Comparison of the Effectiveness of Different Covid-19 Vaccines among Plwh

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated promising serologic responses in PLWH receiving a third dose of vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. However, real-world clinical effectiveness, especially during the pandemic caused by B.1.1.529 variant, remains less investigated. Method(s): PLWH seeking HIV care at our hospital from 2021/6 to 2022/6 were included and advised to receive the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals were excluded from this study if they had been previously diagnosed with COVID-19. Different types of COVID-19 vaccines were available in the vaccination program, including BNT162b2, mRNA-1273 (either 50 or 100 mug), MVC-COV1901 and NVX-CoV2373 vaccines. PLWH were screening for the occurrence of COVID-19 through the reporting system of notifiable diseases of Taiwan CDC, and were tested for anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) IgG every 1 to 3 months. Participants were followed for 180 days until the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccination, occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, seroconversion of anti-N IgG, death, or loss to follow-up, whichever occurred first. Result(s): 1,496 PLWH were included: 631 (42.2%) receiving 100 mug mRNA-1273 vaccine, 468 (31.3%) 50 mug mRNA-1273 vaccine, and 328 (21.9%) BNT162b2 vaccine, 65 (4.3%) MVC-COV1901 vaccine, and 4 (0.3%) NVX-CoV2373 vaccine for the third dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. 297 (19.9%) PLWH were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the follow-up period, including 92 (14.6%) who received 100 mug mRNA-1273, 111 (23.7%) 50 mug mRNA-1273, 79 (24.1%) BNT162b2 and 15 (21.7%) either MVC-COV1901 or NVX-CoV2373;in addition, 98 PLWH had seroconversion of anti-N IgG during follow-up, including 23, 50, 19 and 6 PLWH who received 100 mug mRNA-1273, 50 mug mRNA-1273, BNT162b2, and either MVC-COV1901 or NVX-CoV2373, respectively. Similar rates of new infection with SARS-CoV-2 or seroconversion of anti-N IgG were demonstrated regardless the vaccine type of the third dose (log-rank test, p=0.46). Factors associated with a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection and seroconversion of anti-N IgG included an age >50 years (aOR, 0.67;95% CI, 0.49-0.91) and newly infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) (aOR, 1.41;95% CI, 1.09-1.83). Conclusion(s): Our study demonstrated that clinical effectiveness of the third dose of different vaccines available to PLWH was similar in preventing SARSCoV- 2 infection or seroconversion of anti-N IgG Taiwan. PLWH aged less than 50 years and those with newly diagnosed HCV infection were at higher risk of acquiring COVID-19. Kaplan-Meier survival curve for acquiring COVID-19 or seroconversion of anti-N IgG in PLWH receiving different COVID-19 vaccination of the third dose (log-rank test, 4 groups, p = 0.46).

Insights into the performance and kinetics of face mask-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon as peroxymonosulfate activator for gatifloxacin removal

The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to the increase in face mask waste globally. In this study, face mask-derived carbocatalysts doped with nitrogen (N-Mask) were fabricated through one-step pyrolysis of 1:5 w/w mixture of face mask and urea at different temperatures to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for gatifloxacin (GAT) degradation. The N-Mask prepared at 800 degrees C (N-Mask800) exhibited the highest GAT degradation rate with k(app) = 0.093 min(-1) which could be attributed to its high N doping level (17.1 wt%) and highest specific surface area (237.13 m(2) g(-1)). The relationship between k(app), catalyst loading and PMS dosage at various pHs on GAT degradation were successfully established. It was also found that the GAT degradation rate was inhibited in the sequential operating mode compared to the simultaneous operating mode. It was construed that adsorption and catalysis share the same active sites. Deterioration in catalytic performance was observed over successive cycles due to the surface chemistry change during catalysis, and difficulty in catalyst recovery after treatment. Radical scavenger study revealed that both radical and nonradical pathways were involved during GAT degradation, with nonradical pathway playing a dominant role. XPS analysis revealed that pyrrolic N and graphitic N can facilitate PMS activation via radical and nonradical pathways. Based on the LC-MS/MS analysis, the GAT degradation intermediates were identified, and the possible degradation pathways were tentatively proposed. Overall, this study demonstrated that carbocatalyst derived from face mask could be transformed into costeffective and environmentally friendly PMS activator for environmental wastewater treatment applications.

Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on the HIV testing and health care delivery at a university hospital in Taiwan, 2020-2021

Background: To contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, non-pharmacologic interventions, including lockdown and social distancing, may have adverse impact on access to HIV testing and care. This study investigated the impact of Covid-19 on HIV testing and care at a major hospital in Taiwan in 2020-2021. Method(s): The numbers of clients seeking anonymous HIV voluntary counseling and testing were compared 2 years before (2018-2019) and 2 years after Covid-19 outbreak (2020-2021). People living with HIV (PLWH) who sought care at the hospital during 2018-2021 were included to examine the status of HIV care delivery and disposition. Result(s): The annual number of HIV screening tests performed had significantly decreased from 2507 to 2794 in 2018 and 2019, respectively, to 2161 and 1737 in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The rate of discontinuation of HIV care among PLWH was 3.7% in 2019, which remained unchanged in 2020 (3.7%) and 2021 (3.8%). The respective percentage of annual plasma HIV RNA testing <2 times increased from 8.4% to 7.8% in 2018 and 2019 to 7.0% and 10.7% in 2020 and 2021, so was that of annual syphilis testing <2 times (10.1% and 8.8%-7.9% and 12.0%). The rates of plasma HIV RNA <200 copies/ml ranged from 97.0% to 98.1% in 2018-2021. Conclusion(s): During the Covid-19 pandemic, access to HIV counseling and testing was significantly limited. While the number of HIV-related testing decreased, the impact of Covid-19 on the continuity of antiretroviral therapy and viral suppression among PLWH appeared to be minimal in Taiwan. Copyright © 2022

Applying LTOPSIS and SWOT to Evaluate Competitive Ability of Leisure Farm after COVID-19

Leisure farm tourism would not only allow tourists to experience agricultural activities but also can increase farmers' income and deeply root rural culture. However, during the recent period of COVID-19 leisure farm should consider and evaluate its competitive ability for attracting tourists to go to leisure farm again. In this research LTOPSIS and SWOT technology is applied to evaluate and analyze competitive ability for leisure farms. According to quasi-experimental analysis, case leisure farm should be operated its business carefully due to uncertainty of COVID-19. Leisure farm should retain some fund to avoid the possibility of collapse in the future. © 2022 ACM.

Food loss and waste: A carbon footprint too big to be ignored

Eight to ten percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food loss and waste. Tackling the challenges of food loss and sustainable food waste management is key to fulfilling the Paris Agreement. However, among the Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement, very few countries make references to food loss and waste. In this work, we reviewed the problem of food loss and waste from a global viewpoint and highlighted the opportunities of managing food loss and waste towards carbon mitigation and beyond. The importance of developing a coherent collaboration among all associated stakeholders was implied. Some recent policy developments and the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic are discussed followed by the summarization of potential solutions to tackling the fool loss and waste challenge.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis-associated hemorrhage in vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia: Catastrophic outcome if delayed diagnosis and treatment

The authors reported the clinical course of a 58-year-old female suffering from cerebral venous sinus thrombosis associated with hemorrhage after the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 vaccination. Emergent decompressive craniectomy was performed, and aggressive blood transfusion was given. Nevertheless, progressive intracerebral hemorrhage and thrombocytopenia developed. A delayed diagnosis was made on a rare complication of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) with a positive result of anti-platelet factor 4 antibodies (PF4 Ab). The patient died 4 days postoperative due to brainstem failure.

EFFECTIVENESS of COVID-19 VACCINATION among PEOPLE LIVING with HIV during AN OUTBREAK

Background: A large-scale community COVID-19 outbreak occurred between April and August 2021 in Taiwan, where non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have been strictly implemented and COVID-19 vaccination program was not implemented until 1 March, 2021. Although COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for at-risk populations, the vaccine effectiveness in people living with HIV (PLWH) remains incompletely understood. We evaluated the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination among PLWH during a COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan. Methods: From 1 March to 30 September, 2021, all adult PLWH without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection were included and advised to receive 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The government-funded vaccination campaign provided different types of COVID-19 vaccine, including ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222), BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), mRNA-1273 (Moderna), and MVC-COV1901 (Medigen) vaccines. The primary endpoint of this study was the vaccine effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 among PLWH, which was estimated by comparing incidence rates between the unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, and fully vaccinated groups in a dynamic cohort. Results: During the study period, 3131 PLWH were included, with 99.9% on antiretroviral therapy, 99.8% being MSM and median CD4 count of 627 cells/mm3. In the dynamic cohort, 3128 PLWH contributed 516892 person-days of follow-up (PDFU) to the unvaccinated group, 2476 PLWH contributed 139163 PDFU to the partially vaccinated group, and 236 PLWH contributed 12011 PDFU to the fully vaccinated group (Table). During the follow-up, 37 PLWH (1.2%) acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections. The incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 6.4 per 100,000 PDFU in the unvaccinated group, which decreased to 2.9 and 0 per 100,000 PDFU in the partially and fully vaccinated groups, respectively. The adjusted incidence rate ratios were 0.47 (95% CI, 0.17-1.32) in the partially vaccinated group and <0.01 in the fully vaccinated group compared with the unvaccinated group, resulting in vaccine effectiveness rates of 53.4% and 99.9% for single-and 2-dose COVID-19 vaccination, respectively. Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccination was clinically effective among PLWH during the outbreak setting where NPIs were strictly implemented.

A Model-Based Convolutional Neural Network for Covid-19 and Related Lung Diseases Prediction with Graphical Interface Operation and Chip Design

The trend of X-ray films recognition will become more and more important. This paper mainly uses neural networks to predict the symptoms of lung X-ray films of real patients for training and builds a user interface to facilitate image prediction. In addition to training and predicting the network, the core of the neural network will be implemented using a chip to speed up the computation that includes Winograd convolution, Max-pooling and Flatten operation. According to the experimental results, our method has a recognition rate of 88.1% for Covid-19. It can be seen that the method we propose has a high recognition rate for identifying Covid-19 and other pneumonia diseases. In addition, the operation speed of the proposed Winograd architecture is twice as fast as the traditional method. © 2021 IEEE.

Mechanism of sovereign medicines in Sanren Decoction on COVID-19 based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

Objective: To investigate the mechanism of sovereign medicines in Sanren Decoction on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) through network pharmacology and molecular docking methods. Methods: The main active ingredients of sovereign medicines in Sanren Decoction (Armeniacae Semen Amarum, Amomun kravanh Pierre ex Gagnep, and Coicis Semen) were obtained and screened from by TCMSP and TCMID V2.0, combined with related research. Using UniPort database to query the target proteins corresponding to the active ingredients, then a component-target network was constructed by Cytoscape 3.7.2. PPI network was constructed through the STRING website, and cytoHubba was used to analysis the key subnetworks. CTD database was used to analyze GO and KEGG enrichment of the active ingredient target proteins of Sanren Decoction. Using the active ingredients of sovereign medicines in Sanren Decoction and related chemical drugs such as lopinavir as ligands, molecular docking with the SARS-CoV-2 3CL hydrolase was performed through the CB-Dock website. Results: Sovereign medicines in Sanren Decoction had 39 active ingredients, corresponding to 168 target proteins. The GO enrichment analysis obtained 25 biological processes (BP) items, 14 related items of cell composition (CC), and two molecular function (MF) item, respectively. KEGG enrichment screened 36 signaling pathways such as innate immune system, cytokine signaling in immune system, signaling by interleukins. The molecular docking results suggested that the active ingredients of mairin, ziziphin_qt, and oleanolic acid of sovereign medicines in Sanren Decoction had good binding energy with SARS-CoV-2 3CL hydrolase, and the Vina score of them were similar to those of lopinavir (the 3CLpro inhibitor) and remdesivir (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitor). Conclusion: Sovereign medicines in Sanren Decoction may participate in inflammation-related signaling pathways by regulating inflammatory factors, regulating multiple physiological processes of the disease with multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-pathways. It plays a certain intervention role in the treatment of COVID-19 and its active ingredients have potential resistance to SARS-CoV-2.