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Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) poses a challenge to hospitals for the prevention and control of public health emergencies. As the main battlefield of preventing and controlling COVID-19, large public hospitals should develop service protocols of diagnosis and treatment for outpatient, emergency, hospitalization, surgery, and discharge. The construction of medical protocols should be based on the risk factors of key points and focused on pre-inspection triage and screening, to establish a rapid response mechanism to deal with exogenous and endogenous risk factors. Implementation of all-staff training and assessment, strengthening the information system, and use of medical internet service are important. This study explores the construction of medical protocols in large public hospitals during the pandemic, and provides a reference for the orderly diagnosis and treatment in hospitals during the pandemic.Copyright © 2021, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All rights reserved.
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Objective: To analyze the clinical manifestations, diagnostic methods and treatment process of the patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma complicated with human coronavirus(HCoV)-HKU1 pneumonia and improve the clinical medical staff's awareness of the disease, and to reduce the occurrence of clinical adverse events. Method(s): The clinical data of a patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma complicated with HCoV-HKU1 pneumonia with hot flashes and night sweats, dry cough and dry throat as the main clinical features who were hospitalized in the hospital in January 2021 were analyzed, and the relevant literatures were reviewed and the clinical manifestations and diagnosis of HCoV-HKU1 were analyzed. Result(s): The female patient was admitted to the hospital due to diagnosed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for more than 2 months. The physical examination results showed Karnofsky score was 90 points;there was no palpable enlargement of systemic superfical lymph nodes;mild tenderness in the right lower abdomen, no rebound tenderness, and slightly thicker breath sounds in both lungs were found, and a few moist rales were heard in both lower lungs. The chest CT results showed diffuse exudative foci in both lungs, and the number of white blood cells in the urine analysis was 158 muL-1;next generation sequencing technique(NGS) was used the detect the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and HCoV-HKU1 pneumonia was diagnosed. At admission, the patient had symptoms such as dull pain in the right lower abdomen, nighttime cough, and night sweats;antiviral treatment with oseltamivir was ineffective. After treatment with Compound Sulfamethoxazole Tablets and Lianhua Qingwen Granules, the respiratory symptoms of the patient disappeared. The re-examination chest CT results showed the exudation was absorbed. Conclusion(s): The clinical symptoms of the patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma complicated with HCoV-HKU1 pneumonia are non-specific. When the diffuse shadow changes in the lungs are found in clinic, and the new coronavirus nucleic acid test is negative, attention should still be paid to the possibility of other HCoV infections. The NGS can efficiently screen the infectious pathogens, which is beneficial to guide the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary infectious diseases more accurately.Copyright © 2023 Jilin University Press. All rights reserved.
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With the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, combined with the COVID-19 epidemic and the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike, geopolitical risks have increased sharply, which has brought great pressure on the sustainable development of natural resources industry. This study aims to discuss the impact of geopolitical risk (GPR) on corporate excess cash holdings in China's natural resources industry. The findings suggest that GRP can encourage enterprises in the natural resources industry to hold more excess cash. The findings still hold with a suite of robustness tests. The study also evidences that the above effect is more significant for state-owned enterprises, enterprises in the mining industry, and large-scale enterprises. Finally, further results show that with the increase of GPR, enterprises with strong risk-taking capacity tend to hold more excess cash, while enterprises registered in higher market-oriented regions are inclined to retain less excess cash. These findings can conduce to a deep understanding of the influence of GPR on corporate excess cash holdings and serve as a reference for policy-makers to adjust policies. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Background: Nearly 26% of adults in the U.S. live with disability and are more likely to experience chronic health conditions, barriers to healthcare, and severe COVID-19 illness. Therefore, COVID-19 testing of adults living with disability is important to consider. The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between disability and COVID-19 testing, infection, and related challenges. Method(s): A Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Population (RADx-UP) project in Miami, FL determined disability with a modified version of the Washington Group General Disability Measure. HIV serostatus and COVID-19 vaccination were confirmed with medical records. COVID-19 testing and infection history were self-reported. Statistical analyses included chi-squared tests and multiple binary logistic regression;variance inflation factors were calculated to ensure absence of collinearity. Result(s): A total of 1,689 RADx-UP participants with an average age of 55+/-12.3, 51% male, 49% Black non-Hispanic, 23% living with HIV (86% virally suppressed), and 76% received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 40% were disabled, 37% reported employment disability, and 21% were functionally disabled (disability that interferes with performance of daily activities). Despite recruitment from the same sources, PLWH, compared to those without HIV, were more likely to be disabled (52% vs 36%;p< 0.0001), report employment disability (63% vs 30%;p< 0.0001), and report functional disability (29% vs 18%;p< 0.0001). Those with employment disability were less likely to have ever been tested for COVID-19 compared to those without (81% vs 85%;p=0.026). Employment disability was also associated with lower odds of having ever tested positive for COVID-19 after adjustment for demographics, health insurance, HIV, COVID-19 vaccination, smoking, and lung disease (aOR, 0.62;95% CI, 0.43-0.90;p=0.013). Disability was associated with greater odds of transportation challenges (aOR, 2.33;95% CI, 1.76-3.08;p< 0.0001), illicit drug use (aOR, 1.92;95% CI, 1.49-2.47;p< 0.0001), and smoking (aOR, 1.74;95% CI, 1.39-2.17;p< 0.0001). Compared to those without, those with transportation challenges (14% vs 40%;p< 0.0001) and illicit drug use (18% vs 30%;p=0.001) were more likely to postpone medical care. Conclusion(s): Lower COVID-19 testing rates may contribute to underestimated COVID-19 positivity rates in adults living with disability. Challenges with transportation and substance abuse contribute to less engagement in care.
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Who is more influential in shaping citizens' health-related behaviors, experts or politicians? We conduct five conjoint experiments on 6,255 residents of France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, asking them to evaluate COVID-19 vaccines alongside randomly varying endorsements from national politicians and medical professionals. In every country, our results show that citizens are more likely to rely on medical professionals, the experts, more than on politicians when choosing a COVID-19 vaccine. Even after accounting for citizens' political alignment with the government, our evidence reveals that politicians play a very limited role in shaping vaccine acceptance. These results have implications for the role of political elites in shaping people's behaviors amid a large-scale crisis.
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Objective: To study the effect of low-to-moderate dose glucocorticoid therapy on viral clearance in patients with COVID-19. Methods: A total of 72 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from January 19 to February 17, 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine were recruited. All patients received oral arbidol and combination of lopinavir/ritonavir or darunavir/cobistitat for antiviral therapy, and symptomatic supportive care. Among them, 51 patients received methylprednisolone (0.75-1.50 mg.kg-1.d-1) (glucocorticoid treatment group), and 21 patients did not use glucocorticoid (control group). The time of virologic negative conversion in sputum and the time of radiologic recovery in lung since onset were compared between the two groups. The Kruskal-Wallis test or Fisher exact test was used to compare the difference between groups. Results: The median ages of the glucocorticoid group and the control group were 52 (45, 62) and 46 (32, 56) years (chi2=4.365, P<0.05). The clinical conditions at hospital admission were different between the two groups (P<0.01). The severe cases accounted for 52.0%, while moderate cases in the control group accounted for 71.4%. The median times from the onset to virologic negative conversion in the two groups were 15 (13, 20) and 14 (12, 20) days (P>0.05). The median times from onset to radiologic recovery were 13 (11, 15) and 13 (12, 17) days in the two groups (P>0.05). In moderate cases, the median times from the onset to virologic conversion in sputum were 13 (11, 18) days in the glucocorticoid group and 13 (12, 15) days in the control group (P>0.05). The median times from onset to radiologic recovery in lung were 12 (10, 15) and 13 (12, 17) days, respectively (P>0.05). Conclusion(s): Low-to-moderate glucocorticoid treatment has no effect on the time of virus clearance in patients with different clinical types of COVID-19, and also no effect on accelerating radiologic recovery in lung, so it is not recommended.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
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Objective: To study the effect of low-to-moderate dose glucocorticoid therapy on viral clearance in patients with COVID-19. Methods: A total of 72 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from January 19 to February 17, 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine were recruited. All patients received oral arbidol and combination of lopinavir/ritonavir or darunavir/cobistitat for antiviral therapy, and symptomatic supportive care. Among them, 51 patients received methylprednisolone (0.75-1.50 mg.kg-1.d-1) (glucocorticoid treatment group), and 21 patients did not use glucocorticoid (control group). The time of virologic negative conversion in sputum and the time of radiologic recovery in lung since onset were compared between the two groups. The Kruskal-Wallis test or Fisher exact test was used to compare the difference between groups. Results: The median ages of the glucocorticoid group and the control group were 52 (45, 62) and 46 (32, 56) years (chi2=4.365, P<0.05). The clinical conditions at hospital admission were different between the two groups (P<0.01). The severe cases accounted for 52.0%, while moderate cases in the control group accounted for 71.4%. The median times from the onset to virologic negative conversion in the two groups were 15 (13, 20) and 14 (12, 20) days (P>0.05). The median times from onset to radiologic recovery were 13 (11, 15) and 13 (12, 17) days in the two groups (P>0.05). In moderate cases, the median times from the onset to virologic conversion in sputum were 13 (11, 18) days in the glucocorticoid group and 13 (12, 15) days in the control group (P>0.05). The median times from onset to radiologic recovery in lung were 12 (10, 15) and 13 (12, 17) days, respectively (P>0.05). Conclusion(s): Low-to-moderate glucocorticoid treatment has no effect on the time of virus clearance in patients with different clinical types of COVID-19, and also no effect on accelerating radiologic recovery in lung, so it is not recommended.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
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Objective: To study the effect of low-to-moderate dose glucocorticoid therapy on viral clearance in patients with COVID-19. Methods: A total of 72 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from January 19 to February 17, 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine were recruited. All patients received oral arbidol and combination of lopinavir/ritonavir or darunavir/cobistitat for antiviral therapy, and symptomatic supportive care. Among them, 51 patients received methylprednisolone (0.75-1.50 mg.kg-1.d-1) (glucocorticoid treatment group), and 21 patients did not use glucocorticoid (control group). The time of virologic negative conversion in sputum and the time of radiologic recovery in lung since onset were compared between the two groups. The Kruskal-Wallis test or Fisher exact test was used to compare the difference between groups. Results: The median ages of the glucocorticoid group and the control group were 52 (45, 62) and 46 (32, 56) years (chi2=4.365, P<0.05). The clinical conditions at hospital admission were different between the two groups (P<0.01). The severe cases accounted for 52.0%, while moderate cases in the control group accounted for 71.4%. The median times from the onset to virologic negative conversion in the two groups were 15 (13, 20) and 14 (12, 20) days (P>0.05). The median times from onset to radiologic recovery were 13 (11, 15) and 13 (12, 17) days in the two groups (P>0.05). In moderate cases, the median times from the onset to virologic conversion in sputum were 13 (11, 18) days in the glucocorticoid group and 13 (12, 15) days in the control group (P>0.05). The median times from onset to radiologic recovery in lung were 12 (10, 15) and 13 (12, 17) days, respectively (P>0.05). Conclusion(s): Low-to-moderate glucocorticoid treatment has no effect on the time of virus clearance in patients with different clinical types of COVID-19, and also no effect on accelerating radiologic recovery in lung, so it is not recommended.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
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Blockchain is an emerging decentralized data collection, sharing, and storage technology, which have provided abundant transparent, secure, tamper-proof, secure, and robust ledger services for various real-world use cases. Recent years have witnessed notable developments of blockchain technology itself as well as blockchain-enabled applications. Most existing surveys limit the scopes on several particular issues of blockchain or applications, which are hard to depict the general picture of current giant blockchain ecosystem. In this paper, we investigate recent advances of both blockchain technology and its most active research topics in real-world applications. We first review the recent developments of consensus and storage mechanisms and communication schema in general blockchain systems. Then extensive literature review is conducted on blockchain-enabled Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing, federated learning, and several emerging applications including healthcare, COVID-19 pandemic, online social network, and supply chain, where detailed specific research topics are discussed in each. Finally, we discuss the future directions, challenges, and opportunities in both academia and industry. © 2020 Tsinghua University Press.
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This article investigates whether time-varying quantile regression curves are the same up to the horizontal shift or not. The errors and the covariates involved in the regression model are allowed to be locally stationary. We formalize this issue in a corresponding non-parametric hypothesis testing problem, and develop an integrated-squared-norm based test (SIT) as well as a simultaneous confidence band (SCB) approach. The asymptotic properties of SIT and SCB under null and local alternatives are derived. Moreover, the asymptotic properties of these tests are also studied when the compared data sets are dependent. We then propose valid wild bootstrap algorithms to implement SIT and SCB. Furthermore, the usefulness of the proposed methodology is illustrated via analysing simulated and real data related to COVID-19 outbreak. © 2023 ISI/BS.
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The cruise industry has suffered heavy setbacks owing to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Domestic and global pandemic control measures-involving rules varying across countries as well as distinct legal systems-were escalated. We aimed to illustrate the need to establish a public health cooperation mechanism for the cruise industry. First, we analyzed the legal dilemma pertaining to pandemic prevention and control in cooperative situations;namely, the legal loopholes in the prevention, control, and rescue of cruise ships. Second, we focused on international collaboration during cruise ship rescues amid the pandemic, exploring solutions for current industry problems. Third, by analyzing Chinese practices in cruise-related areas, this paper guides the development of a public health cooperation mechanism for the cruise industry. In sum, we call upon the international community to develop such a mechanism within the scope of international law in terms of public health security and pandemic prevention. Research methodology: This is a practical research paper. Per our analysis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and International Health Regulations of the World Health Organization, we studied the global legal issues pertaining to cruise epidemic prevention and control by sorting out legal regulations. We conclude that an international cooperation mechanism for cruise epidemic prevention and control should be established to ensure the cruise industry's sustainable development.
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Background: Urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR/PLAUR) is a cell surface receptor on monocytes and macrophages (MO/MPs), which when cleaved, forms soluble uPAR (suPAR). Previous work has shown that uPAR is differentially induced in MO/MPs after coronavirus (CoV) infection and contributes to hyperfibrinolysis. In contrast to cellular uPAR's fibrinolytic function (implicated in CoV-induced coagulopathy), suPAR is a MP chemotactic factor implicated in perpetuating tissue injury after CoV infection. However, it is unclear if induced levels of cellular uPAR correlate with the elevated levels of suPAR after CoV infection and how suPAR expression is regulated after influenza virus (IAV) infection. Method(s): Published scRNA sequencing data (GSE149689) of PBMCs from patients (COVID-positive and IAV-positive) and healthy controls was analyzed. In vitro, we performed infections of immortalized murine MPs (RAW264.7) with the CoVs MHVA59 or MHV1, or the IAV (A/PR/8/34;H1N1) at the indicated MOI for 24 hours. uPAR and urokinase levels were measured by ELISA. Urokinase activity of conditioned media was measured using a commercially available colorimetric assay. Result(s): ScRNA analysis revealed differential expression of PLAUR in MOs from COVID and IAV-positive relative to healthy controls, with the highest PLAUR expression in COVID-positive samples (Fig. A-B). Infection of RAW264.7 cells with CoV and IAV induced cellular uPAR expression, but only CoV infection induced suPAR expression (Fig. C). In contrast to uPAR, the expression of both cellular and soluble urokinase levels was induced after infection with either CoVs or IAV (Fig. D). Finally, induction of urokinase activity of conditioned media after viral stimulation was observed after infection with either CoVs or IAV (Fig. E). Conclusion(s): CoV but not IAV infection induces the expression of both cellular and soluble uPAR in MO/MPs. Both CoV and IAV induce the expression of cellular and soluble urokinase, and urokinase activity. Understanding this virus specific effect on uPAR/suPAR in innate immune cells may reveal the pathogenesis of virus-associated coagulopathy and tissue injury.
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Introduction: Emerging preclinical and clinical studies suggest that altered gut microbiome composition and functions are associated with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) severity and its long-term complications. Aims & Methods: Aim: To prove COVID-19 outcome is associated with gut microbiome status in population-based settings. Method(s): Gut metagenomic data of the adult population consisting of 2871 subjects from 16 countries including Bangladesh, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Peru, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States were obtained from ExperimentHub through R, and dynamic data of COVID-19 incidence and mortality between January 22, 2020 and December 8, 2020 in each country was obtained from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. An adjusted stable mortality rate was used to represent the mortality rate in these countries and we correlated mortality data with the mean relative abundance of healthy adult gut microbiome species. Stable mortality rate is defined as the ratio of the number of new deaths and new COVID- 19 confirmed cases. We chose the longest duration of stable period before the vaccination programme for all countries to calculate stable mortality rate. Result(s): The gut microbiome beta-diversity is significantly higher in the countries with high stable mortality rates. After excluding bacteria species with low prevalence in selected countries, four bacteria species were identified as a negative correlation with stable mortality rate and positive correlation with biosynthesis-related pathways. Amongst them, one specie is well-known beneficial butyrate producers and underrepresented in COVID-19 patients. Conclusion(s): Population-based microbiome signatures with the stable mortality rate of COVID-19 in different countries suggest that altered gut microbiome composition and functions are associated with mortality of COVID-19. Microbiotamodulation may offer hope to reduce COVID-19 severity and mortality.
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As a critical pattern to promote industrial growth and recover the economy, China has widely applied an electricity price-cutting policy, especially after the global spread of COVID-19. However, the current insufficient research indicates a noticeable knowledge gap around the actual outcome of this policy measure. This paper, therefore, aimed at filling this gap by focusing on the case of Zhejiang province. Recently, there have been three main kinds of price-cutting policies employed in Zhejiang, decreasing the general industrial electricity price, temporary electricity price-cutting, and targeted price reduction for large industries. Using a computable general equilibrium model that incorporates the Zhejiang electricity system’s operating characteristics, we simulated the economic impact of these electricity price adjustment policies. The results indicate that it was practical to promote the economy by reducing electricity prices, but the specific arrangements of policy have led to differences in economic stimulus consequences. This paper further obtained the multiplier effect in each industry. If electricity price adjustment policies were introduced only for industries with a higher comprehensive multiplier effect, the policy effectiveness would be further optimized. © 2022 by the authors.
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The COVID-19 has forced global museums to face unprecedented challenges. During the epidemic period, many museums took the initiative to seek change and flexibly use digital technology to cope with the crisis. In addition to its outstanding role in the protection of cultural heritage, Jingdezhen Ceramic Museum also gives full play to the role of cultural communication and cultural leading in the development of cultural industry and the city itself, which has played an important role in Jingdezhen cultural and tourism industry. Starting from the current situation of Jingdezhen Ceramic Museum and combined with the development trend of global museums in the digital era, the future development direction of Jingdezhen Ceramic Museum in the dual background of the digital era and COVID-19 is discussed. © 2022 Editorial Office of Journal of Ceramics. All rights reserved.
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Objective To analyze the transmission characteristics of family clustering of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a town in Tianjin, and to study new epidemiological investigation method applied for the epidemic. Methods The field epidemiological method was applied to investigate confirmed, suspected cases and close contacts of COVID-19, and this clustering epidemic was analyze;and real-time fluorescence PCR (RT-PCR) assay was used for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid testing. Results A total of 11 confirmed cases and 1 suspected case, with three generations of transmission and median generation interval of 6 (2-26) days were involved in current clustering epidemic, the confirmed cases were infectious at the end of the incubation period, the recurrence rate within the families was 33. 33% (19/57), and the epidemiological investigation information acquired through case narration were deviated compared with the trace investigated by police force and the information provided by close contacts. Conclusion The COVID-19 can cause the family clustering spread, and it may infectious at the end of the incubation period. It is necessary to strengthen the trace and management of close contacts during clustering epidemics, and multiple methods adopted making for acquiring epidemiological investigation information. © 2022, Editorial Department of Medical Pest Control. All rights reserved.