and only 46.2 % (n = 724) acknowledged that wearing face mask helped prevent transmission. The results also showed that 83.2 % (n = 1299) of the participants thought that visiting crowded places increased the likelihood of transmission.Conclusion: The findings of this study reveal that adults in Saudi Arabia are cognizant of COVID-19 and maintained good attitudes and practices regarding it. Furthermore, health education programs aimed at improving awareness of the disease and appropriate control measures will be beneficial in curbing the virus pandemic. Keywords: Saudi Arabia, Coronavirus, Pandemic, COVID-19, Flu, Symptom

Determination Of Aerosol Optical Thickness From Spectral Sky Transmittance.

The objective of this study is to test the feasibility of the proposed technique for retrieving spectral aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from the spectral transmittance measurements. The measurements have been acquired around Penang Island, Malaysia. Ground-based measurements were made with a handheld spectroradiometer. The measured spectral transmittance data were then converted to AOT values 6 spectral bands between 400 and 900 nm. Spectral AOT maps were generated using Kriging interpolation method for the 6 spectral bands. Air quality map was produced using this technique

Remote Sensing Of Turbidity Mapping From Digital Camera Imagery.

A complete set of normal digital camera data and ground-based measurements are used to test an algorithm for retrieval of turbidity distribution in the Prai Estuary, Penang, Malaysia

PM10 Retrieval From Spectroradiometer Measurements.

This study attempts to determine the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from spectroradiometer data. The spectroradiometer is used to measure the atmospheric transmittances in a wide spectrum over Penang Island, Malaysia

Long term visual outcomes in laser treated threshold retinopathy of prematurity in Central Saudi Arabia

AbstractPurposeTo assess the long term visual outcomes and refractive status of patients who underwent diode laser for threshold retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and to investigate the risk factors leading to poor visual outcomes.MethodsFifty-seven patients (114 eyes) with threshold ROP who underwent laser therapy were contacted for reassessment. A chart review was performed for all patients to collect data on visual acuity, retinal status and strabismus. A favorable visual outcome was defined as ⩾20/160 (Snellen acuity) for young adults (cooperative patients), and ⩾CSM for children (uncooperative patients) while unfavorable visual outcome was defined as <20/160 or <CSM. Vision in uncooperative children was graded as central, steady, maintain. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted. Chi2 and odds ratios were calculated whenever appropriate. A P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.ResultsThe mean age at reassessment was 5.2±2.5years (range, 1–10years) where 36 (63.2%) patients were males and 21 (36.8%) were females. Out Of the 114 laser treated eyes, 73 (64%) were myopic, with mean spherical equivalent (SE) of −6.69 (5.9), range (−0.25 to −21) diaopters, 8 (7%) were emmetrope, while other 33 (29%) were hyperopic with mean SE of +2.43 (3.04), range (+0.25 to +17) diaopters. Strabismus was present in 31 patients (54.4%) of whom 81% (25/31) were esotropic. Retina was found to be normal in 77.1% of the examined eyes, while the remaining eyes had either macular dragging or retinal detachment. Almost 70% of the eyes with a normal retinal examination had favorable visual outcome. Thirteen (11.4%) eyes had zone 1 retinopathy, 83 (72.8%) eyes had zone 2 retinopathy and 2 (1.8%) eyes had zone 3 retinopathy. Vitreous hemorrhage was present in 7 (6.1%) eyes prior to laser treatment. The relationship between final retinal status and visual outcome was statistically significant (P<0.0001). There was no statistically significant correlation between visual outcome and the zone of the retinopathy (P=0.448).ConclusionThe majority of patients who underwent diode laser therapy for threshold ROP had favorable anatomical and visual outcomes. However, high refractive error and strabismus may be clinically the pertinent causes of visual impairment

Customer Satisfaction on Quality of ISO Standard 9126 Services in Electronic Banking in Libya

Despite the availability of some electronic banking (e-banking) services in Libya, these services are still facing difficulties in many ways, they have advantages and disadvantages, and so far, they have not been understood by some customers to get their satisfaction.&nbsp;&nbsp;This research aims to know the extent of customer satisfaction (CS) with e-banking services in Libya through ISO 9126 standards. &nbsp;The research population consisted of all customers of (Al-Wahda) and (Commerce &amp; Development (C&amp;D)) bank in Benghazi city, a random sample of 180 and 207 clients were selected respectively. Research hypotheses have been tested, and we noticed a relationship between the existence of a strong significant correlation between the quality services of e-banking according to quality standards ISO 9126 software and CS among the banks under study.&nbsp;The value of this research comes from the new scientific results to study the impact of the quality of e-banking services on CS in Libyan banks, and its originality lies because of the lack of this research applied to Libyan banks in general and Benghazi city in particular

Variation in gas chromatography (GC) analysis in setting up laboratory protocols for waste to energy novel fixed bed reactor setups

Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) has been applied in various analytical chemistry works. However, to fine tune a system that can serve the purposes of pyrolysis oil identification has proven to be a laborious effort, especially when considering the fact that no standard protocol exists for such analysis. In addition, obtained products were yielded from a newly commissioned unit with a unique and novel design. In this study, a US patent office claimed reactor [SULTAN-1, Pyrolysis Reactor System for the Conversion and Analysis of Organic Solid Waste, Patent application number: 15,487,351] that degrades polyolefinc virgin and waste materials to obtain petroleum refinery and petrochemical feedstock, has been commissioned. The reactor produces three distinct physical states of matter products accumulated as testing specimens, i.e. solids, gaseous and oil. The samples analysed in this work were of the gas and oil produced by pyrolysis of end of life tyre (ELTs) shavings that required to have a special recipe to work with in the laboratory. Various MS cords were utilised and experimental setups to fine tune the process, and special emphasis was given on the gas samples variation in this communication. To reach the desired analysis results with high repeatability, a plethora of experiences of lab personnel and laboratory-based experimental work was accumulated. Laboratory protocols were also setup for this work. These will be detailed along the process execution which yielded a standard laboratory best practice analytical method as part of the State of Kuwait newly initiated Government Initiative project

Mixture of Inverse Weibull and Lognormal Distributions: Properties, Estimation, and Illustration

We discuss the two-component mixture of the inverse Weibull and lognormal distributions (MIWLND) as a lifetime model. First, we discuss the properties of the proposed model including the reliability and hazard functions. Next, we discuss the estimation of model parameters by using the maximum likelihood method (MLEs). We also derive expressions for the elements of the Fisher information matrix. Next, we demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed model by fitting it to a real data set. Finally, we draw some concluding remarks