Influence Mechanism of Construction Supply Chain Information Collaboration Based on Structural Equation Model

The construction supply chain has many stakeholders and complex and diverse information, which cause various information exchange problems that diminish project management efficiency. Thus, information collaboration is an important factor in the construction supply chain. This study aims to improve the efficiency of project management by analyzing the factors hindering information collaboration in the construction supply chain in order to determine their internal influencing mechanisms. The relevant data of 281 construction employees is collected by questionnaire survey. The relationship among stakeholders (SH), information technology (IT), external stability mechanism (ESM), and information collaboration is then quantitatively evaluated based on the structural equation model (SEM). The results show that stakeholders, information technology, and the external stability mechanism have an influence on information collaboration, while stakeholders do not have a significant influence. Information technology and the external stability mechanism significantly influence information collaboration and provide a mediation role between stakeholders and information collaboration. The innovation of this work is the quantification of information collaboration influencing factors in the construction supply chain and the analysis of its potential path relationship according to the mediating effect test. Its theoretical contribution is to address the research gap in construction supply chain information collaboration and expand the research scope of construction project collaborative management regarding information collaboration. Finally, this work has a practical contribution by providing suggestions for improving the efficiency of building supply information collaboration.

Frequency of asthma exacerbation in children during the coronavirus disease pandemic with strict mitigative countermeasures.

BACKGROUND: Strict countermeasures for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were undertaken in China without knowing their influence on asthma. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between the frequencies of asthma exacerbations and respiratory infections and air pollutants before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were direct consequences of countermeasures undertaken for the pandemic. METHODS: Asthma exacerbations and respiratory infections among hospitalized children in the permanent population of Guangzhou City, China, from February to June 2016-2019 (before the pandemic) to February to June 2020 (during the pandemic) were collected in this cross-sectional study in Guangzhou. RESULTS: The number of asthma exacerbation cases per month documented in the Guangzhou Women and Children's Hospital before (median: 13.5; range: 0-48) and during (median: 20; range: 0-34) the mitigative response to the COVID-19 pandemic was similar. The frequency of severe asthma exacerbation cases per month decreased, whereas that of mild asthma exacerbation cases per year increased (p = .004). The number of patients hospitalized with infectious respiratory diseases decreased from 146 (range: 90-172) per month before the pandemic to 42 (range: 33-57) per month during the pandemic (p = .004). Most pathogens and air pollutants decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The frequency of severe asthma exacerbations positively correlated to that of respiratory infections in children, but did not correlate to air pollutants. CONCLUSION: Strict countermeasures undertaken for the pandemic were associated with a decreased the frequency of infectious respiratory diseases and severe asthma exacerbations among urban children.

Evolutionary analysis and lineage designation of SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

The pandemic due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has caused immense global disruption. With the rapid accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences, however, thousands of genomic variants of SARS-CoV-2 are now publicly available. To improve the tracing of the viral genomes' evolution during the development of the pandemic, we analyzed single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in 121,618 high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genomes. We divided these viral genomes into two major lineages (L and S) based on variants at sites 8782 and 28144, and further divided the L lineage into two major sublineages (L1 and L2) using SNVs at sites 3037, 14408, and 23403. Subsequently, we categorized them into 130 sublineages (37 in S, 35 in L1, and 58 in L2) based on marker SNVs at 201 additional genomic sites. This lineage/sublineage designation system has a hierarchical structure and reflects the relatedness among the subclades of the major lineages. We also provide a companion website (www.covid19evolution.net) that allows users to visualize sublineage information and upload their own SARS-CoV-2 genomes for sublineage classification. Finally, we discussed the possible roles of compensatory mutations and natural selection during SARS-CoV-2's evolution. These efforts will improve our understanding of the temporal and spatial dynamics of SARS-CoV-2's genome evolution.

Epidemic Dynamics and Clinical Features of COVID-19 and Government Measures to Control Disease Transmission in Southern Hainan Island, China (preprint)

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the epidemic dynamics and clinical features of COVID-19 in southern Hainan Island, China, and provide experience for other tropical areas of the world. Methods: This retrospective study included confirmed cases of COVID-19 in southern Hainan. All enrolled patients were treated in Sanya, and data on epidemiological and clinical features of the disease and infection prevention and control measures adopted by the local government during the epidemic were collected. Results: Of the 74 cases, 71 (95.95%) were imported from Wuhan, Hubei Province (47, 63.51%), other cities in Hubei Province (11, 14.86%), or provinces other than Hubei and Hainan (13, 17.57%). Three (4.06%) patients were infected in southern Hainan, including one autochthonous case in Sanya. Fifty-four cases (72.97%) were detected in Sanya, and 27 cases (27.03%) were diagnosed in other cities. The rate of severe or critical cases was 28.38% (21/74), and mortality was 2.7% (2/74). The serum lactate levels and base excess of severe-critical patients were higher than those of patients with mild-moderate disease. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that chronic conditions were risk factors for severe and critical COVID-19. Seventy-four patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 over a 22-day period in Sanya, and the epidemic period in the city was 48 days. The outbreak was controlled rapidly because the local government adopted strict infection prevention and control measures. Conclusions: The clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in Hainan Island were similar to those reported in other regions. In Sanya, the rate of severe and very severe cases was higher than in other regions; however, most cases were imported, and there was only one autochthonous case. The rapid control of the outbreak in Sanya may be related to the tropical climate, adoption of strict infection prevention and control measures, daily reporting of new cases, increased public awareness about the epidemic, and other emergency actions implemented by the local government.