PTZ Camera Control on Robot Telemedicine Service for Infectious Diseases

Attentions for medical assistance services to isolated patients have increased due to recent infectious diseases. In the isolation case, telemedicine service is valuable because of no direct contact between infected patients and medical staff. This work proposes a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera control system that provides convenience for medical staff during telemedicine. Our automatic camera controller tracks the region while maintaining the best viewpoint when medical staff selects a region of interest, e.g., a patient's symptoms or wounds. In order to develop the system, several attributes of object trackers suitable for the proposed control system were explored. Based on the evaluations of object trackers, we found that the scale-variance property of object trackers is significant to our PTZ controller. As a result, the proposed approach using a scale-variant object tracker can control the pan, tilt, and zoom to support a convenient telemedicine service without annoying manual viewpoint control.

Characterization of extracellular vesicle and virus-like particles by single vesicle tetraspanin analysis

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized membranous particles secreted by cells. EVs have been classified into subpopulations according to their presumed biogenesis pathway, but their detailed biogenesis mechanisms still need to be fully elucidated. Enveloped viruses are another type of cell-derived nano-vesicles, and their biogenesis processes are much better known than that of EVs. Recently, studies on the similarity between enveloped viruses and EVs have been increasingly reported. The biogenesis of EVs could be better understood if these similarities are adequately investigated. In this study, we utilized a single vesicle imaging technique to visualize the protein expressions of individual nano-sized vesicles and analyzed expression patterns within single vesicles. Using this technique, we identified unique tetraspanin expression patterns in single EVs and that these patterns were closely related to their subcellular origins. The expression of CD9 or CD81 in EVs implied that they originated from the plasma membrane, and the expression of CD63 in EVs implied that they originated from endosomal organelles. We further analyzed the tetraspanin expressions of two different types of virus-like particles (VLPs) and demonstrated that the HIV-Gag-induced VLPs were more similar to EVs than SARS-CoV-2-NP/M/E-induced VLPs. In addition, HIV-Gag-GFP-expressing VLPs were highly colocalized with CD9, CD63, and CD81 signals, whereas SARS-CoV-NP-GFP-expressing VLPs were not. Based on these observations, we could assume that tetraspanin-expressing EVs might be produced through a similar process by which HIV is produced. © 2023

Chemical engineering of electrospun nanofibrous-based three-layered nonwoven polymeric protective mask for enhanced performance

During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks, respirators, and personal protective equipment have become common preventive measures. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the lack of efficient and reusable face masks worldwide. Immense efforts have been dedicated to designing antidust and antidroplet masks to ensure safe breathing. In this context, electrospun nanofibrous layers have attracted considerable attention for the fabrication of antidust and antidroplet masks. During long-term usage, water droplet layers can lead to pore blockages;this remains a major concern. In this study, a three-layered sandwich structure comprising a hydrophilic spongy layer, hydrophobic support layer, and antidroplet layer was developed to address this concern. Specifically, the structure comprised polyvinylidene fluoride-silica nanoparticles-perfluorooctyl trichlorosilane/polyethylene/polybenzimidazole (PVDF-Si-NPs-PFTOS/PET/PBI) electrospun nanofibrous layers. The PBI layer was utilized as soft, hydrophilic, skin-friendly layer, as supported by the PET layer for better mechanical stability. In addition, PVDF coated with micro-nano scale Si-NPs as modified with a PFTOS nonwoven electrospun layer was used for the antifouling, antidroplet, and splash resistance capabilities. This novel electrospun nanofibrous nonwoven three-layered sandwich structure (PVDF-Si-PFTOS/PET/PBI) exhibited high performance, with competitive antidroplet abilities. Accordingly, this research can be used to fabricate face masks with antidroplet and splash resistance for personal safety and protective equipment.

The paid sick leave and sickness benefits for universal health coverage: a scoping review : Huisun Lee

Background The countries with paid sick leave (PSL) and sickness benefits (SB) mostly provide the benefit coverage to specific categories of workers, which results in health inequalities among employees in COVID-19. The PSL and SB are key factors to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) in that they protect access to healthcare and improve population health. This study attempted to investigate whether the policies helped achieve the UHC when they were expanded. Methods This review followed the scoping review protocol of PRISMA-ScR. On April 6, 2021, we extracted the literature using the keywords ‘paid sick leave', ‘sickness benefits', ‘paid sick day', and ‘earned sick leave’ from PubMed and Web of Science and added two studies through hand-search. All articles were written in English. We did not limit the publication date. Results Forty-four selected studies were based in four single countries and the European Union. Most of the studies were published after 2010 (84.1%) and were conducted as cross-sectional (72.7%) studies. Not only workers who use PSL and SB but also children whose parents use PSL and SB increased their use of healthcare services and getting flu shots. Also, using PSL and SB decreased their unmet healthcare needs and emergency use. The various health status factors, such as infectious disease incidence, mortality, and presenteeism, also decreased. Conclusions The provisions of PSL and SB offer individual and public health benefits by allowing employees and their families to use healthcare services. Group of employees, we can expect similar public health impacts on newly covered groups, thus contributing to achieving the UHC. Since more than 90% of articles are published from the United States, future studies need to evaluate the outcomes of health effects in various European or Asian countries. Key messages • The provision of PSL and SB positively affects employees and their families by allowing them to use healthcare services. • The expansion of PSL and SB contributes to the UHC by guaranteeing indirect medical costs that enable universal access to essential healthcare services.

Paid Sick Leave and Sickness Benefits for employees’ economic and job security: A Scoping Review : Yewon Kwon

In health emergencies, such as in the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to expand or introduce the Paid sick leave(PSL) and Sickness benefits(SB) increases. They are key components of the universal health coverage(UHC) and active labor market policies(ALMPs) that enable workers to take care of their health and guarantee return-to-work after recovery. This study examines effects those policies in achieving economic stability and job security of covered workers through a scoping review. Studies were selected using the search terms ‘paid sick leave', ‘sickness benefits', ‘paid sick day', and ‘earned sick leave’ in PubMed and Web of Science. Our search conducted on 6th April 2021 yielded 1,030 articles, of which 22 articles were included in the review. All articles were analyzed by the 4 sub-groups(employees, families, employers, and government) and we investigated indicators of socio-economic impacts on their lives. Articles are largely PSL(90.9%)-focused. PSL guarantees not only workers’ job security by securing employment agreement, but also their income security by promising part of wages enough to afford healthcare and living expenses during the medical treatment and recovery. Additionally, PSL attenuates employers’ financial risk, as it reduces presenteeism while increasing the return-to-work rate. Moreover, PSL and SB reduce the total healthcare and social security expenditures of the government. To sum up, PSL and SB guarantee health and labor rights by ensuring income and job security to employees while assuring financial stability to both employers, and the government. However, as the previous studies paid less attention on the equity of these impacts at the system levels, future research should more focus on the dimension. Key messages • PSL and SB guarantee health and labour rights by ensuring income and job security for employees, while assuring financial stability for both employers and the government. • The previous studies that examined the effects of PSL and SB paid less attention on the equity of ensuring income and employment security, therefore future studies should focus more on this dimension.

The conceptualization of Covid-19 metaphor in political discourse

This study examines the conceptualization of Covid-19 related expressions in political discourse based on the conceptual metaphor theory from a cognitive linguistic point of view. In particular, we discuss why infectious diseases such as Covid-19 are metaphorically used, and analyze the conceptualization patterns and mapping of [COVID-19 IS A WAR] metaphors. First, in political discourse, the study discusses why war metaphor is used most frequently in terms of empirical, emotional, and structural aspects. In terms of experience, metaphor plays an important role in structuring our thoughts and concepts, and conventional metaphors are based on the embodied primary sensory motor experience. In terms of emotion, war metaphors are appropriate for immediate attention and delivery of the seriousness of the crisis, as they cause strong negative emotions such as fear and anxiety, even if there is no military confrontation. In terms of structure, war metaphors use basic schematic knowledge that can easily be thought of in different situations, such as battles between opposing forces or a series of battle events unfolding over time and space. Furthermore, we examine how the metaphor [COVID-19 IS A WAR], which appears most frequently in political discourse, is conceptualized and mapped for each component of the source domain of war and the target domain Covid-19. Finally, the implications of Covid-19 metaphor are discussed in terms of crisis communication, national integration and social community consciousness, compassion and empathy, and appeal of world peace. © 2022 KASELL All rights reserved.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants-Possibility of universal vaccine design: A review

Both novel and conventional vaccination strategies have been implemented worldwide since the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Despite various medical advances in the treatment and prevention of the spread of this contagious disease, it remains a major public health threat with a high mortality rate. As several lethal SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to emerge, the development of several vaccines and medicines, each with certain advantages and disadvantages, is underway. Additionally, many modalities are at various stages of research and development or clinical trials. Here, we summarize emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, including delta, omicron, and "stealth omicron," as well as available oral drugs for COVID-19. We also discuss possible antigen candidates other than the receptor-binding domain protein for the development of a universal COVID-19 vaccine. The present review will serve as a helpful resource for future vaccine and drug development to combat COVID-19.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Role of chest imaging in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19

Background: Thousands of new patients are diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) daily worldwide. We reviewed the role of chest imaging in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with COVID-19. Current Concepts: Chest imaging is not recommended as a primary diagnostic tool for COVID-19. However, when real-time polymerase chain reaction is difficult to perform or when COVID-19 is strongly suspected, chest imaging can assist in the diagnosis. Thus, chest imaging is recommended for high-risk patients and patients with worsening respiratory symptoms, but not for asymptomatic patients. Bilateral peripheral pneumonia is a typical imaging finding in patients with COVID-19. However, there are cases where chest imaging shows atypical findings or appears normal. The extent of COVID-19 pneumonia on chest imaging is related to the severity of the disease. The presence and extent of pneumonia on chest imaging can help monitor patients, select appropriate treatment agents, determine whether the patient should be hospitalized, and predict the prognosis. Discussion and Conclusion: Appropriate use of chest imaging is needed for clinicians to help triage patients with COVID-19 and decide on the treatment plan. © Korean Medical Association This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Exploration of time series model for predictive evaluation of long-term performance of membrane distillation desalination

Owing to the inherent complications in membrane distillation (MD) operations, it has become a challenge to acknowledge swiftly and appropriately to safeguard the quality of effluent, particularly when the processing cost is a prominent concern. Membrane wetting in MD operations is a major concern during longterm performance. In this study, machine learning (ML) methodologies were utilized to overcome the limitations of conventional mechanistic modeling. ML applications have never been explored to investigate how operational factors, such as water flux and salt flux, are affected during long-term MD performance. Furthermore, time-dependent factors were neglected, making it difficult to analyze the relationship between effluent quality and operational factors. Therefore, this study demonstrates a novel ML-based framework designed to enhance the performance of MD. The ML-based framework consists of an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and utilizes a unique pathway to explain the impact of time series among operational factors. The accuracy of forecasting has been explored by utilizing 180 h (180 datasets), that was further used and divided into training (165 datasets) and test datasets (15 datasets). Eventually, the ARIMA model demonstrated a highly precise relationship order between the model and experimental data, which can be further used to forecast membrane performance in terms of wetting and fouling. The selected ARIMA model (3,2,1) appears to be an adequate model for water and salt flux data which has been effectively used to capture the course of permeate water and salt flux by producing the smallest forecast RMSE. The RMSE values were observed to be 0.22 and 0.05 for water and salt flux respectively, which can better predict long time series with high frequency. These frameworks can be applied for the early prediction of membrane wetting if ample high-resolution data are available.(c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

No games to watch: empirical analysis of sport fans' stress and coping strategies during COVID-19 lockdown

Purpose The global outbreak of the COVID-19 forced most sport leagues to cancel games in March-April 2020, leaving no sport games to watch for sport fans. The present study examined how sport consumers appraise stress and engage in coping behaviors resulted from sport lockout due to the global pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This study examined the relationship between sport fans' psychological dispositions, threat appraisal and coping strategies among professional sport fans in the USA. A panel of sport fans (N = 446) representative of the US adult population participated in an online survey in the fourth week of April, 2020 when no major sport leagues made a return from the lockout due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Findings Results of this present study showed that anger, aggressiveness and need for affiliation increased threat perceptions toward the COVID-19 lockout, which subsequently had significant effect on emotion-focused and disengagement coping behaviors. Research limitations/implications This is the first empirical study that examined stress and coping behavior among sport fans in the global public health crisis context. Our findings show what triggers stress appraisals and how fans cope with them. Practical implications Findings suggest that segmenting sport fans based on psychological dispositions could be useful in predicting fans that will engage in coping behaviors. Social implications While the hope is to return to normal postpandemic, COVID-19 might not be the last. We are uncertain whether there might be another potential pandemic-related sport lockdown. Understanding how lack of sport events can create distress in sport fans and have important public health implications. Originality/value The findings provide empirical evidence on how sport consumers respond to the pandemic-related sport lockdown and cope with the unprecedented situation. The findings of this study contribute to the sport management literature as we are unsure whether the sport industry might face this challenging situation in the future again.

Suicide: Screening, early detection and prevention

Unfortunately, South Korea has had the highest suicide rate among the OECD countries for over a decade, with a suicide rate 26.9 per 100,000 in 2019. To effectively reduce suicide rate, nation suicide prevention policies have focused on adults and the elderly population, with a higher suicide rate. However, adolescent suicide rate is still the leading cause of death since 2009 at 5.6 per 100,000 people in 2019, suggesting that continued attention and solutions are needed. In recent decades, youth mental health promotion project is based on schools worldwide, and suicide prevention strategies are being implemented based on the school system in a similar context. Since school is a place where students spend most of their time and a protective environment in which various structured, psycho-social support can be applied. School-based suicide prevention programs currently implemented in Korea can be described as follows: 1) Screening and early detection For the past ten years, a nationwide school-based mental health screening test and mental health risk level-based support services are provided through the school system. Screening tests are conducted annually for the 1st and 4th graders of elementary school, the 1st grade of middle and high school students. A questionnaire developed separately for elementary school students and adolescents is used: Child Problem-Behavior Screening Questionnaire II (CPSQ) for children and Adolescent Mental health III) for adolescents. Suicide risk assessment is conducted from adolescents, and recently self-harm behavior evaluation item have been included as youth self-harm increases. Students who exceed the standard scores of screening questionnaire are interviewed with a counselor in the school counseling system: 'Wee class', and students who need treatment according to the interview results are linked to a mental health clinic outside the school. In addition, to ensure that students at suicide risk not identified by the screening test, a checklist of student suicide warning signs for teachers is also presented. 2) Suicide Prevention Universal prevention: The Ministry of Education in Korea recommends that all elementary, middle, and high school students are required to take a 'life respect and suicide prevention education' at each grade 4 hours per year, and education contents and programs that can be implemented systematically by combining with school curriculum are developing. Also, 'Look, Listen, Speak', a Korean gatekeeper program developed for various occupational groups, was recently developed into another version for youth students and teachers and will be applied soon. Selective prevention: Counseling and therapeutic interventions are being conducted using school-based mental health counseling systems such as theWee Project for students with mental health and suicidal tendencies. To reduce the stigma of mental health and improve the referral rate for treatment, a kind of bridge-building programs such as community cooperation model and Support project for visiting schools of mental health professionals were implemented as pilot projects. Indicative prevention: The Ministry of Education is assisting students at risk of mental health such as suicide attempts and repeated selfharm through a supportive partnership from the Life Insurance Social Contribution Fund. The support system of treatment expenses is aimed to economic difficulties do not hinder access to treatment. The importance of postvention is increasing as a response to suicide crisis. Based on the postvention guidelines for crisis support for schools with student suicide, the linkage system of regional offices of education, mental health center and schools is recommended to be operated immediately after suicide. In conclusion, several school-based suicide prevention programs have been in place for over 10 years, but the youth suicide rate has not decreased so far. The trend in suicide rate can be interpreted as being in line with the global trend of increasing mental health problems in youth. Moreover, the prolonged glob l COVID-19 pandemic is likely to increase students' mental health and suicide risks as they have faced unpredictable psycho-social situations. To prepare for the expected deterioration of student mental health during or post COVID-19, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of suicide prevention strategies that have been implemented so far and to strengthen the expertise of the school mental health support system.

Combining Initial Radiographs and Clinical Variables Improves Deep Learning Prognostication in Patients with COVID-19 from the Emergency Department

Purpose: To train a deep learning classification algorithm to predict chest radiograph severity scores and clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Materials and Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, patients aged 21-50 years who presented to the emergency department (ED) of a multicenter urban health system from March 10 to 26, 2020, with COVID-19 confirmation at real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction screening were identified. The initial chest radiographs, clinical variables, and outcomes, including admission, intubation, and survival, were collected within 30 days (n = 338;median age, 39 years;210 men). Two fellowship-trained cardiothoracic radiologists examined chest radiographs for opacities and assigned a clinically validated severity score. A deep learning algorithm was trained to predict outcomes on a holdout test set composed of patients with confirmed COVID-19 who presented between March 27 and 29, 2020 (n = 161;median age, 60 years;98 men) for both younger (age range, 21-50 years;n = 51) and older (age >50 years, n = 110) populations. Bootstrapping was used to compute CIs. Results: The model trained on the chest radiograph severity score produced the following areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs): 0.80 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.88) for the chest radiograph severity score, 0.76 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.84) for admission, 0.66 (95% CI: 0.56, 0.75) for intubation, and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.49, 0.69) for death. The model trained on clinical variables produced an AUC of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.55, 0.73) for intubation and an AUC of 0.59 (95% CI: 0.50, 0.68) for death. Combining chest radiography and clinical variables increased the AUC of intubation and death to 0.88 (95% CI: 0.79, 0.96) and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.91), respectively. Conclusion: The combination of imaging and clinical information improves outcome predictions. Supplemental material is available for this article.© RSNA, 2020.

Study on the Evaluation of Sealing Performance of Horizontal Blowing Air Curtain Installed in Doorways

Air curtains are installed to reduce heat loss due to drafts intruding into the indoor through the open doorways, and play the role of separating two climatic zones and different environmental zones. It is also used to protect the workplace from impurities or to reduce the spread of cigarette smoke in restaurants. Recently, aircraft to provide the individual air barrier by the vertical blowing air curtains have installed a physical barrier in the breathing zone between adjacent seats to protect passengers from COVID-19. The main factors affecting the sealing performance (SP) of the air curtain are the difference of temperature and pressure between indoor and outdoor, and are used to make the proper jet flow an air barrier with the high airtightness. Until now, various types of air curtains are manufactured and sold. Air curtains with the improved SP do not only have a discharge port but also a suction port. This study was conducted to evaluate the SP of the horizontal blowing air curtain according to the discharge pressure, and to select the minimized volume flow rate required for creating the proper zone separation. The volume flow rate of outdoor air intruding into the indoor through the doorways is used to evaluate the SP of the air curtain, and is calculated using the SVE4 proposed by Murakami in this study. © 2021 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Carbon nanotube-paper composite-capacitive sensor for respiratory monitoring

Recent COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of monitoring and prediction of acute respiratory illness. Few options are available for convenient respiratory monitoring in both hospital and community settings. This paper presents a novel respiratory monitoring sensor made of carbon nanotube-paper composites (CPC). A CPC capacitive sensor fabricated with tensional fracture consists of numerous cellulose fibers coated with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The high aspect ratio structure significantly enhances the capacitive sensitivity due to the high electric field. A CPC-wearable sensor is characterized in comparison to a sensor made of aluminum electrodes followed by monitoring of respiratory efforts. © 2020 CBMS-0001

Activities of an infection control surveillance-working group for the infection control and prevention of COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is unlikely to end soon, and hospitals face a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and nosocomial infections. Therefore, strengthened infection control and prevention (ICP) strategies are crucial. Here, we share our experience of activities implemented by an infection control surveillance-working group (ICS-WG) and the introduction of a hospital emergency code for patients requiring screening for COVID-19, which were established at a university-affiliated hospital. This hospital applies multi-step processes to identify patients who must visit the outdoor screening clinic for COVID-19 testing, instead of entering the hospital building. However, some of these patients inevitably end up inside the hospital building. To solve this issue, we implemented a process to announce the emergency code (“code apple”) and have the medical personnel escort such patients to the outdoor screening clinic. This process was useful in protecting the hospital from unnecessary exposure to COVID-19. The ICS-WG was assigned to conduct the surveillance of ICP practices, patrol the hospital, and recommend improvements for any practices that did not adhere to the guidelines. The ICS-WG also developed a checklist as a monitoring tool for ICP practices. The checklists were distributed to the infection control coordinators who were assigned to monitor their team's ICP practices and report to the ICS-WG. Overall, we believe that code apple and the ICS-WG are effective strategies in improving ICP practices of COVID-19 at hospitals.