ABSTRACT
Introduction: In the early phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the importance of triaging surgeries was suggested to reduce burdens on the existing health system and maintaining service. The governor declared a state of emergency and requested that residents avoid going out unnecessarily (semi-lockdown) for the entire prefecture including our medical region from February 28 until May 25, 2020. However, for several spine patients, a significant delay in care may result in the progression of extremity weakness and pain. This study aimed to investigate trends of spine surgeries during the first COVID-19 semi-lockdown in the nonepidemic region in Japan. Methods: Spine surgeries performed in our institution from February 28 until May 25 between 2017 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. We compared the number of spine surgeries and types of surgical spine pathologies between 2017 and 2019: previous years and 2020: a COVID-19 year. Results: The mean number of spine surgeries performed in previous years was 121 cases, and the number of spine surgeries performed in a COVID-19 year was 109 cases. The percentage of urgent surgeries was 19.6% in previous years versus 37.6% in a COVID-19 year; the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Among the urgent surgical spine pathologies, the prevalence of cauda equina or severe nerve root compression leading to progressive neurological deterioration or intractable pain was 20.2% in a COVID-19 year, which was significantly higher than 12.4% in previous years (P<0.05). Conclusions: The first COVID-19 semi-lockdown in Japan led to a decrease in elective cases and an increase in urgent cases and might affect progressive neurological deterioration for some spine patients even in a nonepidemic region.
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study is to examine gig workers in transportation sectors, especially focusing on workers in food delivery services, who had increased during the COVID-19 recession. By using a unique survey of 188 Uber Eats delivery persons in Japan conducted from October 2020 to January 2021, we analyze the features and labor supply behavior of the delivery persons who took the jobs during the COVID-19 recession. We found that more job losers, lower income earners and more manual workers, who are considered to be more negatively impacted by the pandemic, entered the food delivery service market during the recession. We also found that at least one-third of delivery persons worked at an hourly wage below the minimum wage, and those workers were highly concentrated in the workers who joined the market after the pandemic became severe. Based on the theory of compensating wage differentials, our analysis using hypothetical questions also found that such workers are more willing to accept jobs at lower hourly wages than those who started working at Uber Eats before COVID-19 was recognized, even under poor working conditions, such as downpours or fatigue. Our findings suggest that the gig economy, such as food delivery services, acts as an outlet for low-income and unemployed persons during recessions, indicating that such work may serve as a buffer to smooth income against business cycles. However, ample labor suppliers who are eager to take jobs with less money may exert additional downward pressure on wages during recessions.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has created urgent demand for rapid detection of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Herein, we report highly sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N protein) using nanoparticle-enhanced surface plasmon resonance (SPR) techniques. A crucial plasmonic role in significantly enhancing the limit of detection (LOD) is revealed for exceptionally large gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with diameters of hundreds of nm. SPR enhanced by these large nanoparticles lowered the LOD of SARS-CoV-2 N protein to 85 fM, resulting in the highest SPR detection sensitivity ever obtained for SARS-CoV-2 N protein.