Rapid construction of modular buildings for emergencies: a case study from Hong Kong, China

A new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic struck Hong Kong in February 2022. It led to construction of a temporary 1000-bed hospital and 10 000-bed isolation and treatment facility on an island site in just 51 days using factory-made modules. To achieve such rapid construction, module assembly was carried out at a separate site between the factories and site. Several new modular construction technologies were also developed, including adjustable base supports, large-span roof modules, universal safety barriers and an intelligent cloud platform for construction management. But to enable sustainable construction of such emergency buildings in future, further studies on demolition, recycling and relocation of modular buildings need to be carried out in the post-pandemic era.

Polarization of peripheral blood macrophages and PBMCs TXNIP/NLRP3 mRNA changes in patients with hepatitis B virus acute-on-chronic liver failure

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the polarization of peripheral blood macrophages and peripheral blood mononuclear lymphocyte (PBMC) thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP)/nuc1eotide-binding oligo-merization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) mRNA changes in patients with hepatitis B virus acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV- ACLF). Methods 57 patients with HBV-ACLF and 43 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) were enrolled in our hospital between June 2019 and June 2020, and the percentages of peripheral blood M1 and M2 macrophages were detected by flow cytometry. The PBMC TXNIP, NLRP3 and cysteine protease-l (caspase- 1) mRNA were assayed by real-time fluorescence quantification RT-PCR. Serum interleukin-6 (1L) -6, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) were detected by ELISA. Results: The percentage of M1 macrophages and M1/M2 cell ratio in patients with HBV-ACLF were (3.5..0.4) % and (1.2..0.2), significantly higher than [(2.1..0.2) % and (0.6..0.1), P < 0.05], while the percentage of M2 macrophages was (2.5..0.3) %, significantly lower than [(4.1..0.4) %, P < 0.05] in patients with CHB;serum IL-6 and TNF-a in patients with HBV- ACLF were (37.9..4.2) ng/L and (2.3..0.2) pg/mL, significantly higher than [(28.8..3.6) ng/L and (1.2..0.1) pg/mL, respectivley, P < 0.05], while serum IL-10 level was (1.410.2) pg/mL, significantly lower than [(2.9..0.3) pg/mL, P < 0.05] in patients with CHB;the PBMCs NLRP3, TXNIP and caspase-1 mRNA in patients with HBV-ACLF were (0.5..0.1), (0.7..0.1) and (1.2..0.1), all significantly lower than [(08..02), (1.0..01) and (1.6..0.2), respectively, P< 0.05] in patients with CHB;the percentage of PBMC M1 macrophages in 15 dead patients was (4.1..0.4) %, significantly higher than [(3.3..0.3) %, P < 0.05], while the percentage of M2 macrophages, PBMCS NLRP3 and TXNIP mRNA were (1.9..0.2) %, (0.2..0.1) and (0.4..0.1), significantly lower than [(2.7..0.3) %, (0.6..0.1) and (0.8..0.1), respectively, 3P < 0.05] in 42 survivals. Conclusion The peripheral blood macrophages are polarized in the pro-inflammatory direction and the down-regulation of TXNIP and NLRP3 mRNA might be related to immunosuppression in patients With HBV-ACLF.

Multi-Factors Cooperatively Actuated Photonic Hydrogel Aptasensors for Facile, Label-Free and Colorimetric Detection of Lysozyme.

Responsive two-dimensional photonic crystal (2DPC) hydrogels have been widely used as smart sensing materials for constructing various optical sensors to accurately detect different target analytes. Herein, we report photonic hydrogel aptasensors based on aptamer-functionalized 2DPC poly(acrylamide-acrylic acid-N-tert-butyl acrylamide) hydrogels for facile, label-free and colorimetric detection of lysozyme in human serum. The constructed photonic hydrogel aptasensors undergo shrinkage upon exposure to lysozyme solution through multi-factors cooperative actuation. Here, the specific binding between the aptamer and lysozyme, and the simultaneous interactions between carboxyl anions and N-tert-butyl groups with lysozyme, increase the cross-linking density of the hydrogel, leading to its shrinkage. The aptasensors' shrinkage decreases the particle spacing of the 2DPC embedded in the hydrogel network. It can be simply monitored by measuring the Debye diffraction ring of the photonic hydrogel aptasensors using a laser pointer and a ruler without needing sophisticated apparatus. The significant shrinkage of the aptasensors can be observed by the naked eye via the hydrogel size and color change. The aptasensors show good sensitivity with a limit of detection of 1.8 nM, high selectivity and anti-interference for the detection of lysozyme. The photonic hydrogel aptasensors have been successfully used to accurately determine the concentration of lysozyme in human serum. Therefore, novel photonic hydrogel aptasensors can be constructed by designing functional monomers and aptamers that can specifically bind target analytes.

Exploring Sustainable Fashion Consumption Behavior in the Post-Pandemic Era: Changes in the Antecedents of Second-Hand Clothing-Sharing in China

Second-hand consumption of clothing plays a vital role in promoting the overall global trend of low-carbon transition;however, the COVID-19 outbreak put this consumption model into a development dilemma. Cultivating consumers' sustainable behavior will be an effective way to promote the sustainable development of the apparel industry. Based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), this study starts with fashion-sharing behavior and investigates the antecedents that influence consumers' use of second-hand clothing-sharing platforms in the post-pandemic era. The research background involves the Chinese clothing-sharing market in the growing period. The findings revealed that the pandemic raised people's awareness of health and hygiene protection. In addition, the cleaning problem of platform clothing has become the primary reason for curbing consumers' choice of sharing. High-cost performance, high efficiency, and convenience can stimulate consumers to use shared services. Considering that the pandemic has driven consumer economic fluctuations, perceived economic risks could widen the gap between willingness and behavior. In conclusion, platforms must fully realize the transparency of the clothing cleaning and maintenance process, improve their own construction level such as ease of use, convenience, and safety, and incorporate functional clothing-sharing to refine people's sustainable consumption habits.

Spatio-Temporal Heterogeneous Impacts of the Drivers of NO2 Pollution in Chinese Cities: Based on Satellite Observation Data

Rapid urbanization in China has led to an increasing problem of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution, which negatively impacts urban ecology and public health. Nitrogen dioxide is an important atmospheric pollutant, and quantitative spatio-temporal analysis and influencing factor analysis of Chinese cities can help improve urban air pollution. In this study, the spatio-temporal analysis methods were used to explore the variations of NO2 pollution in Chinese cities from 2005 to 2020. The findings are as follows. In more than half of Chinese cities, NO2 levels remarkably decreased between 2005 and 2020. The effective NO2 reduction strategies contributed to the significant NO2 reduction during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020). Moreover, we found that the pandemic of COVID-19 alleviated NO2 pollution in China since it reduced the traffic, industrial, and living activities. The NO2 pollution in Chinese cities was found highly spatially clustered. The geographically and temporally weighted regression model was used to analyze the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of NO2 pollution influencing factors in Chinese cities, including natural meteorological and socio-economic factors. The results showed that the GDPPC, population densities, and ambient air pressure were positively correlated with NO2 pollution. In contrast, the ratio of the tertiary to the secondary industry, temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity negatively impacted the NO2 pollution level. The findings of this research contribute to the improvement of urban air quality, stimulating the achievements of the sustainable development goals of Chinese cities.

First report of de novo assembly and annotation from brain and blood transcriptome of an anadromous shad, Alosa sapidissima.

OBJECTIVES: American shad (Alosa sapidissima) is an important migratory fish under Alosinae and has long been valued for its economic, nutritional and cultural attributes. Overfishing and barriers across the passage made it vulnerable to sustain. To protect this valuable species, aquaculture action plans have been taken though there are no published genetic resources prevailing yet. Here, we reported the first de novo assembled and annotated transcriptome of A. sapidissima using blood and brain tissues. DATA DESCRIPTION: We generated 160,481 and 129,040 non-redundant transcripts from brain and blood tissues. The entire work strategy involved RNA extraction, library preparation, sequencing, de novo assembly, filtering, annotation and validation. Both coding and non-coding transcripts were annotated against Swissprot and Pfam datasets. Nearly, 83% coding transcripts were functionally assigned. Protein clustering with clupeiform and non-clupeiform taxa revealed ~ 82% coding transcripts retained the orthologue relationship which improved confidence over annotation procedure. This study will serve as a useful resource in future for the research community to elucidate molecular mechanisms for several key traits like migration which is fascinating in clupeiform shads.

Novel approach by natural language processing for COVID-19 knowledge discovery.

BACKGROUND: The impact of COVID-19 on public health has mandated an 'all hands on deck' scientific response. The current clinical study and basic research on COVID-19 are mainly based on existing publications or our knowledge of coronavirus. However, efficiently retrieval of accurate, relevant knowledge on COVID-19 can pose significant challenges for researchers. METHODS: To improve quality in accessing important literature findings, we developed a novel natural language processing (NLP) method to automatically recognize the associations among potential targeted host organ systems, associated clinical manifestations, and pathways. We further validated these associations through clinician experts' evaluations and prioritize candidate drug targets through bioinformatics network analysis. RESULTS: We found that the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a receptor that SARS-CoV-2 required for cell entry, is associated with cardiovascular and endocrine organ system and diseases. Furthermore, we found SARS-CoV-2 is associated with some important pathways such as IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IL-1 beta-induced dyslipidemia, which are related to inflammation, lipogenesis, and oxidative stress mechanisms, suggesting potential drug candidates. CONCLUSION: We prioritized the list of therapeutic targets involved in antiviral and immune modulating drugs for experimental validation, rendering it valuable during public health crises marked by stresses on clinical and research capacity. Our automatic intelligence pipeline also contributes to other novel and emerging disease management and treatments in the future.

Emergency Response and Risk Communication Effects of Local Media during COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Study Based on a Social Media Network.

As the country where the COVID-19 was first reported and initially broke out, China has controlled the spread of the pandemic well. The pandemic prevention process included emergency response and risk communication, both of which could notably increase public participation, people's anxiety has been alleviated, their confidence in the government has been enhanced, and the implementation of prevention and control measures has been understood. This study selected 157,283 articles published by 447 accounts across 326 cities in February 2020 from WeChat, the largest social media application in China, to systematically compare the spatial distributions in the effectiveness of emergency responses and risk communication. The results showed that there were significant regional differences in the effectiveness of emergency response and risk communication during the pandemic period in China. The effectiveness of emergency response and risk communication are related to the exposure risk to the COVID-19, the level of economy, culture, and education of the region, the type of accounts and articles, and the ranking of the articles in posts. The timeliness and distribution types of articles should take into account the psychological changes in communication recipients to avoid the dissemination of homogenized information to the masses and the resulting information receiving fatigue period.

The Intentions to Wear Face Masks and the Differences in Preventive Behaviors between Urban and Rural Areas during COVID-19: An Analysis Based on the Technology Acceptance Model.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus first emerged in late 2019 and has since spread quickly throughout China and become a global pandemic. As the situation with COVID-19 has evolved, wearing a face mask in public has grown commonplace. Using the technology acceptance model (TAM) as a foundation, this study introduces three new variables, namely, perceived risk, social pressure, and social image, to establish an extended model for investigating the factors that influence if residents wear masks. A total of 1200 questionnaires were distributed in China, from 1 February to 30 May 2020, through China's largest online platform. The results indicate the following: 1. Residents' positive attitude towards mask wearing promotes their behavioral intention to wear masks. 2. Perceived risk, social pressure, and social image have a positive impact on attitude towards mask wearing. 3. The intention to wear masks and attitude were both positively influenced by perceived usefulness. 4. The perceived usefulness is more influential in rural than urban groups, in terms of behavioral intention. This article proposes that public education on the facts related to the coronavirus, the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to health, and the usefulness of face masks in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 could increase residents' intention to wear a mask.