Psychological Distress Reported by Patients with Atrial Fibrillation in China During COVID-19 (preprint)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted routine cardiovascular health assessments and services. The objective of this study was to explore the factors associated with self-reported psychological distress among a sample of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in China in relation to COVID-19. Methods: An online survey was administered to 288 patients with AF at several hospitals in China. The survey consisted of three sections: demographic characteristics, questions related to COVID-19, and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Results: A total of 177 patients with AF completed the baseline survey; 177 (61.46%) were male and 133 (46.18%) were older than 65 years. High levels of psychological distress (GHQ-12 ≥3) were observed in 27 (9.4%) participants of the sample. These high levels were found to be associated with older age, radiofrequency ablation, drinking, and combined basic diseases (p values < .05). Logistic regression analysis showed that psychological distress in patients with AF was associated with radiofrequency ablation (OR = 0.316, 95% CI = 0.147–0.666), drinking (OR = 4.761, 95% CI = 2.076–10.916), and concerns regarding infection (OR = 1.244, 95% CI = 1.052–1.472). Conclusions: COVID-19 has resulted in high levels of psychological distress in approximately 9.4% of patients with AF in China. Factors associated with high levels of psychological distress in AF patients include older age, radiofrequency ablation, drinking, and combined comorbidities. These findings highlight the importance of enhancing psychological health throughout the course of infectious pandemics.

How online food delivery platforms contributed to the resilience of the urban food system in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We use high-frequency data to quantify the nature and performance of online food delivery platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic in urban China, and to estimate the short- and long-term effects of lockdown and reopening measures. A staggered difference-in-differences (DID) estimation strategy and event study approach are used to identify the effects of lockdown and reopening measures on the performance of online food delivery platforms and restaurants. The results indicate that some restaurants continued to operate and offer online food delivery while lockdowns were in effect. Both the number of operating restaurants and their online food delivery services rebounded and experienced further growth after lockdowns were lifted. The adjustment path of the online food delivery business following the implementation of lockdowns differed from the adjustment path following the lifting of lockdowns. The lockdown and reopening measures did not affect all types of restaurant/cuisine equally. We also examine possible impact mechanisms of lockdown measures on online food delivery and restaurants, and conduct robustness checks to confirm the stability of the main findings. This study contributes to the existing literature by confirming the positive contribution of online food delivery to the resilience of urban food systems in response to unexpected external shocks. Our results have implications for the design of policies to guarantee food supply and help urban food systems adapt to unexpected shocks.

Prevalence of Compassion Fatigue and Its Association with Professional Identity in Junior College Nursing Interns: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The issue of compassion fatigue among clinical nurses has received considerable attention, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the current status of compassion fatigue among junior college nursing interns remains unclear. Additionally, professional identity can modulate the impact of compassion fatigue or burnout on psychological well-being; however, whether professional identity still works in this group is also unclear. This study aimed to reveal the current status of compassion fatigue among nursing interns in junior colleges and also investigate the association between compassion fatigue and professional identity. Methods: This cross-sectional survey evaluated the levels of participants' compassion fatigue (The Compassion Fatigue Short Scale) and professional identity (Professional Identity Scale) in 2256 nursing interns. Results: The mean score of compassion fatigue was 44.99, and 19.5% of the participants scored above The Compassion Fatigue Short Scale median scores for compassion fatigue. A moderate negative correlation was detected between compassion fatigue and professional identity. Conclusions: The level of compassion fatigue among nursing interns is low but nearly one in five nursing students is at risk of compassion fatigue. More attention should be paid to nursing interns with a high risk of compassion fatigue. Future studies are warranted to explore which pathways could mediate the relationship between professional identify and comparison fatigue.

How online food delivery platforms contributed to the resilience of the urban food system in China during the COVID-19 pandemic

We use high-frequency data to quantify the nature and performance of online food delivery platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic in urban China, and to estimate the short- and long-term effects of lockdown and reopening measures. A staggered difference-in-differences (DID) estimation strategy and event study approach are used to identify the effects of lockdown and reopening measures on the performance of online food delivery platforms and restaurants. The results indicate that some restaurants continued to operate and offer online food delivery while lockdowns were in effect. Both the number of operating restaurants and their online food delivery services rebounded and experienced further growth after lockdowns were lifted. The adjustment path of the online food delivery business following the implementation of lockdowns differed from the adjustment path following the lifting of lockdowns. The lockdown and reopening measures did not affect all types of restaurant/cuisine equally. We also examine possible impact mechanisms of lockdown measures on online food delivery and restaurants, and conduct robustness checks to confirm the stability of the main findings. This study contributes to the existing literature by confirming the positive contribution of online food delivery to the resilience of urban food systems in response to unexpected external shocks. Our results have implications for the design of policies to guarantee food supply and help urban food systems adapt to unexpected shocks.

A Bibliometric Analysis of the Association Between Compassion Fatigue and Psychological Resilience From 2008 to 2021.

Aims: A negative association between the lower level of psychological resilience (PR) and increased risk of compassion fatigue (CF) and higher Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stress has been revealed. However, bibliometric studies have not been performed to comprehensively investigate this topic. This study aimed to identify the status and trends in the CF and PR field from 2008 to 2021 and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We identified relevant literature from the Web of Science Core Collection® database using "resilience" and "compassion fatigue" on September 30, 2021. All search results were exported in plain text format for collaboration network analysis, reference-based co-citation analysis, analysis of journals, and keywords-based co-occurrence analysis, which were performed using Citespace® 5.8.R1. Results: A total of 388 publications were identified finally, and there has been an increasing trend in the annual number of publications with light fluctuations. The analysis of journals and keywords indicated that nurses and social workers are the main research targets, and their mental problems are the main research topics. The turnover intention of health care providers has been a research focus, particularly during the COVID-19. Conclusion: The results of the present study help us understand the status of the CF and PR field and its recent developments.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Food Consumption and Dietary Quality of Rural Households in China.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the food supply chain and thus threatened the food security of many people, while the impact of the pandemic on food consumption of people living in rural areas is still unknown. This study filled in the research gaps by employing a three-wave food consumption survey from 2019 to 2021 conducted in rural China. We adopted a random effect model and Poisson regression to quantify the short-run and long-run impacts of COVID-19 on rural households' food consumption and dietary quality. We found that rural households increased the consumption of vegetables, aquaculture products and legumes in the short-run, and these changes in consumption behavior even lasted 1 year after lockdown was lifted. However, the positive impact was much smaller in households not engaged in agricultural production. In addition, our results showed that COVID-19 decreased dietary diversity but increased dietary quality for households still engaged in food-related agriculture production. Our study indicated that COVID-19 did not threaten the food security status of rural families in China. On the contrary, rural families, particularly those still engaged in agricultural production, increased the consumption of several foods to strengthen their resistance against the virus.

Exploring Chinese Consumers' Online Purchase Intentions toward Certified Food Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has significantly increased consumers' demands for online groceries, as well as healthy, safe, and better-quality food products. In China, certified food products are commonly perceived as safe and good-quality products. Therefore, this study investigated potential factors that influenced Chinese consumers' online shopping intentions toward certified food during the COVID-19 crisis. An integrated model was proposed by combining the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with the impact of COVID-19 (IOC). The empirical results of structural equation modelling analysis with 491 usable responses revealed that the proposed model showed a good model fit and satisfactory explanatory power (R2 = 53%) regarding consumers' certified online food shopping intentions during the pandemic. The path analysis demonstrated that attitude, perceived behavioural control, perceived usefulness (PU), and IOC significantly affected consumers' online purchase intentions of certified food. PU and perceived ease of use (PEOU) were important drivers of attitudes, and PEOU significantly influenced PU. Moreover, the IOC was significantly related to most factors, except subjective norms. These findings can be useful for detecting changes in consumer behaviour, and providing suitable strategic implications for stakeholders in the Chinese certified food sector during the current and post-pandemic eras.

Critical Role of Simultaneous Reduction of Atmospheric Odd Oxygen for Winter Haze Mitigation.

The lockdown due to COVID-19 created a rare opportunity to examine the nonlinear responses of secondary aerosols, which are formed through atmospheric oxidation of gaseous precursors, to intensive precursor emission reductions. Based on unique observational data sets from six supersites in eastern China during 2019-2021, we found that the lockdown caused considerable decreases (32-61%) in different secondary aerosol components in the study region because of similar-degree precursor reductions. However, due to insufficient combustion-related volatile organic compound (VOC) reduction, odd oxygen (Ox = O3 + NO2) concentration, an indicator of the extent of photochemical processing, showed little change and did not promote more decreases in secondary aerosols. We also found that the Chinese provinces and international cities that experienced reduced Ox during the lockdown usually gained a greater simultaneous PM2.5 decrease than other provinces and cities with an increased Ox. Therefore, we argue that strict VOC control in winter, which has been largely ignored so far, is critical in future policies to mitigate winter haze more efficiently by reducing Ox simultaneously.

Plasma cell-free DNA promise disease monitoring and tissue injury assessment of COVID-19 (preprint)

COVID-19 is a huge threat to global health. Due to the lack of definitive etiological therapeutics currently, effective disease monitoring is of high clinical value for better healthcare and management of the large number of COVID-19 patients. In this study, we recruited 37 COVID-19 patients, collected 176 blood samples upon diagnosis and during treatment, and analyzed cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in these samples. We report gross abnormalities in cfDNA of COVID-19 patients, including elevated GC content, altered molecule size and end motif patterns. More importantly, such cfDNA characteristics reflect patient-specific physiological conditions during treatment. Further analysis on tissue origin tracing of cfDNA reveals frequent tissue injuries in COVID-19 patients, which is supported by clinical diagnoses. Hence, we demonstrate the translational merit of cfDNA as valuable analyte for effective disease monitoring, as well as tissue injury assessment in COVID-19 patients.

Machine learning spatio-temporal epidemiological model to evaluate Germany-county-level COVID-19 risk (preprint)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, it is of critical significance to provide a timely risk prediction of the COVID-19 in multi-level. To implement it and evaluate the public health policies, we develop a framework with machine learning assisted to extract epidemic dynamics from the infection data, in which contains a county-level spatiotemporal epidemiological model that combines a spatial Cellular Automaton (CA) with a temporal Susceptible-Undiagnosed-Infected-Removed (SUIR) model. Compared with the existing time risk prediction models, the proposed CA-SUIR model shows the multi-level risk of the county to the government and coronavirus transmission patterns under different policies. This new toolbox is first utilized to the projection of the multi-level COVID-19 prevalence over 412 Landkreis (counties) in Germany, including t-day-ahead risk forecast and the risk assessment to the travel restriction policy. As a practical illustration, we predict the situation at Christmas where the worst fatalities are 34.5 thousand, effective policies could contain it to below 21 thousand. Such intervenable evaluation system could help decide on economic restarting and public health policies making in pandemic.