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.
ABSTRACT
The recent remarkable success and safety of mRNA lipid nanoparticle technology for producing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines has stimulated intensive efforts to expand nanoparticle strategies to treat various diseases. Numerous synthetic nanoparticles have been developed for pharmaceutical delivery and cancer treatment. However, only a limited number of nanotherapies have enter clinical trials or are clinically approved. Systemically administered nanotherapies are likely to be sequestered by host mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS), resulting in suboptimal pharmacokinetics and insufficient drug concentrations in tumors. Bioinspired drug-delivery formulations have emerged as an alternative approach to evade the MPS and show potential to improve drug therapeutic efficacy. Here we developed a biodegradable polymer-conjugated camptothecin prodrug encapsulated in the plasma membrane of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages. Polymer conjugation revived the parent camptothecin agent (e.g., 7-ethyl-10-hydroxy-camptothecin), enabling lipid nanoparticle encapsulation. Furthermore, macrophage membrane cloaking transformed the nonadhesive lipid nanoparticles into bioadhesive nanocamptothecin, increasing the cellular uptake and tumor-tropic effects of this biomimetic therapy. When tested in a preclinical murine model of breast cancer, macrophage-camouflaged nanocamptothecin exhibited a higher level of tumor accumulation than uncoated nanoparticles. Furthermore, intravenous administration of the therapy effectively suppressed tumor growth and the metastatic burden without causing systematic toxicity. Our study describes a combinatorial strategy that uses polymeric prodrug design and cell membrane cloaking to achieve therapeutics with high efficacy and low toxicity. This approach might also be generally applicable to formulate other therapeutic candidates that are not compatible or miscible with biomimetic delivery carriers. © 2022 The Authors
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Understanding the interactions among climate change, carbon emission allowance trading, crude oil and renewable energy stock markets, especially the role of climate change in this system is of great significance for policy makers, energy producers/consumers and relevant investors. The present paper aims to quantify the time-varying connectedness effects among the four factors by using the TVP-VAR based extensions of both time- and frequency-domain connectedness index measurements proposed by Antonakakis et al. (2020) and Ellington and Barunik (2021) [8,48]. The empirical results suggest that, firstly, the average total connectedness among climate change, carbon emission allowance trading, crude oil and renewable energy stock markets is not so strong for the heterogenous fundamentals underlying them. Nevertheless, the time-varying total connectedness fluctuates fiercely through May 2005 to September 2021, varying from about 8% to 30% and rocket to very high levels during the global subprime mortgage crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the total connectedness mainly centers on the short-term frequency, i.e., 1–3 months. Secondly, climate change is generally the leading information contributor among the four factors, although not particularly strong, and its leading role also performs mainly on the short-term frequency (1–3 months). Thirdly, renewable energy stock market and crude oil market show tight interactions between them and they are the two major bridges of information exchanges across various time frequencies (horizons) in this system. Finally, we confirm the evidence that the primary net connectedness contributor and receiver switch frequently across different time frequencies, implying that it is extremely essential for policy makers, energy producers/consumers and investors to make time-horizon-specific regulatory, production/purchasing or investment decisions when facing the uncertain effects of climate change on the interactions among carbon emission allowance, crude oil and renewable energy stock markets. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd
ABSTRACT
The pandemic of COVID-19 is still rampaging all over the world, so it is urgent to popularize vaccination. Meanwhile, pulmonary tuberculosis is one of the chronic infectious diseases with a high incidence in China. Since these diseases all occur in lung tissue, patients with TB and COVID-19 co-infection show more serious conditions and poorer treatment effects. However, we have limited knowledge about the protective efficacy, immunogenicity and safety of COVID-19 vaccine in patients with TB at present, with a lack of corresponding evidence-based medicine as well. Therefore, this paper reviews the pathogenesis and epidemiology of TB, discusses the immune status of patients with TB and summarizes the existing proposals for vaccination of patients with TB at home and abroad. Furthermore, we analyze the existing clinical trials in TB patients and other special populations, and finally discuss the strategy of vaccination for patients with TB during the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessity of clinical research on COVID-19 vaccines with target population of TB patients.
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Under the influence of the COVID-19, people's awareness of physical health and immunity has increased significantly. Chitooligosaccharide is an oligomer of β-(1, 4)-linked D-glucosamine, furthermore, is one of the most widely studied immunomodulators. Chitooligosaccharide can be prepared from the chitin or chitosan polymers through enzymatically, chemically or physically processes. Chitooligosaccharide and its derivatives have been proven to have a wide range of biological activities including intestinal flora regulation, immunostimulant, anti-tumor, anti-obesity and anti-oxidation effects. This review summarizes the latest research of the preparation methods, biological activities in immunity and safety profiles of Chitooligosaccharide and its derivatives. We recapped the effect mechanisms of Chitooligosaccharide basing on overall immunity. Comparing the effects of Chitooligosaccharide with different molecular weights and degree of aggregation, a reference range for usage has been provided. This may provide a support for the application of Chitooligosaccharide in immune supplements and food. In addition, future research directions are also discussed. © 2023, Sociedade Brasileira de Ciencia e Tecnologia de Alimentos, SBCTA. All rights reserved.
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After the pandemic, China's fiscal and monetary authorities implemented macroeconomic restructuring measures to combat the pandemic. Using a difference-in-difference model based on data collected during the COVID-19 phase, this study attempted to determine the economic recovery in China using the pandemic means for economic growth and energy consumption in other economies. A 0.21 percent increase in the western region's economic growth is comparable to a 0.15 percent increase in the growth of the southern central and northern regions during the pandemic period. Accordingly, we found evidence of actual provincial spillover effects in the clustering of high- and poor-performing regions. The impact of China's economic resurgence beyond the pandemic phase plays an important role in expanding power consumption in different regions. Since headwinds hamper economic development to aggregate output, fiscal policy is the sole option for maintaining pollution levels while simultaneously improving household well-being in terms of demand and employment.
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Nucleic acid detection has been one of the most valued tools in point-of-care diagnostics from life science, agriculture, food safety and environmental surveillance, because of its high sensitivity, great specificity and simple operation. Since polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were discovered, more and more researchers attach importance to exploring ultrafast nucleic acid amplification methods for further expediting the process of detection and curbing infectious diseases' high spread rate, especially after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide pandemic event. Nowadays, nanotechnology as one of the most cut-ting-edge technologies has aroused growing attention. In this review, we describe new advances in na-notechnology research for ultrafast nucleic acid amplification. We have introduced commonly used nanotechnologies, namely nanofluidics, nanoporous materials, nanoparticles and so on. Recent advances in these nanotechnologies for ultrafast sample pretreatments, accelerated enzymatic amplification and rapid heating/cooling processes was summarized. Finally, challenges and perspectives for the future applications of ultrafast nucleic acid amplification are presented.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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As a common antioxidant and antimicrobial agent in plants, luteolin has a variety of pharmacological activities and biological effects, the ability to specifically bind proteins and thus inhibit novel coronaviruses and treat asthma. Here, Co doped nitrogen-containing carbon frameworks/MoS2−MWCNTs (Co@NCF/MoS2−MWCNTs) nanocomposites have been synthesized and successfully applied to electrochemical sensors. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to examine the morphology and structure of the samples. Meanwhile, the electrochemical behavior of Co@NCF/MoS2−MWCNTs was investigated. Due to its excellent electrical conductivity, electrocatalytic activity and adsorption, it is used for the detection of luteolin. The Co@NCF/MoS2−MWCNTs/GCE sensor can detect luteolin in a linear range from 0.1 nM to 1.3 μM with a limit of detection of 0.071 nM. Satisfactory results were obtained for the detection of luteolin in natural samples. In addition, the redox mechanism and electrochemical reaction sites of luteolin were investigated by the scan rate of CV curves and density functional theory. This work demonstrates for the first time the combination of ZIF-67-derived Co@NCF and MoS2−MWCNTs as electrochemical sensors for the detection of luteolin, which opens a new window for the sensitive detection of luteolin. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd
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OBJECTIVE: This study aims at investigating the effect of dance on rehabilitation training after COVID-19. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, a total of 112 patients with COVID-19 were recruited for rehabilitation training. Before enrollment, a neurologist conducted medical history inquiry, basic information collection, MMSE (MiniMental State Examination), MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) and MHIS (Mental Health Information Systems) assessment. In the end, 68 patients with COVID-19 who met the entry criteria and signed the informed consent were included in the training. 8 patients with greater exercise risk after the ECG exercise test were not included in the group. Therefore, 60 patients were finally included in the group. The improved BMCE (Basic Medicine Comprehensive Examination) protocol was used to evaluate the cardiac function and exercise adaptability of the patients. The 12 lead ECG and gas metabolism instrument were used to monitor the changes of ECG and gas metabolism, and the blood pressure was measured at the same time. The exercise intensity was evaluated by subjective fatigue degree. The patient stopped the exercise test and rested for 15 minutes under the following conditions: (1) complained of any discomfort or intolerable fatigue;(2) horizontal or oblique ST segment pressure in ECG not shorter than 3 mm;(3) moderate to severe angina pectoris or reduction of systolic blood pressure greater than 10 mmhg. The heart rate when stopping the test was the maximum heart rate of the patient. RESULTS: The average participation times of MCI patients in the aerobic dance group were 33.9 (IQR = 34, 36), 89.7% of MCI patients participated in 90% of aerobic dance training, and only 3.4% of MCI patients participated in less than 80% of aerobic dance courses. Compared with the control group, the 3-month change value of Wechsler's logical memory of MCI patients in the aerobic dance group was significantly improved (p < 0.01). The 3-month change value of digital connection test B score was significantly improved (mean value of difference between groups = -32. The treatment speed was significantly shortened at 6 months (P300 latency 6 months change value = -20 ms). CONCLUSIONS: The intensity and frequency of aerobic dance play a key role in the effect of cognitive improvement, requiring long-term persistence and ensuring the intensity and frequency of training. Second, the patient's processing speed (P300 latency) tends to gradually extend with the passage of time, and aerobic dance intervention helps shortening the P300 latency, suggesting that patients can delay the decline of their cognitive function through early aerobic dance intervention.
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Assessing progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is among the most pressing areas for sustainability research. Both international and inter-provincial trade has substantial impacts on sustainability. However, little is known about the impacts of inter-provincial trade on progress towards achieving the SDG targets and the relationships among SDG indicators through time and space. Here we, taking Chinese inter-provincial trade as a study case, used a spatiotemporal approach and the multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model to examine changes in six SDG indicators and their relationships within China in the year 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2017. The results showed that (1) Chinese inter-provincial trade improved the trade-related SDG target scores of 16 provinces out of the evaluated 30 provinces but reduced the trade-related SDG target scores of the remaining 14 provinces. (2) Chinese inter-provincial trade and distant trade were more beneficial for achieving the trade-related SDG targets in developed provinces (e.g., Beijing), which thus improved China's overall SDG target scores. In contrast, Chinese inter-provincial trade suppressed the trade-related SDG target scores of developing provinces (e.g., Guangxi). (3) Individual SDG indicators, SDG target bundles, and interactions among SDG indicators changed across both time and space. (4) The no-trade scenario in Hubei province during the COVID-19 pandemic will have a clearly inhibiting effect on China's overall SDG target scores. Besides, trade with adjacent provinces would improve Hubei's SDG target scores, while these trades have more negative effects (approximately 50-83% of provinces suffered from greater reductions in SDG target scores) on Hubei's adjacent provinces. Our study suggests the spatiotemporal dynamic characteristics of SDG indicators and their interactions deserve more attention, which can help identify the drivers behind these changing relationships.
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.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 outbreak and accompanying policies for prevention and control, such as lockdown and movement constraints, have influenced many areas of society and every aspect of everyone's life and work. To find out factors that have the biggest influences on people's lives, we use the BERT model to classify 'Discontent Questionnaire Data on COVID-19' and apply machine learning methods to evaluate the accuracy of the results. The results show the top three influencing factors are work, stress, and worry about the future, and the classification results show a high degree of consistency and correlation. © 2022 IEEE.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to significant changes in electricity demand around the world. Although these changes differ from region to region, countries that have implemented stringent lockdown measures to curtail the spread of the virus have experienced the greatest alterations in demand. Within Australia, the state of Victoria has been subject to the largest number of days in hard lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conduct an exploratory data analysis to identify predictors of demand, and have built a time series forecasting model to predict the half-hourly electricity demand in Victoria. Our model distinguishes between lockdown periods and non-restrictive periods, and aims to identify a variety of patterns that we show to be influential on electricity demand. The model thereby provides a nuanced prediction of electricity demand that captures the shifting demand profile of intermittent lockdowns.
ABSTRACT
The pandemic of COVID-19 is still rampaging all over the world, so it is urgent to popularize vaccination. Meanwhile, pulmonary tuberculosis is one of the chronic infectious diseases with a high incidence in China. Since these diseases all occur in lung tissue, patients with TB and COVID-19 co-infection show more serious conditions and poorer treatment effects. However, we have limited knowledge about the protective efficacy, immunogenicity and safety of COVID-19 vaccine in patients with TB at present, with a lack of corresponding evidence-based medicine as well. Therefore, this paper reviews the pathogenesis and epidemiology of TB, discusses the immune status of patients with TB and summarizes the existing proposals for vaccination of patients with TB at home and abroad. Furthermore, we analyze the existing clinical trials in TB patients and other special populations, and finally discuss the strategy of vaccination for patients with TB during the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessity of clinical research on COVID-19 vaccines with target population of TB patients. Copyright © 2022, Publication Centre of Anhui Medical University. All rights reserved.
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With the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic and the normalization of epidemic prevention, various epidemic prevention equipment has been used in all walks of life. In terms of delivering medicines to patients, the intelligent tracing medicine delivery car plays an important role. The car takes the STC89C52 microcontroller as the core of the intelligent car, adopts the L298N as the chip of the electric drive, and selects the DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor as the temperature and humidity detection. The car includes a line patrol module, an obstacle avoidance module, a temperature-humidity monitoring module, a display module, an infrared module, an alarm module, a drive module and a key module, etc. Finally, intelligent car realizes these functions, such as tracing the black line, avoiding obstacles by infrared, alarm, monitoring temperature and humidity, and displaying temperature and humidity. © 2022 ACM.
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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) poses a significant threat to humans in 2019. Automated and accurate segmentation of the infected region of COVID-19 computed tomography (CT) images can help doctors diagnose and treat the disease. However, the variable shape of COVID-19 infected areas, which can be easily confused with other lung tissues, poses a challenge for CT image segmentation. To address this problem, a deep learning-based convolutional neural network is proposed for the automatic segmentation of COVID-19 lung infection regions. Our proposed segmentation method uses a U-Net network as the backbone, constructed as a coarse to fine segmentation network. Firstly, we introduce our designed contour-enhanced module (CA) in the coarse segmentation network to effectively extract the lung region;secondly, we introduce our designed multi-scale feature attention module (MFA) in the fine segmentation network to enable the network to extract spatial efficiently and channel information, better focus on quantifying the effective region, and enhance the network segmentation effect. Using the COVID-19 public dataset, the proposed network achieves the best segmentation results. The Dice, IOU, F1-Score, and Sensitivity metrics reach 88.74%, 78.73%, 86.58%, and 88.16%, respectively. DCA-Net can efficiently segment the COVID-19 infected region, which can be of great clinical benefit. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Objective To ensure the safety of both doctors and patients，we should strengthen the management of infection control in the medical observation isolation area for overseas tourists，and continuously improve the compliance rate of infection control prevention measures. Methods In Mar 2020，the domestic COVID-19 was under control，however the overseas epidemic began to spread. As a designated screening hospital for overseas tourists，to prevent the occurrence of nosocomial infections caused by imported cases from abroad，the department carried out quality control prevention circle activities with the theme of"improving the compliance rate of infection control and prevention measures for staff in the medical observation and isolation area of overseas passengers”and determined four countermeasures implementation plans based on current situation grasp，goal setting，cause analysis and countermeasure formulation. Results Compared before and after the implementation of QCC，the compliance rate of the prevention measures of the staff in the medical observation and quarantine area for overseas passengers was increased from 45.08% to 91.54%，and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.001）.The target achievement rate was 84.43%，and the progress rate was 108.85%. Conclusion The quality control circle activities can improve the compliance rate of infection control and prevention measures for staff in the medical observation quarantine area for overseas tourists，thereby ensuring the safety of patients and staff. © 2022 Fudan University. All rights reserved.
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Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen) is a Chinese herbal used in China to treat irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, insomnia, swelling liver, and angina pectoris. It also has various pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, anti-tumor, anti-atherogenesis, and anti-diabetes. However, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), e.g., Danshen, lacks quality control. Pesticide residues and heavy metals are the most important problems, although Danshen may cure many diseases, even SARS-CoV-2 in a COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the present short commentary discusses the background of Danshen, quality management, and its application to COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, high numbers of patients with respiratory symptoms flock to fever clinic, cause overcrowding. Due to relatively densely populated space and the existing ventilation strategy, lead to space environment bearing capacity lose efficacy. The patients in waiting space are faced a high risk of cross infection. Thus, it must be strictly controlling the personnel density and fresh air dilution level, prevent SARS-COV-2 transmission though aerosols. This study takes the fever clinic of 3A Grade Hospital case, based on the monitoring results of CO2 concentration and the transport of exhaled pathogenic aerosols, predict the waiting patient's cross infection risk in crowded space. Computational fluid dynamics simulations and agent social force behaviour model were used. When the number of fever clinic reaches the upper limit of theoretical capacity, under the three ventilation types, average exposure risk in different areas of waiting space were studied. Results show that when the infector is located at the front of the waiting corridor (upwind direction of natural ventilation), when there is only natural ventilation, the difference of average intake fraction in the three areas of waiting space is small, that is, the correlation between distance and exposure is small. Our results also show that when ceiling air conditioner ventilation and natural ventilation are coupled, the dilution effect is significantly lower than that of natural ventilation in the front and rear area, and higher than only run mechanical ventilation. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
ABSTRACT
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, fires occurred frequently in hospitals managing COVID-19, and caused over 279 deaths. Fire safety in hospitals should be identified clearly and taken seriously. Fire probability and fire service coverage for hospitals from a national perspective in China were analyzed in this study. Calculated with the generalized Barrois model, the annual fire frequency of hospital building exceeds 0.5, when its floor area reaches approximately 180,000 m2. Based on the number of hospital fires in Changsha and that of hospitals in China from 2014 to 2017, the average annual fire probability of a hospital in China was calculated to be 0.017. The total effective coverage rate (TECR) of fire service for hospitals in Changsha, China was esti-mated to be between 11.82 % and 25.74 %, based on real-time travel times extracted from the Baidu Map. The TECR of national fire service for hospitals was estimated to be between 14.18 % and 30.89 %, according to the ratio of the number of hospitals and the number of fire stations in China to that in Changsha. Currently, recruiting medical staff as fire volunteers can quickly improve fire safety in hospitals for a low cost.(c) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).