Effects of Wearing a Mask During Exercise on Physiological and Psychological Outcomes in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Wearing face masks in public is an effective strategy for preventing the spread of viruses; however, it may negatively affect exercise responses. Therefore, this review aimed to explore the effects of wearing different types of face masks during exercise on various physiological and psychological outcomes in healthy individuals. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using relevant electronic databases, including Medline, PubMed, Embase, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials on April 05, 2022. Studies examining the effect of mask wearing (surgical mask, cloth mask, and FFP2/N95 respirator) during exercise on various physiological and psychological parameters in apparently healthy individuals were included. For meta-analysis, a random effects model was used. Mean difference (MD) or standardized MD (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to analyze the total effect and the effect in subgroups classified based on face mask and exercise types. The quality of included studies was examined using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. RESULTS: Forty-five studies with 1264 participants (708 men) were included in the systematic review. Face masks had significant effects on gas exchange when worn during exercise; this included differences in oxygen uptake (SMD - 0.66, 95% CI - 0.87 to - 0.45), end-tidal partial pressure of oxygen (MD - 3.79 mmHg, 95% CI - 5.46 to - 2.12), carbon dioxide production (SMD - 0.77, 95% CI - 1.15 to - 0.39), and end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (MD 2.93 mmHg, 95% CI 2.01-3.86). While oxygen saturation (MD - 0.48%, 95% CI - 0.71 to - 0.26) decreased slightly, heart rate was not affected. Mask wearing led to higher degrees of rating of perceived exertion, dyspnea, fatigue, and thermal sensation. Moreover, a small effect on exercise performance was observed in individuals wearing FFP2/N95 respirators (SMD - 0.42, 95% CI - 0.76 to - 0.08) and total effect (SMD - 0.23, 95% CI - 0.41 to - 0.04). CONCLUSION: Wearing face masks during exercise modestly affected both physiological and psychological parameters, including gas exchange, pulmonary function, and subjective discomfort in healthy individuals, although the overall effect on exercise performance appeared to be small. This review provides updated information on optimizing exercise recommendations for the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER: This study was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Review (PROSPERO) database (registration number: CRD42021287278).

Contact network analysis of COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak in urban China -based on 2,050 confirmed cases in Xi'an, China.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this paper is to study how the Delta variant spread in a China city, and to what extent the non-pharmaceutical prevention measures of local government be effective by reviewing the contact network of COVID-19 cases in Xi'an, China. METHODS: We organize the case reports of the Shaanxi Health Commission into a database by text coding and convert them into a network matrix. Then we construct a dynamic contact network for the corresponding analysis and calculate network indicators. we analyze the cases' dynamic contact network structure and intervals between diagnosis time and isolation time by using data visualization, network analysis method, and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression. RESULTS: The contact network for this outbreak in Xi'an is very sparse, with a density of less than 0.0001. The contact network is a scale-free network. The average degree centrality is 0.741 and the average PageRank score is 0.0005. The network generated from a single source of infection contains 1371 components. We construct three variables of intervals and analyze the trend of intervals during the outbreak. The mean interval (interval 1) between case diagnosis time and isolation time is - 3.9 days. The mean of the interval (interval 2) between the infector's diagnosis time and the infectee's diagnosis time is 4.2 days. The mean of the interval (interval 3) between infector isolation time and infectee isolation time is 2.9 days. Among the three intervals, only interval 1 has a significant positive correlation with degree centrality. CONCLUSIONS: By integrating COVID-19 case reports of a Chinese city, we construct a contact network to analyze the dispersion of the outbreak. The network is a scale-free network with multiple hidden pathways that are not detected. The intervals of patients in this outbreak decreased compared to the beginning of the outbreak in 2020. City lockdown has a significant effect on the intervals that can affect patients' network centrality. Our study highlights the value of case report text. By linking different reports, we can quickly analyze the spread of the epidemic in an urban area.

Influences of obstacle factors on the transmission trends of respiratory infectious diseases in indoor public places

Public facilities are important transmission places for respiratory infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19), due to the frequent crowd interactions inside. Usually, changes of obstacle factors can affect the movements of human crowds and result in different epidemic transmissions among individuals. However, most related studies only focus on the specific scenarios, but the common rules are usually ignored for the impacts of obstacles' spatial elements on epidemic transmission. To tackle these problems, this study aims to evaluate the impacts of three spatial factors of obstacles (i.e., size, quantity, and placement) on infection spreading trends in two-dimension, which can provide scientific and concise spatial design guidelines for indoor public places. Firstly, we used the obstacle area proportion as the indicator of the size factor, gave the mathematical expression of the quantity factor, and proposed the walkable-space distribution indicator to represent the placement factor by introducing the Space Syntax. Secondly, two spreading epidemic indicators (i.e., daily new cases and people's average exposure risk) were estimated based on the fundamental model named exposure risk with the virion-laden particles, which accurately forecasted the disease spreading between individuals. Thirdly, 120 indoor scenarios were built and simulated, based on which the value of independent and dependent variables can be measured. Besides, structural equation modeling was employed to examine the effects of obstacle factors on epidemic transmissions. Finally, three obstacle-related guidelines were provided for policymakers to mitigate the disease spreading: minimizing the size of obstacles, dividing the obstacle into more sub-ones, and placing obstacles evenly distributed in space.

Stock market reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic: an event study

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for communities and economies around the world. Based on 13 leading global stock indices, the event study method is adopted in this research to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of the stock market indices in the short term. Regression results show that the global stock markets performed poorly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the event study imply that the stock markets reacted rapidly and negatively to the COVID-19 pandemic when lockdown restrictions were announced to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Asian stock indices experienced more negative abnormal earnings than the stock indices of the countries outside Asia. Moreover, investor sentiments act as a wedge between financial investment decisions, returns, and fear of uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Furthermore, the panic experienced by investors may be an effective transmission channel through which the COVID-19 outbreak affects the returns on the stock market indices.

Epidemiological Trend of RSV Infection Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Three-Year Consecutive Study in China.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the epidemiological trend and clinical characteristics of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection among inpatient children with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: A retrospective study of inpatients with LRTI was conducted at the Department of Pulmonology, The Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (Hangzhou, China) from January 2019 to December 2021. All respiratory specimens were tested for common respiratory pathogens. The clinical data in children with RSV-induced LRTI in the past three years were collected and analyzed. Results: A total of 11,290 patients were enrolled, and RSV positive cases were 402 (7.6%), 288 (9.6%), 415 (13.8%) in 2019, 2020, 2021, respectively, with a significant statistical difference of the RSV positive rate among the three groups (p < 0.001). Most patients were under 2-year old, especially under 1-year old, and the median age of patients was 4 months, 5 months, 6 months in 2019, 2020, 2021, respectively, with a tendency to increase in age. In terms of the seasonal distribution, most patients of LRTI with RSV infection were admitted in winter, while in 2021 compared with in 2019, the cases significantly reduced in winter and increased in autumn. From 2019 to 2021, there was an increase in autumn trend year by year. Conclusion: RSV infection was still an important cause of hospitalization in children with LRTI after the outbreak of COVID-19, and its proportion increased gradually. LRTI caused by RSV is still more common in infants under 1-year old, but there is a trend of increasing in older children. What deserves the attention of pediatricians and Center for Disease Control is that the incidence of RSV infection continues to rise in autumn, and the difference in seasonal distribution is narrowed.

The Effect of Routine Management Combined with Case Management Model on Social Support, Self-Efficacy, Self-Management Ability, and Psychological Flexibility of AIDS Patients.

Objective: To explore the influence of conventional management combined with case management on social support and self-efficacy of AIDS patients. Methods: The clinical case data of 120 AIDS patients who were treated and nursed in our hospital from June 2019 to June 2021 were selected as the research objects and were divided into the control group and the observation group according to the digital table method, with 60 cases each. The control group implements routine management, and the observation group implements case-based nursing management on this basis and compares the effects of self-efficacy, self-management ability, nursing ability, social support, and psychological flexibility of the two groups of patients. Results: Before the intervention, the quality of life scores of the two groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). After the intervention, the physical function score, pain management score, and symptom response score of the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group, and statistics showed that the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Before the intervention, the self-management ability of the two groups of patients was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). After the intervention, the observation group's symptom management, emotional cognition management, social support and assistance, daily life management, disease knowledge management, and treatment compliance management were significantly higher than those of the control group. Statistics show that this difference is statistically significant (P < 0.05). Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the nursing ability and psychological flexibility between the two groups of patients (P > 0.05). After the intervention, the observation group's health knowledge level, self-care skills, self-care responsibility, self-concept, and mental flexibility (resilience, strength, optimism) indicators were higher than the control group, while the depression mood disorder score was significantly lower than the control group; statistics showed that this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Routine management combined with case-based nursing management can effectively improve the self-management ability and psychological flexibility of AIDS patients, improve patient care ability and self-efficacy, and provide certain reference value for effective management of AIDS patients.

How could hospitality employees survive? The individual costs, career decisions and autonomy support of furlough strategies in a crisis

The hospitality industries are fragile and have very little business in a public crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Under a difficult time, the hospitality organizations still need to keep talent employees who are critical when the business is recovered. Furlough that employers keep talent employees without variable cost, becomes a common choice among hotels. However, the potential impacts of such furlough practices on employees have rarely been investigated. By analyzing the data set from 386 furloughed UK hotel employees, the present study illustrated that the perceived costs of furlough as well as the availability of alternative opportunities resulted in career changes, and that feelings of acknowledged as a dimension of autonomy support weakened the effects of social costs on career change decisions. The findings call for more balanced furlough strategies and extend knowledge about social justice at workplace.

Sustainable impact of COVID-19 on education projects: aspects of naturalism.

History records show that pandemics and threats have always given new directions to the thinking, working, and learning styles. This article attempts to thoroughly document the positive core of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and its impact on global social psychology, ecological stability, and development. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the hypotheses and comprehend the objectives of the study. The findings of the study reveals that the path coefficients for the variables health consciousness, naturalism, financial impact and self-development, sustainability, compassion, gregariousness, sympathy, and cooperation demonstrate that the factors have a positive and significant effect on COVID-19 prevention. Moreover, the content analysis was conducted on recently published reports, blog content, newspapers, and social media. The pieces of evidence from history have been cited to justify the perspective. Furthermore, to appraise the opinions of professionals of different walks of life, an online survey was conducted, and results were discussed with expert medical professionals. Outcomes establish that the pandemics give birth to creativity, instigate innovations, prompt inventions, establish human ties, and foster altruistic elements of compassion and emotionalism.

Global Identification of Unelectrified Built-Up Areas by Remote Sensing

Access to electricity (the proportion of the population with access to electricity) is a key indica for of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which aims to provide affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services for all. Accurate and timely global data on access to electricity in all countries is important for the achievement of SDG7. Current survey-based access to electricity datasets suffers from short time spans, slow updates, high acquisition costs, and a lack of location data. Accordingly, a new method for identifying the electrification status of built-up areas based on the remote sensing of nighttime light is proposed in this study. More specifically, the method overlays global built-up area data with night-time light remote sensing data to determine whether built-up areas are electrified based on a threshold night-time light value. By using our approach, electrified and unelectrified built-up areas were extracted at 500 m resolution on a global scale for the years 2014 and 2020. The acquired results show a significant reduction in an unelectrified built-up area between 2014 and 2020, from 51,301.14 km2 to 22,192.52 km2, or from 3.05% to 1.32% of the total built-up area. Compared to 2014, 117 countries or territories had improved access to electricity, and 18 increased their proportion of unelectrified built-up area by >0.1%. The identification accuracy was evaluated by using a random sample of 10,106 points. The accuracies in 2014 and 2020 were 97.29% and 98.9%, respectively, with an average of 98.1%. The outcomes of this method are in high agreement with the spatial distribution of access to electricity data reported by the World Bank. This study is the first to investigate the global electrification of built-up areas by using remote sensing. It makes an important supplement to global data on access to electricity, which can aid in the achievement of SDG7.

Contact Network Analysis of COVID-19 Delta variant Outbreak in Urban China ——Based on 2,050 Confirmed Cases in Xi'an, China (preprint)

Background: The purpose of this paper is to study how the Delta variant spread in a China city, and to what extent the non-pharmaceutical prevention measures of local government be effective by reviewing the contact network of COVID-19 cases in Xi’an, China. Methods: We organize the case reports of Shaanxi Health Commission into a database by text coding and convert them into structured network data. Then we construct a dynamic contact network for the corresponding analysis and calculate network indicators. we analyze the cases’ dynamic contact network structure and intervals between diagnosis time and isolation time by using data visualization, social network analysis method, and OLS regressions. Results: The contact network for this outbreak in Xi'an is very sparse, with a density of less than 0.0001. The contact network is a scale-free network. The average degree centrality is 0.741 and the average PageRank score is 0.0005. The network generated from a single source of infection contains 1,371 components. We construct three variables of intervals and analyze the trend of intervals during the outbreak. The mean interval (interval 1) between cases diagnosis time and isolation time is -3.9 days. The mean of the interval (interval 2) between the infector’s diagnosis time and the infectee diagnosis time is 4.2 days. The mean of the interval (interval 3) between infector isolation time and infectee isolation time is 2.9 days. Among the three intervals, only interval 1 has a significant positive correlation with degree centrality.Conclusions: By integrating COVID-19 case reports of a Chinese city, we can construct a contact network to analyze the dispersion of the outbreak. The network is a scale-free network with multiple hidden pathways that are not detected. The intervals of patients in this outbreak decreased compared to the beginning of the outbreak in 2020. City lockdown has a significant effect on the intervals that can affect patient’s network centrality. Our study highlights the value of case report text. By linking different reports, we can quickly analyze the spread of the epidemic in an urban area.

Serum Unconjugated Bilirubin as a Predictor of Specific Cellular Immunity Response in Kidney Transplant Recipients after Administration of SARS-CoV-2 Inactivated Vaccine (preprint)

Purpose: The immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines is poor in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). The factors related to poor immunogenicity to vaccination in KTRs are not well defined. Methods An observational study was conducted in KTRs and healthy individuals who had received two doses of SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine. IgG antibodies against the receptor-binding domain found in the S1 subunit of the spike protein, and against nucleocapsid protein were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Receptor-binding domain (RBD)-angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 interaction-blocking antibodies were measured using commercial kits. T cell responses against the spike and nucleocapsid proteins were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay. Results No severe adverse effects were observed in KTRs after first or second dose of SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine. IgG antibodies against the receptor- binding domain, and nucleocapsid protein were not effectively induced in a majority of KTRs after second dose of inactivated vaccine. Specific T cell immunity response was detectable in 32%-40% KTRs after second doses of inactivated vaccine. KTRs who developed specific T cell immunity were more likely to be female, and have lower levels of total bilirubin, unconjugated bilirubin, and blood tacrolimus concentration. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that blood unconjugated bilirubin was significantly negatively associated with SARS-CoV-2 specific T cell immunity response in k KTRs. Conclusions Specific T cell immunity response could be induced in 32%-40% KTRs after two doses of inactivated vaccine. Blood unconjugated bilirubin was negatively associated with specific cellular immunity response in KTRs following vaccination.

Co-benefits of reducing PM2.5 and improving visibility by COVID-19 lockdown in Wuhan

The less improvement of ambient visibility suspects the government’s efforts on alleviating PM2.5 pollution. The COVID-19 lockdown reduced PM2.5 and increased visibility in Wuhan. Compared to pre-lockdown period, the PM2.5 concentration decreased by 39.0 μg m−3, dominated by NH4NO3 mass reduction (24.8 μg m−3) during lockdown period. The PM2.5 threshold corresponding to visibility of 10 km (PTV10) varied in 54–175 μg m−3 and an hourly PM2.5 of 54 μg m−3 was recommended to prevent haze occurrence. The lockdown measures elevated PTV10 by 9–58 μg m−3 as the decreases in PM2.5 mass scattering efficiency and optical hygroscopicity. The visibility increased by 107%, resulted from NH4NO3 extinction reduction. The NH4NO3 mass reduction weakened its mutual promotion with aerosol water and increased PM2.5 deliquescence humidity. Controlling TNO3 (HNO3 + NO3−) was more effective to reduce PM2.5 and improve visibility than NHx (NH3 + NH4+) unless the NHx reduction exceeded 11.7–17.5 μg m−3.

Tourism Firms’ Vulnerability to Risk: The Role of Organizational Slack in Performance and Failure

This study explores the influence of political risk on firms in the tourism industry. It addresses a research gap regarding the impact of political risk on firm-level performance and failure and uncovers the role of organizational slack in this relationship. Firm-level political risk is estimated from 2002 to 2019 financial data for firms across six tourism sectors in a developed economy, the United States. Such risk is found to be significantly associated with firm performance and business failure. From the perspectives of the resource-based view and the threat-rigidity hypothesis, the results support the moderating effects of absorbed and unabsorbed slack on links between risk, performance, and business failure. Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the tourism industry’s vulnerability, this study will be of interest to tourism firms seeking to improve business sustainability and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Travel Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The impact of COVID-19 on the efficiency of microfinance institutions

This study investigates the effect of the COVID-19-induced decline in economic activities on the financial and social efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs). We find that the pandemic-induced impact decreases the financial efficiency of MFIs;however, the social efficiency of MFIs is increased under the impact of COVID-19. To explore potential channels through which efficiency is influenced by the COVID-19 outbreak, we examine the supply and demand side of MFIs’ funding. We find that the lending rate mediates the relationship between the impact of COVID-19 and MFI efficiency, whereas the mediating role of the funding rate is negligible.

COVID-19 Pandemic Brings a Sedentary Lifestyle in Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to pose profound challenges to society. Its spread has been mitigated through strategies including social distancing; however, this may result in the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle. This study aimed to investigate: (1) physical activity (PA) levels, sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep in young adults during the COVID-19 epidemic, and (2) the change in these behaviors before and during the pandemic. A total of 631 young adults (38.8% males) aged between 18 and 35 participated in the cross-sectional study and completed a one-off online survey relating to general information, PA, SB, and sleep. For the longitudinal study, PA, SB, and sleep data, obtained from 70 participants before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, were analyzed. Participants engaged in low PA, high SB, and long sleep duration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, a significant decline in PA while an increase in time spent in both SB and sleep was observed during the COVID-19 outbreak. The results of this study demonstrated a sedentary lifestyle in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will assist health policymakers and practitioners in the development of population specific health education and behavior interventions during this pandemic and for other future events.

Impacts and strategies for the construction of the disease control and prevention system in the COVID-19 outbreak / 上海预防医学

The outbreak of COVID-19 has exposed many shortcomings in disease control and prevention system (DCPS) of China. Resolving the problems and strengthening the DCPS became the top priority in China’s public policy agenda. This paper revealed the problems of the system regarding policy-making, regulations, operation mechanism and staff, and proposed several strategies from three aspects of legal construction, management system, and operation mechanism, including: 'Prevention first' should be incorporated into the national legal system, all the departments should be engaged in 'Healthy China 2030' initiative, laws and regulations should be amended, new disease prevention and control management institutions should be set up, a high-quality professional team should be retained, the regional health information exchange channels should be strengthened, the coordinated mechanism for disease prevention and control should be normalized, the long-term investment mechanism should be established, and the equipment renewal and reserve system should be improved.