Background: COVID-19 has severely affected university students everywhere in the world. Due to fear of infection, government and local authorities in China immediately closed academic institutions and tried to find survival techniques to cope with market turbulence. COVID-19 was present in China at the end of 2019. However, little attention has been paid by researchers to coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and few measures were taken to assess the coping strategies of university students, specifically following the closure of their institutions. To address this gap, this study attempted to discover the coping strategies of Chinese students during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Methods: We conducted an online survey using a semi-structured questionnaire with a simple random sampling technique and received 559 responses. The survey questions captured information about students' lives during the COVID-19 outbreak, actions to control anxiety, and what students care about during the pandemic. The associations between coping strategies used and levels of anxiety were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures. SPSS Statistics v27 was used for statistical analysis in this study. Results: The university students reported that coping strategies and survival techniques were required due to high levels of anxiety and psychological pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the respondents reported the prompt closure of their academic institutions due to COVID-19. Psychological concerns, such as lack of sleep, emotional support, mental support and social appeal, were also reported. Conclusions: This is one of the very first studies on coping strategies for anxiety in China. The study reveals that university students employ a number of coping strategies in relation to COVID-19, but also suggests a need to strengthen such strategies in this population. However, the study was limited to a small number of provinces in China, which may affect the generalizability of the research.
The Zarga and Ghazal formations constitute important reservoirs across the Muglad Basin, Sudan. Nevertheless, the sedimentology and diagenesis of these reservoir intervals have hitherto received insignificant research attention. Detailed understanding of sedimentary facies and diagenesis could enhance geological and geophysical data for better exploration and production and minimize risks. In this study, subsurface reservoir cores representing the Zarga formation (1114.70-1118.50 m and 1118.50-1125.30 m), and the Ghazal formation (91,403.30-1406.83 m) were subjected to sedimentological (lithofacies and grain size), petrographic/mineralogic (thin section, XRD, SEM), and petrophysical (porosity and permeability) analyses to describe their reservoir quality, provenance, and depositional environments. Eight (8) different lithofacies, texturally characterized as moderately to well-sorted, and medium to coarse-grained, sub-feldspathic to feldspathic arenite were distinguished in the cored intervals. Mono-crystalline quartz (19.3-26.2%) predominated over polycrystalline quartz (2.6-13.8%), feldspar (6.6-10.3%), and mica (1.4-7.6%) being the most prominent constituent of the reservoir rocks. Provenance plot indicated the sediments were from a transitional continental provenance setting. The overall vertical sequence, composition, and internal sedimentary structures of the lithofacies suggest a fluvial-to-deltaic depositional environment for the Ghazal formation, while the Zarga formation indicated a dominant deltaic setting. Kaolinite occurs mainly as authigenic mineral, while carbonates quantitatively fluctuate with an insignificant amount of quartz overgrowths in most of the analyzed cores. Integration of XRD, SEM, and thin section analysis highlights that kaolinite, chlorite, illite, and smectite are present as authigenic minerals. Pore-destroying diagenetic processes (e.g. precipitation, cementation, and compaction etc.) generally prevailed over pore-enhancing processes (e.g. dissolution). Point-counted datasets indicate a better reservoir quality for the Ghazal formation (ɸ = 27.7% to 30.7%; K = 9.65 mD to 1196.71 mD) than the Zarga formation (17.9% to 24.5%; K = 1051.09 mD to 1090.45 mD).
The Abu Gabra and Bentiu formations are widely distributed within the interior Muglad Basin. Recently, much attention has been paid to study, evaluate and characterize the Abu Gabra Formation as a proven reservoir in Muglad Basin. However, few studies have been documented on the Bentiu Formation which is the main oil/gas reservoir within the basin. Therefore, 33 core samples of the Great Moga and Keyi oilfields (NE Muglad Basin) were selected to characterize the Bentiu Formation reservoir using sedimentological and petrophysical analyses. The aim of the study is to de-risk exploration activities and improve success rate. Compositional and textural analyses revealed two main facies groups: coarse to-medium grained sandstone (braided channel deposits) and fine grained sandstone (floodplain and crevasse splay channel deposits). The coarse to-medium grained sandstone has porosity and permeability values within the range of 19.6% to 32.0% and 1825.6 mD to 8358.0 mD respectively. On the other hand, the fine grained clay-rich facies displays poor reservoir quality as indicated by porosity and permeability ranging from 1.0 to 6.0% and 2.5 to 10.0 mD respectively. A number of varied processes were identified controlling the reservoir quality of the studies samples. Porosity and permeability were enhanced by the dissolution of feldspars and micas, while presence of detrital clays, kaolinite precipitation, iron oxides precipitation, siderite, quartz overgrowths and pyrite cement played negative role on the reservoir quality. Intensity of the observed quartz overgrowth increases with burial depth. At great depths, a variability in grain contact types are recorded suggesting conditions of moderate to-high compactions. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy revealed presence of micropores which have the tendency of affecting the fluid flow properties in the Bentiu Formation sandstone. These evidences indicate that the Bentiu Formation petroleum reservoir quality is primarily inhibited by grain size, total clay content, compaction and cementation. Thus, special attention should be paid to these inhibiting factors to reduce risk in petroleum exploration within the area.