Measures to Ensure the Sustainability of Information Systems in the COVID-19 Environment

National defense requires uninterrupted decision-making, even under direct or indirect impacts of non-traditional threats such as infectious diseases. Since all work utilizes information systems, it is very important to ensure the sustainability and availability of information systems. In particular, in terms of security management, defense work is being performed by dividing the network into a national defense network and a commercial Internet network. This study suggests a work execution plan for sustainability that takes into account the efficiency of work performed on the Internet and the effectiveness of security through effective defense information system operation. It is necessary to minimize the network contact points between the national defense network and the commercial Internet and to select high-priority tasks from various tasks and operate them efficiently. For this purpose, actual cases were investigated for an institution, "Organization A”, and characteristics were presented. Through the targeted tasks and operation plans presented in this paper to improve the effectiveness of defense tasks and ensure security, it will be possible to increase the sustainability and availability of task performance even under non-traditional threats such as infectious diseases. © 2022 by the authors.

A Study of the Emerging Trends in SIM Swapping Crime and Effective Countermeasures

SIM swapping is a novel criminal modus operandi which uses copied SIM cards for the purpose of taking over a mobile service subscription and thereby accessing sensitive personal and financial data. Authorities around the world have reported a surge in SIM Swapping crimes, mainly driven by criminals taking advantage of the increasingly virtual lifestyle precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines related cases around the world, and categorizes them according to their specific modi operandi, as well as the initial responses of national authorities to this emerging crime. By analyzing the dynamics of this new crime trend, this study aims to propose preemptive and preventative measures to address this new threat. Research has identified three main steps in SIM Swapping crime: 1) personal data theft, 2) fraudulent copying of SIM card, and 3) exploitation of falsely-obtained mobile service for perpetration. Research has also found that the subscriber authentication procedure involved in replacing a SIM card is vulnerable to identity theft, especially in jurisdictions which have implemented eSIM. Therefore, it will be upon governments to enforce a stronger user authentication and information security regime for mobile carriers, introduce an online payment system devised with a data-sharing mechanism connecting mobile carriers and financial services, and raise public awareness on SIM Swapping and information security in general. © 2022 IEEE.

Changing features of liver injury in COVID-19 patients: Impacts of Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.617.2) variants

Objectives: In many studies, abnormal liver function test has been reported in more than half of the COVID-19 patients. However, it is not known for the liver involvement of the virus according to the strain. We investigated the features of liver injury in the COVID-19 patients with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.617.2) variants. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective study that included 375 patients between 1 February 2020 and 31 November 2020 (pre-Delta period (PDP) group) and 125 patients between 1 August 2021 and 31 August 2021 (Delta period (DP) group) hospitalized for COVID-19 at National Medical Center in Korea. Initial liver injury was defined as ALT or AST levels ≥ 3 9 upper limit of normal (ULN), or ALP or total bilirubin ≥ 2 9 ULN within 3 days from admission. Severe COVID-19 was defined as respiration rate ≥ 30, oxygen saturation ≤ 93%, or oxygen requirement with pneumonia. Results: Of 500 patients with COVID-19, 301 (60.2%) had abnormal liver test and 43 (8.6%) had liver injury within 3 days. The patients with abnormal liver test were similar in both groups. (58.4%vs60.8% P = 0.635). On the other hand, the DP group had a significantly higher proportion of liver injury than the PDP group (15.2% [n = 19]vs.6.4%[n = 24], P = 0.002). The DP group (Odds ratio (OR), 2.539;95% confidence interval (CI), 1.211-5.325;P = 0.014), patients with pneumonia involvement over 50% of lung field at admission (OR, 4.982;95% CI, 1.966-12.625;P = 0.001), younger patients (OR,0.963;95%CI,0.940-0.988;P = 0.003), lower creatinine at admission (OR,0.132;95%CI,0.028-0.631;P = 0.011), higher CRP at admission (OR,1.009;95%CI,1.003-1.015;P = 0.002) were independently associated with liver injury. During hospitalization, 164 patients had severe COVID-19. The DP group and initial liver injury were high odds of progressing to severe COVID-19 (OR 2.867;95%CI 1.244-6.608, and OR 3.229;95% CI 1.131-9.219, respectively). Conclusion: Initial liver injury is more common in COVID-19 patients with Delta variants. Also, Delta variants is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Therefore, careful monitoring in COVID-19 patients with Delta variants is needed.

COVID-19 VACCINE HESITANCY REMAINS HIGH IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE PATIENTS

Introduction Despite the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine hesitancy remains common in the general public. Adults who were on immunosuppressive medications were among the earlier groups recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. It is unclear whether similar vaccine hesitancy is seen in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially those who are on immunosuppressive medications. We sought to examine rate of vaccine hesitancy in patients with IBD as well as associated demographic and socioeconomic risk factors. Methods We performed a retrospective chart review in November 2021 of 1383 patients with IBD seen at University of Maryland Medical Center, a tertiary referral medical center, between November 2020 and October 2021. Data obtained from patients' charts included demographics;disease characteristics including disease phenotype, number of years since diagnosis, number of IBD-related surgeries;and IBD therapy including biologics, thiopurines or methotrexate, corticosteroids, and mesalamine. Information on COVID vaccination and routinely recommended vaccines were also collected which included annual influenza vaccine, Prevnar/ Pneumovax, and Shingrix. Those with no recorded COVID-19 vaccine were contacted by nurses for updated vaccine status. Results 72% (990/1383) of patients in this cohort were on a biologic, 17% (232/1383) were on corticosteroids, and 16% (224/1383) were on thiopurine or methotrexate, indicating a cohort of patients with moderate to severe disease phenotype. Fifty-seven percent (792/1383) of patients received either the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccine. In a multivariate regression analysis, COVID vaccination was found to be positively associated with a number of factors including older age (p-value= 4.92e-4), female sex (p=1.61e-3), Asian and Caucasian races (p=9.13e-3, 6.47e-06), number of years since diagnosis (p=2.73e-2), number of clinic visits in the past 12 months (p= 2.66e-10), and biologic use (p=4.41e-4). This remained the case while controlling for IBD disease type;marital status;insurance (Commercial vs Medicaid vs Medicare);and tobacco, alcohol, and substance use history. Patients who received other routinely recommended vaccines (influenza, Prevnar/Pneumovax, Shingrix) were not more likely to receive COVID- 19 vaccine. Discussion Although majority of patients in this cohort were on an immunosuppressive medication, COVID-19 vaccination rate is only recorded to be at 57%. Number of clinic visits, presumably more education and conversation with healthcare providers, had a positive impact on COVID-19 vaccination. In this cohort, younger adults, males, and African Americans were less likely to receive COVID-19 vaccine. Healthcare providers need to recognize these potential risk factors for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Sub-Zero Temperature Sensor Based on Laser-Written Carbon

Sub-zero temperature sensors (SZTSs) have potential applications in safely storing COVID-19 vaccines. Herein, an SZTS based on laser-induced carbonization (LIC) achieved by a nanosecond infrared laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm is reported. Direct laser writing is adopted for laser-induced carbon in Kapton polyimide sheets with a thickness of 125 µm. The sensor exhibits a good linear change in resistance to sub-zero temperatures ranging from 0 to −150 °C, where the coefficient of determination adjusted R-square (R2) value is 0.99238, which indicates a good linear fit. The sensor exhibits a stable static response at all temperatures over time. The dynamic responses by controlling the liquid nitrogen gas and placing an ice cube on the sensor are also measured to validate the sensor. Notably, the electrical performance of the sensor remains stable even after 15 h. The sensor response of the LIC sample validates the 3D variable range-hopping charge transport mechanism, governed by the Mott equation with a good linear fit, which is mainly owing to disorder in its structure. LIC-based SZTSs can enable sensors that are ultra-fast to fabricate, roll-to-roll processable, economical, and more significantly, can be interfaced with flexible printed circuit boards without any additional interfacing. © 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH

Thermal Face Detection for High-Speed AI Thermometer

In the era of COVID-19, temperature measurement becomes a crucial procedure for protecting public spaces against the virus. Artificial intelligence techniques such as object detection deep neural networks (DNNs) have been adopted to enhance the accuracy of contactless temperature measurement. However, the computation-demanding nature of DNNs, along with the time-consuming fusion of video and thermal camera frames, raises hurdles for the cost-effective deployment of such AI thermometer systems. In this work, we propose a high-speed and cost-effective implementation of an AI thermometer. We develop a thermal face detection network to detect faces for temperature measurement without a video camera. We optimize the proposed network's precision and structure to exploit high-throughput reduced-precision computations available in the embedded AI platforms. The resulting AI thermometer system demonstrates a live temperature measurement with a speed of 160 frames per second. © 2021 IEEE.

Introduction: Emerging MNCs and socioeconomic dynamics in Asia*

This special issue is the brainchild of the research project What Roles do Globalizing Actors Play?, which began in 2018 with the research grant from the Global Research Network program of the National Research Foundation of Korea.1 The research project aims to have a better understanding of “globalizing actors” within or working with multinational companies (MNCs)—individuals and organizations who create, diffuse, interpret and negotiate norms across international operations (Kern et al. 2019). In pursuing this goal, we conducted in-depth case studies of three Korean multinational corporations (MNCs), including more than 100 interviews with senior and middle managers in Korean headquarters and the foreign subsidiaries in China, Vietnam, and the United States. To share our research findings and establish an international network of researchers interested in investigating actors' roles in the MNCs' globalization process embedded and disembedded in formal and informal institutions, we planned a large-scale international academic conference in April 2020. Although the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately, forced us to cancel the planned event, the preparation process revealed the researchers with shared topical interest and our common understanding of Asia as a site of MNC operation and the source of emerging MNCs. Consequently, we gathered these researchers for a virtual workshop © 2021. All Rights Reserved.

MUC1-C influences cell survival in lung adenocarcinoma Calu-3 cells after SARS-CoV-2 infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) induces coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and may increase the risk of adverse outcomes in lung cancer patients. In this study, we investigated the expression and function of mucin 1 (MUC1) after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the lung epithelial cancer cell line Calu-3. MUC1 is a major constituent of the mucus layer in the respiratory tract and contributes to pathogen defense. SARS-CoV-2 infection induced MUC1 C-terminal subunit (MUC1-C) expression in a STAT3 activation-dependent manner. Inhibition of MUC1-C signaling increased apoptosis-related protein levels and reduced proliferation-related protein levels;however, SARS-CoV-2 replication was not affected. Together, these results suggest that increased MUC1-C expression in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection may trigger the growth of lung cancer cells, and COVID-19 may be a risk factor for lung cancer patients.