Prediction of COVID-19 Pandemic Spread in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

A significant increase in the number of coronavirus cases can easily be noticed in most of the countries around the world. Inspite of the consistent preventive initiatives being taken to contain the spread of this virus, the unabated increase in the cases is both alarming and intriguing. The role of mathematical models in predicting and estimating the spread of the virus, and identifying various preventive factors dependencies has been found important and effective in most of the previous pandemics like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) 2003. In this research work, authors have proposed the Susceptible-Infectected-Removed (SIR) model variation in order to forecast the pattern of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread for the upcoming eight weeks in perspective of Saudi Arabia. The study has been performed by using SIR model with a proposed simplification using average progression for further estimation of β and γ values for better curve fittings ratios. The predictive results of this study clearly show that under the current public health interventions, there will be an increase in the COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia in the next four weeks. Hence, a set of strong health primitives and precautionary measures are recommended in order to avoid and prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.     

Research perspective: Sweden

The director of the National Swedish Institute of 1 Building Research gives a perspective view with a ‘difference, namely on why the results of building research seem to provoke little direct interest from practising architects in that country. He suggests that it has much to do with the way architects do their job but, more importantly, probably originates in the way architects and researchers are trained, and he makes comparisons with the situation in farming and medicine. His views may strike echoes in other lands. The article is based on a paper given by Professor Antoni to the Swedish Architects’ Assembly. The cartoons are by Leif Rönn.     

Safety design practices in residential buildings in Saudi Arabia

A survey of current safety practices in the design of residential buildings in Saudi Arabia identified deficiencies in governance and design procedures. A systematic safety compliance checklist was developed to address these deficiencies incorporating existing local safety instructions and international safety codes and standards. Checklist use is intended to ensure compliance with minimal safety requirements in the design of residential buildings.     

The social shaping of educational technologies in Saudi Arabia: An examination of how the social fabric shapes the construction and use of technologies

This article is organised around the research question: To what extent has the social fabric shaped the way in which educational technologies are constructed at the institutional level in a specific social context? This question is addressed through a naturalistic study of a state university in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Guided by the grounded theory approach, the data analysis demonstrated that Saudi society was committed to many established relationships, structures and identities, a commitment that has resulted in the social shaping of educational technologies.     

Covid-19’s Pandemic Relationship to Saudi Arabia’s Weather Using Statistical Analysis and GIS

The eruption of the novel Covid-19 has changed the socio-economic conditions of the world. The escalating number of infections and deaths seriously threatened human health when it became a pandemic from an epidemic. It developed into an alarming situation when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a health emergency in MARCH 2020. The geographic settings and weather conditions are systematically linked to the spread of the epidemic. The concentration of population and weather attributes remains vital to study a pandemic such as Covid-19. The current work aims to explore the relationship of the population, weather conditions (humidity and temperature) with the reported novel Covid-19 cases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). For the study, the data for the reported Covid-19 cases was secured from 11 March 2020, to 21 July 2020 (132 days) from the 13 provinces of KSA. The Governorate level data was used to estimate the population data. A Geographic information system (GIS) analysis was utilised to visualise the relationship. The results suggested that a significant correlation existed between the population and Covid-19 cases. For the weather conditions, the data for the 13 provinces of KSA for the same period was utilised to estimate the relationship between the weather conditions and Covid-19 cases. Spearman’s rank correlation results confirmed that the humidity was significantly linked with the reported cases of Covid-19 in Makkah, Aseer, Najran, and Al Baha provinces. The temperature had a significant relation with the reported Covid-19 cases in Al-Riyad, Makkah, Al-Madinah, Aseer, Najran, and Al-Baha. The inconsistency of the results highlighted the variant behavior of Covid-19 in different regions of the KSA. More exploration is required beyond the weather-related variables. Suggestions for future research and policy direction are offered at the end of the study.     

Surface condensation and mould

Surface condensation and mould affect about 15 percent of the UK housing stock. This paper reports BRE studies in occupied dwellings on the effectiveness in various situations of a range of remedial measures, which included improvements to thermal insulation and heating, and the provision of extractor fans and dehumidifiers. The flats and 2‐storey houses involved were all of traditional construction with brick walls and pitched roofs. The results are incorporated in a recently published BRE package of practical guidance; this article outlines significant factors revealed by the field studies.     

沙特RCC总承包工程的高低压配电系统

海外总承包工程中,高低压配电系统与目前国内的通行做法有些区别。全面介绍了中国中材国际工程股份有限公司总承包的沙特RCC工程的配电系统;同时根据当地条件以及海外项目的特殊要求,就该项目电力电缆的选择和敷设的原则及方法作了一一分析和介绍。     

Ecological impact from chemicals in the Arabian Gulf due to Gulf oil spill

This paper presents a systematic methodology to assess ecological impact from chemicals released because of oil spills in the Arabian Gulf. The methodology proposed here compiles data on chemical behaviour and their partitioning in water and sediment and their impact on ecological entities present in the Arabian Gulf region. The proposed methodology is supported through a case study. This paper also evaluates marine impact of chemicals in the Arabian Gulf from the oil spills and their toxicity data. The main emphasis in the paper is on how to best use the available data for decision-making purposes. A case study of the Gulf Oil spill of 1991 was used to demonstrate the methodology with limited parameters but it can be generalized if more concentration data and their partitioning numbers are available.     

Fog collection as a source of fresh water supply in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In order to harvest water contained in fog, the topographical features and the climatic conditions of 27 cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were studied. The topography, altitude and orientation are some of the factors that determined the selection of the site. It was identified that the southwest of the region in the kingdom was the most suitable location for the fog‐collection process. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of fog water collection and the site, three identical standard fog collectors (SFCs) with two different local collection materials were designed and manufactured. Experiments were conducted at two different locations in the area close to Abha, namely Soodha. The maximum amount of water collected was 22.9 L/m² in a day and 7.25 L/m² in a 2‐h period. It was found that there was a high probability of fog when the relative humidity was higher than 95%. The results from the chemical analyses of eight sets of fog water samples collected were compared with World Health Organization drinking water standards. It was found that the level of heavy metals was negligible and the level of Fe was marginally high for the first flush only. The study indicates that in terms of both quality and magnitude of yield, fog is a viable source of water and can be successfully used to supplement water supplies in the fog‐prone regions of the kingdom.     

The polarographic and corrosion inhibition performance of some Schiff base compounds derived from 2-amino-3-hydroxypyridine in aqueous media

The polarographic behavior of five Schiff bases compounds (SB) prepared from 2-amino-3-hydroxypyridine was investigated in BR buffer series of pH 2–12. The polarograms of all SB compounds displayed a single irreversible diffusion-controlled 2-electron wave within the whole pH range representing the saturation of the NCH bond. The effect of pH and substituents on electrode reaction have been investigated and discussed. The electrode reaction pathway is found to be H⁺, e, e, H⁺ in which the proton uptake precedes the electron transfer. The studied compounds were used as inhibitors for corrosion of carbon steel (CS) in 1 M HCl solution using potentiodynamic polarization technique. The inhibition was explained in view of the adsorption of SP compounds on the CS surface obeying to Freundlich isotherm. These compounds act as good inhibitors as the inhibition efficiency reached 89.5%. The inhibition efficiency of the studied SBs is found to be a function of substituent group. The order of inhibition efficiency follows the sequence: N(CH3) > p-OCH3 > o-OH > H > p-Cl. This order agrees with the sequence of the negative shift in E_1/2 values of the SB compounds under investigation.