Electrospray-on-Electrospun Breathable, Biodegradable, and Robust Nanofibrous Membranes with Photocatalytic Bactericidal Activity

The increasing emergence of infectious diseases like COVID-19 has created an urgent need for filtration/purification materials coupled with multifunctional features such as mechanical integrity, excellent airflow/filtration, and antibacterial/antimicrobial properties. Polymer membranes and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have demonstrated high effectiveness in air filtration and purification. MOF nanoparticles have been introduced into electrospun polymer nanofibrous membranes through embedding or postsolution growth. However, the derived hybrids are still facing the issue of (1) limited MOF exposure, which leads to low efficacy;and (2) uncontrollable growth, which leads to pore blocking and low breathability. In this work, we customized an electrospray-on-electrospinning in situ process to dynamically integrate MOF nanoparticles into a robust and elastic continuous nanofibrous membrane for advanced properties including high mechanical strength and flexibility, excellent breathability, particle filtration, and good antimicrobial performance. Biodegradable polylactic acid was reinforced by the poly(hydroxybutyrate)-di-poly(DLA-CL)x copolymer (PHBR) and used as an electrospinning matrix, while MOF nanoparticles were simultaneously electrically sprayed onto the nanofibers with easily controllable MOF loading. The MOF nanoparticles were homogeneously deposited onto nanofibers without clogging the pores in the membrane. The collision of PLA and MOF under the wet status during electrospinning and the hydrogen bonding through C=O and N-H bonds strengthen the affinity between PLA nanofibers and MOF nanoparticles. Because of these factors, the MOF-incorporated PLA/PHBR nanofibrous membrane achieved over 95% particle filtration efficiency with enhanced mechanical properties while maintaining high breathability. Meanwhile, it exhibits excellent photocatalytic antibacterial performance, which is necessary to kill microbes. The electrospray-on-electrospinning in situ process provides an efficient and straightforward way to hybridize one-dimensional (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials into a continuous nanofibrous membrane with strong interaction and controllable loading. Upon integrating proper functionalities from the materials, the obtained hybrids are able to achieve multifunctionalities for various applications.

Analysis of adverse reactions of lopinavir/ritonavir in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019.

Objective: To explore the occurrence of adverse reactions of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Method(s): The medical records of patients with COVID-19 who received LPV/r treatment in the Fourth People's Hospital of Nanning from January 24th to February 6th, 2020 were collected and the occurrence of adverse events during the treatment was retrospectively analyzed. According to the 5 principles of adverse drug reaction correlation evaluation proposed in the Handbook of Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting and Monitoring in China, adverse events that were certainly related, probably related, and possibly related to LPV/r were defined as LPV/r-related adverse reactions. The incidence of adverse reactions was calculated and the main clinical manifestations and severity of adverse reactions [grade 1 (mild), grade 2 (moderate), grade 3 (severe), grade 4 (life-threatening), and grade 5 (death);grade 3-5 was defined as severe adverse reaction] were analyzed. Result(s): A total of 28 patients were enrolled in the analysis, including 13 males and 15 females, aged from 18 to 70 years with an average age of 44 years. The courses of treatment with LPV/r of patients ranged from 2 to 12 days, with a median course of 6 days. Of the 28 patients, 18 developed LPV/r related adverse reactions, with an incidence of 64.3%. The LPV/r-related adverse reactions in 18 patients included gastrointestinal reactions in 14 patients (grade 1 in 13 patients and grade 2 in 1 patient), bradycardia in 2 patients (grade 2 in both patients), and acute hemolysis in 1 patient (grade 3), and liver injury in 1 patient (grade 3), and no grade 4 or 5 adverse reactions occurred. The incidence of severe adverse reactions was 7.1%. Thirteen patients with grade 1 adverse reactions did not affect the treatment, and the symptoms were relieved after 2-7 days of continuous medication. LPV/r was discontinued in 5 patients with grade 2 or 3 adverse reactions, 4 of whom received symptomatic treatment, and the symptoms disappeared 2-10 days later. Conclusion(s): The incidence of adverse reactions in COVID-19 patients treated with LPV/r in our hospital was 64.3%. LPV/r mainly leads to mild gastrointestinal reactions and can also lead to bradycardia, acute hemolysis, and liver injury. Blood routine, liver function, and electrocardiogram need to be monitored during the treatment.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.

The effect of mortality salience on consumers' preference for experiential purchases and its mechanism

Inevitably, consumers will be exposed to death-related information in their daily lives. For example, they are informed about deaths and injuries caused by accidents, terrorism and disasters on social media. They may also encounter the experiences of deceased friends and relatives or the news of unfortunate strangers. Especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are more frequently exposed to death cues. Researches have shown that consumers' decision-makings and purchasing behaviors shift when dealing with death threats. Compared to material consumption, experiential consumption delivers greater and persistent well-being and it is emerging as an extremely important consumption pattern. It is unclear, however, whether these mortality cues will exert positive or negative effects on consumers' preference for experiential purchases. Based on the meaning maintenance model, 4 studies were conducted to examine how mortality salience influences consumers' preference for experiential purchases. In Study 1a and Study 1b, we experimentally manipulated mortality salience and examined its effect on consumers' preference for experiential purchases. Study 1a (N = 140) was a single factor (mortality salience) between-subjects design, participants were randomly assigned to different groups to imagine about incurable infectious disease or dental surgery. Participants in Study 1b (N = 252) were instructed to write about death or dental pain. Study 2 (N =219) was designed to test the mediating role of meaning in life. Participants were required to read a news report concerning traffic accident or dental surgery, and then finish the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Study 3 (N = 166) was a 2 (mortality salience vs. control condition) × 2 (social support: high level vs. low level) between-subjects design. Participants were provided a news report pertaining to the global fatalities under the COVID-19 pandemic in mortality salience condition, and pertaining to global tourism during the pandemic period in the control condition. Social support was manipulated by writing in detail a difficult situation "in which your family or friends accompanied you", or "in which you had to face all by yourself". Additionally, we used a single-paper meta-analysis (SPM) to document a robust effect across all studies. The main results of this study are as follows: (1) Exposed to mortality salience will lead to stronger preference for experiential purchases. (2) The effects seem to be driven by meaning in life, whereby exposure to mortality salience undermines consumers' meaning in life, and consumers will gravitate towards experiential consumption to enhance their impaired meaning. (3) Social support moderates the effect of mortality salience on meaning in life. Only when consumers received low level of social support, will mortality salience reduce their meaning in life. (4) Social support moderates the mediating effect of meaning in life on mortality salience and preference for experiential purchases. Specifically, meaning in life mediates the effect of mortality salience on preference for experiential purchases only when consumers received low social support. To enhance the overall validity, we performed a single-paper meta-analysis (SPM) on the four studies. The SPM showed that consumers had greater preference of experiential purchase when exposed to mortality salience (Estimate β = 0.30, SE = 0.07, z = 4.178, p < 0.001), which strengthened the robustness of our general conclusion. This research yields practical implications by demonstrating that mortality salience exerts positive effect on consumers' preference for experiential purchases, which enables us to identify the changes in consumption patterns and mindset under the pandemic, providing references for marketing and promotion strategies. © Science Press.

The reliability and integrity of overall survival data based on follow-up records only and potential solutions to the challenges

Overall survival (OS) is considered the standard clinical endpoint to support effectiveness claims in new drug applications globally, particularly for lethal conditions such as cancer. However, the source and reliability of OS in the setting of clinical trials have seldom been doubted and discussed. This study first raised the common issue that data integrity and reliability are doubtful when we collect OS information or other time-to-event endpoints based solely on simple follow-up records by investigators without supporting material, especially since the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic. Then, two rounds of discussions with 30 Chinese experts were held and 12 potential source scenarios of three methods for obtaining the time of death of participants, including death certificate, death record and follow-up record, were sorted out and analysed. With a comprehensive assessment of the 12 scenarios by legitimacy, data reliability, data acquisition efficiency, difficulty of data acquisition, and coverage of participants, both short-term and long-term recommended sources, overall strategies and detailed measures for improving the integrity and reliability of death date are presented. In the short term, we suggest integrated sources such as public security systems made available to drug inspection centres appropriately as soon as possible to strengthen supervision. Death certificates provided by participants' family members and detailed standard follow-up records are recommended to investigators as the two channels of mutual compensation, and the acquisition of supporting materials is encouraged as long as it is not prohibited legally. Moreover, we expect that the sharing of electronic medical records and the legal disclosure of death records in established health registries can be realized with the joint efforts of the whole industry in the long-term. The above proposed solutions are mainly based on the context of China and can also provide reference for other countries in the world. © 2022 The Authors

Electrospray-on-Electrospun Breathable, Biodegradable, and Robust Nanofibrous Membranes with Photocatalytic Bactericidal Activity

The increasing emergence of infectious diseases like COVID-19 has created an urgent need for filtration/purification materials coupled with multifunctional features such as mechanical integrity, excellent airflow/filtration, and antibacterial/antimicrobial properties. Polymer membranes and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have demonstrated high effectiveness in air filtration and purification. MOF nanoparticles have been introduced into electrospun polymer nanofibrous membranes through embedding or postsolution growth. However, the derived hybrids are still facing the issue of (1) limited MOF exposure, which leads to low efficacy;and (2) uncontrollable growth, which leads to pore blocking and low breathability. In this work, we customized an electrospray-on-electrospinning in situ process to dynamically integrate MOF nanoparticles into a robust and elastic continuous nanofibrous membrane for advanced properties including high mechanical strength and flexibility, excellent breathability, particle filtration, and good antimicrobial performance. Biodegradable polylactic acid was reinforced by the poly(hydroxybutyrate)-di-poly(DLA-CL)x copolymer (PHBR) and used as an electrospinning matrix, while MOF nanoparticles were simultaneously electrically sprayed onto the nanofibers with easily controllable MOF loading. The MOF nanoparticles were homogeneously deposited onto nanofibers without clogging the pores in the membrane. The collision of PLA and MOF under the wet status during electrospinning and the hydrogen bonding through C═O and N-H bonds strengthen the affinity between PLA nanofibers and MOF nanoparticles. Because of these factors, the MOF-incorporated PLA/PHBR nanofibrous membrane achieved over 95% particle filtration efficiency with enhanced mechanical properties while maintaining high breathability. Meanwhile, it exhibits excellent photocatalytic antibacterial performance, which is necessary to kill microbes. The electrospray-on-electrospinning in situ process provides an efficient and straightforward way to hybridize one-dimensional (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials into a continuous nanofibrous membrane with strong interaction and controllable loading. Upon integrating proper functionalities from the materials, the obtained hybrids are able to achieve multifunctionalities for various applications. © 2023 American Chemical Society.

Semi-Supervised Multi-View Fusion for Identifying CAP and COVID-19 With Unlabeled CT Images

Recently under the condition of reducing nucleic acid testing for COVID-19 in large population, the computer-aided diagnosis with the chest computed tomography (CT) image has become increasingly important in differential diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and COVID-19. In prac-tice, there usually exist a mass of unlabeled CT images, especially in regions without adequate medical resources, and the existing diagnosis methods cannot take advantage of the useful information among them. Therefore, it is practical and urgent need to develop a computer-aided diagnosis model that can effectively exploit both labeled and unlabeled samples. To this end, in this paper, we pro -pose a semi-supervised multi-view fusion method for the diagnosis of COVID-19. It explores both the discriminative features from labeled samples and the structure information from unlabeled samples and fuses multi-view features extracted from CT images, including image feature, statistical feature, and lesions specific feature, for improving the diagnostic performance. Specifically, in the proposed model, we utilize semi-supervised learning technique with pairwise constraint regularization to learn the model with both labeled samples and unlabeled samples. Simultaneously, we employ low-rank multi-view constraint to capture latent comple-mentary information among different features from CT images. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in differential diagnosis of CAP vs. COVID-19.

Supervised and Self-Supervised Pretraining Based Covid-19 Detection Using Acoustic Breathing/Cough/Speech Signals

A rapid-accurate detection method for COVID-19 is rather important for avoiding its pandemic. In this work, we propose a bi-directional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) network based COVID-19 detection method using breath/speech/cough signals. Three kinds of acoustic signals are taken to train the network and individual models for three tasks are built, respectively, whose parameters are averaged to obtain an average model, which is then used as the initialization for the BiLSTM model training of each task. It is shown that such an initialization method can significantly improve the detection performance on three tasks. This is called supervised pre-training based detection. Besides, we utilize an existing pre-trained wav2vec2.0 model and pre-train it using the DiCOVA dataset, which is utilized to extract a high-level representation as the model input to replace conventional mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) features. This is called self-supervised pre-training based detection. To reduce the information redundancy contained in the recorded sounds, silent segment removal, amplitude normalization and time-frequency masking are also considered. The proposed detection model is evaluated on the DiCOVA dataset and results show that our method achieves an area under curve (AUC) score of 88.44% on blind test in the fusion track. It is shown that using high-level features together with MFCC features is helpful for diagnosing accuracy.

Identifying determinants of student learning effects in intensive online environments: an empirical investigation in civil engineering education

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a dramatic change from face-to-face learning environments to intensive learning environments. This study aimed to identify and quantify the determinants of student learning effects and their conduction mechanism in intensive online environments. Using a structural equation model and a questionnaire survey, this study proposed and validated the relationships among six constructs including student engagement, perceived learning, satisfaction, instructor behaviours, student characteristics, and the state of health, well-being, and sense of community-related (HWC) issues. 306 valid responses from civil engineering students in 19 universities in China were used to validate the proposed relationships. The measurement and structural model evaluation indicated that the model fit of the fitted model is acceptable with x(2)/df = 2.548, RMSEA = 0.071, AGFI =0.78, and CFI = 0.93. The results first showed the key factors for student learning effects from the instructor, the student, and the HWC issues with a factor loading greater than 0.8. This study further inferred from the different path coefficients in the fitted model and the mediating model that instructor behaviours greatly influence student perceived learning and satisfaction through student engagement with a contribution of 100% and 58%, respectively;student characteristics have a decisive impact on student perceived learning with a path coefficient of 0.59;HWC issues negatively impact student satisfaction with a path coefficient of -0.11. The findings enrich online education theories in an intensive online environment by clarifying and quantifying the influencing mechanism of the determinants. The findings also advance education practices for students, instructors, and educational administrators by helping them find out their contribution to learning effectiveness and the key factors to improve future online teaching levels.

Biphenyl furanocoumarin compounds inhibit SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirus infection by binding ACE2

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a highly infectious disease with a significant impact on global public health security, and the development of effective antiviral drugs is warranted. In this study, based on HEK293 membrane chromatography (CMC) model that overexpresses angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), we screened six compounds with long retention time on ACE2h/CMC, namely BU-1 to BU-6, from the biphenyl furanocoumarin compounds previously synthesized by our team. The binding properties of the screened compounds to ACE2 were investigated by frontier analysis. Cytotoxicity assay, virtual molecular docking assay and pseudo-viral invasion assay were used to examine the affinity and potential antiviral activity of the selected compounds towards ACE2 protein. The virtual molecular docking results showed that BU-1, BU-2 and BU-5 could form significant hydrogen bonds with hotspot amino acid residues on the ACE2 receptor. And BU-1, BU-2 and BU-5 significantly inhibited the ability of SARS-COV-2 pseudovirus to enter ACE2h cells. Therefore, BU-1, BU-2 and BU-5 have the potential to be used as lead compounds for further modification to develop more effective anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs. Copyright © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

The effect of mortality salience on consumers' preference for experiential purchases and its mechanism

Inevitably, consumers will be exposed to death-related information in their daily lives. For example, they are informed about deaths and injuries caused by accidents, terrorism and disasters on social media. They may also encounter the experiences of deceased friends and relatives or the news of unfortunate strangers. Especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are more frequently exposed to death cues. Researches have shown that consumers' decision-makings and purchasing behaviors shift when dealing with death threats. Compared to material consumption, experiential consumption delivers greater and persistent well-being and it is emerging as an extremely important consumption pattern. It is unclear, however, whether these mortality cues will exert positive or negative effects on consumers’ preference for experiential purchases. Based on the meaning maintenance model, 4 studies were conducted to examine how mortality salience influences consumers' preference for experiential purchases. In Study 1a and Study 1b, we experimentally manipulated mortality salience and examined its effect on consumers’ preference for experiential purchases. Study 1a (N = 140) was a single factor (mortality salience) between-subjects design, participants were randomly assigned to different groups to imagine about incurable infectious disease or dental surgery. Participants in Study 1b (N = 252) were instructed to write about death or dental pain. Study 2 (N =219) was designed to test the mediating role of meaning in life. Participants were required to read a news report concerning traffic accident or dental surgery, and then finish the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Study 3 (N = 166) was a 2 (mortality salience vs. control condition) × 2 (social support: high level vs. low level) between-subjects design. Participants were provided a news report pertaining to the global fatalities under the COVID-19 pandemic in mortality salience condition, and pertaining to global tourism during the pandemic period in the control condition. Social support was manipulated by writing in detail a difficult situation "in which your family or friends accompanied you", or "in which you had to face all by yourself". Additionally, we used a single-paper meta-analysis (SPM) to document a robust effect across all studies. The main results of this study are as follows: (1) Exposed to mortality salience will lead to stronger preference for experiential purchases. (2) The effects seem to be driven by meaning in life, whereby exposure to mortality salience undermines consumers' meaning in life, and consumers will gravitate towards experiential consumption to enhance their impaired meaning. (3) Social support moderates the effect of mortality salience on meaning in life. Only when consumers received low level of social support, will mortality salience reduce their meaning in life. (4) Social support moderates the mediating effect of meaning in life on mortality salience and preference for experiential purchases. Specifically, meaning in life mediates the effect of mortality salience on preference for experiential purchases only when consumers received low social support. To enhance the overall validity, we performed a single-paper meta-analysis (SPM) on the four studies. The SPM showed that consumers had greater preference of experiential purchase when exposed to mortality salience (Estimate β = 0.30, SE = 0.07, z = 4.178, p < 0.001), which strengthened the robustness of our general conclusion. This research yields practical implications by demonstrating that mortality salience exerts positive effect on consumers' preference for experiential purchases, which enables us to identify the changes in consumption patterns and mindset under the pandemic, providing references for marketing and promotion strategies. © Science Press.

[Diagnostic value of rapid antigen testing for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection].

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of rapid antigen test based on colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection in symptomatic patients. Methods: From May 20 to June 5 2022, 76 hospitalized children and their 55 accompanying family members with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in the COVID-19 isolation unit of the Children's Hospital of Fudan University (designated referral hospital for SARS-CoV-2 infection in Shanghai) enrolled. Their nasopharyngeal swab specimens were consecutively collected. The samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid by real-time quantitative. SARS-CoV-2 antigen was tested by immunochromatography. The correlation between the antigen detection results and the change of the cycle threshold (Ct) values were evaluated, as well as the sensitivity and specificity of SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection at different periods after the onset of the disease. Kappa consistency test was conducted to investigate the consistency between the 2 diagnostic methods. Results: Of the enrolled SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infections, 76 were children, including 41 males and 35 females, with an age of 5 (2, 9) years; 55 were accompanying families, including 8 males and 47 females, with an age of 38 (32, 41) years. All 478 samples were simultaneously tested for SARS-CoV-2 antigen and nucleic acid. In any period from disease onset to negative conversion of viral nucleic acid, the overall sensitivity of the rapid antigen test was 48.2% (119/247), the specificity was 98.3% (227/231), and antigen test and nucleic acid test showed moderate consistency (κ=0.46, P<0.05). The sensitivity of antigen test was 100% (82/82) when the Ct value was ≤25. And the sensitivity of antigen test was 8/10, 4/15 and 8.3% (3/36) when the Ct value was 26, 30 and 35, respectively. All antigen tests were negative when Ct value was >35. During the period of 1-2 days, 3-5 days, 6-7 days, 8-10 days and >10 days after onset, the sensitivity and specificity of SARS-CoV-2 antigen test were 5/8 and 5/5, 90.2% (37/41) and 5/5, 88.9% (24/27) and 2/5, 45.0% (36/80) and 94.1% (32/34), 18.7% (17/91) and 98.9% (183/185) respectively. The Ct values of nasopharyngeal swabs were<26 during 2 to 7 days after onset, 28.7±5.0 on day 8, 34.5±2.9 on day 13 and > 35 after 14 days, respectively. Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 antigen test in the patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection shows acceptable sensitivity and specificity within 7 days after onset of disease, and the sensitivity was positively correlated with viral load and negatively correlated with onset time.

Understanding the Interplay Between Herd Behaviors and Epidemic Spreading Using Federated Evolutionary Games

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increasing interest in the modeling and analysis of infectious diseases. Our social behaviors in the daily lives have been significantly affected by the pandemic. In this paper, we propose a federated evolutionary game-theoretic framework to study the coupling of herd behaviors changes and epidemics spreading. Our framework extends the classical degree-based mean-field epidemic model over complex networks by integrating it with the evolutionary game dynamics. The statistically equivalent individuals in a population choose their social activity intensities based on the fitness or the payoffs that depend on the state of the epidemics. Meanwhile, the spread of infectious diseases over the complex network is reciprocally influenced by the players' social activities. We address the challenge of federated dynamics by breaking the analysis into the studies of the stationary properties of the epidemic for given herd behavior and the structural properties of the game for a given epidemic process. We use numerical experiments to show that our framework enables the prediction of the historical COVID-19 statistics. © 2022 American Automatic Control Council.

EPROACH: A Population Vaccination Game for Strategic Information Design to Enable Responsible COVID Reopening

The COVID-19 lockdowns have created a significant socioeconomic impact on our society. In this paper, we propose a population vaccination game framework, called EPROACH, to design policies for reopenings that guarantee post-opening public health safety. In our framework, a population of players decides whether to vaccinate based on the public and private information they receive. The reopening is captured by the switching of the game state. The insights obtained from our framework include the appropriate vaccination coverage threshold for safe-reopening and information-based methods to incentivize individual vaccination decisions. In particular, our framework bridges the modeling of the strategic behaviors of the populations and the spreading of infectious diseases. This integration enables finding the threshold which guarantees a disease-free epidemic steady state under the population's Nash equilibrium vaccination decisions. The equilibrium vaccination decisions depend on the information received by the agents. It makes the steady-state epidemic severity controllable through information. We find that the externalities created by reopening lead to the coordination of the players in the population and result in a unique Nash equilibrium. We use numerical experiments to corroborate the results and illustrate the design of public information for responsible reopening. © 2022 American Automatic Control Council.

Learning 3D Face Representation with Vision Transformer for Masked Face Recognition

Masked face recognition, a non-contact biometric technology, has attracted much attention and developed rapidly during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. The existing work trains the masked face recognition model based on a large number of 2D masked face images. However, in practical application scenarios, it is difficult to obtain a large number of masked face images in a short period of time. Therefore, combined with 3D face recognition technology, this paper proposes a masked face recognition model trained with non-masked face images. In this paper, we locate and segment the complete face region and the face region not occluded by masks from the face point clouds. The geometric features of the 3D face surface, namely depth, azimuth, and elevation, are extracted from the above two regions to generate training data. The proposed masked face recognition model based on vision Transformer divides the complete faces and part of the faces into sequence images, and then captures the relationship between the image slices to compensate for the impact caused by the lack of face information, thereby improving the recognition performance. Comparative experiments with the state-of-the-art masked face recognition work are carried out on four databases. The experimental results show that the recognition accuracy of the proposed model is improved by 9.86% on Bosphorus database, 16.77% on CASIA-3D FaceV1 database, 2.32% on StirlingESRC database, and 34.81% on Ajmal main database, respectively, which verifies the effectiveness and stability of the proposed model. © 2022 IEEE.

Comparison of clinical features of Omicron and Delta cases

Objective: To compare the clinical features of Omicron and Delta cases, so as to provide scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Methods: The case-control study method was used to retrospectively analyze the clinical data of the Omicron cases admitted to the designated hospital for the treatment of COVID-19 in Xi'an from December 2021 to January 2022. and the Delta cases admitted during the same period were used as the control group. The demographic data, epidemiological history, vaccination status, clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, nucleic acid and antibody levels, and outcomes of patients in the two groups were collected and compared. Results: A total of 21 patients were included in the study, 5 were Omicron patients and 16 were Delta cases. The mean age of the patients in the two groups were (38.20±15.07) and (37.69±10.39) years, respectively.The time interval between the last vaccination and the diagnosis was (145.40±77.92) days and (159.00±99.74) days, respectively. For the initial symptoms, the patients with Omicron were mainly characterized by throat discomfort (3, 60%), cough and sputum (2, 40%), and the patients with Delta were mainly characterized by throat discomfort (5, 31.25%), fatigue (5, 31.25%), cough and sputum (4, 25%). On admission, laboratory tests showed that 60% of Omicron patients had low lymphocytes and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and 50% of patients in the delta group had elevated hemoglobin. The Ct values of ORFlab gene, N gene and E gene with Omicron were lower than those with Delta. And the difference of E gene between the two groups was statistically significant (t=-2.711, P=0.024). IgG antibody levels increased in both groups.The time for nucleic acid to turn negative with Omicron was (28.20±5.89) days, and it was (18.50±7.73) days with Delta, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (t=2.565, P=0.019). The length of hospitalization with Omicron was (30.60±4.88) days, and that with Delta was (22.13±7.81) days, and the difference was statistically significant (t=2.270, P =0.035). Conclusions: The initial symptoms of Omicron patients are mainly throat discomfort, cough and sputum. The clinical manifestations are generally mild. The nucleic acid test Ct value is lower. The time for nucleic acid to turn negative and the time for hospitalization are longer, and the potential infectiousness is stronger. Those eligible for vaccination should complete the full course of vaccination and booster vaccination as soon as possible. At the same time, the management of "early detection, early reporting, early isolation, and early treatment" should be implemented.

Masked Face Recognition with 3D Facial Geometric Attributes

During the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for contactless biometrics technology has promoted the development of masked face recognition. Training a masked face recognition model needs to address two crucial issues: a lack of large-scale realistic masked face datasets and the difficulty of obtaining robust face representations due to the huge difference between complete faces and masked faces. To tackle with the first issue, this paper proposes to train a 3D masked face recognition network with non-masked face images. For the second issue, this paper utilizes the geometric features of 3D face, namely depth, azimuth, and elevation, to represent the face. The inherent advantages of 3D face enhance the stability and practicability of 3D masked face recognition network. In addition, a facial geometry extractor is proposed to highlight discriminative facial geometric features so that the 3D masked face recognition network can take full advantage of the depth, azimuth and elevation information in distinguishing face identities. The experimental results on four public 3D face datasets show that the proposed 3D masked face recognition network improves the accuracy of the masked face recognition, which verifies the feasibility of training the masked face recognition model with non-masked face images. © 2022 ACM.

Research progress on Shufeng Jiedu Capsules in treatment of respiratory infectious diseases

Shufeng Jiedu Capsules are composed of eight traditional Chinese medicines, including Huzhang (Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix), Lianqiao (Forsythiae Fructus), Baijiangcao (Herba Patriniae), Chaihu (Bupleuri Radix), etc. Shufeng Jiedu Capsules has exactly effects such as dispelling wind and clearing heat, removing toxin and relieving sore-throat, which had been used in treatment of respiratory infectious diseases with symptom like fever, intolerating wind in clinic for a long time. Shufeng Jiedu Capsules are the recommended drugs for the "Influenza Diagnosis and Treatment Plan" (2020 version)issued by National Health Commission and "Diagnosis and Treatment of Pneumonia in COVID-19"(version 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9). Pharmacological mechanism and clinical application of Shufeng Jiedu Capsules weresummarized in this paper, in order to summarize characteristic and the post-marketing research path of Shufeng Jiedu Capsules, and provide ideas for more post-marketing traditional Chinese medicine products.

[Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in children imported from Hong Kong].

Objective: To understand the clinical characteristics of children with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection imported from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted to collect the data including clinical manifestations, outcomes and vaccination of 107 children with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection imported from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to be admitted to the designated referral hospital in Shanghai from February to March 2022. According to the occurrence of clinical symptoms, the cases were divided into asymptomatic group and symptomatic group. According to the age of diagnosis, the cases were divided into <3 years group, 3-<6 years group and 6-<18 years group, and the clinical manifestations in different age group were analyzed with t-test and Mann-Whitney rank-sum test. Besides, to analyze the effectiveness of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in different age group, the cases aged 3-<18 years were also subdivided into unvaccinated group, 1-dose group and 2-dose group, and the relative risk (RR) was used to demonstrate the effectiveness. Results: Among the 107 cases, 66 were male and 41 were female, with infection age of 10 (5, 14) years. There were 29 cases in the asymptomatic group, and 78 cases in the symptomatic group, and no significant difference in the age of infection was observed between the 2 groups (11 (6, 14) vs. 10 (5, 14) years, Z=0.49, P>0.05). And there were no severe cases in symptomatic group. The length of hospitalization was (18±6) days, and was longer in symptomatic group than that in asymptomatic group ((19±6) vs. (16±7) d, t=0.17, P=0.030). Eight-two cases (76.6%) had a history of epidemiological exposure and, among whom, 81 cases (75.7%) were associated with household transmission. Among symptomatic group, 57 cases (73.1%) had fever and 20 cases (25.6%) had cough. Of the 74 cases undergoing chest CT examination, 17 cases (23.0%) showed mild abnormalities. Of the 83 cases who received the lab tests, 23 cases (27.7%) had white blood cell counts<4×109/L, 3 cases (3.6%) had C-reaction protein >8.0 mg/L, and 6 cases (7.2%) had slightly elevated aspartate transaminase and alanine aminotransferase. Among the 92 children aged 3-<18 years, 31 cases were unvaccinated, 34 cases received 1 dose, and 27 cases received 2 doses. The interval between the last vaccination and infection was 2.2 (0.6, 6.0) months; the interval between the last vaccination and infection in the 2-dose group was longer than that in 1-dose group (6.0 (4.5, 7.3) vs. 0.7 (0.3,2.0) months, Z=3.59, P<0.001).The risk of symptomatic infection was reduced by 45% (RR=0.55, 95% CI 0.35-0.87) with two-dose vaccination compared to non-vaccination in cases aged 3-<18 years. All these cases recovered completely. Conclusions: Children infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron are usually mild or asymptomatic. Household transmission is the main pattern of infection with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in children. Two-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in children aged 3-<18 years can provide partial protection against disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron.

Detecting Essential Landmarks Directly in Thermal Images for Remote Body Temperature and Respiratory Rate Measurement With a Two-Phase System

Infrared thermographs (IRTs, also called thermal cameras) have been used to remotely measure elevated body temperature (BT) and respiratory rate (RR) during infectious disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19. To facilitate the fast measurement of BT and RR using IRTs in densely populated venues, it is desirable to have IRT algorithms that can automatically identify the best facial locations in thermal images to extract these vital signs. The IEC 80601-2-59:2017 standard suggests that the regions medially adjacent to the inner canthi of the eyes are robust BT measurement sites. The nostril regions, on the other hand, are often used for RR estimation. However, it is more difficult to automatically identify inner canthi and nostrils in thermal images than in visible-light images, which are rich with exploitable features. In this paper, a unique system that can detect inner canthi and outer nostril edges directly in thermal images in two phases is introduced. In Phase I, original thermal images were processed in four different ways to enhance facial features to facilitate inner canthus and nostril detection. In Phase II, landmarks of the inner canthi and outer nostril edges were detected in two steps: (1) face detection using the Single Shot Multibox Detector (SSD) and (2) facial landmark detection to locate the inner canthi and outer nostril edges. The face detection, facial landmark detection, and overall system accuracies were evaluated using the intersection over union, normalized Euclidean distance, and success detection rate metrics on a set of 36 thermal images collected from 12 subjects using three different IRTs. Additional validation was performed on a subset of 40 random thermal images from the publicly available Tufts Face Database. The results revealed that the processed images - referred to as ICLIP images - yielded the highest landmark localization accuracy from the four types of processed thermal images, verifying that the system can automatically and accurately estimate the inner canthus and nostril locations in thermal images. The proposed system can be applied in IRT algorithms to provide reliable temperature measurements and RR estimates during infectious disease outbreaks. © 2013 IEEE.