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PurposeThis study aims to investigate the perceptions of elderly learners in experiencing Zoom learning under the effects of COVID in the case of Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approachAn online survey and focus group interviews have been conducted with quantitative and qualitative approaches, respectively. The survey design was based on the input-process-output (IPO) model conceptual framework and used to assess students' perceptions regarding their Zoom learning experiences at the Elder Academy of Hong Kong Metropolitan University. Thereafter, selected students were invited to participate in focus group interviews to offer more in-depth comments for analysis purposes. Statistical Product and Service Solutions software and SmartPLS were used for data analysis of the survey, and content analysis was used to summarize opinions from the focus group interviews;thus, a comprehensive picture of elderly learners' learning experiences on Zoom is presented. FindingsAn overall positive perception was the result of elderly learners' Zoom learning journeys, particularly in the "input" and "process" stages of the IPO model. Yet, their perception of the "learning outcomes achieved" level in the "output" stage was lower among the rest, thus strongly affected by the factors of "interactions" and "teaching" experienced by elderly learners on Zoom. Although the perception of the youngest age group was more positive, none have agreed that Zoom learning was more favourable when compared with the traditional face-to-face mode. Originality/valueGiven Zoom as the short-term replacement option under the COVID pandemic, this study will provide recommendations for educators/institutions to improve their design of the whole learning process for elderly learners on the Zoom platform.
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Background: Limited Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) studies address the mRNA, adenoviral vector-based, and protein subunit vaccines and their mix and match in real-world settings. BNT162v2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), mRNA- 1273 (Moderna), AZD1222 (AstraZeneca), and locally produced MVC-COV1901 (Medigen) are provided under the National Vaccination Program. Taiwan maintained a low circulation of Covid-19 infection until a major epidemic Omicron BA.2, began in April 2022. The study aimed to estimate the VE against moderate and severe (severity) and fatal diseases (death) associated with SARS-CoV-2 among individuals administered one, two, and three doses of vaccination and categorized by vaccine type combinations in this predominantly infection-naive population. Method(s): The study included CDC's administrative records from National Immunization Information System and National Infectious Disease Reporting System from March 21, 2021, to September 30, 2022. Criteria for Covid-19 severity followed WHO's guidelines, and the committee reviewed the records. The study calculated each individual's last administered date to disease onset (incidence rate (IR) per 100,000 person-days) to explore the incidence rate to compare the presence of risk probabilities. Multiple logistic regression was used for vaccine effectiveness analysis. Result(s): Of 23,933,482 individuals included in the study, and 6,202,496 infections, 30,976 severity, and 10,851 deaths were observed. Compared with three doses administered, three doses of AZD1222 or it as primary series plus mRNA or protein-based vaccines were at higher risk of severity (IR: 0.390-0.762), followed by mRNA-1273 (IR: 0.316-0.471), MVC-COV1901 (IR: 0.044-0.196) and BNT162v2 (IR: 0.061-0.197). As for the death outcome, AZD1222 was at higher fatal risk (IR: 0.127-0.269), followed by mRNA-1273 (IR: 0.086-0.125), MVC-COV1901 (IR: 0.013-0.064) and BNT162v2 (IR: 0.015-0.045). VE against the severity of AZD1222 or it as primary series ranged from 65.9% to 77.7%;mRNA vaccines ranged from 86.4% to 96.1%;and protein-based vaccines ranged from 91.4% to 96.2%. A similar pattern of VE against death ranged from 60.9% to 73.7%, 88.2% to 96.2%, and 90.3% to 95.6%. Conclusion(s): Individuals who received their primary series as AZD1222 might not have adequate protection against Covid-19 severity so encourage those vulnerable groups to receive additional booster doses. The study also indicated that protein subunit vaccines provide similar protection against severity and death as mRNA vaccines. (Table Presented).
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This report introduces the Taiwan Studies Programme (TSP) at the University of Nottingham and its development in different stages and fields. It also delineates the TS P's pathways to connect with the academic circle and the general public. Through its online magazine and platform, Taiwan Insight, it has established an online community that has been growing since 2017. The Covid-19 pandemic has helped further expanded TS P's reach and engagement with its audience through online seminars and workshops. The last part of the report indicates future tasks for the TSP.
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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.
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This study compares and contrasts teachers' and students' perceptions of online teaching and learning during the COVID-pandemic in higher education using the co-orientation model. Data were collected from 145 students and 31 teachers in two Hong Kong higher education institutions. The findings show that teachers were generally more negative about online teaching and learning than students, but such negative views should be reconsidered as students positively evaluated teachers' efforts to various degrees. It is suggested that during future online learning experiences (1) teachers and students set up expectations together to evaluate online interactions, (2) teachers should not be overly concerned about the potential embarrassment of using camera for class activities, and (3) teachers pay more attention to feedback delivery. Understanding these gaps will provide teachers with insights into more strategic communication and planning to manage the expectations and optimise the online experience for both parties.
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The spread of COVID-19 has led many people to turn to O2O platforms to buy daily supplies leading to a boom in the O2Oe-commerce industry. How to improve the service quality of O2O platforms to attract more customers has become an important concern for service providers. This study differs from previous statistical analysis studies in that it applies the data mining methodology to extract the key factors that affect the service quality of O2O e-commerce platforms. A hybrid multi-criteria decision-making method is then utilized to obtain the influence relationships and weights of the dimensions and criteria. The results suggest that privacy security, and reliability have a positive impact on social interaction, recommendation quality, efficiency and empathy. Empathy, social interaction and recommendation quality are the three most important factors for evaluating the service quality of O2Oe-commerce platforms. Finally, the theoretical implications and management implications based on the findings are discussed. © 2022 IEEE.
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The use of technology in supporting business processes has become an integral part of business in the post-pandemic era. This study focuses on two aspects of technology which are digitization and digitalization of business processes in tourism industry in Malaysia. Due to movement constraints in Covid-19 pandemic, most of the related studies are conducted based on media report, peered review articles and research letters or empirical articles. There is a lack of case study to examine the effectiveness of various factors and how these factors impact the recovery of the post- pandemic tourism industry. A research case in earlier study implies that digitization and digitalization have an impact in recovery of tourism industry and insight gained motivates this study on effectiveness of smart tourism in Malaysia. Hence, this study aims to investigate effectiveness of smart tourism by using a self-developed mobile application which enables multiple trips organize in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Test cases are conducted among eleven managers in travel agencies and positive feedback are collected on system quality, perceived mobility, mobile usefulness, mobile ease of use and usage intention. Findings show that ICT has a major role in reviving business processes when tourism enters recovery phase. The study also discovered the importance of understanding the new patterns emerging which may include new tour packages or travel destinations that are emerging in future. In future work, artificial intelligence or machine learning based smart tourism models are introduced to analyse the new pattern emerging. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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On analyzing the results of cell-based assays, we have previously shown that perilla (Perilla frutescens) leaf extract (PLE), a food supplement and orally deliverable traditional Chinese medicine approved by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, effectively inhibits SARS-CoV-2 by directly targeting virions. PLE was also found to modulate virus-induced cytokine expression levels. In this study, we explored the anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of PLE in a hamster model by examining viral loads and virus-induced immunopathology in lung tissues. Experimental animals were intranasally challenged with different SARS-CoV-2 doses. Jugular blood samples and lung tissue specimens were obtained in the acute disease stage (3-4 post-infection days). As expected, SARS-CoV-2 induced lung inflammation and hemorrhagic effusions in the alveoli and perivascular areas;additionally, it increased the expression of several immune markers of lung injury - including lung Ki67-positive cells, Iba-1-positive macrophages, and myeloperoxidase-positive neutrophils. Virus-induced lung alterations were significantly attenuated by orally administered PLE. In addition, pretreatment of hamsters with PLE significantly reduced viral loads and immune marker expression. A purified active fraction of PLE was found to confer higher antiviral protection. Notably, PLE prevented SARS-CoV-2-induced increase in serum markers of liver and kidney function as well as the decrease in serum high-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol levels in a dose-dependent fashion. Differently from lung pathology, monitoring of serum biomarkers in Syrian hamsters may allow a more humane assessment of the novel drugs with potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. Our results expand prior research by confirming that PLE may exert an in vivo therapeutic activity against SARS-CoV-2 by attenuating viral loads and lung tissue inflammation, which may pave the way for future clinical applications.
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The Korean New Deal emerged as an economic concept that aimed to transform the economy to make it greener by incorporating more digital services with stronger safety nets. This approach seemed to act as a countermeasure to overcome social dilemmas and address the economic recession caused by COVID-19. Additionally, the Serious Disaster Punishment Act came into effect on January 27, 2022. This bill focuses on strengthening criminal penalties for business owners in the event of an industrial accident that causes serious human harm. After its enforcement, significant interest was placed on construction sites, eventually leading to changes being made for a safer working environment and developing a more effective construction method. Off-Site-Construction (OSC) is one of the safest construction methods with minimal on-site work, ultimately avoiding potential industrial accidents. Increasingly, the need for the Building Information Modeling (BIM) design process along with modular architecture based on OSC is in demand. This research intends to suggest modular architecture based on OSC as an alternative in response to the increasing demand for on-site safety and for constructing reasonable, eco-friendly buildings for future generations. The ‘Modular Co-living Complex’ apartment house is considered the most applicable architectural form, therefore, technological improvements and overall efficiency is required. To propose a safer, more efficient, and sustainable building construction method, this study seeks to focus on the analysis of domestic and international case studies of the preceded modular co-living complexes;the applicability of BIM technology to maximize the performance in the modular architectural design process was also examined. Ultimately, this study suggests the ‘BIM-based modular integrated design’ model where the architectural project easily converges into a much simpler process and explores the most useful, effective methods in practice. © 2022 Architectural Institute of Korea.
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Building information modeling (BIM) and its associated digital tools have been widely adopted in designing, constructing, and operating infrastructures, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the influence of these communication technologies on the interorganizational trust among project team members is unclear. In this study, BIM and its communication tools were conceptualized based on the perception of trust in communication technology, to examine their influence on interorganizational trust. The effect of trust in communication technology on interorganizational trust was investigated through the mediation of obligatory cooperation and voluntary cooperation. In addition, partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to explore and predict the causal relationships of the model. The results show that trust in communication technology has no direct effect on interorganizational trust, but it positively affects the relationships via the mediation of obligatory cooperation. In comparison, trust in communication technology significantly impacts voluntary cooperation, which does not considerably influence interorganizational trust. Lastly, the findings of this study contribute new knowledge to trust theories for construction teams that use communication technologies to collaborate in BIM-enabled projects, and provide an explanation for the development of trust by communication technologies through improvement of the interorganizational trust in BIM-enabled projects. © 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, surveillance systems have been implemented to monitor public health and trace the infected individuals. The Malaysian government has imposed the standard operating procedure (SOP) which includes checking of temperature for fever, use of hand sanitizers, and record their name, contact number, and date of attendance at points of entry. This paper proposes a contactless tool for COVID-19 surveillance that integrates all the 3 processes into one. The system carries out each stage in sequential order for every person, starting with checking temperature, dispensing hand sanitizer, and lastly data profiling record. The temperature is done using infrared thermometry that automatically adjusts to forehead height. Hand sanitizer is automatically dispensed when hands are detected under the pump. Image processing and optical character recognition are used to capture the name and contact number that will be shown on a tag carried by the individual and saved to the database. The process is contactless and requires no human operator, and yields accurate temperature data, works as intended while demonstrating high accuracy and speed in extracting information with optical character recognition. © 2021 IEEE.
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Background: As an overlooked aspect of cancer, survivorship often begs the question of “what's next?” once treatment is complete. Physical activity following treatment has been shown to improve quality of life and decrease rates of recurrence. The MD Anderson Active Living After Cancer Program (ALAC) has recruited over 900 cancer survivors and caregivers since its establishment in 2013. This study seeks to examine how retention rates have changed since the transition to virtual classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether variables associated with retention differ between in person and virtual classes. Methods: A retrospective study of baseline surveys completed by participants (N=860) through Redcap was conducted, excluding those currently enrolled in ongoing ALAC classes. A chi-square test was performed to determine whether completion rates were significantly different between in person and virtual classes. A bivariate regression model was used to determine whether participant demographics varied between virtual and in person classes, based on insurance status and education level. A logistic regression was performed to investigate whether these factors were predictors of retention in either class. Results: Retention rates significantly differed between virtual (87.91%) and in person classes (77.20%);participants of virtual classes were two times as likely to complete the program compared to their in-person counterparts (P=0.00). Compared to in person classes, uninsured participants comprised a larger proportion of virtual classes, while privately and publicly insured participants comprised a smaller proportion (P=0.014). In both classes, participants who never received a high school diploma or GED constituted the most common education level. Having insurance and completion of some higher education were only weakly associated with retention. Conclusion: Given the success of ALAC since its creation, we are interested in expanding enrollment beyond MD Anderson Cancer Center. This study provides understanding of the benefits and limitations of virtual classes since the rise of COVID-19. Overall, greater retention rates demonstrate the utility of virtual classes. Maintaining a virtual aspect of future ALAC classes, such as a hybrid program, may help improve survivor outreach by identifying potentially overlooked groups.
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This study compares and contrasts teachers’ and students’ perceptions of online teaching and learning during the COVID-pandemic in higher education using the co-orientation model. Data were collected from 145 students and 31 teachers in two Hong Kong higher education institutions. The findings show that teachers were generally more negative about online teaching and learning than students, but such negative views should be reconsidered as students positively evaluated teachers’ efforts to various degrees. It is suggested that during future online learning experiences (1) teachers and students set up expectations together to evaluate online interactions, (2) teachers should not be overly concerned about the potential embarrassment of using camera for class activities, and (3) teachers pay more attention to feedback delivery. Understanding these gaps will provide teachers with insights into more strategic communication and planning to manage the expectations and optimise the online experience for both parties. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd
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SETTING: Five referral hospitals, South Korea.OBJECTIVE: To assess epidemiological changes in TB before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.DESIGN: This was a multicentre cohort study of 3,969 patients diagnosed with TB.RESULTS: We analysed 3,453 patients diagnosed with TB prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2016-February 2020) and 516 during the pandemic (March-November 2020). During the pandemic, the number of patients visits declined by 15% from the previous 4-year average, and the number of patients diagnosed with TB decreased by 17%. Patients diagnosed during the pandemic were older than those diagnosed before the pandemic (mean age, 60.2 vs. 56.6 years, P < 0.001). The proportion of patients to have primary TB at a younger age (births after 1980) among those diagnosed with TB was significantly lower during the pandemic than before (17.8% in 2020 vs. 23.5% in 2016, 24.0% in 2017, 22.5% in 2018, 23.5% in 2019; P = 0.005).CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a reduction in the number of visits to respiratory departments, leading to fewer patients being diagnosed with TB. However, our results suggest that universal personal preventive measures help to suppress TB transmission in regions with intermediate TB burden.
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COVID-19 , Cohort Studies , Humans , Middle Aged , Pandemics , Republic of Korea/epidemiology , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Microfluidic biochips are being utilized for clinical diagnostics, including COVID-19 testing, because they provide sample-to-result turnaround at low cost. Recently, microelectrode-dot-array (MEDA) biochips have been proposed to advance microfluidics technology. A MEDA biochip manipulates droplets of nano/picoliter volumes to automatically execute biochemical protocols. During bioassay execution, droplets are transported in parallel to achieve high-throughput outcomes. However, a major concern associated with the use of MEDA biochips is microelectrode degradation over time. Recent work has shown that formulating droplet transportation as a reinforcement-learning (RL) problem enables the training of policies to capture the underlying health conditions of microelectrodes and ensure reliable fluidic operations. However, the above RL-based approach suffers from two key limitations: 1) it cannot be used for concurrent transportation of multiple droplets;2) it requires the availability of CCD cameras for monitoring droplet movement. To overcome these problems, we present a multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) droplet-routing solution that can be used for various sizes of MEDA biochips with integrated sensors, and we demonstrate the reliable execution of a serial-dilution bioassay with the MARL droplet router on a fabricated MEDA biochip. To facilitate further research, we also present a simulation environment based on the PettingZoo Gym Interface for MARL-guided droplet-routing problems on MEDA biochips.
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Coronavirus has affected the entire global community owing to its transmission through respiratory droplets. This has led to the mandatory usage of surgical masks for protection against this lethal virus in many countries. However, the currently available disposable surgical masks have limitations in terms of their hydrophobicity and reusability. Here, we report a single-step spray-coating technique for the formation of a superhydrophobic layer of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on a melt-blown polypropylene (PP) surgical mask. The sprayed SWCNTs form a nanospike-like architecture on the PP surface, increasing the static contact angle for water from 113.6° ± 3.0° to 156.2° ± 1.8° and showing superhydrophobicity for various body fluids such as urine, tears, blood, sweat, and saliva. The CNT-coated surgical masks also display an outstanding photothermal response with an increase in their surface temperature to more than 90 °C within 30 s of 1 sun solar illumination, confirming its self-sterilization ability. Owing to the cumulative effect of the superhydrophobicity and photothermal performance of the SWCNTs, the CNT-coated masks show 99.99% higher bactericidal performance toward Escherichia coli than pristine masks. Further, the virucidal ability of the SWCNT-coated mask, tested by using virus-like particles, was found to be almost 99% under solar illumination. As the spray-coating method is easily scalable, the nanotube-coated mask provides cost-effective personal protection against respiratory diseases. © 2021 American Chemical Society.
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During the Covid-19 pandemic, it is challenging for travel agency manager to manage multiple city trips simultaneously, at the same time practice standard operating procedure (SOP). There are numerous mobile applications used by travel agency to enhance customer service quality, however there is a lack of mobile application (app) for city tour management to assist manager in managing multiple trips and maintain SOP. The purpose of this study is to provide a mobile platform that enables managers to obtain real-time trip information of any registered car driver while monitoring car drivers and current trip status. The primary sources of data are based on earlier study to capture user requirements. It has also identified issues include poor communication and time coordination between the manager, driver and tour guide. Observation and document analysis are the secondary sources of data. By observing existing mobile applications including e-hailing and tourism apps, main features are identified, and extensional part are presented. Document analysis as research tool to understand Covid-19 SOP in Malaysia. The research findings help to conceptualize user requirements and user interfaces are designed. Device-based testing is adopted in a research case to validate the functional requirements of the app. The manager found the app is usable and capable to monitor multiple trips simultaneously by viewing real-time data to achieve zero-physical contact with the car driver. However, a permanent network connection is required to update data. For future work, app possesses offline and online capability features will be proposed to resolve the issue. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.