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Abstract On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a new coronavirus infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a pandemic, making it the 11th pandemic of the 20th and 21st centuries. This study investigated the clinical and laboratory results (D-dimer, conventional coagulation, and HbA1c biomarker concentrations) of 150 patients (75 male and 75 female) with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia and 50 controls (25 male and 25 female). For disease diagnosis, all COVID-19 patients were given a Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay (RT-PCR). The findings revealed that D-dimer and HbA1c levels in COVID-19 patients were significantly higher (P 0.001) at the time of admission; In COVID-19 patients, there was also a strong correlation between D-dimer levels and HbA1c levels (P 0.001). In conclusion, COVID-19 patients are more likely to have a poor prognosis if their D-dimer and HbA1c levels remain uncontrolled over a lengthy period. To lower the likelihood of a bad prognosis in COVID-19, patients with higher levels of D-dimer and HbA1c should be continuously monitored.

Abstract: Metformin has been used as an oral anti-hyperglycaemic drug since the late 1950s; however, following the release in 1998 of the findings of the 20-year United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), metformin use rapidly increased and today is the first-choice anti-hyperglycaemic drug for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Metformin is in daily use by an estimated 150 million people worldwide. Historically, the benefits of metformin as an anti-diabetic and cardiovascular-protective drug have been linked to effects in the liver, where it acts to inhibit gluconeogenesis and lipogenesis, as well as reduce insulin resistance and enhance peripheral glucose utilization. However, direct protective effects on the endothelium and effects in the gut prior to metformin absorption are now recognized as important. In the gut, metformin modulates the glucagon-like peptide- 1 (GLP-1) - gut-brain axis and impacts the intestinal microbiota. As the apparent number of putative tissue and cellular targets for metformin has increased, so has the interest in re-purposing metformin to treat other diseases that include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and COVID-19. Metformin is also being investigated as an anti-ageing drug. Of particular interest is whether metformin provides the same level of vascular protection in individuals other than those with T2D, including obese individuals with metabolic syndrome, or in the setting of vascular thromboinflammation caused by SARS-CoV-2. In this review, we critically evaluate the literature to highlight clinical settings in which metformin might be therapeutically repurposed for the prevention and treatment of vascular disease.

The purpose of this paper is to capture the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 emerging risks on construction projects' success in developing countries from the contractors’ perspective. To achieve this, we collected data from Iraqi construction industry and conducted the following multi-stage research methodology: (1) preliminary investigation with four construction contractors to identify the success indicators of construction projects; (2) focus group session with 11 experts to identify the COVID-19 emerging risks for the construction industry; (3) semi-structured interviews with seven construction experts to develop several hypotheses on the effect of COVID-19 emerging risks on project success; (4) survey data collection from 99 construction contractors; and (5) development of a Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze the effects of COVID-19 emerging risks on project success. The results of the SEM analysis show that Financial Market (FM)-related risks, Supply Chain Operations (SCO)-related risks, Health and Safety of Construction Workforce (HSCW)-related risks, Organizational Implications (OI)-related risks, and Contractual Implications (CI)-related risks have a significant impact on construction projects success. CI-related risks have the strongest total effects on project success, followed by OI-related risks, FM-related risks, HSCW-related risks, and SCO-related risks, respectively. The results also emphasis the significant mediation role of CI between COVID-19 emerging risks and project success. This study contributes to the body of knowledge and contracting companies by helping researchers and construction contractors to better understand how the key risk factors emerging from extreme conditions like COVID-19 pandemic affect construction projects' success and may serve as a guideline for developing effective response strategies.

The period of the first COVID-19 total lockdown in Italy and in the world offered a very interesting context to evaluate the use of Mobile Information and Communication Technologies (MICTs) by Catholic shrines for their pastoral care. This research was carried out through a survey and interviews with leaders (rectors) of sanctuaries of Lazio, the region of Italy where Rome is placed. The sample chosen evaluates which initiatives the rectors of these sanctuaries have undertaken to keep in touch with the faithful and other constituencies during the first pandemic lockdown. As in the case of telework, which allowed working at a distance, we focus our attention on the way those shrines maintained contact with people using digital technology. While according to the Catholic Church, there are elements of faith in which the physical presence is mandatory (e.g.: for the validity of a sacrament), that does not exclude the many pastoral activities which can be done online, as some Catholic shrines managed to do. Besides offering relevant case studies on the integration of ICTs within the Catholic Church during Covid19, this research could inspire further reflections about the place of ICTs in the Church pastoral.

This research aims to understand the connection between food and religious events and how they have become a focus of new tourist routes in the ‘year of the restart’, a time period marked by the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The combination of religion and food seems to be successful in attracting tourists in the new scenarios created by the pandemic. The research aims to examine the potential for combining religious tourism with local food to enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of destinations, using two case studies from Saint Aghata in Catania and Saint Nicholas in Bari, Italy. The findings of the study suggest that food is an important aspect of religious events, it plays a role in the expression of cultural identity, and the support of local economies. This study adds to the existing literature on food and religious events, and it offers insights into the complex relationship between food, faith, and tourism.

This article reviews claims that the United Kingdom experienced a ‘pandemic pilgrimage boom’. It contributes findings from an ‘embedded-like’ research project, which drew on data created by the British Pilgrimage Trust (BPT) – a heritage and wellbeing charity that hosts a website hub to support pilgrimage action in the UK – to debate about the impact of COVID-19 on pilgrimage practice. These findings show how a set of uses and meanings about pilgrimage, particularly its affordances for mental health and emotional wellbeing, have resonated during the pandemic, especially at moments of heightened social stress. This has generated greater social traction for pilgrimage, and there may be potential for further growth in response to twenty-first century crises, such as the increasingly apparent impacts of climate change. Learning from the experience of COVID-19, this article encourages research investment in longitudinal data-driven approaches to study the individual and social affordances that pilgrimage offers in view of its modern adaptations and applications.