Knowledge, attitudes, and practices surrounding COVID-19 among Sudan citizens during the pandemic: an online cross-sectional study

Background: A number of protective and cautionary protocols have been adopted to control the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Sudan. People’s commitment to these protocols is affected by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). Objective: To measure the Sudanese population’s KAP in relation to COVID-19 during the pandemic. Method: A web sample was enrolled with success via the authors’ relations with citizens and standard media in Khartoum, Sudan. A self-administered online KAP questionnaire was completed by the respondents. Results: Among the study sample (n=2336),66.4% between 18 and 29 years old, 60.7% were ladies, 75.9% had a high school education, and 76.1% were Khartoum citizens.  The general correct rate of the knowledge questionnaire was 84.7%. The majority of the participants (94.8%) were ready to commit to the decision of staying at home. A large proportion of the participants (92%) frequently washed their hands or using antiseptic. Conclusion: Health teaching programs geared to enhancing COVID-19 knowledge are useful for Sudan citizens fostering positive attitudes and disseminating knowledge relating to helpful practices. Due to the limited sample representativeness, we must be cautious when generalizing these findings. Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, COVID-19, Sudan

A HYBRID ALGORITHM FOR SOLVING FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM IN CELLULAR NETWORK

Frequency allocation problem is considered an NP problem which requires a large search space to find the optimal solution. This paper presents a hybrid algorithm between the Hopfield neural network and the tabu search techniques algorithm to allocate frequencies in the cells of cellular network. The cellular telephone system is composed of small regions called cells, it's depends on the principles of frequencies reuse due to the limited number of frequencies. As a result to this reuse the problem of frequency allocation is a raised. Simply it can be defined as the allocation of different frequencies to each cell and it’s neighbouring. In this hybridization the principles of short term memory and candidate list in tabu search are embedded in Hopfield neural network to control the operation of neuron selection

Presenting symptoms and time to diagnosis for Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumors in Qatar: a report from Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Service in Qatar

Introduction There are no previous published reports on primary pediatric tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) in Qatar. We undertook this retrospective cohort study to review the diagnosis of CNS tumors in children in Qatar to analyze the presentation characteristics including symptoms, referral pathways, and time to diagnosis. Methods All children registered with Pediatric Neuro-Oncology service (PNOS) were included in the study. Data from the time of diagnosis (October 2007 to February 2020) were reviewed retrospectively. Presenting symptoms were recorded and pre-diagnosis symptom interval (PSI) was calculated from the onset of the first symptom to the date of diagnostic imaging. Results Of the 61 children registered with PNOS during the study period, 51 were included in the final analysis. Ten children were excluded because they were either diagnosed outside Qatar (n = 7) or were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis (n = 3). The median age was 45 (range 1–171) months. Common tumor types included low-grade glioma (LGG) (47.1%) and medulloblastoma/primitive neuro-ectodermal tumors (PNET) (23.5%). Nine children had an underlying neurocutaneous syndrome. Thirty-eight patients (74.5%) had at least one previous contact with healthcare (HC) professional, but 27 (52%) were still diagnosed through the emergency department (ED). Presenting symptoms included headache, vomiting (36.2%), oculo-visual symptoms (20.6%), motor weakness (18.9%), seizures, ataxia (17.2% each), irritability, cranial nerve palsies (12% each), and endocrine symptoms (10.3%). Median PSI was 28 days (range 1–845 days) for all CNS tumors. Longest PSI was seen with germ cell tumors (median 146 days), supratentorial location (39 days), and age above 3 years (30 days). Tumor characteristics of biological behavior (high-grade tumor) and location (infratentorial) were significantly associated with shorter PSI, as were presenting symptoms of ataxia, head tilt, and altered consciousness. Conclusions Although overall diagnostic times were acceptable, some tumor types were diagnosed after a significant delay. The awareness campaign, such as the “HeadSmart” campaign in the United Kingdom (UK), can improve diagnostic times in Qatar. Further research is required to better understand the reasons for the delay.Other Information Published in: Child's Nervous System License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00381-020-04815-z</p