Background Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been concerns related to the preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWs). This study aimed to describe the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital HCWs at the time of the first wave. Methods This multinational, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted among hospital HCWs from February to May 2020. We used a hierarchical logistic regression multivariate analysis to adjust the influence of variables based on awareness and preparedness. We then used association rule mining to identify relationships between HCW confidence in handling suspected COVID-19 patients and prior COVID-19 case-management training. Results We surveyed 24,653 HCWs from 371 hospitals across 57 countries and received 17,302 responses from 70.2% HCWs overall. The median COVID-19 preparedness score was 11.0 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.0–14.0) and the median awareness score was 29.6 (IQR = 26.6–32.6). HCWs at COVID-19 designated facilities with previous outbreak experience, or HCWs who were trained for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, had significantly higher levels of preparedness and awareness (p<0.001). Association rule mining suggests that nurses and doctors who had a ’great-extent-of-confidence’ in handling suspected COVID-19 patients had participated in COVID-19 training courses. Male participants (mean difference = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.22, 0.46; p<0.001) and nurses (mean difference = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.81; p<0.001) had higher preparedness scores compared to women participants and doctors. Interpretation There was an unsurprising high level of awareness and preparedness among HCWs who participated in COVID-19 training courses. However, disparity existed along the lines of gender and type of HCW. It is unknown whether the difference in COVID-19 preparedness that we detected early in the pandemic may have translated into disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 burden of disease by gender or HCW type.

The objective of this study was to develop macaroni products from chickpea and green bananas flours by partial substitution wheat flour in order to improve the nutritional composition of the product in the direction of increasing the content of resistant starch, fiber, ash and high quality protein. Four macaroni formulas were established with the control recipe. In five designed recipes, the amount of flour used was gradually reduced from 100% to 70%, while the amount of chickpea and green banana flour substituted increased from 0% to 16% and 0% to 14%, corresponding. The physicochemical characteristics including cooking quality, microstructure, color and nutritional characteristics of macaroni were evaluated. Sensory evaluation of the products created from the formulations was also carried out. The research results have shown that substituting chickpea flour and green banana flour in macaroni formulations affected the physical and chemical properties of the final product. Among the 5 designed formulations, the F3 formula replacing wheat flour with 13% chickpea flour and 10% green banana flour was selected as this product improved the desired nutritional properties. The macaroni product made from the F3 formula contained higher levels of protein, resistant starch, lipids, ash and fiber than the control sample, while the lower carbohydrates have been noted. The rehydration rates, volume gain and cooking loss of F3 product were recorded at values of 67.3%, 91.45% and 3.77%, respectively. The highest number of sensory assessors preferred (80-100%) to the F3 product compared to the macaroni products made up of the remaining formulations.

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The area of Cua-Dai estuary and the coastal areas of Hoi-An City have experienced complicated erosion and sedimentation in recent years. Along the coast of Hoi-An, erosion often occurs, whereas in the area of Cua-Dai River, there is an accretion phenomenon that obstructs the waterway navigation from Cua-Dai to Cu-Lao-Cham. Occurrence of sand dunes in the offshore location of Cua-Dai has been recorded at a number of times in recent years. Studying the process of bed morphological change due to the sediment transport in the Thu-Bon river and the influence of monsoons in the area allows to explain the above phenomenon thus an in-depth study to propose appropriate solutions. This study used the numerical model Telemac which combines the hydro-morphodynamic and wave modules. The simulation results show that the main trend of coastal currents caused by tides and waves tends to go southward, leading to coastal erosion especially in the northeast monsoon season as well as sedimentation in the estuarine area. In addition, the model also shows the crucial role of waves in shoreline erosion, with the degree of erosion in the north coast near Cua-Dai being more severe than the southern coast, through the formation of local eddy flow on the north coast.