ABSTRACT
The SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic (COVID-19) is causing disruptions to energy, finance, tourism, and trade industries all around the world. These disruptions are the result of quarantining and lockdowns that cause reductions in production and consumptions. This change in production and consumption rates has environmental consequences. This study investigates the environmental effects of COVID-19 lockdown in the United States by Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (IO-LCA) approach. The analysis is based on extraction of economic data in the US. The simulated results are based on different durations and strategies of lockdown measures. Among all industrial categories, utilities, which include power generation and supply, water supply, and natural gas supply sectors, saw the most significant reductions by approximately 110 kt CO2-eq in the first quarter and 265 kt CO2-eq in the second quarter of 2020. The assessed reductions were the results of both direct emission reductions caused by the shutdown of certain industries and also indirect emission reductions from upstream industries. The proposed methodology provides an effective guideline to predict the greenhouse gases emissions, which can be used as a prediction method for different regions in the world.
ABSTRACT
The number of Open Access (OA) research articles is trending upward. This research aims to understand the correlations between different OA types and the impact of OA research articles evaluated based on the citation numbers. To avoid bias caused by the publication year, we chose to use COVID-19 studies in different fields to take advantage of this topic's quick turnaround of data. We analyzed the bibliometrics data and citation numbers (excluding self-citations) of around 42,000 English language articles published in 2020 related to COVID-19. We evaluated different types of OA categories such as Gold, Bronze, and Hybrid articles separately. Results show that amongst all OA categories, Hybrid/Green and Bronze/Green OA articles had significant citation advantages. Green OA articles returned more citations than articles with the other OA status. Gold OA articles have no citation advantages compared to non-OA articles. Gold/Green OA articles had the highest self-citation rates, followed by Non-OA articles. The results of the study can be used in understanding different OA categories and the reasons for OA choices. Certain strategies can be made accordingly to improve the awareness of OA in different fields and help OA publishers to improve the OA services.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics of patients with different severity in the early outbreak of COVID-19, hoping to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 95 COVID-19 patients in Wuhan Red Cross Hospital of China from January 17 to February 13, 2020. All patients were investigated with epidemiological questionnaires. Outcomes were followed up until April 1, 2020. RESULTS: There were 53 males and 42 females, aged 22-84 years (mean 57.3 years). Clinical classification included 54 cases of common type, 27 cases of severe type, and 14 cases of critical type. Six patients had been exposed to the local Huanan seafood market. There were 38 clusters of COVID-19, including 27 family clusters and 11 work unit clusters. Common symptoms included fever (86 (90.5%) of 95), cough (73 (76.8%)), and fatigue (50 (52.6%)). Laboratory findings showed that the most common abnormalities were lymphopenia (75 (78.9%)), elevated D-dimer (60 (63.2%)), and elevated C-reactive protein (56 (58.9%)) on admission. All patients had abnormal chest computed tomography, showing patchy shadows or ground-glass opacities. Severe and critical cases were older, more likely to have shortness of breath, more likely to have underlying comorbidities, and more likely to have abnormal laboratory findings than common cases. The prognosis of patients with different degrees of severity was significantly different. All common and severe patients (100%) were cured and discharged from the hospital, while 10 (71.4%) of 14 critical patients died. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 has fast transmission speed and high pathogenicity. We must assess the severity of the disease and take corresponding treatment measures as early as possible.