PLACEBO-CONTROLLED EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF UPADACITINIB THROUGH ONE YEAR IN PATIENTS WITH NON-RADIOGRAPHIC AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS

BackgroundUpadacitinib (UPA), a Janus kinase inhibitor, was effective and well tolerated in patients (pts) with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) through 14 weeks (wks) of treatment.[1]ObjectivesThis analysis assessed the efficacy and safety of UPA vs placebo (PBO) through 1 year.MethodsThe SELECT-AXIS 2 nr-axSpA study included a 52-wk randomized, double-blind, PBO-controlled period. Enrolled adults had a clinical diagnosis of active nr-axSpA fulfilling the 2009 ASAS classification criteria, objective signs of inflammation based on MRI sacroiliitis and/or elevated C-reactive protein, and an inadequate response to NSAIDs. One-third of pts had an inadequate response to biologic DMARDs. Pts were randomized 1:1 to UPA 15 mg once daily or PBO. Concomitant medications, including NSAIDs, had to be kept stable through wk 52. The study protocol outlined that pts who did not achieve ASAS20 at any two consecutive study visits between wks 24 to 52 should receive rescue therapy with NSAIDs, corticosteroids, conventional synthetic/biologic DMARDs, or analgesics. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) test with non-responder imputation incorporating multiple imputation (NRI-MI) was used to handle missing data and intercurrent events for binary efficacy endpoints. Mixed-effect model repeated measures (MMRM) was used to assess continuous efficacy endpoints. NRI was used for binary endpoints after rescue and as observed analysis excluding data after rescue for continuous endpoints. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) are reported through wk 52.ResultsOf the 314 pts randomized, 259 (82%;UPA, n=130;PBO, n=129) completed wk 52 on study drug. More pts achieved an ASAS40 response with UPA vs PBO from wks 14 to 52 with a 20% treatment difference at wk 52 (63% vs 43%;nominal P <.001;Figure 1). The proportion of pts achieving ASDAS inactive disease with UPA remained higher than PBO at wk 52 (33% vs 11%;nominal P <.0001;Figure 1). Consistent improvements and maintenance of efficacy were also seen across other disease activity measures. Between wks 24 and 52, fewer pts on UPA (9%) than PBO (17%) received rescue therapy. A similar proportion of pts in each treatment group had a TEAE (Table 1). Infections were the most common TEAE;the rates of serious infections and herpes zoster were higher with UPA vs PBO, although no new serious infections were reported from wks 14 to 52. COVID-19 events were balanced between treatment groups. No opportunistic infections, malignancy excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, adjudicated major adverse cardiovascular events, inflammatory bowel disease, or deaths were reported. Two pts (1.3%) on PBO had adjudicated venous thromboembolic events.ConclusionUPA showed consistent improvement and maintenance of efficacy vs PBO through 1 year across multiple disease activity measures. No new safety risks were identified with longer-term UPA exposure. These results continue to support the benefit of UPA in pts with active nr-axSpA.Reference[1]Deodhar A, et al. Lancet. 2022;400(10349):369–379.Table 1.Safety through week 52Event, n (%)PBO (n = 157)UPA 15 mg QD (n = 156)Any AE103 (66%)107 (69%)Serious AE6 (3.8%)6 (3.8%)AE leading to D/C4 (2.5%)6 (3.8%)COVID-19-related AE22 (14%)24 (15%)Deaths00Infection60 (38%)68 (44%) Serious infection1 (0.6%)2 (1.3%) Herpes zoster1 (0.6%)5 (3.2%)Malignancy other than NMSC00NMSC1 (0.6%)0Hepatic disorder7 (4.5%)6 (3.8%)Neutropenia1 (0.6%)8 (5.1%)MACE (adjudicated)00VTE (adjudicated)2 (1.3%)a0Uveitisb3 (1.9%)2 (1.3%)Inflammatory bowel disease00aBoth patients had non-serious events of deep vein thrombosis in the lower limb with risk factors including obesity and prior deep vein thrombosis in one patient and concomitant COVID-19 infection in the other patient.bThree events of uveitis occurred in each treatment group (among n = 3 patients in the PBO group and n = 2 patients in the UPA group);two events in the PBO group and one in the UPA group occurred in patients with a history of uveitis.AcknowledgementsAbbVie funded this study and participated in the study design, res arch, analysis, data collection, interpretation of data, review, and approval of the . All authors had access to relevant data and participated in the drafting, review, and approval of this publication. No honoraria or payments were made for authorship. Medical writing support was provided by Julia Zolotarjova, MSc, MWC, of AbbVie.Disclosure of InterestsFilip van den Bosch Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Amgen, Galapagos, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, MoonLake, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB., Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Galapagos, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, MoonLake, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB., Atul Deodhar Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Aurinia, BMS, Celgene, GSK, Janssen, Lilly, MoonLake, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, GSK, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, Denis Poddubnyy Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Biocad, BMS, Galapagos, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Medscape, MoonLake, Novartis, Peervoice, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, and UCB, Consultant of: AbbVie, Biocad, BMS, Galapagos, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Medscape, MoonLake, Novartis, Peervoice, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, and Pfizer., Walter P Maksymowych Consultant of: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, Employee of: Chief Medical Officer of CARE Arthritis Limited, Désirée van der Heijde Consultant of: AbbVie, Bayer, BMS, Cyxone, Eisai, Galapagos, Gilead, GSK, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, Employee of: Director of Imaging Rheumatology BV, Tae-Hwan Kim Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Celltrion, Kirin, Lilly, and Novartis., Mitsumasa Kishimoto Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Asahi-Kasei Pharma, Astellas, Ayumi Pharma, BMS, Chugai, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Ono Pharma, Pfizer, Tanabe-Mitsubishi, and UCB., Xenofon Baraliakos Speakers bureau: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, Consultant of: AbbVie, BMS, Chugai, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie and Novartis, Yuanyuan Duan Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, Kristin D'Silva Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, Peter Wung Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie, In-Ho Song Shareholder of: AbbVie, Employee of: AbbVie.

Basic needs of the first batch of medical staff in the fever clinic of Peking union medical college hospital during Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: A qualitative study.

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the basic needs of medical staff during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in a fever clinic, so as to provide a reference for the global epidemic medical teams. Methods A semi-structured qualitative interview outline was designed, including: (1) work level: Working hours, working intensity, and safety guarantee in a fever clinic;(2)life level: Diet, sleep, and physical comfort;(3)psychological level: Emotion, pressure, coping style, and interpersonal resources. The basic needs of the first batch of the fever clinic in Peking Union Medical College Hospital was studied by open telephone interviews. Results A total of 37 medical staff were interviewed, including 8 males (21.6%) and 29 females (78.4%). Among them, there were 16 doctors (43.2%), 19 nurses (51.4%), and 2 medical technicians (5.4%). In terms of work settings, the ideal continuous working time was 4-6 hours per shift. There should be pro re nata positions during extremely high workload, and sufficient personal protective equipment was the key to safety. In terms of living conditions, providing meals according to different shifts was important for dietary needs, and sleeping pills were temporarily needed for sleep. In terms of psychological reactions, nervousness and worrying were relatively common. Family and colleagues were important resources of support. Sport could help relieve physical and psychological stress, and psychological support from psychologists was helpful in reducing their negative emotions. Conclusions The basic needs of medical staff should be respected so as to keep the efficacy of their work. We suggest that medical staff can rest after each 4-6 h working shift. Personal protective equipment should be sufficient. Psychological support should be noted in all of them and provided when necessary.Copyright © 2021, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All rights reserved.

Qualitative study on psychological experience of close contacts with covid-19 during the centralized isolation medical observation period

To analyze the psychological experience of close contacts with COVID-19 during the centralized isolation medical observation (centralized isolation for short) period, 17 close contacts of COVID-19 who received medical isolation observation at designated locations in a city of China were selected by purposive sampling using qualitative study methods, and the interviewees were interviewed by full-coverage structured telephone. By analyzing the obtained data and summarizing the themes, it was found that the psychological status of the COVID-19 close contacts during the centralized isolation period could be classified into three themes: Obvious negative emotions, somatization of psychological problems, and demand for social support. During the epidemic, when close contacts were quarantined as high-risk groups, they often had complex and difficult psychological experiences. Relevant departments should actively carry out online guidance channels and offline knowledge dissemination, actively conduct psychological interventions for close contacts, assist them to develop life plans to enrich the life of the centralized isolation period. At the same time, relevant departments should do a good job in logistics and life support services, create a comfortable isolated living environment, and effectively relieve the negative emotions of close contacts of COVID-19 during centralized isolation through a variety of positive and effective measures to ensure physical and mental health. © 2023, Editorial department of Chinese Medical Ethics. All rights reserved.

Qualitative study on psychological experience of close contacts with covid-19 during the centralized isolation medical observation period

To analyze the psychological experience of close contacts with COVID-19 during the centralized isolation medical observation (centralized isolation for short) period, 17 close contacts of COVID-19 who received medical isolation observation at designated locations in a city of China were selected by purposive sampling using qualitative study methods, and the interviewees were interviewed by full-coverage structured telephone. By analyzing the obtained data and summarizing the themes, it was found that the psychological status of the COVID-19 close contacts during the centralized isolation period could be classified into three themes: Obvious negative emotions, somatization of psychological problems, and demand for social support. During the epidemic, when close contacts were quarantined as high-risk groups, they often had complex and difficult psychological experiences. Relevant departments should actively carry out online guidance channels and offline knowledge dissemination, actively conduct psychological interventions for close contacts, assist them to develop life plans to enrich the life of the centralized isolation period. At the same time, relevant departments should do a good job in logistics and life support services, create a comfortable isolated living environment, and effectively relieve the negative emotions of close contacts of COVID-19 during centralized isolation through a variety of positive and effective measures to ensure physical and mental health. © 2023, Editorial department of Chinese Medical Ethics. All rights reserved.

Gender and Culture Differences in Consumers' Travel Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19, as a rampant health crisis, lies at the basis of fluctuating perceptions affecting decreased demand among travelers. Recent studies have witnessed a growth of interest in the interactions between tourists' behaviors and other factors with the potential to moderate such behavior during travel. However, it remains to be discussed whether the influence of demographic aspects, especially cultural and gender differences, on tourism behaviors will be more prominent during COVID-19. The current empirical research aims to integrate demographic variables, including gender and culture, with tourists' behavior in terms of their choice of companions, travel destinations, and mode of transportation. According to the research findings, people in other countries have greater desire to travel than Chinese tourists who, in any case, prefer to travel with friends. Tourists from other countries are more willing to travel by plane and by car. Males show a more positive attitude than females to these means of transportation. Moreover, the interactive effect of gender and nationality reveals that female travelers from mainland China put the train or bus top on their agenda. These theoretical findings have the potential to provide actionable insights into how policymakers and service providers can make adjustments to bring back tourism stifled by COVID-19.

Enhanced natural releases of mercury in response to the reduction in anthropogenic emissions during the COVID-19 lockdown by explainable machine learning

The wide spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has significantly impacted the global human activities. Compared to numerous studies on conventional air pollutants, atmospheric mercury that has matched sources from both anthropogenic and natural emissions is rarely investigated. At a regional site in eastern China, an intensive measurement was performed, showing obvious decreases in gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) during the COVID-19 lockdown, while it was not as significant as most of the other measured air pollutants. Before the lockdown, when anthropogenic emissions dominated, GEM showed no correlation with temperature and negative correlations with wind speed and the height of the boundary layer. In contrast, GEM showed significant correlation with temperature, while the relationship between GEM and the wind speed/boundary layer disappeared during the lockdown, suggesting the enhanced natural emissions of mercury. By applying a machine learning model and the SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) approach, it was found that the mercury pollution episodes before the lockdown were driven by anthropogenic sources, while they were mainly driven by natural sources during and after the lockdown. Source apportionment results showed that the absolute contribution of natural surface emissions to GEM unexpectedly increased (44 %) during the lockdown. Throughout the whole study period, a significant negative correlation was observed between the absolute contribution of natural and anthropogenic sources to GEM. We conclude that the natural release of mercury could be stimulated to compensate for the significantly reduced anthropogenic GEM via the surface-air exchange in the balance of mercury.

A Shape of Geo-Tagged Media Bias in COVID-19 Related Twitter

Warning: This paper contains content that may be offensive or upsetting. Social media has become an essential data source for understanding many aspects of our lives, from personal opinions to local patterns. However, it also contains more subjective and biased information than traditional media due to community bubbles and echo chambers. This study aims to examine the correlation between media bias on Twitter and COVID-19-related critical events. We used an open-Access dataset of COVID-19 tweets from March 2020 to July 2021. We first developed a classification model to identify media bias using an attention-based bidirectional long short-Term memory (BiLSTM) model. Using this classification model, we classified 350k geo-Tagged tweets into two classes: "biased"and "unbiased", focusing on four countries: The US, UK, Canada, and India. In our study, we found that critical events, such as the sharp increase of the coronavirus death toll, would exert the rise of biased information on Twitter. Additionally, we found that in the US, the states' bachelor degree per capita correlated with the ratio of biased tweets, which is consistent with the Dunning-Kruger effect. The unemployment rate was only found positively correlated with the ratio of biased tweets in the UK. Presumably, other factors (e.g., income inequality, social trust, etc.) should be introduced to understand the dissemination of biased tweets. © 2022 ACM.

Energy Optimal Trajectory Algorithm for a Robotic Manipulator

In the context of the decrease in the number of industrial workers and the increase in labor costs, industrial robots have developed rapidly due to their many advantages. Especially after the COVID-19 epidemics, enterprises have accelerated the upgrade of robots intellectually. The quantity of china's industrial robots grew by 20% in 2020. The 2021 year's growth will reach 21%. At the same time, in the face of the global energy crisis, power rationing, energy conservation & emission reduction, the energy savings of robots are also inevitable. Under the same starting point and ending point, the energy consumption of different motion trajectory planning is very different. Based on the current mainstream industrial robot trajectory planning methods, this paper gives the trajectory algorithm formulas and optimizes them, and then combines the Lagrangian-Euler dynamics formula to derive the energy consumption formula. By simulating mainstream 6DOF manipulator robots, set the same starting point and ending point in the MatLab environment, testing different trajectories of various methods, planning and computing time-consuming, and energy consumption of the entire trajectory. The experimental results demonstrate that the energy consumption of the shortest path method is 1.4 times that of the quartic polynomial method, and the planning time is more than 800 times that of the quartic polynomial method. The energy consumption of the cubic Bezier curve method is 8.08 times that of the quartic polynomial method, and the planning time is 781 times that of the quartic polynomial method. The energy consumption of the seventh-degree polynomial method is 1.6 times that of the fourth-degree polynomial method, and the planning time is 1.28 times that of the quartic polynomial method. The time and energy consumption of the quartic polynomial and quantic polynomial methods are almost the same. Relatively speaking, the quartic polynomial interpolation method is better than the quintic polynomial. © 2022 IEEE.

Is flushing necessary during building closures? A study of water quality and bacterial communities during extended reductions in building occupancy

Drinking water stagnation can lead to degradation of chlorine residual, bacterial growth (including of opportunistic pathogens and nitrifiers), and metals release from plumbing materials;however, few studies have characterized building water quality and bacterial communities during the extended stagnation periods that occurred during COVID-19 pandemic-related building closures. Additionally, despite a lack of evidence-based guidance, flushing fixtures has been recommended to restore building water quality. We aimed to evaluate the impacts of reduced building occupancy (>2 months) and weekly restorative flushing on drinking water quality, bacterial communities, and the occurrence of undesirable microorganisms in three university buildings. Reduced occupancy led to diminished chloramine and elevated intact cell counts, but values remained stable after additional weeks of limited water use. Flushing temporarily improved water quality, with chlorine and cell counts remaining stable for at least 1 day but returning to levels measured prior to flushing within 1 week. Alpha diversity was lower under more stagnant conditions, and fixture identity, not flushing, was the most influential factor on bacterial community composition, suggesting a strong influence from local biofilm. Although Mycobacterium, Legionella, Pseudomonas, Nitrosomonas, and Nitrospira were detected in samples via amplicon sequencing, concentrations measured via qPCR of M. avium complex, L. pneumophila, P. aeruginosa, and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were very low or were undetected, supporting that stagnation alone did not lead to high occurrence of undesirable microorganisms. Findings from this study contribute to our understanding of the effects of stagnation on building water microbiomes and the efficacy of flushing to improve water quality. Under the conditions of this case study, repeated flushing on a weekly timescale during low occupancy periods was not sufficient to maintain chlorine residual and prevent bacterial growth in fixtures. Building managers need to weigh the temporary water quality benefits of flushing against the labor and water resources required considering local context.

A Study on the Effectiveness of Online Learning Community Construction - Taking Advanced English Course as an Example

In terms of the important research topics of COVID-19 epidemic, and the development of modern education thoughts, learning community concept has gradually been developed into a perfect educational theory, which attaches great attention to social culture, authentic learning environment, cooperative construction of knowledge meaning and the rebuilding of social identity. In a network environment, advantages of online learning community become obvious in satisfying online teaching necessity and the growing diversified needs of the society. This study focuses on the construction of online learning community of Advanced English Course, which is a new approach of practicing the distant learning thoughts and further boosting online education. It starts with the definition of learning community, then the process of constructing online learning community, and difficulties, advantages, disadvantages and count-measures are put forward in considering the effectiveness of construction. This study also provides some enlightenment for the practical exploration on improving student's autonomous learning ability through online learning community, so as to offer reference for implementing online student learning community effectively. ©2021 IEEE.

An Empirical Study on Blended Learning Design and Practice of College English Based on WELearn Learning Platform

Due to the rapid development of Internet technology and the popularity of smart phones, the combination of information technology and traditional teaching practice has also become more and more important, as a result, blended learning has been booming and popular in China, particularly during and post COVID-19 pandemic. With gradual decrease of class length and credits of College English course, college English teaching needs to be extended beyond lectures in class with more teaching contents to promote after-class teaching and learning. Hopefully, blended learning model based on intelligent learning platform has been a new channel to promote English learning. Based on WELearn learning platform, this study explores the blended teaching model that uses online platform and offline entity classroom, in which 4187 students are involved. The results show that relying on the massive online and offline teaching resources and various teaching task activities, it realizes the blended teaching successfully, enabling students to spend more time in their self-directed learning with higher efficiency. Meanwhile, learning process is ensured and students are much more motivated for English learning which leads to better marks in their test results. Furthermore, it is beneficial for personalized learning and teaching and for achieving objectives of college English course as well. © 2021 ACM.

Design of an intelligent purification and disinfection apparatus for air conditioning units

With the sudden outbreak and rapid spread of COVID-19, global economic development and social stability have been seriously affected. The virus mainly spreads infection among people on a large scale through the air. People are gradually focusing on how to use HVAC system, so that it can play a more efficient and positive role in epidemic prevention and control. Consequently, we designed an intelligent purification and disinfection apparatus for air-conditioning units. The apparatus integrates rapid virus detection and high-efficiency disinfection functions. It uses a modular design and different operating modes for different levels of epidemic periods. This apparatus is not only suitable for daily life, but also can meet the prevention and control requirements during the epidemic period, which takes the economy, energy saving, and environmental protection into account. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.

Highly Resolved Dynamic Emissions of Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gas CO2during COVID-19 Pandemic in East China

The unintentional emission reductions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to investigate the impact of energy, industry, and transportation activities on air pollutants and CO2 emissions and their synergy. Here, we constructed an approach to estimate city-level high resolution dynamic emissions of both anthropogenic air pollutants and CO2 by introducing dynamic temporal allocation coefficients based on real-time multisource activity data. We first apply this approach to estimate the spatiotemporal evolution of sectoral emissions in eastern China, focusing on the period around the COVID-19 lockdown. Comparisons with observational data show that our approach can well capture the spatiotemporal changes of both short-lived precursors (NOx and NMVOCs) and CO2 emissions. Our results show that air pollutants (SO2, NOx, and NMVOCs) were reduced by up to 31%-53% during the lockdown period accompanied by simultaneous changes of 40% CO2 emissions. The declines in power and heavy industry sectors dominated regional SO2 and CO2 reductions. NOx reductions were mainly attributed to mobile sources, while NMVOCs emission reductions were mainly from light industry sectors. Our findings suggest that differentiated emission control strategies should be implemented for different source categories to achieve coordinated reduction goals. © 2021 American Chemical Society.

On the construction of course ideology and politics in online comprehensive english teaching based on cloud platform

General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that we should integrate ideological and political work throughout the whole process of education and teaching so as to achieve all-round development and all-round education. Under the guidance of the thought, the ideological and political construction of curriculum has become an important task in higher education. As the core and main course of English major, the integration of Ideological and political education into comprehensive English is an important part of talent cultivation for English majors. In the special period of fighting against COVID-19, it's very essential to explore the balance between language teaching and ideological and political education by using some modern technologies, to realize the education of patriotism to students and to cultivate their ability of telling Chinese stories. This paper expounds how to integrate ideological and political education into comprehensive English by using the cloud platform from five aspects: educational philosophy, teachers, teaching content, teaching methods and evaluation methods. © 2021 ACM.

Research on the impact of knowledge sharing on risk control of inclusive finance in rural areas during the post-COVID-19 era

Purpose: This study aims to focus on the impact of multi-level knowledge sharing between and within organizations on the risk control of rural inclusive finance. The paper presents a synergistic risk control system integrating external and internal factors for rural inclusive finance by constructing different knowledge-sharing platforms in an environment, which is full of many uncertainties. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on survey methods. To achieve the research objectives, the authors adopt a single case study approach. For data collection, the authors apply a wide variety of methods such as semi-structured interviews, field visits, second-hand databases and official websites. Findings: The results emphasize that using multi-level knowledge sharing such as the inter- and intra-organizational level, can facilitate the risk control of rural inclusive finance during the post-COVID-19 era. Furthermore, it is also noted that achieving knowledge sharing at different levels by building diverse knowledge-sharing platforms can promote the risk control of rural inclusive finance from the individual-organization level to the chain level of multi-organization collaboration, which contributes to the formation of symbiotic risk control ecology. Research limitations/implications: The authors have formed the “Chinese wisdom” to deal with inclusive financial risks and to promote in-depth development in relation to the “last mile” practice of inclusive finance, which means the final and the most important phase of a project. The conclusions contribute to enriching the outcomes regarding the risk control of rural inclusive finance, provide experiences to its sustainable development and offer a reference to other countries with their risk control of rural inclusive finance. Originality/value: Drawing on the knowledge-sharing approach, this study creatively resolves the persistent problems in the risk control of rural inclusive finance, which forms a powerful supplement to the extant literature. Meanwhile, the paper combines the two contextual factors of the post-COVID-19 era and emerging economies, which can be deemed as a novel attempt. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Risk evaluation of electric power grid investment in China employing a hybrid novel MCDM method

Socio-economic development is undergoing changes in China, such as the recently proposed carbon peak and carbon neutral targets, new infrastructure development strategy and the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Meanwhile, the new-round marketization reform of the electricity industry has been ongoing in China since 2015. Therefore, it is urgent to evaluate the risk of electric power grid investment in China under new socio-economic development situation, which can help the investors manage risk and reduce risk loss. In this paper, a hybrid novel multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method combining the latest group MCDM method, namely, Bayesian best-worst method (BBWM) and improved matter-element extension model (IMEEM) is proposed for risk evaluation of electric power grid investment in China under new socio- economic development situation. The BBWM is used for the weights’ determination of electric power grid investment risk criteria, and the IMEEM is employed to rank risk grade of electric power grid investment. The risk evaluation index system of electric power grid investment is built, including economic, social, environmental, technical and marketable risks. The risk of electric power grid investment under new socio-economic development situation in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China is empirically evaluated by using the proposed MCDM method, and the results indicate that it belongs to “Medium” grade, but closer to “High” grade. The main contributions of this paper include: (1) it proposes a hybrid novel MCDM method combining the BBWM and IMEEM for risk evaluation of electric power grid investment;and (2) it provides a new view for risk evaluation of electric power grid investment including economic, social, environmental, technical and marketable risks. The proposed hybrid novel MCDM method for the risk evaluation of electric power grid investment is effective and practical. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

A preliminary study on the dynamic imaging of chest high resolution CT in patients with mild COVID-19

Objective: To explore the evolution of imaging findings on dynamic chest high resolution CT(HRCT) in patients with mild COVID-19. Methods: The data of epidemiology, clinical data and continuous dynamic chest high-resolution CT images of the patients with mild COVID-19 were analyzed retrospectively. Twenty-five patients (including 24 common type and 1 mild) were enrolled in the group, including 14 males and 11 females, with age of (42±12) years and hospital stay of (19±5) days. The basic images and dynamic images of HRCT were analyzed and compared by the radiologists. Results: The clinical manifestations were fever (22 cases), cough (18 cases), expectoration (8 cases), pharyngeal pain (6 cases). Most laboratory tests lacked specificity. There were no significant abnormalities on chest CT of one mild patient. HRCT findings of the common type were as follows: (1) the distribution of the lesions: most of the multiple lesions involved both lungs (19 cases), with average of 3 (3±1) lobes, located in the peripheral pulmonary zone near the pleura (22 cases);(2) the morphology and density of the lesions: most of the lesions were ground glass density foci (22 cases), which were patchy and massive (18 cases), nodular (10 cases) and arc broadband (7 cases);with the development of the disease, the density of some lesions increased with localized pulmonary consolidation (10 cases), accompanied by air bronchus sign (5 cases) and halo sign (5 cases). Dynamic changes of HRCT images in the chest: the positive manifestations were found on the 5th (5, 6) day after the onset of the disease, the progressive time of CT lesions was 5 (5, 7) days, the peak time of CT lesions was 11 (10, 13) days, and the turning time of CT lesions was 9 (8, 11) days. Conclusions: Dynamic chest HRCT can monitor the basic evolution process of the disease in patients with mild COVID-19, and provide a more intuitive basis for clinical early diagnosis and treatment.