[Clinical characteristics of children infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant combined with allergic disease].

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of children with allergic diseases suffering from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant strains. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 43 pediatric patients with allergic diseases infected by SARS-CoV-2 from April 25, 2022 to June 8, 2022 in Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine were selected as the allergic disease group, while 114 cases without underlying diseases and 16 cases with other underlying diseases were selected as control groups diagnosed at the same period. Clinical data including clinical features, laboratory tests, duration of hospitalization, and the time to negative turn of novel coronavirus nucleic acid were collected and analysed. Kruskal-Wallis H test, chi-square test or Fisher exact test were used for comparison among three groups. Results: Among the 43 patients with allergic diseases, 28 were males and 15 were females, with an age of 4.4 (2.1, 8.2) years on admission, including 32 mild cases and 11 common cases. The allergic disease group included 20 cases (46.5%) of atopic dermatitis and eczema, followed by 14 cases (32.6%) of rhinitis, 8 cases (18.6%) of food allergies, 7 cases (16.3%) of asthma, 4 cases (9.3%) of allergic conjunctivitis and 2 cases (4.7%) of drug allergy. Among the 114 cases without underlying diseases, 57 were males and 57 were females, with an age of 2.8 (1.2, 5.6) years on admission, including 93 mild cases and 21 common cases. Among the 16 cases with other underlying diseases, 9 were males and 7 were females, with an age of 3.0 (2.6, 10.8) years on admission, including 13 cases mild and 3 cases common cases. Children with allergic diseases had higher frequency of sore throat and vomiting than those without underlying diseases (10 cases (23.3%) vs.9 cases (7.9%), 14 cases (32.6%) vs. 11 cases (9.6%), χ²=6.93, 12.24, both P<0.05). The lymphocyte count of patients with allergic disease was lower than those without underlying disease (1.1 (0.7,1.7)×109 vs. 1.6 (1.1,2.7)×109/L, H=-28.00,P=0.005). There were no significant differences in age, gender, typing of SARS-CoV-2, the duration of hospitalization, cycle threshold values of SARS-CoV-2 and the time to negative turn of novel coronavirus nucleic acid among the three groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions: Children with allergic diseases may suffer from sore throat and vomiting more frequently when infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. The combination of allergic diseases hardly influenced the disease course of SARS-CoV-2 in children.

Erratum: Multisite Inhibitors for Enteric Coronavirus: Antiviral Cationic Carbon Dots Based on Curcumin (ACS Applied Nano Materials (2018) 1:10 (5451-5459) DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.8b00779)

Page 5452. In the "2.1. Preparation of CCM-CDs" section in the Experimental Section, "Curcumin (CCM;0.30 g) and citric acid (0.60 g) were ground uniformly, sealed, and hydrothermally treated in a 25 mL Teflon-lined autoclave at 180 C for 1 h." was incorrectly written. It should be "Curcumin (CCM;0.30 g) and citric acid (0.60 g) were ground uniformly, sealed, and hydrothermally treated in a 25 mL Teflon-lined autoclave at 180 C for 1.5 h.". This change does not affect the conclusion of this paper. Page 5455. In the caption of Figure 6c, "Virus titers calculated in the presence and absence of EDA-CDs or CCMCDs. The pictures were taken at 12 hpi." was incorrectly written. It should be "Virus titers calculated in the presence and absence of EDA-CDs or CCM-CDs. The pictures were taken at 9 hpi.". In addition, the fluorescence images of the DAPI and Merge in the EDA-CDs (125 g/mL) group (Figure 6a) were chosen by mistake when the artwork was submitted. These changes do not affect the conclusion of this paper. The revised Figure 6a, which now shows the correct images from the original data source, is as follows: (Figure Present). © 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

[Characteristics and related factors of viral nucleic acid negative conversion in children infected with Omicron variant strain of SARS-CoV-2].

Objective: To understand the characteristics and associated factors of viral nucleic acid conversion in children infected with Omicron variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in Shanghai. Methods: The clinical symptoms, laboratory results and other data of 177 children infected with SARS-CoV-2 who were hospitalized in Shanghai Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (designated hospital for SARS-CoV-2 infection in Shanghai) from April 25 to June 8, 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the chest imaging findings, the children were divided into mild and common type groups. According to their age, the unvaccinated children were divided into<3 years old group and 3-<18 years old group. According to the vaccination status, the children aged 3-<18 year were divided into non-vaccination group, 1-dose vaccination group and 2-dose vaccination group. Comparison between groups was performed by independent sample t-test and analysis of variance, and multivariate linear regression analysis was used for multivariate analysis. Results: Among the 177 children infected with Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, 96 were males and 81 were females, aged 3 (1, 6) years. The time of viral nucleic acid negative conversion was (10.3±3.1) days. The 177 children were 138 cases of mild type and 39 cases of common type. Among the children aged 3-<18 years old, 55 cases were not vaccinated, 5 cases received 1-dose and 36 cases received 2-dose vaccination. Among the 36 children who received 2 doses of vaccination, the time of viral nucleic acid negative conversion was shorter in those vaccinated within 6 months than those over 6 months ((7.1±1.9) vs. (10.8±3.0) d, t=-3.23, P=0.004). Univariate analysis showed that the time of nucleic acid negative conversion of SARS-CoV-2 was associated with age, underlying diseases, gastrointestinal symptoms, white blood cell count, proportion of neutrophils, proportion of lymphocytes, and the number of doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (t=3.87, 2.55, 2.04, 4.24, 3.51, 2.92, F=16.27, all P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that older age (ß=-0.33, 95% CI -0.485--0.182, P<0.001) and more doses of vaccination (ß=-0.79, 95% CI -1.463--0.120, P=0.021) were associated with shortened nucleic acid negative conversion time in children, while lower lymphocyte proportion (ß=-0.02, 95% CI -0.044--0.002, P=0.031) and underlying diseases (ß=1.52, 95% CI 0.363-2.672, P=0.010) were associated with prolonged nucleic acid negative conversion time in children. Conclusion: The children infected with Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 with reduced lymphocyte proportion and underlying diseases may have longer time of viral nucleic acid negative conversion,while children with older age and more doses of vaccination may have shorter time of viral nucleic acid negative conversion.

[COVID-19 treated with oral Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir in 3 children].

Objective: To summarize the application experience and the therapeutic effect of Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir (trade name: Paxlovid) for COVID-19 in children. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data, including collecting the clinical manifestations and clinical outcomes, dynamically monitoring the blood routine, hepatic and renal function and SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid results, and observing the related side effects during the treatment, etc, of 3 cases with COVID-19 treated with Paxlovid admitted to Shanghai Children's Hospital (designated referral hospital for SARS-CoV-2 infection in Shanghai) from May 1st to June 1st, 2022. Results: The 3 cases were 12, 14, 17 years of age, among which 2 cases were males, 1 case was female. All 3 cases were mild cases with underlying diseases and risk of developing into severe COVID-19, with symptoms of high fever, sore throat and dry cough. The treatment of Paxlovid at 3rd day of symptom onset contributed to the symptom-free after 1-2 days and negative results of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid after 2-4 days. All patients had no adverse manifestations of gastrointestinal tract and nervous system but a case had little skin rashes, which recovered after the withdrawal of Paxlovid. Three cases had normal hepatic and renal function during the Paxlovid treatment. At 3 months after discharge, no clinical manifestations of post-COVID syndrome were found in all 3 cases. Conclusion: Paxlovid was effective and relatively safe in the treatment of 3 children with COVID-19.

Sustainable agribusiness entrepreneurship during the Covid-19 crisis: the role of social capital

Purpose: The crucial action program of United Nations is sustainable development. In the context of lockdown and food supply chain disruptions in many developing countries due to COVID-19, sustainable agribusiness entrepreneurship (SAE) must be investigated to contribute to the global safe-food supply chain resilience. Furthermore, this pandemic might have changed cognitive social capital (i.e. perceived shared norms, civicness and community cohesiveness) and relational social capital (i.e. social trust). Therefore, this study aims to examine their role in forming agribusiness entrepreneurs’ SAE intentions under the lens of sustainable development in the pandemic context. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a mixed-methods approach with resources for structural equation modeling. A sample of 499 Vietnamese agribusiness entrepreneurs to reconcile scales and test hypothesized relationships. Findings: The study reconciles the existing constructs’ scales and develops a new scale measuring SAE intention. The findings show that the extended theory of planned behavior (ETPB) model is an ideal theoretical framework for predicting behavioral intentions in sustainability. The study also discovers the role of cognitive social capital and relational social capital in motivating SAE intentions. Also, some managerial implications are suggested for agribusinessmen to survive and succeed during the COVID-19 crisis. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is considered the first to investigate the role of cognitive social capital and relational social capital in motivating SAE in an emerging market using the ETPB. The findings will help emerging economies, where most farmers are family-business owners or micro-scaled entrepreneurs who have been facing the increasing trend of sustainable production and consumer. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Green Densities: Accessible Green Spaces in Highly Dense Urban Regions-A Comparison of Berlin and Qingdao

Recreational green spaces are associated with human thriving and well-being. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic a spotlight has been shed on the interconnection between access to these spaces, human well-being and social equity. Containment measures enacted in many cities effectively precluded people from reaching distant recreational areas during the pandemic and consequently, recreational areas close to home became particularly important. Urban density is often associated with building or population density with the assumption that if either parameter has a high value, the availability of open (green) space is low. Certain densities are associated with specific spatial qualities. Addressing challenges of sustainable development, a detailed evaluation of density is necessary to allow evidence-based arguments, planning and decision-making. In this study we develop a multi-scale analysis method for quantifying and assessing green infrastructures from settlement unit to building level to reach a differentiated view on density, arguing that density can be organized in different ways achieving very different qualities. For this purpose, we use geospatial-data analysis and in-depth neighborhood studies to compare two cities in Asia and Europe, revealing different ways of organizing density in the built environment and identifying a derivation of approaches for sustainable development in dense urban regions.

Realization of an Adaptive Test Paper Generation Function based on DPC Algorithm

Before COVID-19, although the online assessment platform has developed, it is relatively slow, and people prefer to organize on-site examinations. After the outbreak of the epidemic, people realize the urgency and necessity of information construction in all walks of life. More and more researchers begin to pay attention to and explore the use of advanced machine learning methods to improve the practicability of online examinations platform. The test paper generation function is the core link, and a good test paper generation function can ensure the quality of a test paper. In this paper, an advanced unsupervised algorithm DPC(Clustering by Fast Search and Find of Density Peaks) is used to conduct deep mining and test paper generation adaptive based on the question bank and historical assessment such as assessment frequency, accuracy or score rate, and a more reasonable test paper generation function is realized. By comparing and testing the experimental results, it can be proved that the idea is correct and feasible. © 2022 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.

Immunogenicity of Sars-Cov-2 mRNA 1273 Vaccine in Patients with Lymphoid Malignancies

Introduction: Patients (pts) with hematological malignancies (HMs) are at increased risk for severe COVID19 infection and death (Grivas, 2021). Currently, vaccination represents the most effective prevention approach. HM pts have been shown to have lower immune responses to COVID19 vaccine, particularly those with lymphoid malignancies (LMs) (Herishanu, 2021;Thakkar 2021;Tzarfari 2021). We conducted an observational cohort study at Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC) to evaluate the immune response following one and two doses of the mRNA1273 (Moderna) vaccine in cancer pts. Here we report the results for pts with LMs and assessed associated factors. Methods: MCC pts who presented for the first mRNA-1273 vaccine dose from 1/12/2021-1/25/2021 and who provided consent were enrolled. Blood samples were collected prior to the 1 st and 2 nd doses (Days 1 and 29) and ~28 days after the 2 nd dose (Day 57). The IgG response against the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein was measured using a two-step ELISA adapted from the Krammer (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) protocol. The total 103 LM pts who received both vaccine doses and had samples at all time points were included in analyses. The 214 pts with solid tumors (ST) were included as comparison. Associations of seroconversion (SV) rates with pt characteristics were evaluated using the Fisher exact test or Chi-square test as appropriate. Associations of antibody (Ab) titers with pt characteristics were examined using Kruskal Wallis test. Factors independently associated with SV rates were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. All analyses were performed using SAS 9.4 and R studio. Results: Baseline characteristics, cancer treatments and SV rates by these factors are listed in Tables 1 and 2. 55 pts had B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL), 23 had chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), 15 had T- or NK-cell lymphoma (T/NK lymphoma) and 10 had Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). SV rates were significantly lower for LM pts compared to ST pts (49.5% vs 86.9% after the 1st dose and 68.9% vs 98.1% after the 2 nd dose, respectively, p<0.0001 for both doses). Pts with CLL and B-NHL had the lowest SV rates (21.7% and 43.6% after dose 1 and 65.2% and 58.2% after dose 2, respectively). None of the 11 pts on anti-CD20 monoclonal Ab (mAb) seroconverted after 2 doses. Pts on BTK inhibitors (BTKi) or PI3K inhibitors (PI3Ki) or venetoclax also had low SV rates [4/12 (33.3%) after 2 doses]. Only 1 out of the 8 pts post CAR-T seroconverted, despite the fact that 6 pts had CAR-T >12 months ago and 6 pts were in remission and have not received any cancer treatment after CAR-T. Pts with CLL and B-NHL but not on CD20 mAb/BTKi/PI3Ki/venetoclax or post CAR-T had much higher SV rates (31.3-60.5% after dose 1 and 79.0-81.3% after dose 2, Table 3). Other factors associated with lack of SV after 2 doses included: lymphocyte <1 x 10 9/L, low IgG level and on anticancer treatment within 3 months. Multivariate analyses showed that diagnosis of CLL or B-NHL compared to ST, CAR-T and CD20 mAb/BTKi/PI3Ki/venetoclax were independently associated with decreased SV after 2 doses (Table 4). In the univariate model, Ab titers after 1 and 2 doses were significantly lower in pts with diagnosis of CLL/B-NHL, low lymphocyte count, low IgG and on cancer treatment (Figures 1-3). HL and T/NK lymphoma had titers comparable to solid tumors (Figure 1). Conclusions: Pts with CLL and B-NHL had low SV rates and Ab titers after receiving the mRNA-1273 vaccine when compared with ST, HL and T/NK-lymphoma. Current or past treatments with CD20 mAb/BTKi/PI3Ki/venetoclax and CAR-T were associated with lower immune response, with pooled SV rates of 16.7% after 2 doses. In general, LM pts had lower SV rates and Ab titers after the 1 st dose vs ST, but responses improved after the 2 nd dose. Further studies are needed to improve immune responses to COVID19 vaccines in LM pts, including the potential role of a 3 rd booster dose. [Formula presented] Disclosures: Gaballa: Adaptive Biotechnologies: Research Funding;Epizyme: Consultancy, Resear h Funding;TG therapeutics: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau;Beigene: Consultancy;ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy. Saeed: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company: Consultancy;sano-aventis U.S.: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Janssen Pharmaceutica Products, LP: Consultancy, Other: investigator;Celgene Corporation: Consultancy, Other: investigator;MEI Pharma Inc: Consultancy, Other: investigator;Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Other: investigator;Other-TG therapeutics: Consultancy, Other: investigator;Nektar Therapeutics: Consultancy, Other: research investigator;MorphoSys AG: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Other-Epizyme, Inc.: Consultancy;Other-Secura Bio, Inc.: Consultancy;Seattle Genetics, Inc.: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Shah: Pharmacyclics/Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Expenses;Pfizer: Consultancy, Other: Expenses;BeiGene: Consultancy, Honoraria;Servier Genetics: Other;Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding;Precision Biosciences: Consultancy;Amgen: Consultancy;Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Expenses, Research Funding;Acrotech/Spectrum: Honoraria;Novartis: Consultancy, Other: Expenses;Bristol-Myers Squibb/Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Expenses;Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy;Incyte: Research Funding. Locke: Janssen: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role;BMS/Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role;EcoR1: Consultancy;Allogene Therapeutics: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role, Research Funding;Calibr: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role;Amgen: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role;Bluebird Bio: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role;Umoja: Consultancy, Other;Cowen: Consultancy;Kite, a Gilead Company: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role, Research Funding;Emerging Therapy Solutions: Consultancy;Gerson Lehrman Group: Consultancy;Moffitt Cancer Center: Patents & Royalties: field of cellular immunotherapy;Iovance Biotherapeutics: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role;GammaDelta Therapeutics: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role;Cellular Biomedicine Group: Consultancy, Other: Scientific Advisory Role;Wugen: Consultancy, Other;Takeda: Consultancy, Other;Novartis: Consultancy, Other, Research Funding;Legend Biotech: Consultancy, Other. Chavez: Abbvie: Consultancy;AstraZeneca: Research Funding;Kite/Gilead: Consultancy;Karyopharm Therapeutics: Consultancy;MorphoSys: Speakers Bureau;Epizyme: Speakers Bureau;Bristol Myers Squibb: Speakers Bureau;Merck: Research Funding;Adaptive: Research Funding;BeiGene: Speakers Bureau;Novartis: Consultancy;ADC Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Lancet: AbbVie: Consultancy;ElevateBio Management: Consultancy;Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy;Celgene/BMS: Consultancy;Millenium Pharma/Takeda: Consultancy;BerGenBio: Consultancy;Agios: Consultancy;Astellas: Consultancy;Jazz: Consultancy. Sokol: Dren Bio: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Kyowa-Kirin: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Pinilla Ibarz: AbbVie, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Novartis, TG Therapeutics, Takeda: Consultancy, Other: Advisory;Sellas: Other: ), patents/royalties/other intellectual property;MEI, Sunesis: Research Funding;AbbVie, Janssen, AstraZeneca, Takeda: Speakers Bureau. Giuliano: Merck & CO: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.

Responses to Sars-Cov-2 Vaccines in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Introduction: Patients with myeloid malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), are at a high risk of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. It is uncertain whether patients with AML and MDS, who frequently have quantitative or qualitative deficiencies of neutrophils and/or lymphocytes, will develop protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. The primary aim of this analysis was to describe the immune response and safety profile to the mRNA-1273 vaccine amongst a cohort of patients with AML and MDS. Methods: We enrolled AML and MDS patients to a large, single-site observational study of mRNA-1273 vaccination in cancer patients during the period January 12 to January 25, 2021. Blood specimens were collected from patients prior to the first and second vaccine doses (Days 1 and 29) and ~28 days after the second vaccine dose (Day 57) for antibody analyses. Retrospective chart review was done to collect information on baseline characteristics, cancer diagnoses, treatments received, and disease status. To evaluate serostatus, a two-step ELISA was performed, measuring IgG responses. SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity rates were compared using the Fisher exact test or Chi-square test. The association of SARS-CoV-2 antibody titer and patient characteristics was examined by using Kruskal-Wallis test. Paired t-test was used to analyze the difference of SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers among day 1, after dose 1 and dose 2. Results: A total of 46 patients, 30 patients with AML and 16 patients with MDS, were included in this study. The median age at vaccination for the entire cohort was 68 yrs (range 37-85 yrs). The majority of patients were males (58.7%) and Caucasians (95.7%). Table 1 describes the baseline characteristics of the patients. The median time from diagnosis to the start of vaccination series was 24.3 months (range 4.5-105). One third of the patients (32.6%, n=15) were on active treatment for their disease during the course of vaccination with hypomethylating agents (n=6;13%), erythroid maturation agent i.e. luspatercept (n=2, 4.3%), immunomodulatory drugs i.e. lenalidomide (n=1;2.2%) and targeted therapy (6;13%). Targeted therapy included patients on enasidenib (n=4), midostaurin (n=1) and gilteritinib (n=1). A total of 32 patients (69.6%) were post allogeneic stem cell transplantation for their disease. The median time since allo-SCT for the entire cohort was 17 months (4.9-75.8 mos). The majority of the patients (n=40, 87%) were in remission at the time of vaccination. We found that two patients with AML relapsed post vaccination. Overall, 69.6% patients were seropositive at day 29 (after first vaccine dose) and 95.7% patients were seropositive on day 57 (after 2 vaccine doses). Table 2 describes response to the vaccine in our cohort and the differences in seropositivity rate after one and two doses of vaccine, based upon disease characteristics. Age, gender, race, disease status, time to vaccination from disease diagnosis, number of prior lines of therapy, whether on active treatment, laboratory parameters (including ALC and ANC), whether the patient had undergone allo-SCT, and therapy at time of vaccination did not significantly affect the seropositivity rate. Antibody titer levels were significantly higher after the 2 nd vaccine dose than after 1 st dose (mean 3806.5 vs 315, p<0.0001), a difference that was observed across the different variables and patient subsets (Figure 1). Mild injection site pain, fatigue, headache and arm swelling were the most common adverse events post vaccination. Conclusion: In this observational study, the largest reported to date amongst AML and MDS patients with serial serologic data following 2 vaccine doses, we found that the vast majority of patients with AML and MDS converted to seropositivity after two doses of the vaccine. Although the overall sample size was relatively small, most clinical and laboratory variables (including neutropenia and lymphopenia) did not affect the seropositivity rate. Antibody titer levels increased dramatically follo ing the 2 nd vaccine dose, indicating the potential utility for serial vaccination (i.e. additional dosing) in poorly-responsive patients. While these findings should be substantiated in a larger cohort, mRNA-273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine appears to induce a strong humoral response in this population of patients with AML and MDS. [Formula presented] Disclosures: Komrokji: PharmaEssentia: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Geron: Consultancy;Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Acceleron: Consultancy;Jazz: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau;Taiho Oncology: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;AbbVie: Consultancy;BMSCelgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Sweet: Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;AROG: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Astellas: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Bristol Meyers Squibb: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Sallman: Incyte: Speakers Bureau;AbbVie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Aprea: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding;Bristol-Myers Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau;Agios: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Intellia: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Kite: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Magenta: Consultancy;Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Syndax: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Shattuck Labs: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees;Takeda: Consultancy. Padron: Taiho: Honoraria;Kura: Research Funding;BMS: Research Funding;Blueprint: Honoraria;Incyte: Research Funding;Stemline: Honoraria. Kuykendall: BluePrint Medicines: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau;Abbvie: Honoraria;Celgene/BMS: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau;CTI Biopharma: Honoraria;Incyte: Consultancy;Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau;Protagonist: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding;Prelude: Research Funding;PharmaEssentia: Honoraria. Giuliano: Merck & CO: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Lancet: Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy;BerGenBio: Consultancy;Celgene/BMS: Consultancy;Millenium Pharma/Takeda: Consultancy;Agios: Consultancy;ElevateBio Management: Consultancy;AbbVie: Consultancy;Astellas: Consultancy;Jazz: Consultancy.

CENTRIFUGAL STEP EMULSIFICATION MICROFLUIDICS SUPPORTING DROPLET DIGITAL LOOP-MEDIATED ISOTHERMAL AMPLIFICATION (LAMP) OF SARS-COV-2 N GENE

Responding to the global crisis of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), the centrifugal step emulsification microfluidics supporting droplet digital Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is presented to quantify the SARS-COV-2 N Gene in this study. The designed centrifugal step emulsification chip with a triangular nozzle shows a robust droplet generation for sample division for LAMP, and the influence by channel flow resistance is experimentally analyzed. In addition, an evaporation-resisted structure is applied to address the reagent loss in the heating process caused by PDMS material. The devices and solution are potential to be a promising tool for the quantification of SARS-CoV-2.

Federated Contrastive Learning for Decentralized Unlabeled Medical Images

A label-efficient paradigm in computer vision is based on self-supervised contrastive pre-training on unlabeled data followed by fine-tuning with a small number of labels. Making practical use of a federated computing environment in the clinical domain and learning on medical images poses specific challenges. In this work, we propose FedMoCo, a robust federated contrastive learning (FCL) framework, which makes efficient use of decentralized unlabeled medical data. FedMoCo has two novel modules: metadata transfer, an inter-node statistical data augmentation module, and self-adaptive aggregation, an aggregation module based on representational similarity analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first FCL work on medical images. Our experiments show that FedMoCo can consistently outperform FedAvg, a seminal federated learning framework, in extracting meaningful representations for downstream tasks. We further show that FedMoCo can substantially reduce the amount of labeled data required in a downstream task, such as COVID-19 detection, to achieve a reasonable performance. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Social capital in agribusiness: an exploratory investigation from a supply chain perspective during the COVID-19 crisis

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has badly affected the global economy. The use of social capital as a resource to diversify agribusiness to get more customers and improve the agricultural supply chain is a considerable issue to explore. This study aims to develop a comprehensive measurement of social capital and examine its effect on the intention to diversify agribusiness. From a supply chain perspective, it uses theory of planned behavior (TPB) and resource-based view (RBV). Design/methodology/approach The study uses a mixed-methods approach. In-depth interviews, focus group discussions and surveys are used. Structural equation modeling on a sample of 465 respondents in Vietnam was employed to examine the hypothesized relationships. Findings An integrative measurement scale of social capital from an agricultural supply chain perspective is suggested. The study also shows significant causal relationships amongst social capital, motives, TPB's determinants and the intention to diversify agribusinesses in light of supply chain perspectives. Originality/value The study offers a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge in the literature on social capital, motives, TPB, RBV and supply chain perspectives. The study was executed in Vietnam, where most farmers are smallholders, family business owners or micro-scale entrepreneurs in agriculture.

Effect of social capital on agribusiness diversification intention in the emerging market

Purpose Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has seriously affected the global economy. How agribusinessmen are overcoming this crisis is being noticed in emerging markets. Using social capital to diversify agribusiness for getting more customers is a useful solution for the growth of agribusiness. However, there is a lack of evidence on the aggregate measurement scale of social capital and the influence of behavioral goals on the intention toward agribusiness diversification. Therefore, this study aims to develop an integrated measurement of social capital and investigate its effect on agribusiness diversification intention using the expanded theory of planned behavior (TPB). Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach is used, including four in-depth interviews, three focus group discussions and two surveys. Structural equation modeling is applied to a sample of 484 respondents to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The study shows the role of social capital in influencing the intention to diversify agribusiness under the premises of the resource-based view (RBV). The scale of social capital is also developed, which is the first integrated measurement of this asset. The findings contribute significantly to the existing knowledge of social capital, the TPB and diversifying agribusiness. Originality/value This is the first study to explore the comprehensive effect of the facets of social capital on behavioral intention through behavioral goals and determinants of the TPB under the premises of the RBV. The findings will help emerging economies, for example, Vietnam, where most farmers are family business owners or microscaled entrepreneurs in agriculture.