Moderated by personal perception: The preventive relationship between home HIIT dance and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Introduction: Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic were believed to greatly increase the risk of depression among isolated residents in both China and in Western countries. How to effectively reduce this risk has become one of the key issues in the field of public mental health. Methods: The present study seeks to examine the preventive relationship between doing home HIIT dance-which became popular during Shanghai's COVID-19 lockdown in 2022-and depression, and how such a preventive relationship has been mediated by different personal perception factors using an online survey with 528 samples. Results: The preventive relationship between doing home HIIT dance and depression was differently mediated by residents' personal perception factors, such as perceived benefits, severity, and self-efficacy, based on the health belief model. Discussion: These results deepen the research on the psychological effects of doing home HIIT dance on preventing depression, especially in the COVID-19 lockdown period, emphasizing the possible moderation effects of different self-perception factors.

Personal Narrative under Nationalism: Chinese COVID-19 Vaccination Expressions on Douyin.

Scholars are divided over whether narrative/storytelling occupies a central position in health-related behaviour or in the health-related issues discussed on social media platforms. This study explored Chinese COVID-19 vaccination expressions on Douyin, China's biggest short-video sharing social media platform, and found that narration is still the most important tool employed by Chinese users when talking about COVID-19 vaccinations on Douyin, emphasizing nationalism and widespread optimism. Most of the narratives employed by Chinese users come from a first-person perspective. Nationalism, as manifested in the support expressed for national policies, rather than the external platform characteristics of memetics, makes the Chinese users' expressions about COVID-19 vaccinations similar on Douyin. Douyin seems to have become a 'pilgrimage platform' for the Chinese public to express their patriotic sentiment and their trust in the country and the government.

Exploring the mechanism of action of Xuanfei Baidu granule (XFBD) in the treatment of COVID-19 based on molecular docking and molecular dynamics.

Purpose: The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a challenge of world. The latest research has proved that Xuanfei Baidu granule (XFBD) significantly improved patient's clinical symptoms, the compound drug improves immunity by increasing the number of white blood cells and lymphocytes, and exerts anti-inflammatory effects. However, the analysis of the effective monomer components of XFBD and its mechanism of action in the treatment of COVID-19 is currently lacking. Therefore, this study used computer simulation to study the effective monomer components of XFBD and its therapeutic mechanism. Methods: We screened out the key active ingredients in XFBD through TCMSP database. Besides GeneCards database was used to search disease gene targets and screen intersection gene targets. The intersection gene targets were analyzed by GO and KEGG. The disease-core gene target-drug network was analyzed and molecular docking was used for verification. Molecular dynamics simulation verification was carried out to combine the active ingredient and the target with a stable combination. The supercomputer platform was used to measure and analyze the number of hydrogen bonds, the binding free energy, the stability of protein target at the residue level, the solvent accessible surface area, and the radius of gyration. Results: XFBD had 1308 gene targets, COVID-19 had 4600 gene targets, the intersection gene targets were 548. GO and KEGG analysis showed that XFBD played a vital role by the signaling pathways of immune response and inflammation. Molecular docking showed that I-SPD, Pachypodol and Vestitol in XFBD played a role in treating COVID-19 by acting on NLRP3, CSF2, and relieve the clinical symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Molecular dynamics was used to prove the binding stability of active ingredients and protein targets, CSF2/I-SPD combination has the strongest binding energy. Conclusion: For the first time, it was found that the important active chemical components in XFBD, such as I-SPD, Pachypodol and Vestitol, reduce inflammatory response and apoptosis by inhibiting the activation of NLRP3, and reduce the production of inflammatory factors and chemotaxis of inflammatory cells by inhibiting the activation of CSF2. Therefore, XFBD can effectively alleviate the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 through NLRP3 and CSF2.

Chlorination of isothiazolinone biocides: kinetics, reactive species, pathway, and toxicity evolution.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the worldwide biocides application has been increased, which will eventually result in enhanced residuals in treated wastewater. At the same time, chlorine disinfection of secondary effluents and hospital wastewaters has been intensified. With respect to predicted elevated exposure in wastewater, the chlorination kinetics, transformation pathways and toxicity evolution were investigated in this study for two typical isothiazolinone biocides, methyl-isothiazolinone (MIT) and chloro-methyl-isothiazolinone (CMIT). Second-order rate constants of 0.13 M-1·s-1, 1.95 × 105 M-1·s-1 and 5.14 × 105 M-1·s-1 were determined for the reaction of MIT with HOCl, Cl2O and Cl2, respectively, while reactivity of CMIT was around 1-2 orders of magnitude lower. While chlorination of isothiazolinone biocides at pH 7.1 was dominated by Cl2O-oxidation, acidic pH and elevated Cl- concentration favored free active chlorine (FAC) speciation into Cl2 and increased overall isothiazolinone removal. Regardless of the dominant FAC species, the elimination of MIT and CMIT resulted in an immediate loss of acute toxicity under all experimental conditions, which was attributed to a preferential attack at the S-atom resulting in subsequent formation of sulfoxides and sulfones and eventually an S-elimination. However, chlorination of isothiazolinone biocides in secondary effluent only achieved <10% elimination at typical disinfection chlorine exposure 200 mg·L-1·min, but was predicted to be remarkably increased by acidizing solution to pH 5.5. Alternative measures might be needed to minimize the discharge of these toxic chemicals into the aquatic environment.

Longitudinal associations between multiple mental health problems and suicidal ideation among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Recent research suggested that COVID-19-related multiple mental health problems were associated with an increased risk for suicidal ideations (SIs), but population-based data demonstrating these associations are scarce. This study aimed to estimate the cumulative effects of psychological risk factors on SIs during the outbreak and remission periods of COVID-19 using a cumulative risk model, as well as sex differences. METHODS: A total of 68,685 college students in China participated in the survey during two phases of the pandemic (T1 and T2). Mental health risks (acute stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms) and sociodemographic characteristics were measured at T1, and SIs were assessed at T1 and T2. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine the combined effect of multiple mental health problems on SIs at T1 and T2. RESULTS: The prevalence of SIs increased from the early periods of the COVID-19 pandemic (7.6%) to the later periods (10.0%). Depression was a powerful risk factor for SIs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals with >3 mental risks would be most likely to experience rapidly increasing SIs during the early periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sex exerted different effects on the cumulative risk model of SIs. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions, such as mental health education and improving utilization of student support services, should be implemented. There is a crucial need for early intervention and prevention efforts aimed at males with greater than three mental health problems.

Longitudinal trajectories of insomnia symptoms among college students during the COVID-19 lockdown in China.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the patterns and predictors of the trajectories of college students' insomnia symptoms across different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A total of 35,516 college students completed three online surveys during the COVID-19 outbreak period (3-10 February 2020), initial remission period (24 March-3 April 2020), and effective control period (1-15 June 2020), respectively. These surveys measured the participants' socio-demographic and pandemic related factors, insomnia symptoms, mental health status, and psychosocial factors. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine predictors for trajectory membership. RESULTS: The prevalence of insomnia symptoms increases during home quarantine. Five insomnia symptoms trajectories were observed: resistance (82.8% of the sample), recovery (5.0%), delayed-dysfunction (5.8%), chronic-dysfunction (1.8%), and relapsing/remitting (4.6%). Female gender, residence location in urban, has history of sleep problems, smoking, alcohol use, community or village has confirmed COVID-19 cases, current poor mental health, higher negative coping were related to higher risk of developing insomnia symptoms in at least one time point, whereas better family function increased the possibility of recovery relative to chronic dysfunction. Lower social support and positive coping could also cause insomnia chronicity. CONCLUSION: Adolescents have different trajectories of insomnia symptoms during pandemic lockdown. Although most adolescents did not experience insomnia or recovered over time, some adolescents, especially those with the risk factors noted above, exhibit delayed or chronic symptoms. These findings could inform mental health professionals regarding how to provide individualized and appropriate intervention for college students after their return to school.

Water demand prediction optimization method in Shenzhen based on the zero-sum game model and rolling revisions

In this study, a deep learning model based on zero-sum game (ZSG) was proposed for accurate water demand prediction. The ensemble learning was introduced to enhance the generalization ability of models, and the sliding average was designed to solve the non-stationarity problem of time series. To solve the problem that the deep learning model could not predict water supply fluctuations caused by emergencies, a hypothesis testing method combining Student's t-test and discrete wavelet transform was proposed to generate the envelope interval of the predicted values to carry out rolling revisions. The research methods were applied to Shenzhen, a megacity with extremely short water resources. The research results showed that the regular bidirectional models were superior to the unidirectional model, and the ZSG-based bidirectional models were superior to the regular bidirectional models. The bidirectional propagation was conducive to improving the generalization ability of the model, and ZSG could better guide the model to find the optimal solution. The fluctuations in water supply were mainly caused by the floating population, but the fluctuation was still within the envelope interval of the predicted values. The predicted values after rolling revisions were very close to the measured values.

In silico prediction of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 main protease cleavage sites.

One of the emerging subjects to combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus is to design accurate and efficient drug such as inhibitors against the viral protease to stop the viral spread. In addition to laboratory investigation of the viral protease, which is fundamental, the in silico research of viral protease such as the protease cleavage site prediction is critically important and urgent. However, this problem has yet to be addressed. This article has, for the first time, investigated this problem using the pattern recognition approaches. The article has shown that the pattern recognition approaches incorporating a specially tailored kernel function for dealing with amino acids has the outstanding performance in the accuracy of cleavage site prediction and the discovery of the prototype cleavage peptides.

Elevated cytokines and chemokines in peripheral blood of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia treated with high-titer convalescent plasma.

The global SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic continues to be devastating in many areas. Treatment options have been limited and convalescent donor plasma has been used by many centers to transfer passive neutralizing antibodies to patients with respiratory involvement. The results often vary by institution and are complicated by the nature and quality of the donor plasma itself, the timing of administration and the clinical aspects of the recipients. SARS-CoV-2 infection is known to be associated with an increase in the blood concentrations of several inflammatory cytokines/chemokines, as part of the overall immune response to the virus and consequential to mediated lung pathology. Some of these correlates contribute to the cytokine storm syndrome and acute respiratory distress syndrome, often resulting in fatality. A Phase IIa clinical trial at our institution using high neutralizing titer convalescent plasma transfer gave us the unique opportunity to study the elevations of correlates in the first 10 days after infusion. Plasma recipients were divided into hospitalized COVID-19 pneumonia patients who did not (Track 2) or did (Track 3) require mechanical ventilation. Several cytokines were elevated in the patients of each Track and some continued to rise through Day 10, while others initially increased and then subsided. Furthermore, elevations in MIP-1α, MIP-1ß and CRP correlated with disease progression of Track 2 recipients. Overall, our observations serve as a foundation for further study of these correlates and the identification of potential biomarkers to improve upon convalescent plasma therapy and to drive more successful patient outcomes.

The prognostic value of the SOFA score in patients with COVID-19: A retrospective, observational study.

ABSTRACT: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can lead to serious illness and death, and thus, it is particularly important to predict the severity and prognosis of COVID-19. The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score has been used to predict the clinical outcomes of patients with multiple organ failure requiring intensive care. Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics, risk factors, and relationship between the SOFA score and the prognosis of COVID-19 patients.We retrospectively included all patients ≥18 years old who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the laboratory continuously admitted to Jingzhou Central Hospital from January 16, 2020 to March 23, 2020. The demographic, clinical manifestations, complications, laboratory results, and clinical outcomes of patients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 were collected and analyzed. Clinical variables were compared between patients with mild and severe COVID-19. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the risk factors for severe COVID-19. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze risk factors for hospital-related death. Survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan-Meier method, and survival differences were assessed by the log-rank test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the SOFA score in different situations were drawn, and the area under the ROC curve was calculated.A total of 117 patients with confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19 were retrospectively analyzed, of which 108 patients were discharged and 9 patients died. The median age of the patients was 50.0 years old (interquartile range [IQR], 35.5-62.0). 63 patients had comorbidities, of which hypertension (27.4%) was the most frequent comorbidities, followed by diabetes (8.5%), stroke (4.3%), coronary heart disease (3.4%), and chronic liver disease (3.4%). The most common symptoms upon admission were fever (82.9%) and dry cough (70.1%). Regression analysis showed that high SOFA scores, advanced age, and hypertension were associated with severe COVID-19. The median SOFA score of all patients was 2 (IQR, 1-3). Patients with severe COVID-19 exhibited a significantly higher SOFA score than patients with mild COVID-19 (3 [IQR, 2-4] vs 1 [IQR, 0-1]; P  < .001). The SOFA score can better identify severe COVID-19, with an odds ratio of 5.851 (95% CI: 3.044-11.245; P < .001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the SOFA score in predicting severe COVID-19 (cutoff value = 2; AUC = 0.908 [95% CI: 0.857-0.960]; sensitivity: 85.20%; specificity: 80.40%) and the risk of death in COVID-19 patients (cutoff value = 5; AUC = 0.995 [95% CI: 0.985-1.000]; sensitivity: 100.00%; specificity: 95.40%). Regarding the 60-day mortality rates of patients in the 2 groups classified by the optimal cutoff value of the SOFA score (5), patients in the high SOFA score group (SOFA score ≥5) had a significantly greater risk of death than those in the low SOFA score group (SOFA score < 5).The SOFA score could be used to evaluate the severity and 60-day mortality of COVID-19. The SOFA score may be an independent risk factor for in-hospital death.

Is It All a Conspiracy? Conspiracy Theories and People's Attitude to COVID-19 Vaccination.

A large body of research has found that people's beliefs in conspiracy theories about infectious diseases negatively impacts their health behaviors concerning vaccination. Conspiracy belief-based vaccination hesitancy has become more rampant after the global outbreak of COVID-19. However, some important questions remain unanswered. For instance, do different versions of conspiracy theories-particularly conspiracy theories about the origin of the epidemic (e.g., that the SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a Wuhan virology laboratory or that the virus was of foreign origin) and the general theories about vaccine conspiracies (e.g., pharmaceutical companies covered up the danger of vaccines or people are being deceived about the effectiveness of vaccines)-have the same effect on vaccination intentions? Through a national survey adopting quota sampling in China, the current study tested the relationship between people's conspiracy beliefs and their intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The findings show that people's embrace of conspiracy theories did indeed affect their intention to take COVID-19 shots. However, only conspiracy theories related to vaccines had a significant impact, while belief in more general theories about COVID-19 did not significantly affect vaccination intentions. People's knowledge of vaccines (vaccine literacy) played an important role in this relationship. People with lower beliefs in vaccines conspiracy theories and higher levels of vaccine literacy were more likely to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

Case series of COVID-19 patients from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area in China.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a serious infection caused by the new coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The disease was first identified in December 2019 and has caused significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. AIM: To explore the clinical characteristics and treatments for COVID-19 in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area in China. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the blood cell counts (neutrophils and lymphocytes), blood gas analysis, and thoracic computed tomography changes of patients from Qinghai Province before, during, and after treatment (January 23, 2020 to February 21, 2020). In addition, we summarized and analyzed the information of critical patients. All data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, United States). The quantitative and count variables are represented as the mean ± SD and n (%), respectively. RESULTS: The main symptoms and signs of patients with COVID-19 were fever, dry cough, cough with phlegm, difficulty breathing, and respiratory distress with a respiration rate ≥ 30 times/min, finger oxygen saturation ≤ 93% in the resting state, and oxygenation index less than 200 but greater than 100 (after altitude correction). Eighteen patients with COVID-19, of whom three were critical, and the others were in a mild condition, were included. The main manifestations included fever, dry cough, and fatigue. Three patients developed difficulty breathing and had a fever. They were eventually cured and discharged. Adjuvant examinations showed one case with reduced white cell count (6%) (< 4 × 109/L), six with reduced count of lymphocytes (33%) (< 0.8 × 109/L), and one with abnormal blood glucose level. All 18 patients were discharged, and no death occurred. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide critical insight into assessing the clinical diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19 in the Tibetan plateau area.

Management of clinical trials for anticancer drug during the corona virus disease 2019

Since December 2019, the number of corona virus disease 2019 cases has continued to increase. With the spread of the epidemic, clinical trials of anticancer drugs are facing great challenge. Cancer patients are suffering from the tumor itself, surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy under special immune status, they are susceptible to the new coronavirus, and are more susceptible to infection with the coronavirus than the normal population. Therefore, this article will elaborate on the particularity of subjects in clinical trials of anticancer drugs in the context of the corona virus disease 2019, management of clinical trials, existing problems and countermeasures to expect optimizing processes and reasonable arrangements, and to ensure the safety of patients so that the smooth progress of the clinical trial is guaranteed.

Changes in the characteristics of dental emergencies under the influence of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Further understanding of the distribution and changing characteristics of dental diseases is of great significance for all dental emergency centers for strengthening the medical staff's treatment knowledge abilities and effective use of emergency resources in the face of public health emergencies involving highly infectious respiratory diseases. METHODS: The medical records of 4158 dental emergency patients in 2019 and 2020 were retrospectively analyzed and divided into pre-SARS-COV-2 group and SARS-COV-2 group according to time. The demographic data, date and time, diagnosis, and treatment methods of the two groups were statistically described, and the chi-squared test was used to analyze the differences. The medical records of 4158 dental emergency patients during the same period of two years in 2019 and 2020 were retrospectively analyzed and divided into SARS-COV-2 pre-group and SARS-COV-2 group according to time. The demographic data, date and time, diagnosis and treatment methods of the two groups were statistically described, and the chi-square test was used to determine the differences. RESULTS: During the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, the number of dental emergency visits increased by 29.7%. During the pandemic, males (n = 286, 58.1%) were more likely to visit dental emergency centers for trauma than females (n = 206, 41.9%) (P < 0.05); females (n = 242, 60.8%) were more likely to visit dental emergency centers for acute gingivitis and acute pericoronitis than males (n = 156, 39.2%) (P < 0.05). A major change in diagnosis was related to acute pulpitis (K04.0) and acute apical periodontitis (K04.4), which increased by 9.2%; acute gingivitis (K05.0) and acute pericoronitis (K05.2) increased by 3.5%; open wound of the lip and oral cavity (S01.5) decreased by 17.9%; other conditions (non-emergency diseases) increased by 6.8%, compared with the pre-SARS-COV-2 period. Among the treatment modalities, during the pre-SARS-COV-2 period, 304 patients (17.7%) received a prescription for antibiotics and analgesics, and 1485 (86.5%) received a prescription for local treatment. During the SARS-COV-2 period, 958 (39.2%) received a prescription for antibiotics and analgesics, and 1636 (67.0%) received a prescription for local treatment. CONCLUSION: SARS-COV-2 pandemic led to changes in the characteristics of dental emergency patients. Trauma, acute pulpitis, and acute periodontitis are the leading reasons patients refer to dental emergency centers. Dental emergency centers should optimize treatment procedures, optimize the staff, and reasonably allocate materials according to the changes to improve the on-site treatment capacity and provide adequate dental emergency care.

[Strategy of dental clinics to cope with the epidemic period of infectious diseases based on the experience of corona virus disease outbreak].

The outbreak of corona virus disease (COVID-19) has raised concerns among dentists to develop strategies to prevent infection of dental equipment, materials, and patients during an epidemic period. Strategies following the National Laws and Standards of China and local standards of several provinces for controlling cross-infection and instituting protective measures for medical staff in dental clinics during an epidemic period are discussed. A proposal is put forth for dental clinics that will face similar situations in the future. Further research is warranted to address potential problems that will be encountered under such dire circumstances.

The Prediction for COVID-19 Outbreak in China by using the Concept of Term Structure for the Turning Period.

This study aims to develop a general framework for predicting the duration of the Turning Period (or Turning Phase) for the COVID-19 outbreak in China that started in late December 2019 from Wuhan. A new concept called the Term Structure for Turning Period (instead of Turning Point) is used for this study, and the framework, implemented into an individual SEIR (iSEIR) model, has enabled a timely prediction of the turning period when applied to Wuhan's COVID-19 epidemic, and provided the opportunity for relevant authorities to take appropriate and timely actions to successfully control the epidemic. By using the observed daily COVID-19 cases in Wuhan from January 23, 2020 to February 6 (and February 10), 2020 as inputs to the framework it allowed us to generate the trajectory of COVID-19 dynamics and to predict that the Turning Period of COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan would arrive within one week after February 14. This prediction turned out to be timely and accurate, which has provided adequate time for the government, hospitals and related sectors and services to meet peak demand and to prepare aftermath planning. We want to emphasize that emergency risk management entails the implementation of an emergency plan, where timing the Turning Period is key to express a clear timeline for effective actions. Our study confirms the observed effectiveness of Wuhan's Lockdown and Isolation control program imposed since January 23, 2020 to the middle of March, 2020 and resulted in swiftly flattened epidemic curve, and Wuhan's success offers an exemplary lesson for the world to learn in combating COVID-19 pandemic.

An Ultrafast One-Step qRT-PCR Assay for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 (preprint)

We developed an ultrafast one-step RT-qPCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection, which can be completed in only 30 mins on benchtop Bio-Rad CFX96. The assay significantly reduces the running time of conventional RT-qPCR: reduced RT step from 10 to 1 min, and reduced PCR cycle of denaturation from 10 to 1 s and extension from 30 to 1 s. A cohort of 60 nasopharyngeal swab samples testing showed that the assay had a clinical sensitivity of 100% and a clinical specificity of 100%. 

Digital Proficiency and Psychological Well-Being in Online Learning: Experiences of First-Generation College Students and Their Peers

The study examines the role of digital proficiency in relation to psychological well-being of a vulnerable population—first-generation college students (FGS)—and their counterparts, continuing-education students, in online learning during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Informed by positive computing and FGS studies, this paper empirically tests a model of three key influencing factors by using a data sample (n = 309) collected from a minority-serving university in the U.S. in April 2020. Our data analysis confirms that FGS underperformed in digital proficiency, compared to their peers. Moreover, digital proficiency had a significant effect on individual psychological well-being, regardless of a student’s generational status. Our paper contributes to the positive computing research by empirically demonstrating the association between users’ technology competence and psychological well-being. Practically, our findings highlight the importance of implementing educational programs and policies to promote the digital skills and well-being of underserved students such as FGS in college education.