A systematic hybrid machine learning approach for stress prediction.

Stress is becoming an increasingly prevalent health issue, seriously affecting people and putting their health and lives at risk. Frustration, nervousness, and anxiety are the symptoms of stress and these symptoms are becoming common (40%) in younger people. It creates a negative impact on human lives and damages the performance of each individual. Early prediction of stress and the level of stress can help to reduce its impact and different serious health issues related to this mental state. For this, automated systems are required so they can accurately predict stress levels. This study proposed an approach that can detect stress accurately and efficiently using machine learning techniques. We proposed a hybrid model (HB) which is a combination of gradient boosting machine (GBM) and random forest (RF). These models are combined using soft voting criteria in which each model's prediction probability will be used for the final prediction. The proposed model is significant with 100% accuracy in comparison with the state-of-the-art approaches. To show the significance of the proposed approach we have also done 10-fold cross-validation using the proposed model and the proposed HB model outperforms with 1.00 mean accuracy and +/-0.00 standard deviation. In the end, a statistical T-test we have done to show the significance of the proposed approach in comparison with other approaches.

Development of SARS-CoV-2 animal vaccines using a stable and efficient NDV expression system.

With the continuation of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the emergence of new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, the control of the spread of the virus remains urgent. Various animals, including cats, ferrets, hamsters, nonhuman primates, minks, tree shrews, fruit bats, and rabbits, are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection naturally or experimentally. Therefore, to avoid animals from becoming mixing vessels of the virus, vaccination of animals should be considered. In the present study, we report the establishment of an efficient and stable system using Newcastle disease virus (NDV) as a vector to express SARS-CoV-2 spike protein/subunit for the rapid generation of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in animals. Our data showed that the S and S1 protein was sufficiently expressed in rNDV-S and rNDV-S1-infected cells, respectively. The S protein was incorporated into and displayed on the surface of rNDV-S viral particles. Intramuscular immunization with rNDV-S was found to induce the highest level of binding and neutralizing antibodies, as well as strong S-specific T-cell response in mice. Intranasal immunization with rNDV-S1 provoked a robust T-cell response but barely any detectable antibodies. Overall, the NDV-vectored vaccine candidates were able to induce profound humoral and cellular immunity, which will provide a good system for developing vaccines targeting both T-cell and antibody responses.

Integrated microbiome and metabolome analysis reveals the potential therapeutic mechanism of Qing-Fei-Pai-Du decoction in mice with coronavirus-induced pneumonia.

Current studies have shown that gut microbiota may be closely related to the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by regulating the host immune response. Qing-Fei-Pai-Du decoction (QFPDD) is the recommended drug for clinical treatment of patients with COVID-19 in China, but whether it exerts a therapeutic effect by modulating the immune response through gut microbiota remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of QFPDD in pneumonia model mice and performed 16S rRNA sequencing and serum and lung tissue metabolomic analysis to explore the underlying mechanisms during the treatment. Then, Spearman correlation analysis was performed on gut microbiome, serum metabolome, and immune-inflammation-related indicators. Our results suggest that QFPDD can restore the richness and diversity of gut microbiota, and multiple gut microbiota (including Alistipes, Odoribacter, Staphylococcus, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group Enterorhabdus, and unclassified_f_Lachnospiraceae) are significantly associated with immune-inflammation-related indicators. In addition, various types of lipid metabolism changes were observed in serum and lung tissue metabolome, especially glycerophospholipids and fatty acids. A total of 27 differential metabolites (DMs) were significantly correlated with immune-inflammation-related indicators, including 9 glycerophospholipids, 7 fatty acids, 3 linoleic acid, 2 eicosanoids, 2 amino acids, 2 bile acids, and 2 others. Interestingly, these DMs showed a good correlation with the gut microbiota affected by QFPDD. The above results suggest that QFPDD can improve the immune function and reduce inflammation in pneumonia model mice by remodeling gut microbiota and host metabolism.

Behaviour in public open spaces: A systematic review of studies with quantitative research methods

Public open spaces are important assets that play a significant role in city lives, based on which a great number of behaviour-based studies are being conducted. These studies often use one or more case studies to observe people's preferences and usage habits and to investigate their influencing factors such as outdoor thermal comfort, environmental conditions, urban configuration, and local settings. Because the subject is complex and falls within the purview of multiple academic disciplines, it is a challenging task to understand the current status and development trends of existing studies. To fill this gap, this article presents a systematic review of quantitative evidence-based behaviour studies in public open spaces. Following the PRISMA method and searching using eight academic search engines, full texts of 116 research articles have been included for this review. The main contributions of this review are that: (1) it proposed a relatively complete system that categorizes people's behaviour in public open spaces;(2) it introduced outdoor subjective influencing procedure including behaviour, feeling and health impacts;(3) the review illustrated the distribution of existing research as well as research trends;and finally (4) the article also timely discussed the influence of the COVID-19 on people's behaviour in public open spaces. The authors consider this article to be useful as it can facilitate further behaviour-based studies in public open spaces. With a robust classification and future trend discussion of factors associated, fellow researchers, urban designers, city managers, and policymakers are easier to integrate and use the knowledge learned.

A Systematic Review of Objective Factors Influencing Behavior in Public Open Spaces.

As a significant part of outdoor built-environment, public open spaces are closely associated with people's daily lives. Studies of outdoor behavior in these spaces can shed light on users' environmental perceptions and contribute to the promotion of physiological and psychological health. Many recent studies are case studies focused where observations, surveys and interviews have been conducted to understand the factors influencing people's behavior on one or few sites or city environments. There have been few reviews related to this topic, and none have been based on the systematic understanding of influencing factors. This paper presents a systematic review of interactions between behavior and the built environment in public open spaces, and highlights the impacts of diverse and objective influencing factors. Followed the rules of PRISMA method (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), 109 papers published in 2000-2021 were selected and reviewed. The distribution of the studied interactions is analyzed, and the impacts of four distinct factors: personal background, location and context, environmental component, and climate stimuli, are extracted, categorized, and specified. Moreover, outdoor health benefits are discussed based on which, crucial factors that require emphasis after the outbreak of COVID-19 are identified. Throughout this paper, behavioral influencing processes, including objective influencing factors, subjective feedback, and the relationships involved, are considered to provide a comprehensive picture. With the robust classification of existing factors, architects, urban designers, policy makers and fellow researches could be easier to get a more comprehensive trend from the past. This paper also provides guidance for future research, especially given that COVID-19 has created huge changes to outdoor needs and customary behavior. Systematic Review Registration: http://www.prisma-statement.org/.

New understanding of the damage of SARS-CoV-2 infection outside the respiratory system.

Since early December 2019, a number of pneumonia cases associated with unknown coronavirus infection were identified in Wuhan, China, and many additional cases were identified in other regions of China and in other countries within 3 months. Currently, more than 80,000 cases have been diagnosed in China, including more than 3000 deaths. The epidemic is spreading to the rest of the world, posing a grave challenge to prevention and control. On February 12, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses and the World Health Organization officially named the novel coronavirus and associated pneumonia as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), respectively. According to the recent research on SARS-CoV-2, the virus mainly infects the respiratory system but may cause damage to other systems. In this paper, we will systematically review the pathogenic features, transmission routes, and infection mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2, as well as any adverse effects on the digestive system, urogenital system, central nervous system, and circulatory system, in order to provide a theoretical and clinical basis for the diagnosis, classification, treatment, and prognosis assessment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.