Clinical analysis of liver dysfunction in pregnant patients with mild SARS CoV-2 infection

Objective: The current study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of mild SARS-CoV-2 infected pregnant women with abnormal liver function (ALF), explore the association between ALF with maternal and fetal outcomes. Method(s): This retrospective analysis included 87 pregnant patients with mild SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted and treated from December 1, 2022, to 31, 2022 in the department of Obestircs at Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. We evaluated patients for demographic and clinical features, laboratory parameters and pregnancy complications. Result(s): 27 Patients in this cohort had clinical presentations of ALF. Compared with the control group, the peripheral blood platelet (PLT), D-dimer quantitative determination (D-Dimer), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), indirect bilirubin (DBIL), gamma- glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) and total bile acid (TBA) showed significantly differences (p<0.05). 12 cases (44.44%) complicated with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), 14 cases (51.85%) complicated with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), 2 cases (7.4%) complicated with acute fatty liver during pregnancy (AFLP) and 5 cases (14.81%) complicated with postpartum hemorrhage in patients with abnormal LFT were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.05). Compared with the control group, the incidence of premature delivery (22.22%) and fetal distress (37.04%) in the experiment group were significantly higher (p<0.05), and the incidence of neonatal asphyxia was not significantly different (p>0.05). Conclusion(s): Pregnant women are generally susceptible to mild SARS-CoV-2 and may induce ALF. ALF is associated with increased risk of mother and infant. The maternal and infant outcomes of those who terminated pregnancy in time are acceptable. Therefore, pregnant women with COVID-19 who received antiviral treatment should be closely monitored for evaluating liver function and relevant indicators. The long-term outcomes in the future are worth to further study.Copyright © 2023

[Rapid detection and genotyping of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 variants using a RT-PCR and CRISPR-Cas12a-based assay].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a rapid detection and genotyping method for SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 variants using CRISPPR-Cas12a gene editing technology. METHODS: We combined reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and CRISPR gene editing technology and designed a specific CRISPPR RNA (crRNA) with suboptimal protospacer adjacent motifs (PAM) for rapid detection and genotyping of SARS- CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 variants. The performance of this RT- PCR/ CRISPPR-Cas12a assay was evaluated using 43 clinical samples of patients infected by wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and the Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omicron BA. 1 and BA. 4/5 variants and 20 SARS- CoV- 2-negative clinical samples infected with 11 respiratory pathogens. With Sanger sequencing method as the gold standard, the specificity, sensitivity, concordance (Kappa) and area under the ROC curve (AUC) of RT-PCR/CRISPPR-Cas12a assay were calculated. RESULTS: This assay was capable of rapid and specific detection of SARS- CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 variant within 30 min with the lowest detection limit of 10 copies/µL, and no cross-reaction was observed in SARS-CoV-2-negative clinical samples infected with 11 common respiratory pathogens. The two Omicron BA.4/5 specific crRNAs (crRNA-1 and crRNA-2) allowed the assay to accurately distinguish Omicron BA.4/5 from BA.1 sublineage and other major SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. For detection of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 variants, the sensitivity of the established assay using crRNA-1 and crRNA-2 was 97.83% and 100% with specificity of 100% and AUC of 0.998 and 1.000, respectively, and their concordance rate with Sanger sequencing method was 92.83% and 96.41%, respectively. CONCLUSION: By combining RT-PCR and CRISPPR-Cas12a gene editing technology, we successfully developed a new method for rapid detection and identification of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 variants with a high sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility, which allows rapid detection and genotyping of SARS- CoV-2 variants and monitoring of the emerging variants and their dissemination.

Air quality changes in Shijiazhuang during COVID-19 outbreak

[Background] The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first detected in December 2019. To combat the disease, a series of strict measures were adopted across the country, which led of improved air quality. This provides an opportunity to discuss the impact of human activities on air quality. [Objective] This study investigates the air quality changes in Shijiazhuang, and analyzes the impacts of epidemic prevention and control measures on air quality, so as to provide reference and ideas for further improving air quality and prevention and control measures. [Methods] The air quality data were collected online from https://www.zq12369.com/ and https://aqicn.org/city/shijiazhuang/cn/. Comparisons in air quality index (AQI) and the concentrations of air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO, NO2, and O3) were made between the period from December 2019 to June 2020 (reference) and the same period from 2016 to 2019 by t-test and chi-square test. [Results] The daily average AQI dropped by 25.38% in Shijiazhuang during the COVID-19 prevention and control compared with the some period from 2016 to 2019 (t=6.28, P < 0.05). The proportions of pollution days during the COVID-19 outbreak in Shijiazhuang were PM2.5 (44.56%), O3 (31.09%), PM10 (23.83%), and NO2 (2.59%) successively, the pollution days of PM10 decreased significantly (chi2=3.86, P < 0.05) compared with 2016-2019, but during traffic lockdown the numbers of pollution days of PM2.5 and in the mid stage of prevention the number of pollution days of O3 increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the control period, the concentrations of the six air pollutants decreased to varying degrees (P < 0.05), especially SO2 dropped by 55.36%. [Conclusion] The measures taken for COVID-19 control and prevention have reduced the pollution sources and emissions, which resulted in better general air quality of Shijiazhuang City, but have aggravated the pollution of O3 and other pollutants. It is necessary to further explore the causes for the aggravation of O3 pollution in order to formulate reasonable air quality control strategies.Copyright © 2021, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. All rights reserved.

Engineered self-healing single-cavity microcapsules for pulsatile release of drug delivery

A wide range of polymer-based drug delivery systems have been reported for the treatment of various diseases. However, the dosing regimen of many drugs, such as stimulator of interferon genes agonists, programmed cell death protein-1 antibodies, and coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines, consists of repeated intratumoral or intramuscular injections. These repeated administrations may lead to poor adherence, thus resulting in compromised therapeutic outcomes and increased financial burden. Here, we devel-oped a multidose drug delivery platform by engineering polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) with different molecular weights into self-healing single-cavity microcapsules (SSM). This approach showed a flexible collocation strategy to achieve customized pulsatile drug release and was fully degradable with good safety. Notably, this single-injection delivery system contains only PLGA, holding great promise for clinical translation.(c) 2022 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Accurate Assessment and Tracking the Process of Liver-Specific Injury by the Residual Tissue Activity of Carboxylesterase 1 and Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4

Accurately assessing and tracking the progression of liver-specific injury remains a major challenge in the field of biomarker research. Here, we took a retrospective validation approach built on the mutuality between serum and tissue biomarkers to characterize the liver-specific damage of bile duct cells caused by a-naphthyl isothiocyanate (ANIT). We found that carboxylesterase 1 (CES1), as an intrahepatic marker, and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-IV), as an extrahepatic marker, can reflect the different pathophysiolo-gies of liver injury. Levels of CES1 and DPP-IV can be used to identify liver damage itself and the inflam-matory state, respectively. While the levels of the conventional serological biomarkers alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were all con-comitantly elevated in serum and tissues after ANIT-induced injury, the levels of bile acids decreased in bile, increased in serum, and ascended in intrahepatic tissue. Although the level of c-glutamyl transpeptidase (c-GT) changed in an opposite direction, the duration was much shorter than that of CES1 and was quickly restored to normal levels. Therefore, among the abovementioned biomarkers, only CES1 made it possible to specifically determine whether the liver cells were destroyed or damaged with-out interference from inflammation. CES1 also enabled accurate assessment of the anti-cholestasis effects of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA;single component) and Qing Fei Pai Du Decoction (QFPDD;multi-component). We found that both QFPDD and UDCA attenuated ANIT-induced liver damage. UDCA was more potent in promoting bile excretion but showed relatively weaker anti-injury and anti-inflammatory effects than QFPDD, whereas QFPDD was more effective in blocking liver inflammation and repairing liver damage. Our data highlights the potential of the combined use of CES1 (as an intra-hepatic marker of liver damage) and DPP-IV (as an extrahepatic marker of inflammation) for the accurate evaluation and tracking of liver-specific injury-an application that allows for the differentiation of liver damage and inflammatory liver injury.(c) 2021 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier LTD on behalf of Chinese Academy of Engineering and Higher Education Press Limited Company. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Ensemble Image Explainable AI (XAI) Algorithm for Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia and COVID-19 Respiratory Infections

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, many clinical prognostic scoring tools have been proposed or developed to aid clinicians in the disposition and severity assessment of pneumonia. However, there is limited work that focuses on explaining techniques that are best suited for clinicians in their decision making. In this article, we present a new image explainability method named ensemble AI explainability (XAI), which is based on the SHAP and Grad-CAM++ methods. It provides a visual explanation for a deep learning prognostic model that predicts the mortality risk of community-acquired pneumonia and COVID-19 respiratory infected patients. In addition, we surveyed the existing literature and compiled prevailing quantitative and qualitative metrics to systematically review the efficacy of ensemble XAI, and to make comparisons with several state-of-the-art explainability methods (LIME, SHAP, saliency map, Grad-CAM, Grad-CAM++). Our quantitative experimental results have shown that ensemble XAI has a comparable absence impact (decision impact: 0.72, confident impact: 0.24). Our qualitative experiment, in which a panel of three radiologists were involved to evaluate the degree of concordance and trust in the algorithms, has showed that ensemble XAI has localization effectiveness (mean set accordance precision: 0.52, mean set accordance recall: 0.57, mean set F1: 0.50, mean set IOU: 0.36) and is the most trusted method by the panel of radiologists (mean vote: 70.2%). Finally, the deep learning interpretation dashboard used for the radiologist panel voting will be made available to the community. Our code is available at https://github.com/IHIS-HealthInsights/Interpretation-Methods-Voting-dashboard. © 2020 IEEE.

EdgeVR360: Edge-Assisted Multiuser-Oriented Intelligent 360-degree Video Delivery Scheme over Wireless Networks

The COVID-19 situation has determined many people all over the world to experience remote work, study and play although most of them were not prepared for such a change in their lifestyle. With the coming of the high demand of virtual interaction, 360-degree Virtual Reality (VR) technologies and applications have established stronger relationships with your peers and friends if it applies. However, higher quality of VR streaming brings users deeper immersive experience which requires greater network bandwidth and latency, and more powerful computation capability for individuals. To address these issues, the proposed intelligent video delivery scheme in this paper takes advantage of the edge-assisted computational power to improve the multi-user oriented watching experience of high quality 360-degree video over wireless networks, which reduces network resource utilization, and also optimizes edge cache hit ratio and user's Field of View (FoV) quality.

Associations between sedentary behavior and negative emotions in adolescents during home confinement: Mediating role of social support and sleep quality

Background: Prolonged periods of sedentary behaviour, for instance, engendered by home confinement in Shenzhen city, has led to negative mental health consequences, especially in adolescents. Previous research suggests, in general, that sedentary behavior can increase negative emotions. However, the specific mechanism driving the relationship between sedentary behavior and negative emotions is still relatively unclear. Social support and sleep quality might partly explain the effect of sedentary behavior on negative emotions. Thus, the current study aimed to examine the associations between sedentary behavior and negative emotions, and to investigate if social support and sleep quality mediate such a relationship. Method: During home confinement due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant outbreak, 1179 middle and high school students in Shenzhen were invited to voluntarily complete an e-questionnaire, including the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Data from 1065 participants were included in the analysis. Results: We observed significant sex-related and demografic-related differences in emotional (e.g., anxiety, stress and social support) and other outcome variables (e.g., sitting duration and PSQI score). Furthermore, sedentary behavior, social support, and sleep quality were associated with negative emotions (p < .01), even after controlling for sex, age, only-child case, body mass index, and metabolic equivalent level. In addition, social support and sleep quality partially mediated the association between sedentary behavior and negative emotions. Conclusion: The findings of the current study suggest that social support and sleep quality partially mediate the relationship between sedentary behavior and negative emotions in middle and high school students during home confinement in Shenzhen city. © 2022 The Author(s)

Engineered self-healing single-cavity microcapsules for pulsatile release of drug delivery

A wide range of polymer-based drug delivery systems have been reported for the treatment of various diseases. However, the dosing regimen of many drugs, such as stimulator of interferon genes agonists, programmed cell death protein-1 antibodies, and coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines, consists of repeated intratumoral or intramuscular injections. These repeated administrations may lead to poor adherence, thus resulting in compromised therapeutic outcomes and increased financial burden. Here, we developed a multidose drug delivery platform by engineering polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) with different molecular weights into self-healing single-cavity microcapsules (SSM). This approach showed a flexible collocation strategy to achieve customized pulsatile drug release and was fully degradable with good safety. Notably, this single-injection delivery system contains only PLGA, holding great promise for clinical translation. © 2022 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Air quality changes in Shijiazhuang during COVID-19 outbreak

[Background] The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first detected in December 2019. To combat the disease, a series of strict measures were adopted across the country, which led of improved air quality. This provides an opportunity to discuss the impact of human activities on air quality. [Objective] This study investigates the air quality changes in Shijiazhuang, and analyzes the impacts of epidemic prevention and control measures on air quality, so as to provide reference and ideas for further improving air quality and prevention and control measures. [Methods] The air quality data were collected online from https://www.zq12369.com/ and https://aqicn.org/city/shijiazhuang/cn/. Comparisons in air quality index (AQI) and the concentrations of air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO, NO2, and O3) were made between the period from December 2019 to June 2020 (reference) and the same period from 2016 to 2019 by t-test and chi-square test. [Results] The daily average AQI dropped by 25.38% in Shijiazhuang during the COVID-19 prevention and control compared with the some period from 2016 to 2019 (t=6.28, P < 0.05). The proportions of pollution days during the COVID-19 outbreak in Shijiazhuang were PM2.5 (44.56%), O3 (31.09%), PM10 (23.83%), and NO2 (2.59%) successively, the pollution days of PM10 decreased significantly (χ2=3.86, P < 0.05) compared with 2016-2019, but during traffic lockdown the numbers of pollution days of PM2.5 and in the mid stage of prevention the number of pollution days of O3 increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the control period, the concentrations of the six air pollutants decreased to varying degrees (P < 0.05), especially SO2 dropped by 55.36%. [Conclusion] The measures taken for COVID-19 control and prevention have reduced the pollution sources and emissions, which resulted in better general air quality of Shijiazhuang City, but have aggravated the pollution of O3 and other pollutants. It is necessary to further explore the causes for the aggravation of O3 pollution in order to formulate reasonable air quality control strategies. © 2021, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. All rights reserved.

Revealing the linguistic and geographical disparities of public awareness to Covid-19 outbreak through social media

The Covid-19 has presented an unprecedented challenge to public health worldwide. However, residents in different countries showed diverse levels of Covid-19 awareness during the outbreak and suffered from uneven health impacts. This study analyzed the global Twitter data from January 1st to June 30(th), 2020, to answer two research questions. What are the linguistic and geographical disparities of public awareness in the Covid-19 outbreak period reflected on social media? Does significant association exist between the changing Covid-19 awareness and the pandemic outbreak? We established a Twitter data mining framework calculating the Ratio index to quantify and track awareness. The lag correlations between awareness and health impacts were examined at global and country levels. Results show that users presenting the highest Covid-19 awareness were mainly those tweeting in the official languages of India and Bangladesh. Asian countries showed more disparities in awareness than European countries, and awareness in Eastern Europe was higher than in central Europe. Finally, the Ratio index had high correlations with global mortality rate, global case fatality ratio, and country-level mortality rate, with 21-31, 35-42, and 13-18 leading days, respectively. This study yields timely insights into social media use in understanding human behaviors for public health research.

Reactive force field-based molecular dynamics simulation of the interaction between plasma reactive oxygen species and the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein in the capsid protein of SARS-CoV-2

Under the pressures of the current global pandemic, researchers have been working hard to find a reliable way to suppress infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Studies have shown that the recognition and binding of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 by the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 is a crucial step in viral invasion of human receptor cells, and blocking this process could inhibit the virus from invading normal human cells. Plasma treatment can disrupt the structure of the RBD and effectively block the binding process. However, the mechanism by which plasma blocks recognition and binding is not clear. In this study, the reaction between reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plasma and a molecular model of the RBD was simulated using a reactive molecular dynamics method. The results showed that the destruction of the RBD by ROS was triggered by hydrogen ion reactions: O and OH ed H atoms from the RBD, while the H atoms of H2O2 and HO2 were ed by the RBD. This hydrogen ion resulted in the breakage of C-H, N-H, O-H and C=O bonds and the formation of C=C and C=N bonds. The addition reaction of OH increased the number of O-H bonds and caused the formation of C-O, N-O and O-H bonds. The dissociation of N-H bonds led to the destruction of the original peptide bond structure and amino acid residues, changed the type of amino acid residues and caused the conversion of N-C and N=C and C=O and C-O. The simulation partially elucidated the microscopic mechanism of the interaction between ROS in plasma and the capsid protein of SARS-CoV-2, providing theoretical support for the control of SARS-CoV-2 infection by plasma, a contribution to overcoming the global pandemic.

Job burnout in rare disease research physicians during COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Doctors are exposed to high levels of stress in their profession and are particularly susceptible to experiencing burnout. Rare disease researches are enlightening, with more workload to clinicians, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. We aim to explore the mental influence of participating in rare disease researches on clinicians. METHOD: Doctors received electronic questionnaires regarding job-burnout in October 2020. The modified Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) was used to evaluate job burnout state. The MBI-GS consisting of three dimensions, emotional exhaustion (five questions), cynicism (five questions), and reduced personal accomplishment (six questions). The 7-grade Likert scale is adopted in each question, from 0 point (never) to 6 points (very frequently). Job burnout was considered if the average score of any dimension is no less than three. RESULTS: Questionnaires from all 203 doctors were analysed in this study, with females (70.0%, n=140). Age ranging from 25 to 39, 40 to 54, and above 55 were 41.4%, 50.7%, 7.9%, respectively. Nearly half of the subjects (50.2%, n=102) fulfil the definition of job-burnout, which was fewer than that in the residency program (50.2% vs. 62.9%, p=0.02). An inappropriate evaluation system (36.0%) and lack of private time (35.5%) were the leading cause of job-burnout. The pressure of scientific researches (79.3%) and career promotion (58.1%) was the major source of mental pressure. Doctors who participated in rare disease researches (46.8%, n=95) did not show significant differences in burnout rate than individuals who did not (44.2% vs 55.6%, p=0.123), nor as in three dimensions (27.3% vs 36.1%, p=0.183 for emotional exhaustion, 21.1% vs 20.4%, p=0.905 for cynicism, 21.1% vs 27.8%, p=0.267 for reduced personal accomplishment). Logistic analysis revealed that high requirement from superior (22.5% vs 6.9%, p= 0.001), pressure from family (33.3% vs 17.8%, p=0.010), inappropriate job allocation (47.1% vs 29.7%, p= 0.019) as well as delayed off-work time (p=0.013) were independent risk factors of job-burnout. Physicians who participate in rare disease research had better job allocation (75.8% vs. 49.1%, p<0.001), but not in the other three risk factors. CONCLUSION: More workload did not increase the job-burnout of physicians participating in the rare disease research, which might be contributed by the appropriate job allocation.

Groundwater vulnerability based on bee colony optimization and real-time monitoring of exercise weight loss effect

In fact, the groundwater pollution caused by the acceleration of industrialization and rapid population growth is an important constraint to sustainable development. Taking L area as an example, this paper finds out the differences of groundwater vulnerability in this area and plans the groundwater vulnerability classification. For China's groundwater protection work, it is very important for the management departments at all levels in each L area to provide development technology support for enterprises. Based on the concept of groundwater quality vulnerability and groundwater vulnerability assessment method in Japan, according to the actual situation of the study area, this paper analyzes the vulnerability of natural geography, meteorology and hydrology, geological conditions, and human activities in the area. This paper establishes an optimized and improved DRASTIC model and adds the evaluation factors affecting human activities into the evaluation conditions of traditional DRASTIC model, that is, the current land use status and groundwater exploitation. By combining bee colony optimization with groundwater vulnerability assessment model, groundwater vulnerability assessment is carried out. This paper also uses the special computer system to simulate the decision-making process of medical staff, provides obesity intelligence diagnosis and personalized prescription exercise, carries out exercise weight loss monitoring for obese teenagers, helps teenagers to achieve healthy exercise and diet, and provides scientific guidance for fitness guidance of Chinese diet youth. The system adopts the methods of artificial intelligence and software development, diagnoses obesity through youth physique test, provides personalized exercise prescription through special system, monitors diet work in real time, and provides timely feedback. In this paper, the vulnerability of groundwater quality and exercise weight loss effect of real-time monitoring are studied and applied to bee colony optimization to promote its development.