Heterogeneous hybrid immunity against Omicron variant JN.1 at 11 months following breakthrough infection (preprint)

A highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variant JN.1 is rapidly spreading throughout the nation, becoming the predominant strain in China and worldwide. However, the current immunity against the circulating JN.1 at population level has yet to be fully evaluated. We recruited representative cohorts with stratified age groups and diverse combinations of vaccination and/or infection in recent months, and promptly assessed humoral immunity for these subjects predominantly exhibiting hybrid immunity. We report that at 11 months following BA.5-wave breakthrough infection (BTI), these vaccinated individuals generally showed above-the-threshold yet low level of neutralizing activity against JN.1, with slightly greater potency observed in children and adolescents compared to adults and seniors. Meanwhile, XBB/EG.5-wave reinfection post-BTI significantly boosted the neutralizing antibodies against Omicron variants, including JN.1 in both adults (13.4- fold increase) and seniors (24.9-fold increase). To better understand respiratory mucosal protection against JN.1 over an extended period of months post-BTI, we profiled the humoral immunity in bronchoalveolar lavage samples obtained from vaccinated subjects with or without BTI, and revealed increased potency of neutralizing activity against the BA.5 and JN.1 variants in the respiratory mucosa through natural infection. Notably, at 11 months post-BTI, memory B cell responses against prototype and JN.1 were detectable in both blood and respiratory mucosa, displaying distinct memory features in the circulation and airway compartments. XBB/EG.5-wave reinfection drove the expansion of JN.1-specific B cells, along with the back-boosting of B cells responding to the ancestral viral strain, suggesting the involvement of immune imprinting. Together, this study indicates heterogeneous hybrid immunity over 11 months post-BTI, and underscores the vulnerability of individuals, particularly high-risk seniors, to JN.1 breakthrough infection. An additional booster with XBB-containing vaccine may greatly alleviate the onward transmission of immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Towards Large-scale Masked Face Recognition (preprint)

During the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, almost everyone is wearing masks, which poses a huge challenge for deep learning-based face recognition algorithms. In this paper, we will present our \textbf{championship} solutions in ICCV MFR WebFace260M and InsightFace unconstrained tracks. We will focus on four challenges in large-scale masked face recognition, i.e., super-large scale training, data noise handling, masked and non-masked face recognition accuracy balancing, and how to design inference-friendly model architecture. We hope that the discussion on these four aspects can guide future research towards more robust masked face recognition systems.

Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage Show: Exploring the Sustainable Development of Taiwan's Religious Tourism from the Perspectives of Attraction, Happiness, and Revisit Intention

The Dajia Mazu pilgrimage is one of the most well-known events in the world. It not only satisfies tourists' spiritual desires for religious beliefs but also drives the development of destination tourism. In recent years, the tourism industry has been severely impacted by COVID-19. However, tourists participating in the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage continue to do so without fear of the pandemic. Therefore, understanding the relationship between tourists' attraction to religious tourism, perception of happiness, and willingness to revisit can contribute to the sustainable development of religious tourism, especially in the context of COVID-19. Accordingly, this study explored the sustainable development of Taiwan's religious tourism from the perspectives of tourism attraction, experiential value, happiness, and revisit intention. The study conducted quantitative research to address the research issue. Three hundred and fifty valid questionnaires were collected through on-site questionnaire distribution, and the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and the structural equation partial least squares method. According to the results, the tourism attraction of the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage and the experiential value of tourists significantly impact happiness and revisit intention. Happiness is part of the intermediary variables of tourism attraction, experiential value, and revisit intention. Notably, the attraction of the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage and the experiential value pursued by tourists have not diminished despite the pandemic. Instead, the attraction has become an opportunity for tourists to seek spiritual comfort and support sustainable religious tourism development. Accordingly, spiritual comfort and maintaining their health and safety can be considered strategies to promote the sustainability of religious tourism in Taiwan.

The Role of Surveillance Inspections in Reducing False-Positives of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variants during the COVID-19 Epidemic.

Objective: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of surveillance inspections conducted by the provincial health committee in Quanzhou city during a COVID-19 outbreak in reducing false-positive results in SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assays. Method: The team conducted on-site inspections of laboratories that participated in mass screening, recording any violations of rules. Results: The positive cases in five rounds of mass screening were 23, 173, and 4 in Licheng District, Fengze District, and Luojang District, respectively. The false-positive rates in the five rounds of mass screening were 0.0099%, 0.0063%, 0.0018%, 0.0006%, and 0%, respectively. The study also recorded that the number of violations in the seven selected laboratories was 36, 68, 69, 42, 60, 54 and 47. The corresponding false-positive rates were 0.0012%, 0.0060%, 0.0082%, 0.0032%, 0.0060%, 0.0027%, and 0.0021%, respectively. The study found a positive correlation between false-positive rates and the number of violations (r = 0.905, P=0.005), and an inverse correlation between false-positive rates and the frequency of surveillance inspections (r = -0.950, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Daily surveillance inspection in laboratories can remind laboratories to strictly comply with standard procedures, focus on laboratory quality control, and reduce the occurrence of false-positive cases in SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests to some extent. This study recommends that government decision-making departments establish policies and arrange experts to conduct daily surveillance inspections to improve laboratory quality control.

Research progress on circular RNA vaccines

Owing to the success of linear mRNA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, biopharmaceutical companies and research teams worldwide have attempted to develop more stable circular RNA (circRNA) vaccines and have achieved some preliminary results. This review aims to summarize key findings and important progress made in circRNA research, the in vivo metabolism and biological functions of circRNAs, and research progress and production process of circRNA vaccines. Further, considerations regarding the quality control of circRNA vaccines are highlighted herein, and the main challenges and problem-solving strategies in circRNA vaccine development and quality control are outlined to provide a reference for circRNA vaccine-related research.

The impact of vaccination on patients with COVID-19 during the wave of Omicron in Shanghai

Background The global health has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic persistently, of which Omicron is currently the predominant variant. However, the impact of vaccination on Omicron remained uncertain. Objective This study sought to explore the effect of vaccination on patients infected with Omicron. Methods A retrospective observational cohort was conducted in the largest Fangcang shelter hospital in Shanghai from April 1 to May 30, 2022. The demographics, length of hospital stay, clinical symptoms, the comorbidities and vaccination status were recorded. Clinical outcomes of the vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups were compared and analyzed. Results Of the 3,119 patients who fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were enrolled in the study, 2,226 (71.4%) patients had received nCoV-19 vaccine while 893 (28.6%) patients had not received it before admission. Patients in the vaccinated group had significantly shorter length of hospital stay than those in the unvaccinated group (15.48 ± 2.708 vs. 15.85 ± 3.102, p < 0.001). More asymptomatic patients were observed in the vaccinated group than the non-vaccinated (70.4 vs. 64.5%, p < 0.001). Further subgroup analysis demonstrated that the older the age, the more significant the difference was (p < 0.005). Conclusions Vaccination was associated with a significant reduction in the severity of Omicron infection compared with no vaccination. Vaccination appears to make Omicron-infected people with milder symptoms than unvaccinated people. This suggests the potential effectiveness of current vaccines against Omicron.

Massive airway hemorrhage in severe COVID-19 and the role endotracheal tube clamping (preprint)

Background Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) has been widely used in treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with severe respiratory failure. However, there are few reports of the successful treatment of patients with massive airway hemorrhage in severe COVID-19 during VV-ECMO treatment.Methods We analyzed the treatment process of a patient with massive airway hemorrhage in severe COVID-19, who underwent prolonged VV-ECMO treatment.Results A 59-year-old female patient was admitted to the intensive care unit after confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. VV-ECMO, mechanical ventilation and prone ventilation were administered. Major airway hemorrhage occurred on day 14 of ECMO treatment; conventional management was ineffective. We provided complete VV-ECMO support, discontinued anticoagulation, disconnected the ventilator, clipped the tracheal intubation, and intervened to embolize the descending bronchial arteries. After the pulmonary pemorrhage stopped, we administered cryotherapy under bronchoscopy, low-dose urokinase locally, and bronchoalveolar lavage in the airway to clear the blood clots. The patient’s condition gradually improved; she underwent ECMO weaning and decannulation after 88 days of VV-ECMO treatment, and the membrane oxygenator was changed out four times. She was successfully discharged after 182 days in hospital.Conclusion Massive airway hemorrhage in patients with severe COVID-19 and treated with ECMO is catastrophic. It is feasible to clamp the tracheal tube with the full support of ECMO. Notably, bronchoscopy with cryotherapy is effective for removing blood clots.

How to enhance psychological security of enterprise employees during the COVID-19 pandemic: Based on MRA and fsQCA

The economic impact caused by the outbreak and dynamic evolution of COVID-19 has reduced employees’ psychological security (PS), which not only threatens the physical and mental health of employees but also seriously affects the stable operation and sustainable development of enterprises. PS has been determined to be closely related to daily life experiences. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the types and combinations of life events that improve employees’ PS during the pandemic. Cross-sectional data came from 764 enterprise employees in 8 provinces and cities in China during the pandemic period. The participants completed the PS scale to evaluate their PS, and the PS events scale to evaluate the different types of daily life events they experienced. Multiple regression analysis (MRA) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) methods were used to test the research hypothesis. The results of MRA suggest that rich leisure activities (RLA), harmonious family relationship (HFR), stable economic order (SEO) and recognition and support from others (RSO) are important life events that enhance employees’ PS. The results of fsQCA suggest that the independent role of SEO, the combined role of sound social security system (SSSS), peace and health events (PHE) and HFR, the combined role of PHE, fulfilling work/life status (FWLS), SEO and RSO can substitute for each other to promote employees’ high PS. This article reveals the contribution of daily life events to the PS of enterprise employees, and provides an empirical basis for formulating corresponding intervention measures to promote the physical and mental health of enterprise employees and effective enterprise management.

Precautions against COVID-19 reduce respiratory virus infections among children in Southwest China

Acute respiratory tract infections pose a serious threat to the health of children worldwide, with viral infections representing a major etiology of this type of disease. Protective measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand hygiene can be effective in curbing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. These precautions may also have an impact on the spread of other respiratory viruses. In this study, we retrospectively compared the respiratory virus infections of children in Southwest China before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 1578 patients under 14 years old with acute respiratory tract infection symptoms before and after COVID-19 pandemic. Nine common respiratory viruses including human bocavirus, human rhinoviruses, human coronaviruses, human adenoviruses, human metapneumovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza A virus, influenza B virus, and parainfluenza virus were measured by advanced fragment analysis. The respiratory virus infection rates among children of all ages and genders in Southwest China under the precautions against COVID-19 pandemic were significantly lower than that of the same period before the pandemic. Our findings indicate that public health measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, including strict mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand hygiene, may be effective in preventing the transmission of other respiratory viruses in children, thereby controlling the spread of infections.

Rejection of Acellular Porcine Corneal Stroma Transplantation During Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

: To report 2 successfully managed cases of graft rejection with acellular porcine corneal stroma (APCS) transplantation in patients with fungal corneal ulcer. Two patients were diagnosed with fungal corneal ulcer and received APCS transplantation. Graft rejection developed due to the lost follow-up during the period of coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak. Amniotic membranes transplantation and cauterization of neovascularization was performed, respectively. The graft failure resolved successfully after the procedure. To the best of our knowledge, amniotic membranes transplantation and cauterization of new vessels are the firstly reported in treating APCS graft failure. Amniotic membranes transplantation or cauterization of neovascularization appear to be a safe and costeffective method for treating graft failure.

Does hotel customer satisfaction change during the COVID-19? A perspective from online reviews

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted the hotel industry in all aspects. However, the changes in hotel customer satisfaction deserve additional attention. Using online hotel reviews, this study explores the difference between the influencing factors of customer satisfaction before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. By use of Latent Dirichlet Allocation and sentiment analysis, factors that affect customer satisfaction and their emotional strength before and after the COVID-19 outbreak are extracted. Then, multiple regression models are established to compare the differences of the impact of each factor on hotel customer satisfaction in different periods. According to the aforesaid study, hotel customer satisfaction and its influencing factors have changed significantly during the pandemic;hotel customer satisfaction during the pandemic is mainly influenced by service quality. Accordingly, strategies are proposed for hotel managers to improve their customer satisfaction during the COVID-19.

Evaluation of COVID-19 outbreak prevention and control in Beijing using the emergency management theory

Introduction : On April 29, 2020, China entered a normalization stage of prevention and control. By December 2021, more than 40 outbreaks had occurred in China, which reflected the shortcomings of the pandemic prevention and control measures in China at that time. As the capital city of China, Beijing faces more pressure in epidemic prevention and control. Material and Methods : We used the COVID-19 cluster containment evaluation indicators to determine the effects of prevention and control measures on four COVID-19 outbreaks in Beijing. After considering the specificity and operability of evaluation indicators and the availability of evaluation data, the evaluation system in our study consisted of six dimensions: epidemic prevention and control effect, discovery and detection ability, precision prevention and control capability, public protection effect, medical treatment and nosocomial infection prevention and control ability, and information release and public opinion response ability. Results : The composite scores of the prevention and control effects of the Xinfadi, Shunyi, Daxing, and Ejina Banner–associated COVID-19 outbreaks in Beijing were 62, 82, 87, and 76, respectively. In the six dimensions, the epidemic prevention and control effect, discovery and detection ability, precision prevention and control capability, and public protection effect scores for the Xinfadi outbreak were lower than those for the Shunyi, Daxing and Ejina Banner–associated outbreaks. The medical treatment and nosocomial infection prevention and control ability scores for the outbreak associated with Ejina Banner were lower than those for the Xinfadi, Shunyi, and Daxing outbreaks. Conclusion : In managing cluster outbreaks, Beijing was able to detect index cases early enough to reduce the scale and duration of the outbreak and consistently release official information to reduce public panic, standardize the management of centralized quarantine sites to prevent cross-infection, adhere to the " dynamic COVID‐zero" strategy to accurately prevent and control outbreaks, reduce the societal influence of the pandemic, and coordinate the epidemic prevention and control and socio-economic development.

Viral Load Among Vaccinated and Unvaccinated, Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Persons Infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant

We found no significant difference in cycle threshold values between vaccinated and unvaccinated persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 Delta, overall or stratified by symptoms. Given the substantial proportion of asymptomatic vaccine breakthrough cases with high viral levels, interventions, including masking and testing, should be considered in settings with elevated COVID-19 transmission.

Alcohol Consumption, Loneliness, Quality of Life, Social Media Usage, and General Anxiety Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore (preprint)

This study aims to identify factors associated with anxiety levels of adults living in Singapore before the pandemic and during the COVID-19 outbreak. Data were collected using a cross-sectional web-based survey conducted from July to November 2020 accruing 264 eligible participants. Ordered logistic regression was used to assess Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), ranked as minimal (0-4), mild (5-9), moderate (10-14), and severe (15-21) before the pandemic and during the pandemic. About 74% of participants were female, 50% were aged 25-34, and 50% were married. The GAD-7 level went up from pre-pandemic for both moderate (from 12.5% to 16%) and severe GAD (from 2% to 11%). Alcohol consumption (AOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.04-3.06), loneliness (AOR 1.28, 95% CI 1.05-1.54), and difficulty in switching off social media (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.29-3.79) predicted increased GAD-7 levels. The quality of life (AOR 0.84, 95% CI 0.79-0.90) was significantly associated with decreased GAD-7 levels. The results heighten the awareness that early initiation of mental health support is crucial for the population in addition to the various financial support measures provided by the government as they are adapting to live with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dissecting the Role of the Human Microbiome in COVID-19 via Metagenome-assembled Genomes (preprint)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), primarily a respiratory disease caused by infection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is often accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms. However, little is known about the relation between the human microbiome and COVID-19, largely due to the fact that previous studies fail to provide high taxonomic resolution to identify microbes that likely interact with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we used whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing data together with assembly and binning strategies to reconstruct metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from a total of 514 nasopharyngeal and fecal samples of patients with COVID-19 and controls. We reconstructed a total of 11,584 medium-and high-quality microbial MAGs and obtained 5,403 non-redundant MAGs (nrMAGs) with strain-level resolution. We found that, thanks to the high taxonomic resolution of nrMAGs, the gut microbiome signatures can accurately distinguish COVID-19 cases from healthy controls and predict the progression of COVID-19. Moreover, we identified a set of nrMAGs with a putative causal role in the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 and revealed their functional pathways that potentially interact with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The presented results highlight the importance of incorporating the human gut microbiome in our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease progression. The genomic content of nrMAGs presented here has the potential to inform microbiome-based therapeutic developments for COVID-19 progression and post-COVID conditions.

Mask-wearing intentions on airplanes during COVID-19 – Application of theory of planned behavior model

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the air transport industry, forcing airlines to take measures to ensure the safety of passengers and crewmembers. Among the many protective measures, mask mandate onboard the airplane is an important one, but travelers' mask-wearing intentions during flight remain uninvestigated especially in the US where mask use is a topic of on-going debate. This study focused on the mask use of airline passengers when they fly during COVID-19, using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model to examine the relationship between nine predicting factors and the mask-wearing intention in the aircraft cabin. A survey instrument was developed to collect data from 1124 air travelers on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and the data was statistically analyzed using structural equation modeling and logistic regression. Results showed that attitude, descriptive norms, risk avoidance, and information seeking significantly influenced the travelers' intention to wear a mask during flight in COVID-19. Group analysis further indicated that the four factors influenced mask-wearing intentions differently on young, middle-aged, and senior travelers. It was also found that demographic and travel characteristics including age, education, income, and travel frequency can be used to predict if the airline passenger was willing to pay a large amount to switch to airlines that adopted different mask policies during COVID-19. The findings of this study fill the research gap of air travelers’ intentions to wear a mask when flying during a global pandemic and provide recommendations for mask-wearing policies to help the air transport industry recover from COVID-19.

Patients with benign breast disease and breast cancer need more COVID-19 vaccines (preprint)

Albeit the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in immunocompromised patients is undermined, it is still found beneficial. Patients with cancer have a much lower COVID-19 vaccination rate globally, and the vaccination coverage in breast cancer patients in China remains elusive. A total of 23029 patients with benign breast diseases and breast cancers were included in the study, and the vaccination rates of patients with benign breast tumors and other benign breast diseases, nonmetastatic and metastatic breast cancer were 44.0%, 54.7%, 19.2% and 9.6%, respectively. Breast cancer in situ patients had a similar vaccination rate with patients with benign breast tumors (45.9% vs 44.0%) while those with invasive breast cancer had much lower vaccination rates. The overall vaccination rate remains meager in breast cancer patients, and gap was found in patients with lower clinical stage. Hence vaccination should be further promoted among patients with benign breast diseases and breast cancer.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the optical properties and radiative effects of urban brown carbon aerosol

Intensive measurements were conducted in Xi’an, China before and during a COVID-19 lockdown period to investigate how changes in anthropogenic emissions affected the optical properties and radiative effects of brown carbon (BrC) aerosol. The contribution of BrC to total aerosol light absorption during the lockdown (13%–49%) was higher compared with the normal period (4%–29%). Mass absorption cross-sections (MAC) of specific organic aerosol (OA) factors were calculated from a ridge regression model. Of the primary OA (POA), coal combustion OA (CCOA) had the largest MACs at all tested wavelengths during both periods due to high molecular-weight BrC chromophores;that was followed by biomass burning OA (BBOA) and hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA). For secondary OA (SOA), the MACs of the less-oxidized oxygenated OA (OOA) species (LO-OOA) at λ = 370–590 nm were higher than those of more-oxidized OOA (MO-OOA) during both periods, presumably due to chromophore bleaching. The largest contributor to BrC absorption at the short wavelengths was CCOA during both periods, but BrC absorption by LO-OOA and MO-OOA became dominant at longer wavelengths during the lockdown. The estimated radiation forcing efficiency of BrC over 370–600 nm increased from 37.5 W· g-1 during the normal period to 50.2 W·g-1 during the lockdown, and that enhancement was mainly caused by higher MACs for both LO-OOA and MO-OOA. This study provides insights into the optical properties and radiative effects of source-specific BrC aerosol when pollution emissions are reduced.

Optimal Internet of Things Technology Adoption Decisions and Pricing Strategies for High-Traceability Logistics Services

The Internet of Things (IoT) technology-based tracking system can reduce freight loss/damage during delivery, thereby avoiding wasting social resources. In this study, we address the issue of whether an E-retailer with a logistics arm should provide high-traceability logistics value-added service (based on IoT technology) in two customer segments and analyze their pricing decision. We found that companies always adopt IoT when equipment operation cost is low and not when the cost is high. Otherwise, the optimal IoT adoption strategy for a company depends on multiple factors, for example, the internal operation efficiency of a company. Providing high-traceability service as one kind of public service does not necessarily optimize social welfare even if the overall delivery failure is reduced. The customers’ preference for traceability significantly affects the company’s decision. Hence, we suggest that the company should implement a comprehensive investigation before launching a specific strategy.