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Motivated by the challenge of allocating scarce resources from the federal government to different states during the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper studies optimal schemes for allocating scarce resources to agents with private demand information under different favoritism structures. Through an investigation of a mechanism design model that aims to induce agents to report their demands truthfully, we find the following results. First, when the principal purely cares about social welfare and when the principal has sufficient resources to satisfy all agents' demands, we find that the optimal allocation scheme is efficient in the sense that it is identical to the optimal scheme for the "benchmark” case when favoritism differentials and information asymmetry are both absent. Second, when rationing is needed due to resource scarcity, we show that heterogeneity in "event-independent” favoritism across agents will cause the principal to allocate more resources to agents with larger favoritism and less resources to others, resulting in inefficient allocations. Third, when agents possess heterogeneous "event-specific” favoritism due to the existence of outside options, the resulting allocation may boost all agents' expected utilities, including those agents who do not have any outside option. Finally, we show that the "allocation distortion” caused by both information asymmetry and heterogeneous favoritism can be reduced when "positive externality” is present (i.e., allocating resources to one agent can benefit other agents). © 2023 Production and Operations Management Society.
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The COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of 2020 has drastically impacted almost every aspect of our daily life. Empirical evidence is lacking on which sector of knowledge in technology-enhanced teaching needs to be developed further for tourism and hospitality programs conducted online. The present study investigated teachers' technology, learners, pedagogy, academic discipline content knowledge, and context knowledge (TLPACK) in tourism and hospitality online education settings using comparative research methods. A total of 173 participants from five countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) were surveyed online. The results revealed that, despite the fact that they were from different countries, all teachers reached a consensus that their knowledge about learners was the lowest during the online teaching period of the pandemic;meanwhile, they all ranked academic knowledge as the highest among these five variables except Vietnamese teachers who considered their knowledge on pedagogy to be the highest. Additionally, their TLPACK revealed significant differences in various countries and differences in academic discipline content knowledge are caused by the interaction of nationality and gender. This study overcomes a major limitation of previous studies on how the pandemic has affected educational praxis as the focus of previous research has been on the situation in a single country. Therefore, the present study's findings can serve as a reference for practitioners of tourism and hospitality online education in Asia-Pacific region when facing unprecedented and urgent changes of educational practices during and post the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The outbreak of the pandemic COVID 19 has caused great impact to the world economy. This paper aims to investigate its impact on micro firms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan, these firms contribute one third of the local economy but are generally lack of scale and resources. This paper investigated 3 questions: First, impacts of COVID-19 on micro firms and SMEs. Second, how micro firms and SMEs deal with problems caused by the pandemic. Third, a special focus is on the digital tools micro firms and SMEs implement to come through to post pandemic era. Through this analysis we seek to understand the digital capabilities of the micro firms and SMEs and how they may work towards digital transformation and meet the future challenges.A questionnaire was used to collect data about the impact of the pandemic and what measurements micro firms and SMEs take to deal with the impact. Then a proposal of digital transformation for micro firms and SMEs are formed. This paper contributes to the analysis of digital capabilities of micro and SMEs, and how they may migrate to a solution of digital transformation. © 2022 PICMET.
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Featured Application This study developed a low-cost, compact, and interactive augmented reality (AR) experimental platform for the thermal management of power devices. It can be integrated into future education, supporting an efficient exploration of physical processes when off-campus learning is demanded, such as in the COVID-19 pandemic. Augmented reality (AR) applied in education provides learners a possible way for better understanding and thorough learning. Although the traditional projector is used to integrate the augmented information with real objects without wearing AR glasses, the projector-based AR system is unlikely to be adopted widely in education due to the cost, heavy weight, and space issues. In this paper, an alternative projector-camera AR platform, utilizing a digital light processing (DLP) module matched with a Beaglebone Black (BB) controller, is proposed for AR physical experiments. After describing the DLP-based AR learning design method, the algorithm of pre-deforming projection content with simulation-based poly fitting is presented to keep the virtual asset consistent with the user action;and then a prototype with the content regarding the thermal management of power devices is illustrated to validate the performance of the AR experimental platform. The result shows that the DLP-based AR platform is an accurate and interactive AR system with a response time of 1 s, and a registration deviation of 3 mm. It is also an affordable AR learning design tool with a bill of materials of about $200, and thus casts light on creating AR-based physical experiments to explore more physical phenomena.
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Background: Several studies have demonstrated immunogenicity after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRD) [1], but the differences between mRNA-based and vector vaccines and the cellular responses to COVID-19 vaccines according to distinct immunogenicity in AIRD patients are still unclear. Objectives: To investigate the differences in efficacy and safety between the vector vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222 (Oxford-AstraZeneca) and mRNA-based vaccine mRNA-1273 (Moderna) in patients with AIRD, and to explore the cell-cell interactions between high and low anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels in patients with rheumatic arthritis (RA) by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Methods: From September 16 to November 15, 2021, we consecutively enrolled 243 participants aged ≥20 years with AIRD who received COVID-19 vaccination, of whom 113 were immunized with AZD1222 and 130 with mRNA-1273. The level of serum IgG antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain on the spike protein S1 subunit was quantifed by electrochemiluminescence immuno-assay at 4-6 weeks after vaccination. Moreover, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from two RA patient with high anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG level and four RA patients with low level for scRNA-seq and cell-cell communication signal was analyzed by CellChat. Results: The anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG seropositivity rate was 78.8% (89/113) for AZD1222 and 83.1% (108/130) for mRNA-1273. The level of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG was higher in patients who received mRNA-1273 than in those who received AZD1222 (β: 30.15, 95% CI: 11.67-48.63, p=0.002) (Table 1). Prednisolone-equivalent dose >5 mg/day and methotrexate (MTX) use in AIRD patients, and non-anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α biologics and Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor use in RA patients were associated with inferior immunogenicity. ScRNA-seq revealed CD16-monocytes were predominant in RA patients with high anti-SARS-CoV2-IgG antibody level, and enriched pathways related to antigen presentation via major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC class II) were found (Figure 1). HLA-DRA and CD4 interaction was vigorous among all identifed MHC-II pathway and was enhanced in high anti-SARS-CoV2-IgG antibody group. Conclusion: mRNA-1273 and AZD1222 vaccines exhibited differential immunogenicity in patients with AIRD. Enriched pathways related to antigen presentation via MHC class II in CD16-monocytes might be associated with higher anti-SARS-CoV2-IgG level in RA patients and further study is warranted.
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Background: To evaluate the feasibility, baseline characteristics, and satisfaction of patients receiving telemedicine care during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Taiwan. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients during the COVID-19 pandemic between May 2021 and December 2021 in a tertiary medical center in northern Taiwan. Information on the distribution of physician divisions, patients' clinical characteristics, and patterns of prescription use in telemedicine care was analyzed. Data were extracted from both the ordinary outpatient department (OPD) and nursing home systems. Results: A total of 6587 patients (55.8% female, mean age: 57.3 +/- 25.8 years) included in our telemedicine care conducted during the pandemic COVID-19 epidemic. Those who were older, female, and patients of Internal Medicine and Family Medicine utilized telemedicine more frequently than ordinary OPD, with a high refill prescription rate (82.6%) and low mail-back prescription use (35.9%). Patients of Family Medicine comprised the majority (40.3%) of nursing home telemedicine, with lower refill pre-scription use (37.3%). Overall satisfaction was high regarding telemedicine care, physicians profession-alism, and medical problem solving (98.3% and 97.7%, respectively). Conclusion: Older age, female sex, and potentially more health conditions were associated with higher willingness to access telemedicine. We identified medical divisional and disease-based differences in prescription patterns. Copyright (c) 2022, Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency & Critical Care Medicine.
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Currently, aerosol is considered as the major route for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. A safe sterilization method with an excellent penetration capability and ability to sterilize free spaces is urgently needed. Previously it has been experimentally demonstrated that microwave-based sterilization can effectively inactivate the H3N2 Influenza A virus through the structure-resonant energy transfer (SRET) effect with a radiation field intensity following the IEEE standard. In order to utilize the same mechanism to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus, firstly, the structural resonant frequencies with electromagnetic (EM) waves have to be identified. In this paper we report our design and implementation of a spectrum measurement chip utilizing the coplanar waveguide with pre-printed mask. With the mask, the repeatability of the insertion loss measurement can be well-controlled. Our microwave absorption spectra results revealed that the coplanar-waveguide chip can identify the resonant microwave frequencies of difference viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 viruses, highlighting the potential applications for not only the virus detection but also the safe and non-thermal sterilization of public spaces. During the presentation, we will also report the resonant EM wave frequencies of various corona viruses monitored by the aforementioned chip. Copyright © 2022 SPIE.
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This study is based on the separation of teachers and learners caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the implication of Moore’s Transactional Distance Theory, which proliferated for nearly 30 years but has been inconsistently validated empirically. The quantitative approach was employed, with questionnaires distributed based on the learners’ perspectives. The subjects of the study include 153 respondents from computer science department of an Indonesian public university. Three key tenets of transactional distance include dialogue, structure, and learner autonomy were specifically addressed and validated as significant predictors in this study. The findings elucidated an inverse relationship between dialogue and learner autonomy respectively with transactional distance, and a less rigid course structure capable of contributing to lessen the perceived degree of transactional distance in the e-learning environment. Furthermore, this study discovered that e-learning satisfaction and internet connection speed had an impact on the extent of transactional distance. © 2022 by the authors.
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Today, there is greater awareness on the association between oral diseases and respiration diseases after the outbreak of COVID-19. However, confusion regarding the oral health management and medical risk prevention for patients with chronic airway diseases has been remained among dental clinicians. Therefore, the dental experts of the Fifth General Dentistry Special Committee, Chinese Stomatological Association, combined with the experts of respiratory and critical care medicine, undertook the formation of consensus on the oral health management of patients with chronic airway diseases in order to help dental clinicians to evaluate medical risks and make better treatment decision in clinical practice. In the present consensus report, the relationship of oral diseases and chronic airway diseases, the oral health management and the treatment recommendations of patients with chronic airway diseases are provided.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Oral Medicine , Consensus , Humans , Oral HealthABSTRACT
Since December 2019, the COVID-19 outbreak has spread in over 100 countries and regions at a stunning pace. To prevent humanitarian health hazards such as COVID-19, people are strongly suggested to purchase and use Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) for self-protection. However, the fraction of the population who refused to comply with the PPEs is high (and also much higher in some regions than others). In this paper, we focus on an empirically tested behavioral explanation for the compliance obstacle (a lack of self-control) based on the present-bias effect, which means the trend to give a higher valuation to a present reward but a lower valuation to a future reward (O’Donoghue & Rabin, 2006). Since the utility of PPEs is realized in the future, a consumer may postpone his purchase decision but finally abandon his purchase plan in the future period due to this present-bias effect. The key take-away we focus on is that advance selling can be beneficial to the consumers as a commitment device (Bryan et al., 2010). However, the effect of advance selling may be limited, especially for consumers with low valuation, and can only encourage a part of consumers to purchase PPEs. Advance selling alone cannot fully address the compliance obstacles in PPEs. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.