ABSTRACT
Objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHS delivered a community-based remote home monitoring service for COVID-19 patients. The service came in two models characterised based on the referral method: home-based care to ensure the right people were admitted at hospital at the right time (named COVID Oximetry @ home (CO@h)) and facilitation of patients' transition when discharged home (named Covid-19 Virtual Ward (CVW)). Patients were provided with pulse oximeters and asked to regularly record and submit oxygen levels and other symptoms to a team of administrators and clinicians via digital means (tech-enable and analogue mode) and/or over the phone (analogue). Our aim was to evaluate the costs of implementing these services in England during wave 2 of the pandemic (October 2020-April 2021). Method(s): We used a top-down approach to describe the costs of setting-up and running the service. 26 sites reported the number of patients and staff members involved in the service, and other used resources. Descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis were used appropriately. Result(s): The mean cost per patient monitored was lower in the CO@h service compared to the CVW (527.5 vs. 599.1). The corresponding cost was lower for sites using tech-enabled and analogue data submission mode compared to sites using analogue-only mode for both CO@h (515 vs. 561) and CVW (584 vs. 612) services. The number of patients enrolled in the service and the service type significantly affected the mean cost per patient (b=0.62, p= 0.001;b=-457.99, p=0.05 correspondingly). Conclusion(s): Our analysis offers a model for future research since it covers sites of various sizes and raises questions about different practices within the overall remote monitoring services.Copyright © 2023
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Insulin optimisation requires review of glucose monitoring;Covid-19 posed challenges to this. We evaluated DBm -a remote monitoring platform utilising a glucometer and smartphone app. Method(s): Evaluation was from January to November 2021. Inclusion criteria was insulin treated diabetes with HbA1c greater than 68mmol/mol. HbA1c, demographics, frequency of CBG uploads and interactions with clinicians were collected. Result(s): 97 patients were offered DBm. 48.5% used the app. There were no statistically significant differences in gender (p = 0.05), age (p = 0.36), type of diabetes (p = 0.13) or deprivation index (p = 0.96) between users and non-users. Patients of white ethnicity were less likely to use the platform (p = 0.01). Amongst users, 70% had a reduction of HbA1c of at least 5mmol/mol over six months, with a mean reduction of 25.6mmol/mol (p = 0.01). There was no difference in age (p = 0.64), gender (p = 0.4), and type of diabetes (p = 0.23) between responders and non-responders. There was also no difference in number of call back requests generated by patients (p = 0.32) or number of CBG uploads (p = 0.899) between responders and non-responders. Conclusion(s): Uptake of the remote monitoring solution was just under 50%, with no evidence of digital exclusion, although the finding that white ethnicity patients were less likely to use the system needs further exploration. Most users had improved glucose control, but there was no association with numbers of tests or call back requests. This study demonstrates that insulin optimisation can effectively be delivered using a remote glucose monitoring system. Future work will explore patient experience and patient satisfaction.
ABSTRACT
This work utilizes Sentinel-2A L1C remote sensing photographs from the years 2018, 2020, and 2022 to identify the different land use categories in the study area using the support vector machine (SVM) technique. The accuracy of categorization is greater than 90%. This research explores four factors of the dynamic change in land use in Hongta District from 2018 to 2022: the proportion of various types of land;the extent of something like the changing land usage;land use transfer;and the dynamic degree of the change in land use. According to the study's results, the proportion of cultivated and grassland land grew, while the quantity of barren and construction land fell by 1.90 percent, 0.03 percent, and 0.69 percent, respectively. The water system land portion of total area increased by 2.58 percent and 0.13 percent, respectively. After comparing the two research periods, the entire dynamic degree of the second stage is determined to be 3.5 percent lower than that of the first stage, and the pace of land use change is quite sluggish, which may be associated with the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. The outcomes of the research may give the natural resources department the knowledge it needs to manage land resources properly. © 2023 SPIE.
ABSTRACT
Aims: A proof-of- concept pilot investigating the profile of person who engaged with remote testing for their annual diabetes review, and service user (SU) and primary care practice acceptability for completing annual diabetes review tests remotely (blood pressure, finger-stick blood test and urine test). Method(s): A mixed methods evaluation based on SU surveys sent to all 144 pilot participants, semi-structured SU and staff interviews, and demographic and clinical data extraction from primary care electronic patient record system. Result(s): Profile: The pathway was considered suitable for people who were working, digitally capable, younger, had household support to complete the tests, had non-complex diabetes, or a combination of these attributes. It was deemed less suitable for the very elderly, the less digitally capable, those with complex health needs or socially isolated. SU Acceptability: Interviewees and survey respondents overall deemed the remote tests acceptable for use. Convenience and reduced exposure to Covid-19 were motivating factors for participation. Preference for face-to- face care or concerns around using digital technologies were key reasons for decline. Staff Acceptability: The pathway was deemed acceptable and was successfully implemented at both practices. Support from a designated pathway co-ordinator and project manager were key factors linked to acceptability and success. The remote pathway was seen as an opportunity to reduce primary care pressures on in-person care. Conclusion(s): It is possible to successfully conduct annual diabetes reviews remotely. Although not appropriate nor desirable to everyone, remote testing provides a viable alternative to in-person testing for certain individuals.
ABSTRACT
Adding to the already polarizing 2020 general election was the COVID-19 pandemic. One way in which this pandemic greatly affected the election was through an increased participation in by-mail, or mail-in, ballots. The state of North Carolina experienced a 316 percent increase in by-mail votes between 2016 and 2020, when approximately 977,186 votes were cast by mail. It is no surprise that this increase was due to the COVID-19 pandemic;however, these by-mail voting patterns are spatial in nature and vary across the state. This research measures to what degree COVID-19 rates affected by-mail voting rates. Using geographic information systems data developed from robust tabular files provided by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, by-mail votes were calculated and mapped at ZIP code scale and compared to COVID-19 rates measured at different dates. By-mail rates taken from final absentee tallies for the highest and lowest COVID-19 ZIP codes saw no significant differences across multiple dates (30 September 2020 and 31 October 2020) when COVID-19 data were collected. COVID-19 hot spots (high COVID-19 rates surrounded by other high COVID-19 rates) were extracted using geostatistical techniques and compared to COVID-19 cold spots (low COVID-19 rates surrounded by other low COVID-19 rates). It was found the lowest by-mail rates actually occurred in these COVID-19 hot spots across both dates, as well a metric that expressed percentage change in COVID-19 rates in the month before the 2020 election.Alternate :COVID-19使得已经两极分化的2020年美国大选, 变得更加雪上加霜。COVID-19影响选举的一种方式是邮寄选票的增加。2016年至2020年, 北卡罗来纳州的邮寄选票增加了316%, 共约977,186张。毫无疑问, COVID-19导致了邮寄选票的增加。然而, 邮寄选票在本质上是空间性的, 并且在北卡罗来纳州的各个地方具有差异性。本研究计算了COVID-19发病率对邮寄选票比例的影响程度。利用北卡罗来纳州选举委员会提供的准确的表格文件, 本文制作了地理信息系统数据, 在邮政编码尺度上对邮寄选票进行计算和制图, 并将这些邮寄选票与不同时间的COVID-19发病率进行了比较。在拥有最高和最低COVID-19发病率的邮政编码和不同时间（2020年9月30日和2020年10月31日）, 从缺失人数统计中得到的邮寄选票比例没有显著差异。利用地学统计方法提取COVID-19热点（COVID-19高发病率在空间上被其它高发病率所包围）, 并与COVID-19冷点（COVID-19低发病率在空间上被其它低发病率所包围）进行比较。结果发现, 在这两个时间内, 最低邮寄选票比例出现在COVID-19热点地区。本文还制定了一个指标, 可以表示2020年大选前一个月的COVID-19发病率百分比的变化。
ABSTRACT
The results of a preliminary analysis of the relationship between the short-term impact of air pollution exposure on hospitalizations associated with COVID-19 in Tomsk, Russia are presented. The statistical data on air pollution and COVID-19 associated hospitalization were collected and analyzed for the period from March 16, 2022 to April 14, 2022. This period corresponds to a flat plateau of confirmed COVID-19 cases after the main pandemic wave in 2022 in Tomsk and the Tomsk region which were associated with omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2. It was found that all representative peaks in a graph of daily hospitalizations coincide with the peaks in graphs of measured levels of air pollution. The increase in hospitalizations occurred on the same days when air pollution levels increased, or with a slight lag of 1-2 days. This allows us to tentatively conclude that air pollution has a quick effect on infected persons and may provoke an increase in symptoms and severity of the disease. Further detailed research is required. © 2022 SPIE.
ABSTRACT
Non-grain production (NGP) on cultivated land has become a common phenomenon due to the prosperity of the rural economy and the optimisation of the agricultural structure. However, the excessive use of cultivating land for NGP has threatened food production and the sustainable use of cultivated land. To halt this trend and to ensure food security, the authors of this paper applied a novel non-grain index to measure NGP, which could reflect multiple NGP activities;designated Hubei Province as its object of research;and revealed NGP's spatio-temporal patterns of the past 30 years. We then assessed the characteristics of NGP based on spatial autocorrelation analysis, the Theil index, and geographically weighted regression. The results showed that the value of the non-grain index grew from 0.497 to 1.113 as NGP increased significantly in Hubei Province. The number of high-NGP counties increased, spatial agglomeration became obvious, and the eastern and western sides of Hubei Province witnessed an observable growth in NGP. As a result, the NGP in the eastern and western regions overtook production in the central region. Despite a series of historical subsidy policies and agricultural modernisation initiatives that promoted the planting of grain crops, the policy of "grain on valuable cultivated land” could be better implemented. We conclude by making some suggestions for reducing NGP and protecting cultivated land.
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, spatial geographic data analysis and GIS related software are more and more applied to the planning of urban public facilities. Under the COVID-19, people pay more attention to the protection of medical facilities for people's health, and a reasonable distribution of hospital facilities is conducive to people's health. Taking Haikou City as an example, this research will optimize the location of hospital space layout according to the existing third-level first-class general hospitals in Haikou City by using GIS software, road analysis, spatial analysis, and other methods. The results show that the existing hospitals in Haikou are too concentrated in the central urban area, the overall distribution of medical facilities is lack of balance, and there is a serious lack of medical facilities in new urban development areas and suburbs. According to the comparison between population density analysis and traffic analysis and the service scope of existing hospitals, the author finds out the scope of hospitals that need to be supplemented, and then calculates the scope of service area after taking several random points within the scope, and finally finds the one with the largest service scope is the optimal location. The results obtained by optimizing the site selection can provide a scientific reference for the rational layout of medical facilities in Haikou City in the future. © 2023 SPIE.
ABSTRACT
Data collection and large-scale urban audits are challenging and can be time consuming processes. Geographic information systems can extract and combine relevant data that can be used as input to calculation tools that provide results and quantify indicators with sufficient spatial analysis to facilitate the local decision-making process for building renovations and sustainability assessment. This work presents an open-access tool that offers an automated process that can be used to audit an urban area in order to extract relevant information about the characteristics of the built environment, analyze the building characteristics to evaluate energy performance, assess the potential for the installation of photovoltaics on available building rooftops, and quantify ground permeability. A case study is also presented to demonstrate data collection and processing for an urban city block, and the relevant results are elaborated upon. The method is easily replicable and is based on open data and non-commercial tools.
ABSTRACT
The title of the ConferenceXXII Conference of PhD Students and Young Scientists "Interdisciplinary topics in mining and geology”The location and the date of the conferencevirtual event – online conference, June 29th to July 1st, 2022 in Wrocław, PolandXXIInd Conference of PhD Students and Young Scientists "Interdisciplinary topics in mining and geology” continues a series of events that started in 2000 at Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Scientific programme of the Conference focuses on four thematic panels:1. Mining Engineering: sustainable development, digitalisation in mining, problems of securing, protecting and using remnants of old mining works, underground mining, opencast mining, mineral processing, waste management, mining machinery, mine transport, economics in mining, mining aeronautics, ventilation and air conditioning in mines,2. Earth and Space Sciences: geology, hydrogeology, environmental protection, extraterrestrial resources, groundwater and medicinal waters, engineering and environmental protection, geotourism,3. Geoengineering: environmental protection, applied geotechnics, rock and soil mechanics, geohazards,4. Geoinformation: mining geodesy, GIS, photogrammetry and remote sensing, geodata modeling and analysis.The XXII Conference of PhD Students and Young Scientists was held as a virtual event, that is as a virtual, online conference in real-time. The reason why the Organizing Committee decided to change the traditional formula of the event to online formula was related to the concern for the health of the participants due to the COVID-19 epidemic.The XXII Conference of PhD Students and Young Scientists took place from June 29th to July 1st, 2022 in Wroclaw, Poland. That is the organizers worked and managed the event from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology Geocentre building. Because the conference focused on four thematic panels, four different special opening lectures were delivered by wellknown scientists- Professor Jan Zalasiewicz (University of Leicester, England)- Associate Professor Artur Krawczyk (AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland)- Professor Biljana Kovacević-Zelić (University of Zagreb, Croatia)- Assistant Professor Eduard Kan (Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanizations Engineers, Uzbekistan).The Conference was divided into 8 oral sessions (with 33 presentations) and 1 poster session (with 33 posters). The amount of time provided to one presentation was 15 minutes, after presentation there was 5 minutes available for discussion. The poster session was available throughout the event, and the posters were available for online viewing on the Conference's website with the possibility of make discussion and ask questions in real time via zoom meeting application as well. Every day of the Conference one "virtual coffee break” was devoted for discussion between participants and question and answer session for the Organizers.There were 96 registered participants from 13 countries. The online XXII Conference of PhD Students and Young Scientists was conducted using the Zoom meeting platform with commemorative screen shots taken. By tradition two competitions, for the best oral presentation and for the best poster were held. The award for the best oral presentation was given ex aequo to Julia Tiganj (TH Georg Agricola University of Applied Sciences, Germany) for the presentation entitled Post-mining goes international: hurdles to climate neutrality using the example of China and Oksana Khomiak, Jörg Benndorf (TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany) for the presentation entitled Spectral analysis of ore hyperspectral images at different stages of the mining value chain, whereas the best poster was awarded to Adam Wróblewski, Jacek Wodecki, Paweł Trybała, Radosław Zimroz (Wrocław University of Science and technology, Poland) for the poster entitled Large underground structures geometry evaluation based on point cloud data analysis.List of Scientific Committee, Organizing Committee, Editorial Team are available i this pdf.
ABSTRACT
Land surface temperature (LST) is an important variable in urban microclimate research. At the end of 2019, the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world in a manner that forced many countries to impose restrictions in human activities. As a measure to prevent the expansion of Covid-19 infections, most of the major cities have entered a prolonged lockdown period and reduction in human activities between the early 2020 and the late 2021. These restrictions were strict in most of the cities in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam. The present study investigated the variations in LST and NDVI observed in three rapidly growing urban areas, namely Da Nang, Hue and Vinh, in Vietnam using Landsat-8 imagery acquired between 2017 and 2022. There has been a slight reduction in LST in the study sites, particularly in Da Nang City, during the lockdown period but not as high as observed in recently conducted studies from big metropolitan cities, including in Vietnam. It is also observed that LST estimated from built-up areas and other impervious surfaces remained relatively stable during the study period which is similar to the results from recent studies.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Urbanization , Humans , Cities , Temperature , Hot Temperature , Vietnam/epidemiology , Pandemics , Environmental Monitoring/methods , COVID-19/epidemiology , Communicable Disease ControlABSTRACT
Open source Geographic Information System (GIS) have been fostering spatial data research such as Earth observation and environmental monitoring for more than 30 years. More recently, globally available geospatial information combined with web technologies are providing new environments and tools for data handling. Thus, binding the mapping and processing capabilities of traditional GIS to the accessibility and reliability of web-based data providers can bring new opportunities for research. In this paper, we built a QGIS plugin to explore the integration of different public data providers in Brazil along with field data produced by the BONDS project. The biOdiversity conservatioN with Development in Amazon wetlandS project (BONDS) proposes to develop biodiversity scenarios for the Amazonian floodplains aiming to support solutions to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. The use of web services enabled dynamic and fast access to several products ranging from remote sensing images, land use and land cover, territorial cartography, water quality, to COVID-19 health data, and more. © 2022 National Institute for Space Research, INPE. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 vaccines were developed unprecedentedly and have proven safe and efficacious in reducing transmissibility and severe infection. The impact of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines on atrial arrhythmias (AA) incidence is unknown. Objective(s): To analyze the incidence of AA after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with a cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED). Method(s): BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring data and Medicare claims data from CERTITUDE patients implanted with a CIED between 2010-20 were utilized to identify recipients of one or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. Those who had influenza vaccination in 2020 were also identified in the same cohort as a control. From remote monitoring data, the number of atrial high rate events (AHR) and % burden of AA in the three months post-vaccination was compared to the preceding three months using Wilcoxon signed rank test. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for group difference comparisons. New AF diagnosis was determined from ICD-10 diagnosis codes in Medicare claims. Result(s): First and 2nd doses of COVID vaccine (50% Pfizer, 47% Moderna, and 3% J&J) were administered to 7757 and 6579 individuals with a CIED (age 76.2 (+/-9.0) y, 49% males), respectively. In the same cohort, 4723 (61%) individuals received the influenza vaccine. A statistically significant increase in the number of AHR episodes and % burden of AA was noted in the three months post-vaccination compared to the preceding three months after the 1st and 2nd doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (Figure). No such association was noted following influenza vaccination. In subgroup analysis, AHR episodes increased significantly in age groups >70 and men. Post-vaccination increase in AHR episodes was more significant in those without a pre-vaccination history of AHR episodes (mean increase of AHR 6.9+/-88.4, p<0.001) and was non-significant in those with a preceding history of AHR (p=0.8). Among the 764 patients with no AF diagnosis in claims preceding the first COVID-19 vaccine, 87 (11.4%) developed a new AF diagnosis or AHR event in the first three months post-vaccination. Conclusion(s): We report a small but significant increase in the number of CIED-detected atrial arrhythmias following vaccination for COVID-19 but not influenza, specifically in men and age >70 years. Acknowledging the immense public health benefit of COVID-19 vaccines, our results should prompt increased awareness of evaluating for AF in this high-risk group following vaccination. [Formula presented]Copyright © 2023
ABSTRACT
In Ecuador, there is a limitation on air quality monitoring due to the cost of monitoring networks. Although air quality monitoring stations are instruments for air measurement, they do not cover an entire city due to their scope. Satellite remote sensing is now an effective tool to study atmospheric pollutants and has been applied to continuously assess a region and overcome the limitations of fixed stations. Despite the application of satellite data for air quality monitoring, there are some limitations, such as measurement frequency, cloud cover and wide spatial resolution, which do not allow the assessment of air pollution in cities. Therefore, downscaling, applying interpolation methods, is essential for continuous air quality monitoring at smaller scales. For this research, Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) data from the Sentinel-5 satellite percussor was used in the city of Guayaquil for January–December 2020, which is considered before, during and after the COVID-19 quarantine. This mid-size port city does not have a permanent monitoring network, which prevents us from knowing the air quality. Due to the limitation of pixel size, this study used satellite data to apply interpolation techniques and reduce pixels to assess air quality. Two categories of interpolation were selected: deterministic and stochastic. The empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK) interpolation obtained a R2 of 0.9546, which was superior to the other methods applied. Therefore, the EBK method had the best accuracy for tropospheric NO2 concentration. Finally, the method used in this research can help monitor air quality in cities lacking continuous monitoring networks, as the reduction of the pixel size gives us a better pattern of pollutants.
ABSTRACT
The circular economy (CE) has gained importance in the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Businesses, while realising the CE benefits, have challenges in justifying and evaluating the CE benefits using available performance measurement tools, specifically when considering sustainability and other non-traditional benefits. Given the rising institutional pressures for environmental and social sustainability, we argue that organisations can evaluate their CE implementation performance using non-market-based environmental goods valuation methods. Further, the effectiveness of the CE performance measurement model can be enhanced to support supply chain sustainability and resilience through an ecosystem of multi-stakeholder digital technologies that include a range of emerging technologies such as blockchain technology, the internet-of-things (IoT), artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and tracking technologies. Accordingly, a CE performance measurement model (CEPMM) is conceptualised and exemplified using seven COVID-19 disruption scenarios to provide insights that can be addressed through CE practices. Analyses and implications are presented along with areas for future research.
ABSTRACT
Land Surface Temperature (LST) shows the general temperature condition of environment and many factors may affect it such as weather, cloud coverage, and sun exposure time. During the Corona Virus pandemic, Indonesia implemented the Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat (PPKM) system that restricted many activities and suspected of influencing LST in one or another way. PPKM system itself does not cover every province in Indonesia;thus, it is suspected that LST between areas either do or do not implement PPKM may differ. This paper aims to map and analyze LST between Jakarta Province and Pekat Village before and during implementation of PPKM using descriptive research method with a quantitative approach. The results show that there is a significant temperature change in Jakarta when the PPKM level changes transpires. Pekat Village also experiences temperature changes although it is not affected by PPKM system. Even though there are some data anomalies, the temperature changes are within expectation. Therefore, this concludes that PPKM brought some slight effects toward LST and its changes. © 2023 ICIC International. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Due to lockdown measures associated with the COVID 19 pandemic (1), there were substantial changes to healthcare delivery, including the suspension of face-to-face medical appointments, expansion of telehealth and changes to medication protocols.(2) It is important to learn from the successes and challenges of this period to ensure we adapt and improve how we support people to take medicines in the future. Aim(s): We sought to conduct a systematic review to explore the different approaches used to deliver medicines management services for people living with long term conditions (LTCs) during the pandemic and identify strategies that could be integrated into standard care. Method(s): We conducted a systematic review across 3 large databases: MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID) and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). Our research question and search strategy was developed using the PICO framework (Population: adults with LTCs, Intervention: medicines management during the COVID 19 pandemic;no comparison group. Outcome(s): any aspect relating to medicines management. Search terms relating to 'long term conditions', 'medication management' and 'COVID-19' were used. One reviewer (LM) screened all titles, s, and full texts. We included studies discussing medication management of LTCs, in patients of all ages and healthcare settings, throughout the pandemic. Primary literature sources, feasibility studies and case studies, were included. We excluded studies solely focusing on disease monitoring, or the treatment of COVID/ 'long Covid'. One reviewer performed a thematic analysis, synthesising the findings into themes and sub-themes, which were discussed with a further reviewer (CT). A critical appraisal was performed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklists. Result(s): The search returned 2365 results. After deduplication, articles were removed at the title (n=1070) (n=813) and full text (n=232) stages. 31 studies were included. Studies were conducted in India (n=6), US (n=5), international (n=4), France (n=2), Italy (n=2), and one each from China, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, UK, UK and US, and location not specified. Most studies (n=17) employed subjective methods of data collection (surveys/ questionnaires). We identified 6 themes. These were: changes in consultation type, for instance using teleconsultations and smartphone apps to monitor glucose control and diabetic management. Studies described temporary changes to treatment protocols e.g., using oral chemotherapy to reduce the need for in-person appointments and reduce the infection risk associated with intravenous administration. Control of certain conditions for example epilepsy was reduced in some studies. Patients missed doses due to drug shortages associated with disruptions in the medication supply chain, particularly in low-income countries. Finally, we identified prescribing trend changes in certain classes of medicines (e.g. reduced biologic usage due to immunosuppression risk) and an increase in patients self-medicating conditions including anxiety and depression, with associated safety risks. Conclusion(s): This review suggested that certain medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension were more suited to remote monitoring with technological interventions such as smartphone apps. While other conditions e.g., cancer and epilepsy, demonstrated a greater need for in-person care. Countries of lower socioeconomic status were disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of closure measures in 2020, population mobility and human activities have decreased, which has seriously impacted atmospheric quality. Huaibei City is an important coal and chemical production base in East China, which faces increasing environmental problems. The impact of anthropogenic activities on air quality in this area was investigated by comparing the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 with the normal situation in 2021. Tropospheric NO2, HCHO and SO2 column densities were observed by ground-based multiple axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS). In situ measurements for PM2.5, NO2, SO2 and O3 were also taken. The observation period was divided into four phases, the pre-lockdown period, phase 1 lockdown, phase 2 lockdown and the post-lockdown period. Ground-based MAX-DOAS results showed that tropospheric NO2, HCHO and SO2 column densities increased by 41, 14 and 14%, respectively, during phase 1 in 2021 vs. 2020. In situ results showed that NO2 and SO2 increased by 59 and 11%, respectively, during phase 1 in 2021 vs. 2020, but PM2.5 and O3 decreased by 15 and 17%, respectively. In the phase 2 period, due to the partial lifting of control measures, the concentration of pollutants did not significantly change. The weekly MAX-DOAS results showed that there was no obvious weekend effect of pollutants in the Huaibei area, and NO2, HCHO and SO2 had obvious diurnal variation characteristics. In addition, the relationship between the column densities and wind speed and direction in 2020 and 2021 was studied. The results showed that, in the absence of traffic control in 2021, elevated sources in the Eastern part of the city emitted large amounts of NO2. The observed ratios of HCHO to NO2 suggested that tropospheric ozone production involved NOX-limited scenarios. The correlation analysis between HCHO and different gases showed that HCHO mainly originated from primary emission sources related to SO2. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
Introduction/Aim: Home spirometry may improve respiratory disease monitoring and management and mitigate the decline in testing exacerbated by COVID-19. Smartphone-connected spirometers could allow patients to conduct spirometry independently without the need to travel to lung function clinics. This study assessed the accuracy of a personal spirometer and the feasibility of unsupervised home spirometry. Method(s): Subjects (19-88 years) with (n = 44) and without (n = 20) respiratory disease, were recruited and supervised to perform spirometry on a standard desktop spirometer (MGC Diagnostics) and a personal ultrasonic spirometer (SpiroHome) in the clinical laboratory. Unsupervised testing was subsequently conducted using the SpiroHome at the subjects' home (2 tests/week for 3 weeks). Subjects returned to the clinic to conduct an exit survey which assessed their willingness to adopt a personal spirometer into their long-term care plan. Comparisons between desktop and personal spirometry, as well as supervised and unsupervised spirometry, were compared by Bland-Altman analysis (%Bias +/- CI) and Pearson's correlation. Result(s): The proportion of tests meeting American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society criteria (80%) remained constant across clinic and home spirometry sessions for subjects who completed 3 weeks of home testing (p = 0.73, Fisher's exact test, n = 61). Supervised spirometry on the SpiroHome (n = 56) reliably measured FEV 1 (-3.12+/-27.01%;r=0.98, p < 0.0001) and FVC (-0.38+/-22.91%;r=0.99, p < 0.0001) producing a small underestimation compared to desktop spirometry. Unsupervised home spirometry (when performed <24 hrs from the clinic appointment) on the SpiroHome (n = 51) produced a small underestimation of FEV 1 (-2.41+/-35.57%;r=0.96, p < 0.0001) and a slight overestimation of FVC (0.08+/-24.70%;r=0.98, p < 0.0001) compared with supervised manoeuvres in the clinical laboratory. Conclusion(s): Findings indicate that lung function assessed by SpiroHome compares well with in-clinic standard desktop spirometry across a range of diseases and severities in both the clinic and home settings. A larger cohort of subjects are being recruited to confirm the accuracy and the overall utility of personal spirometry.
ABSTRACT
International Conference on Geospatial Science for Digital Earth Observation (GSDEO 2021)The international conference on "Geospatial Science for Digital Earth Observation” (GSDEO) 2021 was successfully held on a virtual platform of Zoom on March 26th and 27th, 2021. The conference was jointly organized by the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), Kolkata chapter, and the Department of Geography, School of Basic and Applied Sciences, Adamas University. Due to the non-predictable behaviour of the COVID-19 second wave, which imposed restrictions on organizing offline events, the GSDEO (2021) organizing committee decided to organize the conference online, instead of postponing the event.Remotely sensed data and geographic information systems have been increasingly used together for a vast range of applications, which include land use/land cover mapping, water resource management, weather forecasting, environmental monitoring, agriculture, disaster management, etc. Currently, intensive research is being carried out using remotely sensed data on the geoinformatics platform. New developments have led to dynamic advances in recent years. The objective of the international conference on Geospatial Science for Digital Earth Observation (GSDEO 2021) was to bring the scientists, academicians, and researchers, in the field of geo-environmental sciences on a common platform to exchange ideas and their recent findings related to the latest advances and applications of geospatial science. The call for papers received an enthusiastic response from the academic community, and over 100+ participants from 50+ colleges, universities, and institutions participated in the conference. In total 50+ research papers had been presented through the virtual Zoom conference platform in GSDEO 2021.The conference witnessed the presentation of research papers from diverse applied fields of geospatial sciences, which include the application of geoinformatics in geomorphology, hydrology, urban science, land use planning, climate, and environmental studies. There were four sessions namely, TS 1: Geomorphology and Hydrology, TS 2: Urban Science, TS 3: Social Sustainability and Land Use Planning, and TS 4: Climate and Environment. Each session was further subdivided, into two parts, namely Technical Session 1-A and 1-B. Each sub-session had been designed with one keynote speech and 5 oral presentations. Oral sessions were organized in two parts and offered through live and pre-recorded components based on the preference of the presenters. The presentation session was followed by a live Q&A session. The session chairs moderated the discussions. Similarly, poster sessions were organized in three parts and offered e-poster, live, and pre-recorded components. The best presenter of each sub-session received the best paper award.Dr. Prithvish Nag, Ex-Director of NATMO & Ex Surveyor General of India delivered the inaugural speech, and Dr. P. Chakrabarti, Former Chief Scientist of the DST&B, Govt. of West Bengal delivered a special lecture after the inaugural session. Eight eminent keynote speakers, Prof. S.P. Agarwal from the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Prof. Ashis Kumar Paul from Vidyasagar University, Prof. Soumya Kanti Ghosh from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Prof. L. N. Satpati from the University of Calcutta, Prof. R.B. Singh from the University of Delhi, Dr. A.K. Raha, IFS (Retd), Prof. Gerald Mills from the University College Dublin and Prof. Sugata Hazra from Jadavpur University enriched the knowledge of participants in the field of geoinformatics by their informative lectures. The presentations and discussions widely covered the various spectrums of geoinformatics and its application in monitoring natural resources like vegetation mapping, agricultural resource monitoring, forest health assessment, water, and ocean resource management, disaster management, land resource management, water and climate studies, drought vulnerability assessment, groundwater quality monitoring, accretion mapping and the use of geospatial sci nce in studying morphological, hydrological, and other biophysical characteristics of a region etc. Application of geoinformatics in predicting urban expansion, urban climate, disaster management, healthcare accessibility, anthropogenic resource monitoring, spatial-interaction mapping, and, sustainable regional planning were well-discussed topics of the conference.List of Committees, photos are available in the pdf.