Knowledge, attitude, perception, and factors associated with the risk perception of COVID‐19 among nursing college students in Japanese universities: A cross‐sectional study

Background and Aim The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) in the world has brought different attitudes and perceptions among social strata. Nursing students being future first‐line healthcare workers are more at risk of being infected and exposed to various stressors from shared information. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and perception of COVID‐19 among nursing students and to estimate predictors of their risk perception. Methods We conducted an online survey among undergraduate nursing students at three selected Japanese Universities. Data on knowledge, attitude, and perception toward COVID‐19 were collected using a structured questionnaire. We performed multiple logistic regression analyses to identify factors associated with the risk perception toward COVID‐19 infection. Results Of the 414 nursing students who participated in the study, 368 (90.4%) reported that the media including radio, television, internet, and/or social media were the main source of knowledge. Fever (96.1%) and dry cough (89.6%) were reported as the main symptoms. Regarding the attitude toward the treatment and preventive measures, almost 92.8% of participants recommended the use of vaccines. Being female appeared to be three times associated with the fear of getting infected (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]:3.03;95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21–7.58). Students who took part in extracurricular activities reported that they feared being infected with COVID‐19 (aOR:2.62;95% CI:1.33–5.16). Other factors did not show an association. Conclusion Knowledge and attitude of nursing students toward COVID‐19 were accurate for the majority of them, with the main source of information being the media. Practicing extracurricular activities and being female were associated with the fear of the disease. Efficient and controlled communication is needed during widespread disease outbreaks.

Antecedents of Patient Satisfaction in Private Clinical Laboratories toward Patient Loyalty with Switching Cost and Location as Moderating Factors (An Empirical Study from Indonesia)

BACKGROUND: Clinical laboratory (CL) services are at the forefront to support health-care services, particularly during the pandemic of COVID-19. The increasing number of private clinical laboratories at present days indicates the increase in patient needs, causing the health-care service provider to face challenges as people have more options. Therefore, fostering patient loyalty (PL) is a crucial success factor for the business growth of clinical laboratories as health-care providers. AIM: The purpose of this study is to analyze antecedents of patient satisfaction (PS) in clinical laboratories towards PL with the switching cost and location as moderating factors. METHODS: This study was done as a quantitative survey, and data were obtained by a cross-sectional approach with partial least squares structural equation modeling for the data analysis method. There are 266 respondents eligible as samples, who undergo the phlebotomy process (PP) in a private laboratory located within a specific area. RESULTS: This study demonstrated that all the nine hypotheses supported with α: 0.05 and p < 0.05, include six independent variables named administrative process, information availability (IA), the environment in the phlebotomy room, PP, waiting time, and result notification that influence PS. PS has been shown to have a direct effect on PL and also mediate the antecedents. Furthermore, SC and LO have demonstrated a significant effect to moderate this relationship. CONCLUSIONS: PS has been confirmed as the main construct to predict PL whereas the AP is the most important independent variable followed by IA. CL management should pay more attention to these antecedents to ensure PS and retain the clinic’s patients. The cost from the patient’s perspective should be taken into account since this helps the CL keep the patient loyal.

Calibration and validation of the Pneumonia Shock Score in critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, a multicenter prospective cohort study.

Background: Prognostic tools developed to stratify critically ill patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), are critical to predict those with higher risk of mortality in the first hours of admission. This study aims to evaluate the performance of the pShock score in critically ill patients admitted to the ICU with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: Prospective observational analytical cohort study conducted between January 2020 and March 2021 in four general ICUs in Salvador, Brazil. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the cohort and a logistic regression, followed by cross-validation, were performed to calibrate the score. A ROC curve analysis was used to assess accuracy of the models analyzed. Results: Six hundred five adult ICU patients were included in the study. The median age was 63 (IQR: 49-74) years with a mortality rate of 33.2% (201 patients). The calibrated pShock-CoV score performed well in prediction of ICU mortality (AUC of 0.80 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.77-0.83; p-value < 0.0001]). Conclusions: The pShock-CoV score demonstrated robust discriminatory capacity and may assist in targeting scarce ICU resources during the COVID-19 pandemic to those critically ill patients most likely to benefit.

Price and income elasticity of natural gas demand in Europe and the effects of lockdowns due to Covid-19

We analyse a panel of 25 European-countries to provide novel estimates of monthly own-price, cross-price, and income elasticities of natural-gas-demand from 2005 to 2020. We find that: first, there is an European Standard Behaviour (ESB) with a strong-seasonal component. Second, we identify three different patterns from the ESB: 1) France, Denmark and Estonia present slightly positive elasticities in the short-run and a lack of sensitivity to own-price variations in the long-run –we argue this phenomenon is due to a higher weight of heating demand-. 2) Latvia presents a lower sensitivity to own-price variations than the ESB -we argue due to the role of natural gas as a unique backup technology in the power sector-. 3) In Portugal, natural gas showed the highest own-price elasticities – we argue that natural gas is used mainly in the power sector with substitutive technologies-. Finally, we find that Covid-19-lockdowns highly impacted natural-gas-demand, confirming the “double-heating-effect”.

Research in Electronic and Mobile Payment Systems: A Bibliometric Analysis

Electronic (mobile) payment systems are an important aspect of e-commerce. However, few reviews highlight the most significant findings and challenges. In this article, we have prepared a bibliometric analysis to provide a statistical overview of previously published research papers on electronic (mobile) payment systems and user preferences, with a particular emphasis on their diverse techniques and analyses, as well as comprehensive and reliable directions to reveal evolutionary nuances and highlighting emerging areas in this specific research. This study reviewed 177 scientific papers published between 2001 and November 2021 in the Web of Science (WoS) database on the subjects of electronic payment systems (EPS) and mobile payment systems (MPS), payment interface (PI), technology acceptance model (TAM), payment frameworks (PF), and user preferences (UP). The amount of studies using the abovementioned topics (EPS, MPS, TAM, PF, and UP) increases annually. Spain, China, and Malaysia are the three main countries that actively participate, and their international academic partnership is relatively close. We have compiled a list of the most relevant publications, prolific authors, institutions, and leading research topics. The articles were used to evaluate bibliometric indicators, analyze research activity, investigate the subject’s evolution, and identify the most interconnected themes. The findings provide a comprehensive overview of existing thematic studies, with a notable rising trend showing the potential for future research in the field. The study provides a guideline for further research.

New insights on employee adaptive performance during the COVID-19 pandemic: Empirical evidence from Indonesia

PURPOSE: This study investigates how perceived e-leadership and the teleworking output are linked to employee adaptive performance. Further, it seeks to comprehend whether a sense of purpose and organizational commitment have a mediating role. This study proposes a new research model that is empirically tested to predict employee adaptive performance, especially during remote working due to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY: A quantitative survey was conducted in August 2021. Respondents were obtained from 271 teleworkers employed in a reputable private company operating in the financial industry in Indonesia. The data was collected by a questionnaire using a Likert-type scale and then analyzed using PLS-SEM. FINDINGS: Three antecedents are proven to affect employee adaptive performance directly: organizational commitment, followed by teleworking output, and a sense of purpose. Perceived e-leadership affects employee adaptive performance indirectly, and it is mediated through teleworking output, organizational commitment, and sense of purpose. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This is one of the first studies to deploy intrinsic motivation as an antecedent of employee adaptive performance, together with the perceived e-leadership and teleworking output. Corporations will be able to focus on some key areas that are proven to impact employee adaptive performance positively.

Impact analysis of COVID-19 pandemic on the electricity demand, frequency control and electromechanical oscillation modes of the Brazilian Interconnected Power System using low voltage WAMS data

COVID-19 pandemic presented unique features among the range of threats encountered over the last century. Its impact echoes throughout the world affecting societies and their patterns of behavior, hence affecting the usage of electricity and the operation of power systems. This paper provides an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the electricity demand, frequency control and electromechanical oscillation modes of the Brazilian Interconnected Power System (BIPS), taking into account public data disclosed by the Brazilian Independent System Operator (BISO) and data acquired through the MedFasee Project, the Brazilian low voltage wide area monitoring system (WAMS) leaded by the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Main results indicate that the BISO has been successful on controlling the system frequency and the main electromechanical interarea modes, despite the occurrence of a significant demand reduction in the BIPS in a certain period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The total time of operation in underfrequency or overfrequency registered during the months with most demand reduction is at most 20% lower than the maximum time registered in the other months studied. The damping of the modes observed in the months with demand reduction has not reached values lower than 10% and the frequencies of oscillation have varied in a range of 0.05Hz, in agreement to what has been observed in other months.

Intoxicaciones agudas atendidas en un servicio de Urgencias. De la prepandemia a la nueva normalidad Acute poisoning among patients attended to in an emergency department: From the pre-pandemic period to the new normality

Fundamentos: La pandemia por COVID-19 ha provocado cambios globales que afectan a la vida diaria de la población mundial, con un impacto directo sobre la salud física y mental de los individuos, así como en sus hábitos sociales y recreativos. Métodos: Análisis retrospectivo de aspectos demográficos y clínicos de los pacientes atendidos por intoxicaciones agudas en un Servicio de Urgencias hospitalario durante tres períodos distintos: prepandemia (2019), tras el confinamiento domiciliario (2020) y en período pospandémico (2021), analizando en cada uno los meses de junio y julio. Resultados: Se incluyeron 1.182 intoxicaciones agudas. Con relación a la etapa prepandémica, el número de intoxicados disminuyó durante el confinamiento (2019: 1,9% vs. 2020: 1,5%;p<0,01), incrementándose la ratio varón/mujer (2,0 vs. 1,4, p=0,02) y la edad media (2019: 31,4 vs. 2020: 41,3;p<0,001), tendencia que se mantuvo en el año 2021 (38,3). La intoxicación con motivación suicida también aumentó en dicho período (2019: 8,71% vs. 2020: 21,0%;p<0,01), mientras que las lúdicas decrecieron (2019: 76,1% vs. 2020: 62,0%;p<0,01), con un aumento no significativo en el último año 2021 (69,0%, p = 0,07). Conclusiones: La pandemia por COVID19 ha generado cambios clínicos y epidemiológicos en las intoxicaciones agudas atendidas en un Servicio de Urgencias hospitalario durante las distintas fases de la pandemia.

The antecedents of psychological empowerment and its impact towards general physician job performance

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) creates a burden to the healthcare system especially to the frontliners such as medical doctors. The job performance (JP) of the general practitioners (GP) related to quality of care to COVID-19 patients. AIM: The purpose of this study is to analyze the antecedents of psychological empowerment (PE) toward JP, mediated by service orientation (SO). These antecedents could be seen in hospital perspectives and professional life. METHODS: This is a quantitative survey study, using a cross-sectional approach, with partial least square-structural equation modeling as data analysis method. The sample size for this study is 160 samples, purposively obtained from the GP who work at COVID-19 Reference Private Hospital in Jakarta and surrounding area. Data were collected using online questionnaires and analyzed by SmartPLS 3.3.3™. RESULTS: There are nine hypotheses supported in this research. The strongest predictor of PE is the training opportunities (TO), followed by relationships with fellow doctors and autonomy at work. PE has been proven to have a direct impact on JP, while SO has been found as a mediation in this relationship. CONCLUSIONS: PE has been proven as an important construct to predict JP;therefore, hospital management has to pay more attention to PE for GP during the pandemic. TO should be prioritized by the board of directors of the hospitals, they should allocate time and the resources to facilitate the training opportunity. © 2021 Marischa Regina, Santika Henny, Ferdi Antonio.

COVID-19: Generalities and kidney disease. Review article

Introduction: COVID-19 infection is the current pandemic that is lurking in the world, knowing its behavior is essential to face it in the most effective way. The objective of this study is to carry out a literature review Material and methods: an exhaustive search of the COVID-19 topic is made from its pathophysiology, replication, through its clinical picture, treatment and prognosis. Similarly, the renal behavior associated with this infection is addressed. Results: after SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012, there is previous experience with coronaviruses in all areas, knowing that this can and will surely have its peculiarities. A review is shown regarding the topic and also its behavior in kidney diseases Conclusions: there is still a lot to know about the current pandemic, but the experience generated in previous ones by coronavirus should help us to understand a bit the current one. © 2021 Academia de Ciencias Médicas de Bilbao. All rights reserved.

Efficacy and Safety of Sarilumab in patients with COVID19 Pneumonia: A Randomized, Phase III Clinical Trial (SARTRE Study).

INTRODUCTION: SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is often associated with hyper-inflammation. The cytokine-storm-like is one of the targets of current therapies for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). High Interleukin-6 (IL6) blood levels have been identified in severe COVID-19 disease, but there are still uncertainties regarding the actual role of anti-IL6 antagonists in COVID-19 management. Our hypothesis was that the use of sarilumab plus corticosteroids at an early stage of the hyper-inflammatory syndrome would be beneficial and prevent progression to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). METHODS: We randomly assigned (in a 1:1 ratio) COVID-19 pneumonia hospitalized patients under standard oxygen therapy and laboratory evidence of hyper-inflammation to receive sarilumab plus usual care (experimental group) or usual care alone (control group). Corticosteroids were given to all patients at a 1 mg/kg/day of methylprednisolone for at least 3 days. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients progressing to severe respiratory failure (defined as a score in the Brescia-COVID19 scale ≥ 3) up to day 15. RESULTS: A total of 201 patients underwent randomization: 99 patients in the sarilumab group and 102 patients in the control group. The rate of patients progressing to severe respiratory failure (Brescia-COVID scale score ≥ 3) up to day 15 was 16.16% in the Sarilumab group versus 15.69% in the control group (RR 1.03; 95% CI 0.48-2.20). No relevant safety issues were identified. CONCLUSIONS: In hospitalized patients with Covid-19 pneumonia, who were under standard oxygen therapy and who presented analytical inflammatory parameters, an early therapeutic intervention with sarilumab plus standard of care (including corticosteroids) was not shown to be more effective than current standard of care alone. The study was registered at EudraCT with number: 2020-002037-15.

First diagnosis of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C): an analysis of PoCUS findings in the ED.

Children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) tend to develop a clinical condition of fluid overload due both to contractile cardiac pump deficit and to endotheliitis with subsequent capillary leak syndrome. In this context, the ability of point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) to simultaneously explore multiple systems and detect polyserositis could promote adequate therapeutic management of fluid balance. We describe the PoCUS findings in a case-series of MIS-C patients admitted to the Emergency Department. At admission 10/11 patients showed satisfactory clinical condition without signs and symptoms suggestive for cardiovascular impairment/shock, but PoCUS showed pathological findings in 11/11 (100%). In particular, according to Rapid Ultrasound in SHock (RUSH) protocol, cardiac hypokinesis was detected in 5/11 (45%) and inferior vena cava dilatation in 3/11 (27%). Peritoneal fluid was reported in 6/11 cases (54%). Lung ultrasound (LUS) evaluation revealed an interstitial syndrome in 11/11 (100%), mainly localized in posterior basal lung segments. We suggest PoCUS as a useful tool in the first evaluation of children with suspected MIS-C for the initial therapeutic management and the following monitoring of possible cardiovascular deterioration.

Challenges and Scientific Prospects of the Newest Generation of mRNA-Based Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.

In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, traditional, complex and lengthy methods of vaccine development and production would not have been able to ensure proper management of this global public health crisis. Hence, a number of technologies have been developed for obtaining a vaccine quickly and ensuring a large scale production, such as mRNA-based vaccine platforms. The use of mRNA is not a new concept in vaccine development but has leveraged on previous knowledge and technology. The great number of human resources and capital investements for mRNA vaccine development, along with the experience gained from previous studies on infectious diseases, allowed COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to be developed, conditionally approved and commercialy available in less than one year, thanks to decades of basic research. This review critically presents and discusses the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced immunity, and it summarizes the most common anaphylactic and autoimmune adverse effects that have been identified until now after massive vaccination campaigns.

Erratum to "Safety of COVID-19 vaccines administered in the EU: Should we be concerned?" [Toxicol. Rep. 8C (2021) 871-879/1111].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.04.003.].