Examining restaurant purchase intention during crises: The role of message appeal

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the joint role of the pandemic-induced source of crisis (i.e. health and social crisis) based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and message appeal in customer perception of and behavioral intention toward a restaurant. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a 2 (source of crisis: social, health) x 2 (message appeal: social, health) between-subjects factorial design. A total of 181 samples was collected and data was analyzed by using ANCOVA and PROCESS. Findings: The results showed a significant two-way interaction between source of crisis and message appeal on to-go intention. With the potential effect of risk aversion being controlled, message appeal significantly impacted perceived competence, which influenced both dine-in and to-go intentions. Practical implications: The research findings suggest a crucial role of perceived fit between message appeal and customer concerns during crises. Therefore, restaurant managers should actively communicate their safety practices with their customers to inspire customer confidence. Originality/value: This study identifies crisis dimensions based on human needs during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which determines the persuasiveness of marketing messages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Risk of psychological distress by decrease in economic activity, gender, and age due to COVID-19: A multinational study.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2-virus. COVID-19 has officially been declared as the latest in the list of pandemics by WHO at the start of 2020. This study investigates the associations among decrease in economic activity, gender, age, and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic considering the economic status and education level of countries using multinational surveys. Methods: Online self-report questionnaires were administered in 15 countries which were spontaneously participate to 14,243 respondents in August 2020. Prevalence of decrease in economic activity and psychological distress was stratified by age, gender, education level, and Human Development Index (HDI). With 7,090 of female (49.8%), mean age 40.67, 5,734 (12.75%) lost their job and 5,734 (40.26%) suffered from psychological distress. Results: Associations among psychological distress and economic status, age, and gender was assessed using multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for country and education as random effects of the mixed model. We then measured the associations between HDI and age using multivariate logistic regression. Women had a higher prevalence of psychological distress than men with 1.067 Odds ratio, and younger age was significantly associated with decrease in economic activity for 0.998 for age increasing. Moreover, countries with lower HDI showed a higher prevalence of decrease in economic activity, especially at lower education levels. Discussion: Psychological distress due to COVID-19 revealed a significant association with decrease in economic activity, women, and younger age. While the proportion of decrease in economic activity population was different for each country, the degree of association of the individual factors was the same. Our findings are relevant, as women in high HDI countries and low education level in lower HDI countries are considered vulnerable. Policies and guidelines for both financial aid and psychological intervention are recommended.

Different degree of cytokinemia and T-cell activation according to serum IL-6 levels in critical COVID-19.

Introduction: Tocilizumab, a humanized anti-interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) antibody, is recommended for the treatment of severe to critical coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19). However, there were conflicting results on the efficacy of tocilizumab. Therefore, we hypothesized that the differences in tocilizumab efficacy may stem from the different immune responses of critical COVID-19 patients. In this study, we described two groups of immunologically distinct COVID-19 patients, based on their IL-6 response. Methods: We prospectively enrolled critical COVID-19 patients, requiring oxygen support with a high flow nasal cannula or a mechanical ventilator, and analyzed their serial samples. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the cytokine kinetics and cellular immune responses, respectively. Results: A total of nine patients with critical COVID-19 were included. The high (n = 5) and low IL-6 (n = 4) groups were distinguished by their peak serum IL-6 levels, using 400 pg/mL as the cut-off value. Although the difference of flow cytometric data did not reach the level of statistical significance, the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the frequencies of intermediate monocytes (CD14+CD16+), IFN-γ+ CD4+ or CD8+ T cells, and HLA-DR+PD-1+ CD4+ T cells were higher in the high IL-6 group than in the low IL-6 group. Conclusion: There were distinctive two groups of critical COVID-19 according to serum IL-6 levels having different degrees of cytokinemia and T-cell responses. Our results indicate that the use of immune modulators should be more tailored in patients with critical COVID-19.

Development of an External Control Arm Using Electronic Health Record-Based Real-World Data to Evaluate the Efficacy of COVID-19 Treatment.

To protect people from severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, tremendous research efforts have been made toward coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) treatment development. Externally controlled trials (ECTs) may help reduce their development time. To evaluate whether ECT using real-world data (RWD) of patients with COVID-19 is feasible enough to be used for regulatory decision making, we built an external control arm (ECA) based on RWD as a control arm of a previously conducted randomized controlled trial (RCT), and compared it to the control arm of the RCT. The electronic health record (EHR)-based COVID-19 cohort dataset was used as RWD, and three Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT) datasets were used as RCTs. Among the RWD datasets, eligible patients were evaluated as a pool of external control subjects of the ACTT-1, ACTT-2, and ACTT-3 trials, respectively. The ECAs were built using propensity score matching, and the balance of age, sex, and baseline clinical status ordinal scale as covariates between the treatment arms of Asian patients in each ACTT and the pools of external control subjects was assessed before and after 1:1 matching. There was no statistically significant difference in time to recovery between ECAs and the control arms of each ACTT. Among the covariates, the baseline status ordinal score had the greatest influence on the building of ECA. This study demonstrates that ECA based on EHR data of COVID-19 patients could sufficiently replace the control arm of an RCT, and it is expected to help develop new treatments faster in emergency situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teleworking Is Significantly Associated with Anxiety Symptoms and Sleep Disturbances among Paid Workers in the COVID-19 Era.

Due to social distancing during COVID-19, teleworking has spread in Korea. Accordingly, the effects of teleworking on physical and mental health have emerged. We aim to determine the association between teleworking and mental health, including anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance, in paid workers. The data of paid workers from the Sixth Korean Working Conditions Survey, collected between October 2020 and April 2021, were analyzed. Gender stratification analysis and propensity score matching were performed for variables relevant to sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each sex were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. Among 28,633 participants, analyses were performed for anxiety symptoms (teleworkers vs. non-teleworkers; men: 12.1% vs. 4.9%; women: 13.5% vs. 5.3%) and sleep disturbance (men: 33.6% vs. 21.3%; women: 39.7% vs. 25.3%). In male teleworkers, the AORs for anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance were 1.86 (95% CI: 1.14-3.04) and 1.52 (95% CI: 1.10-2.11), respectively. In female teleworkers, the AORs for anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance were 1.66 (95% CI: 1.13-2.43) and 1.65 (95% CI: 1.28-2.14), respectively. Our results emphasize the importance of mental health and the need for continuous education and care for teleworkers, given the rapid increase in teleworking.

Comparable humoral and cellular immunity against Omicron variant BA.4/5 of once-boosted BA.1/2 convalescents and twice-boosted COVID-19-naïve individuals.

The fourth vaccination dose confers additional protective immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in individuals with no prior coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). However, its immunological benefit against currently circulating BA.4/5 is unclear in individuals who have received a booster shot and been infected with Omicron variant BA.1/2. We analyzed immune responses in whom had been boosted once and did not have COVID-19 (n = 16), boosted once and had COVID-19 when BA.1/2 was dominant in Korea (Hybrid-6M group, n = 27), and boosted twice and did not have COVID-19 (Vx4 group, n = 15). Antibody binding activities against RBDo BA.1 and RBDo BA.4/5 , antigen-specific memory CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses against BA.4/5, and B-cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 wild-type did not differ statistically between the Hybrid-6M and Vx4 groups. The humoral and cellular immune responses of the Hybrid-6M group against BA.4/5 were comparable to those of the Vx4 group. Individuals who had been boosted and had an Omicron infection in early 2022 may not have high priority for an additional vaccination.

Obesity and Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Obesity, which is one of the most important noncommunicable diseases, has become an epidemic. With the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the collision of these two health risks has increased the threat of adverse events and serious threats to public health. In this review, the impact of obesity on COVID-19 severity and mortality is presented. The mechanism by which obesity increases susceptibility and severity is discussed. As a low-grade inflammatory disease, obesity provides a pro-inflammatory milieu by which adipose tissue expressing angiotensin converting enzyme 2, which is known as a receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, works as a viral reservoir. Finally, the role of metabolic and bariatric surgeries during the COVID-19 era will be discussed.

Assessing the Removal Efficiency of Murine Norovirus 1, Hepatitis A Virus, and Human Coronavirus 229E on Dish Surfaces Through General Wash Program of Household Dishwasher.

The performance of dishwashers in removing live viruses is an important informative value in practical applications. Since foodborne viruses are present in contaminated food surfaces and water environments. Insufficient washing of dishes typically makes a carrier of foodborne viruses. Dishwashers have shown excellent performance in removing bacterial pathogens, but very limited reports related to eliminate foodborne viruses on contaminated dish surfaces. Here, murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1), hepatitis A virus (HAV), and human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) were experimentally inoculated on the dish surfaces (plate, rice bowl, and soup bowl). Plaque assay, 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50), and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were conducted to determine their removal efficiency of them through the general wash program of household dishwashers. Using titration assay, MNV-1 and HAV were reduced by 7.44 and 6.57 log10 PFU/dish, and HCoV-229E was reduced by 6.43 log10 TCID50/dish through the general wash program, achieving a ≥ 99.999% reduction, respectively. Additionally, RT-qPCR results revealed that viral RNA of MNV-1 and HCoV-229E reduced 5.02 and 4.54 log10 genome copies/dish; in contrast, HAV was not detected on any dish surfaces. This study confirmed the performance of household dishwashers in removing pathogenic live viruses through the general wash program. However, residual viral RNA was not sufficiently removed. Further studies are needed to determine whether the viral RNA can be sufficiently removed using combination programs in household dishwashers.

Influence of social responsibility and pandemic awareness of nursing students on COVID-19 preventive behaviours: a cross-sectional online survey in South Korea.

OBJECTIVES: Factors influencing COVID-19 preventive behaviour require exploration to strengthen the response competencies of prehealthcare professionals and reduce the pandemic's impact. This study aimed to identify the level of COVID-19 preventive behaviour among Korean nursing students and to determine the influence of social responsibility and pandemic awareness to present educational strategies for reducing disaster impact. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: As a cross-sectional descriptive survey study using an online questionnaire, the participants were convenience sampled from one online community for nursing students and three nursing colleges located in Seoul, South Korea. The data from 590 participants were analysed by t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation and linear multiple regression using SPSS. RESULTS: The factors influencing COVID-19 preventive behaviour were identified to be social responsibility (linear regression coefficient 0.354, 95% CI 0.243 to 0.464), pandemic awareness (linear regression coefficient 0.131, 95% CI 0.025 to 0.237), impact of COVID-19 on daily life (linear regression coefficient 0.085, 95% CI 0.019 to 0.152) and living in Daegu/Gyeong-buk area (linear regression coefficient 0.134, 95% CI 0.024 to 0.244). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings that social responsibility and pandemic awareness are key predictors of COVID-19 preventive behaviour, customised educational programmes and additional studies are recommended for raising social responsibility and pandemic awareness among prehealthcare professionals as a part of disaster response.

Model training periods impact estimation of COVID-19 incidence from wastewater viral loads.

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been deployed broadly as an early warning tool for emerging COVID-19 outbreaks. WBE can inform targeted interventions and identify communities with high transmission, enabling quick and effective responses. As the wastewater (WW) becomes an increasingly important indicator for COVID-19 transmission, more robust methods and metrics are needed to guide public health decision-making. This research aimed to develop and implement a mathematical framework to infer incident cases of COVID-19 from SARS-CoV-2 levels measured in WW. We propose a classification scheme to assess the adequacy of model training periods based on clinical testing rates and assess the sensitivity of model predictions to training periods. A testing period is classified as adequate when the rate of change in testing is greater than the rate of change in cases. We present a Bayesian deconvolution and linear regression model to estimate COVID-19 cases from WW data. The effective reproductive number is estimated from reconstructed cases using WW. The proposed modeling framework was applied to three Northern California communities served by distinct WW treatment plants. The results showed that training periods with adequate testing are essential to provide accurate projections of COVID-19 incidence.

Factors Influencing Preventive Behavior of COVID-19 among Nursing Students in South Korea.

We aimed to identify factors influencing the preventive behavior of COVID-19 among nursing students. A survey was conducted through an online questionnaire in December 2021 for students in the department of nursing at a university located in C city. An online questionnaire was distributed to 189 nursing students who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study, and data from 179 of them were used for the final analysis. The research tools used were COVID-19 stress scale for Korean people, COVID-19 risk-perception scale, self-efficacy scale, and COVID-19 prevention behavior scale. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, analysis of variance, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test, as well as Spearman correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression with SPSS 23.0 program. Factors significantly influencing the preventive behavior of COVID-19 were self-efficacy (ß = 0.53, p < 0.001) and COVID-19 stress (ß = 0.25, p = 0.001). The explanatory power of related variables was 45.0%. We found that self-efficacy and COVID-19 stress had a significant effect on the preventive behavior of nursing students. Therefore, to promote the preventive behavior of COVID-19, it is necessary to improve the self-efficacy of nursing students and manage COVID-19 stress well.

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for COVID-19: Handling qPCR Nondetects and Comparing Spatially Granular Wastewater and Clinical Data Trends

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a useful complement to clinical testing for managing COVID-19. While community-scale wastewater and clinical data frequently correlate, less is known about subcommunity relationships between the two data types. Moreover, nondetects in qPCR wastewater data are typically handled through methods known to bias results, overlooking perhaps better alternatives. We address these knowledge gaps using data collected from September 2020–June 2021 in Davis, California (USA). We hypothesize that coupling the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm with the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method could improve estimation of “missing” values in wastewater qPCR data. We test this hypothesis by applying EM-MCMC to city wastewater treatment plant data and comparing output to more conventional nondetect handling methods. Dissimilarities in results (i) underscore the importance of specifying nondetect handling method in reporting and (ii) suggest that using EM-MCMC may yield better agreement between community-scale clinical and wastewater data. We also present a novel framework for spatially aligning clinical data with wastewater data collected upstream of a treatment plant (i.e., distributed across a sewershed). Applying the framework to data from Davis reveals reasonable agreement between wastewater and clinical data at highly granular spatial scales—further underscoring the public-health value of WBE. Exploration of novel methods for handling qPCR nondetects and enabling multiscale data comparisons in wastewater-based epidemiology.

Broad humoral and cellular immunity elicited by one-dose mRNA vaccination 18 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

BACKGROUND: Practical guidance is needed regarding the vaccination of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) convalescent individuals in resource-limited countries. It includes the number of vaccine doses that should be given to unvaccinated patients who experienced COVID-19 early in the pandemic. METHODS: We recruited COVID-19 convalescent individuals who received one or two doses of an mRNA vaccine within 6 or around 18 months after a diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Their samples were assessed for IgG-binding or neutralizing activity and cell-mediated immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 wild-type and variants of concern. RESULTS: A total of 43 COVID-19 convalescent individuals were analyzed in the present study. The results showed that humoral and cellular immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 wild-type and variants of concern, including the Omicron variant, were comparable among patients vaccinated within 6 versus around 18 months. A second dose of vaccine did not significantly increase immune responses. CONCLUSION: One dose of mRNA vaccine should be considered sufficient to elicit a broad immune response even around 18 months after a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Evaluation of a blockchain-based dynamic consent platform (METORY) in a decentralized and multicenter clinical trial using virtual drugs.

Blockchain is a novel data architecture characterized by a chronological sequence of blocks in a decentralized manner. We aimed to evaluate the real-world feasibility of a blockchain-based dynamic consent platform (METORY) in a decentralized and multicenter trial. The study consisted of three visits (i.e., screening and 2 follow-up visits) with a 2-week interval. Each subject was required to report the self-measured body temperatures and take a virtual investigational drug by entering the unique drug code on the application. To simulate real-world study settings, two major (i.e., changes in the schedule of body temperature measurement) and three minor protocol amendments (i.e., nonsignificant changes without any changes in the procedures) were set. Overall study completion rates, proportion of consent, and response time to each protocol amendment and adherence were evaluated. A total of 60 subjects (30 in each center) were enrolled in two study centers. All subjects completed the study, and the overall proportion of consent to each protocol amendment was 95.7 ± 13.7% (mean ± SD), with a median response time of 0.2 h. Overall, subjects took 90.8% ± 19.2% of the total drug, whereas compliance with the schedule was 69.1% ± 27.0%. Subjects reported 96.7% ± 4.2% of the total body temperature measurements whereas the adherence to the schedule was 59.0% ± 25.0%, which remarkably decreased after major protocol amendments. In conclusion, we evaluated a blockchain-based dynamic consent platform in real clinical trial settings. The results suggested that major changes should be avoided unless subjects' proper understanding is warranted.

The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA?

Testing surfaces in school classrooms for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can provide public-health information that complements clinical testing. We monitored the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in five schools (96 classrooms) in Davis, California (USA) by collecting weekly surface-swab samples from classroom floors and/or portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) units (n = 2,341 swabs). Twenty-two surfaces tested positive, with qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) values ranging from 36.07-38.01. Intermittent repeated positives in a single room were observed for both floor and HEPA filter samples for up to 52 days, even following regular cleaning and HEPA filter replacement after a positive result. We compared the two environmental sampling strategies by testing one floor and two HEPA filter samples in 57 classrooms at Schools D and E. HEPA filter sampling yielded 3.02% and 0.41% positivity rates per filter sample collected for Schools D and E, respectively, while floor sampling yielded 0.48% and 0% positivity rates. Our results indicate that HEPA filter swabs are more sensitive than floor swabs at detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in interior spaces. During the study, all schools were offered weekly free COVID-19 clinical testing through Healthy Davis Together (HDT). HDT also offered on-site clinical testing in Schools D and E, and upticks in testing participation were observed following a confirmed positive environmental sample. However, no confirmed COVID-19 cases were identified among students associated with classrooms yielding positive environmental samples. The positive samples detected in this study appeared to contain relic viral RNA from individuals infected before the monitoring program started and/or RNA transported into classrooms via fomites. High-Ct positive results from environmental swabs detected in the absence of known active infections supports this conclusion. Additional research is needed to differentiate between fresh and relic SARS-CoV-2 RNA in environmental samples and to determine what types of results should trigger interventions.

Distinct Immune Response at 1 Year Post-COVID-19 According to Disease Severity.

Background: Despite the fact of ongoing worldwide vaccination programs for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), understanding longevity, breadth, and type of immune response to coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is still important to optimize the vaccination strategy and estimate the risk of reinfection. Therefore, we performed thorough immunological assessments 1 year post-COVID-19 with different severity. Methods: We analyzed peripheral blood mononuclear cells and plasma samples at 1 year post-COVID-19 in patients who experienced asymptomatic, mild, and severe illness to assess titers of various isotypes of antibodies (Abs) against SARS-CoV-2 antigens, phagocytic capability, and memory B- and T-cell responses. Findings: A total of 24 patients (7, 9, and 8 asymptomatic, mild, and severe patients, respectively) and eight healthy volunteers were included in this study. We firstly showed that disease severity is correlated with parameters of immune responses at 1 year post-COVID-19 that play an important role in protecting against reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, namely, the phagocytic capacity of Abs and memory B-cell responses. Interpretation: Various immune responses at 1 year post-COVID-19, particularly the phagocytic capacity and memory B-cell responses, were dependent on the severity of the prior COVID-19. Our data could provide a clue for a tailored vaccination strategy after natural infection according to the severity of COVID-19.