ABSTRACT
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, severe steps have been taken to control its rapid spread by countries globally. A nationwide lockdown was executed at the end of January 2020 in China, which resulted in a significant change and an improvement in air quality patterns. In this study, the objectives were to assess the spatiotemporal impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air quality in Nanjing, China. The present study researched the six air pollutant parameters, namely, PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, and O-3. The data were divided into six periods, P1-P3: pre-lockdown, during lockdown, and after lockdown periods, P4-P6: 2017-19 (same dates of lockdown). The results reveal that during the COVID-19 control period, a significant drop and an improvement in air quality were observed. According to our findings, the PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, and CO concentrations were reduced by -33.03%, -35.41%, -21.26%, -39.79%, and -20.65%, respectively, while the concentration of O-3 significantly increased by an average of 104.85% in Nanjing. From the previous 3 years to lockdown variations, PM10 (-40.60%), PM2.5 (-40.02%), SO2 (-54.19%), NO2 (-33.60%), and CO (23.16%) were also reduced, while O-3 increased (10.83%). Moreover, compared with those in the COVID-19 period, the levels of PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O-3 increased by 2.84%, 28.55%, 4.68%, 16.44%, and 37.36%, respectively, while PM2.5 reduced by up to -14.34% after the lockdown in Nanjing. The outcomes of our study provide a roadmap for the scientific community and local administration to make policies to control air pollution.
ABSTRACT
With the further development of online shopping and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the logistics industry has further increased the demand for unmanned, automated warehousing and logistics handling. To realize intelligent warehousing and logistics handling, reliable positioning navigation technology is indispensable. Therefore, this paper designs a Dual-lidar high-precision natural navigation system based on the ROS (Robot Operating System) platform, which can fulfill the basic warehousing and logistics requirements. The natural navigation system uses the Lidar-SLAM method based on graph optimization to construct the 2D environment map, the PF (Particle Filter) algorithm in MRPT (Mobile Robot Programming Toolkit) is used for system positioning, and the real-time correction algorithm is used for motion control. On the built hardware platform, the navigation system completed the fixed-point cruise navigation task, and finally achieved a navigation accuracy of 4 cm and an average repeatable navigation accuracy of 6 mm. The designed navigation system has reference significance for multi-sensor fusion navigation. In reality, it can be applied to the transportation of warehousing and logistics, and it is expected to be mass-produced in the future.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The Optimal Health Program (OHP) is a collaborative self-management program that promotes clients to be actively involved in their own healthcare and overall wellbeing. Program Kesihatan Optimum (SANUBARI) is a Malay version of the OHP after a translational process and cultural adaptation by psychiatrists, clinical psychologist and family medicine specialists in 2017. The program is of a low intensity, patient-centred program, advocating self-health management to improve health literacy by enhancing self-efficacy, building strengths and values, and initiating change and planning, ultimately enhancing wellbeing of people. The programme can be used as a form of early psychosocial intervention during the current pandemic in maintaining the general mental wellbeing of COVID-19 patients. Methods: This is an open labelled interventional study of a virtual brief psychosocial intervention, called SANUBARI. The program was conducted among COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the COVID-19 wards of two centres from May 2020 until August 2020. Inclusion criteria include patients aged eighteen years and above, diagnosed with COVID-19, medically stable, speaking and reading Bahasa Melayu or English. All study subjects attended two sessions on OHP via telecommunication method and answered questionnaires (General Self-Efficacy (GSE) Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire) via computer-assisted self-interview. Data collection was done before the start of the intervention, at the end of the intervention and a month post-intervention. Results: A total of 37 patients were recruited and more than half of the subjects were males (62.2%), single (75.5%) and from the Malay ethnicity (78.4%). Seventy-three per cent of subjects had received tertiary education, and most of them were students reflecting a higher unemployment status (73%). Most subjects have no comorbid chronic medical illness (89.2%), and none has a comorbid psychiatric illness. Comparison of the GSE score across 3-time points (pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention and a month post-intervention) showed statistically significant improvement in the mean total GSE score immediate and a month post-intervention as compared to the pre-intervention;from mean total GSE score of 29.78 pre-intervention to 34.73 (mean difference 4.946, 95% Confidence Interval 95%CI: 3.361, 6.531) immediate post-intervention and 33.08 (mean difference 3.297, 95%CI: 1.211, 5.348) a month post-intervention. There was no significant association between the socio-demographic or clinical data, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and changes in GSE scores over three time points. Conclusion: COVID-19 patients improved their self-efficacy levels after the virtual brief OHP intervention, and it maintained a month post-intervention, protecting them from psychological stress and ultimately enhances wellbeing during this coronavirus pandemic.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) has rapidly spread across the globe. Although many articles have established the clinical characteristics of adult COVID-19 patients so far, limited data are available for children. The aim of this study was to reveal the clinical features, laboratory findings and nucleic acid test results of ten pediatric cases. METHODS: In this retrospective single-center cohort study, pediatric cases with COVID-19 infection were consecutively enrolled in one hospital in Huangshi, China from January 1 to March 11, 2020. RESULTS: A total of 10 children with COVID-19 were recruited. Of them, four were the asymptomatic type, one was the mild type, and five were the moderate type (including two subclinical ones). All patients were from family clusters. Only fever, nasal discharge and nasal congestion were observed. Lymphopenia and leukopenia were uncommon in our sample but elevated levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (alpha-HBDH) were observed frequently. Of these laboratory test variables, no statistical difference was identified between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. Abnormalities in radiological data were detected in five patients, and representative findings of chest CT images were patchy shadows and ground-glass opacities. There were two cases whose oropharyngeal nucleic acid tests reversed to positive after one negative result, and two patients whose oropharyngeal swabs tested negative but rectal swabs showed positive. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical symptoms were mild in children with COVID-19. Increased levels of LDH and alpha-HBDH were potential clinical biomarkers for pediatric cases. More attention should be paid to the SARS-CoV-2 viral assessment of rectal swabs before patients are discharged.