ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the clinical features and short-term prognosis of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated acute encephalopathy (AE). Methods: Retrospective cohort study. The clinical data, radiological features and short-term follow-up of 22 cases diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated AE in the Department of Neurology, Beijing Children's Hospital from December 2022 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into cytokine storm group, excitotoxic brain damage group and unclassified encephalopathy group according to the the clinicopathological features and the imaging features. The clinical characteristics of each group were analyzed descriptively. Patients were divided into good prognosis group (≤2 scores) and poor prognosis group (>2 scores) based on the modified Rankin scale (mRS) score of the last follow-up. Fisher exact test or Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the two groups. Results: A total of 22 cases (12 females, 10 males) were included. The age of onset was 3.3 (1.7, 8.6) years. There were 11 cases (50%) with abnormal medical history, and 4 cases with abnormal family history. All the enrolled patients had fever as the initial clinical symptom, and 21 cases (95%) developed neurological symptoms within 24 hours after fever. The onset of neurological symptoms included convulsions (17 cases) and disturbance of consciousness (5 cases). There were 22 cases of encephalopathy, 20 cases of convulsions, 14 cases of speech disorders, 8 cases of involuntary movements and 3 cases of ataxia during the course of the disease. Clinical classification included 3 cases in the cytokine storm group, all with acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE); 9 cases in the excitotoxicity group, 8 cases with acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures and late reduced diffusion (AESD) and 1 case with hemiconvulsion-hemiplegia syndrome; and 10 cases of unclassified encephalopathy. Laboratory studies revealed elevated glutathione transaminase in 9 cases, elevated glutamic alanine transaminase in 4 cases, elevated blood glucose in 3 cases, and elevated D-dimer in 3 cases. Serum ferritin was elevated in 3 of 5 cases, serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) neurofilament light chain protein was elevated in 5 of 9 cases, serum cytokines were elevated in 7 of 18 cases, and CSF cytokines were elevated in 7 of 8 cases. Cranial imaging abnormalities were noted in 18 cases, including bilateral symmetric lesions in 3 ANE cases and "bright tree appearance" in 8 AESD cases. All 22 cases received symptomatic treatment and immunotherapy (intravenous immunoglobulin or glucocorticosteroids), and 1 ANE patient received tocilizumab. The follow-up time was 50 (43, 53) d, and 10 patients had a good prognosis and 12 patients had a poor prognosis. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of epidemiology, clinical manifestations, biochemical indices, and duration of illness to initiate immunotherapy (all P>0.05). Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 infection is also a major cause of AE. AESD and ANE are the common AE syndromes. Therefore, it is crucial to identify AE patients with fever, convulsions, and impaired consciousness, and apply aggressive therapy as early as possible.
Subject(s)
Brain Diseases , COVID-19 , Child , Female , Male , Humans , Retrospective Studies , Cytokine Release Syndrome , COVID-19/complications , SARS-CoV-2 , Brain Diseases/diagnosis , Brain Diseases/etiology , Prognosis , Seizures , CytokinesABSTRACT
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 1 km aerosol product based on the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm has great potential in understanding the interaction between human activities and the atmospheric environment. In this paper, the MODIS 1 km aerosol product over China during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was validated against with the ground measured data collected from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). The result shows a good agreement between the two datasets. The spatiotemporal analyses of three selected regions, which are Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Hubei and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao, indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on human activities and aerosol loadings.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the potential regulatory mechanism of Xuebijing injection in the treatment of COVID-19 by using network pharmacology and molecular docking methods. Methods Corresponding target genes of all the active ingredients of Xuebijing injection were obtained by using the pharmacological database and analysis platform of TCM System (TCMSP). And intersections with the COVID-19 gene-related targets in GeneCards database, OMIM database, PharmGkb database, TTD database and DrugBank database using the R programming language. Thus, the core target of Xubijing injection in COVID-19 treatment was obtained;Cytoscape 3.7.2 software was used to construct TCM - compound - target network;PPI network of intersection target was obtained by STRING;Utilized data packets to perform gene ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis to predict the mechanism of overlapping targets. Finally, molecular docking technology was implemented to dock key active ingredients with PPI core protein. Results GO functional enrichment analysis included 1 818 biological processes (BP), 20 cellular components (CC) and 89 molecular functions (MF). The first 30 KEGG related pathways involved inflammation and immune response, such as rheumatoid arthritis signaling pathway, IL-17 signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation pathway, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1) signaling pathway, JAK-Stat signaling pathway, inflammatory bowel disease signaling pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway, etc. Quercetin, cryptotanshinone, luteolin, β -carotene can affect IL1B, STAT3, AKT1, VEGFA and other overlapping targets. Meanwhile, quercetin may exert anti-inflammatory, antiviral and immune responses through IL1B binding to treat COVID-19. Conclusion This study reveals that chemical components in Xuebijing injection are involved in multiple biological processes and pathways in COVID-19 treatment through binding to key target proteins. © 2022. China Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Using data from 112 countries from 1998 to 2018, this study quantifies the overall impact of epidemics on innovation and identifies the underlying channels. Our results show that a 1% increase in the severity of an epidemic can significantly lead to a 0.059% decrease in patent applications and a 0.092% decrease in trademark applications. This negative impact can be explained by GDP, population and R & D expenditure channels. Further, our findings indicate that an increase in international personnel exchange (IPE) and foreign direct investment (FDI) can mitigate this negative impact. Finally, we discuss the policy implications of our results.
ABSTRACT
Since April 2022, severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children has spread to 35 countries and regions around the world, and more than 1 010 cases have been reported. Since the severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin involves a wide range of areas and has a high rate, it is critical to identify the etiology and establish effective preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic measures as soon as possible. This study discusses the possible mechanisms and countermeasures of the severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children. It speculates that the occurrence of the recent severe acute hepatitis might be related to adenovirus, adeno-associated virus infection, and the COVID-19 epidemic, while the difference in HLA polymorphism among different races might be related to the fact that reported cases were more common in Europe and the United States. Based on the currently available evidence, it can be preliminarily judged that the risk of large-scale outbreak of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin in children would be low in China, but the persistent awareness and vigilance of the etiology is still needed.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Hepatitis , Child , Humans , United States , Disease Outbreaks , Hepatitis/epidemiology , China/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The current study aims to investigate the mediating effect of perceived control over the future and the moderating effect of empathy on the association between stressful experiences and PTSD symptoms among college students in China in response to COVID-19. A sample of 1,225 college students (70.69% were female, M age = 20.22 years, SD = 2.02) were recruited using web-based surveys at wave 1 (W1) and wave 2 (W2) longitudinally. Results showed that COVID-19-related stressful experiences were significantly associated with PTSD symptoms. Perceived control over the future partially mediated the relationship between these two variables (indirect effect size = 0.09, p < 0.01). Empathy significantly moderated the path from perceived control over the future to PTSD symptoms, suggesting that the association was stronger for individuals with higher levels of empathy. Findings suggest a protective effect of perceived control over the future on college students' PTSD symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a protective effect was intensified by empathy. Future intervention to manage PTSD symptoms should be tailored to positive future expectations and empathy.
ABSTRACT
To block the continuously global pandemic of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19 or 2019-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2), more than 300 vaccines have been put into R&D pipelines in tens of countries within two years. At present, vaccines using different technical platforms have been fast approved to use, and widely deployed and vaccinated worldwide due to accelerated medical policies. In this article, the representative vaccines were selected from the main technical routes to analyze the strategy of vaccine R&D and management from the aspects including R&D cooperation, clinical trials, approval and access, production and circulation. We aim to provide reference for the vaccine development and supervision under the circumstance of emergency infectious diseases.
ABSTRACT
Public health incentives have prioritized reducing the adverse physical and mental health risks linked with Covid-19. As a result, less attention has been placed on understanding the psychological factors related to children, especially among overseas children. This qualitative study interviewed nine Chinese mothers' company their children in Thailand, they are from various socioeconomic and educational backgrounds to explore their perspectives on the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic on their children in Thailand. Chinese mothers indicated that it severely impacts their children's mental and physical health and academic achievement. Simultaneously, the major finding of this study is the deterioration of the mother-child relationship during Covid-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Purpose Psychosocial factors have received increasing attention regarding significantly influencing safety in the construction industry. This research attempts to comprehensively summarize psychosocial factors related to safety performance of construction workers. In the context of coronavirus disease 2019, some typical psychosocial factors are selected to further analyze their influence mechanism of safety performance. Design/methodology/approach First, a literature review process was conducted to identify and summarize relevant psychosocial factors. Then, considering the impact of the epidemic, hypotheses on the relationship between six selected psychosocial factors (i.e. work stress, role ambiguity, work-family conflict, autonomy, social support and interpersonal conflict) and safety performance were proposed, and a hypothetical model was developed based on job demands-resources theory. Finally, a meta-analysis was used to examine these hypotheses and the model. Findings The results showed these psychosocial factors indirectly influenced workers' safety performance by impacting on their occupational psychology condition (i.e. burnout and engagement). Work stress, role ambiguity, work-family conflict and interpersonal conflict were negatively related to safety performance by promoting burnout and affecting engagement. Autonomy and social support were positively related to safety performance by improving work engagement and reducing burnout. Originality/value This research is the pioneer systematically describing the overall picture of psychosocial factors related to the safety performance of construction workers. Through deeply discussed the mechanism of psychosocial factors and safety performance, it could provide a reference for the theory and application of psychosocial factors in the field of construction safety management.
ABSTRACT
Based on a collection of daily Search Index data of symptom-, prevention- and recovery-related terms in Baidu, this study visualizes the spatial patterns of public responses towards the COVID-19 outbreak during the response and coexisting response and recovery phases. We find that provincial capitals and cities in China's Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions show a relatively high level of public responses in both phases. Furthermore, cities with similar past experiences show a high level of public responses in the response phase, suggesting that enhancing urban resilience is associated with the learning-by-doing process.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the latest progress of oncology drug clinical trials in China under COVID-19, as well as to provide decision-making evidence for related stakeholders. Research progress of oncology drug trials and approved cancer drugs in China in 2020 were systematically summarized and compared with 2019. Methods: Information Disclosure Platform for Drug Clinical Studies and China Food and Drug Administration Query System for Domestic and Imported Drug were searched for registered clinical trials and approved oncology drugs, respectively. The trial scope, stage, drug type, effect and mechanism of domestic and global pharmaceutical enterprises were compared between 2019 and 2020. Results: A total of 722 cancer drug trials registered in China in 2020, with an annual growth rate of 52.3%, accounting for 28.3% of all registered trials. Among them, 603 (83.5%) trials were initiated by domestic pharmaceutical enterprises, and 105 (14.5%) were international multicenter trials, phase I trials accounted for 44.5%. For all those trials, there were 458 cancer drug varieties, with an annual growth rate of 36.7%, and 361 (85.8%) were developed by domestic enterprises. Most of the investigational products were therapeutic innovative drugs (77.1%), major in tumor treatment (92.8%). In terms of mechanism, targeted drugs were the most popular, accounting for 76.6%, and programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) were the most common targets. In addition, there were 19 anticancer drugs from 17 companies approved in China in 2019, with 10 drugs from domestic companies. Lung cancer and breast cancer are the most common indications for both registered trials and marketed drugs. No statistically significant differences were found between 2020 and 2019 in terms of the distribution of trial sponsor, scope and stage, as well as the distribution of drug type, effect and mechanism (P>0.05). Conclusions: During the Covid-19 epidemic period, clinical trials of oncology drugs in China progress smoothly and maintain a high growth rate. Series of innovative products obtained by domestic enterprises in 2020 is the main driving force of development of oncology drug clinical trials in China.