Measurement of Ventilation Rate and Evaluation of Infection Risk in a Classroom

To quantitatively evaluate the effect of increasing ventilation using the immediately practicable method on infection risk, the ventilation rate in a classroom was measured by the concentration decay method using CO2. The measured value was then substituted into the Wells-Riley model to evaluate aerosol infection risk in steady and non-steady states. In the classroom, the air change rate per hour (ACH) ranged from 3.1 to 10.2, and the local mean age of air tended to be larger near the outlet. It was also shown that opening the windows increased the ventilation rate the most, resulting in a more evenly distributed local mean age of air. We also showed that the aerosol infection risk in the classroom could be significantly reduced by increasing ventilation, suppressing vocalization, and wearing a mask, compared to some outbreaks of COVID-19. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

Ventilation Methods against Indoor Aerosol Infection of COVID-19 in Japan

The importance of effective ventilation as one of the measures against COVID-19 is widely recognized worldwide. In Japan, at the early stage of the pandemic, in March 2020, an official announcement was made about basic ventilation measures against COVID-19. WHO also used the term "long-range aerosol or long-range airborne transmission” for the first time in December 2021. Based on the aerosol infection control measures before 2021 by the Japanese government, we conducted experiments on methods related to partition placement as an element of effective ventilation methods. In July 2022, the governmental subcommittee on Novel Coronavirus Disease Control provided an emergent proposal about effective ventilation methods to prevent two types of aerosol infection;infection by large aerosol on the air current and infection by small floating aerosol diffusion in a room. They also showed the way of setting droplet prevention partitions, which do not block off ventilation based on this investigation's results. © 2023 by the authors.

Analysis of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 from surge 3 to 5 of the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: This study was aimed at clarifying the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and the treatment strategies for COVID-19 in each surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subjects and methods: We retrospectively examined the data of 358 patients with confirmed COVID-19 (116 in surge 3, 137 in surge 4, and 105 in surge 5) who were admitted to the Yoshijima Hospital.

E-MASK: A Mask-Shaped Interface for Silent Speech Interaction with Flexible Strain Sensors

We present E-MASK, a mask-shaped interface for silent speech interaction. As face masks have become daily accessories since the COVID-19 pandemic, it is reasonable to utilize a mask as a wearable interface. Unlike conventional speech recognition, we envision that silent speech interaction allows users to access digital services even in crowded public spaces. With flexible and highly sensitive strain sensors, E-MASK presents a new measurement principle for silent speech interactions. We built a dataset of sensor patterns corresponding to 21 fundamental commands of Alexa's operation. All commands were silently spoken by five non-native English speakers. The dataset was used to estimate the silently spoken commands. Estimation accuracies of 84.4% while sitting on a chair and 79.1% while walking on a treadmill were archived. This result suggests that our system provides seamless interaction with digital devices in various situations in daily life, such as walking in a crowd. © 2022 Owner/Author.

51.16 SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND IMPACT ON YOUTH DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A NOVEL ELECTRONIC QUESTIONNAIRE TO ENGAGE YOUTH ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA USE

Objectives: The aim of this poster is to engage youth about their social media use and its impacts by using an innovative electronic self-report Social Media Initial Questionnaire-Revised (SMIQ-R), developed by the authors (MF, RS, CG, CP). Over 90% of US youth use social media, which has been linked to influences on self-esteem, mood, and behavior. The poster will present data on youth during increased social distancing and necessary isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Fifty psychiatry clinic patients, ages 8 to 20 years (48% males), completed the de-identified SMIQ-R by Google Forms using their cell phones. The SMIQ-R contains questions pertaining to social media and electronic use, mood, behavior, and school, reflecting use during the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020. Results: Forty percent of participants felt that their level of sadness was more, 54% reported their level was the same, and 6% reported it was less. Thirty-four percent of participants felt that their level of anxiety was more, 56% reported their level was the same, and 10% reported it was less. Twenty-four percent of participants reported sleeping more, 56% reported sleeping the same amount, and 20% reported sleeping less. Participants reported that the biggest changes in their lives since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic are staying at home, losing school, more sadness, more anxiety, and homeschool. Missing their friends and school, being sad, and not being able to go outside were the factors that participants reported are making their lives harder during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty-two percent of participants prefer appointments with their psychiatrist in person, 24% preferred video or phone, and 6% reported that they liked both. Conclusions: The SMIQ-R Google Forms mobile phone modality proved to be user-friendly, efficient, and well-liked by youths. The most consistent consequence of the pandemic reported by youths is that they miss school as well as their friends. Many youths reported more anxiety and sadness since the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty percent of youth reported that social media currently interferes with homework, almost 50% reported interference with sleep, 33% reported interference with school, and surprisingly, social media rarely interferes with family. ADOL, RI, SAC

51.24 YOUTH SOCIAL MEDIA USE BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Objectives: The objective of this presentation is to compare youth self-reported social media use and its impacts before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Media Initial Questionnaire (SMIQ) paper self-reports in 2019 are compared to the electronic Social Media Initial Questionnaire-Revised (SMIQ-r) modified to elicit reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This poster will emphasize changes in youth social media use in 2020 during social distancing and increased social isolation. Methods: A total of 66 mental health clinic patients aged 8 to 20 years (50% males) completed the SMIQ, developed by the authors (Michael L. Feldmeier, MD, and Roxy Szeftel, MD) on paper in January and February 2019, surveying social media use and interference with functioning. Fifty psychiatric clinic patients aged 8 to 20 years (48% males) completed the de-identified SMIQ-r Google Forms survey, developed by the authors (Dr. Feldmeier;Dr. Szeftel;Christina Guest, MD;Caroly Pataki, MD), on their cell phones regarding social media use modified to reflect the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020. Results: From 2019 to 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, youths continue to report the same favorite social media apps (Instagram, YouTube) on the SMIQ-r, although the number of youths reporting experiences online has changed. The percent of youths reporting arguments online decreased from 2019 to 2020 (44% to 4%). Decreases were also seen in “fear of missing out” when looking at other's social media (32% to 20%) and in time that social media interferes with family (26% to 12%). Youths also noted a preference for in-person friends compared to online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and expressed missing their friends and school as the most difficult change since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Additionally, 40% of youths reported an increase in sadness, and 34% of youths reported an increase in anxiety since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Conclusions: Our conclusions are as follows: 1) compared to 2019, youth in 2020 reported a stronger preference for, and more highly valued, in-person friends;2) youth reported that life is harder in 2020 particularly due to missing both friends and school;3) since online school, youth report more anxiety and sadness;4) SMIQ-r electronic Google Forms survey format used by youth on cell phones proved to be user-friendly and efficient;and 5) social media interference with school and homework was similar in 2019 and 2020, lower in 2020 for sleep, and rarely interfered in family life. DS, R, MED