The rapid change in mental health among college students after introduction of on-campus quarantine during the 2022 Shanghai COVID-19 lockdown.

Objectives: Among the various impacts of disasters in terms of emotions, quarantine has been proven to result in significant increases in mental health problems. Studies of psychological resilience during outbreaks of epidemics tend to focus on long-term social quarantine. In contrast, insufficient studies have been conducted examining how rapidly negative mental health outcomes occur and how these outcomes change over time. We evaluated the time course of psychological resilience (over three different phases of quarantine) among students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University to investigate the influence of unexpected changes on college students. Methods: An online survey was conducted from 5 to 7 April 2022. A structured online questionnaire was administered using a retrospective cohort trial design. Before 9 March (Period 1), individuals engaged in their usual activities without restrictions. From 9 to 23 March (Period 2), the majority of students were asked to remain in their dormitories on campus. From 24 March to early April (Period 3), restrictions were relaxed, and students were gradually allowed to participate in essential activities on campus. We quantified dynamic changes in the severity of students' depressive symptoms over the course of these three periods. The survey consisted of five sets of self-reported questions: demographic information, lifestyle/activity restrictions, a brief mental health history, COVID-19-related background, and the Beck Depression Inventory, second edition. Results: A total of 274 college students aged 18-42 years (mean = 22.34; SE = 0.24) participated in the study (58.39% undergraduate students, 41.61% graduate students; 40.51% male, 59.49% female). The proportion of students with depressive symptoms was 9.1% in Period 1, 36.1% in Period 2, and 34.67% in Period 3. Depressive symptoms increased notably with the introduction of the quarantine in Periods 2 and 3. Lower satisfaction with the food supplied and a longer duration of physical exercise per day were found to be positively associated with changes in depression severity in Periods 2 and 3. Quarantine-related psychological distress was more evident in students who were in a romantic relationship than in students who were single. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms in university students rapidly increased after 2 weeks of quarantine and no perceptible reversal was observed over time. Concerning students in a relationship, ways to take physical exercise and to relax should be provided and the food supplied should be improved when young people are quarantined.

A green strategy to recycle the waste PP melt-blown materials: From 2D to 3D construction.

The demand for polypropylene (PP) melt-blown materials has dramatically increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has caused serious environmental problems because of the lack of effective treatment for the waste PP melt-blown materials. In this study, we propose a green and sustainable recycling method to create PP sponges from waste PP melt-blown material for oil spill cleaning by freeze-drying and thermal treatment techniques. The recycling method is simple and without secondary pollution to the environment. The developed recycling method successfully transforms 2D laminar dispersed PP microfibers into elastic sponges with a 3D porous structure, providing the material with good mechanical properties and promotes its potential application in the field of oil spill cleaning. The morphology structure, thermal properties, mechanical properties, and oil absorption properties are tested and characterized. The PP sponges with a three-dimensional porous network structure show an exceedingly low density of >0.014 g/cm3, a high porosity of <98.77 %, and a high water contact angle range of 130.4-139.9°. Moreover, the PP sponges own a good absorption capacity of <47.61 g/g for different oil and solvents. In particular, the compressive modulus of the PP sponges is 33.59-201.21 kPa, which is higher than that of most other fiber-based porous materials, indicating that the PP sponges have better durability under the same force. The excellent comprehensive performance of the PP sponges demonstrates the method developed in this study has large application potential in the field of the recycle of waste PP melt-blown materials.

Alum/CpG Adjuvanted Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine with Protective Efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 and Variants.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have emerged, including five variants of concern (VOC) strains listed by the WHO: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron. Extensive studies have shown that most of these VOC strains, especially the currently dominant variant Omicron, can escape the host immune response induced by existing COVID-19 vaccines to different extents, which poses considerable risk to the health of human beings around the world. In the present study, we developed a vaccine based on inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and an adjuvant consisting of aluminum hydroxide (alum) and CpG. The immunogenicity and safety of the vaccine were investigated in rats. The candidate vaccine elicited high titers of SARS-CoV-2-spike-specific IgG antibody and neutralizing antibody in immunized rats, which not only neutralize the original SARS-CoV-2, but also showed great cross-neutralization activity against the Beta, Delta and Omicron variants.

The Effect of Delayed Oncology Surgery on Survival Outcomes for Patients With Gastric Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence-Based Strategies.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of delay in gastrectomy on gastric cancer patients' survival outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Databases including PubMed, MEDLINE (using the Ovid platform), Embase, the Cochrane Library, COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge, COVID-19 Research Database (WHO), ClinicalTrials.gov, and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform were searched for studies of any design and in any setting that included patients with gastric cancer from their inception to July 31, 2021. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of research endpoints in each study were calculated. Statistical analyses were performed with Stata 12.0. Results: A total of 8 studies involving 4,052 gastric cancer patients were eligible and included in the present meta-analysis. The result of the meta-analysis was shown that delaying surgery for less than 8 weeks may not decrease OS (HR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.80~1.04, p = 0.167) and DFS (HR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.62~1.50, p = 0.872) in gastric cancer. Our meta-analysis also illustrated that delay in surgery for more than 4 weeks (HR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.56~1.27, p = 0.421), 6 weeks (HR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.61~1.27, p = 0.490), and 8 weeks (HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.80~1.07, p = 0.314) was also not associated with a decreased OS. Conclusion: A delay in surgery of less than 8 weeks is not associated with worse overall survival for patients with gastric cancer.

Surveillance and Response to Imported Malaria During the COVID-19 Epidemic - Anhui Province, China, 2019-2021.

What is already known about this topic?: China was certified malaria-free on June 30, 2021. However, imported malaria continuously threatens the effort to prevent re-establishment of malaria in China. What is added by this report?: Measures such as international travel restrictions, entry quarantine, and screening in fever clinics during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) period were associated with a significant decrease of imported malaria cases in Anhui Province, a higher proportion of non-Plasmodium falciparum (non-P. falciparum) malaria reported infections, and a higher proportion of cases requiring medical attention at their initial visit. What are the implications for public health practices?: It is necessary to be vigilant about imported malaria during the COVID-19 epidemic, especially for non-P. falciparum infections which are more difficult to detect, and to promote research, development, and introduction of more sensitive and specific point-of-care detection methods for non-P. falciparum species.

Heterologous boosting with third dose of coronavirus disease recombinant subunit vaccine increases neutralizing antibodies and T cell immunity against different severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants.

Waned vaccine-induced immunity and emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants with potential for immune escape pose a major threat to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Here, we showed that humoral immunity components, including anti-S + N, anti-RBD IgG, and neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), gradually waned and decreased the neutralizing capacity against emerging Omicron variants at 3 and 6 months after two inactivated COVID-19 vaccinations. We evaluated two boosting strategies with either a third dose of inactivated vaccine (homologous, I-I-I) or a recombinant subunit vaccine (heterologous, I-I-S). Both strategies induced the production of high levels of NAbs with a broad neutralizing capacity and longer retention. Interestingly, I-I-S induced 3.5-fold to 6.8-fold higher NAb titres than I-I-I, with a broader neutralizing capacity against six variants of concern, including Omicron. Further immunological analysis revealed that the two immunization strategies differ considerably, not only in the magnitude of total NAbs produced, but also in the composite pattern of NAbs and the population of virus-specific CD4+ T cells produced. Additionally, in some cases, heterologous boosted immunity induced the production of more effective epitopes than natural infection. The level of I-I-S-induced NAbs decreased to 48% and 18% at 1 and 3 months after booster vaccination, respectively. Overall, our data provide important evidence for vaccination strategies based on available vaccines and may help guide future global vaccination plans.

Emerging Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Mutation Hotspots Associated With Clinical Outcomes and Transmission.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Understanding the influence of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 gene on clinical outcomes is critical for treatment and prevention. Here, we analyzed all high-coverage complete SARS-CoV-2 sequences from GISAID database from January 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021, to mine the mutation hotspots associated with clinical outcome and developed a model to predict the clinical outcome in different epidemic strains. Exploring the cause of mutation based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and RNA-editing enzyme, mutation was more likely to occur in severe and mild cases than in asymptomatic cases, especially A > G, C > T, and G > A mutations. The mutations associated with asymptomatic outcome were mainly in open reading frame 1ab (ORF1ab) and N genes; especially R6997P and V30L mutations occurred together and were correlated with asymptomatic outcome with high prevalence. D614G, Q57H, and S194L mutations were correlated with mild and severe outcome with high prevalence. Interestingly, the single-nucleotide variant (SNV) frequency was higher with high percentage of nt14408 mutation in RdRp in severe cases. The expression of ADAR and APOBEC was associated with clinical outcome. The model has shown that the asymptomatic percentage has increased over time, while there is high symptomatic percentage in Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. These findings suggest that mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 genome may have a direct association with clinical outcomes and pandemic. Our result and model are helpful to predict the prevalence of epidemic strains and to further study the mechanism of mutation causing severe disease.

Comparison of clinical and serological features of RT-PCR positive and negative COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: In December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began in Wuhan, China, and led to a global epidemic. We aimed to compare the clinical and serological features of COVID-19 patients with positive and negative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted from 9 February to 4 April 2020. COVID-19 patients at Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, China (125 total cases; 87 RT-PCR positive and 38 RT-PCR negative) were included. COVID-19 serology was assessed by colloidal gold assay. All cases were analyzed for demographic, clinical, and serological features. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in most demographic features, clinical symptoms, complications or treatments of RT-PCR positive and negative COVID-19 patients. Serum IgM/IgG was positive in 82 (94%) and 33 (87%) RT-PCR positive and negative cases, respectively. IgM was detectable as early as 3 days after symptom onset and was undetectable 60 days after symptom onset. By contrast, IgG could be detected only 10 days after symptom onset and reached its peak 60 days after symptom onset. CONCLUSIONS: Serological tests performed during the appropriate time window of disease progression could be valuable auxiliary methods to RT-PCR in COVID-19 patients.

Association analysis framework of genetic and exposure risks for COVID-19 in middle-aged and elderly adults.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a current pandemic, and studies reported that older people have higher rates of infection and more severe cases. Recently, studies have revealed the involvement of both genetic and exposure factors in the susceptibility of COVID-19. However, the correlation between them is still unclear. Thus, we aimed to investigate the correlation between genetic and exposure factors associated with COVID-19. We retrieved the information of 7362 participants with COVID-19 testing results from the UK Biobank. We identified genetic factors for COVID-19 by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary analysis. In this study, 21 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 15 exposure factors [smoking, alcohol intake, daytime dozing, body mass index (BMI), triglyceride, High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, dementia, atmosphere NO2 concentration, socioeconomic status, education qualification, ethnicity, and income] were found to be potential risk factors of COVID-19. Then, a gene-exposure (G × E) association network was built based on the correlation among and between these genetic factors and exposure factors. rs140092351, a SNP on microRNA miR1202, not only had the most significant association with COVID-19, but also interacted with multiple exposure factors. Dementia, alcohol consumption, daytime dozing, BMI, HDL, and atmosphere NO2 concentration were among most significant G × E interactions with COVID-19 infection (P = 0.001).

Unprecedented Temporary Reduction in Global Air Pollution Associated with COVID-19 Forced Confinement: A Continental and City Scale Analysis

<p>Shortly after the outbreak of the novel infectious disease (COVID-19) started at the end of 2019, it turned into a global pandemic, which caused the lockdown of many countries across the world. Various strict measures were adopted to reduce anthropogenic activities in order to prevent further spread and infection of the disease. In this study, we utilized continental scale remotely sensed data along with city scale in situ air quality observations for 2020 as well as data from the baseline period (2015–2019) to provide an early insight on air pollution changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, by combining both continental and city scales. For the continental scale analysis, data of NO2, SO2, and O3 were acquired from the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) and data of aerosol optical depth (AOD) were collected from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS). For city scale analysis, data of NO2, CO, PM2.5, O3, and SO2 were derived from ground-based air quality observations. Results from satellite observations at the continental scale showed that concentrations of NO2, SO2, and AOD substantially dropped in 2020 during the lockdown period compared to their averages for the baseline period over all continents, with a maximum reduction of ~33% for NO2 in East Asia, ~41% for SO2 in East Asia, and ~37% for AOD in South Asia. In the case of O3, the maximum overall reduction was observed as ~11% in Europe, followed by ~10% in North America, while a slight increase was found in other study regions. These findings align with ground-based air quality observations, which showed that pollutants such as NO2, CO, PM2.5, and SO2 during the 2020 lockdown period decreased significantly except that O3 had varying patterns in different cities. Specifically, a maximum reduction of ~49% in NO2 was found in London, ~43% in CO in Wuhan, ~38% in PM2.5 in Chennai, and ~48% in SO2 in Beijing. In the case of urban O3, a maximum reduction of ~43% was found in Wuhan, but a significant increase of ~47% was observed in Chennai. It is obvious that restricted human activities during the lockdown have reduced the anthropogenic emissions and subsequently improved air quality, especially across the metropolitan cities.</p>