Subjective Outcome Evaluation of Instructional Videos in Leadership Education.

The aims of this study were to examine the psychometric properties of two subjective outcome evaluation tools measuring students' perceptions of 24 instructional videos and to understand the profiles of students' perceptions of the videos. Online teaching and learning played an important role when school lockdown measures were imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. To facilitate online teaching in a college-level leadership education subject, we developed and piloted 24 instructional videos, including 15 animated videos and 9 case-based videos, in the 2021/22 academic year. To understand students' perceptions of the videos, we developed two subjective outcome evaluation scales (one for the animated videos and another for the case-based videos) to assess the subjective perceptions of 1308 students. Results showed that the developed tools possessed good psychometric properties, including factorial, convergent and discriminant validity. The findings of this study also revealed the students had positive attitudes towards the developed videos, including positive perceptions of the videos' design and the benefits gained from watching them. The present study suggests teachers can meaningfully use the 24 instructional videos in the context of leadership education in higher education.

The other COVID-19 survivors: Timing, duration, and health impact of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency, timing, and duration of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) and their impact on health and function. BACKGROUND: Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection is an emerging major public health problem that is poorly understood and has no current treatment or cure. PASC is a new syndrome that has yet to be fully clinically characterised. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional survey (n = 5163) was conducted from online COVID-19 survivor support groups who reported symptoms for more than 21 days following SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS: Participants reported background demographics and the date and method of their covid diagnosis, as well as all symptoms experienced since onset of covid in terms of the symptom start date, duration, and Likert scales measuring three symptom-specific health impacts: pain and discomfort, work impairment, and social impairment. Descriptive statistics and measures of central tendencies were computed for participant demographics and symptom data. RESULTS: Participants reported experiencing a mean of 21 symptoms (range 1-93); fatigue (79.0%), headache (55.3%), shortness of breath (55.3%) and difficulty concentrating (53.6%) were the most common. Symptoms often remitted and relapsed for extended periods of time (duration M = 112 days), longest lasting symptoms included the inability to exercise (M = 106.5 days), fatigue (M = 101.7 days) and difficulty concentrating, associated with memory impairment (M = 101.1 days). Participants reported extreme pressure at the base of the head, syncope, sharp or sudden chest pain, and "brain pressure" among the most distressing and impacting daily life. CONCLUSIONS: Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection can be characterised by a wide range of symptoms, many of which cause moderate-to-severe distress and can hinder survivors' overall well-being. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study advances our understanding of the symptoms of PASC and their health impacts.

Targeting autophagy regulation in NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated lung inflammation in COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Emerging evidence indicates that the NOD-, LRR- and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is activated, which results in a cytokine storm at the late stage of COVID-19. Autophagy regulation is involved in the infection and replication of SARS-CoV-2 at the early stage and the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated lung inflammation at the late stage of COVID-19. Here, we discuss the autophagy regulation at different stages of COVID-19. Specifically, we highlight the therapeutic potential of autophagy activators in COVID-19 by inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome, thereby avoiding the cytokine storm. We hope this review provides enlightenment for the use of autophagy activators targeting the inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome, specifically the combinational therapy of autophagy modulators with the inhibitors of the NLRP3 inflammasome, antiviral drugs, or anti-inflammatory drugs in the fight against COVID-19.

A distinct symptom pattern emerges for COVID-19 long-haul: a nationwide study.

Long-haul COVID-19, also called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), is a new illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and characterized by the persistence of symptoms. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify a distinct and significant temporal pattern of PASC symptoms (symptom type and onset) among a nationwide sample of PASC survivors (n = 5652). The sample was randomly sorted into two independent samples for exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Five factors emerged from the EFA: (1) cold and flu-like symptoms, (2) change in smell and/or taste, (3) dyspnea and chest pain, (4) cognitive and visual problems, and (5) cardiac symptoms. The CFA had excellent model fit (x2 = 513.721, df = 207, p < 0.01, TLI = 0.952, CFI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.024). These findings demonstrate a novel symptom pattern for PASC. These findings can enable nurses in the identification of at-risk patients and facilitate early, systematic symptom management strategies for PASC.

Evaluation of Electronic Service-Learning (e-Service-Learning) Projects in Mainland China under COVID-19.

The use of electronic service-learning (e-Service-Learning or e-SL) is valuable under COVID-19 because we can provide the service without physical contact. Unfortunately, evaluation of e-SL is not widespread and there is no known study in different Chinese societies. Besides, there are many methodological limitations of the existing studies in the field. In this paper, we evaluated e-SL projects implemented in summer 2020 and 2021 in three sites in China. First, we examined service providers' changes based on pretest and posttest scores (i.e., objective outcome evaluation) and their perceptions of the e-SL projects (i.e., subjective outcome evaluation based on the service providers). Second, graduate student assessors in Chinese mainland universities and teachers of primary school students (i.e., service recipients) rated the SL program quality, service providers' performance and benefits to the service recipients after program completion (i.e., subjective outcome evaluation of SL projects based on other stakeholders). Third, trained graduate student assessors evaluated service quality during the implementation process (i.e., process evaluation). We found that university students (i.e., service providers) showed higher posttest scores in positive youth development attributes, leadership attributes and life satisfaction relative to pretest scores. Besides, service providers showed positive perceptions of their learning experience, own performance, benefits to the service recipients and themselves in the SL projects. Similarly, other stakeholders also had positive evaluation of the SL projects and related benefits. Finally, trained graduate student assessors had positive assessment of the quality of program implementation. The findings underscore the utility of e-SL involving both online teaching and learning as well as online service, particularly in a Chinese context.

Systematic review of the registered clinical trials for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

BACKGROUND: Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many researchers in China have performed related clinical research. However, systematic reviews of the registered clinical trials are still lacking. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of clinical trials for COVID-19 to summarize their characteristics. METHODS: This study is based on the PRISMA recommendations in the Cochrane handbook. The Chinese Clinical Registration Center and the ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched to identify registered clinical trials related to COVID-19. The retrieval inception date was February 9, 2020. Two researchers independently selected the literature based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias. RESULTS: A total of 75 registered clinical trials (63 interventional studies and 12 observational studies) for COVID-19 were identified. The majority of clinical trials were sponsored by Chinese hospitals. Only 11 trials have begun to recruit patients, and none of the registered clinical trials have been completed; 34 trials were early clinical exploratory trials or in the pre-experiment stage, 13 trials were phase III, and four trials were phase IV. The intervention methods included traditional Chinese medicine in 26 trials, Western medicine in 30 trials, and integrated traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine in 19 trials. The subjects were primarily non-critical adult patients (≥ 18 years old). The median sample size of the trials was 100 (IQR: 60-200), and the median length of the trial periods was 179 d (IQR: 94-366 d). The main outcomes were clinical observation and examinations. Overall, the methodological quality of both the interventional trials and observational studies was low. CONCLUSIONS: Intensive clinical trials on the treatment of COVID-19 using traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are ongoing or will be performed in China. However, based on the uncertain methodological quality, small sample size, and long trial duration, we will not be able to obtain reliable, high-quality clinical evidence regarding the treatment of COVID-19 in the near future. Improving the quality of study design, prioritizing promising drugs, and using different designs and statistical methods are worth advocating and recommending for clinical trials of COVID-19 in the future.

Machine learning model to project the impact of COVID-19 on US motor gasoline demand

Owing to the global lockdowns that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, fuel demand plummeted and the price of oil futures went negative in April 2020. Robust fuel demand projections are crucial to economic and energy planning and policy discussions. Here we incorporate pandemic projections and people's resulting travel and trip activities and fuel usage in a machine-learning-based model to project the US medium-term gasoline demand and study the impact of government intervention. We found that under the reference infection scenario, the US gasoline demand grows slowly after a quick rebound in May, and is unlikely to fully recover prior to October 2020. Under the reference and pessimistic scenario, continual lockdown (no reopening) could worsen the motor gasoline demand temporarily, but it helps the demand recover to a normal level quicker. Under the optimistic infection scenario, gasoline demand will recover close to the non-pandemic level by October 2020. The COVID 19 pandemic and consequent lockdown has had a substantial impact on mobility and therefore fuel demand and it is not clear when demand will recover. Ou et al. use a machine learning model that integrates health recovery scenarios to project the near-term future of gasoline demand.