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Objective To explore the effects of perceived risk of COVID-19 of college students on their anxiety and depression, as well as the roles of attention to negative information and perceived social support, so as to provide theoretical basis for colleges and universities to formulate corresponding intervention measures. Methods By the convenience sampling method, totally 1 404 college students from Shaanxi and Henan provinces were investigated online by using General Information Questionnaire, Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Pandemic Scale, Attention to Negative Information Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Perceived Social Support Scale. SPSS 20. 0 was used for data analysis, Pearson correlation method was used to explore the correlation between variables. The mediating effect of attention to negative information and the moderating effect of perceived social support were analyzed by PROCESS. Results The scores of anxiety and depression of the 1 404 college students included in the study were 4.03 +/- 4.48 and 6.21 +/- 5.41, respectively. The detection rate of anxiety symptom was 29.9%, and that of depression symptom was 44.4%. The risk perception of COVID-19 epidemic of the college students was positively correlated with attention to negative information (r = 0.373, P<0.001), anxiety (r = 0.227, P<0.001), and depression (r = 0.226, P<0.001). Anxiety (r = 0.553, P<0.001) and depression 0 = 0.497, P<0.001) were positively correlated with attention to negative information, while perceived social support was negatively correlated with the risk perception of the COVID-19 (r = - 0.154, P<0.001), attention to negative information (r= - 0.259, P<0.001), anxiety (r = - 0.321, P<0.001) and depression (r=- 0.278, P<0.001). The risk perception of COVID-19 affected the anxiety and depression of the students mainly through the mediating effect of attention to negative information. The total effect of risk perception of COVID-19 and anxiety was 0. 227, and the mediating effect accounted for 80. 18% of the total effect. The total effect of risk perception of COVID-19 and depression was 0. 228, and the mediating effect accounted for 90. 35% of the total effect. Perceived social support played a moderating role in the last half of this mediating model. Conclusion Risk perception of COVID-19 indirectly affects the occurrence of anxiety and depression in college students through attention to negative information, and perceived social support plays a moderating role in this mediating model. The findings suggest that when a risk event occurs, colleges and universities should pay attention to guiding students to adjust their attentional bias to external information, and give students enough care and support to improve their mental health.Copyright © 2023 Xi'an Medical University. All rights reserved.
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La pandemia de COVID-19 ha infligido grandes estragos a la población y en especial al personal de salud. Los esfuerzos de reanimación exigen modificaciones potenciales de las guías internacionales existentes de reanimación cardiopulmonar (RCP) debido al elevado índice de contagiosidad del virus SARS-CoV-2. Se considera que hasta 15% de los casos de COVID-19 tiene una enfermedad grave y 5% padece un trastorno crítico con una mortalidad promedio del 3%, la cual varía según sean el país y las características de los pacientes. La edad y las comorbilidades como la hipertensión arterial, enfermedad cardiovascular, obesidad y diabetes incrementan la mortalidad hasta 24%. También se ha informado un aumento reciente del número de casos de paro cardíaco extrahospitalario (PCEH). Aunque el paro cardíaco (PC) puede ser efecto de factores diversos en estos pacientes, en la mayoría de los casos se ha demostrado que el origen es respiratorio, con muy pocos casos de causa cardíaca. Se debe considerar la indicación de iniciar o continuar las maniobras de RCP por dos razones fundamentales: la posibilidad de sobrevida de las víctimas, que hasta la fecha se ha registrado muy baja, y el riesgo de contagiar al personal de salud, que es muy alto.The COVID-19 pandemic is having a large impact on the general population, but it has taken a specially high toll on healthcare personnel. Resuscitation efforts require potential modifications of the present Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) international guidelines because of the transmissibility rate of the new SARS-CoV 2 virus. It has been seen that up to 15% of COVID-19 patients have a severe disease, 5% have a critical form of infection and the mean death rate is 3%, although there are significant differences according to the country that reports it and patients' baseline conditions that include age, presence of arterial hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or obesity. In these high risk subjects, mortality might go up to 24%. There are also reports of a recent increase in out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (OHCA) victims. Cardiac arrest (CA) in these subjects might be related to many causes, but apparently, that phenomenon is related to respiratory diseases rather than cardiac issues. In this context, the decision to start or continue CPR maneuvers has to be carefully assessed, because of the low survival rate reported so far and the high contagion risk among healthcare personnel.
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COVID-19 , Heart Arrest , Adult , COVID-19/complications , Cardiology , Child , Heart Arrest/therapy , Heart Arrest/virology , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Mexico , Pandemics , Retrospective Studies , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Objective: To compare the efficacy of the combination of abidol, lopinavir/ritonavir plus recombinant interferon alpha-2b (rIFNalpha-2b) and the combination of lopinavir/ritonavir plus rIFNalpha-2b for patients with COVID-19 in Zhejiang province. Method(s): A multicenter prospective study was carried out to compare the efficacy of triple combination antiviral therapy and dual combination antiviral therapy in 15 medical institutions of Zhejiang province during January 22 to February 16, 2020. All patients were treated with rIFNalpha-2b (5 million U, 2 times/d) aerosol inhalation, in addition 196 patients were treated with abidol (200 mg, 3 times/d) + lopinavir/ritonavir (2 tablets, 1 time/12 h) (triple combination group) and 41 patients were treated with lopinavir/ritonavir (2 tablets, 1 time/12 h) (dual combination group). The patients who received triple combination antiviral therapy were further divided into three subgroups: <48 h, 3-5 d and >5 d according the time from the symptom onset to medication starting. The therapeutic efficacy was compared between triple combination group and dual combination group, and compared among 3 subgroups of patients receiving triple combination antiviral therapy. SPSS 17.0 software was used to analyze the data. Result(s): The virus nucleic acid-negative conversion time in respiratory tract specimens was (12.2+/-4.7) d in the triple combination group, which was shorter than that in the dual combination group [(15.0+/-5.0) d] (t=6.159, P<0.01). The length of hospital stay in the triple combination group [12.0 (9.0, 17.0) d] was also shorter than that in the dual combination group [15.0 (10.0, 18.0) d] (H=2.073, P<0.05). Compared with the antiviral treatment which was started within after the symptom onset of in the triple combination group, the time from the symptom onset to the viral negative conversion was 13.0 (10.0, 17.0), 17.0 (13.0, 22.0) and 21.0 (18.0, 24.0) d in subgroups of 48 h, 3-5 d and >5 d, respectively (Z=32.983, P<0.01), while the time from antiviral therapy to viral negative conversion was (11.8+/-3.9), (13.5+/-5.1) and (11.2+/-4.3) d, respectively(Z=6.722, P<0.05). Conclusion(s): The triple combination antiviral therapy of abidol, lopinavir/litonavir and rIFNalpha-2b shows shorter viral shedding time and shorter hospitalization time, compared with the dual combination antiviral therapy;and the earlier starting triple combination antiviral therapy will result in better antiviral efficacy.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
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Objective To explore the effects of perceived risk of COVID-19 of college students on their anxiety and depression, as well as the roles of attention to negative information and perceived social support, so as to provide theoretical basis for colleges and universities to formulate corresponding intervention measures. Methods By the convenience sampling method, totally 1 404 college students from Shaanxi and Henan provinces were investigated online by using General Information Questionnaire, Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Pandemic Scale, Attention to Negative Information Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Perceived Social Support Scale. SPSS 20. 0 was used for data analysis, Pearson correlation method was used to explore the correlation between variables. The mediating effect of attention to negative information and the moderating effect of perceived social support were analyzed by PROCESS. Results The scores of anxiety and depression of the 1 404 college students included in the study were 4.03 ± 4.48 and 6.21 ± 5.41, respectively. The detection rate of anxiety symptom was 29.9%, and that of depression symptom was 44.4%. The risk perception of COVID-19 epidemic of the college students was positively correlated with attention to negative information (r = 0.373, P<0.001), anxiety (r = 0.227, P<0.001), and depression (r = 0.226, P<0.001). Anxiety (r = 0.553, P<0.001) and depression 0 = 0.497, P<0.001) were positively correlated with attention to negative information, while perceived social support was negatively correlated with the risk perception of the COVID-19 (r = - 0.154, P<0.001), attention to negative information (r= - 0.259, P<0.001), anxiety (r = - 0.321, P<0.001) and depression (r=- 0.278, P<0.001). The risk perception of COVID-19 affected the anxiety and depression of the students mainly through the mediating effect of attention to negative information. The total effect of risk perception of COVID-19 and anxiety was 0. 227, and the mediating effect accounted for 80. 18% of the total effect. The total effect of risk perception of COVID-19 and depression was 0. 228, and the mediating effect accounted for 90. 35% of the total effect. Perceived social support played a moderating role in the last half of this mediating model. Conclusion Risk perception of COVID-19 indirectly affects the occurrence of anxiety and depression in college students through attention to negative information, and perceived social support plays a moderating role in this mediating model. The findings suggest that when a risk event occurs, colleges and universities should pay attention to guiding students to adjust their attentional bias to external information, and give students enough care and support to improve their mental health. © 2023 Xi'an Medical University. All rights reserved.
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The filtration efficiency deterioration over operating time due to exposure to particles, organic solvents and other factors is an obvious defect of electret filter, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Electrostatic enhanced method has been proposed as a promising way to improve the filtration efficiency and service time of electret filters without increasing the pressure drop. In this work, the effect of discharge electrode structure and operation mode of the electrostatic enhanced structure(EES) on the filtration efficiency of commercial pleated electret filters were studied firstly, then the EES was installed in a special designed prototype air purifier, two key indicators of air purifiers(clean air delivery rate (CADR) and cumulate clean mass (CCM)) were tested to evaluate the actual performance improvement of electret filters by the electrostatic enhanced method. It was found that the discharge electrode structure had significant influence on the filtration efficiency and multi-wire array electrode was more suitable for the discharge electrode to pleated filter to ground mesh structure used in this paper. The decayed electrostatic charges of pleated electret filter cannot be recharged again through the EES in actual operation condition. The filtration efficiency improvement of the test pleated electret filters was dominantly contributed by particle charging. The filter polarizing induced by the external electric field was helpful in increasing the filtration efficiency when the particles were charged while its effect on uncharged particles was almost negligible. Besides, the actual performance of the prototype air purifier indicated that the EES can alleviate the filtration efficiency deterioration of test electret filters and extend the service life of H11 and H13 filters by more than 3 and 1.5 times respectively according to the CCM test results. © 2023 IOP Publishing Ltd.
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Objective: To compare the efficacy of the combination of abidol, lopinavir/ritonavir plus recombinant interferon alpha-2b (rIFNalpha-2b) and the combination of lopinavir/ritonavir plus rIFNalpha-2b for patients with COVID-19 in Zhejiang province. Method(s): A multicenter prospective study was carried out to compare the efficacy of triple combination antiviral therapy and dual combination antiviral therapy in 15 medical institutions of Zhejiang province during January 22 to February 16, 2020. All patients were treated with rIFNalpha-2b (5 million U, 2 times/d) aerosol inhalation, in addition 196 patients were treated with abidol (200 mg, 3 times/d) + lopinavir/ritonavir (2 tablets, 1 time/12 h) (triple combination group) and 41 patients were treated with lopinavir/ritonavir (2 tablets, 1 time/12 h) (dual combination group). The patients who received triple combination antiviral therapy were further divided into three subgroups: <48 h, 3-5 d and >5 d according the time from the symptom onset to medication starting. The therapeutic efficacy was compared between triple combination group and dual combination group, and compared among 3 subgroups of patients receiving triple combination antiviral therapy. SPSS 17.0 software was used to analyze the data. Result(s): The virus nucleic acid-negative conversion time in respiratory tract specimens was (12.2+/-4.7) d in the triple combination group, which was shorter than that in the dual combination group [(15.0+/-5.0) d] (t=6.159, P<0.01). The length of hospital stay in the triple combination group [12.0 (9.0, 17.0) d] was also shorter than that in the dual combination group [15.0 (10.0, 18.0) d] (H=2.073, P<0.05). Compared with the antiviral treatment which was started within after the symptom onset of in the triple combination group, the time from the symptom onset to the viral negative conversion was 13.0 (10.0, 17.0), 17.0 (13.0, 22.0) and 21.0 (18.0, 24.0) d in subgroups of 48 h, 3-5 d and >5 d, respectively (Z=32.983, P<0.01), while the time from antiviral therapy to viral negative conversion was (11.8+/-3.9), (13.5+/-5.1) and (11.2+/-4.3) d, respectively(Z=6.722, P<0.05). Conclusion(s): The triple combination antiviral therapy of abidol, lopinavir/litonavir and rIFNalpha-2b shows shorter viral shedding time and shorter hospitalization time, compared with the dual combination antiviral therapy;and the earlier starting triple combination antiviral therapy will result in better antiviral efficacy.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
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This study focuses on characterizing microplastics and non-microplastics released from surgical masks (SMs), N95 masks (N95), KN95 masks (KN95), and children's masks (CMs) after simulating sunlight aging. Based on micro-Raman spectrum analysis, it was found that the dominant particles released from masks were non-microplastics (66.76–98.85%). Unfortunately, CMs released the most microplastics, which is 8.92 times more than SMs. The predominant size range of microplastics was 30–500 µm, and the main polymer types were PP and PET. Compared with the whole SMs, the microplastic particles released from the cutting-SMs increased conspicuously, which is 12.15 times that of the whole SMs. The main components of non-microplastics include β-carotene, microcrystalline cellulose 102, and eight types of minerals. Furthermore, non-microplastics were mainly fibrous and fragmented in appearance, similar to the morphology of microplastics. After 15 days of UVA-aging, the fibers of the face layers had cracks to varying degrees. It was estimated that these four types of masks can release at least 31.5 trillion microplastics annually in China. Overall, this study demonstrated that the masks could release a large quantity of microplastics and non-microplastics to the environment after sunlight aging, deserving urgent attention in the future study. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
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With the prevalence of COVID-19, wearing medical surgical masks has become a requisite measure to protect against the invasion of the virus. Therefore, a huge amount of discarded medical surgical masks will be produced, which will become a potential hazard to pollute the environment and endanger the health of organisms without our awareness. Herein, a green and cost-effective way for the reasonable disposal of waste masks becomes necessary. In this work, we realized the transformation from waste medical surgical masks into high-quality carbon-nickel composite nanowires, which not only benefit the protection of the environment and ecosystem but also contribute to the realization of economic value. The obtained composite carbon-based materials demonstrate 70 S m-1conductivity, 5.2 nm average pore diameters, 234 m2g-1surface areas, and proper graphitization degree. As an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the prepared carbon composite materials demonstrate a specific capacity of 420 mA h g-1after 800 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g-1. It also displays good rate performance and decent cycling stability. Therefore, this study provides an approach to converting the discarded medical surgical masks into high-quality carbon nanowire anode materials to turn waste into treasure. © 2023 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
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With the prevalence of COVID-19, wearing medical surgical masks has become a requisite measure to protect against the invasion of the virus. Therefore, a huge amount of discarded medical surgical masks will be produced, which will become a potential hazard to pollute the environment and endanger the health of organisms without our awareness. Herein, a green and cost-effective way for the reasonable disposal of waste masks becomes necessary. In this work, we realized the transformation from waste medical surgical masks into high-quality carbon-nickel composite nanowires, which not only benefit the protection of the environment and ecosystem but also contribute to the realization of economic value. The obtained composite carbon-based materials demonstrate 70 S m-1 conductivity, 5.2 nm average pore diameters, 234 m2 g-1 surface areas, and proper graphitization degree. As an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the prepared carbon composite materials demonstrate a specific capacity of 420 mA h g-1 after 800 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g-1. It also displays good rate performance and decent cycling stability. Therefore, this study provides an approach to converting the discarded medical surgical masks into high-quality carbon nanowire anode materials to turn waste into treasure.
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Objective: To evaluate the immunogenicity effect of CpG 7909 and Alum adjuvant to inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Method(s): Mice were immunized with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines prepared with CpG 7909 and/or Alum adjuvant by intramuscular injection for 0 and 21 days. To evaluate the immunogenicity of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines with different adjuvants, serum samples were collected on Day 14, 28, 35 and 42 after immunization to detect the neutralizing antibody titers by microneutralization assay. Spleen samples were collected on Day 42 after immunization to detect the cellular immunity by flow cytometry and ELISPOT. Result(s): Compared with the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines adjuvanted with CpG 7909 or Alum only, the combination of CpG 7909 and Alum adjuvant significantly increased neutralizing antibody titers in mice and showed great cross-neutralization activity against the Delta variant. It also significantly induced the activation of specific IL-4, IFN-gamma and GCB cells. Conclusion(s): The combination of CpG 7909 and Alum adjuvant synergistically enhanced the humoral and cellular immune responses induced by inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and showed great cross-neutralization activity against the Delta variant. Copyright © 2022, Chinese Journal of New Drugs Co. Ltd. All right reserved.
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Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected approximately 2 million individuals worldwide;however, data regarding fatal cases have been limited. Objective To report the clinical features of 162 fatal cases of COVID-19 from 5 hospitals in Wuhan between December 30, 2019 and March 12, 2020. Methods The demographic data, signs and symptoms, clinical course, comorbidities, laboratory findings, computed tomographic (CT) scans, treatments, and complications of the patients with fatal cases were retrieved from electronic medical records. Results The median patient age was 69.5 (interquartile range: 63.0-77.25) years, and 80% of the patients were over 61 years. A total of 112 (69.1%) patients were men. Hypertension (45.1%) was the most common comorbidity, while 59 (36.4%) patients had no comorbidity. At admission, 131 (81.9%) patients had severe or critical COVID-19, whereas 39 (18.1%) patients with hypertension or chronic lung disease had moderate COVID-19. In total, 126 (77.8%) patients received antiviral treatment, while 132(81.5%) patients received glucocorticoid treatment. A total of 116 (71.6%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and 137 (85.1%) patients received mechanical ventilation. Most patients received mechanical ventilation before ICU admission. Approximately 93.2% of the patients developed respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome. There were no significant differences in the inhospital survival time among the hospitals (P=0.14). Conclusion Young patients with moderate COVID-19 without comorbidity at admission could also develop fatal outcomes. The in-hospital survival time of the fatal cases was similar among the hospitals of different levels in Wuhan. © Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Purpose: To determine if Apadenoson or Regadenoson has a therapeutic effect in attenuating hyper-inflammation and improving survival rate in K18-hACE2mice or Syrian hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2. Method(s): 6-8 weeks old male K18-hACE2mice were divided into Control group that received vehicle;Test group 1 that received the drug (Apadenoson or Regadenoson) 24hrs prior to challenge with SARS-CoV-2;and Test Group 2 (Drug-delay), that received the drug with a 5 hr delay post-viral infection (n=6/grp). Viral dose was 1250 PfuHong Kong/VM20001061/2020 delivered via intranasal route. Drug was delivered subcutaneously using 1007D ALZET pumps. 6 weeks old Syrian hamsters were divided into Control group that received Vehicle and Virus (n=4) and 2 test groups (n=5/group) that received Apadenoson+Virus and Regadenoson+Virus. Drugs were delivered by 2ML2 ALZET pumps (4ug/kg/hr). Hamsters were inoculated intratracheally with 750PFU SARS-CoV-2 WA1 strain prior to treatment. Mice were weighed and clinical scores recorded daily. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum were collected along with lungs. Plethysmography was done on days 0, 2, 4 and 7. Result(s): Apadenoson administered post-infection was efficacious in decreasing weight loss, improving clinical score, and increasing the survival rate in K18-hACE2 mice, i.e. 50% survival was observed at Day 5 and at Day 7 post-infection for drug given before or after infection respectively. Apadenoson given post-infection improved the histopathology that was observed in the vehicle control group, decreased pro-inflammatory IL-6, IFN-gamma, MCCP-1, MIP-1beta, IP-10, and Rantes in serum, increased anti-inflammatory Ang1-7 levels, and decreased monocytes in BALF. 42% of mice that received Regadenoson pre-challenge survived infection compared to 6.25% in the vehicle or Drug delay (drug given post-infection) groups. Viral titers in the lungs of Regadenoson-treated mice were found decreased. Treatment also significantly decreased CD4+, CD8+T cells, eosinophils, and neutrophils in BALF. Plethysmography, in hamsters, showed significant improvement of pulmonary function parameters, Rpef and PenH, following treatment with Apadenoson given post-infection. Apadenoson cleared the virus from BALF and maintained Ang1-7 levels. Both drugs decreased plasma IFN-gamma levels. Conclusion(s): Treatment with Apadenoson attenuated inflammation, improved pulmonary function, decreased weight loss, and enhanced survival rate following infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus. The results demonstrate the translational significance of Apadenoson in the treatment of COVID-19.
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Purpose: To determine if IgM has a direct effect in preventing SARS-CoV-2 replication in Vero E6 cells, and delaying or preventing disease in infected K18- hACE2 mice. Method(s): 1) Vero E6 cells, grown to confluence in 12 well plates, were used to test the effect of IgM in reducing the number of plaque-forming units (PFU).There were 4 groups: a) 25PFU WA-1 SARS-CoV-2 was combined with 20, 5 or 0.8mug IgM in growth medium, and incubated for 1hr in a final volume of 500ul. 100mul was added to Vero E6 cells in replicate wells and incubated for 1hr;b) 100mul of 20, 5 or 0.8mug IgM was added to Vero E6 cells and incubated. Media was aspirated and the cells were then inoculated with 25PFU WA-1 and incubated for 1hr;c) Virus control - as above, but with no IgM;d) No virus or IgM. FBS growth medium containing Avicel was overlain in the wells and incubated for 48 hours. Virus replication was stopped by incubating with 10% buffered formalin. Following removal of formalin, plates were stained with Giemsa violet, dried, and photographed. 2) A COVID -19 Spike- ACE2 binding assay kit was used to determine if IgM (2ug, 4.5ug, 20ug, 45ug IgM) inhibits the interaction between the Spike-receptor binding domain (S-RBD) and Angiotensin I ConvertingEnzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. 3) K18-hACE2 mice were divided into 3 groups based on treatment regimen;Group 1: with IgM, No virus;2: with Saline, with virus;3: with IgM, with virus. 35ug IgM was injected intraperitoneal in a single dose, 2 days prior to infection. Mice were innoculated intranasally with 1250 pfu of HK SARS-CoV-2. Result(s): 1) Exposure of 25PFU SARS-CoV-2 to IgM (at all concentrations) prior to incubation with Vero E6 cells, inhibited its replication in Vero E6 cells. When Vero E6 cells were incubated with IgM prior to infection, no plaques were seen in wells with 20ug and 5ug IgM but were observed in wells with 0.8ug IgM. Plaques were also observed in the Virus alone group, but none were seen in the 'No IgM-No virus' group. 2) 45ug IgM/100uls inhibited the binding of S-RBD to ACE2 by ~94-100%, 20ug IgM/100uls inhibited it by ~80%, and 2 or 4.5ug/100ul by ~70-75%. Control without IgM did not inhibit the S-RBD-ACE-2 binding. 3) Pretreatment with a single low dose IgM injection delayed weight loss and mortality. Conclusion(s): IgM inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in Vero cells in vitro. It also inhibits the interaction between S-RBD that is present on the viral surface and the ACE2 receptor, by binding to S-RBD. A single low dose of IgM given prechallenge delayed disease in infected mice. The discovery that IgM interferes with the formation of the S-RBD-ACE2 complex, and that a single low dose can delay disease, indicates its translational potential as a vaccine/therapeutic to prevent or treat COVID-19.
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Coronavirus pandemics have influenced people's daily life seriously since 2019. Authorized organizations suggested people wear a mask in public areas can significantly reduce the probability of getting infected. Thus, we proposed a method based on a simple convolutional neural network (CNN) to perform mask detection. The whole developing process was divided into two stages and mainly used three datasets (dataset_l, dataset_2 and dataset_3). Dataset_1 has images of people with and without masks. Dataset_2 and dataset_3 have one more category-images of people wearing masks incorrectly. The first stage was to train the model based on dataset_1 and it achieved 100% accuracy on validation set. It could also be applied to another two similar datasets without any training on them with accuracy 73.55% and 66.80% respectively. In the second stage, to detect people wearing masks incorrectly, the same model was trained based on dataset_2. The accuracy of this model reached 99.34%. However, when applying it directly to dataset_3, only 44.50% accuracy was achieved. To improve the accuracy, the distribution of dataset_2 and dataset_3 was rearranged. Finally, the accuracy of the model for dataset_3 was nearly 80%. We concluded that generally deep learning models would have better generalization on mask-detection tasks and our model was good at handling two-label mask dataset. © 2022 IEEE.
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Background: Published data suggest no increased rate of fare of autoimmune infammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD) after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination;however, the studies are limited by small sample size, short follow up or at risk of selection bias (voluntary physician reports or patient surveys). Objectives: To study fares of AIIRD within three months of the frst dose of an anti-SARS-COV2 mRNA vaccine. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of consecutive AIIRD patients ≥ 12 years old, across six public hospitals in Singapore who received at least one dose of an mRNA (Pfzer/BioNTech or Moderna) vaccine. Data were censored at the frst post-vaccine clinic visit when the patient had fared or if ≥ three months had elapsed since the frst dose of the vaccine, whichever came frst. Predictors of fare were determined by Cox proportional hazards analysis and time to fare was examined using a Nelson Aalen cumulative hazard estimate (Figure 1). Results: 2339 patients (74% Chinese, 72% female) of median (IQR) age 64 (53, 71) years were included in the interim analysis (Table 1). 2112 (90%) had the Pfzer/BioNTech vaccine and 195 (8%) had Moderna, with a median (IQR) interval of 21 (21, 23) days between the two doses. The most common AIIRD diagnoses were Rheumatoid arthritis (1063, 45%), Psoriatic arthritis (296, 12.6%) and Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (288, 12.3%). 186 (8%) were treated with biologics/targeted disease modifying agents. 2125 (91%) patients were in low disease activity or remission. Treatment was interrupted for vaccination in only 18 (0.8%) patients. Seven (0.3%) patients had previous COVID-19 infection. 452 (19%) fares were recorded during 9798.8 patient-months [4.6/100 patient-months, median (IQR) follow up duration 4.2 (3.3, 5.3) months], of which 272 (11.6%) patients fared within the 3-month period of interest and 180 (7.7%) fared outside of the 3-month period (Table 1). Median (IQR) time-to-fare was 40.5 (18, 56.6) days. 60 (22.1%) were mild and self-limiting, 170 (62.5%) were mild-moderate and 42 (15.4%) were severe. 190 (69.8%) of those who fared required escalation of treatment and 15 (5.5%) required hospital admission. 239 (10.2%) had improved disease activity after the vaccine. On multivariate Cox regression analysis, patients in the oldest age tertile [median (IQR) 74 (71, 79) years] were less likely to fare [HR 0.80 (95% CI 0.63, 1.00), p = 0.05] Patients with infammatory arthritis (compared with connective tissue disease, vasculitis and others) and patients with baseline active disease were more likely to fare [HR 1.72 (95% CI 1.35, 2.20), p < 0.001 and 1.82 (95% CI 1.39, 2.39), p < 0.001 respectively] Conclusion: There was a moderately high rate of AIIRD fares after mRNA vaccination;however, there was no clustering of fares in the immediate post-vaccine period to suggest causality. Older patients were less likely to fare, while those with infammatory arthritis and active disease at baseline were more likely to fare.
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We previously reported a novel polymeric surface coating, namely, HaloFilm™ that can immobilize and extend the antimicrobial activity of chlorine on surfaces. In this study, we demonstrated the continuous antiviral efficacy of HaloFilm when applied on stainless steel and cotton gauze as two representative models for non-porous and porous surfaces against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Forty-eight hours post HaloFilm application and chlorination and 2 h post the viral challenge, the inoculum titre was reduced by 2.25 ± 0.33 and ≥4.36 ± 0.23 log10 TCID50 on non-porous and porous surfaces, respectively. The half-life of the virus was shorter (13.86 min) on a HaloFilm-coated surface than what has been reported on copper (46.44 min).
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Humans , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Chlorine/pharmacology , Polymers/pharmacology , Stainless Steel , CopperABSTRACT
COVID-19 has caused many disruptions in conducting smart health research. Both in-lab sessions and in-home deployments had to be delayed or canceled because in-person meetings were no longer allowed. Our research project on "in-home monitoring with personalized recommendations to reduce the stress of caregivers of Alzheimer's patients" was affected. To enable continued research without any person-to-person contact, we created an out-of-the-box deployment solution. The solution is multifaceted and deals with everything from technical adjustments, deployment documentation, EMA additions, additional monitoring software, use of videos, Zoom and TeamViewer, budget changes, new logistics, and changes to IRBs. This article briefly describes the purpose and design of the original system and then articulates the necessitated changes. We also provide lessons learned and an initial evaluation of the effectiveness of the solutions after the changes. The evaluation surveys the opinions of seven people that assembled, initialized, and deployed our system in home environments. We believe that the various solutions we developed can be applied to other similar projects, and will be helpful to new projects even when personal contact returns.