Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market value of Japanese gaming companies

In this study, we examine the short-term stock price reactions of Japanese gaming companies to events related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Using the event study method, we first estimate stock price reactions to the outbreak of the pandemic and the declaration of a state of emergency. We then perform multivariate regressions to investigate the factors affecting market responses. Our results demonstrate that the stock prices of Japanese gaming companies reacted negatively to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the initial negative effects were greater for mobile gaming companies and for companies with small sizes or low Tobin's Q. By contrast, the market has reacted positively to the declaration of the state of emergency, which perhaps drove more people to play games at home.

Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 on the Development of National ICT Industry

The raging of COVID-19 has caused a huge impact on all countries. This paper selects China, which has adopted a "strict strategy” in response to the epidemic, to observe the correlation between changes in COVID-19 data and ICT statistics, so as to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the ICT industry. Due to availability of the data, this paper mainly analyzes the impact on telecommunication industry, mobile Internet, Internet business and software industry, which are more consumption-oriented in the ICT industry. In this paper, data from different fields at different time periods are collected and organized into four sets of graphs, and each graph is analyzed using pearson correlation data model and simple linear regression model. It can be concluded that the revenue of ICT industry in different fields was affected differently during the epidemic period. The specific impact needs to be discussed according to the different types of business in relation to the development of the epidemic. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Risk Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Era of Social Media

The widespread application of social media in the field of crisis management has been adopted globally. In recent years, the role of social media in emergencies has grown, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study explores the different roles played by social media in the government, the media, and the public during the pandemic through the key nodes of information dissemination at each developmental stage of crisis risk communication. The results indicate that in a government-led environment, in which social media is the link and the public is the core, attention must be directed towards the key role of social media as a "whistleblower” during the incubation period of a crisis event. Moreover, a new gatekeeping mechanism that integrates the public, the media, and the government should be formed to improve emergency management during crises. © Fuji Technology Press Ltd.

THE BOOK OF FLAVONOIDS

In this book, two of the primary sources of flavonoids, i.e. plants and fruits (oranges to be specific) are comprehensively reviewed, along with their flavonoid content and antioxidant activity (including action against COVID-19) and toxicity. Besides, a general overview of the analytical techniques for flavonoids determination in their natural sources is provided. Finally, a detailed description of flow techniques and their evolution, together with their role in the automation of the sample pretreatment and its combination with separation techniques, is also included. © 2021 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

FLAVONOIDS AS A STARTING POINT FOR THERAPEUTICS AGAINST COVID-19: CURRENT STATE-OF-THE ART RESEARCH ADVANCES

A large amount of biologically active compounds, including phenolic acids and flavonoids, are present in the citrus fruits’ peel. If these compounds can be fully extracted from waste citrus peels and utilized, this could not only transform them into value-added byproducts and cut the economic costs, but also reduce the environmental problem of their disposal. Flavonoids, which possess anti-cancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-allergic properties, have been extensively applied in the pharmaceutical industry and skincare products. They have also been reported to potentially inhibit coronavirus. In this chapter, the properties of flavonoids will be first discussed. The bioavailability of flavonoids will also be covered. Following this, their potential capacity to inhibit COVID-19 will be illustrated. This chapter offers detailed information from recent studies focused on flavonoids and their extraction and widespread application in the food and pharmaceutical fields. As a starting point for therapeutics against COVID-19, the intake of certain amount of citrus fruits or their extracts could contribute to the prevention of COVID-19. © 2021 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Review of discharge medications at a post COVID care clinic

Introduction: Post COVID care clinic (PCCC) was started in Hospital Sungai Buloh in mid June 2020. Most category 4 and 5 COVID-19 patients would be discharged with a range of medications and will be followed up at PCCC. Some medication requires tapering doses might be burdensome to patients while adverse effects from some medication could also affect compliance. The aims of this study were to review patient clinical characteristics, medication adherence and treatment outcomes to discharge medications. Material(s) and Method(s): A cross sectional study at the PCCC from April 1 to May 21, 2021 was conducted. Patients who attended PCCC and gave consent were included in the study. Assigned pharmacist approached the patient with the case report form and the Malaysia Medication Adherence Assessment Tool (MyMAAT) was self administered by the patient or caregiver. Result(s): A total of 128 patients were included in the study. Majority of patients seen were with co- morbidity hypertension and diabetes. Complications of COVID-19 reported were mostly organizing pneumonia (90%) and pulmonary embolism (43%). Most patients (91%) discharged with at least one medication and anti-inflammatory was the most commonly prescribed (93%). Oral prednisolone and dexamethasone were prescribed over several days to weeks in the treatment of organizing pneumonia. Patients on anti- inflammatory reported the highest adverse drug reactions (93%). Overall adherence to discharge medications in the PCCC was good (76%). However, there could be potential for under-reporting of side effects experiences for one or more of discharge medications as a result of completed treatment. Conclusion(s): This was the first study done specifically to review the discharge medications in a PCCC. Good adherence was shown despite several adverse drug effects reported by post COVID-19 patients.

User Experience Design Evaluation on Remote Virtual Teaching Model and In-person Teaching Model - An Example of Design Education

Under the panic caused by COVID-19 and the threat of rapid spread of the virus, human lifestyles and educational patterns are changed. Educational institutions have been greatly impacted due to COVID-19, with many students being unable to enter schools or dropping out, and many faculty members losing their jobs. This research carried out "User Experience Design Evaluation on Remote Virtual Teaching Model and In-person Teaching Model"in the major of Art and Design. Based on the interface operation of the video conference platform, students' participation, image recognition, and other factors, this research adopted the user experience and usability principal theory of Norman and Jakob Nielsen to compare user experience satisfaction and students' learning outcomes in the education courses of art and design between the virtual teaching model and the in-person teaching model. © 2022 Association for Computing Machinery.

Efficacy and safety of glucocorticoids for severe COVID-19 patients: a meta-analysis

Objective To systematically review the efficacy and safety of glucocorticoids for severe COVID-19 and to provide references for the treatment strategy of severe COVID-19 patients. Methods PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reported glucocorticoid therapy for severe COVID-19 patients from inception to August 26th, 2021. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results A total of 7 RCTs involving 6 236 patients were included. The meta-analysis results showed that compared with usual care, glucocorticoids significantly reduced the all-cause mortality of severe COVID-19 (RR=0.84, 95%CI 0.77 to 0.91, P<0.000 1), whereas no significant difference was found in the progression of complex diseases between the two groups (RR=0.84, 95%CI 0.69 to 1.01, P=0.06). Glucocorticoids did not increase adverse effects in severe COVID-19 compared with usual care (general adverse events: RR=1.15, 95%CI 0.66 to 2.03, P=0.62;serious adverse events: RR=1.13, 95%CI 0.54 to 2.38, P=0.75). Conclusion Current evidence suggests that glucocorticoids are effective in treating severe COVID-19 without significantly increasing adverse events. However, due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the conclusion.

Rolling Interactive Design for Digital Experience and Ease of Use on Streaming Music Platforms in the Post Pandemic Era

The whole world is currently facing the threat of COVID-19. The rapid changes and uncertainties associated with the virus have led to dramatic changes in social structures, lifestyles and work environments. When there is alienation between people, personal emotion and stress crisis, when people lack opportunities for social activities, digital video media can help relieve personal emotions and work pressure. During the COVID-19 outbreak, individuals rely on a variety of streaming video and audio platforms for their stress and emotional expression. Most streaming music platforms have mixed interface operability, unclear architecture logic and excessive hierarchical structure, resulting in poor user experience satisfaction. As people around the world live in a digital transformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, most companies are focusing on providing digital technology services and optimizing the digital user experience. With streaming platform services and user experience as the focus, 22 people participated in the ease-of-use test of the KKBOX streaming music platform. Based on the new functions of KKBOX, this study evaluated the user operation experience and the ease of use of the interactive interface by optimizing the design of rolling interaction and visual interface. In the COVID-19 epidemic, the personalized digital culture in the digital transformation, remote video communication and various online platform services have become a new life mode. © 2021 ACM.

Opinions on the rehabilitation therapies of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The COVID-19 epidemic in China has been effectively controlled, a large number of patients have been released from isolation and discharged, and the treatment and rehabilitation programs in the recovery period need to be effectively implemented. The recovery of coronavirus disease 2019 is a syndrome of deficiency and solidity. The deficiency of qi and yin is dominant, and some patients have yang deficiency;phlegm and stasis are the main pathological products. We suggest that hierarchical management is recommended for patients in the recovery period. Asymptomatic patients with normal lung imaging results should take the respiratory rehabilitation program and have no need to take drugs. Patients with clinical symptoms with or without lung shadows, and patients who have no obvious symptoms but whose lung shadows are not completely absorbed, need to be treated according to syndrome differentiation.

Formalized Mentorship in Radiation Oncology: Bridging Existing Gaps in Mentorship

Purpose/Objective(s): The American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) Resident Committee offers a mentorship program to medical students, residents, and new practitioners. This program provides a unique opportunity to develop formal mentorship on a national level to bridge existing mentorship gaps. This abstract examined the perceived benefits of a formal mentorship program. Materials/Methods: All applicants provided demographic information and specific mentorship need requests. Pairings occurred periodically based on a personalized pairing process. This year, due to COVID-19, all sessions were held virtually. A questionnaire was designed in Google Forms based on the Society for Women in Radiation Oncology (SWRO) annual survey to evaluate the mentorship program. Data were collected and analysis was conducted using JMP version 15(SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC). Results: Since June 2020, 78 individuals enrolled: 28 to become a mentor, 38 to become a mentee;12 were interested in both. The mentor group consisted of radiation oncology residents (47.5%), academic faculty (40%) and private practice physicians (12.5%). 57.5% of the mentors were males and 4% associated with the LGBTQI+ community. Geographic distribution of mentors: 40% Midwest, 27.5% South/Southeast, 15% Northeast, 12.5% West Coast and 5% international. Among resident mentors, 58% were Junior (PGY1-3) and 42% were senior (PGY4-5) residents. Among mentees, 50% were residents, followed by medical students (46%) and new practitioners (4%). There were equal number of males and females. The geographic distribution was: 32% Midwest, 22% South/Southeast, 36% Northeast, 2% West Coast, and 8% international. The distribution across residency training years was: 57% Junior (PGY1-3) and 43% Senior (PGY4-5). The survey was sent out in January 2021 and we currently have 29/78, 37% response rate. This survey showed the most common method of communication was email (59%), followed by video call (52%) and phone (48%). 62% had at least 2 interactions since being paired. Both parties set up the interactions in 59% of pairs, followed by mentees being responsible in 24%. Mentors reported experiencing mutual respect (94%), a personal connection (67%), clear expectations (44%), and shared values (44%). Mentees similarly reported mutual respect (94%), shared values (76%), a personal connection (59%) and clear expectations (47%). 96% had mentor/mentee relationship outside ACRO program;however, 62% felt that a formal program is more beneficial than informal opportunities. Conclusion: The results of our mentorship program highlight the continued interest and need for formal radiation oncology mentorship programs. The major strength of the program has been the high rates of interaction which is based on mutual respect, shared values and personal connection. Areas of future focus includes recruiting more new practitioners and private practice radiation oncologists to help enrich and diversify the mentorship program.

Exploring the Interactive Mode and User Experience of Dining Space Alone During the Post-Covid-19 Period from the Perspective of Cultural Probes

In 2019, the entire world was under the panic and threat of rapid spread of “COVID-19” virus. Especially, the global social structure pattern was changed. At the same time, traditional Eastern culture attaches great importance to table etiquette and eating together around the table. With the transformation of social lifestyle and structure, more and more people must start to face the situation of being alone or the mentality of dining alone in a restaurant. This research uses the theory of cultural probes to study the post-COVID-19 period, during which consumers stay alone in the restaurant and generate daily context and behavior patterns. Its research method adopts the role of “first-person perspective”, combined with the context of “modeling feature track”. Based on the cultural probe toolkit, this research obtains information for integrated research and simulation test verification. In the experimental testing phase, participants designed the user experience for the product’s real-time “design interactive mode” and “personal space experience” through interviews, taking photos for record and writing mood logs, and created a new interactive design framework. The theme of this research is “The Interactive Mode and User Experience of Alone Dining Space during the Post-Covid-19 Period from the Perspective of Cultural Probes”. It conducts research and draws conclusions based on the cultural probe theory and provides an innovative model that focuses on the interactive design relationship between people and products, supplemented by product appearance molding design. The name of the design work is “Intelligent Partition Plate System Product”. It aims to establish a new type of human-computer interaction communication framework mode, so as to meet the future interactive behavior of alone dining space in the post-COVID-19 era and enhance the overall user experience. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Research on Usability of Digital Interface of Sports Events-Taking PAGO APP as an Example

In recent years, various sports have continued to develop. Sports events usually host various sports competitions, such as international, professional, and regional sports competitions. The way to watch sports games is to personally experience the vitality and atmosphere of the scene and share interactions with athletes and other audiences. Due to the development of 5G networks, sports events and audience interaction require a variety of ways. The management of sports events is in urgent need of transformation. This study takes badminton competition activities and services as an example. Through digital transformation, it will focus on virtualization and mobility services, and will provide more APP functions to meet the audience's interaction with sports events, sports personnel, and instant messaging services. This research has affected badminton events due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Therefore, it will become especially important to improve the digital service and experience design of APP. © 2020 ACM.

Semi-Supervised Active Learning for COVID-19 Lung Ultrasound Multi-symptom Classification

Ultrasound (US) is a non-invasive yet effective medical diagnostic imaging technique for the COVID-19 global pandemic. However, due to complex feature behaviors and expensive annotations of US images, it is difficult to apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisting approaches for the lung's multi-symptom (multi-label) classification. To overcome these difficulties, we propose a novel semi-supervised Two-Stream Active Learning (TSAL) method to model complicated features and reduce labeling costs in an iterative manner. The core component of TSAL is the multi-label learning mechanism, in which label correlation information is used to design a multi-label margin (MLM) strategy and a confidence validation for automatically selecting informative samples and confident labels. In this framework, a multi-symptom multi-label (MSML) classification network is proposed to learn discriminative features of lung symptoms, and a human-machine interaction (HMI) is exploited to confirm the final annotations that are used to fine-Tune MSML. Moreover, a novel lung US dataset named COVID19-LUSMS is built, currently containing 71 clinical patients with 6, 836 images sampled from 678 videos. Experimental evaluations show that TSAL can achieve superior performance to the baseline and the state-of-The-Art using only 20% data. Qualitatively, visualization of the attention map confirms a good consistency between the model prediction and the clinical knowledge. © 2020 IEEE.

Clinical Characteristics of Overseas Imported and Local COVID-19 Cases in Hebei Province

Background: Under the increasingly severe situation of COVID-19 pandemic, Hebei Province has received a large number of individuals returned from abroad.Therefore, on the occasion of returning to work, production and school, it is imperative to effectively strengthen SARS-CoV-2 screening and management of overseas imported cases and to take actions to cut off the transmission channels to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 from this group.Objective: To study the clinical characteristics of overseas imported and local COVID-19 cases in Hebei Province, to provide a reference for developing targeted programs to prevent the recurrence of the pandemic.Methods: 28 patients with COVID-19(7 overseas imported and 21 local )who were admitted to Shijiazhuang Fifth Hospital from January 21 to April 5, 2020 were selected.The epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory and imaging examinations of them were summarized and analyzed.Results (1)The imported group included 5 men and 2 women, mostly were young adults〔4(57.1%)were 19-29 years〕, with an average age of (23.6±11.1) years.The local group included 14 men and 7 women, mostly were middle-aged and elderly adults〔19(90.5%)aged 30-72 years〕, with an average age of(43.6±19.7) years, mainly were infected with COVID-19 after family gatherings.(2)Among the imported cases, 1 had fever, 1 had diarrhea, and 5 had no clinical symptoms;6(85.7%)had common type COVID-19, 1(14.3%)had severe type, no mild and critically severe types.Among the local cases, 15 had fever, 9 had cough, 5 had sore throat, 3 had fatigue, 2 had muscle pain, and 1 had diarrhea;1(4.8%) had mild type COVID-19, 15(71.4%)had common type, 4(19.0%)had severe type, and 1(4.8%)had critically severe type.(3)The imported cases showed lower average cycle threshold(Ct) value of SARS-CoV-2 N gene(t=14.430, P<0.001) than the local cases.Moreover, the average Ct value of SARS-CoV-2 N gene and ORF1ab gene was also lower in the imported cases(t=17.856, P<0.001).The prevalence of reduced CD4+ T lymphocytes was above 50.0% in both groups compared with the normal reference range value.The prevalence of reduced lymphocyte count and CD3+ T lymphocytes, and elevated C-reactive protein, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase was higher than 40.0% in the imported cases.The prevalence of elevated C-reactive protein and lactate dehydrogenase was higher than 40.0% in the local cases.(4)The lung CT examination of two groups indicated that the lesions were mainly distributed in bilateral lung lobes, followed by unilateral unilobe, and then unilateral multiple lobes.Ground-glass opacity was the main image finding in the imported group, while ground-glass opacity and consolidation opacity were the main image findings in the local group.Conclusion: In Hebei Province, the imported COVID-19 cases showed milder symptoms, lower Ct values of SARS-CoV-2 N gene and ORF1ab gene and higher SARS-CoV-2 viral nucleic acids from nasopharyngeal swabs, which indicate that the virus from imported cases may be more contagious.Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen isolation, screening and early diagnosis of imported cases, so as to prevent the spread of disease as much as possible. Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese General Practice.

[Clinical feature changes of a COVID-19 patient from mild to critical condition and cardiopulmonary pathological results].

Objective: To analyse the clinical history, laboratory tests and pathological data of a patient who suffered from novel coronavirus pneumonia(COVID-19) and provide reference for the clinical treatment of similar cases. Methods: Data of clinical manifestation, laboratory examination, bronchoscopy, echocardiography and cardiopulmonary pathological results were retrospectively reviewed in a case of COVID-19 with rapid exacerbation from mild to critical condition. Results: This patient hospitalized at day 9 post 2019 novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV) infection, experienced progressive deterioration from mild to severe at day 12, severe to critical at day 18 and underwent extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO) and continuous renal replacement therapy(CRRT) as well as heart lung transplantation during day 28-45 post infection, and died at the second day post heart and lung transplantation. The patient had suffered from hypertension for 8 years. At the early stage of the disease, his symptoms were mild and the inflammatory indices increased and the lymphocyte count decreased continuously. The patient's condition exacerbated rapidly with multi-organ infections, and eventually developed pulmonary hemorrhage and consolidation, pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, malignant ventricular arrhythmias, liver dysfunction, etc. His clinical manifestations could not be improved despite viral RNAs test results became negative. The patient underwent lung and heart transplantation and finally died of multi organ failure at the second day post lung and heart transplantation. Pathological examination indicated massive mucus, dark red secretions and blood clots in bronchus. The pathological changes were mainly diffused pulmonary hemorrhagic injuries and necrosis, fibrosis, small vessel disease with cardiac edema and lymphocyte infiltration. Conclusions: The clinical course of severe COVID-19 can exacerbate rapidly from mild to critical with lung, liver and heart injuries.