ABSTRACT
In the current environment where COVID-19 is serious, the space, place and resources required for teaching nuclear power plants are restricted to a great extent. To solve such problems and improve the utilization of education resources, this study improved an accident simulator for nuclear power plants based on the concept of cloud technology. We build the Browser / Server architecture so that the platform has successfully implemented multiterminal, multiplatform and multiuser simultaneous applications. Through the simulation results of the Small Break Loss of Coolant Accident (SBLOCA) and the test results of platform performance by PCTran-Cloud, the correctness of PCTran-Cloud in the accident simulation function and results were verified. In general, PCTran-Cloud has the characteristics of high scalability, high concurrency and high security. The platform can provide an environment for the training and education of nuclear power professionals. © 2022 IEEE.
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The emergence of largescale global human health events is expected to increase with evolving zoonotic and transboundary diseases, climate change, agricultural consolidation, increased globalization, and reliance on trade. The government and market response to a disease is dependent on the size of the outbreak, pathogenicity and virulence of the disease, and the perceived risks of its introduction and spread. The impact of largescale human disease events and their respective institutional response can lead to financial and market disruptions and effect nearly every industrial sector and market, including animal protein trade. The latest human disease event, the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, continues to be the largest, most expansive disease event in the last century. The COVID-19 pandemic has had sizeable implications domestically and internationally. Labor shortages and supply chain disruptions coupled with demand changes and disease eradication policies substantially impacted global markets. Despite the emergent literature on COVID-19, little has been done to collectively identify and analyze the effects of largescale human health events on animal protein trade. Using export trade data from 2010-2020 for animal protein exporters, this analysis estimates the effects human health events (i.e., MERS-Cov, COVID-19, Ebola, and Zika virus) on global animal protein trade for 23 individual commodities (6-digit HS level). Results show heterogeneity between diseases, products, and exporters. This heterogeneity indicates differences in response between events, dependent on event size, scope, and impacts. The study results can help improve preemptive business continuity planning and deepen the understanding of the implications of future emerging largescale health events on the meat industry.
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AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (DUV LEDs) are widely used in sterilization, sensing, water purification, medical treatment, non-line of sight (NLOS) communication and many other fields. Especially it has been reported that the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) can be effectively inactivated by the DUV light with a wavelength below 280 nm (UVC) within a few seconds, which has also attracted great attention. However, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of UVC LED is still at a low level, generally not more than 10%. As an important component of EQE, internal quantum efficiency (IQE) plays a crucial role in realizing high-performance DUV-LED. In order to improve the IQE of AlGaN-based DUV-LED, this work adopts an electron blocking layer (EBL) structure based on InAlGaN/AlGaN superlattice. The results show that the superlattice EBL structure can effectively improve the IQE compared with the traditional single-layer and double-layer EBL structure for the DUV-LED. On this basis, the optimization method based on JAYA intelligent algorithm for LED structure design is proposed in this work. Using the proposed design method, the InAlGaN/AlGaN superlattice EBL structure is further optimized to maximize the LED' s IQE. It is demonstrated that the optimized superlattice EBL structure is beneficial to not only the suppression of electron leakage but also the improvement of hole injection, leading to the increase of carrier recombination in the active region. As a result, the IQE of the DUV-LED at 200 mA injection current is 41.2% higher than that of the single-layer EBL structure. In addition, the optimized structure reduces IQE at high current from 25% to 4%. The optimization method based on intelligent algorithm can break through the limitation of the current LED structure design and provide a new method to improve the efficiency of AlGaN-based DUV-LED. © 2023 Chinese Physical Society.
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Objective To understand the proper handwashing behavior of preschool children and primary school students in Beijing and to analyze associated family factors to provide reference for further health intervention related to handwashing. Methods From November to December 2020 parents of 36 kindergartens and 18 primary schools in 9 districts of Beijing were investigated online by using a self-designed questionnaire with questionnaire star software. The contents of the survey included the basic situation of children and their families parents' correct knowledge of the prevention of novel coronavirus pneumonia their perception of the epidemic risk the provision of handwashing guidance for children and children's handwashing behavior. Results The proportion of proper handwashing of preschool children was 70.2% which was higher than that of primary school students 61.9% χ2 = 57.63 P<0.01. The proportion of parents of preschool children who correctly knew handwashing related knowledge 36.2% 33.4% had low perception of epidemic risk 28.9% 25.4% and provided handwashing guidance 99.1% 97.9% was higher than that of parents of primary school students and the differences were statistically significant χ2 = 6.72 22.84 18.68 P<0.05. But the proportion of parents of preschool children who had high self-efficacy 75.7% 78.2% was lower compared to parents of primary school students χ2 = 6.43 P = 0.04. Multivariate regression results showed that whether preschool children or primary school students urban areas and parents had high self-efficacy low risk perception and provided hand washing guidance for children children were more likely to wash their hands correctly. For preschool children non-only children were 0.79 95%CI= 0.69-0.92 times more likely to wash their hands correctly than only children. For primary school students girls were 1.21 95%CI = 1.06-1.39 times more likely to wash their hands correctly than boys and parents who know knowledge correctly were 1.20 95%CI = 1.04-1.40 times more likely to know it incorrectly P<0.05. Conclusion Proper hand washing behavior of preschool children is higher than that of primary school students. Parental awareness of COVID-19 epidemic handwashing behavior self-efficacy and guidance behavior have effects on the development of children's health behavior. Measures should be taken to enhance parents' awareness of infectious diseases and their ability and self-efficacy of guiding children in disease prevention. © 2022 The authors.
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Seven decades after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and China, the COVID-19 pandemic presents new prospects and challenges for bilateral cooperation. We seek to analyse various traits in China–Indonesia relations since 2020 by examining how Indonesia attempts balancing between such cooperation and maintaining peaceful ethnic relations domestically. By tracking the domestic discourse surrounding COVID-19 and China through Indonesia's domestic news media, the paper analyses the development of the pandemic in Indonesia, its procurement of vaccines, and, most significantly, domestic sentiments concerning Indonesia's ethnic Chinese Tionghoa citizens, as well as Indonesia's bilateral relations with China in general. The article argues that while the COVID-19 pandemic has created new avenues of cooperation between Indonesia and China, it has also adversely affected the domestic relations between ethnic Chinese citizens and the rest of the population. However, this has not translated into a widespread backlash toward China that might hinder bilateral cooperation. © The Author(s) 2023.
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Purpose: The authors examined the impact of the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) and Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments to United States agricultural producers on non-real estate agricultural loans. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used quarterly, state-level commercial bank data from 2016–2020 to estimate dynamic panel models. Findings: The authors found MFP and CFAP payments not associated with the percentage of non-real estate agricultural loans with payments over 90 days late. However, these payments associated with the percentage of non-real estate agricultural loans with payments between 30 and 89 days late. The available data utilized cannot consider when producers received the actual payment and what they specifically did with those funds. Originality/value: The contribution of this study is for US policymakers and agricultural lenders. The findings could be helpful in designing and implementing future ad hoc payment programs and provide an understanding of potential shortcomings of the current safety net for agricultural producers in the Farm Bill. Additionally, findings can assist agricultural lenders in predicting the impact of ad hoc payments on their distressed loan portfolios. © 2022, Charles Martinez, Christopher N. Boyer, Tun-Hsiang Yu, S. Aaron Smith and Adam Rabinowitz.
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Introduction: To meet the multi-user, cross-time-and-space, cross-platform online demand of work, and professional training teaching in nuclear reactor safety analysis under the normalization of Coronavirus Disease 2019. Method: Taking the nuclear accident simulation software PCTRAN as an example, this study adopts cloud computing technology to build the NasCloud, a nuclear accident simulation cloud platform based on Browser/Server architecture, and successfully realizes multi-user, cross-time-and-space, cross-platform applications. Targeting the AP1000, a pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant, the simulation of cold-leg Small Break Loss of Coolant Accident and cold-leg Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident were carried out to verify the correctness of the NasCloud's accident simulation function. Results: The result shows that the simulation functions and results of the NasCloud in multi-terminal are consistent with the single version of PCTRAN. At the same time, the platform has high scalability, concurrency and security characteristics. Discussion: Therefore, the nuclear accident simulation cloud platform built in this study can provide solutions for the work and training of nuclear reactor safety analysis, and provide reference for other engineering design and simulation software cloud to computing transformation. Copyright © 2023 Chen, Chen, Xie, Xiong and Yu.
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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.
ABSTRACT
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.
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Since the post-COVID-19 era, online teaching has become the normalization of universities in China. However, it is still unclear whether students are satisfied with online teaching and what factors affect online learning satisfaction of university students. Therefore, based on the establishment of basic hypothesis, through the construction of path model and questionnaire survey, this paper found the online learning satisfaction of university students in the post-COVID-19 era in China and revealed the main factors affecting online learning satisfaction. The results show that university students are satisfied with the overall evaluation and sub-item evaluation of online learning, and students have a positive attitude toward online learning. From the perspective of the influencing path, curriculum design and learning environment have a positive direct impact on the online learning satisfaction, while teacher characteristics have an indirect positive impact on the online learning satisfaction mainly through curriculum design and learning environment. From the perspective of the degree of influencing factors, although teachers' characteristics have indirect influence, the degree of influence is the largest. According to the results, this paper provides some suggestions on the improvement of teachers, curriculum design, and learning environment, to improve the online learning satisfaction of university students. © 2022 ICCREM 2022: Carbon Peak and Neutrality Strategies of the Construction Industry - Proceedings of the International Conference on Construction and Real Estate Management 2022. All rights reserved.
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Affected by the epidemic situation of COVID-19, colleges and universities have adopted online teaching methods one after another, so teachers and students have the opportunity to experience the whole online teaching process. After the COVID-19 come to an end, online teaching will continue to have a corresponding impact on teachers' teaching and students' learning, and will also promote the deepening reform of online teaching. The combination of online and offline modes of instruction is bound to become the normalization mode of college curriculum teaching in the post-epidemic era. Taking the course 'Fundamentals of Programming' as an example, this paper makes an attempt to implement 'online and offline mixed' teaching, so as to study and practice the curriculum reform in the post-epidemic era. © 2022 IEEE.
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Objective: To explore the effect of vaccination on viral negative conversion of children with COVID-19. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. A cohort of 189 children aged 3-14 years with COVID-19 admitted to Renji Hospital (South branch) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from April 7th to May 19th 2022 was enrolled in the study. According to the vaccination status, the infected children were divided into an unvaccinated group and a vaccinated group. Age, gender, severity, clinical manifestations, and laboratory tests, etc. were compared between groups, by rank sum test or chi-square test. The effects of vaccination on viral negative conversion were analyzed by a Cox mixed-effects regression model. Additionally, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the parents of unvaccinated children to analyze the reasons for not being vaccinated. Results: A total of 189 children aged 3-14 years were enrolled, including 95 males (50.3%) and 94 females (49.7%), aged 5.7 (4.1,8.6) years. There were 117 cases (61.9%) in the unvaccinated group and 72 cases (38.1%) in the vaccinated group. The age of the vaccinated group was higher than that of the unvaccinated group (8.8 (6.8, 10.6) vs. 4.5 (3.6, 5.9) years, Z=9.45, P<0.001). No significant differences were found in clinical manifestations, disease severity, and laboratory results between groups (all P>0.05), except for the occurrence rate of cough symptoms, which was significantly higher in the vaccinated group than in the non-vaccinated group (68.1% (49/72) vs. 50.4% (59/117),χ2=5.67, P=0.017). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox mixed-effects regression model showed that the time to the viral negative conversion was significantly shorter in the vaccinated group compared with the unvaccinated group (8 (7, 10) vs. 11 (9, 12) d, Z=5.20, P<0.001; adjusted HR=2.19 (95%CI 1.62-2.97)). For questionnaire survey on the reasons for not receiving a vaccination, 115 questionnaires were distributed and 112 valid questionnaires (97.4%) were collected. The main reasons for not being vaccinated were that parents thought that their children were not in the range of appropriate age for vaccination (51 cases, 45.5%) and children were in special physical conditions (47 cases, 42.0%). Conclusion: Vaccination can effectively shorten the negative conversion time of children with COVID-19 and targeted programs should be developed to increase eligible children's vaccination rate for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Vaccines , Child , Female , Male , Humans , COVID-19/prevention & control , COVID-19 Vaccines , Retrospective Studies , SARS-CoV-2 , China/epidemiologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in adults and children, but most of the world lacks diagnostic imaging for its assessment. Lung ultrasound is a portable, low-cost, and highly accurate imaging modality for assessment of pulmonary pathology including pneumonia, but its deployment is limited secondary to a lack of trained sonographers. In this study, we piloted a low-cost lung teleultrasound system in rural Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic using lung ultrasound volume sweep imaging (VSI) that can be operated by an individual without prior ultrasound training circumventing many obstacles to ultrasound deployment. DESIGN: Pilot study. SETTING: Study activities took place in five health centres in rural Peru. PARTICIPANTS: There were 213 participants presenting to rural health clinics. INTERVENTIONS: Individuals without prior ultrasound experience in rural Peru underwent brief training on how to use the teleultrasound system and perform lung ultrasound VSI. Subsequently, patients attending clinic were scanned by these previously ultrasound-naïve operators with the teleultrasound system. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Radiologists examined the ultrasound imaging to assess its diagnostic value and identify any pathology. A random subset of 20% of the scans were analysed for inter-reader reliability. RESULTS: Lung VSI teleultrasound examinations underwent detailed analysis by two cardiothoracic attending radiologists. Of the examinations, 202 were rated of diagnostic image quality (94.8%, 95% CI 90.9% to 97.4%). There was 91% agreement between radiologists on lung ultrasound interpretation among a 20% sample of all examinations (κ=0.76, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.98). Radiologists were able to identify sequelae of COVID-19 with the predominant finding being B-lines. CONCLUSION: Lung VSI teleultrasound performed by individuals without prior training allowed diagnostic imaging of the lungs and identification of sequelae of COVID-19 infection. Deployment of lung VSI teleultrasound holds potential as a low-cost means to improve access to imaging around the world.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Adult , COVID-19/diagnostic imaging , Child , Humans , Lung/diagnostic imaging , Pandemics , Peru/epidemiology , Pilot Projects , Reproducibility of Results , Ultrasonography/methodsABSTRACT
Introduction. This article discusses the treatment of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) with glucocorticoste-roid drugs (GCS), side effects of drugs and their prevention, transfer from intravenous to intramuscular and then to oral administration, and the development of withdrawal syndrome. The article describes the conditions under which antibiotic therapy is prescribed, as well as the conditions under which the combined use of corticosteroids and antibiotics is neces-sary. Aim. The aim to analyze the basic principles of corticosteroids prescribing in the treatment of COVID-19: indications for corticosteroids administration, administration regimens and required dosages, side effects of corticosteroids admin-istration. Material and methods. The article uses data from the Interim Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of New Coronavirus Infection (COVID-19), the Federal Clinical Guidelines for the Specialty “Rheumatology”, as well as using the literature on basic and clinical endocrinology, cardiology and pharmacology. The work was written using a systems approach, methods of analysis, induction and observation. Results and discussion. Systemic cortico-steroids are used in cases of severe and critical course of the disease COVID-19 (confirmation may be an increase in ferritin, procalcitonin, C-reactive protein (CRP), decreased cognitive functions, development of sopor). Their appointment is also justified when the initial course of the disease was not diagnosed as severe, but suddenly the patient’s condition deteriorated. The use of antibiotic therapy is advisable when a bacterial infection is attached-(procalcitonin (PCT)> 0.5 ng/ml, purulent sputum, leukocytosis> 12 × 109/L (in the absence of previous use of glucocorticoids), an increase in band neutrophils of more than 10%). In the presence of chronic infectious diseases in patients with COVID-19 (for ex-ample, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-COPD, chronic pyelonephritis, etc.), antibiotics are prescribed to prevent exacerbations of these diseases. Conclusion. In the course of the study, the authors of the article formulated the follow-ing principles of glucocorticoid therapy: drugs should be prescribed according to strict indications;maximum doses are applied in a short course;when the patient’s condition is stabilized, it is necessary to reduce the dose in a timely manner and gradually to complete withdrawal to prevent the development of “withdrawal” syndrome, adrenal insufficiency of cen-tral genesis, sympathoadrenal crises;during and after treatment, prevention of complications of glucocorticoid therapy (hyperglycemia, hypocalcemia, osteopenia, inflammatory diseases of the urinary system) is recommended;collegial management of patients by infectious diseases and endocrinologists is mandatory. © 2022, LLC "IMC" Modern Clinical Medicine. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus-2, concerns about immunity and boosting the immune system have increased the demand for nutritional supplementation. Supplementation with vitamins C and D, zinc, quercetin, and melatonin has been found to be beneficial against infectious diseases by regulating the immune system. Adequate intake of these nutrients is particularly important for elderly patients, who are more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of COVID-19. Increased supplementation with these nutrients during COVID-19 infection may be advantageous, but toxicity should be addressed in order to ensure patient safety. Additional clinical trials should be conducted to further assess the potential of nutritional supplementation as a readily accessible and affordable treatment specifically for COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
The new crown pneumonia (COVID-19) has become a global epidemic. The disease has spread to most countries and poses a challenge to the healthcare system. Contact tracing technology is an effective way for public health to deal with diseases. Many experts have studied traditional contact tracing and developed digital contact tracking. In order to better understand the field of contact tracking, it is necessary to analyze the development of contact tracking in the field of computer science by bibliometrics. The purpose of this research is to use literature statistics and topic analysis to characterize the research literature of contact tracking in the field of computer science, to gain an in-depth understanding of the literature development status of contact tracking and the trend of hot topics over the past decade. In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, we conducted a bibliometric study in this paper. The study uses data collected from the Scopus database. Which contains more than 10,000 articles, including more than 2,000 in the field of computer science. For popular trends, we use VOSviewer for visual analysis. The number of contact tracking documents published annually in the computer field is increasing. At present, there are 200 to 300 papers published in the field of computer science each year, and the number of uncited papers is relatively small. Through the visual analysis of the paper, we found that the hot topic of contact tracking has changed from the past “mathematical model,” “biological model,” and “algorithm” to the current “digital contact tracking,” “privacy,” and “mobile application” and other topics. Contact tracking is currently a hot research topic. By selecting the most cited papers, we can display high-quality literature in contact tracking and characterize the development trend of the entire field through topic analysis. This is useful for students and researchers new to field of contact tracking ai well as for presenting our results to other subjects. Especially when comprehensive research cannot be conducted due to time constraints or lack of precise research questions, our research analysis can provide value for it. © 2022. KIPS
ABSTRACT
Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi, which can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another. Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to human health, especially COVID-19 that has became a serious worldwide health concern since the end of 2019. Contact tracing is the process of identifying, assessing, and managing people who have been exposed to a disease to prevent its onward transmission. Contact tracing can help us better understand the transmission link of the virus, whereby better interrupting its transmission. Given the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, contact tracing has become one of the most critical measures to effectively curb the spread of the virus. This paper presents a comprehensive survey on contact tracing, with a detailed coverage of the recent advancements the models, digital technologies, protocols and issues involved in contact tracing. The current challenges as well as future directions of contact tracing technologies are also presented.