Impact of Covid-19 on economic recovery: empirical analysis from China and global economies

This research aims to utilize quarterly global VAR data from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, to assess the influence of the economic recovery of China following the COVID-19 outbreak on global economies. China is one of the first big economies globally to show indications of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. The nation's economic growth has the biggest long-term influence on middle-income nations (0.17%) followed by low- and middle-income economies (0.16%) and high-income economies (0.16%) (0.15%). The chain reaction of China's economic growth is most visible in high-income nations (0.11–0.45%), followed by middle-income countries (0.08–0.33%) and low-income countries (0.02–0.05%). Our findings show that the post-COVID-19 economic rebound in China will mostly benefit middle-income nations, with low- and middle-income countries following closely after. After COVID-19, the influence of the economic recovery of China is most visible in the rise of energy consumption in high-income nations, followed by middle-income economies. It is also worth noting that the influence of China's economic expansion on low- and middle-income economies does not always imply a rise in energy consumption. Overall, China's economic recovery has a significantly stronger influence on other countries' economic development than other countries' energy consumption has on other economies' growth.

APOE interacts with ACE2 inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry and inflammation in COVID-19 patients.

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) plays a pivotal role in lipid including cholesterol metabolism. The APOE ε4 (APOE4) allele is a major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases. Although APOE has recently been associated with increased susceptibility to infections of several viruses, whether and how APOE and its isoforms affect SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unclear. Here, we show that serum concentrations of APOE correlate inversely with levels of cytokine/chemokine in 73 COVID-19 patients. Utilizing multiple protein interaction assays, we demonstrate that APOE3 and APOE4 interact with the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2; and APOE/ACE2 interactions require zinc metallopeptidase domain of ACE2, a key docking site for SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. In addition, immuno-imaging assays using confocal, super-resolution, and transmission electron microscopies reveal that both APOE3 and APOE4 reduce ACE2/Spike-mediated viral entry into cells. Interestingly, while having a comparable binding affinity to ACE2, APOE4 inhibits viral entry to a lesser extent compared to APOE3, which is likely due to APOE4's more compact structure and smaller spatial obstacle to compete against Spike binding to ACE2. Furthermore, APOE ε4 carriers clinically correlate with increased SARS-CoV-2 infection and elevated serum inflammatory factors in 142 COVID-19 patients assessed. Our study suggests a regulatory mechanism underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection through APOE interactions with ACE2, which may explain in part increased COVID-19 infection and disease severity in APOE ε4 carriers.

Impact of Covid-19 on economic recovery: empirical analysis from China and global economies

This research aims to utilize quarterly global VAR data from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, to assess the influence of the economic recovery of China following the COVID-19 outbreak on global economies. China is one of the first big economies globally to show indications of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. The nation's economic growth has the biggest long-term influence on middle-income nations (0.17%) followed by low- and middle-income economies (0.16%) and high-income economies (0.16%) (0.15%). The chain reaction of China's economic growth is most visible in high-income nations (0.11–0.45%), followed by middle-income countries (0.08–0.33%) and low-income countries (0.02–0.05%). Our findings show that the post-COVID-19 economic rebound in China will mostly benefit middle-income nations, with low- and middle-income countries following closely after. After COVID-19, the influence of the economic recovery of China is most visible in the rise of energy consumption in high-income nations, followed by middle-income economies. It is also worth noting that the influence of China's economic expansion on low- and middle-income economies does not always imply a rise in energy consumption. Overall, China's economic recovery has a significantly stronger influence on other countries’ economic development than other countries’ energy consumption has on other economies’ growth.

Screening Approach for Short-Term PM2.5 Health Co-Benefits: A Case Study from 15 Metropolitan Cities around the World during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fifteen cities across the world have been selected to investigate the public health co-benefits of PM2.5 reduction, during a period when various non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were adopted in the COVID-19 pandemic. Through applying a public health model, AirQ+, substantial spatial variations of global public health co-benefits were identified. Differences in seasonal air quality and population baselines were key underlying factors. For cities in North America, NPIs were introduced during the low pollution season, generating no co-benefits. On the other hand, tremendous health co-benefits were observed for cities in India and China, due to the high PM2.5 background with a large population. Among all, New Delhi has received the largest co-benefits, which saved over 14,700 premature deaths. As the pollution level (i.e., 45 μg m−3) with NPIs still exceeded the air quality standard, more rigorous emission controls are urgently needed to protect the public′s health in India. At last, a novel and practical tool for co-benefit screening was developed using data from one of the global measurement networks (i.e., IQAir).

Global association between satellite-derived nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and lockdown policies under the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected various aspects of life, at different levels and in different countries on almost every continent. In response, many countries have closed their borders and imposed lockdown policies, possibly bringing benefits to people's health with significantly less emission from air pollutants. Currently, most studies or reports are based on local observations at the city or country level. There remains a lack of systematic understanding of the impacts of different lockdown policies on the air quality from a global perspective. This study investigates the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic towards global air quality through examining global nitrogen dioxide (NO2) dynamics from satellite observations between 1 January and 30 April 2020. We used the Apriori algorithm, an unsupervised machine learning method, to investigate the association among confirmed cases of COVID-19, NO2 column density, and the lockdown policies in 187 countries. The findings based on weekly data revealed that countries with new cases adopted various lockdown policies to stop or prevent the virus from spreading whereas those without tended to adopt a wait-and-see attitude without enforcing lockdown policies. Interestingly, decreasing NO2 concentration due to lockdown was associated with international travel controls but not with public transport closure. Increasing NO2 concentration was associated with the "business as usual" strategy as evident from North America and Europe during the early days of COVID-19 outbreak (late January to early February 2020), as well as in recent days (in late April) after many countries have started to resume economic activities. This study enriches our understanding of the heterogeneous patterns of global associations among the COVID-19 spreading, lockdown policies and their environmental impacts on NO2 dynamics.