Age- and sex-dependent increase in self-harm among adolescents with mental health problems in East China during COVID-19 related society-wide isolation.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about child and adolescent mental health issues, such as self-harm. The impact of society-wide isolation on self-harming behaviors among adolescents in China is unclear. In addition, adolescents of different ages and sexes have varying abilities to cope with environmental changes. However, these differences are rarely considered in self-harm studies. We aimed to characterize the age- and sex-dependent effects of COVID-19-related society-wide isolation on self-harm among adolescents in East China. Methods: We collected 63,877 medical records of children and adolescents aged 8-18 who had an initial visit to Shanghai Mental Health Center in China between 2017 and 2021 and charted annual self-harm rates for each age and sex. Using interrupted time series analysis, we modeled global and seasonal trends and the effect of COVID-19-related society-wide isolation on self-harm rates. Results: Females aged 10-17 and males aged 13-16 exhibited significantly increasing trends in self-harm rate (p fdr < 0.05) in the past 5 years. Eleven-year-old females in 2020 showed a self-harm rate (37.30%) that exceeded the peak among all ages in 2019 (age 13, 36.38%). The COVID-19-related society-wide isolation elevated self-harm rates in female patients aged 12 [RR 1.45 (95% CI 1.19-1.77); p fdr = 0.0031] and 13 years [RR 1.33 (95% CI 1.15-1.5); p fdr = 0.0031], while males were less affected. Further, females with emotional disorders dominated the increased self-harm rates. Conclusion: Society-wide isolation has had a significant impact on early adolescent females in East China, especially for those with emotional disturbances, and has brought forward the peak in adolescent self-harm rates. This study calls for attention to the risk of self-harm in early adolescents.

The Discovery of Novel Ferulic Acid Derivatives Incorporating Substituted Isopropanolamine Moieties as Potential Tobacco Mosaic Virus Helicase Inhibitors.

Target-based drug design, a high-efficiency strategy used to guide the development of novel pesticide candidates, has attracted widespread attention. Herein, various natural-derived ferulic acid derivatives incorporating substituted isopropanolamine moieties were designed to target the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) helicase. Bioassays demonstrating the optimized A19, A20, A29, and A31 displayed excellent in vivo antiviral curative abilities, affording corresponding EC50 values of 251.1, 336.2, 347.1, and 385.5 µg/mL, which visibly surpassed those of commercial ribavirin (655.0 µg/mL). Moreover, configurational analysis shows that the R-forms of target compounds were more beneficial to aggrandize antiviral profiles. Mechanism studies indicate that R-A19 had a strong affinity (Kd = 5.4 µM) to the TMV helicase and inhibited its ability to hydrolyze ATP (50.61% at 200 µM). Meanwhile, A19 could down-regulate the expression of the TMV helicase gene in the host to attenuate viral replication. These results illustrate the excellent inhibitory activity of A19 towards the TMV helicase. Additionally, docking simulations uncovered that R-A19 formed more hydrogen bonds with the TMV helicase in the binding pocket. Recent studies have unambiguously manifested that these designed derivatives could be considered as promising potential helicase-based inhibitors for plant disease control.

How to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on laparoendoscopic single-site surgery training?

BACKGROUND: Because of special technical challenges, laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) has been introduced into surgical practice, with surgeons required to have adequate training. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected every aspect of healthcare systems, including LESS training, which must be modified to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A 3-session training programme was designed in 2020 during the epidemic, which was modified in 2019 before the pandemic. Session 1 was an online study on LESS knowledge. Session 2 involved the trainees' self-directed simulator-training. Task performance was evaluated using the fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (FLS) scoring. Session 3 was practical training, including trainers' live surgical video demonstrations and trainees' surgical video feedback after training. Video feedback performance was evaluated using the modified global rating scale (GRS). Furthermore, trainees completed a general self-efficacy (GSE) instrument. Forty-two gynaecology trainees were allocated into two groups: novices (n = 32) and experts (n = 10). RESULTS: Compared with pre-training, FLS scores improved in peg transfer (P < 0.001 and P = 0.01) and pattern cutting (P = 0.02 and P < 0.001) for novices and experts, respectively. Participants (81% versus 67%) provided first and second video feedback, respectively. Compared to the first feedback, the GRS scores of both groups improved significantly in the second feedback. All trainees showed an increase in GSE after training (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The modified LESS training programme is a practical and effective option that allows trainees to continue training during the epidemic.

The Impact of Airport Physical Environment on Perceived Safety and Domestic Travel Intention of Chinese Passengers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Passenger Satisfaction

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has become an important new research topic, has exerted a huge impact on airports and the antecedents of passengers’ travel decisions following its outbreak. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the influences of four attributes of airport physical environment (facility functionality, facility aesthetics, layout accessibility, and cleanliness) on passengers’ perceived safety, satisfaction, and travel intention, as well as the mediating role of passenger satisfaction. We built a structural equation model to assume the relationship between these variables. A total of 398 domestic travelers were asked to fill out a survey in order to reveal their perceptions of airport physical environment, perceived safety, satisfaction, and travel intention. The results indicate that passengers with positive perceptions of the facility functionality, layout accessibility, and cleanliness of airports had a higher degree of satisfaction and might be more willing to engage in more air travel in the future. In particular, a clean airport environment significantly improved passengers’ perceived safety. Moreover, facility functionality, layout accessibility, cleanliness, and perceived safety all had an effect on travel intention through the mediating role of satisfaction. Overall, these findings offer suggestions for airport authorities aiming to revive demand for air travel. Discussions about airport physical environment improvements along with limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.

Case series of COVID-19 patients from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area in China.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a serious infection caused by the new coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The disease was first identified in December 2019 and has caused significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. AIM: To explore the clinical characteristics and treatments for COVID-19 in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area in China. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the blood cell counts (neutrophils and lymphocytes), blood gas analysis, and thoracic computed tomography changes of patients from Qinghai Province before, during, and after treatment (January 23, 2020 to February 21, 2020). In addition, we summarized and analyzed the information of critical patients. All data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, United States). The quantitative and count variables are represented as the mean ± SD and n (%), respectively. RESULTS: The main symptoms and signs of patients with COVID-19 were fever, dry cough, cough with phlegm, difficulty breathing, and respiratory distress with a respiration rate ≥ 30 times/min, finger oxygen saturation ≤ 93% in the resting state, and oxygenation index less than 200 but greater than 100 (after altitude correction). Eighteen patients with COVID-19, of whom three were critical, and the others were in a mild condition, were included. The main manifestations included fever, dry cough, and fatigue. Three patients developed difficulty breathing and had a fever. They were eventually cured and discharged. Adjuvant examinations showed one case with reduced white cell count (6%) (< 4 × 109/L), six with reduced count of lymphocytes (33%) (< 0.8 × 109/L), and one with abnormal blood glucose level. All 18 patients were discharged, and no death occurred. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide critical insight into assessing the clinical diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19 in the Tibetan plateau area.

Pandemic Risk Management for Public Health Care Schemes.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has caused a large death, a range of serious health problems, and significant economic costs in many countries around the world. This study analyzes statistical characteristics of pandemic disasters using historical records since the Middle Ages. Compared to literature which studies the effect of the COVID- 19 pandemic on the financial market, this paper attempts to find two financial instruments in the financial market to hedge pandemic risks. Two instruments could be useful for public health care schemes to increase their assets or decrease their liabilities during the pandemic period, namely, assets in the form of a biotechnology investment portfolio and liabilities in the form of pandemic bonds. Empirical results show the feasibility of such instruments and the informational efficiency of the U.S. stock market.

Clinical characteristics of Kawasaki disease and concurrent pathogens during isolation in COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to explore the characteristics of Kawasaki disease (KD) and concurrent pathogens due to a stay-at-home isolation policy during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. METHODS: All patients with KD admitted between February and April in 2015-2020, were classified into before (group 1, in 2015-2019) and after (group 2, in 2020) isolation groups. A total of 4742 patients [with KD (n = 98) and non-KD (n = 4644)] referred to Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) and virus detection were analyzed in 2020. Clinical characteristics, laboratory data, and 13 pathogens were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Group 2 had a significantly increased incidence of KD (0.11%) with 107 patients compared to that of group 1 (0.03%) with 493 patients. The comparisons of oral mucosal change, strawberry tongue, desquamation of the fingertips, cervical lymphadenopathy and neutrophil percentage decreased in group 2 compared to group 1. The infection rate of MP increased significantly in group 2 (34.7%) compared to group 1 (19.3%), while the positive rate of viruses decreased significantly in group 2 (5.3%) compared to group 1 (14.3%). In 2020, the positive rate of MP infection increased significantly in patients with KD compared to the increase in patients with non-KD. The infection rate of MP for younger children aged less than 3 years old was higher in group 2 than in group 1. CONCLUSION: Compared with the characteristics of KD from 2015 to 2019 years, the incidence of KD was increased in 2020 and was accompanied by a high incidence of MP infection, especially in younger children (less than 3 years old) during the isolation due to COVID-19 pandemic.