Association of Long COVID with Seeing Difficulties Among Adults in the United States

Objectives: Many patients with long COVID experience at least one vision problem. This study determines the association of long COVID with seeing difficulties. Method(s): We conducted a cross-sectional analysis with the Census Household Pulse Survey data (N = 51,288). We excluded adults who reported contracting COVID within the past four weeks, those with missing data on seeing difficulty when infected with COVID, and long COVID. Long COVID was defined as having symptoms lasting three months or longer that the adults did not have prior to having COVID. Adults self-reporting to a question on seeing with "some difficulty," "a lot of difficulty," or "unable to do" were classified as having "seeing difficulties." We conducted Chi-square tests and logistic regressions with replicate weights. Logistic regressions adjusted for long COVID, sex, age, race and ethnicity, marital status, income, education, food sufficiency, health insurance, remote work, vaccine doses, region, depression, and anxiety. Result(s): During the survey period (November 2 - November 14, 2022), 37.3% reported seeing difficulties, and 14.4% reported long COVID. A higher percentage of adults with long COVID reported seeing difficulties than those without long COVID (47.6% vs. 31.9%). In the fully adjusted logistic regression model, compared to adults with no COVID or without long COVID, those with long COVID had greater odds of seeing difficulties (AOR = 1.50, 95%CI = 1.32, 1.70). We did not observe a statistically significant difference between adults without long COVID and no COVID (AOR = 1.01, 95%CI = 0.93, 1.10 p = 0.7888). Conclusion(s): One in eight adults had long COVID. Adults with long COVID had significantly higher odds of seeing difficulties than those without long COVID. Therefore, a follow-up of patients with long COVID needs to include screening for seeing difficulties. More research is needed on the links between long Covid and vision care.Copyright © 2023

Evaluation of Virtual Reality Application in Construction Teaching: A Comparative Study of Undergraduates

Construction courses are characterized by a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge;however, the teaching of practical knowledge is often absent due to safety and cost considerations. VR can improve the teaching of practical knowledge by facilitating interactions between teachers and students through virtual means, regardless of location, which is a weakness of current lecture-based teaching, especially in the COVID-19 era. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the effect and discuss the prospect of VR in construction teaching, with a comparative study of 50 students who were evenly divided into two groups and taught using traditional teaching and VR teaching, respectively. This experiment shows that VR teaching improves the students' learning enthusiasm and satisfaction, especially in terms of practical knowledge. Additionally, students believe the combination of traditional and VR teachings can be more helpful in construction teaching. The findings of this research strengthened the advantages of VR in delivering practical knowledge in construction teaching.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, can the development of coastal ecological resources create a safe leisure and tourism environment, maintain ecology, and promote economic development in villages?

Context and aims. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of environmental development in the seashore waters of Maluan Bay on the current situation of sustainable development of coastal villages. Methods. We used SPSS statistical software (ver. 26.0) to analyse the data with statistical verification, Student's t-test and ANOVA, the used the inverview method to solicit opinions on the questionnarie results, and, finally, conducted multivariate inspection and analysis to explore the results. Key results. The development of seashore waters can effectively enhance people's positive perceptions of the current economic, social, environmental and coastal ecological development, and increase their willingness to revisit and purchase property. Also, the insufficient number of security guards in villages can be improved, the environmental awareness of residents and their willingness to participate in decision-making can be enhanced. Conclusions and implications. Providing tourists with better tourism facilities, transportation, hotel and restaurant management and planning will increase leisure opportunities and solve environmental and waste problems such as in this scenic location. It will help achieve the goal of sustainable circular economy of water.

Impact of Absolute Lymphocyte Count (Alc) Frequency on Detection of Dimethyl Fumarate- Associated Lymphopenia

Introduction Lymphopenia is a known adverse event of dimethyl fumarate (DMF) with treatment dis-continuation recommended for patients with severe prolonged (>=6 months) lymphopenia. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic burden on healthcare systems, we retrospectively examined the impact of absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) monitoring frequency (every-3-months vs every-6-months) on lym-phopenia detection. Methods Samples from patients enrolled in phase 3 trials (DEFINE/CONFIRM) and the extension study (ENDORSE) were retrospectively analysed using 3-month or 6-month intervals. Lymphopenia was defined as ALC <0.91x109/L and severe lymphopenia as ALC <0.5x109/L. Times to the first lymphopenia event and first severe lymphopenia event were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods. Results The analysis included 741 patients. There were 355 lymphopenia cases (76 severe) with 3-month monitoring, and 314 cases (70 severe) with 6-month monitoring. Over 120 months, incidence of first lympho-penia event was significantly different for 3-month vs 6-month monitoring (difference range: 2.64%-6.54%;P=0.0088). Incidence of first severe lymphopenia event was not significantly different for the two intervals (P=0.5866). Proportions of patients with severe prolonged lymphopenia with 3-month and 6-month moni-toring were similar (4.0% vs 4.2%). Conclusions The results of this study may be informative to clinicians managing pandemic-related health-care resource burdens.

Advance in human coronaviruses research of host interactions.

2019-novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a highly pathogenic human CoV that first emerged in Wuhan in 2019. 2019-nCoV has a zoonotic origin and poses a major threat to public health. However, little is known about the viral factors contributing to the high virulence of 2019-nCoV. Many animal viruses, including CoVs, encode proteins that interfere with host gene expression, including those involved in antiviral immune responses, and these viral proteins are often major virulence factors. Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are known respiratory pathogens associated with a range of respiratory infection. In the past 17 years, the onset of 2019-nCoV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have thrust HCoVs into spotlight of the research community due to their high pathogenicity in humans. The recent study of HCoVs-host interactions has contributed extensively to our understanding of infection pathogenesis of 2019-nCoV. This review discuss various host physiopathologic mechanism, such as apoptosis, innate immunity, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) pathway that may be modulated by HCoVs and provides evidence for the intensive investigate of 2019-nCoV infection.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.

Reconsidering Tourism Destination Images by Exploring Similarities between Travelogue Texts and Photographs

With the rise of user-generated content (UGC) and deep learning technology, more and more researchers construct and measure the tourism destination image (TDI) through online travelogues. However, due to the impact of COVID-19 prevention and control, the number of online travelogues has decreased significantly and, therefore, the scientific validity of the TDI based only on text or photos has been questioned. This research fills a gap by comparing the differences between visual and semantic images in terms of the overall image perception and image formation through natural language processing technology and image caption technology in obtaining TDIs, taking Tiantai County in Zhejiang Province of China as a case. Our results show that the texts and photographs shared major similarities in the overall TDI, but from the perspective of interest, they reflect differently. Therefore, when considering the data source selection for TDI research with a small number of travelogues, texts should be the main content, supplemented by photographs. © 2022 by the authors.

Effect of environmental factors on the concentration distribution of bioaerosols with different particle sizes in an enclosed space

COVID-19 has alerted us about the need to quantify the effect of different environmental factors on the concentration distribution of bioaerosols. An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of environmental factors, including air temperature, relative humidity, airflow speed and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, on the potential dispersion risk of bioaerosols in an enclosed space by tracking the Serratia marcescens as the tiny organisms. Research results indicated that the concentration of bioaerosols is the highest at the indoor air temperature of 25°C among the tested conditions (20°C, 25°C, 30°C and 35°C). The particle size of bioaerosols can be influenced by temperature, resulting in changes in the amount of settling. Increasing relative humidity from 50% to 80% and airflow speed from 1.5 m/s to 2.2 m/s have a negative impact on the dispersion of bioaerosols as the amount of particle settlement increases accordingly. As for the UV radiation parameters, a better disinfection efficiency was achieved at a radiation distance of 40 cm in the tested range of 20–50 cm and a radiation exposure time of 30 min in the tested range of 10–50 min. This study delivered novel data for the concentration distribution of bioaerosol under different environmental factors for creating a safe indoor environment. © The Author(s) 2022.

Risk Factors of In-hospital Death in COVID-19 Patients：a Meta-analysis

Background The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a global catastrophic public health crisis，and the conclusion about the risk factors of hospital death in COVID-19 patients is not uniform. Objective To explore risk factors of in-hospital death in patients with COVID-19 by a meta-analysis. Methods Case-control studies about risk factors of in-hospital death in COVID-19 patients were searched from databases of the Cochrane Library，ScienceDirect，PubMed，Medline，Wanfang Data，CNKI and CQVIP from inception to October 1，2021. Literature screening，data extraction and methodological quality assessment were conducted. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.1. Meta-regression was used to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity. Results Eighty studies were included which involving 405 157 cases〔349 923 were survivors（86.37%），and 55 234 deaths（13.63%）〕，that were rated as being of high quality by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analysis showed that being male〔OR=1.49，95%CI（1.41，1.57），P<0.001），older age〔WMD=10.44，95%CI（9.79，11.09），P<0.001〕，dyspnoea〔OR=2.09，95%CI（1.80，2.43），P<0.001〕，fatigue〔OR=1.49，95%CI（1.31，1.69），P<0.001〕，obesity〔OR=1.46，95%CI（1.43，1.50），P<0.001〕，smoking〔OR=1.18，95%CI （1.14，1.23），P<0.001〕，stroke〔OR=2.26，95%CI（1.41，3.62），P<0.001〕，kidney disease〔OR=3.62，95%CI （3.26，4.03），P<0.001〕，cardiovascular disease〔OR=2.34，95%CI（2.21，2.47），P<0.001〕，hypertension〔OR=2.23，95%CI（2.10，2.37），P<0.001〕，diabetes〔OR=1.84，95%CI（1.74，1.94），P<0.001〕，cancer〔OR=1.86，95%CI （1.69，2.05），P<0.001〕，pulmonary disease〔OR=2.38，95%CI（2.19，2.58），P<0.001〕，liver disease〔OR=1.65，95%CI（1.36，2.01），P<0.001〕，elevated levels of white blood cell count〔WMD=2.03，95%CI（1.74，2.32），P<0.001〕，neutrophil count〔WMD=1.77，95%CI（1.49，2.05），P<0.001〕，total bilirubin〔WMD=3.19，95%CI（1.96，4.42），P<0.001〕，aspartate transaminase〔WMD=13.02，95%CI（11.70，14.34），P<0.001〕，alanine transaminase 〔WMD=2.76，95%CI（1.68，3.85），P<0.001〕，lactate dehydrogenase〔WMD=166.91，95%CI（150.17，183.64），P<0.001〕，blood urea nitrogen〔WMD=3.11，95%CI（2.61，3.60），P<0.001〕，serum creatinine〔WMD=22.06，95%CI （19.41，24.72），P<0.001〕，C-reactive protein〔WMD=76.45，95%CI （71.33，81.56），P<0.001〕，interleukin-6 〔WMD=28.21，95%CI（14.98，41.44），P<0.001〕，and erythrocyte sedimentation rate〔WMD=8.48，95%CI（5.79，11.17），P<0.001〕were associated with increased risk of in-hospital death for patients with COVID-19，while myalgia〔OR=0.73，95%CI（0.62，0.85），P<0.001〕，cough〔OR=0.87，95%CI（0.78，0.97），P=0.013〕，vomiting〔OR=0.73，95%CI （0.54，0.98），P=0.030〕，diarrhoea〔OR=0.79，95%CI（0.69，0.92），P=0.001〕，headache〔OR=0.55，95%CI（0.45，0.68），P<0.001〕，asthma〔OR=0.73，95%CI（0.69，0.78），P<0.001〕，low body mass index〔WMD=-0.58，95%CI （-1.10，-0.06），P=0.029〕，decreased lymphocyte count〔WMD=-0.36，95%CI（-0.39，-0.32），P<0.001〕，decreased platelet count 〔WMD=-38.26，95%CI（-44.37，-32.15），P<0.001〕，increased D-dimer〔WMD=0.79，95%CI（0.63，0.95），P<0.001〕，longer prothrombin time〔WMD=0.78，95%CI（0.61，0.94），P<0.001〕，lower albumin〔WMD =-1.88，95%CI（-2.35，-1.40），P<0.001〕，increased procalcitonin〔WMD=0.27，95%CI（0.24，0.31），P<0.001〕，and increased cardiac troponin〔WMD=0.04，95%CI（0.03，0.04），P<0.001〕were associated with decreased risk of in-hospital death due to COVID-19. According to the meta-regression result，the heterogeneity in gender，renal disease，cardiovascular diseases，asthma，white blood cell count，neutrophil count，platelet count，hemoglobin，and urea nitrogen differed siangificnatly by country（P<0.05）. Conclusion The risk of in-hospital death due to COVID-19 may be increased by 25 factors（including being male，older age，dyspnoea，fatigue，obesity，smoking，stroke，kidney disease，cardiovascular disease，hypertension，diabetes，cancer，pulmonary disease，liver disease，elevated levels of white blood cells，neutrophil count，total bilirubin，aspartate transaminase，alanine transaminase，lactate dehydrogenase，blood urea nitrogen，serum creatinine，C-reactive protein，interleukin-6，and erythrocyte sedimentation rate），and may be decreased by 13 factors（including myalgia，cough，vomiting，diarrhoea，headache，asthma，low body mass index，decreased lymphocyte count and platelet count，increased D-dimer，longer prothrombin time，lower albumin，increased procalcitonin and cardiac troponin）. The conclusion drawn from this study needs to be further confirmed by high-quality，multicenter，large-sample，real-world studies. © 2023 Chinese General Practice. All rights reserved.

Research on The Index System of Laboratory Assets Digitization

Under the influence of the fifth industrial revolution and the outbreak of COVID-19, the digital transformation of enterprises has entered a new stage of rapid development. Digital transformation has become the trend of enterprise operation in the digital economy era. In this context, enterprise laboratory asset operation has also become an important aspect of enterprise digital operation. It is urgent to build a set of enterprise laboratory asset digital evaluation system to assist the implementation of enterprise digital strategy. Based on the characteristics of laboratory assets and the closed-loop theory of asset operation management, this paper analyzes and studies the laboratory asset management, establishes a targeted evaluation index system of digital asset management, focuses on the composition of the digital operation system of laboratory assets, and constructs a management index evaluation system of assets, efficiency, cost and other dimensions, so as to create a real-time, comprehensive and comprehensive evaluation system The closed-loop and full cycle digital management ecological environment realizes the effective integration of laboratory resource fragmentation information and the complete embodiment of digitization, provides service support for continuously improving asset management performance, and provides support for further improving enterprise economic efficiency and operation level. © 2022 SPIE.

Risk Factors of In-hospital Death in COVID-19 Patients：a Meta-analysis

Background The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a global catastrophic public health crisis，and the conclusion about the risk factors of hospital death in COVID-19 patients is not uniform. Objective To explore risk factors of in-hospital death in patients with COVID-19 by a meta-analysis. Methods Case-control studies about risk factors of in-hospital death in COVID-19 patients were searched from databases of the Cochrane Library，ScienceDirect，PubMed，Medline，Wanfang Data，CNKI and CQVIP from inception to October 1，2021. Literature screening，data extraction and methodological quality assessment were conducted. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.1. Meta-regression was used to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity. Results Eighty studies were included which involving 405 157 cases〔349 923 were survivors（86.37%），and 55 234 deaths（13.63%）〕，that were rated as being of high quality by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analysis showed that being male〔OR=1.49，95%CI（1.41，1.57），P<0.001），older age〔WMD=10.44，95%CI（9.79，11.09），P<0.001〕，dyspnoea〔OR=2.09，95%CI（1.80，2.43），P<0.001〕，fatigue〔OR=1.49，95%CI（1.31，1.69），P<0.001〕，obesity〔OR=1.46，95%CI（1.43，1.50），P<0.001〕，smoking〔OR=1.18，95%CI （1.14，1.23），P<0.001〕，stroke〔OR=2.26，95%CI（1.41，3.62），P<0.001〕，kidney disease〔OR=3.62，95%CI （3.26，4.03），P<0.001〕，cardiovascular disease〔OR=2.34，95%CI（2.21，2.47），P<0.001〕，hypertension〔OR=2.23，95%CI（2.10，2.37），P<0.001〕，diabetes〔OR=1.84，95%CI（1.74，1.94），P<0.001〕，cancer〔OR=1.86，95%CI （1.69，2.05），P<0.001〕，pulmonary disease〔OR=2.38，95%CI（2.19，2.58），P<0.001〕，liver disease〔OR=1.65，95%CI（1.36，2.01），P<0.001〕，elevated levels of white blood cell count〔WMD=2.03，95%CI（1.74，2.32），P<0.001〕，neutrophil count〔WMD=1.77，95%CI（1.49，2.05），P<0.001〕，total bilirubin〔WMD=3.19，95%CI（1.96，4.42），P<0.001〕，aspartate transaminase〔WMD=13.02，95%CI（11.70，14.34），P<0.001〕，alanine transaminase 〔WMD=2.76，95%CI（1.68，3.85），P<0.001〕，lactate dehydrogenase〔WMD=166.91，95%CI（150.17，183.64），P<0.001〕，blood urea nitrogen〔WMD=3.11，95%CI（2.61，3.60），P<0.001〕，serum creatinine〔WMD=22.06，95%CI （19.41，24.72），P<0.001〕，C-reactive protein〔WMD=76.45，95%CI （71.33，81.56），P<0.001〕，interleukin-6 〔WMD=28.21，95%CI（14.98，41.44），P<0.001〕，and erythrocyte sedimentation rate〔WMD=8.48，95%CI（5.79，11.17），P<0.001〕were associated with increased risk of in-hospital death for patients with COVID-19，while myalgia〔OR=0.73，95%CI（0.62，0.85），P<0.001〕，cough〔OR=0.87，95%CI（0.78，0.97），P=0.013〕，vomiting〔OR=0.73，95%CI （0.54，0.98），P=0.030〕，diarrhoea〔OR=0.79，95%CI（0.69，0.92），P=0.001〕，headache〔OR=0.55，95%CI（0.45，0.68），P<0.001〕，asthma〔OR=0.73，95%CI（0.69，0.78），P<0.001〕，low body mass index〔WMD=-0.58，95%CI （-1.10，-0.06），P=0.029〕，decreased lymphocyte count〔WMD=-0.36，95%CI（-0.39，-0.32），P<0.001〕，decreased platelet count 〔WMD=-38.26，95%CI（-44.37，-32.15），P<0.001〕，increased D-dimer〔WMD=0.79，95%CI（0.63，0.95），P<0.001〕，longer prothrombin time〔WMD=0.78，95%CI（0.61，0.94），P<0.001〕，lower albumin〔WMD =-1.88，95%CI（-2.35，-1.40），P<0.001〕，increased procalcitonin〔WMD=0.27，95%CI（0.24，0.31），P<0.001〕，and increased cardiac troponin〔WMD=0.04，95%CI（0.03，0.04），P<0.001〕were associated with decreased risk of in-hospital death due to COVID-19. According to the meta-regression result，the heterogeneity in gender，renal disease，cardiovascular diseases，asthma，white blood cell count，neutrophil count，platelet count，hemoglobin，and urea nitrogen differed siangificnatly by country（P<0.05）. Conclusion The risk of in-hospital death due to COVID-19 may be increased by 25 factors（including being male，older age，dyspnoea，fatigue，obesity，smoking，stroke，kidney disease，cardiovascular disease，hypertension，diabetes，cancer，pulmonary disease，liver disease，elevated levels of white blood cells，neutrophil count，total bilirubin，aspartate transaminase，alanine transaminase，lactate dehydrogenase，blood urea nitrogen，serum creatinine，C-reactive protein，interleukin-6，and erythrocyte sedimentation rate），and may be decreased by 13 factors（including myalgia，cough，vomiting，diarrhoea，headache，asthma，low body mass index，decreased lymphocyte count and platelet count，increased D-dimer，longer prothrombin time，lower albumin，increased procalcitonin and cardiac troponin）. The conclusion drawn from this study needs to be further confirmed by high-quality，multicenter，large-sample，real-world studies. © 2023 Chinese General Practice. All rights reserved.

Research on The Index System of Laboratory Assets Digitization

Under the influence of the fifth industrial revolution and the outbreak of COVID-19, the digital transformation of enterprises has entered a new stage of rapid development. Digital transformation has become the trend of enterprise operation in the digital economy era. In this context, enterprise laboratory asset operation has also become an important aspect of enterprise digital operation. It is urgent to build a set of enterprise laboratory asset digital evaluation system to assist the implementation of enterprise digital strategy. Based on the characteristics of laboratory assets and the closed-loop theory of asset operation management, this paper analyzes and studies the laboratory asset management, establishes a targeted evaluation index system of digital asset management, focuses on the composition of the digital operation system of laboratory assets, and constructs a management index evaluation system of assets, efficiency, cost and other dimensions, so as to create a real-time, comprehensive and comprehensive evaluation system The closed-loop and full cycle digital management ecological environment realizes the effective integration of laboratory resource fragmentation information and the complete embodiment of digitization, provides service support for continuously improving asset management performance, and provides support for further improving enterprise economic efficiency and operation level. © 2022 SPIE.

Spatial-Temporal Differences in the Effect of Epidemic Risk Perception on Potential Travel Intention: A Macropsychology-Based Risk Perception Perspective

Most of the previous studies on the impact of risk perception on travel intention are based on an individual psychological perspective, and the understanding based on the perspective of macropsychology is insufficient. Analyzing the temporal and spatial characteristics of risk perception theory at the macropsychological and regional levels will expand the scope of risk perception theory, which may help to promote the orderly recovery of tourism activities under the normalization of epidemics at the regional level. This study uses Baidu big data, through a panel VAR analysis, to explore the impact of people's epidemic risk perception on travelers intentions from a macropsychological level and to analyze the temporal and spatial differences of this impact. From a temporal perspective, this study found that the early stage of epidemic risk perception had a negative impact on travel intentions, and later, a compensatory effect on travelers intentions appeared. From the perspective of risks at different threat levels, the Wuhan epidemic with a high degree of threat had a greater impact, while foreign epidemics had less impact. From the perspective of spatial differences, this study indicated that the negative impact of attention to epidemics on attention to tourism basically shows a gradual decay from the core to secondary and then to peripheral areas. This research will reveal some new findings on the impact of perceived risk on behavior intention at the temporal and spatial levels, and will have certain reference value for regional tourism restoration and marketing under the influence of epidemics. © The Author(s) 2022.

When national identity meets conspiracies: the contagion of national identity language in public engagement and discourse about COVID-19 conspiracy theories

There are growing concerns about the role of identity narratives in spreading misinformation on social media, which threatens informed citizenship. Drawing on the social identity model of deindividualization effects (SIDE) and social identity theory, we investigate how the use of national identity language is associated with the diffusion and discourse of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China. Our results reveal a pattern of identity communication contagion in public conversations about conspiracies: national identity language usage in original posts is associated with more frequent use of such language in all subsequent conversations. Users who engaged in discussions about COVID-19 conspiracies used more national identity expressions in everyday social media conversations. By extending the SIDE model and social identity theory to misinformation studies, our article offers theoretical and empirical insight into how identity-contagious communication might exacerbate public engagement with misinformation on social media in non-Western contexts. Lay Summary This article examined the use and consequences of national identity language in public discourse related to COVID-19 conspiracy theories on Weibo, one of the largest social media platforms in China. We investigated how social media users discussed conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19 to understand how national identity expressions on Weibo affected public engagement with these conspiracy theories. Our findings reveal a contagion of national identity language between the original posts and all subsequent replies. We also discovered that users who employed national identity language during discussions about COVID-19 conspiracy theories subsequently used more of this language, even in everyday posts that were unrelated to COVID-19. Our findings uncover how social media platforms are used as public spheres for identity-contagious communication that challenges misinformation correction and public understanding of other social groups.

Construction and Application of Waterway Engineering Design Virtual Simulation Cloud System Based on Outcome-Based Education

Hydraulic design is automatically inherent in hydraulic engineering courses, conventional teaching of the Waterway Engineering Design course tends to have limitations such as low participation, poor interactivity, disconnection between theoretical and experimental training, and restriction of experimental design by time and space. To address these needs, a virtual simulation cloud system of Waterway Engineering Design is developed based on outcome-based education. Taking real engineering projects as prototypes, this system adopts virtual reality technology and cloud platform to simulate the scene structure and instrument function with high precision. The multi-model, integrational teaching expands the experimental content, enhances the interactivity of the design process, and provides a high-quality, immersive online learning experience for students. Since its application, the Waterway Engineering Design Virtual Simulation Cloud System has received good feedback from both teachers and students. During the Covid-19 epidemic, it provided significant support for experiments and teaching of the Waterway Engineering Design course and became a pivotal supplement to the existing teaching system. The Waterway Engineering Design Virtual Simulation Cloud System adheres to the “student-centered” teaching principle, builds up students’ ability for independent learning and engineering practice, and facilitates their personal development and training for excellent engineers © 2022, International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning.All Rights Reserved.

SARS-CoV-2 RBD and its variants can induce platelet activation and clearance: Implications for vaccinations and antibody therapy against COVID-19

Background: Severe COVID-19 is associated with platelet activation, thrombosis, and thrombocytopenia, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Similarly, very rare cases of COVID-19 vaccine-induced-thrombotic-thrombocytopenia (VITT) are also poorly understood. Both infection and vaccination utilize the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein for virus-host cell entry and to elicit an immune response, respectively. Interestingly, the RBD contains an RGD integrin-binding motif that may facilitate platelet binding. Aim(s): To determine whether the RBD binds platelets and causes platelet activation/clearance. Method(s): We intravenously injected different doses (0.25, 0.5, 1.0mug/g) of recombinant RBD into mice and measured platelet counts post-injection using a Z2 Series Coulter. Flow cytometry detected RBD/RBD variants binding to platelets and associated platelet activation, apoptosis, and desialylation. Human gel-filtered platelet aggregation was induced by ADP, Collagen and Thrombin. Six anti-RBD monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were generated and tested in a SARS-CoV-2 Vero cell infection model with the envelop gene quantified by RT-qPCR to determine the virus replication. Result(s): RBD injection caused platelet clearance in a dose-dependent manner. The RBD could also bind to platelets, induce activation and potentiate platelet aggregation in vitro. Our preliminary data also showed the RBD Delta variant has greater potential in inducing platelet activation. Interestingly, the RBD bound beta3-/-platelets ~50% less relative than wildtype mice. Consistently, mutating the RGD motif to RGE, and preincubating platelets with the beta3 inhibitor Eptifibatide also reduced RBD binding to platelets. Our novel anti-RBD mAbs 4F2 and 4H12 inhibited RBD-induced platelet activation and RBD-potentiated platelet aggregation in vitro, and prevented RBD-induced platelet clearance in vivo. Importantly, these mAbs also inhibited SARS-CoV-2 viral replication in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion(s): Our data demonstrate that the RBD could directly bind to platelets partially via beta3 integrin. RBD-induced platelet activation and clearance may contribute to thrombosis and thrombocytopenia observed in clinical cases of COVID-19 and VITT.

Patient and Provider Perspectives on Telehealth Clinic Visits Precipitated by the Covid-19 Viral Pandemic

Purpose: The transplant community had to adjust to a new way of practicing medicine during the COVID-19 viral pandemic. Our transplant center quickly adapted to virtual clinic visits to maintain the safety of our immunosuppressed patients. The purpose of this study was to examine how patients and providers regarded this new method of delivering healthcare. Method(s): Patients with a telehealth transplant clinic visit between March 2020 and April 2021 were recruited to participate in a telephone survey, which consisted of 19 statements rating their experience on a 5-point Likert Scale. Two additional questions allowed participants to offer suggestions for improvement. Demographic information was also collected. Multi-specialty healthcare providers and support staff in the transplant division who had conducted telehealth visits were contacted via email to participate in an electronic survey, consisting of 25 statements that asked providers to assess their telehealth experience on a 5-point Likert Scale. They were also able to provide additional comments regarding their experience. Result(s): Results are summarized in Table 1. The majority of patients and providers had an electronic device that allowed access to video telehealth visits and felt that the telehealth platform was easy to navigate. Statistical significance was found between not pursuing higher education and not having a video visit-capable device (p=0.035). Retired or disabled patients were more likely to find that setting up an account and navigating the video platform was difficult (p=0.022). Both patients and providers agreed that when they experienced connectivity issues with the video platform, it was easy to convert to a telephone call. Both groups reported having ample time during their telehealth visit and felt that all questions and concerns were adequately addressed. More patients than providers preferred the telehealth visit to an in-person clinic visit, as they mentioned the convenience of the telehealth visit when a lengthy commute was involved. Conclusion(s): The viral pandemic required both patients and providers to adapt to telehealth visits. Social determinants of health should be taken into consideration to provide sufficient care, as certain populations may require extra assistance to utilize this platform effectively. Overall, most providers and patients agreed that adequate care can be provided via telehealth, supporting the continued use of this platform in the future.

On Epidemic-aware Socio Spatial POI Recommendation

Epidemics such as COVID-19, SARS, H1N1 have highly transmissible viruses and spread wildly through the population with negative consequences. Multiple studies have shown the correlation between the contact networks between individuals and the transmission of infections due to contact between colocated individuals. To mitigate the transmission of the virus, intervention measures have been applied without decisive success. Therefore, reducing transmissions through suitable epidemicaware POI recommendations to users is necessary to cope with user mobility. Current POI recommendation approaches do not take into consideration the transmission of infections between co-located users. In this paper, we formulate a new query named Epidemic-aware POI Recommendation Query (EPQ), to timely recommend a set of POIs to users at different time steps, while considering the spread of infection between co-located users, their social friendships, and their preference. We prove that EPQ is NP-hard and propose an effective and efficient algorithm, Epidemic-aware POI Recommendation (EpRec) to tackle EPQ. We evaluate EpRec on existing location-based social networks and pandemic datasets against state-of-the-art algorithms. The experimental results show that EpRec outperforms the baselines in effectiveness and efficiency. © 2022 IEEE.

Effect of environmental factors on the concentration distribution of bioaerosols with different particle sizes in an enclosed space

COVID-19 has alerted us about the need to quantify the effect of different environmental factors on the concentration distribution of bioaerosols. An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of environmental factors, including air temperature, relative humidity, airflow speed and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, on the potential dispersion risk of bioaerosols in an enclosed space by tracking the Serratia marcescens as the tiny organisms. Research results indicated that the concentration of bioaerosols is the highest at the indoor air temperature of 25°C among the tested conditions (20°C, 25°C, 30°C and 35°C). The particle size of bioaerosols can be influenced by temperature, resulting in changes in the amount of settling. Increasing relative humidity from 50% to 80% and airflow speed from 1.5 m/s to 2.2 m/s have a negative impact on the dispersion of bioaerosols as the amount of particle settlement increases accordingly. As for the UV radiation parameters, a better disinfection efficiency was achieved at a radiation distance of 40 cm in the tested range of 20–50 cm and a radiation exposure time of 30 min in the tested range of 10–50 min. This study delivered novel data for the concentration distribution of bioaerosol under different environmental factors for creating a safe indoor environment.

Traffic Data-Empowered XGBoost-LSTM Framework for Infectious Disease Prediction

Large-scale infectious diseases pose a tremendous risk to humans, with global outbreaks of COVID-19 causing millions of deaths and trillions of dollars in economic losses. To minimize the damage caused by large-scale infectious diseases, it is necessary to develop infectious disease prediction models to provide assistance for prevention. In this paper, we propose an XGBoost-LSTM mixed framework that predicts the spread of infectious diseases in multiple cities and regions. According to big traffic data, it was found that population flow is closely related to the spread of infectious diseases. Clustering and dividing cities according to population flow can significantly improve prediction accuracy. Meanwhile, an XGBoost is used to predict the transmission trend based on the key features of infection. An LSTM is used to predict the transmission fluctuation based on infection-related multiple time series features. The mixed model combines transmission trends and fluctuations to predict infections accurately. The proposed method is evaluated on a dataset of highly pathogenic infectious disease transmission published by Baidu and compared with other advanced methods. The results show that the model has an excellent predictive effect and practical value for large-scale infectious disease prediction.

DIGITAL MICROFLUIDIC CHIP BASED ON DIRECT INK WRITING FOR NUCLEIC ACID MULTIPLEX PCR DETECTION

This study presents a facile route to fabricate a novel kind of digital microfluidic (DMF) chip via direct ink writing. The manufacture of this device does not rely on conventional microfabrication processes and cleanrooms, which makes it easy to prepare and low cost. By measuring the change of contact angle (CA) and droplet velocity, we proved that it could perform droplet manipulation like traditional DMF chips. In addition, after optimizing the chip structure, through a peripheral support circuit, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents could be automatically partitioned and mixed on the chip. Furthermore, we realized the multi-target end-point fluorescence detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA on this chip, showing promising potential for automatic nucleic acid tests.