ABSTRACT
Misinformation presented in different modalities about the COVID-19 pandemic has been prevalent. One approach to reducing the negative effects of misinformation is through corrective information. However, it is possible that people develop counter-attitude towards the corrective information and reaffirm their belief in misinformation, called the boomerang effect. Fewer studies examined how different modes of corrective information about COVID-19 may address the boomerang effect. With a 3-by-3 between-subject experiment design (n = 210), we first presented one of the three modalities of misinformation (text, image, video) to the participants, followed by one of the three modalities of corrective information (text, image, video) to examine the effect of the corrective information. The results showed that there was no boomerang effect after correction in all modalities, indicating that all corrective information successfully reduced participants' perceived credibility and potential action for misinformation. In the post-hoc analysis, the correction in the video mode worked best on text misinformation. Our results also suggested that image misinformation worked least effectively in terms of conveying misinformation. © 2022 Owner/Author.
ABSTRACT
Background: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired thrombocytopenia caused by immune-mediated platelet destruction and impaired platelet production. Recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) and Eltrombopag, a small molecule agonist of thrombopoietin receptor (TPO-RA), are both recommended as the subsequent treatment for ITP patients, which also already showed robust efficacy. They increase the number of platelets through different mechanisms, and previous studies demonstrated that they might exert synergic effect. During the COVID- 19 pandemic, the classical subsequent treatment regimen for ITP of immunosuppressants and/or steroids might increase patients' susceptibility of virus infections. The investigators hypothesized that the combination of these two agents could be a promising option for ITP treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. To minimize ITP patients' risk during the COVID-19 global crisis and to improve treatment efficacy, this treatment regimen of Eltrombopag plus rhTPO should be investigated. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01667263. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the sustained responses at 6 months and safety of Eltrombopag plus rhTPO as treatment for corticosteroid- resistant or relapsed ITP patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this open-label, randomized, phase 2 trial, we enrolled confirmed corticosteroid-resistant or relapsed adult ITP patients from 5 different tertiary medical centers in China. They were randomly assigned 1:1 with an interactive web-based response system to receive either Eltrombopag 25-75 mg oral daily according to platelet response plus rh-TPO 300U/kg subcutaneous injection once daily for 7 consecutive days, followed by a tapering dose in maintenance therapy or Eltrombopag monotherapy for 12 weeks (Figure 1). The primary endpoint was 6-month sustained response (SR) defined as platelet counts maintained > 30×109/L and at least a doubling of baseline platelet count. Key secondary endpoints were initial response by day 14, duration of response (DOR), TTR, bleeding scores, and adverse events (AEs). Results: Between August 2020, and March 2021, 60 patients were randomly allocated into either rh-TPO plus Eltrombopag (n=30) or Eltrombopag monotherapy (n=30). At the 6-month follow-up, the proportion of patients with SR was significantly higher in the rh-TPO plus Eltrombopag group than in the Eltrombopag monotherapy group (66.7% vs 36.7%, p= 0.020). The combination of rh-TPO and Eltrombopag resulted in a higher incidence of initial response by day 14 compared with Eltrombopag monotherapy (76.7% vs 60%, p= 0.165). Throughout the follow-up period, overall DOR was greater in the combination group, estimated by the Kaplan-Meier analysis. Bleeding was more effectively controlled in the rh-TPO plus Eltrombopag arm, with fewer bleeding events and lower bleeding scores. There was no difference between the 2 groups in terms of rescue treatments. All subjects tolerated the treatment well, and no grade 4 adverse events or treatment- related death were reported. No statistically significant differences were observed in the incidence of treatment-related AEs between the two groups. Summary/Conclusion: Rh-TPO plus Eltrombopag is an effective and safe treatment for corticosteroid-resistant or relapsed ITP patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. (NCT04516837).
ABSTRACT
In the pandemic of Covid-19, online teaching becomes an important method in education. Different online teaching resources are available such as Tencent (QQ) course groups, Tencent conferences, and Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs). The traditional teaching has also been converted into online platforms. Thus, teachers need to learn and use many information technology applications and training skill packages. This research mainly discusses online teaching and students' response to the online course of Chinese culture. Online teaching is simple to operate and achieve the practical purpose of teaching. © 2020 IEEE.