G20 entrepreneurship services report

This book focuses on the progress of G20 members on entrepreneurship services since the G20 Entrepreneurship Action Plan was issued at the G20 Hangzhou Summit in China. The authors analyse the similarities and differences of policy measures taken by G20 members from five aspects of entrepreneurship services: government services, fiscal and financial supports, entrepreneur services, entrepreneurship education, and fair competition for SMEs. The book aims to bridge academic research with the multilevel and diverse practice in entrepreneurial activities and explores how national policies and conditions can promote entrepreneurship among G20 members. This book will inspire the policy- makers, stakeholders in the entrepreneurship ecosystems and scholars on entrepreneurship research as well, on how to promote the entrepreneurship as an effective way to stimulate employment growth, boost innovation development, and realize economic recovery in the post- COVID-19 era. © Tsinghua University Press 2022. All rights reserved.

Forearm multimodal recognition based on IAHP-entropy weight combination

Biometrics are the among most popular authentication methods due to their advantages over traditional methods, such as higher security, better accuracy and more convenience. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to the wide use of face masks, which greatly affects the traditional face recognition technology. The pandemic has also increased the focus on hygienic and contactless identity verification methods. The forearm is a new biometric that contains discriminative information. In this paper, we proposed a multimodal recognition method that combines the veins and geometry of a forearm. Five features are extracted from a forearm Near-Infrared (Near-Infrared) image: SURF, local line structures, global graph representations, forearm width feature and forearm boundary feature. These features are matched individually and then fused at the score level based on the Improved Analytic Hierarchy Process-entropy weight combination. Comprehensive experiments were carried out to evaluate the proposed recognition method and the fusion rule. The matching results showed that the proposed method can achieve a satisfactory performance. © 2022 The Authors. IET Biometrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Behavioral plasticity mediates adaptation to changes in food provisioning following the COVID-19 lockdown in black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus)

The 2020 COVID-19 lockdown provides an opportunity to assess how the anthropause affected the behavior of birds. Black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus) wintering at Dianchi Lake (Yunnan Province, southwestern China) prefer to forage on easily accessible human-provided food at various sites along the lake. Following the closure of the lake because of the pandemic, synthetic food was provided at a single location. We expected that the home range size and distribution of gulls would change in response to these changes in food provisioning. A total of 91 gulls were tagged with satellite transmitters in November 2018 and March 2019, and their movements were tracked during the winter months. We analyzed their home range size and spatial distribution in four periods, SCP2019, SOP2019, SCP2020, and SOP2020 (Scenic Opening/Closing Period in 2019/2020), and the difference between SOP2019 and SCP2019 was used as the control group. The eutrophication level in the wintering periods "Nov. 2018-Apr. 2019" and "Oct. 2019-Apr. 2020" was determined using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and the coverage ratio of algal blooms and NDVI were used as indicators of the amount of naturally available food. The home range sizes of gulls were reduced in SCP2020 compared with SOP2019, SCP2019, and SOP2020. The gulls were most abundant in the 600-900 m buffer zone and least abundant in the 0-300 m buffer zone in SCP2019;they were most abundant in the 0-300 m buffer zone and least abundant in the 900-2000 m buffer zone in SCP2020. These patterns were consistent with variation in the NDVI and the coverage ratio of algal blooms among buffer zones. Changes in wintering behaviors in SCP2020 relative to other periods suggested that gulls modified their behavior following anthropause-related changes in the distribution and provisioning of food. Our findings provide insights into the role of behavioral plasticity in mediating adaptation to changes in human activities in birds.

Forearm multimodal recognition based on IAHP-entropy weight combination

Biometrics are the among most popular authentication methods due to their advantages over traditional methods, such as higher security, better accuracy and more convenience. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to the wide use of face masks, which greatly affects the traditional face recognition technology. The pandemic has also increased the focus on hygienic and contactless identity verification methods. The forearm is a new biometric that contains discriminative information. In this paper, we proposed a multimodal recognition method that combines the veins and geometry of a forearm. Five features are extracted from a forearm Near-Infrared (Near-Infrared) image: SURF, local line structures, global graph representations, forearm width feature and forearm boundary feature. These features are matched individually and then fused at the score level based on the Improved Analytic Hierarchy Process-entropy weight combination. Comprehensive experiments were carried out to evaluate the proposed recognition method and the fusion rule. The matching results showed that the proposed method can achieve a satisfactory performance.

The changing vaccine landscape: rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in young adults during vaccine rollout.

AIMS: Development and rollout of vaccines offers the best opportunity for population protection against the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus. However, hesitancy towards the vaccines might impede successful uptake in the United Kingdom, particularly in young adults who demonstrate the highest rates of hesitancy. This prospective study explored COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in young adults and whether the reasons behind these attitudes changed during the initial stages of the United Kingdom's vaccine rollout. METHOD: Data on vaccination intention were collected from a British university student cohort at three time points: October 2020, February 2021, and March 2021. This online survey included items on intention to receive a vaccine and a free-text response for the reasons behind this intention. Cochran's Q tests examined changes in rates of hesitancy and acceptance over time and free-text responses were analysed thematically. RESULTS: At baseline, 893 students provided data, with 476 participants completing all three time points. Hesitancy declined over time, with 29.4% of participants expressing hesitancy at baseline, reducing to 9.1% at wave 2 and 5.9% at wave 3. The most commonly endorsed themes for those willing to accept a vaccine were self-protection against COVID-19 and pro-social reasons, including protecting the population or unspecific others, and ending the pandemic/returning to normal life. The most commonly endorsed hesitancy themes related to 'confidence' in the vaccines and potential personal risk, including insufficient testing/scientific evidence, concern about side effects, and long-term effects. These reasons remained the most commonly endorsed at both waves 2 and 3. CONCLUSIONS: While a decline in hesitancy was observed over time, the key reasons behind both vaccine acceptance and hesitancy remained consistent. Reasons behind hesitancy aligned with those of the general public, providing support for the use of generalist interventions. Pro-social reasons frequently underpinned vaccine acceptance, so cohort-specific interventions targeting those factors may be of benefit.

Understanding and addressing vaccine hesitancy in the context of COVID-19: development of a digital intervention.

OBJECTIVES: Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in late 2019, spreading to over 200 countries and resulting in almost two million deaths worldwide. The emergence of safe and effective vaccines provides a route out of the pandemic, with vaccination uptake of 75-90% needed to achieve population protection. Vaccine hesitancy is problematic for vaccine rollout; global reports suggest only 73% of the population may agree to being vaccinated. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop equitable and accessible interventions to address vaccine hesitancy at the population level. STUDY DESIGN: & Method: We report the development of a scalable digital intervention seeking to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and enhance uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in the United Kingdom. Guided by motivational interviewing (MI) principles, the intervention includes a series of therapeutic dialogues addressing 10 key concerns of vaccine-hesitant individuals. Development of the intervention occurred linearly across four stages. During stage 1, we identified common reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy through analysis of existing survey data, a rapid systematic literature review, and public engagement workshops. Stage 2 comprised qualitative interviews with medical, immunological, and public health experts. Rapid content and thematic analysis of the data provided evidence-based responses to common vaccine concerns. Stage 3 involved the development of therapeutic dialogues through workshops with psychological and digital behaviour change experts. Dialogues were developed to address concerns using MI principles, including embracing resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Finally, stage 4 involved digitisation of the dialogues and pilot testing with members of the public. DISCUSSION: The digital intervention provides an evidence-based approach to addressing vaccine hesitancy through MI principles. The dialogues are user-selected, allowing exploration of relevant issues associated with hesitancy in a non-judgmental context. The text-based content and digital format allow for rapid modification to changing information and scalability for wider dissemination.

Data research on chinese tourists to thailand in the digital era

In 2020, Covid-19 broke out globally, and this epidemic severely hindered the development of global tourism. Since February 2020, Thailand's inbound tourism has almost ceased. How to deal with the crisis and quickly and orderly restore tourism industry is an urgent issue for the Thai government. The "Report on the Recovery and Development of the World Tourism Industry under the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic"issued by the World Tourism Cities Federation pointed out that digitalization is reshaping the operation of the tourism industry, and the epidemic has accelerated the digitalization process. In the post-epidemic era, cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet, big data, and intelligence will be widely used in the tourism industry. This research investigates the demand of Chinese tourists to Thailand after the acceleration of tourism digitalization, hopes to help Thailand's tourism management departments to accurately marketing the Chinese tourism market in Thailand through data analysis and countermeasures. © 2021 ACM.

Phageome-based vaccination and human innate immune modulation could be a useful strategy to control human Coronavirus infections.

Human Coronavirus (CoV) infections, including SARS-COV, MERS-COV, and SARS-CoV-2, usually cause fatal lower and upper respiratory tract infections due to exacerbated expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. We aim to summarize different aspects, such as CoV immune evasion mechanisms and host innate immune response to these infections, and their role in pathogenesis. We have also elaborated the up-to-date findings on different vaccine development strategies and progress against CoVs in both humans and non-human models. Most importantly, we have described the Phageome-human immune interaction, its therapeutic usage as anti-viral, anti-inflammatory agent, and implications for multiple vaccine development systems. The data suggest that endogenous phages might play a vital role in eliminating the infection and regulating the body's immune system. Considering the innate-immune-induced pathogenesis against CoVs and the therapeutic aptitude of phageome, we propose that the prophylactic administration of phages and phage-based vaccines could be a useful strategy to control the emerging CoV infections.

Students' Views towards Sars-Cov-2 Mass Asymptomatic Testing, Social Distancing and Self-Isolation in a University Setting during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

We aimed to explore university students' perceptions and experiences of SARS-CoV-2 mass asymptomatic testing, social distancing and self-isolation, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study comprised of four rapid online focus groups conducted at a higher education institution in England, during high alert (tier 2) national COVID-19 restrictions. Participants were purposively sampled university students (n = 25) representing a range of gender, age, living circumstances (on/off campus), and SARS-CoV-2 testing/self-isolation experiences. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic approach. Six themes with 16 sub-themes emerged from the analysis of the qualitative data: 'Term-time Experiences', 'Risk Perception and Worry', 'Engagement in Protective Behaviours', 'Openness to Testing', 'Barriers to Testing' and 'General Wellbeing'. Students described feeling safe on campus, believed most of their peers are adherent to protective behaviours and were positive towards asymptomatic testing in university settings. University communications about COVID-19 testing and social behaviours need to be timely and presented in a more inclusive way to reach groups of students who currently feel marginalised. Barriers to engagement with SARS-CoV-2 testing, social distancing and self-isolation were primarily associated with fear of the mental health impacts of self-isolation, including worry about how they will cope, high anxiety, low mood, guilt relating to impact on others and loneliness. Loneliness in students could be mitigated through increased intra-university communications and a focus on establishment of low COVID-risk social activities to help students build and enhance their social support networks. These findings are particularly pertinent in the context of mass asymptomatic testing programmes being implemented in educational settings and high numbers of students being required to self-isolate. Universities need to determine the support needs of students during self-isolation and prepare for the long-term impacts of the pandemic on student mental health and welfare support services.

Evaluation of 10 kits for antibody detection of SARS-CoV-2

Objective: To provide data reference for the clinical diagnosis of COVID-19, promote the innovation and improvement of antibody detection technology of COVID-19, and discuss the application of antibody detection of new coronavirus by evaluating the sensitivity, specificity, compliance rate and limit of antibody detection in 10 SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection kits. Methods: According to the instructions of 10 new coronavirus antibody detection kits, the specific IgM and IgG in 74 serum samples were detect- ed, and the limit of detection of each kit was tested with 10 samples diluted by a 2-fold gradient. Results: The coincidence rate of 10 kits(product A-product J)were 89.2%(66/74), 89.2%(66/74), 86.5%(64/74), 95.9%(71/74), 52.7%(39/74), 75.7%(56/74), 86.5%(64/74), 79.7%(59/74), 50.0%(37/74), 20.3%(15/74), respectively. In the detection limit tests for the kits A-J with the 10 of 2x gradient diluted samples, the performance of kit C was the best, with the limit of detection for IgM 0.16AU/ml and the limit of detection for IgG 1.00 AU/ml. Conclusion: There are significant differences in sensitivity, specificity, compliance and limit of detection of 10 new coronavirus antibody testing reagents, and the product of high sensitivity, specificity, and compliance rates should be selected for clinical applications to ensure the accuracy of test results.

Comparative evaluation of nucleic acid detection kits and nucleic acid extraction methods for SARS-CoV-2 using clinical samples

Objective: To compare and analyze 7 new coronavirus nucleic acid detection kits and 5 nucleic acid extraction methods. Methods: After extracting nucleic acids from 44 positive coronavirus clinical samples, 7 SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection kits were used for RT-PCR amplification experiments to compare the positive rate and Ct value;33 new coronavirus positive clinical samples were selected to compare the acid extraction methods. Five different nucleic acid extraction methods were used to extract the samples, and then RT-PCR amplification experiments were performed to compare the positive rate and Ct value. Results: The brand A nucleic acid extraction kit had the highest positive rate and the lowest rate of missed detection;comparison of nucleic acid extraction methods showed that the manual column extraction method had the highest positive rate, followed by the magnetic bead extraction method, and the one-step extraction method had the highest missed detection rate. Conclusion: The detection capabilities of the SARS-CoV-2 detection kits are uneven, so evaluation work needs to be done before the selection of the kit. The manual column extraction method showed best extraction efficiency but took a long time. Because of the possible combination with the automatic nucleic acid extraction instrument, the magnetic bead extraction method had a high extraction efficacy, which might be suitable for use in the ex- traction of large batches of samples. Although the one-step extraction method was easily operable, the method had a high missed detection rate, so this method was not recommended for clinical use.

Duplicate US1 Genes of Duck Enteritis Virus Encode a Non-essential Immediate Early Protein Localized to the Nucleus

The duplicate US1 genes of duck enteritis virus (DEV) encode a protein with a conserved Herpes_IE68 domain, which was found to be closely related to the herpes virus immediate early regulatory protein family and is highly conserved among counterparts encoded by Herpes_IE68 genes. Previous studies found the homologous proteins HSV-1 ICP22 and VZV ORF63/ORF70 to be critical for virus transcription and replication. However, little is known about the DEV ICP22 protein. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of this protein based on pharmacological experiments, real-time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction, Western blot, and immunofluorescence assays. We also investigate the role of the protein in DEV replication via mutation of US1. As a result, we found that the DEV ICP22 protein is a non-essential immediate early protein predominantly located in the nucleus of infected DEF cells and that DEV replication is impaired by US1 deletion. We also found that ICP22 contains a classical nuclear localization signal (NLS) at 305-312AA, and ICP22 cannot enter the nucleus by itself after mutating residue 309. © Copyright © 2020 Li, Wu, Wang, Ma, Jia, Chen, Zhu, Liu, Yang, Zhao, Zhang, Huang, Ou, Mao, Zhang, Liu, Yu, Pan, Tian, Rehman, Chen and Cheng.