A global study on the correlates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and COVID-19 vaccine distribution

This study aimed to explore the association between the GDP of various countries and the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations; to explore how the global pattern holds in the continents, and investigate the spatial distribution pattern of COVID-19 vaccination progress for all countries. We have used consolidated data on COVID-19 vaccination and GDP from Our World in Data, an open-access data source. Data analysis and visualization were performed in R-Studio. There was a strong linear association between per capita income and the proportion of people vaccinated in countries with populations of one million or more. GDP per capita accounts for a 50% variation in the vaccination rate across the nations. Our assessments revealed that the global pattern holds in every continent. Rich European and North-American countries are most protected against COVID-19. Less developed African countries barely initiated a vaccination program. There is a significant disparity among Asian countries. The security of wealthier nations (vaccinated their citizens) cannot be guaranteed unless adequate vaccination covers the less affluent countries. Therefore, the global community should undertake initiatives to speed up the COVID-19 vaccination program in all countries of the world, irrespective of their wealth

Internet use impact on physical health during COVID-19 lockdown in Bangladesh : a web-based cross-sectional study

Previous studies on internet use frequency were focused on mental health impact, with little known about the impact on physical health during the COVID-19 lockdown. This study examined the impact of internet use frequency on self reported physical health during the COVID-19 lockdown in Bangladesh. A web-based cross-sectional study on 3242 individuals was conducted from 2 August–1 October 2020. The survey covered demographics, internet use frequency and self-reported physical health questions. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the impact of internet use frequency on physical health. 72.5%, 69.9%, 65.1% and 55.3% respondents reported headache, back pain, numbness of the fingers and neck pain, respectively. The analyses showed increased physical health impact among regular (coefficient β = 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.18–0.85, p = 0.003), frequent (β = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.88–1.54, p < 0.001) and intense (β = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.91–2.57, p < 0.001) internet users. Other important predictors were gender, income, occupation, regions, and working status. Frequent and extensive uses of the internet were strong predictors of physical health problems, and our findings suggest the need for increased awareness about the physical health problems that can be triggered by excessive internet usage

Factors influencing students’ intention to use internet for academic purposes

This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes amongst 204 final year business students in public universities in Malaysia.This study integrated theory of planned behavior (TPB) and theory of acceptance model (TAM) as the base model toward that purpose.The research model employs the variables from both theories namely attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, intention, and behavior.A multiple regression analysis provides empirical support for the applicability of integration of TPB and TAM in predicting students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes.Results of the study show that attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and perceived usefulness are statistically significant in influencing intention to use the Internet for academic purposes.Based on the results, it can be concluded that students’ intention to use the Internet for academic purposes could be predicted from their attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and perceived usefulness at 49% level.In view of the results, several implications and recommendations are discussed

Investigating the Encouraging Factors for Scholarly Works Contributiontowards Institutional Repository: A Case Study at a Malaysian University

The aim of this paper is to study the encouraging factors for scholarly works contribution towards among academicians at Malaysian university. Methods: This paper uses questionnaire for data collection on the respondents’ perceptional level on the institutional repository efforts in one of the university under study. Several encouraging factors have been identified and to be measured using descriptive statistics. The factors are related to content contribution, i.e. personal factor, professional factor, organizational factor and technological factor. Findings: The study found that all these four encouraging factors did have a relation to the contribution of scholarly works in the university by the academician. Research Limitations: This study used a case study and generalization to all Malaysian universities should be well taken care of. Practical implications: The library at the university should look into these four encouraging factors in order to enhance the contribution from academician towards the repository. Originality/value: This research paper provides basic information for the knowledge management officers in the university by endeavoring more efforts in order to attract more contributions

Production of lactobacillus salivarius, a new probiotic strain isolated from human breast milk, in semi-industrial scale and studies on its functional characterization

Probiotic are living microorganisms when applied to humans or animals, beneficially affect the health of the host by influencing activity of microflora of the gastrointestinal tract or indigineous microbial balance. For industrial production of probiotics belong to lactobacilli, it is neccessary to obtain high biomass in a short time and low cost. Seven media screened for effective production of high biomass were evaluated using shake flask and incubated at 37c, pH 7.0. The best medium supports high biomass and low lactic acid was further used to optimized using different concentrations of medium components. Furthermore, the optimized medium was used for batch cultivation of L. salivarius in bioreactor under controlled and uncontrolled pH conditions. This medium was composed of (g L-1): glucose, 20.0, yeast extract, 20 and meat peptone, 35: Data showed that L. salivarius grew well in this medium with specific growth rate of about 0.179h-1 in shake flask, and 0.249 h-1 in controlled pH bioreactor. The maxiamum biomass of 5.71 g L-1 and 7.57 g L-1, were obtained in shake flasks and controlled pH bioreactor, respectively. To evaluate the potential use of this lactobacilli strain as probiotics, studies on the effect of gastric juice, pH and bile salts were conducted. Cell tolerancey to acidity and bile salt are important factor that affect the probiotics to remain and exert their potential functionalities in a host. L. salivarius showed higher resistant to SGJ with cell viability of 22.9%, 38.8%, 63% and 65% at pH 1,2,3 and 4, respectively. L. salivarius also has good functionality because of its tolerant to wide range bile salt concentrations ranged from 0.5% to 4%. Moreover, L. salivarius was susceptible to antibiotics like erythromycin, rifampicin, ampicillin, and resistance to streptomycin and gentamycin. In conclusion, L. salivarius, new isolated from mother milk, has a big potential use as starter culture probiotic application based on its high stability and could has potential use especially as probiotic supplement for infant milk formulation

Trends of stunting prevalence and its associated factors among Nigerian children aged 0-59 months residing in the Northern Nigeria, 2008-2018

Every year in Nigeria, malnutrition contributes to more than 33% of the deaths of children below 5 years, and these deaths mostly occur in the northern geopolitical zones (NGZs), where nearly 50% of all children below 5 years are stunted. This study examined the trends in the prevalence of stunting and its associated factors among children aged 0–23 months, 24–59 months and 0–59 months in the NGZs. The data of 33,682 recent live births in the NGZs, extracted from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys from 2008 to 2018, were used to investigate the factors associated with stunting using multilevel logistic regression. Children aged 24–59 months reported the highest prevalence of stunting, with 53.3% (95% confidence interval: 52.0–54.6%). Multivariable analyses revealed four common factors that increased the odds of a child’s stunting across all age subgroups: poor households, geopolitical zone (northwest or northeast), being a male and maternal height (<145 cm). Interventional strategies focused on poverty mitigation through cash transfer and educating low socioeconomic mothers on the benefits of gender-neutral supplementary feeding and the timely monitoring of the offspring of short mothers would substantially reduce stunting across all age subgroups in the NGZs