ACHIEVING GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION THROUGH CLIMATE CHANGE CONTROL WITH THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN COVID-19 PERIOD

The study inquired the role of financial development (FD) on climate change control in COVID-19 period to identify the ways useful to achieve greenhouse gas mitigation in BRICS economies. BRICS countries are included because of their high energy-environment dependence and their need for climate financing through FD promoting greenhouse gas emission. The projected role of FD activity on climate change mitigation is inferred using the generalized methods of moments (GMM). The study results indicated that five out of the six climate change mitigation indicators have a long-term correlation with BRICS’s CO2 emissions. On the other side, there is no evidence of integration between variables in Russia. Moreover, the findings revealed that there 18% rise in FD is estimated, this raised the probability of effective climate change mitigation by 39% in the post-COVID-period, and it reduces greenhouse gas mitigations by 24.7%. The results also highlighted that there is a one-way correlation between energy use and climate drifts. On these findings, policymakers and environmental regulators in BRICS could take inspiration from our study to plan and revisit greenhouse gas mitigation through proper environmental legislation. Additionally, it also encourages other countries and economies to perform comparable assessments and select the best course of action. Hence, this study provides detailed and viable recommendations for key stakeholders for consideration and application to achieve the intended objectives.

Epidemiological and clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in children during the outbreak of Omicron Variant in Shanghai, March 7-March 31, 2022 (preprint)

Objectives: To understand the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection during the early stage of Omicron variant outbreak in Shanghai. Methods: This study included local COVID-19 cases <18 years in Shanghai referred to the exclusively designated hospital by the end of March 2022 since emergence of Omicron epidemic. Clinical data, epidemiological exposure and COVID-19 vaccination status were collected. Relative risks (RR) were calculated to assess the effect of vaccination on symptomatic infection and febrile disease. Results: A total of 376 pediatric cases of COVID-19 (median age:6.0{+/-}4.2 years) were referred to the designated hospital during the period of March 7-31, including 257 (68.4%) symptomatic cases and 119 (31.6%) asymptomatic cases. Of the 307 (81.6%) children;3 years eligible for COVID-19 vaccination, 110 (40.4%) received 2-dose vaccines and 16 (4.0%) received 1-dose vaccine. The median interval between 2-dose vaccination and infection was 3.5 (IQR: 3, 4.5) months (16 days-7 months). Two-dose COVID-19 vaccination reduced the risks of symptomatic infection and febrile disease by 35% (RR 0.65, 95% CI:0.53-0.79) and 33% (RR 0.64, 95% CI: 0.51-0.81). Two hundred and sixteen (83.4%) symptomatic cases had fever (mean duration: 1.7{+/-}1.0.8 days), 104 (40.2%) had cough, 16.4% had transient leukopenia; 307 (81.6%) had an epidemiological exposure in household (69.1%), school (21.8%) and residential area (8.8%). Conclusion: The surge of pediatric COVID-19 cases and multiple transmission model reflect wide dissemination of Omicron variant in the community. Asymptomatic infection is common among Omicron-infected children. COVID-19 vaccination can offer protection against symptomatic infection and febrile disease.

Switching to electric vehicles can lead to significant reductions of PM2.5 and NO2 across China

Summary Transportation contributes to around one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, while also causing severe air pollution. The conversion to electric vehicles (EVs) represents a major path to decarbonize the transport sector, with potentially significant co-benefits for human health. However, the scale of such co-benefits largely remains an empirical question and lacks observational evidence. The full lockdown in China during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic provides an unprecedented real-world experiment to evaluate emission reduction potentials of a large-scale transition to EVs. Here, we utilize ground and satellite observations of air quality during the full lockdown to constrain predictions of a comprehensive chemical transport model and find that the substantial traffic reductions are near-linearly linked to reductions of PM2.5 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm) and NO2. A further extrapolation of a full conversion to EVs shows a significant reduction of PM2.5 (30%–70%) and NO2 (30%–80%) in most of China. Our findings provide fact-based evidence of potential environmental benefits generated by fully switching to EVs.

Culture and Coronavirus Disease Statistics Public Health Through the Lens of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, A Multiple Regression Analysis (preprint)

Background Hofstede’s Culture Dimensions (HCD) are the most prevalent metrics with which social scientists distinguish cultural differences between countries. In this study, we examine the relationships between HCD and the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we investigate how differences in COVID-19 infection, death and recovery between countries correlate with differences in individualism (IDV), indulgence (IVR) and power distance index (PDI).Method We use multiple linear regressions to interpret statistical and economic significances. Results IDV is found to be significantly associated with death rate and recovery rate globally, while IVR and PDI do not seem to be significantly relevant. None of the three dimensions are significantly related to the global infection rate. Conclusions These results have implications for the design of public health campaigns on preventing COVID-19 infection and compliance with vaccination campaigns. Some practical strategies have been proposed for public health officials to help mitigate COVID 19 spread. 

Longitudinal Influence of COVID-19-Related Stress on Sexual Compulsivity Symptoms in Chinese Undergraduates (preprint)

Background The coping theory shows that stressful life events are associated with individuals’ psychology/behaviors, and the COVID-19 pandemic is known to have impacted individuals’ physical and mental health. Prior studies revealed that undergraduates have many sexual behavior and emotion disorders, which may be impacted during an isolation period, such as the one brought by COVID-19. However, few studies have explored the longitudinal associations between COVID-19-related stress and sexual compulsivity symptoms (SCS), and the mediating effect of emotions (i.e., depression and anxiety) on this relationship. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate these associations. Methods We employed a cross-lagged design (Time 1, 3,219 participants; Time 2, 2,998 participants) and recruited Chinese undergraduates through an online system to respond to a survey. Results Our results showed that COVID-19-related stress at Time 1 directly influenced SCS at Time 1, and there was an indirect influence via depression and anxiety at Time 1. COVID-19-related stress at Time 1 positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and SCS at Time 2, and the first could directly and positively predict SCS at Time 2. Moreover, albeit depression at Time 2 was negatively linked to SCS at Time 2, anxiety at Time 2 enhanced the effect of COVID-19-related stress on SCS. Conclusions Our findings extend the literature on SCS, showing that the higher the COVID-19-related stress, the higher the SCS, and that this effect was associated with increased anxiety in undergraduates. Thus, compared with depression, anxiety different which anxiety ought to some behavior to reduce individual inner negative emotions.

The Effect of COVID-19 Stress on Sexual Compulsivity Symptom:The Mediating Role of Perceived Social Support (preprint)

Introduction Previous studies have revealed that the life event stress were associated with people’s psychology and behaviors, and impacted individuals’ sexual behaviors especially. However, few study have investigated the effect and mechanism of the emergency COVID-19 on psychosexual behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Thus, this primary objective of the research was to explore the links between COVID-19 stressing and sexual compulsive symptom, and perceived social support.Methods This study used a cross-design, 3219 undergraduate students were recruited online to complete all questionnaires. Results The obtained results confirmed that COVID-19-stressing was correlated with perceive social support and sexual compulsive symptom, and perceived social support mediated the relation between COVID-19-stressing and sexual compulsive symptom; and gender moderated the link of COVID-19-stressing and perceive social support. In addition, in the case of the individuals’ sexual compulsive symptom, the regression analyses showed that COVID-19-stressing and perceive social support were significantly predicted. Conclusions Thus, the findings extends previous knowledge and provide highlighted ideas, indicating that the COVID-19 not only affected individuals’ physical health, but also impacted their psychological behaviors and intention, such as sexual compulsive symptom. Moreover, the findings revealed that compared to the female, the male students would promoted higher perceived social support when COVID-19-stressing is boosting.Policy Implication It is important that individuals’ sexual psychology were cared via professional consulting during people are isolation for the emergent infection.