ABSTRACT
This study aims to explore the implementation and challenges of China's national online education strategy - "Suspending Classes Without Stopping Learning" (SCWSL) - during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of children and their parents. Altogether 28,334 children (aged 6-8 years) and their parents were randomly sampled from nine cities in five provinces of China, and a mixed-method design involving a questionnaire and interviews was used. The results indicated that: (1) most children had participated in online education characterized by wide-ranging content, teacher-led interaction, and rich learning platforms; (2) online education had an effect on children's physical and mental health; (3) parent pressure was at a medium to high level due to online education; and (4) parents perceived that offline education was more effective than online education, and this perception varied significantly between geographical regions, living areas, and school types. These findings reveal that the sudden implementation of nationwide online education created many challenges, and also provided practical implications for countries carrying out online education in the post-pandemic era.
ABSTRACT
Efficient point-of-care diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome-corovavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is crucial for the early control of novel coronavirus infections. At present, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is primarily used to detect SARS-CoV-2. Despite the high sensitivity, the PCR process is time-consuming and complex which limits its applicability for rapid testing of large-scale outbreaks. Here, we propose a rapid and easy-to-implement approach for SARS-CoV-2 detection based on surface enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy. The evaporated gold nano-island films are used as SEIRA substrates which are functionalized with the single-stranded DNA probes for specific binding to selected SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences. The infrared absorption spectra are analyzed using the principal component analysis method to identify the key characteristic differences between infected and control samples. The SEIRA-based biosensor demonstrates rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2, completing the detection of 1 µM viral nucleic acids within less than 5 min without any amplification. When combined with the recombinase polymerase amplification treatment, the detection capability of 2.98 copies per µL (5 aM) can be completed within 30 min. This approach provides a simple and economical alternative for COVID-19 diagnosis, which can be potentially useful in monitoring and controlling future pandemics in a timely manner.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Nucleic Acids , COVID-19 Testing , Humans , Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques , RNA, Viral , SARS-CoV-2 , Sensitivity and Specificity , Spectrum AnalysisABSTRACT
The novel human infectious coronaviruses (CoVs) responsible for severe respiratory syndromes have raised concerns owing to the global public health emergencies they have caused repeatedly over the past two decades. However, the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has received unprecedented attention internationally. Monitoring pathogenic CoVs in environmental compartments has been proposed as a promising strategy in preventing the environmental spread and tracing of infectious diseases, but a lack of reliable and efficient detection techniques is still a significant challenge. Moreover, the lack of information regarding the monitoring methodology may pose a barrier to primary researchers. Here, we provide a systematic introduction focused on the detection of CoVs in various environmental matrices, comprehensively involving methods and techniques of sampling, pretreatment, and analysis. Furthermore, the review addresses the challenges and potential improvements in virus detection techniques for environmental surveillance.