Does active transport lead to improved mood and performance? A panel study of travel changes during the Covid-19 lockdown in Norway

Everyday commuting is seen as a burden and an unwanted necessity for people. Recent studies have challenged this notion and have found that certain aspects of commuting can be positive. In particular, research has shown that active commuting can be an important source of everyday physical activity and a pause between arenas for daily routine. The current study uses the Covid-19 lockdown situation in Norway, and the associated travel restrictions, as a backdrop to study the relationship between active travel and self-reported mood and work performance. In a situation where people are strongly encouraged to take up active mobility forms in place of more passive forms, the often-encountered challenge of self-selection is reduced. A convenience sample was recruited via social media (N = 1319) in May 2020 and completed a total of six follow-up surveys over a period of four months, thus allowing for a panel design as well as a within-subjects comparison. The survey covered topics related to commute mode, experience of travel, current mood, and work performance. Background variables related to personality, general wellbeing as well as sociodemographic measures were also captured. Multivariate models show that those who during this period commute with active modes (walking and cycling) report a higher degree of travel satisfaction than users of passive modes (driving and public transport). Further, active modes are associated with being in a better mood, and with reporting higher work performance. Finally, looking at individuals who over time change travel mode (N = 151), we find that they report improved mood and work performance when travelling with active vs passive modes. The results have implications for policy makers and for employers looking for justification to spend company money on measures to increase active travel. © 2023 The Authors

Safety and immunogenicity of the ChAdOx1, MVA-MERS-S, and GLS-5300 DNA MERS-CoV vaccines.

BACKGROUND: The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a pathogen associated with an acute respiratory infection that has a high mortality rate in humans. It was first identified in June of 2012 in the Arabian Peninsula. The success of the COVID-19 vaccines has shown that it is possible to take advantage of medical and scientific advances to produce safe and effective vaccines for coronaviruses. This study aimed to examine the safety and immunogenicity of MERS-CoV vaccines. METHODS: The research method Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used as the guideline for this study. RevMan 5.4 software was used to perform a meta-analysis of the included studies. The safety was assessed by recording adverse events following vaccination, and the immunogenicity was assessed by using seroconversion. RESULTS: The study included five randomized controlled trials that met the inclusion criteria after screening. The studies had 173 participants and were performed in four countries. The vaccines examined were the ChAdOx1 MERS vaccine, MVA-MERS-S vaccine, and GLS-5300 DNA MERS-CoV vaccine. The meta-analysis showed no significant differences in local adverse effects (all local adverse effects and pain) or systemic adverse effects (all systemic adverse effects, fatigue, and headache) among participants in groups receiving a high-dose vaccine or a low-dose vaccine. There were, however, higher levels of seroconversion in high-dose groups than in low-dose groups (OR 0.16 [CI 0.06, 0.42, p = 0.0002]). CONCLUSION: The findings showed that high doses of current MERS-CoV vaccine candidates conferred better immunogenicity than low doses and that there were no differences in the safety of the vaccines.

Does active transport lead to improved mood and performance? A panel study of travel changes during the Covid-19 lockdown in Norway

Everyday commuting is seen as a burden and an unwanted necessity for people. Recent studies have challenged this notion and have found that certain aspects of commuting can be positive. In particular, research has shown that active commuting can be an important source of everyday physical activity and a pause between arenas for daily routine. The current study uses the Covid-19 lockdown situation in Norway, and the associated travel restrictions, as a backdrop to study the relationship between active travel and self-reported mood and work performance. In a situation where people are strongly encouraged to take up active mobility forms in place of more passive forms, the often-encountered challenge of self-selection is reduced. A convenience sample was recruited via social media (N=1319) in May 2020 and completed a total of six follow-up surveys over a period of four months, thus allowing for a panel design as well as a within-subjects comparison. The survey covered topics related to commute mode, experience of travel, current mood, and work performance. Background variables related to personality, general wellbeing as well as sociodemographic measures were also captured. Multivariate models show that those who during this period commute with active modes (walking and cycling) report a higher degree of travel satisfaction than users of passive modes (driving and public transport). Further, active modes are associated with being in a better mood, and with reporting higher work performance. Finally, looking at individuals who over time change travel mode (N= 151), we find that they report improved mood and work performance when travelling with active vs. passive modes. The results have implications for policy makers and for employers looking for justification to spend company money on measures to increase active travel.

COVID-19 and oil market risks: Evidence from new datasets.

We evaluate the predictive value of the newly constructed six COVID-19 indices for oil market risks from 31st December, 2019 (when COVID-19 started) to 28th December, 2021. We show that, on average, higher values of the COVID-19 indices appear to have heightened oil market risks albeit with the converse for Vaccine index regardless of the choice of oil price proxy. The predictive value of the indices is sustained over multiple out-of-sample forecasts and we attribute the outcome to the increased uncertainties associated with the pandemic. Therefore, measures aimed at mitigating these uncertainties can help moderate the oil market risks.•Testing the predictive value of the newly constructed COVID-19 measures for the out-of-sample forecasting of oil market risks.•Increased uncertainties associated with the pandemic tend to raise the level of oil market risks.•Measures aimed at mitigating these uncertainties can help moderate the oil market risks.

The Effect of Green IT Empowerment and Online Training on Technology Innovation Performance: The Moderating Role of Green Life Style

Green IT and online training have become the strategic themes in increasing Technology Innovation Performance for the creative industry in Indonesia. In the COVID-19 pandemic era, Green IT and online training became a strategic theme in improving Technology Innovation Performance. This study offers a moderating role of Green Life Style in testing and analyzing the effect of Green IT and online training. Respondent in this study is chosen by purposive sampling, namely the owners and managers of creative SMEs in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia that is 156 SMEs. The data is collected by questionnaire and interview with SMEs that are considered as population representative. The statistical technique uses the Structural Equation Modelling with the Partial Least Square technique. The results prove the importance of Green IT and online training which have a partial impact on Technology Innovation Performance. Likewise, the green lifestyle is a strong moderator in seeing the effect of Green IT and online training on Technology Innovation Performance. © 2022 WITPress. All rights reserved.

Utility of exercise testing to assess athletes for post COVID-19 myocarditis.

Purpose: This study assessed a functional protocol to identify myocarditis or myocardial involvement in competitive athletes following SARS-CoV2 infection. Methods: We prospectively evaluated competitive athletes (n = 174) for myocarditis or myocardial involvement using the Multidisciplinary Inquiry of Athletes in Miami (MIAMI) protocol, a median of 18.5 (IQR 16-25) days following diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. The protocol included biomarker analysis, ECG, cardiopulmonary stress echocardiography testing with global longitudinal strain (GLS), and targeted cardiac MRI for athletes with abnormal findings. Patients were followed for median of 148 days. Results: We evaluated 52 females and 122 males, with median age 21 (IQR: 19, 22) years. Five (2.9%) had evidence of myocardial involvement, including definite or probable myocarditis (n = 2). Three of the 5 athletes with myocarditis or myocardial involvement had clinically significant abnormalities during stress testing including ventricular ectopy, wall motion abnormalities and/or elevated VE/VCO2, while the other two athletes had resting ECG abnormalities. VO2max, left ventricular ejection fraction and GLS were similar between those with or without myocardial involvement. No adverse events were reported in the 169 athletes cleared to exercise at a median follow-up of 148 (IQR108,211) days. Patients who were initially restricted from exercise had no adverse sequelae and were cleared to resume training between 3 and 12 months post diagnosis. Conclusions: Screening protocols that include exercise testing may enhance the sensitivity of detecting COVID-19 related myocardial involvement following recovery from SARS-CoV2 infection.

Echocardiographic predictors of mortality and morbidity in COVID-19 disease using focused cardiovascular ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: Focused transthoracic echocardiography (fTTE) has emerged as a critical diagnostic tool during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for efficient cardiac imaging while minimizing staff exposure. The utility of fTTE in predicting clinical outcomes in COVID-19 remains under investigation. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 2,266 hospitalized patients at Rush University Medical Center with COVID-19 infection between March and November 2020 who received a fTTE. fTTE data were analyzed for association with primary adverse outcomes (60-day mortality) and with secondary adverse outcomes (need for renal replacement therapy, need for invasive ventilation, shock, and venous thromboembolism). RESULTS: Of the 427 hospitalized patients who had a fTTE performed (mean 62 years, 43% female), 109 (26%) had died by 60 days. Among patients with an available fTTE measurement, right ventricular (RV) dilation was noted in 34% (106/309), 43% (166/386) had RV dysfunction, and 17% (72/421) had left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. In multivariable models accounting for fTTE data, RV dilation was significantly associated with 60-day mortality (OR 1.93 [CI 1.13-3.3], p = 0.016). LV dysfunction was not significantly associated with 60-day mortality (OR 0.95 [CI: 0.51-1.78], p = 0.87). CONCLUSIONS: Abnormalities in RV echocardiographic parameters are adverse prognosticators in COVID-19 disease. Patients with RV dilation experienced double the risk for 60-day mortality due to COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is the largest study to date that highlights the adverse prognostic implications of RV dilation as determined through fTTE in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Left ventricular global longitudinal strain imaging in identifying subclinical myocardial dysfunction among covid-19 survivors.

BACKGROUND: Covid-19 is multi-system viral infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. Apart from having acute severe respiratory illness causing high mortality, the disease also has a variety of cardiovascular manifestations contributing to morbidity as well as mortality. Cardiac dysfunction and myocarditis are well established complications of Covid-19 as evident in multiple studies after the Covid-19 pandemic. However it is not sufficiently studied in Indian patients either by Echocardiography or by any other imaging modalities like cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODOLOGY: In this study, we analysed the severity of Left ventricular(LV) dysfunction in Covid-19 survivors. A total of 100 consecutive patients of Covid-19 after one month of discharge who had no underlying cardiovascular diseases underwent echocardiography and global longitudinal strain (GLS) imaging. This study cohort included patients with mild 42 (42%),moderate 46(46%) and severe 12(12%) Covid-19 disease as defined by computerised tomography (CT) severity score. RESULT: We observed that total 36(36%) patients had reduced ejection fraction(EF) which included 11 patients having EF <40% and remaining 25(25%) having EF 40-50% (p<0.002). Also 22 (22%) patients had abnormal global longitudinal strain (GLS) values with normal ejection fraction which is suggestive of subclinical myocarditis. We observed LV dysfunction in 7(19.5%) patients who had severe Covid-19 while mild to moderate LV dysfunction observed in 29(80.5%) non critical patients. CONCLUSION: In conclusion our study demonstrates that myocardial dysfunction is common in covid-19 regardless of disease severity. 2D-echocardiography with GLS is likely to detect early LV dysfunction among these patients.

Evaluation of COVID-19 Mitigation Policies in Australia Using Generalised Space-Time Autoregressive Intervention Models.

In handling the COVID-19 pandemic, various mitigation policies aiming at slowing the spread and protecting all individuals, especially the vulnerable ones, were implemented. A careful evaluation of the effectiveness of these policies is necessary so that policy-makers can implement informed decisions if another wave of COVID-19 or another pandemic happens in the future. This paper reports an assessment of some policies introduced by the Australian governments using a generalised space-time autoregressive model which incorporates multiple exogenous variables and delay effects. Our results show that the number of daily new cases from the states and territories are influenced by both temporal and spatial aspects. Business and border restrictions are found helpful in reducing the number of new cases a few days after implementation while gathering restrictions may not be effective.

Understanding the role of left and right ventricular strain assessment in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause cardiac injury resulting in abnormal right or left ventricular function (RV/LV) with worse outcomes. We hypothesized that two-dimensional (2D) speckle-tracking assessment of LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) and RV free wall strain (FWS) by transthoracic echocardiography can assist as markers for subclinical cardiac injury predicting increased mortality. METHODS: We performed 2D strain analysis via proprietary software in 48 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Clinical information, demographics, comorbidities, and lab values were collected via retrospective chart review. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality based on an optimized abnormal LV GLS value via ROC analysis and RV FWS. RESULTS: The optimal LV GLS cutoff to predict death was -13.8%, with a sensitivity of 85% (95% CI 55-98%) and specificity of 54% (95% CI 36-71%). Abnormal LV GLS >-13.8% was associated with a higher risk of death [unadjusted hazard ratio 5.15 (95% CI 1.13-23.45), p = 0.034], which persisted after adjustment for clinical variables. Among patients with LV ejection fraction (LVEF) >50%, those with LV GLS > -13.8% had higher mortality compared to those with LV GLS <-13.8% (41% vs. 10%, p = 0.030). RV FWS value was higher in patients with LV GLS >-13.8% (-13.7 ±â€¯5.9 vs. -19.6 ±â€¯6.7, p = 0.003), but not associated with decreased survival. CONCLUSION: Abnormal LV strain with a cutoff of >-13.8% in patients with COVID-19 is associated with significantly higher risk of death. Despite normal LVEF, abnormal LV GLS predicted worse outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. There was no mortality difference based on RV strain.

Left ventricular global longitudinal strain in identifying subclinical myocardial dysfunction among patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of acute cardiac injury in COVID-19 patients is very often subclinical and can be detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. The aim of this study was to assess if subclinical myocardial dysfunction could be identified using left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS) in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. METHODS: We performed a search of COVID-19 patients admitted to our institution from January 1st, 2020 to June 8th, 2020, which revealed 589 patients (mean age = 66 ± 18, male = 56%). All available 60 transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) were reviewed and off-line assessment of LV-GLS was performed in 40 studies that had sufficient quality images and the views required to calculate LV-GLS. We also analyzed electrocardiograms and laboratory findings including inflammatory markers, Troponin-I, and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). RESULTS: Of 589 patients admitted with COVID-19 during our study period, 60 (10.1%) underwent TTE during hospitalization. Findings consistent with overt myocardial involvement included reduced ejection fraction (23%), wall motion abnormalities (22%), low stroke volume (82%) and increased LV wall thickness (45%). LV-GLS analysis was available for 40 patients and was abnormal in 32 patients (80%). All patients with LV dysfunction had elevated cardiac enzymes and positive inflammatory biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: Subclinical myocardial dysfunction as measured via reduced LV-GLS is frequent, occurring in 80% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, while prevalent LV function parameters such as reduced EF and wall motion abnormalities were less frequent findings. The mechanism of cardiac injury in COVID-19 infection is the subject of ongoing research.