Health persuasion through emoji: How emoji interacted with information source to predict health behaviors in COVID-19 situation.

By providing health information through visual communication, public health organizations can effectively guide and persuade people to adopt healthy behaviors, which is critical in the context of public health crises. In this study, drawing upon congruity theory and the premise of visual communication, we examined how information source and emoji may shape people's preventive and self-protective behaviors through perceived fear (PF) and perceived controllability (PC). Using a convenience sample of 210 participants, we conducted a 2 (emoji: with versus without) × 2 (information source: official versus unofficial) between-subject experiment. The results indicated that, compared with nonuse, the use of emoji in information resulted in higher PF, stronger preventive behavioral intention (PBI), and lower PC. In addition, a strong interaction effect was observed between emoji and the source of information on PBI. When emoji were added to health information released by an unofficial organization, the text outperformed that from an official agency in persuading people to adopt preventive behaviors. Furthermore, we determined that PF mediated the effect of emoji on PBI, but only for unofficial information sources. These results provide a reference for enhancing the effectiveness of health information including visual cues, such as emoji.

Design of a Virtual Reality Interactive Training System for Public Health Emergency Preparedness for Major Emerging Infectious Diseases: Theory and Framework.

BACKGROUND: Sufficient public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) is the key factor in effectively responding to and recovering from major emerging infectious diseases (MEIDs). However, in the face of MEIDs, PHEP is insufficient, so it is necessary to improve PHEP. The rapid development of virtual reality and human-computer interaction provides unprecedented opportunities for innovative educational methods. OBJECTIVE: This study designed a virtual reality interactive training system (VRITS) to provide an effective path for improving PHEP in the context of MEIDs so that the public can effectively respond to and recover from MEIDs. METHODS: This study used interactive narrative, situated learning and human-computer interaction theories as a theoretical framework to guide the design of the system. We used the literature research method and the Delphi method; consulted multidisciplinary experts, such as infectious diseases, disease control, psychology, and public health personnel, to determine the educational content framework; and set up an interdisciplinary team to construct an operating system framework for the VRITS. RESULTS: We named the VRITS "People's War Against Pandemic." The educational content framework includes 20 knowledge, emotion, and behavior skills in 5 aspects (cooperating with prevention and control work, improving emergency response ability, guaranteeing supplies and equipment, preparing economic resources, and maintaining physical and mental health). The operating system framework includes virtual interactive training, knowledge corner, intelligent evaluation, and community forum modules, and the core module is the virtual interactive training module. In this module, users control virtual characters to move in various scenes, and then identify and analyze the controllability and harmfulness of the evolving pandemic and select the correct prevention and control strategy to avoid infecting themselves and others. CONCLUSIONS: The development and sharing of the multidisciplinary theoretical framework adopted by People's War Against Pandemic can help us clarify the design ideas and assumptions of the VRITS; predict training results; understand the ability of training to change emergency knowledge, emergency emotion, and behavioral responses to MEIDs; and promote the development of more effective training systems based on virtual reality.

Hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccines among medical students in Southwest China: a cross-sectional study.

Vaccine hesitancy is an obstacle to COVID-19 vaccination. This study aims to inform the vaccine hesitancy and analyze related factors toward COVID-19 vaccination among medical students in China, so as to provide suggestions for increasing vaccines uptake. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among medical students in a medical university and a health school. A total of 2,196 valid questionnaires were received. 41.2% vaccine hesitancy was reported among medical students in total. Female (OR = 1.336) and individuals with higher education (OR = 1.724) reported slightly higher vaccine hesitancy. Being in low-risk areas and no need to get vaccinated (OR = 2.285), fear of serious consequences of vaccination (OR = 1.929), being in good health and no need to be vaccinated (OR = 1.891), being concerned about short-term side effects (OR = 1.793) and being concerned that the vaccine was ineffective (OR = 1.694) had higher prevalence of vaccine hesitancy. Those who were believing the specialty of study or work environment made vaccination necessary (OR = 0.378), believing they were susceptible to COVID-19 (OR = 0.411) and the vaccine was free (OR = 0.519) were more willing to get vaccinated. Confidence in vaccines and perceptions of benefits and risk are associated with vaccine hesitancy. It is important to strengthen vaccine health literacy education for medical students and enhance vaccine confidence. Countries need to supervise the public opinions in social media, television broadcasting and other media, so as to ensure the correct orientation of public opinion. Open and transparent evidence-based information is also needed which can help improve the vaccination coverage rate of the public.

Healthcare workers' (HCWs) attitudes and related factors towards COVID-19 vaccination: a rapid systematic review.

Herd immunity through vaccination is a key measure to control COVID-19 pandemic. However, vaccine hesitancy remains a public health threat, which is still common among healthcare workers (HCWs). This systematic review aimed to synthesise evidence on HCWs' attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and analyse associated factors to provide information for vaccine policy development and practice. We searched PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and three Chinese databases for literature published on 12 February 2021. Two researchers screened the literature independently, and 13 studies were included in the systematic review. Vaccine acceptance varied widely and ranged from 27.7% to 77.3%. HCWs had positive attitudes towards future COVID-19 vaccines, while vaccine hesitancy was still common. Demographic variables such as men, older age and physicians were positive predictive factors. Women and nurses had more vaccine hesitancy. Previous influenza vaccination and self-perceived risk were facilitators. Concerns for safety, efficacy and effectiveness and distrust of the government were barriers. Influences of direct (COVID-19) patient care towards vaccination intention were less conclusive. Tailored communication strategies were needed to increase the uptake rate of COVID-19 vaccines among HCWs. More importantly, more data and information on the safety and efficacy of vaccines should be provided with transparency.

A database of human gait performance on irregular and uneven surfaces collected by wearable sensors

Gait analysis has traditionally relied on laborious and lab-based methods. Data from wearable sensors, such as Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), can be analyzed with machine learning to perform gait analysis in real-world environments. This database provides data from thirty participants (fifteen males and fifteen females, 23.5 ± 4.2 years, 169.3 ± 21.5 cm, 70.9 ± 13.9 kg) who wore six IMUs while walking on nine outdoor surfaces with self-selected speed (16.4 ± 4.2 seconds per trial). This is the first publicly available database focused on capturing gait patterns of typical real-world environments, such as grade (up-, down-, and cross-slopes), regularity (paved, uneven stone, grass), and stair negotiation (up and down). As such, the database contains data with only subtle differences between conditions, allowing for the development of robust analysis techniques capable of detecting small, but significant changes in gait mechanics. With analysis code provided, we anticipate that this database will provide a foundation for research that explores machine learning applications for mobile sensing and real-time recognition of subtle gait adaptations.

Antibacterial Hybrid Hydrogels.

Bacterial infectious diseases and bacterial-infected environments have been threatening the health of human beings all over the world. In view of the increased bacteria resistance caused by overuse or improper use of antibiotics, antibacterial biomaterials are developed as the substitutes for antibiotics in some cases. Among them, antibacterial hydrogels are attracting more and more attention due to easy preparation process and diversity of structures by changing their chemical cross-linkers via covalent bonds or noncovalent physical interactions, which can endow them with various specific functions such as high toughness and stretchability, injectability, self-healing, tissue adhesiveness and rapid hemostasis, easy loading and controlled drug release, superior biocompatibility and antioxidation as well as good conductivity. In this review, the recent progress of antibacterial hydrogel including the fabrication methodologies, interior structures, performances, antibacterial mechanisms, and applications of various antibacterial hydrogels is summarized. According to the bacteria-killing modes of hydrogels, several representative hydrogels such as silver nanoparticles-based hydrogel, photoresponsive hydrogel including photothermal and photocatalytic, self-bacteria-killing hydrogel such as inherent antibacterial peptides and cationic polymers, and antibiotics-loading hydrogel are focused on. Furthermore, current challenges of antibacterial hydrogels are discussed and future perspectives in this field are also proposed.

Surgical treatment of diabetic foot ulcers during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Diabetic foot ulcers are among the most serious complications of diabetes. If left untreated, these ulcers can lead to severe infection and gangrene; in some instances, they may result in death. Thus, timely treatment of diabetic foot ulcers is extremely important. However, timely patient treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic is particularly challenging, because of the higher volume of patients and the need to ensure safety of medical personnel. This article describes a proposed strategy for diagnosis and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, based on experiences with infection and control strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.