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Background Several initiatives had been promoted to largely reduce transmission during the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) World Pandemic. However, children's preoperative anxiety was more prominent when parents were advised not to stay with their children in the preoperative holding area. This study aimed to determine whether combined of favorite carton stickers and fruit juices could reduce premedication anxiety in preschool children who lacked parental presence and were scheduled for elective surgery. Methods One hundred and fourteen healthy children, aged 3–6 years, assigned to elective surgery were randomized to one of three groups: Group A (a cartoon noggin), Group B (a cartoon noggin and cartoon stickers), Group C (a cartoon noggin, cartoon stickers, and fruit juices). All groups routinely received sedative premedication (oral midazolam, 0.5mg/kg) before anesthesia induction. The modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale-Short Form (mYPAS-SF) was used to evaluate the anxiety of each child in the following time points: T0 (baseline anxiety: immediately after arriving in the preoperative holding area), T1 (3 min after the interventions), T2 (at the time of midazolam oral administration). Results There was no significant difference in mYPAS-SF scores among the three groups at T0 (P = 0.174). Children in Group C manifested significantly lower mYPAS-SF scores at T1 compared with Group A and Group B (P < 0.001 and P = 0.012), and T2 (P < 0.001 vs both groups). Subjects in Group B showed lower mYPAS-SF scores than that in Group A at T1 (P = 0.008) and T2 (P = 0.009). Conclusions Cartoon stickers for reducing premedication anxiety were effective, besides, the combination of cartoon stickers and fruit juices was found to be a profitable tool to reduce premedication anxiety in preschool children undergoing elective surgery. Clinical Trial Registry: A one-month, open-label study to evaluate the effect of the combination of favorite carton stickers and fruit juices on preschool children who suffer premedication anxiety. (https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=185586) Registration number: ChiCTR2200066644.
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Anxiety Disorders , COVID-19ABSTRACT
Alginate derivatives have been demonstrated remarkable antiviral activities. Here we firstly identified polymannuronate phosphate (PMP) as a highly potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 agent. The structure-activity relationship showed polymannuronate monophosphate (PMPD, Mw: 5.8 kDa, P%: 8.7 %) was the most effective component to block the interaction of spike to ACE2 with an IC50 of 85.5 nM. Surface plasmon resonance study indicated that PMPD could bind to spike receptor binding domain (RBD) with the KD value of 78.59 nM. Molecular docking further suggested that the probable binding site of PMPD to spike RBD protein is the interaction interface between spike and ACE2. PMPD has the potential to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 infection in an independent manner of heparan sulfate proteoglycans. In addition, polyguluronate sulfate (PGS) and propylene glycol alginate sodium sulfate (PSS) unexpectedly showed 3CLpro inhibition with an IC50 of 1.20 μM and 1.42 μM respectively. The polyguluronate backbone and sulfate group played pivotal roles in the 3CLpro inhibition. Overall, this study revealed the potential of PMPD as a novel agent against SARS-CoV-2. It also provided a theoretical basis for further study on the role of PGS and PSS as 3CLpro inhibitors. Graphical Unlabelled Image
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Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) seriously endangers global public health. Pupingqinghua prescription (PPQH) is an herbal formula from traditional Chinese medicine used for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This study aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of PPQH in Chinese participants infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Methods: A total of 873 SARS-CoV-2 (Omicron)-infected patients were included. Among them, the patients were divided into the PPQH group (653 cases) and LHQW group (220 cases) according to different medications. The effectiveness indicators (hematological indicators, Ct values of novel Coronavirus nucleic acid tests, and viral load-shedding time) and safety indicators (liver and kidney function and adverse events) were analyzed. Results: There was no significant difference in baseline characteristics between the PPQH group and the LHQW group, except the gender;After the treatment, the levels of IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, NK cells, and INF-α of the patients in the PPQH group showed a downward trend (p < 0.05);The viral load shedding time was 5.0 (5.0, 7.0) in the PPQH group and 5.0 (4.0, 7.0) in the LHQW group;both PPQH and LHQW can shorten the duration of symptoms of fever, cough, and sore throat. The re-positive rate of COVID-19 test was 1.5 % in the PPQH group and 2.3 % in the LHQW group. In terms of safety, the levels of γ-GTT decreased significantly (p < 0.01);gastrointestinal reaction was the primary adverse reaction, and the reaction rate was 4.7 % in the PPQH group and 9.5 % in the LHQW group. Conclusion: PPQH can shorten the length of hospital stay and improve clinical symptoms of patients with SARS-COV-2 (Omicron), and it also has a good safety profile.
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Background Frontline healthcare workers were at a high risk of infection and developing mental health problems during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is important to monitor the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and somatization among frontline healthcare workers in China. Aim This study aimed to investigate PTSD, somatization, resilience, and perceived stress among frontline healthcare workers fighting against COVID-19 and examine the mediating effects of perceived stress on resilience in both PTSD and somatization. Methods The study was conducted from December 2021 to February 2022 through an online survey of frontline healthcare workers fighting against COVID-19. The survey included questions regarding socio-demographic information, resilience (10-item Conner–Davidson Resilience Scale, CD-RISC-10), perceived stress (14-item Perceived Stress Scale, PSS), PTSD (Checklist-Civilian Version, PCL-C), and somatization (Symptom Checklist-90). The PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to examine the mediating effects of perceived stress. Results Approximately 14.9% of healthcare workers had possible PTSD (PCL-C score of ≥ 44), and 41.04% of the workers had low resilience (CD-RISC-10 score of ≤ 25.5). Approximately 54.05% of healthcare workers were symptomatic, and 14.7% had a moderate or higher degree of somatization with sleep-related problems as the most common symptom. Perceived stress was negatively correlated with resilience (r = –0.527, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with PTSD (r = 0.505, p < 0.001) and somatization (r = 0.361, p < 0.001). In addition, perceived stress mediated the relationship between resilience and PTSD [indirect b = –0.382;bootstrapped confidence interval (CI), –0.454, –0.319] and somatization (indirect effect b = –0.159;bootstrapped CI, –0.199, –0.123). Conclusion The prevalence of PTSD and somatic symptoms indicates that the mental health of frontline healthcare workers deserves more attention. Resilience is negatively associated with PTSD and somatization, and the relationship among resilience, PTSD, and somatization is mediated by perceived stress. Strategies for reducing perceived stress and increasing resilience may help to prevent and alleviate PTSD and somatization.
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Music education is one of human kind most universal forms of expression and communication, and it can be found in the daily lives of people of all ages and cultures all over the world. As university life is a time when students are exposed to a great deal of stress, it can have a negative impact on their mental health. Therefore, it is critical to intervene at this stage in their life so that they are prepared to deal with the pressures they will face in the future. The aim of this study was to see how music education affects university students’ mental health, with emotional intelligence functioning as a moderator. The participants in this research were graduate students pursuing degrees in music education. Non probability convenience sampling technique was used to collect and evaluate the data from 265 students studying in different public and private Chinese universities. The data was gathered at a time, and therefore, the study is cross-sectional. The data was collected from January 2022 till the end of March 2022. Many universities have been closed because to COVID-19, therefore data was also gathered online through emails. The data was analyzed quantitatively using the partial least squares (PLS)–structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The findings backed up the hypotheses. The results revealed that there is a significant effect of music education on student’s mental health. Also, emotional intelligence as a moderator significantly and positively moderates the relationship between music education and students’ mental health. Music has numerous physiological aspects, and listening to it on a daily basis may be beneficial to your general health and well-being. Furthermore, musicians and music students with a high level of emotional intelligence have a better chance of not just performing well in school, college and university or in the music industry, but also of maintaining mental health and improving it.
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Objective: To identify the T cell epitopes of the COVID-19 vaccine carrying SARS-CoV-2 S, N and M genes in BALB/c mice.
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Nanoparticle Vaccines In article number 2200443, Liangzhi Xie, Chengfeng Qin, and co-workers develop a novel bivalent nanoparticle vaccine that confers protection against infection of multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and Streptococcus pneumoniae. This universal polysaccharide?protein-conjugated vaccine platform provides a powerful tool to fight against cocirculating viral and bacterial pathogens worldwide.
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Background Detailed characteristics of rheumatic symptoms of COVID-19 were still unknown. We aim to investigate the proportions, characteristics, and risk factors of this condition. Methods In this prospective, longitudinal cohort study, discharged patients with COVID-19 were face-to-face interviewed at 12 months after symptom onset. Rheumatic symptoms following COVID-19 included newly occurring joint pain, and (/or) joint swelling after COVID-19. The risk factors of developing rheumatic symptoms were identified by multivariable logistic regressions. Results In total, 1296 of 2469 discharged patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in this study. Among them, 160 (12.3% [95% CI 10.6, 14.3]) suffered from rheumatic symptoms following COVID-19 at 12-month follow-up. The most frequently involved joints were the knee joints (38%), followed by hand (25%) and shoulder (19%). Rheumatic symptoms were independent of the severity of illness and corticosteroid treatment during acute phase, while elderly (OR 1.22, 95%CI 1.06, 1.40) and women (OR 1.58, 95%CI 1.12, 2.23) were identified as the risk factors for this condition. Conclusions Our investigation showed a considerable proportion of rheumatic symptoms following COVID-19 in discharged patients, which highlights the need for continuing attention. Notably, rheumatic symptoms following COVID-19 were independent of the severity of illness and corticosteroid treatment during acute phase.
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Background & aim: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the life and work of people worldwide. The present study aimed to evaluate the rhythm disruptions of life, work, and entertainment, and their associations with the psychological impacts during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from the 10th to 17th March 2020 in China. A structured e-questionnaire containing general information, the Chinese version of Brief Social Rhythm Scale, and Zung's self-rating scales of depression and anxiety (SDS and SAS) was posted and collected online through a public media (i.e. EQxiu online questionnaire platform). Scores in sleeping, getting up, and socializing (SGS) rhythm and eating, physical practice, and entertainment (EPE) rhythm were compared among and between participants with different sociodemographic backgrounds including gender, age, education, current occupation, annual income, health status, and chronic disease status. Correlations of SDS and SAS with SGS-scale and EPE-scale were also analyzed. Results: Overall, 5854 participants were included. There were significant differences in the scores of SGS-scale and EPE-scale among people with different sociodemographic backgrounds. The scores were significantly higher in the groups with female gender, low education level, lower or higher than average income, poor health status, ages of 26-30 years or older than 61 years, nurses and subjects with divorce or widow status. There were also significant differences in SAS and SDS scores among people with different sociodemographic backgrounds (all P< 0.05). The overall prevalence of depression and anxiety was 24.3% and 12.6%, respectively, with nurses having the highest rates of depression (32.94%) and anxiety (18.98%) among the different occupational groups. SGS-scale was moderately correlated with SDS and SAS, and disruption of SGS rhythm was an independent risk factor for depression and anxiety. Conclusion: Social rhythm disruption was independently associated with depression and anxiety. Interventions should be applied to people vulnerable to the rhythm disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Since December 2019, the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The infected cases were noted mostly in adults, but rarely reported in children, especially neonates. Most children with SARS-CoV-2 infection present mainly with respiratory symptoms, but less commonly with gastrointestinal symptoms, and tend to have mild clinical symptoms. A neonate with SARS-CoV-2 infection, who had vomiting and milk refusal as the first symptom, was recently admitted to Wuhan Children's Hospital. After two weeks of treatment, the patient recovered gradually and was discharged. Here, this case is reported to improve the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection in neonates.
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Background: Role models play an important role in enhancing students’ intention to pursue medical careers. While, as the two most influential role models for medical students, there is limited research to explore the different impacts between faculty and parents. This study investigated the association of different role model’s prosocial behavior of joining the fight against novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on medical students’ career commitment. We examined whether there are different effects and how these effects differ among different medical students.Method: A national-scale survey was conducted with 118,030 undergraduate students majoring in clinical medicine in mainland China. Questions were asked to collect information of participants in the battle of COVID-19, medical students’ determination of practicing medicine after graduation, as well as students’ socio-demographic characteristics. Chi-square tests and hierarchical regressions were performed to examine the effects of parent and faculty involvement on students’ career commitment.Results: The results showed that prosocial modeling during the COVID-19 pandemic in China is associated with students’ intention to pursue medical careers. The effect of faculty was greater than that of parents on medical students. Gender was related to the effects. And those who already determined to be the doctor before the pandemic were much more likely to persist in the medical profession.Conclusions: Our study provides more definitive answers to the issue of who has a greater effect on medical students’ career commitment between parents and faculty. Encouraging faculty to act as positive role models could help medical students increase the intention to become doctors.
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COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background: Role models play an important role in enhancing students’ intention to pursue medical careers. While, as the two most influential role models for medical students, there is limited research to explore the different impacts between faculty and parents. This study investigated the association of different role model’s prosocial behavior of joining the fight against novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on medical students’ career commitment. We examined whether there are different effects and how these effects differ among different medical students.Method: A national-scale survey was conducted with 118,030 undergraduate students majoring in clinical medicine in mainland China. Questions were asked to collect information of participants in the battle of COVID-19, medical students’ determination of practicing medicine after graduation, as well as students’ socio-demographic characteristics. Chi-square tests and hierarchical regressions were performed to examine the effects of parent and faculty involvement on students’ career commitment.Results: The results showed that prosocial modeling during the COVID-19 pandemic in China is associated with students’ intention to pursue medical careers. The effect of faculty was greater than that of parents on medical students. Gender was related to the effects. And those who already determined to be the doctor before the pandemic were much more likely to persist in the medical profession.Conclusions: Our study provides more definitive answers to the issue of who has a greater effect on medical students’ career commitment between parents and faculty. Encouraging faculty to act as positive role models could help medical students increase the intention to become doctors.
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COVID-19ABSTRACT
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a zoonotic disease that is acute, feverish and accompanied by respiratory system and even multiple organ infections. Although no SARS infection cases have been reported since 2004, the outbreak of new coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei Province, my country in December 2019 indicates that SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) or SARS-like coronavirus (SARSL-CoV) is highly likely to become widespread in the population again. In this study, a full-length cDNA clone pBRN-FL-SARS-CoV-S expressing the SARS-CoV spike protein (S protein) was first constructed, and the Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) LaSota vaccine strain reverse genetic operating system was used to rescue The recombinant virus rLa-SARS-CoV-S expressing SARS-CoV S protein was identified. After rLa-SARS-CoV-S was infected with BHK-21 cells at a dose of MOI 0.01 for 36 hours, the SARS-CoV S protein was detected by western blot and laser confocal test. The results showed that the S protein was correct in the infected cells. Expressed and accurately located on the cell membrane. After inoculating 10-day-old SPF chicken embryos with rLa-SARS-CoV-S at a dose of 1x104 EID50, allantoic fluid was collected at different time points and the EID50 was determined. The growth kinetic curve of the virus showed that rLa-SARSCoV-S could The chicken embryo grows at high titer, consistent with the parental virus. Dilute the rLa-SARS-CoV-S and parent virus by 10-fold ratio and inoculate 10-day-old SPF chicken embryos and record the death time of each chicken embryo. Calculate the average chicken embryo death time according to the highest dilution of the virus. Lethal time (MDT), the results showed that the MDT of rLa-SARS-CoV-S was 112.8 h and the MDT of NDV LaSota was 96 h, indicating that the recombinant virus still maintains the low pathogenicity characteristics of the NDV LaSota vaccine strain. RLa-SARS-CoV-S and NDV LaSota were injected intramuscularly with 6-week-old BALB/c mice at a dose of 5x106 EID50 and boosted on the 21st day. At the same time, a PBS control group was set up. The results of the mouse safety test showed that all the mice vaccinated with rLa-SARS-CoV-S survived without any clinical symptoms, and the weight gain was consistent with that of the NDV LaSota group and the control group;the mice were treated on 21 d and 42 d after immunization Blood was collected to prepare serum, and the level of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV S protein in mice was detected by ELISA. The results showed that the recombinant protein can induce mice to produce higher levels of specific IgG antibodies after initial immunization and booster immunization. The level can be maintained for a longer period of time. The results of this study indicate that rLa-SARS-CoV-S has potential value as a SARS-CoV vaccine candidate, and at the same time provides ideas for the development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
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BACKGROUND. Marked progress is achieved in understanding the physiopathology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which caused a global pandemic. However, the CD4· T cell population critical for antibody response in COVID-19 is poorly understood. METHODS. In this study, we provided a comprehensive analysis of peripheral CD4· T cells from 13 COVID-19 convalescent patients, defined as confirmed free of SARS-CoV-2 for 2 to 4 weeks, using flow cytometry and magnetic chemiluminescence enzyme antibody immunoassay. The data were correlated with clinical characteristics. RESULTS. We observed that, relative to healthy individuals, convalescent patients displayed an altered peripheral CD4· T cell spectrum. Specifically, consistent with other viral infections, cTfh1 cells associated with SARS-CoV-2-targeting antibodies were found in COVID-19 covalescent patients. Individuals with severe disease showed higher frequencies of Tem and Tfh-em cells but lower frequencies of Tcm, Tfh-cm, Tfr, and Tnaive cells, compared with healthy individuals and patients with mild and moderate disease. Interestingly, a higher frequency of cTfh-em cells correlated with a lower blood oxygen level, recorded at the time of admission, in convalescent patients. These observations might constitute residual effects by which COVID-19 can impact the homeostasis of CD4· T cells in the long-term and explain the highest ratio of class-switched virus-specific antibody producing individuals found in our severe COVID-19 cohort. CONCLUSION. Our study demonstrated a close connection between CD4· T cells and antibody production in COVID-19 convalescent patients. FUNDING. Six Talent Peaks Project in Jiangsu Province and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
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The emergence of the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic has forced academic conferences to be held entirely in a virtual manner. While prior studies have advocated the merits of virtual conferences in terms of energy and cost savings, organizers are increasingly facing the prospect of planning and executing them systematically, in order to deliver a rich conference-attending-experience for all participants. Starting from March 2020, tens of conferences have been held virtually. Past conferences have revealed numerous challenges, from budget planning, to selecting the supporting virtual platforms. Among these, two special challenges were identified: 1) how to deliver talks to geo-distributed attendees and 2) how to stimulate social interactions among attendees. These are the two important goals of an academic conference. In this paper, we advocate a mirror program approach for academic conferences. More specifically, the conference program is executed in multiple parallel (mirrored) programs, so that each mirror program can fit a different time zone. This can effectively address the first challenge.
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COVID-19ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infection and threating the human lives in the world. The elevation of cytokines in blood is crucial to induce cytokine storm and immunosuppression in the transition of severity in COVID-19 patients. However, the comprehensive changes of serum proteins in COVID-19 patients throughout the SARS-CoV-2 infection is unknown. In this work, we developed a high-density antibody microarray and performed an in-depth proteomics analysis of serum samples collected from early COVID-19 (n=15) and influenza (n=13) patients. We identified a large set of differentially expressed proteins (n=125) that participate in a landscape of inflammation and immune signaling related to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Furthermore, the significant correlations of neutrophil and lymphocyte with the CCL2 and CXCL10 mediated cytokine signaling pathways was identified. These information are valuable for the understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis, identification of biomarkers and development of the optimal anti-inflammation therapy.
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COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background Although the existing cases of COVID-19 in China have been reducing since late February 2020, the confirmed cases are surging abroad. Improving public knowledge regarding COVID-19 is critical to control the epidemic. The study aimed to determine the China’s public knowledge of COVID-19 and attitude towards the control measures.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 48 hours, from 29 February 2020, 22:30 to 2 March 2020, 22:30, based on a self-administered web-based questionnaire. The survey was conducted on the WeChat network. Exponential non-discriminative snowball sampling were applied. The questionnaire was voluntarily submitted by WeChat users. The questionnaire covered the basic demographic information, public knowledge about epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19, psychological state, and attitude towards overall control measures. The primary outcome was the Chinese public knowledge regarding COVID-19 and the attitude towards the control measures and secondary outcome was psychological state of the public during this epidemic.Results The study included 10,905 participants and 10,399 valid questionnaires were included for analysis. Participants with tertiary education, younger age and healthcare workers had better overall knowledge compared with other participants (all P<0.05). About 91.9% of the participants believed in person-to-person transmission and 39.1% believed in animal-to-person transmission. No significant correlation between anxiety and regional number of existing cases was found, while participants in Hubei were more anxious than those in other regions. In general, 74.1% of participants acknowledged the effectiveness of overall control measures and it was negatively correlated with regional number of existing cases (r=-0.492, P=0.007).Conclusions In conclusion, the survey revealed that Chinese public had overall good knowledge regarding COVID-19 except for those indeterminate knowledge. With the dynamic change of global epidemic situation and more researches, further study would be conducted to explore the change of public knowledge and attitude about COVID-19 in the future.