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To assess how the COVID-19 pandemic affected catch-up HPV vaccination among age-eligible adults (ages 18–45). The current study leverages a national, cross-sectional sample of US adults ages 18–45 years to assess the prevalence and determinants of COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions to catch-up HPV vaccination in 2021. The sample was restricted to adults intending to receive the HPV vaccine. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the probability of 1) pandemic-related HPV vaccination disruption and 2) uncertainty about pandemic-related HPV vaccination disruption. Report of ‘no pandemic-related HPV vaccination disruption' served as the reference category. Among adults intending to get the HPV vaccine (n = 1,683), 8.6 % reported pandemic-related HPV vaccination disruption, 14.7 % reported uncertainty about vaccination disruption, and 76.7 % reported no disruption. Factors associated with higher odds of pandemic-related vaccination disruption included non-English language preference (OR: 3.20;95 % CI: 1.99–5.13), being a parent/guardian (OR: 1.77;95 % CI: 1.18–2.66), having at least one healthcare visit in the past year (OR: 1.97;95 % CI: 1.10–3.53), being up-to-date on the tetanus vaccine (OR: 1.81;95 % CI: 1.19–2.75), and being a cancer survivor (OR: 2.57;95 % CI: 1.52–4.34). Catch-up HPV vaccination for age-eligible adults is a critical public health strategy for reducing HPV-related cancers. While a small percentage of adults reported pandemic-related disruptions to HPV vaccination, certain adults (e.g., individuals with a non-English language preference and cancer survivors) were more likely to report a disruption. Interventions may be needed that increase accessibility of catch-up HPV vaccination among populations with reduced healthcare access during the pandemic. © 2022 The Authors
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Despite longstanding recognition that organisations are open systems that are affected by the broader environments in which they are situated, scholars have rarely examined how such macrosocietal conditions may influence processes and experiences within the workplace. Integrating research on selective incivility and mega-threats, we conceptualise the COVID-19 pandemic as a racial mega-threat and examine how this context may challenge organisations' efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. Specifically, we predict that the protective benefits of diversity climate against incivility, an insidious form of modern discrimination incited by the COVID-19 pandemic, will be weaker for workers of Chinese descent compared to workers from other Asian subgroups, leading to more downstream negative outcomes for this group of workers (i.e., higher turnover intentions, poorer job performance and greater emotional exhaustion). This reflects the fact that workplaces are not impervious to the rising xenophobia toward China and Chinese people, who were particularly blamed and stigmatised for the emergence of this virus, as evident in North American society in early 2020. We found support for our predictions in a three-wave, time-separated study of Asian workers (N = 248) in the US and Canada during the first wave of the pandemic. © 2023 The Authors. Applied Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association of Applied Psychology.
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In 2020 editor-in-chief (Andrew Malekoff) issued a special call for papers for group work stories on pandemic 2020. Among the 28 stories accepted for the series there were 16 from India, 9 from the United States, 2 from Canada and 1 from Israel. General submissions from the U.S., Canada and Israel were typical for the journal. Atypical are submissions from India. Rather than publish the stories in one special issue of the Journal, he decided to spread them out over several issues through 2022. In the course of organizing the special series (with a December 2021 deadline) he continued communication with a few of the authors from India, with particular interest and concern in the deteriorating situation as 2021 unfolded. Although the present commentary is not about group work per se, it is an update by Ajay Saini, Nancy and Andrew Malekoff on the current state of affairs in India, with some contrast to the situation in the U.S., that offers continuing context for the stories in the series. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Research on the media's portrayal of Asian American crime victims has largely entailed content analyses of specific high-profile cases, partly because Asian Americans have been largely ignored in the media. The current study examines national news coverage (2010–2021) of both specific anti-Asian hate crime incidents as well as articles that discuss the rise in hate crime against the Asian American community. We also include anti-Hispanic hate crime articles over the same time period as a comparison group. In doing so, we examine the extent of coverage, portrayals of victims and perpetrators, including stereotypes of Asian Americans, and how the incidents are situated in a larger context of violence against racial minorities. While there were similarities between the groups in the media narratives, such as the offender's race rarely being mentioned, there were notable differences as well. For example, articles on Asian Americans were more likely to portray hate crime as a new phenomenon, but also more likely to include quotes from victims and/or their families. The findings have implications for the media's role in shaping the social consequences of pandemics. © The Author(s) 2022.
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Objectives: Telehealth use has increased steadily since the mid-2000′s when technology shifted from voice-only systems to live video-conferencing and other technologies supported by broadband Internet. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in exponential growth in telehealth use. As telehealth systems become increasingly complex and gain widespread adoption, this study explores how users' digital competences affect telehealth use. Methods: We apply a series of multivariate logit models to a representative sample of California adults with Internet access surveyed in early 2021. We estimate the impact of self-reported digital competence–using items from the digital skills assessment scale–on a participant's likelihood of telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the likelihood to continue using telehealth beyond the pandemic. Results: The findings show that a one-unit increase in digital competence is associated with 72.8% greater odds of telehealth use (p <0.001) and 71.6% greater odds of willingness to continue using telehealth services beyond the pandemic (p<.01). We also found that greater social and economic capital generally were associated with increased odds of telehealth use. Conclusions: Improving access to telehealth will require solutions addressing both the first level (i.e., access to broadband and devices) and the second level (i.e., skills and attitudes towards the internet) of digital inequality. Policies and programs seeking to expand internet access must be coupled with investments in digital upskilling and training. Those with limited digital competence will face continued barriers in navigating telehealth systems, further exacerbating disparities in healthcare access and outcomes. Public Interest Summary: Digital competence is the ability and confidence to apply one's knowledge and skills to perform tasks through information technology, including computing devices and the internet. This study explores the relationship between digital competence and telehealth use among those with broadband internet access at home. Telehealth has become increasingly common due to its cost-effectiveness and accessibility for patients unable to visit healthcare facilities. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a significant increase in telehealth use, it is expected that telehealth services will continue to expand after the pandemic subsides. In our analysis of California adults, a year into the pandemic, we find those with greater digital competence are more likely to have used telehealth during the pandemic. Further, among telehealth users, those with greater digital competence are more likely to continue using telehealth beyond the pandemic. Addressing disparities in healthcare access and outcomes will require improving potential users' digital competence.
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Unfortunately, there is a long history linking pandemics to Anti-Asian prejudice and xenophobia;these negative outcomes have been particularly pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some scholars have suggested that these relationships are driven by fear, wherein individuals respond to disease threat by "othering” that threat. Other research has implicated the role of the state, including the political rhetoric of former President Trump, in exacerbating bias by enabling a divisive political environment. Yet, very few existing studies have been able to assess the nature of these impacts or examine the mechanisms behind observed increases in xenophobia. To that end, this research presents results from a survey administered in May 2020 to respondents residing in the U.S., which assessed COVID-19-related attitudes and behaviors, as well as anti-Asian prejudicial attitudes. Using these data, we assessed the direct and interactive relationship between perceptions of risk (i.e., fear), exposure to COVID-19 information, support for Trump, and anti-Asian prejudice. Results reveal that fear—and support for Trump—are associated with increased anti-Asian prejudice, but that exposure to more information about COVID-19 is associated with decreased prejudice;we also note complex interactions between each of these factors. © The Author(s) 2022.
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Although hate-motivated incidents and crimes against Asians are not a new phenomenon, there has been a lack of scholarly attention on the topic. Using a systematic review, we examine, assess, and analyze 23 published peer-reviewed articles that have explored hate-motivated crime/incidents against Asians in the United States of America between 2000 and 2020. We found all studies included in this systematic review examined microaggressions and/or discrimination, and tended to lump all different Asian subgroups into "Asians.” In addition, most studies focused on the consequences of hate-motivated incidents, such as mental and physical health. We suggest a future research agenda and direction that fills the gap in scholarly journal articles on Asian hate-motivated incidents in the United States. © The Author(s) 2022.
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The current study attempts to compare anti-Asian discourse before and during the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing big data on Quora, one of the most frequently used community-driven knowledge sites. We created two datasets regarding "Asians” and "anti-Asians” from Quora questions and answers between 2010 and 2021. A total of 1,477 questions and 5,346 answers were analyzed, and the datasets were divided into two time periods: before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted machine-learning-based topic modeling and deep-learning-based word embedding (Word2Vec). Before the pandemic, the topics of physical difference and racism were prevalent, whereas, after the pandemic, the topics of hate crime, the need to stop Asian hate crimes, and the need for the Asian solidarity movement emerged. Above all, the semantic similarity between Asian and Black people became closer, while the similarity between Asian people and other racial/ethnic groups was diminished. The emergence of negative and radical language, which increased saliently after the outbreak of the pandemic, and the considerably wider semantic distance between Asian and White people indicates that the relationship between the two races has been weakened. The findings suggest a long-term campaign or education system to reduce racial tensions during the pandemic. © The Author(s) 2022.
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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been an increasing number of hate crimes perpetrated against Chinese and non-Chinese Asian Americans. Some hate incidents suggest that Chinese Asian Americans have been mainly targeted followed by non-Chinese Asian Americans. The present study examined the influence of victim Chinese phenotypicality (CP) and participant individual differences on COVID-19-related prejudice and discrimination. Participants were presented with a mock news story detailing a restaurant employee (varying in CP) who tested positive for COVID-19 but went to work despite warnings to quarantine and allegedly spread COVID-19 to other employees and customers. CP was manipulated through photographs embedded within the mock news story of the employee (White (control) vs. Low CP vs. High CP). After reading the news story, participants completed measures of prejudice and discrimination endorsement along with measures of individual differences. Results revealed that CP influenced prejudice and support for discrimination, but only for individuals with certain characteristics (e.g., low income). The findings highlight individual difference characteristics among perpetrators of prejudice and discrimination against Asian Americans, in addition to phenotypic variations among those who may be victims of hate related to the COVID-19 pandemic. © The Author(s) 2022.
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Purpose: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the approved age range for the 9vHPV vaccine from 9-26 years to 9-45 years in 2018. However, research has still pointed to low vaccination rates among adult women. This could likely be due to missed opportunities as they must have aged out and be ineligible for the vaccine prior to the expansion. Therefore, this study assesses a better understanding of patient's (particularly mothers) preferences of receiving the HPV vaccine to provide quantitative estimates of potential vaccine uptake. Methods: We conducted a descriptive questionnaire survey among women participating in an Open-Label Clinical Trial evaluating the Immunogenicity of the 9vHPV Vaccination Regimen over 6 months among women aged 16 to 45 years old. The survey was fielded to a sample of 245 women receiving care at Boston Medical Center, who had not yet received the HPV vaccine. We used a two-sided Fisher's exact test (because >20% of the expected cell count is less than 5) to compare the responses to two closed-ended questions: "If your daughter or son's doctor offered you the HPV vaccine during your child's visit, would you decide to get the vaccine?” and "Would you prefer to receive the HPV vaccine through your primary care physician instead of your child's care doctor?”. The mean and standard deviation (sd) were reported for continuous variables whereas proportions were reported for dichotomous and categorical data. All analyses were performed using SAS (9.4). Results: We had a diverse study population with a mean age of 32 years (sd=7.86), 25.75% were African American, 20.60% were Hispanics, 21.46 % were Asians, 18.88% were White and 13.31% were Others. We used cross tabulation to describe the relationship between the two variables of interest. Results indicate that 85.11% of women are willing to receive the vaccine from their child's doctor;however, are unwilling to receive it through their own primary care provider. Whereas 7.76% women preferred receiving the vaccine from their primary care physician and are unsure or unwilling to get it from their child's doctor. Also, 67.74% of women indicated their willingness to get the vaccine from their child's doctor;however, were unsure about getting it through their primary care physician. We did a two-sided Fisher's exact test of proportions of p < 0.0001 and concluded that there is a statistically significant difference between women who preferred receiving the HPV vaccine through their child's provider and women willing to receive it through their primary care provider (assuming a significance level of 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that mothers would prefer getting the HPV vaccine for themselves at their child's doctor visit, if it was offered to them. Influenza and Covid vaccines are offered to parents/guardians in pediatric offices, and this should be implemented for HPV vaccine as well. This would increase the vaccination rates, given children tend to have an increased number of visits prior to the adolescent years and parents are likely to accompany their children to these visits. Sources of Support: cdc.gov.
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Machine learning (ML) has proved to be a prominent study field while solving complex real-world problems. The whole globe has suffered and continues suffering from Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and its projections need to be forecasted. In this article, we propose and derive an autoregressive modeling framework based on ML and statistical methods to predict confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. Automatic forecasting models based on autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and Prophet time series structures, as well as extreme gradient boosting, generalized linear model elastic net (GLMNet), and random forest ML techniques, are introduced and applied to COVID-19 data from the SAARC countries. Different forecasting models are compared by means of selection criteria. By using evaluation metrics, the best and suitable models are selected. Results prove that the ARIMA model is found to be suitable and ideal for forecasting confirmed infected cases of COVID-19 in these countries. For the confirmed cases in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, the ARIMA model is superior to the other models. In Bhutan, the Prophet time series model is appropriate for predicting such cases. The GLMNet model is more accurate than other time-series models for Nepal and Pakistan. The random forest model is excluded from forecasting because of its poor fit.
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CONTEXT: Depression is prevalent among Asian Americans (AsA) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and depression often leads to sleep disturbance in this population. The gut microbiota (GM) plays a critical role in mental health and sleep quality, and the composition of the GM is largely unknown among AsA. OBJECTIVES: Examine associations of the GM with depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance among Chinese and Korean American immigrants. METHODS: Depressive symptoms (PROMIS Short Form-Depression) and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) were collected via surveys. PROMIS measure T-score > 55 indicates positive depressive symptoms, and a total PSQI score > 5 indicates sleep disturbance. 16S rRNA V3-V4 gene regions were sequenced from fecal specimens to measure GM. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance and linear discriminant analysis effect size were applied to examine associations of the GM with symptoms. RESULTS: Among 20 participants, 55% (n = 11) reported depressive symptoms and 35% (n = 7) reported sleep disturbance. A higher α-diversity was marginally associated with lower depressive symptoms: Chao1 (r = -0.39, p = 0.09) and Shannon index (r = -0.41, p = 0.08); ß-diversity distinguished participants between categories of depressive symptoms (weighted UniFrac, p=0.04) or sleep disturbance (Jaccard, p=0.05). Those with depressive symptoms showed a higher abundance of Actinobacteria, while those without depressive symptoms had a higher abundance of Bacteroidetes. No significant taxa were identified for sleep disturbance. CONCLUSIONS: Gut microbial diversity showed promising associations with depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance among Chinese and Korean immigrants. Specific taxa were identified as associated with depressive symptoms. Future studies with a larger sample size are warranted to confirm our findings.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in poor mental health among Asian Indians was observed in the United States. However, the leading predictors of poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Asian Indians remained unknown. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to self-identified Asian Indians aged 18 and older (N = 289). Survey collected information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics and the COVID-19 burden. Two novel machine learning techniques-eXtreme Gradient Boosting and Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were used to identify the leading predictors and explain their associations with poor mental health. A majority of the study participants were female (65.1%), below 50 years of age (73.3%), and had income ≥ $75,000 (81.0%). The six leading predictors of poor mental health among Asian Indians were sleep disturbance, age, general health, income, wearing a mask, and self-reported discrimination. SHAP plots indicated that higher age, wearing a mask, and maintaining social distancing all the time were negatively associated with poor mental health while having sleep disturbance and imputed income levels were positively associated with poor mental health. The model performance metrics indicated high accuracy (0.77), precision (0.78), F1 score (0.77), recall (0.77), and AUROC (0.87). Nearly one in two adults reported poor mental health, and one in five reported sleep disturbance. Findings from our study suggest a paradoxical relationship between income and poor mental health; further studies are needed to confirm our study findings. Sleep disturbance and perceived discrimination can be targeted through tailored intervention to reduce the risk of poor mental health in Asian Indians.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Adult , Male , Female , United States , Middle Aged , COVID-19/epidemiology , Mental Health , Cross-Sectional Studies , Pandemics , Asian PeopleABSTRACT
With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, global container freights have increased dramatically since the second half of 2020, which has significantly hampered the booking activities of fragmented transportation space for small and medium-sized import and export enterprises (SMIEEs). To provide SMIEEs with an effective tool for controlling shipping costs, we propose the design principles of index microinsurance under fragmented scenarios and design the container freight index microinsurance (CFIM) based on a comprehensive analysis of the term, compensation and share structures. We further establish the pricing model for the CFIM and selection procedure for product optimization, and illustrate the framework with a case study based on the data of the China Containerized Freight Index Europe Service, which demonstrates the good performance of the designed product even under extreme market conditions. The design principles proposed can shed light on the innovation of index microinsurance product that meets fragmented needs and the newly designed CFIM, along with the pricing and optimization procedure, provides practitioners with useful tools for cost control.
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We examine herding behavior before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic in eight prominent Asian stock markets. Daily stock returns for the period Jan- 2018 to July- 2022 in the markets were investigated using the models prescribed by Chang et al., (2000) and Chiang and Zheng (2010). The empirical results provide strong support to earlier studies by providing robust evidence of herding in Vietnam, Indonesia, India, South Korea, and Singapore when the market is bullish and Indonesia and Vietnam also exhibit herding when the market is bearish. Herding tendency is dominant for Vietnam, India, and Indonesia during the pandemic with the post-pandemic time being more potent for China and Vietnam. Notably, an anti-herding tendency is found in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. As a policy measure, efficient information dissemination, deterrence of insider trading, and regulation of mispricing can be undertaken.
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Objectives Childhood obesity can be monogenic or polygenic in etiology and is associated with significant morbidities. Rapid-onset obesity with hypoventilation, hypothalamic dysfunction, and autonomic dysregulation, and neural crest tumor (ROHHHAD[NET]) syndrome, is a rare autonomic and respiratory pediatric disorder presenting with rapid weight gain in early childhood, hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction, central hypoventilation, and an association with neural crest tumors. Methods A 6-year-old Asian girl with abnormal weight gain since the age of 3 years, presented to the pediatrician's office due to pulse oximeter readings in the 60s at home. Parents were monitoring saturations at home as a way of screening for COVID-19 infection. The pediatrician confirmed hypoxemia and transferred the patient to the Children's Medical Center emergency department on oxygen via EMS. She had occasional snoring and nighttime cough, but no history of respiratory distress, or signs of infection. There was no hyperphagia, neonatal hypoglycemia, or developmental or behavioral concerns. On examination her body weight was 30 kg (+1.56 SD) and height was 113 cm (-1.46 SD) with a body mass index (BMI) of 23.4 kg/m2 (+2.33 SD). No acanthosis nigricans, cushingoid features, or respiratory distress were noted on examination. In the intensive care unit, she was diagnosed with central hypoventilation requiring mechanical ventilation. Her laboratory work-up revealed central hypothyroidism (low Free T4 of 0.64 ng/dl, TSH 1.553 microIU/L). Other anterior pituitary hormones were normal (adrenocorticotropic hormone, 16.3 pg/mL;cortisol, 10.7 mug/dL;prolactin, 9.95 ng/ml;Insulin-like growth factor-1, 83 ng/mL;and IGF binding protein 3, 3.02 mg/L). Genetic investigations revealed no known mutations in the PHOX2B gene, making a diagnosis of central hypoventilation syndrome unlikely. Results Rapid onset weight gain around 3 years of age, central hypoventilation, and anterior pituitary hormone deficiency in our patient with negative PHOX2B is consistent with a clinical diagnosis of ROHHHAD[NET]. Our patient was started on levothyroxine;received tracheostomy for mechanical ventilation;and gastrostomy for pharyngeal dysphagia. She is doing well, goes to school, and is tolerating trials off the ventilator during the day. Conclusions ROHHAD is an important differential to consider for any child with rapid and early obesity and hypoventilation as early diagnosis is critical in improving the clinical management and the prognosis.
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The proceedings contain 539 papers. The topics discussed include: advances in the understanding and management of atherosclerosis in inflammatory arthritis;long-term safety and efficacy of voclosporin in Asian patients with lupus nephritis;clinical profile of four children with juvenile dermatomyositis and anti-SAE antibody positivity: a single center experience from north India;the MMP degraded and citrullinated vimentin (VICM) is a diagnostic and treatment response biomarker;incidence and outcome of covid-19 in AIRD patients on concomitant treatment with tofacitinib- results from KRA covid cohort (KRACC) subset;are we treating-to-target in spondyloarthritis (SPA)? a cross-sectional analysis from the Asia Pacific league of associations for rheumatology (APLAR) SPA registry;utilities of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) on identifying patient with axial psoriatic arthritis (AXPSA) a cross-sectional study;age-related genes USP2 and ARG2 are involved in the reduction of immune cell infiltration in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis;and MICRORNA-27a-3p inhibits lung and skin fibrosis of systemic sclerosis by negatively regulating SPP1.
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Case Report: Acute motor and sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN) syndrome is a rare subtype of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) with poor recovery [1]. While respiratory and gastrointestinal infections may precipitate AMSAN, an underlying autoimmune disorder is seldom reported in literature. We herein report the complex case of a patient with undiagnosed, asymptomatic mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) who developed AMSAN syndrome. Case: A 44-year-old Asian male without medical history presented with progressively worsening weakness of both upper and lower extremities and inability to perform daily activities. His symptoms started 12 weeks prior with difficulty standing from a seated position. He felt subjectively better for some time until a week prior, when he became bedbound. He had diarrhea 6 months ago, with 5-6 loose bowel movements a day for a few weeks. Vital signs on admission was normal. On neurological examination, he was alert and oriented, with bilateral upper and lower extremity flaccid paralysis, diffuse muscle atrophy, bilateral hand and foot drop, negative Hoover sign, diffuse areflexia, and intact sensation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis showed WBC 0 and protein level 136. MRI cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine were normal. EMG revealed sensory involvement with positive sharp waves in proximal muscles along with fibrillations. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) was initiated at 0.4 mg/kg for 5 days. Infectious workup for COVID-19, stool culture, HIV, TB, RPR and campylobacter jejuni antibody (Ab), was negative. ANA was positive in a speckled pattern with titres 1:1280, with a positive RNP Ab, SS-A, and RF IgM, IgG and IgA. Rest of the autoimmune workup (anti-dsDNA, anti-CCP, SS-B, aldolase, anti-Jo-1, anti-Scl-70, p-ANCA, c-ANCA, anti-GM1, anti-GQ1b, and anti-GD1a ganglioside Ab) was negative. The myositis specific 11 Ab panel was negative. Despite IVIG therapy, he developed dysphagia, respiratory distress, with a negative inspiratory force of -0, requiring intubation. He had a tracheostomy and PEG tube placed and remains quadraplegic nearly 120 days later. Discussion(s): The authors report a unique case of a patient who became progressively weak over 3 months, leading to complete quadriplegia. Interestingly, this is more consistent with chronic inflammatory demyelinating poly-neuropathy (CIDP), as AMSAN typically develops over a short period of 2 to 4 weeks [2]. Despite having negative anti-GM1 and anti-GD1a Ab (in which positive Ab are pathognomonic but not always present in AMSAN syndrome), the patient had weakness that began in the lower extremities, progressing to paralysis, along with albuminocytological dissociation on CSF analysis, pointing to a GBS diagnosis [3]. He had sensory involvement in the EMG, thus making the diagnosis as AMSAN. He had an undiagnosed, asymptomatic autoimmune process most consistent with MCTD. Whether the two disease processes are related to each other is a concept that has not yet been investigated. Pediatric Clinical Case Reports Concurrent Session Saturday February 4, 2023 1:00 PM Copyright © 2023 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation.
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We examine the price discovery performance of China's crude oil futures traded on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) for the spot prices of 19 types of deliverable and nondeliverable Asian crude oil. We find evidence for the INE crude oil futures price discovery function even at the early stage for almost all the deliverable crudes and some nondeliverable crudes. Both the INE crude oil futures price and the spot price significantly contribute to the price discovery process, with substantially time‐varying informational roles. While the price discovery performance was severely damaged around the period of COVID‐19 pandemic shock intensification in China with the temporary cancellation of nighttime trading, it improved to some extent after China started the recovery from the shock. But such improvement deteriorated drastically and disappeared since early 2021. Further analysis reveals that both economic fundamentals (e.g., the warehouse inventory) and trading‐related characteristics of the futures market are significant determinants of the price discovery performance. The overall findings imply that the INE crude oil futures market has evolved into a useful and important information source in pricing Asian crudes, and is on the path to emerge as an Asian benchmark.
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Background/Purpose: IgA vasculitis is the most common vasculitis affecting children. Vasculitis can be associated with the inflammatory process following infections, involving single or multiple organs. COVID-19 associated vasculitides have been reported variously, mostly Kawasaki-like features, livedo reticularis and rarely cutaneous small vessels vasculitis. Recently, there have been reports of IgA vasculitis following COVID-19 infection in children, although data among Asians are scarce. Method(s): Case report Results: We herein report a case of a previously healthy 6-year- old Thai boy with history of COVID-19 infection 4 weeks earlier, with only mild upper respiratory tract symptoms treated by a 5 day-course of favipiravir and supportive medication. He presented with rash over both lower limbs with difficulty to bear weight for a week. He denied fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, or any abnormal urinary symptoms. Physical examination revealed palpable purpura distributed on both lower legs with pain in his left foot and difficulty in bearing weight. His blood pressure was unremarkable for age at 97/67 mmHg. The initial investigations showed complete blood count with white cell count of 8.9 x 103/muL (neutrophils 47.3% and lymphocytes 42.4%), hemoglobin of 13.6 g/dL, which had no anemia for his age and platelet count of 297 x 103/muL. His urinalysis showed 2-3 red blood cells and 0-1 white blood cells per high power field without proteinuria and normal renal function. The erythrocyte sediment rate was 11 mm/hr and c-reactive protein was 3.9 mg/L, which were in normal range. He was diagnosed as IgA vasculitis and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug was prescribed to alleviate arthralgia of left foot. A week later, he revisited due to pain and swelling at his left scrotum. He was diagnosed as orchitis, one of the clinical manifestations of IgA vasculitis that can occur in boys. He had ongoing palpable purpura on the legs but pain at the left foot subsided. He then received oral prednisolone for the indication of orchitis at the dosage of 1 mg/kg/day with subsequent tapering for total duration of 3 weeks. All of his symptoms completely resolved. Conclusion(s): We present the interesting case of a Thai boy clinically diagnosed with IgA vasculitis following COVID-19 infection, having the clinical manifestations of palpable purpura, arthralgia, and orchitis. There are very limited data about post COVID-19- associated IgA vasculitis in children, especially in the Asian population. We would like to highlight this condition for physicians and to raise the awareness in the COVID-19 era.