Ivermectin as a possible treatment for COVID-19: a review of the 2022 protocols / Ivermectina como um possível tratamento para COVID-19: uma revisão dos protocolos de 2022

Ivermectin is a safe and effective drug in humans and has been approved for use in numerous parasitic infections for over 50 years. In addition, many studies have already shown its antiviral activity. Ivermectin is generally well tolerated, with no indication of central nervous system-associated toxicity at doses up to 10 times the highest FDA-approved dose of 200 µg/kg. The in vitro results of ivermectin for reducing SARS-CoV-2 viral load are promising and show that Ivermectin kills SARS-CoV-2 within 48 hours. A hypothesized mechanism of action for this drug is a likely inhibition of IMPα/β1-mediated nuclear import of viral proteins as demonstrated for other RNA viruses. However, controlled and randomized studies are needed to prove its effectiveness in COVID-19 in humans. In a single in vivo study with published results, patients confirmed to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 received at least one dose of ivermectin at any time during hospitalization. The use of ivermectin was associated with lower mortality during treatment with COVID-19, especially in patients who required increased inspired oxygen or ventilatory support. Additionally, 81 studies with the clinical use of ivermectin in humans are being carried out worldwide according to ClinicalTrials.gov. However, none of these data has been published so far. However, private and public entities in Brazil have been adopting this drug in their protocols as prophylaxis and in the initial phase of the disease. In addition, ivermectin has been used in mass treatment to prevent onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis in sub-Saharan Africa for many years. Surprisingly, this region has the lowest proportional mortality rate among the continents, despite the increasing numbers of infected people released by the World Health Organization.

A ivermectina é um fármaco seguro e eficaz em seres humanos e é aprovado para uso em inúmeras infecções parasitárias há mais de 50 anos. Além disso, muitos estudos já evidenciaram sua atividade antiviral. A ivermectina é geralmente bem tolerada, sem indicação de toxicidade associada ao sistema nervoso central para doses até 10 vezes a dose mais alta, aprovada pelo FDA (Food and Drug Administration), de 200 µg/kg. Os resultados in vitro da ivermectina para redução da carga viral do SARS-CoV-2 são promissores e mostram que a Ivermectina mata o SARS-CoV-2 dentro de 48 horas. Uma hipótese de mecanismo de ação para esta droga é uma provável inibição da importação nuclear de proteínas virais mediada por IMPα / β1 como demonstrado para outros vírus de RNA. No entanto, estudos controlados e randomizados são necessários para comprovar sua eficácia na COVID-19 em humanos. Em um único estudo in vivo com resultados publicados, pacientes confirmadamente infectados por SARS-CoV-2 receberam pelo menos uma dose de ivermectina em qualquer momento durante a hospitalização. A utilização da ivermectina foi associada a menor mortalidade durante o tratamento com COVID-19, especialmente em pacientes que necessitaram de maior oxigênio inspirado ou suporte ventilatório. Adicionalmente, 81 estudos com o uso clínico da ivermectina em humanos estão sendo realizados em todo o mundo segundo o site ClinicalTrials.gov. Porém, nenhum destes teve seus dados publicados até o momento. No entanto, entidades privadas e públicas no Brasil vêm adotando este medicamento em seus protocolos como profilaxia e na fase inicial da doença. Além disto, a ivermectina é utilizada no tratamento em massa na prevenção da oncocercose e filariose linfática na África subsaariana há muitos anos. Surpreendentemente, esta região possui o menor índice de mortalidade proporcional entre os continentes, apesar dos números crescentes de contaminados divulgados pela Organização Mundial da Saúde.

Inhibitory effect of thymoquinone from Nigella sativa against SARS-CoV-2 main protease. An in-silico study / Efeito inibitório da timoquinona de Nigella sativa contra a principal protease do SARS-CoV-2. Um estudo in silico

Nigella sativa is known for the safety profile, containing a wealth of useful antiviral compounds. The main protease (Mpro, 3CLpro) of severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is being considered as one of the most attractive viral target, processing the polyproteins during viral pathogenesis and replication. In the current investigation we analyzed the potency of active component, thymoquinone (TQ) of Nigella sativa against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. The structures of TQ and Mpro was retrieved from PubChem (CID10281) and Protein Data Bank (PDB ID 6MO3) respectively. The Mpro and TQ were docked and the complex was subjected to molecular dynamic (MD) simulations for a period 50ns. Protein folding effect was analyzed using radius of gyration (Rg) while stability and flexibility was measured, using root means square deviations (RMSD) and root means square fluctuation (RMSF) respectively. The simulation results shows that TQ is exhibiting good binding activity against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, interacting many residues, present in the active site (His41, Cys145) and also the Glu166, facilitating the pocket shape. Further, experimental approaches are needed to validate the role of TQ against virus infection. The TQ is interfering with pocket maintaining residues as well as active site of virus Mpro which may be used as a potential inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2 for better management of COVID-19.

Nigella sativa é conhecida pelo perfil de segurança, contendo uma grande variedade de compostos antivirais úteis. A principal protease (Mpro, 3CLpro) da síndrome respiratória aguda grave 2 (SARS-CoV-2) está sendo considerada como um dos alvos virais mais atraentes, processando as poliproteínas durante a patogênese e replicação viral. Na presente investigação analisamos a potência do componente ativo, timoquinona (TQ) de Nigella sativa contra SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. As estruturas de TQ e Mpro foram recuperadas de PubChem (CID10281) e Protein Data Bank (PDB ID 6MO3), respectivamente. O Mpro e o TQ foram acoplados e o complexo foi submetido a simulações de dinâmica molecular (MD) por um período de 50ns. O efeito de dobramento de proteínas foi analisado usando o raio de giração (Rg) enquanto a estabilidade e a flexibilidade foram medidas usando a raiz quadrada média dos desvios (RMSD) e a raiz média quadrada da flutuação (RMSF), respectivamente. Os resultados da simulação mostram que o TQ está exibindo boa atividade de ligação contra o SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, interagindo em muitos resíduos presentes no sítio ativo (His41, Cys145) e também o Glu166, facilitando o formato da bolsa. Além disso, são necessárias abordagens experimentais para validar o papel do TQ contra a infecção pelo vírus. O TQ está interferindo nos resíduos de manutenção do bolso, bem como no sítio ativo do vírus Mpro, que pode ser usado como um potencial inibidor contra o SARS-CoV-2 para um melhor gerenciamento da Covid-19.

Study of innovation capacity of fisheries companies in the covid-19 pandemic crisis / Estudo da capacidade de inovação das empresas de pesca na crise da pandemia de covid-19

Abstract Many countries have encountered coronavirus pandemic crisis around the world. Through the outbreak of this disease in Iran, preventive plans have been implemented to break the chain of the disease infection. These measures in the economic sector have affected supply, production and demand, and to some extent have led to the partial or complete closure of some businesses and occupations. In the context, it seems that innovative an "innovation capacity" infrastructure measures and turning to innovation in this crisis can be a strategy to moderate and optimize the situation. This study tries to design concepts of the fisheries firms' innovation capacity model in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. After collecting data, they were analyzed using SPSS and PLS SMART software, which were performed in two parts: descriptive statistics and analytical or inferential statistics. A novel research model is presented to examine the impact of factors such as innovation management, social, cultural, human and organizational capital, crisis strategies, government actions in crisis situations, and marketing strategies in crisis situations, as well as, recognition and application of marketing advantages in crisis situations, which offers a re-analysis of innovation capacity. According to the results, among the variables played a significant role on the level of innovation capacity in epidemic conditions, innovation management (p> 0.000; β = 0.593), and recognition and application of marketing advantages (p> 0.049; β = 0.209) were the most significant, independent variables affecting the innovation capacity, which explained its variations.

Resumo Muitos países enfrentaram crises na pandemia de coronavírus em todo o mundo. Por meio do surto dessa doença no Irã, planos preventivos foram implementados para quebrar a cadeia de infecção da doença. Essas medidas no setor econômico afetaram a oferta, a produção e a demanda e, em certa medida, levaram ao fechamento parcial ou total de alguns negócios e serviços. Nesse contexto, parece que medidas de infraestrutura inovadoras e com "capacidade de inovação" podem ser uma estratégia para moderar e otimizar a situação nesta crise. Este estudo tenta desenhar conceitos do modelo de capacidade de inovação das empresas de pesca no contexto da crise da pandemia de COVID-19. Após a coleta dos dados, eles foram analisados ​​por meio dos softwares SPSS e PLS SMART e realizados em duas partes: estatística descritiva e estatística analítica ou inferencial. Um novo modelo de pesquisa é apresentado para examinar o impacto de fatores como gestão da inovação, capital social, cultural, humano e organizacional, estratégias de crise, ações governamentais em situações de crise e estratégias de marketing em situações de crise, bem como reconhecimento e aplicação de vantagens de marketing em situações de crise, que oferece uma reanálise da capacidade de inovação. De acordo com os resultados, entre as variáveis ​​que desempenharam um papel significativo no nível de capacidade de inovação em condições epidêmicas, a gestão da inovação (p > 0,000; β = 0,593) e o reconhecimento e aplicação de vantagens de marketing (p > 0,049; β = 0,209) foram as variáveis ​​independentes mais significativas que afetaram a capacidade de inovação, o que explicou suas variações.

Modulation of Z-scheme photocatalysts for pharmaceuticals remediation and pathogen inactivation: Design devotion, concept examination, and developments.

The recent outbreak of Covid-19 guarantees overconsumption of different drugs as a necessity to reduce the symptoms caused by this pandemic. This triggers the proliferation of pharmaceuticals into drinking water systems. Is there any hope for access to safe drinking water? Photocatalytic degradation using artificial Z-scheme photocatalysts that has been employed for over a decade conveys a prospect for sustainable clean water supply. It is compelling to comprehensively summarise the state-of-the-art effects of Z-scheme photocatalytic systems towards the removal of pharmaceuticals in water. The principle of Z-scheme and the techniques used to validate the Z-scheme interfacial charge transfer are explored in detail. The application of the Z-scheme photocatalysts towards the degradation of antibiotics, NSAIDs, and bacterial/viral inactivation is deliberated. Conclusions and stimulating standpoints on the challenges of this emergent research direction are presented. The insights and up-to-date information will prompt the up-scaling of Z- scheme photocatalytic systems for commercialization.

Applications of Peptide Microarrays in Autoantibody, Infection, and Cancer Detection.

The diversity of the antigen-specific humoral immune response reflects the interaction of the immune system with pathogens and autoantigens. Peptide microarray analysis opens up new perspectives for the use of antibodies as diagnostic biomarkers and provides unique access to a more differentiated view on humoral responses to disease. This review focuses on the latest applications of peptide microarrays for the serologic medical diagnosis of autoimmunity, infectious diseases (including COVID-19), and cancer.

Epitope Mapping on Microarrays Highlights a Sequence on the N Protein with Strong Immune Response in SARS-CoV-2 Patients.

In SARS-CoV-2 pandemic scenario, the identification of rapid methods to detect antibodies against coronavirus has been a wide and urgent issue. Epitope mapping on peptide microarrays is a rapid way to identify sequences with a high immunoreactivity. The process begins with a proteome-wide screening, based on immune affinity; the use of a high-density microarray is followed by a validation phase, where a restricted panel of probes is tested using peptide microarrays; peptide sequences are immobilized through a click-based strategy.COVID-19-positive sera are tested and immuno-domains regions are identified on SARS-CoV-2 spike (S), nucleocapsid (N) protein, and Orf1ab polyprotein. An epitope on N protein (region 155-171) provided good diagnostic performance in discriminating COVID-19-positive vs. healthy individuals. Using this sequence, 92% sensitivity and 100% specificity are reached for IgG detection in COVID-19 samples, and no cross-reactivity with common cold coronaviruses is detected. Overall, epitope 155-171 from N protein represents a promising candidate for further development and rapid implementation in serological tests.

To introduce or not? Strategic analysis of hospital operations with telemedicine.

Despite its efficiency in reducing the impact of pandemics (e.g., the COVID-19), whether to introduce telemedicine as an additional way to serve chronically ill patients remains controversial for hospitals in many countries. This paper builds a stylized model to investigate a hospital's telemedicine strategy and the corresponding impacts on its operations regarding outpatient management of chronic diseases. We implement our analysis from three key concerns of the hospital in the presence of a pandemic: the differences in medical consumption and reimbursement between in-person and telemedicine modalities and the effort cost of infection reduction resulting from the pandemic. We find that in the absence of the pandemic, the hospital prefers to introduce telemedicine when the differences in medical consumption and reimbursement are both small. In the presence of the pandemic, we find that the introduction of telemedicine does not always benefit the hospital and that it is better not to introduce telemedicine in some cases since it may exacerbate the negative influence of the pandemic on the hospital's total costs. Furthermore, we surprisingly find that the hospital may set greater in-person capacity but less telemedicine capacity in response to the outbreak of the pandemic under certain conditions, which contradicts public beliefs. Finally, we show that social welfare can be improved by introducing telemedicine when the effort cost of infection reduction and the difference in reimbursement are both of moderate size. The condition under which social welfare is improved tightens with a greater difference in medical consumption.

A stochastic inventory model of COVID-19 and robust, real-time identification of carriers at large and infection rate via asymptotic laws.

A critical operations management problem in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is cognizance of (a) the number of all carriers at large (CaL) conveying the SARS-CoV-2, including asymptomatic ones and (b) the infection rate (IR). Both are random and unobservable, affecting the spread of the disease, patient arrivals to health care units (HCUs) and the number of deaths. A novel, inventory perspective of COVID-19 is proposed, with random inflow, random losses and retrials (recurrent cases) and delayed/distributed exit, with randomly varying fractions of the exit distribution. A minimal construal, it enables representation of COVID-19 evolution with close fit of national incidence profiles, including single and multiple pattern outbreaks, oscillatory, periodic or non-periodic evolution, followed by retraction, leveling off, or strong resurgence. Furthermore, based on asymptotic laws, the minimum number of variables that must be monitored for identifying CaL and IR is determined and a real-time identification method is presented. The method is data-driven, utilizing the entry rate to HCUs and scaled, or dimensionless variables, including the mean residence time of symptomatic carriers in CaL and the mean residence time in CaL of patients entering HCUs. As manifested by several robust case studies of national COVID-19 incidence profiles, it provides efficient identification in real-time under unbiased monitoring error, without relying on any model. The propagation factor, a stochastic process, is reconstructed from the identified trajectories of CaL and IR, enabling evaluation of control measures. The results are useful towards the design of policies restricting COVID-19 and encumbrance to HCUs and mitigating economic contraction.

Modularity maximization to design contiguous policy zones for pandemic response.

The health and economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant global humanitarian disaster. Pandemic response policies guided by geospatial approaches are appropriate additions to traditional epidemiological responses when addressing this disaster. However, little is known about finding the optimal set of locations or jurisdictions to create policy coordination zones. In this study, we propose optimization models and algorithms to identify coordination communities based on the natural movement of people. To do so, we develop a mixed-integer quadratic-programming model to maximize the modularity of detected communities while ensuring that the jurisdictions within each community are contiguous. To solve the problem, we present a heuristic and a column-generation algorithm. Our computational experiments highlight the effectiveness of the models and algorithms in various instances. We also apply the proposed optimization-based solutions to identify coordination zones within North Carolina and South Carolina, two highly interconnected states in the U.S. Results of our case study show that the proposed model detects communities that are significantly better for coordinating pandemic related policies than the existing geopolitical boundaries.

Resource planning strategies for healthcare systems during a pandemic.

We study resource planning strategies, including the integrated healthcare resources' allocation and sharing as well as patients' transfer, to improve the response of health systems to massive increases in demand during epidemics and pandemics. Our study considers various types of patients and resources to provide access to patient care with minimum capacity extension. Adding new resources takes time that most patients don't have during pandemics. The number of patients requiring scarce healthcare resources is uncertain and dependent on the speed of the pandemic's transmission through a region. We develop a multi-stage stochastic program to optimize various strategies for planning limited and necessary healthcare resources. We simulate uncertain parameters by deploying an agent-based continuous-time stochastic model, and then capture the uncertainty by a forward scenario tree construction approach. Finally, we propose a data-driven rolling horizon procedure to facilitate decision-making in real-time, which mitigates some critical limitations of stochastic programming approaches and makes the resulting strategies implementable in practice. We use two different case studies related to COVID-19 to examine our optimization and simulation tools by extensive computational results. The results highlight these strategies can significantly improve patient access to care during pandemics; their significance will vary under different situations. Our methodology is not limited to the presented setting and can be employed in other service industries where urgent access matters.

Psychological contract breach during the pandemic: How an abrupt transition to a work from home schedule impacted the employment relationship.

Organizations shifted employees to a work from home schedule as a protective health measure during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper depicts the path through which the abrupt workplace disruptions can trigger employees' perceptions of felt mistrust, intensify work to life conflict, and cause a psychological contract breach. In study 1, we conducted an experiment with 133 college students and found that switching to a work from home schedule with enhanced supervisor control increased the psychological contract breach through felt mistrust. In Study 2, we surveyed 239 adults who worked from home during the pandemic. Results underline the role of work to life conflict as a mediator through which disruptions and felt mistrust influenced the breach of psychological contract. Further, coping strategies were found to mitigate this detrimental effect. Overall, our findings suggest that sudden shifts in management practices can challenge workplace relationships during environmental shocks.

An innovative ensemble model based on multiple neural networks and a novel heuristic optimization algorithm for COVID-19 forecasting.

During the global fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) epidemic, accurate outbreak trend forecasting has become vital for outbreak prevention and control. Effective COVID-19 outbreak trend prediction remains a complex and challenging issue owing to the significant fluctuations in the COVID-19 data series. Most previous studies have limitations only using individual forecasting methods for outbreak modeling, ignoring the combination of the advantages of different prediction methods, which may lead to insufficient results. Therefore, this paper develops a novel ensemble paradigm based on multiple neural networks and a novel heuristic optimization algorithm. First, a new hybrid sine cosine algorithm-whale optimization algorithm (SCWOA) is exercised on 15 benchmark tests. Second, four neural networks are used as predictors for the COVID-19 outbreak forecasting. Each predictor is given a weight, and the proposed SCWOA is used to optimize the best matching weights of the ensemble model. The daily COVID-19 series collected from three of the most-affected countries were taken as the test cases. The experimental results demonstrate that different neural network models have different performances in various complex epidemic prediction scenarios. The SCWOA-based ensemble model can outperform all comparable models with its high accuracy and robustness.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic response impacted small-scale fish farmers in Bhutan?

The COVID-19 pandemic and related policy responses have exacerbated global food and nutrition insecurity by disrupting supply chains and destroying livelihoods. Previous studies show that the impact has been particularly severe for poor populations with limited livelihood options, who already faced food insecurity before the pandemic struck. This paper describes how COVID-19-related policy responses have impacted low-income, subsistence-oriented fish farmers in Bhutan. Based on nationally representative data collected between November 2020 and January 2021, the paper documents the responses of 353 Bhutanese fish farmers to the altered operating conditions and market disruptions caused by COVID-19. Results indicate that these farmers' access to inputs such as fish seed have suffered substantial disruptions. However, on the output side of the supply chain, some farmers have made significant gains in terms of increased demand and higher fish prices in informal markets. Furthermore, the food security of most farmers has suffered minimal impact. Overall, Bhutanese fish farmers have proved to be robust to COVID-19-induced adverse outcomes relative to commercial aquaculture producers elsewhere. Small-scale, subsistence-oriented production of fish along with other crops has benefitted the Bhutanese fish farmers by shielding them from the negative economic outcomes associated with market shocks and by directly preserving their food security. Nevertheless, the fish farmers require critical support to access essential inputs and upscale or maintain production infrastructure, so that they can continue fish production during the COVID-19 pandemic and become more robust in the long run.

Passengers' self-protective intentions while using ride-hailing services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the transport context, there has been limited research examining passengers' health-protective behaviour while travelling during a health-related crisis such as COVID-19. This study develops a conceptual model aiming to explore determinants associated with passengers' self-protective intentions using the context of ride-hailing services in Vietnam. Ride-hailing services are popular in countries where public transport is underdeveloped. The conceptual model is based on perceived risk and self-efficacy as the main predictor of self-protective intentions when using ride-hailing services. In addition, the proposed conceptual model explores the direct and indirect impact of subjective knowledge and the perceived effectiveness of preventive measures on self-protective intentions. The proposed conceptual model was tested on a large sample of ride-hailing users in Vietnam (n = 527). The structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis results indicate that self-efficacy has the highest total impact on self-protective behaviour, followed by subject knowledge and perceived effectiveness of preventive measures. Self-efficacy also plays a fully mediating role in the linkage between the perceived effectiveness of preventive measures implemented by ride-hailing organisations and the intention to engage in self-protective behaviour. The results of this study expand the current understanding of ride-hailing passengers' health-protective behaviour and contribute to the transport and public health literature.

A sustainable and efficient home health care network design model under uncertainty.

To cater to the increasing demands, particularly during diseases such as Covid-19, the design and planning of home health care systems is of significant importance. The current study proposes a multi-objective mixed-integer linear model for a home health care network in two stages; the first is the opening of efficient health centres, and the second is the routing and scheduling considering corporate social responsibility and efficiency. There are multiple objectives that we consider, including minimization of total costs and inefficiency considerations, and maximization of social aspects. A novel aspect of this study is the consideration of social responsibility, which includes employment opportunities and regional economic development, and efficiency in terms of time, energy, and mismanagement of budgets. To measure efficiency, an augmented version of the data envelopment analysis approach is incorporated into the proposed optimization model. Additionally, the TH approach is developed as an interactive fuzzy method to deal with the proposed multi-objective model. Within the HHC problem, costs, social factors, and service time are inherently uncertain, and hence, to solve this problem, a robust-fuzzy approach is proposed. The ensuing model is applied to a real case study of Kermanshah in Iran. Moreover, several problem instances motivated by real cases are generated with different characteristics to measure the performance of the proposed model and approach. The results show that decision-makers' preferences play a key role in human resource planning and regional development. Furthermore, the results confirm the efficiency of the proposed approach in different instances within reasonable time frames.

A mathematical model of COVID-19 and the multi fears of the community during the epidemiological stage.

Within two years, the world has experienced a pandemic phenomenon that changed almost everything in the macro and micro-environment; the economy, the community's social life, education, and many other fields. Governments started to collaborate with health institutions and the WHO to control the pandemic spread, followed by many regulations such as wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and home office work. While the virus has a high transmission rate and shows many mutated forms, another discussion appeared in the community: the fear of getting infected and the side effects of the produced vaccines. The community started to face uncertain information spread through some networks keeping the discussions of side effects on-trend. However, this pollution spread confused the community more and activated multi fears related to the virus and the vaccines. This paper establishes a mathematical model of COVID-19, including the community's fear of getting infected and the possible side effects of the vaccines. These fears appeared from uncertain information spread through some social sources. Our primary target is to show the psychological effect on the community during the pandemic stage. The theoretical study contains the existence and uniqueness of the IVP and, after that, the local stability analysis of both equilibrium points, the disease-free and the positive equilibrium point. Finally, we show the global asymptotic stability holds under specific conditions using a suitable Lyapunov function. In the end, we conclude our theoretical findings with some simulations.

Synthesis and characterization of two known and one new impurities of dolutegravir: In silico evaluation of certain intermediates against SARS CoV-2 O-ribose methyltransferase (OMTase).

Besides its use against HIV infection the marketed anti-retroviral drug dolutegravir attracted attention as a potential agent against COVID-19 in multiple AI (artificial intelligence) based studies. Due to our interest in accessing the impurities of this drug we report the synthesis and characterization of three impurities of dolutegravir one of which is new. The synthesis of O-methyl ent-dolutegravir was accomplished in three-steps the first one involved the construction of fused 1,3-oxazinane ring. The cleavage of -OEt ether moiety followed by methylation afforded the target compound. The second impurity i.e. N-(2,4-difluorobenzyl)-4-methoxy-3-oxobutanamide was synthesized via a multi-step method involving sequentially the keto group protection, ester hydrolysis, acid chloride formation followed by the reaction with amine and finally keto group deprotection. The synthesis of new or dimer impurity was carried out via another multi-step method similar to the previous one starting from ethyl 4-chloro acetoacetate. The methodology involved preparation of ether derivative, keto group protection, ester hydrolysis, preparation of amide derivative via acid chloride formation in situ and then keto group deprotection for a longer duration. The last step afforded the target compound for which a plausible reaction mechanism has been proposed. All three impurities were prepared in gram scale (minimum 2 g and maximum 8 g). The in silico evaluation of three selected synthesized intermediates e.g. 7, 8 and 9 (structurally similar to dolutegravir) against SARS CoV-2 O-ribose methyltransferase (OMTase) (PDB: 3R24) indicated that compound 7 could be of interest as a possible inhibitor of this protein.

Travel shaming? Re-thinking travel decision making amid a global pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed the notion of "travel shaming" under the spotlight-tourists are concerned about being criticized for traveling during the pandemic. Yet the broader idea of travel-induced shaming, conceptualized as ethics-based evaluations in this paper, has not drawn much attention as consequence-based assessments in travel-related risk research. This paper presents two studies revealing a) how ethics- and consequence-based risk evaluations influence individuals' travel attitudes/intentions and b) how message framing about responsible travel affects travel shame and individuals' intentions to travel responsibly. Using structural equation modeling, Study 1 suggests that consequence- and ethics-based evaluations play key roles in predicting travelers' attitudes/intentions to travel. Moreover, social trust and self-efficacy significantly affect both types of risk evaluations. Study 2 adopts an experimental design and shows that, compared with loss-framed and controlled message conditions, gain-framed messaging can reduce travel shame and encourage tourists to travel responsibly. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

COVID-19 ground-glass opacity segmentation based on fuzzy c-means clustering and improved random walk algorithm.

Accurate segmentation of ground-glass opacity (GGO) is an important premise for doctors to judge COVID-19. Aiming at the problem of mis-segmentation for GGO segmentation methods, especially the problem of adhesive GGO connected with chest wall or blood vessel, this paper proposes an accurate segmentation of GGO based on fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering and improved random walk algorithm. The innovation of this paper is to construct a Markov random field (MRF) with adaptive spatial information by using the spatial gravity Model and the spatial structural characteristics, which is introduced into the FCM model to automatically balance the insensitivity to noise and preserve the effectiveness of image edge details to improve the clustering accuracy of image. Then, the coordinate values of nodes and seed points in the image are combined with the spatial distance, and the geodesic distance is added to redefine the weight. According to the edge density of the image, the weight of the grayscale and the spatial feature in the weight function is adaptively calculated. In order to reduce the influence of edge noise on GGO segmentation, an adaptive snowfall model is proposed to preprocess the image, which can suppress the noise without losing the edge information. In this paper, CT images of different types of COVID-19 are selected for segmentation experiments, and the experimental results are compared with the traditional segmentation methods and several SOTA methods. The results suggest that the paper method can be used for the auxiliary diagnosis of COVID-19, so as to improve the work efficiency of doctors.

Adaptive R&D contract for urgently needed drugs: Lessons from COVID-19 vaccine development.

This paper analyzes an incentive contract for new vaccine research and development (R&D) under pandemic situations such as COVID-19, considering the R&D contract's adaptability to the pandemic. We study how the public sector (government) designs the adaptive R&D contract and offers it to pharmaceutical enterprises. An agency-theoretic model is employed to explore the contract whose terms are an upfront grant as a fixed fee and a sales tax credit as an incentive tool, examining how the values of related parameters affect contract term determinations. We found that the adaptability factor derived from urgent policies such as emergency use authorization (EUA) as well as tax credits, can be utilized as practical incentive tools that lead vaccine developers to increase their effort levels for R&D success. We also found that public-private state-emergency contracts may not follow the conventional wisdom. Counterintuitively, dependency on tax credits (incentive part) decrease as the client's degree of risk averseness increases in the emergency contract.

Multi-objective T-S fuzzy control of Covid-19 spread model: An LMI approach.

Due to the importance of control actions in spreading coronavirus disease, this paper is devoted to first modeling and then proposing an appropriate controller for this model. In the modeling procedure, we used a nonlinear mathematical model for the covid-19 outbreak to form a T-S fuzzy model. Then, for proposing the suitable controller, multiple optimization techniques including Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) and mixed H 2 - H ∞ are taken into account. The mentioned controller is chosen because the model of corona-virus spread is not only full of disturbances like a sudden increase in infected people, but also noises such as unavailability of the exact number of each compartment. The controller is simulated accordingly to validate the results of mathematical calculations, and a comparative analysis is presented to investigate the different situations of the problem. Comparing the results of controlled and uncontrolled situations, it can be observed that we can tackle the devastating hazards of the covid-19 outbreak effectively if the suggested approaches and policies of controlling interventions are executed, appropriately.

Designing a new fast solution to control isolation rooms in hospitals depending on artificial intelligence decision.

Decreasing the COVID spread of infection among patients at physical isolation hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic was the main aim of all governments in the world. It was required to increase isolation places in the hospital's rules to prevent the spread of infection. To deal with influxes of infected COVID-19 patients' quick solutions must be explored. The presented paper studies converting natural rooms in hospitals into isolation sections and constructing new isolation cabinets using prefabricated components as alternative and quick solutions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps in the selection and making of a decision on which type of solution will be used. A Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN) model is a type of artificial intelligence technique used to design and implement on time, cost, available facilities, area, and spaces as input parameters. The MLPNN result decided to select a prefabricated approach since it saves 43% of the time while the cost was the same for the two approaches. Forty-five hospitals have implemented a prefabricated solution which gave excellent results in a short period of time at reduced costs based on found facilities and spaces. Prefabricated solutions provide a shorter time and lower cost by 43% and 78% in average values respectively as compared to retrofitting existing natural ventilation rooms.

Designing pandemic resilient cities: Exploring the impacts of the built environment on infection risk perception and subjective well-being.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities around the world explored ways to slowdown the spread of the disease while maintaining the physical and mental health of individuals. They redistributed the street space to promote physical activity and non-motorized travel while meeting the social distancing requirements. Although the statistics showed significant increases in walking and bicycling trips during the pandemic, we have limited knowledge about the associations between built environment characteristics, COVID-19 infection risk perception while traveling, and subjective well-being. This study assesses the impacts of the built environment on subjective well-being and infection risk perception while traveling during the pandemic. It uses data collected from the residents of Columbus, Ohio, through a multi-wave survey conducted at different time points during the COVID-19 outbreak. By employing a structural equation modeling approach, it explores the associations between residential neighborhood characteristics, individuals' subjective well-being, and perceived infection risk while using non-motorized modes and shared micromobility. The findings show that those living in more compact, accessible, and walkable neighborhoods are less likely to perceive active travel and shared micromobility as risky in terms of COVID-19 infection. Our results also show that built environment characteristics have an indirect positive effect on the subjective well-being of individuals. The findings of our study demonstrate that built environment interventions can help promote physical activity and support mental health of individuals at this critical time. Our study also indicates that designing compact neighborhoods will be a crucial element of pandemic resilient cities in the post-COVID-19 era.

COVID-19's effects and adaptation strategies in fisheries and aquaculture sector: An empirical evidence from Bangladesh.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the aquaculture and fisheries sector all around the world, with the impact being exacerbated in developing countries. This study is an endeavor to identify consequences of the COVID-19 on fisheries and aquaculture sectors based on primary data collected from Bangladesh as an empirical case study. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews with different supply chain actors while analyzed using descriptive statistics and a problem confrontation index. As results depicted, income and employment across fish farmers, fishers, and traders were severely hurt, with a drastic fall in the market demand, coupled with a severe drop in their fish consumption. As market demand declined, fish farmers must be stocked mature fish for an extra period, and feed costs raised, eventually increasing the overall production cost. Besides, inaccessibility to inputs also made fish production and catch more troublesome. The price of all the major cultured and captured species plunged, leading to a depressing return to farmers, while inputs price underwent a significant increase except for labor and fingerling. However, traders seemed to be the worst sufferers amid striking disruption in fish value chain, which ostracized the preponderance of the traders from the chain. Some of the prime obstacles that constrained the production and trading process were but not limited to higher transportation costs, labor shortage, inability to pay for the wage, and reduced consumer demand across fish farmers, fishers, and traders. Nevertheless, our article further identified a myriad of strategies that the fish farmers, fishers, and traders followed to heal the scar of the fisheries and aquaculture sector with hands-on actions.

Social media may hinder learning about science; social media's role in learning about COVID-19.

Despite widespread concerns that misinformation is rampant on social media, little systematic and empirical research has been conducted on whether and how news consumption via social media affects people's accurate knowledge about COVID-19. Against this background, this study examines the causal effects of social media use on COVID-19 knowledge (i.e., both in the form of factual knowledge and misinformation detection) as well as the underlying mechanisms through which such effects occur. Based on original panel survey data across six weeks (W1 N = 1,363, W2 N = 752) in the U.S., we found that consuming news from social media fostered the perception that one need not actively seek news anymore because it would reach them anyway through their social connections (i.e., "news-finds-me" perception). This, in turn, can make one both uninformed and misinformed about COVID-19 issues. Furthermore, this mediated relationship is stronger among those who experience higher levels of information overload while on social media.

Removal of virus aerosols by the combination of filtration and UV-C irradiation.

The COVID-19 pandemic remains ever prevalent and afflicting-partially because one of its transmission pathways is aerosol. With the widely used central air conditioning systems worldwide, indoor virus aerosols can rapidly migrate, thus resulting in rapid infection transmission. It is therefore important to install microbial aerosol treatment units in the air conditioning systems, and we herein investigated the possibility of combining such filtration with UV irradiation to address virus aerosols. Results showed that the removal efficiency of filtration towards f2 and MS2 phages depended on the type of commercial filter material and the filtration speed, with an optimal velocity of 5 cm/s for virus removal. Additionally, it was found that UV irradiation had a significant effect on inactivating viruses enriched on the surfaces of filter materials; MS2 phages had greater resistance to UV-C irradiation than f2 phages. The optimal inactivation time for UV-C irradiation was 30 min, with higher irradiation times presenting no substantial increase in inactivation rate. Moreover, excessive virus enrichment on the filters decreased the inactivation effect. Timely inactivation is therefore recommended. In general, the combined system involving filtration with UV-C irradiation demonstrated a significant removal effect on virus aerosols. Moreover, the system is simple and economical, making it convenient for widespread implementation in air-conditioning systems.

Introduction to the special issue on the role of operational research in future epidemics/ pandemics.

In this special issue, 23 research papers are published focusing on COVID-19 and operational research solution techniques. First, we detail the process from advertising the call for papers to the point where the best papers are accepted. Then, we provide a summary of each paper focusing on applications, solution techniques and insights for practitioners and policy makers. To provide a holistic view for readers, we have clustered the papers into different groups: transmission, propagation and forecasting, non-pharmaceutical intervention, healthcare network configuration, healthcare resource allocation, hospital operations, vaccine and testing kits, and production and manufacturing. Then, we introduce other possible subjects that can be considered for future research.

Analysis of sports behavior and the current situation of young students under the background of covid-19 / Análise do comportamento esportivo e da situação atual dos jovens estudantes sob o contexto da covid-19 / Análisis del comportamiento deportivo y de la situación actual de los jóvenes estudiantes en el contexto del covid-19

ABSTRACT Introduction With the repeated covid-19 epidemic, people have gradually realized the importance of physical exercise, so the sports enthusiasm of young students has also been improved to a certain extent. Objective Analyze the sports behavior and status in adolescent students under the background of covid-19. Methods A questionnaire survey was used in this paper. The questionnaire design is carried out from three aspects: current exercise status, changes of physical exercise, and sports behavior motivation of young students. Results Students and parents prefer exercises at home or in the open space of a relatively safe and single community, choosing non-contact sports that can be completed by a single person or are far away from each other. Improvement in both frequency and duration of exercise was observed in the young students, and most had a gain in psychological quality. Conclusion Physical education teachers must fully match the actual situation of the epidemic's current development by choosing effective teaching methods to promote the continuous development of young students' physical quality. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment results.

RESUMO Introdução Com a repetida epidemia da covid-19, as pessoas foram gradualmente percebendo a importância do exercício físico e um crescimento no engajamento esportivo entre os jovens estudantes foi observado. Objetivo Analisar o comportamento e o status esportivo dos estudantes adolescentes sob o contexto da covid-19. Métodos Este trabalho utilizou uma pesquisa por questionário com desenho realizado a partir de três aspectos: estado atual do exercício físico, alterações do exercício físico, e motivação do comportamento esportivo nos jovens estudantes. Resultados Os estudantes e seus pais preferem exercícios em casa ou em espaço aberto relativamente seguro e isolado, escolhendo esportes sem contato que podem ser realizados por uma única pessoa ou em que estejam longe um do outro. Observou-se uma melhora tanto na frequência quanto na duração dos exercícios físicos dos jovens estudantes e a maioria teve um ganho na qualidade psicológica. Conclusão Os professores de educação física devem combinar plenamente a situação real do atual desenvolvimento da epidemia escolhendo métodos de ensino eficazes que promovam o desenvolvimento contínuo da qualidade física dos jovens estudantes. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción Con la repetida epidemia del covid-19, la gente se fue dando cuenta de la importancia del ejercicio físico y se observó un aumento del interés por el deporte entre los jóvenes estudiantes. Objetivo Analizar el comportamiento y la situación deportiva de los estudiantes adolescentes en el contexto del covid-19. Métodos Este trabajo utilizó una encuesta con diseño de cuestionario realizada desde tres aspectos: estado actual del ejercicio, cambios de ejercicio y motivación del comportamiento deportivo en jóvenes estudiantes. Resultados Los estudiantes y sus padres prefieren hacer ejercicio en casa o en un espacio abierto relativamente seguro y aislado, eligiendo deportes sin contacto que puedan ser realizados por una sola persona o donde estén alejados unos de otros. Se observó una mejora tanto en la frecuencia como en la duración del ejercicio en los jóvenes estudiantes y la mayoría tuvo una ganancia en la calidad psicológica. Conclusión Los profesores de educación física deben ajustarse plenamente a la situación real del desarrollo actual de la epidemia eligiendo métodos de enseñanza eficaces que promuevan el desarrollo continuo de la calidad física de los jóvenes estudiantes. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Investigation to exercise status of university students in the late phase of the covid-19 epidemy / Investigação sobre a situação do exercício físico dos estudantes universitários na fase final da epidemia do covid-19 / Investigación sobre el estado del ejercicio físico de los estudiantes universitarios en la última etapa de la epidemia de covid-19

ABSTRACT Introduction The outbreak of COVID-19 has changed the traditional way of teaching physical education. Objective Investigate the current status of physical exercise in college students after the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods Students from 32 colleges were interviewed, totaling 1074 valid questionnaires. Results Under the influence of the COVID-19 epidemic, many students chose their exercise methods according to their needs and environmental conditions, spontaneously completing extracurricular physical training goals healthily in a safe environment. Exercising to improve physical fitness, strengthen immunity, and minimize disruption of the COVID-19 epidemic is a common concern among students. Conclusion Most students' activities have changed significantly, and university physical education teachers should provide tailored guidance in exercise to ensure health and safety, in addition to promoting post-workout teaching based on current needs ensuring health and safety while promoting the benefits of physical education teaching in extra-class workouts. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment results.

RESUMO Introdução O surto de COVID-19 mudou a forma tradicional de ensinar educação física. Objetivo Investigar a situação atual do exercício físico em universitários após a epidemia do COVID-19. Métodos Estudantes de 32 faculdades foram entrevistados, totalizando 1074 questionários válidos. Resultados Sob a influência da epidemia de COVID-19, muitos alunos escolheram seus próprios métodos de exercícios de acordo com suas necessidades e condições ambientais, completando espontaneamente os objetivos do treino físico extra-curricular, de forma saudável em um ambiente seguro. Exercitar-se para melhorar a aptidão física, fortalecer a imunidade e minimizar a interrupção da epidemia de COVID-19 é uma preocupação comum entre os estudantes. Conclusão A maioria das atividades dos alunos mudaram significativamente e os professores universitários de educação física devem fornecer uma orientação adaptada em exercícios para garantir saúde e segurança, além da promoção do ensino no pós-treino com base nas necessidades atuais garantindo saúde e segurança, além de promover os benefícios do ensino da educação física nos treinos extra-classe. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción La irrupción del COVID-19 cambió la forma tradicional de enseñar educación física. Objetivo Investigar la situación actual del ejercicio físico en los estudiantes universitarios tras la epidemia de COVID-19. Métodos Se entrevistó a estudiantes de 32 universidades, con un total de 1074 cuestionarios válidos. Resultados Bajo la influencia de la epidemia COVID-19, muchos estudiantes eligieron sus propios métodos de ejercicio según sus necesidades y las condiciones del entorno, completando espontáneamente los objetivos del entrenamiento físico extracurricular de forma saludable en un entorno seguro. Hacer ejercicio para mejorar la forma física, fortalecer la inmunidad y minimizar la interrupción de la epidemia de COVID-19 es una preocupación común entre los estudiantes. Conclusión La mayoría de las actividades de los estudiantes han cambiado significativamente y los profesores de educación física de la universidad deben proporcionar una orientación adaptada al ejercicio para garantizar la salud y la seguridad, además de promover la enseñanza posterior al ejercicio en función de las necesidades actuales que garanticen la salud y la seguridad, y promover los beneficios de la enseñanza de la educación física en los ejercicios fuera de clase. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Death caused by covid-19 in top ten countries in Asia affected by covid-19 pandemic with special reference to Pakistan / Morte causada por covid-19 nos dez principais países da Ásia afetados pela pandemia de covid-19, com referência especial ao Paquistão

The COVID-19 is a contagious viral disease, was first emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and became the whole world on alert. The mortality rate in top most countries in Asia with special reference to Pakistan has been focused. Since February 26 to September 2020 the total confirmed cases and mortality rate was measured through Wikipedia and the notable journals. Iran is the only country having highest number of deaths (5.73%) followed by Indonesia (3.77%) while Saudi Arabia shows the lowest number of deaths as 1.39%. In Pakistan the first case was confirmed in 26th February, 2020. The nCov-19 has closely related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) hence SARS COV-2 was named. This virus is responsible for more than 33.9 million deaths in over all the world as of 20th September, 2020. The number of new cases is increasing time to time. Sindh province of Pakistan has reported the highest number of cases till September, 20, 2020 as compared to other parts of the country and has the highest number of death followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Because of the person to person contact the disease is spreading rapidly. The individuals who has already infected with other diseases like cancer or diabetic etc. are vulnerable. The nCOV-19 is the most contagious due to its mode of transmission. There is still no vaccine is available for the treatment of disease caused by nCoV-2019. It is therefore the only option to control this pandemic is to adopt effective preventive measures.(AU)

A covid-19 é uma doença viral contagiosa, que surgiu pela primeira vez em Wuhan, China, em dezembro de 2019, e deixou o mundo todo em alerta. A taxa de mortalidade na maioria dos principais países da Ásia, com referência especial ao Paquistão, foi enfocada. De 26 de fevereiro a setembro de 2020, o total de casos confirmados e a taxa de mortalidade foram medidos por meio da Wikipedia e de periódicos notáveis. O Irã é o único país com maior número de mortes (5,73%), seguido pela Indonésia (3,77%), enquanto a Arábia Saudita mostra o menor número de mortes, 1,39%. No Paquistão, o primeiro caso foi confirmado em 26 de fevereiro de 2020. O nCov-19 está intimamente relacionado à síndrome respiratória aguda grave (SARS), daí o nome SARS COV-2. Esse vírus é responsável por mais de 33,9 milhões de mortes em todo o mundo em 20 de setembro de 2020. O número de novos casos está aumentando de tempos em tempos. A província de Sindh, no Paquistão, registrou o maior número de casos até 20 de setembro de 2020, em comparação com outras partes do país, e tem o maior número de mortes, seguida por Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Por causa do contato pessoa a pessoa, a doença está se espalhando rapidamente. Indivíduos que já foram diagnosticados com outras doenças, como câncer ou diabetes, etc. são mais vulneráveis. O nCOV-19 é o mais contagioso devido ao seu modo de transmissão. Ainda não há vacina disponível para o tratamento da doença causada pelo nCoV-2019. Portanto, a única opção para controlar essa pandemia é a adoção de medidas preventivas eficazes.(AU)

Gender-based incidence, recovery period, and mortality rate of COVID-19 among the population of district Attock, Pakistan / Incidência baseada em gênero, período de recuperação e taxa de mortalidade de COVID-19 entre a população do distrito de Attock, Paquistão

COVID-19 is reported as an extremely contagious disease with common symptoms of fever, dry cough, sore throat, and tiredness. The published literature on incidence and gender-wise prevalence of COVID-19 is scarce in Pakistan. Therefore, the present study was designed to compare the distribution, incubation period and mortality rate of COVID-19 among the male and female population of district Attock. The data were collected between 01 April 2020 and 07 December 2020 from the population of district Attock, Pakistan. A total of 22,962 individuals were screened and 843 were found positive for RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2. The confirmed positive cases were monitored carefully. Among the positive cases, the incidence of COVID-19 was 61.7% among males and 38.2% among females. The average recovery period of males was 18.89±7.75 days and females were 19±8.40 days from SARS-CoV-2. The overall mortality rate was 8.06%. The death rate of male patients was significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to female patients. Also, the mortality rate was higher (P<0.05) in male patients of 40-60 years of age compared to female patients of the same age group. Moreover, the mortality rate significantly increased (P<0.05) with the increase of age irrespective of gender. In conclusion, the incidence and mortality rate of COVID-19 is higher in males compared to the female population. Moreover, irrespective of gender the mortality rate was significantly lower among patients aged <40 years.(AU)

Covid-19 é relatada como uma doença extremamente contagiosa com sintomas comuns de febre, tosse seca, dor de garganta e cansaço. A literatura publicada sobre incidência e prevalência de Covid-19 com base no gênero é escassa no Paquistão. Portanto, o presente estudo teve como objetivo comparar a distribuição, o período de incubação e a taxa de mortalidade de Covid-19 entre a população masculina e feminina do distrito de Attock. Os dados foram coletados entre 1 de abril de 2020 e 7 de dezembro de 2020 da população do distrito de Attock, Paquistão. Um total de 22.962 indivíduos foi selecionado, e 843 foram considerados positivos para RT-qPCR para SARS-CoV-2. Os casos positivos confirmados foram monitorados cuidadosamente. Entre os casos positivos, a incidência de Covid-19 foi de 61,7% no sexo masculino e 38,2% no feminino. O período médio de recuperação dos homens foi de 18,89 ± 7,75 dias e das mulheres 19 ± 8,40 dias do SARS-CoV-2. A mortalidade geral foi de 8,06%. A taxa de mortalidade de pacientes do sexo masculino foi significativamente maior (P < 0,05) em comparação com pacientes do sexo feminino. Além disso, a taxa de mortalidade foi maior (P < 0,05) em pacientes do sexo masculino com 40-60 anos de idade em comparação com pacientes do sexo feminino da mesma faixa etária. Além disso, a taxa de mortalidade aumentou significativamente (P < 0,05) com o aumento da idade, independentemente do sexo. Em conclusão, a incidência e a taxa de mortalidade de Covid-19 são maiores no sexo masculino em comparação com a população feminina. E também, independentemente do sexo, a taxa de mortalidade foi significativamente menor entre os pacientes com idade < 40 anos.(AU)

A threefold approach including quantum chemical, molecular docking and molecular dynamic studies to explore the natural compounds from Centaurea jacea as the potential inhibitors for COVID-19 / Uma abordagem tríplice incluindo química quântica, docking molecular e estudos dinâmicos moleculares para explorar os compostos naturais de Centaurea jacea como inibidores potenciais para Covid-19

In the current report, we studied the possible inhibitors of COVID-19 from bioactive constituents of Centaurea jacea using a threefold approach consisting of quantum chemical, molecular docking and molecular dynamic techniques. Centaurea jacea is a perennial herb often used in folk medicines of dermatological complaints and fever. Moreover, anticancer, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral properties of its bioactive compounds are also reported. The Mpro (Main proteases) was docked with different compounds of Centaurea jacea through molecular docking. All the studied compounds including apigenin, axillarin, Centaureidin, Cirsiliol, Eupatorin and Isokaempferide, show suitable binding affinities to the binding site of SARS-CoV-2 main protease with their binding energies -6.7 kcal/mol, -7.4 kcal/mol, -7.0 kcal/mol, -5.8 kcal/mol, -6.2 kcal/mol and -6.8 kcal/mol, respectively. Among all studied compounds, axillarin was found to have maximum inhibitor efficiency followed by Centaureidin, Isokaempferide, Apigenin, Eupatorin and Cirsiliol. Our results suggested that axillarin binds with the most crucial catalytic residues CYS145 and HIS41 of the Mpro, moreover axillarin shows 5 hydrogen bond interactions and 5 hydrophobic interactions with various residues of Mpro. Furthermore, the molecular dynamic calculations over 60 ns (6×106 femtosecond) time scale also shown significant insights into the binding effects of axillarin with Mpro of SARS-CoV-2 by imitating protein like aqueous environment. From molecular dynamic calculations, the RMSD and RMSF computations indicate the stability and dynamics of the best docked complex in aqueous environment. The ADME properties and toxicity prediction analysis of axillarin also recommended it as safe drug candidate. Further, in vivo and in [...].(AU)

No presente relatório, estudamos os possíveis inibidores de Covid-19 de constituintes bioativos de Centaurea jacea usando uma abordagem tripla que consiste em técnicas de química quântica, docking molecular e dinâmica molecular. Centaurea jacea é uma erva perene frequentemente usada em remédios populares de doenças dermatológicas e febre. Além disso, as propriedades anticâncer, antioxidante, antibacteriana e antiviral de seus compostos bioativos também são relatadas. A Mpro (proteases principais) foi acoplada a diferentes compostos de Centaurea jacea por meio de docking molecular. Todos os compostos estudados, incluindo apigenina, axilarina, Centaureidina, Cirsiliol, Eupatorina e Isokaempferide, mostram afinidades de ligação adequadas ao sítio de ligação da protease principal SARS-CoV-2 com suas energias de ligação -6,7 kcal / mol, -7,4 kcal / mol, - 7,0 kcal / mol, -5,8 kcal / mol, -6,2 kcal / mol e -6,8 kcal / mol, respectivamente. Dentre todos os compostos estudados, a axilarina apresentou eficiência máxima de inibidor, seguida pela Centaureidina, Isokaempferida, Apigenina, Eupatorina e Cirsiliol. Nossos resultados sugeriram que a axilarina se liga aos resíduos catalíticos mais cruciais CYS145 e HIS41 do Mpro, além disso a axilarina mostra 5 interações de ligações de hidrogênio e 5 interações hidrofóbicas com vários resíduos de Mpro. Além disso, os cálculos de dinâmica molecular em uma escala de tempo de 60 ns (6 × 106 femtossegundos) também mostraram percepções significativas sobre os efeitos de ligação da axilarina com Mpro de SARS-CoV-2 por imitação de proteínas como o ambiente aquoso. A partir de cálculos de dinâmica molecular, os cálculos RMSD e RMSF indicam a estabilidade e dinâmica do melhor complexo ancorado em ambiente [...].(AU)

Current understanding of an Emerging Coronavirus usingin silico approach: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) / Compreensão atual de um coronavírus emergente usando abordagem in silico: síndrome respiratória aguda grave - coronavírus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Novel coronavirus (nCoV) namely "SARS-CoV-2" is being found responsible for current PANDEMIC commenced from Wuhan (China) since December 2019 and has been described with epidemiological linkage to China in about 221 countries and territories until now. In this study we have characterized the genetic lineage of SARS-CoV-2 and report the recombination within the genus and subgenus of coronaviruses. Phylogenetic relationship of thirty nine coronaviruses belonging to its four genera and five subgenera was analyzed by using the Neighbor-joining method using MEGA 6.0. Phylogenetic trees of full length genome, various proteins (spike, envelope, membrane and nucleocapsid) nucleotide sequences were constructed separately. Putative recombination was probed via RDP4. Our analysis describes that the "SARS-CoV-2" although shows great similarity to Bat-SARS-CoVs sequences through whole genome (giving sequence similarity 89%), exhibits conflicting grouping with the Bat-SARS-like coronavirus sequences (MG772933 and MG772934). Furthermore, seven recombination events were observed in SARS-CoV-2 (NC_045512) by RDP4. But not a single recombination event fulfills the high level of certainty. Recombination mostly housed in spike protein genes than rest of the genome indicating breakpoint cluster arises beyond the 95% and 99% breakpoint density intervals. Genetic similarity levels observed among "SARS-CoV-2" and Bat-SARS-CoVs advocated that the latter did not exhibit the specific variant that cause outbreak in humans, proposing a suggestion that "SARS-CoV-2" has originated possibly from bats. These genomic features and their probable association with virus characteristics along with virulence in humans require further consideration.(AU)

O novo coronavírus (nCoV), nomeadamente "SARS-CoV-2", foi considerado responsável pela pandemia atual iniciada em Wuhan (China) desde dezembro de 2019 e foi descrito com ligação epidemiológica à China em cerca de 221 países e territórios até agora. Neste estudo, caracterizamos a linhagem genética do SARS-CoV-2 e relatamos a recombinação dentro do gênero e subgênero dos coronavírus. A relação filogenética de 39 coronavírus pertencentes a seus quatro gêneros e cinco subgêneros foi analisada usando o método de Neighbour-joining usando MEGA 6.0. Árvores filogenéticas do genoma de comprimento total, várias proteínas (espícula, envelope, membrana e nucleocapsídeo), sequências de nucleotídeos foram construídas separadamente. A recombinação putativa foi testada via RDP4. Nossa análise descreve que o "SARS-CoV-2", embora mostre grande semelhança com as sequências de Bat-SARS-CoVs em todo o genoma (dando semelhança de sequência de 89%), exibe agrupamento conflitante com as sequências de coronavírus do tipo Bat-SARS (MG772933 e MG772934) Além disso, sete eventos de recombinação foram observados em SARS-CoV-2 (NC045512) por RDP4. Mas nem um único evento de recombinação preenche o alto nível de certeza. A recombinação está alojada mais em genes de proteína de pico, principalmente, do que no resto do genoma, indicando que o cluster de ponto de interrupção surge além dos intervalos de densidade de ponto de interrupção de 95% e 99%. Os níveis de similaridade genética observados entre "SARS-CoV-2" e Bat-SARS-CoVs defendem que o último não exibe a variante específica que causa surto em humanos, sugerindo que "SARS-CoV-2" tenha se originado possivelmente de morcegos. Essas características genômicas e sua provável associação com as características do vírus, juntamente com a virulência em humanos, requerem uma consideração mais aprofundada.(AU)

Death caused by covid-19 in top ten countries in Asia affected by covid-19 pandemic with special reference to Pakistan / Morte causada por covid-19 nos dez principais países da Ásia afetados pela pandemia de covid-19, com referência especial ao Paquistão

Abstract The COVID-19 is a contagious viral disease, was first emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and became the whole world on alert. The mortality rate in top most countries in Asia with special reference to Pakistan has been focused. Since February 26 to September 2020 the total confirmed cases and mortality rate was measured through Wikipedia and the notable journals. Iran is the only country having highest number of deaths (5.73%) followed by Indonesia (3.77%) while Saudi Arabia shows the lowest number of deaths as 1.39%. In Pakistan the first case was confirmed in 26th February, 2020. The nCov-19 has closely related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) hence SARS COV-2 was named. This virus is responsible for more than 33.9 million deaths in over all the world as of 20th September, 2020. The number of new cases is increasing time to time. Sindh province of Pakistan has reported the highest number of cases till September, 20, 2020 as compared to other parts of the country and has the highest number of death followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Because of the person to person contact the disease is spreading rapidly. The individuals who has already infected with other diseases like cancer or diabetic etc. are vulnerable. The nCOV-19 is the most contagious due to its mode of transmission. There is still no vaccine is available for the treatment of disease caused by nCoV-2019. It is therefore the only option to control this pandemic is to adopt effective preventive measures.

Resumo A covid-19 é uma doença viral contagiosa, que surgiu pela primeira vez em Wuhan, China, em dezembro de 2019, e deixou o mundo todo em alerta. A taxa de mortalidade na maioria dos principais países da Ásia, com referência especial ao Paquistão, foi enfocada. De 26 de fevereiro a setembro de 2020, o total de casos confirmados e a taxa de mortalidade foram medidos por meio da Wikipedia e de periódicos notáveis. O Irã é o único país com maior número de mortes (5,73%), seguido pela Indonésia (3,77%), enquanto a Arábia Saudita mostra o menor número de mortes, 1,39%. No Paquistão, o primeiro caso foi confirmado em 26 de fevereiro de 2020. O nCov-19 está intimamente relacionado à síndrome respiratória aguda grave (SARS), daí o nome SARS COV-2. Esse vírus é responsável por mais de 33,9 milhões de mortes em todo o mundo em 20 de setembro de 2020. O número de novos casos está aumentando de tempos em tempos. A província de Sindh, no Paquistão, registrou o maior número de casos até 20 de setembro de 2020, em comparação com outras partes do país, e tem o maior número de mortes, seguida por Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Por causa do contato pessoa a pessoa, a doença está se espalhando rapidamente. Indivíduos que já foram diagnosticados com outras doenças, como câncer ou diabetes, etc. são mais vulneráveis. O nCOV-19 é o mais contagioso devido ao seu modo de transmissão. Ainda não há vacina disponível para o tratamento da doença causada pelo nCoV-2019. Portanto, a única opção para controlar essa pandemia é a adoção de medidas preventivas eficazes.

Current understanding of an Emerging Coronavirus using in silico approach: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) / Compreensão atual de um coronavírus emergente usando abordagem in silico: síndrome respiratória aguda grave - coronavírus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Abstract Novel coronavirus (nCoV) namely "SARS-CoV-2" is being found responsible for current PANDEMIC commenced from Wuhan (China) since December 2019 and has been described with epidemiological linkage to China in about 221 countries and territories until now. In this study we have characterized the genetic lineage of SARS-CoV-2 and report the recombination within the genus and subgenus of coronaviruses. Phylogenetic relationship of thirty nine coronaviruses belonging to its four genera and five subgenera was analyzed by using the Neighbor-joining method using MEGA 6.0. Phylogenetic trees of full length genome, various proteins (spike, envelope, membrane and nucleocapsid) nucleotide sequences were constructed separately. Putative recombination was probed via RDP4. Our analysis describes that the "SARS-CoV-2" although shows great similarity to Bat-SARS-CoVs sequences through whole genome (giving sequence similarity 89%), exhibits conflicting grouping with the Bat-SARS-like coronavirus sequences (MG772933 and MG772934). Furthermore, seven recombination events were observed in SARS-CoV-2 (NC_045512) by RDP4. But not a single recombination event fulfills the high level of certainty. Recombination mostly housed in spike protein genes than rest of the genome indicating breakpoint cluster arises beyond the 95% and 99% breakpoint density intervals. Genetic similarity levels observed among "SARS-CoV-2" and Bat-SARS-CoVs advocated that the latter did not exhibit the specific variant that cause outbreak in humans, proposing a suggestion that "SARS-CoV-2" has originated possibly from bats. These genomic features and their probable association with virus characteristics along with virulence in humans require further consideration.

Resumo O novo coronavírus (nCoV), nomeadamente "SARS-CoV-2", foi considerado responsável pela pandemia atual iniciada em Wuhan (China) desde dezembro de 2019 e foi descrito com ligação epidemiológica à China em cerca de 221 países e territórios até agora. Neste estudo, caracterizamos a linhagem genética do SARS-CoV-2 e relatamos a recombinação dentro do gênero e subgênero dos coronavírus. A relação filogenética de 39 coronavírus pertencentes a seus quatro gêneros e cinco subgêneros foi analisada usando o método de Neighbour-joining usando MEGA 6.0. Árvores filogenéticas do genoma de comprimento total, várias proteínas (espícula, envelope, membrana e nucleocapsídeo), sequências de nucleotídeos foram construídas separadamente. A recombinação putativa foi testada via RDP4. Nossa análise descreve que o "SARS-CoV-2", embora mostre grande semelhança com as sequências de Bat-SARS-CoVs em todo o genoma (dando semelhança de sequência de 89%), exibe agrupamento conflitante com as sequências de coronavírus do tipo Bat-SARS (MG772933 e MG772934) Além disso, sete eventos de recombinação foram observados em SARS-CoV-2 (NC045512) por RDP4. Mas nem um único evento de recombinação preenche o alto nível de certeza. A recombinação está alojada mais em genes de proteína de pico, principalmente, do que no resto do genoma, indicando que o cluster de ponto de interrupção surge além dos intervalos de densidade de ponto de interrupção de 95% e 99%. Os níveis de similaridade genética observados entre "SARS-CoV-2" e Bat-SARS-CoVs defendem que o último não exibe a variante específica que causa surto em humanos, sugerindo que "SARS-CoV-2" tenha se originado possivelmente de morcegos. Essas características genômicas e sua provável associação com as características do vírus, juntamente com a virulência em humanos, requerem uma consideração mais aprofundada.

A threefold approach including quantum chemical, molecular docking and molecular dynamic studies to explore the natural compounds from Centaurea jacea as the potential inhibitors for COVID-19 / Uma abordagem tríplice incluindo química quântica, docking molecular e estudos dinâmicos moleculares para explorar os compostos naturais de Centaurea jacea como inibidores potenciais para Covid-19

Abstract In the current report, we studied the possible inhibitors of COVID-19 from bioactive constituents of Centaurea jacea using a threefold approach consisting of quantum chemical, molecular docking and molecular dynamic techniques. Centaurea jacea is a perennial herb often used in folk medicines of dermatological complaints and fever. Moreover, anticancer, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral properties of its bioactive compounds are also reported. The Mpro (Main proteases) was docked with different compounds of Centaurea jacea through molecular docking. All the studied compounds including apigenin, axillarin, Centaureidin, Cirsiliol, Eupatorin and Isokaempferide, show suitable binding affinities to the binding site of SARS-CoV-2 main protease with their binding energies -6.7 kcal/mol, -7.4 kcal/mol, -7.0 kcal/mol, -5.8 kcal/mol, -6.2 kcal/mol and -6.8 kcal/mol, respectively. Among all studied compounds, axillarin was found to have maximum inhibitor efficiency followed by Centaureidin, Isokaempferide, Apigenin, Eupatorin and Cirsiliol. Our results suggested that axillarin binds with the most crucial catalytic residues CYS145 and HIS41 of the Mpro, moreover axillarin shows 5 hydrogen bond interactions and 5 hydrophobic interactions with various residues of Mpro. Furthermore, the molecular dynamic calculations over 60 ns (6×106 femtosecond) time scale also shown significant insights into the binding effects of axillarin with Mpro of SARS-CoV-2 by imitating protein like aqueous environment. From molecular dynamic calculations, the RMSD and RMSF computations indicate the stability and dynamics of the best docked complex in aqueous environment. The ADME properties and toxicity prediction analysis of axillarin also recommended it as safe drug candidate. Further, in vivo and in vitro investigations are essential to ensure the anti SARS-CoV-2 activity of all bioactive compounds particularly axillarin to encourage preventive use of Centaurea jacea against COVID-19 infections.

Resumo No presente relatório, estudamos os possíveis inibidores de Covid-19 de constituintes bioativos de Centaurea jacea usando uma abordagem tripla que consiste em técnicas de química quântica, docking molecular e dinâmica molecular. Centaurea jacea é uma erva perene frequentemente usada em remédios populares de doenças dermatológicas e febre. Além disso, as propriedades anticâncer, antioxidante, antibacteriana e antiviral de seus compostos bioativos também são relatadas. A Mpro (proteases principais) foi acoplada a diferentes compostos de Centaurea jacea por meio de docking molecular. Todos os compostos estudados, incluindo apigenina, axilarina, Centaureidina, Cirsiliol, Eupatorina e Isokaempferide, mostram afinidades de ligação adequadas ao sítio de ligação da protease principal SARS-CoV-2 com suas energias de ligação -6,7 kcal / mol, -7,4 kcal / mol, - 7,0 kcal / mol, -5,8 kcal / mol, -6,2 kcal / mol e -6,8 kcal / mol, respectivamente. Dentre todos os compostos estudados, a axilarina apresentou eficiência máxima de inibidor, seguida pela Centaureidina, Isokaempferida, Apigenina, Eupatorina e Cirsiliol. Nossos resultados sugeriram que a axilarina se liga aos resíduos catalíticos mais cruciais CYS145 e HIS41 do Mpro, além disso a axilarina mostra 5 interações de ligações de hidrogênio e 5 interações hidrofóbicas com vários resíduos de Mpro. Além disso, os cálculos de dinâmica molecular em uma escala de tempo de 60 ns (6 × 106 femtossegundos) também mostraram percepções significativas sobre os efeitos de ligação da axilarina com Mpro de SARS-CoV-2 por imitação de proteínas como o ambiente aquoso. A partir de cálculos de dinâmica molecular, os cálculos RMSD e RMSF indicam a estabilidade e dinâmica do melhor complexo ancorado em ambiente aquoso. As propriedades ADME e a análise de previsão de toxicidade da axilarina também a recomendaram como um candidato a medicamento seguro. Além disso, as investigações in vivo e in vitro são essenciais para garantir a atividade anti-SARS-CoV-2 de todos os compostos bioativos, particularmente a axilarina, para encorajar o uso preventivo de Centaurea jacea contra infecções por Covid-19.

Gender-based incidence, recovery period, and mortality rate of COVID-19 among the population of district Attock, Pakistan / Incidência baseada em gênero, período de recuperação e taxa de mortalidade de COVID-19 entre a população do distrito de Attock, Paquistão

Abstract COVID-19 is reported as an extremely contagious disease with common symptoms of fever, dry cough, sore throat, and tiredness. The published literature on incidence and gender-wise prevalence of COVID-19 is scarce in Pakistan. Therefore, the present study was designed to compare the distribution, incubation period and mortality rate of COVID-19 among the male and female population of district Attock. The data were collected between 01 April 2020 and 07 December 2020 from the population of district Attock, Pakistan. A total of 22,962 individuals were screened and 843 were found positive for RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2. The confirmed positive cases were monitored carefully. Among the positive cases, the incidence of COVID-19 was 61.7% among males and 38.2% among females. The average recovery period of males was 18.89±7.75 days and females were 19±8.40 days from SARS-CoV-2. The overall mortality rate was 8.06%. The death rate of male patients was significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to female patients. Also, the mortality rate was higher (P<0.05) in male patients of 40-60 years of age compared to female patients of the same age group. Moreover, the mortality rate significantly increased (P<0.05) with the increase of age irrespective of gender. In conclusion, the incidence and mortality rate of COVID-19 is higher in males compared to the female population. Moreover, irrespective of gender the mortality rate was significantly lower among patients aged <40 years.

Resumo Covid-19 é relatada como uma doença extremamente contagiosa com sintomas comuns de febre, tosse seca, dor de garganta e cansaço. A literatura publicada sobre incidência e prevalência de Covid-19 com base no gênero é escassa no Paquistão. Portanto, o presente estudo teve como objetivo comparar a distribuição, o período de incubação e a taxa de mortalidade de Covid-19 entre a população masculina e feminina do distrito de Attock. Os dados foram coletados entre 1 de abril de 2020 e 7 de dezembro de 2020 da população do distrito de Attock, Paquistão. Um total de 22.962 indivíduos foi selecionado, e 843 foram considerados positivos para RT-qPCR para SARS-CoV-2. Os casos positivos confirmados foram monitorados cuidadosamente. Entre os casos positivos, a incidência de Covid-19 foi de 61,7% no sexo masculino e 38,2% no feminino. O período médio de recuperação dos homens foi de 18,89 ± 7,75 dias e das mulheres 19 ± 8,40 dias do SARS-CoV-2. A mortalidade geral foi de 8,06%. A taxa de mortalidade de pacientes do sexo masculino foi significativamente maior (P < 0,05) em comparação com pacientes do sexo feminino. Além disso, a taxa de mortalidade foi maior (P < 0,05) em pacientes do sexo masculino com 40-60 anos de idade em comparação com pacientes do sexo feminino da mesma faixa etária. Além disso, a taxa de mortalidade aumentou significativamente (P < 0,05) com o aumento da idade, independentemente do sexo. Em conclusão, a incidência e a taxa de mortalidade de Covid-19 são maiores no sexo masculino em comparação com a população feminina. E também, independentemente do sexo, a taxa de mortalidade foi significativamente menor entre os pacientes com idade < 40 anos.

Setting up a three-stage pre-endoscopy triage during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: A multicenter observational study.

Objectives: Between May and July 2021, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to a sharp surge in community transmission in Taiwan. We present a three-stage restructuring process of pre-endoscopy triage at the beginning of the pandemic, which can support urgent endoscopic procedures while protecting endoscopy staff. Methods: The pre-endoscopy triage framework was set up with three checkpoints at the hospital entrance, outpatient department, and endoscopy unit, with a specific target patient population and screening methods. Relevant data included the number of endoscopic procedures performed, outpatient department visits, and performing screening methods such as temperature measurement, travel, occupation, contact, and clustering history checking, polymerase chain reaction assay, and rapid antigen test. Results: Forehead temperature measurement and verification of travel, occupation, contact, and clustering history provided rapid, easy, and early mass screening of symptomatic patients at the hospital entrance. During the pandemic, outpatient department visits and endoscopic procedures decreased by 37% and 64%, respectively. The pre-endoscopy screening methods used displayed regional variations in COVID-19 prevalence. Among 16 endoscopy units with a community prevalence of ≥ 31.04 cases per 100,000 residents, 12 (75%) used polymerase chain reaction assay and four (25%) used rapid antigen test to identify asymptomatic patients before endoscopy. Of 6540 pre-endoscopy screening patients, 15 (0.23%) tested positive by laboratory testing. No endoscopy-related nosocomial COVID-19 infections were reported during the pandemic. Conclusions: We present a three-stage pre-endoscopy triage based on the local laboratory capacity, medical resources, and community prevalence. These measures could be useful during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Safety, immunogenicity, efficacy, and acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination in people with multiple sclerosis: a narrative review.

In the last two years, a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection has spread worldwide leading to the death of millions. Vaccination represents the key factor in the global strategy against this pandemic, but it also poses several problems, especially for vulnerable people such as patients with multiple sclerosis. In this review, we have briefly summarized the main findings of the safety, efficacy, and acceptability of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination for multiple sclerosis patients. Although the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines has progressively increased in the last year, a small but significant part of patients with multiple sclerosis still has relevant concerns about vaccination that make them hesitant about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Overall, available data suggest that the COVID-19 vaccination is safe and effective in multiple sclerosis patients, even though some pharmacological treatments such as anti-CD20 therapies or sphingosine l-phosphate receptor modulators can reduce the immune response to vaccination. Accordingly, COVID-19 vaccination should be strongly recommended for people with multiple sclerosis and, in patients treated with anti-CD20 therapies and sphingosine l-phosphate receptor modulators, and clinicians should evaluate the appropriate timing for vaccine administration. Further studies are necessary to understand the role of cellular immunity in COVID-19 vaccination and the possible usefulness of booster jabs. On the other hand, it is mandatory to learn more about the reasons why people refuse vaccination. This would help to design a more effective communication campaign aimed at increasing vaccination coverage among vulnerable people.

SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among health care workers from a children's hospital. / Anticuerpos anti-SARS-CoV-2 en personal de salud de un hospital pediátrico.

Introduction. In Argentina, health care workers have been the first ones to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, but there are still few data on the production of anti-S IgG antibodies. Objectives. To assess specific IgG against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (anti-S IgG) after the vaccination of health care workers from a children's hospital. To explore the association between the presence of these antibodies, age, and history of prior infection. Population and methods. Cross-sectional study in 193 workers who received both doses of the two- component Sputnik V vaccine. The anti-S IgG antibody titer was measured and age, history of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, and date of vaccination were recorded. Results. Anti-S IgG antibodies were produced in 98.6% of the subjects. The titer was higher in those with prior infection (p < 0.001), but no relationship was established with subjects' age. Conclusion. We provide data on post-vaccination production of IgG anti-S antibodies among health care workers from a children's hospital and explore some predictors.

Introducción. En Argentina, el personal de salud ha sido el primero en vacunarse contra COVID-19, pero todavía existen pocos datos sobre la producción de anticuerpos IgG anti-S. Objetivos. Evaluar IgG específica contra glicoproteína spike del SARS-CoV-2 (IgG anti-S) posvacunación en personal de un hospital pediátrico. Explorar la asociación entre presencia de dichos anticuerpos, edad y antecedente de infección previa. Población y métodos. Estudio transversal que incluyó 193 trabajadores vacunados con los dos componentes de la vacuna Sputnik V. Se pesquisó el título de IgG anti-S y se registraron edad, antecedente de infección previa por SARS-CoV-2 y fecha de la vacunación. Resultados. El 98,6 % de los sujetos generó IgG anti-S. El título fue mayor en quienes habían cursado infección previamente (p <0,001), pero no hubo relación con la edad de los sujetos. Conclusión. Aportamos datos de generación de anticuerpos IgG anti-S posvacunación en personal de salud de un hospital pediátrico y exploramos algunos predictores.

Getting through a COVID-19 winter: Physical coldness increases the perceived risk of coronavirus disease.

What factors influence how people perceive the risk of getting COVID-19? Extending beyond features of general health conditions, media coverage, and genetic susceptibility to disease, the present research investigates whether the immediacy of experience with temperature, a subtle yet pervasive environmental factor, can affect people's estimation of contagion probability. According to the attribute substitution model, people may rely on the visceral experience of coldness, a far easier quantity to evaluate, to estimate the contagion probability of the new coronavirus disease. Study 1 found that Chinese university students who perceived the indoor temperature to be lower believed that the coronavirus was more infectious. To provide causal evidence for the effect, Study 2 randomly assigned participants to different conditions. The results showed that participants in the cold condition reported a higher likelihood of contracting the coronavirus than participants in the control condition. Overall, these findings are consistent with the attribute substitution model: people tend to recruit simpler and more accessible information (e.g., local temperature) in place of more diagnostic but less tangible information (e.g., scientific data) in assessing the risk of disease transmission. Theoretical contributions and the significance of this research for policy makers are discussed.

Evaluating the public acceptance of sustainable mobility interventions responding to Covid-19: The case of the Great Walk of Athens and the importance of citizen engagement.

COVID-19, the most wide-spread and disruptive pandemic in over a century, enforced emergency urban design responses meaning to recalibrate transport provision globally. This is the first work that systematically evaluates the 'public acceptance' as a proxy for 'policy success' and 'potential for longer-term viability' of the high-profile sustainable transport intervention package introduced in 2020 in the capital city of Greece known as the Great Walk of Athens (GWA). This is achieved through a twin statistical analysis of an e-survey that looked into the attitudes and urban mobility experiences of Athenians accessing the area of the trial daily. The research enabled a comparison between the pre- and post-implementation traffic situations and provided details about specific measures packaged in the GWA project. Our results suggest that walking and cycling uptake were only marginally improved. Traffic delays for car users were considerable. Car usage declined somewhat, with the exception of ride-sharing. Public transport ridership numbers suffered a lot because of concerns about sharing closed space with many others during a pandemic. Men and people on low income were more likely to agree with the 'change'. Naturally this was the case for people identified as primarily cyclists and pedestrians. The most impactful package elements in terms of car lane sacrifices (i.e., the redevelopment of Panepistimiou Street) had the lowest acceptability rates. A key reason that underpinned people's hesitation to approve the GWA initiative was the lack of public consultation in the decision-making that shaped the project. Our study provides evidence-based generalisable lessons for similar metropolitan environments looking to implement more or evaluate for possibly making permanent 'rushed' anti-Covid street redevelopment measures.

Analysis of COVID-19 in Japan with extended SEIR model and ensemble Kalman filter.

We introduce an extended SEIR infectious disease model with data assimilation for the study of the spread of COVID-19. In this framework, undetected asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases are taken into account, and the impact of their uncertain proportion is fully investigated. The standard SEIR model does not consider these populations, while their role in the propagation of the disease is acknowledged. An ensemble Kalman filter is implemented to assimilate reliable observations of three compartments in the model. The system tracks the evolution of the effective reproduction number and estimates the unobservable subpopulations. The analysis is carried out for three main prefectures of Japan and for the entire country of Japan. For these four communities, our estimated effective reproduction numbers are more stable than the corresponding ones estimated by a different method (Toyokeizai). We also perform sensitivity tests for different values of some uncertain medical parameters, like the relative infectivity of symptomatic/asymptomatic cases. The regional analysis results suggest the decreasing efficiency of the states of emergency.

Mobility support for disadvantaged and disabled travelers during pandemic or similar situations.

The COVID-19 lockdown has reduced public transportation service to the disadvantaged and disabled people who urgently need adequate mobility to obtain essential suppliers. This paper aims to improve the life quality of people with disabilities and elderly people by addressing social exclusion, accessibility, and mobility issues. Demand responsive transport services are frequently offered in the context of door-to-door transportation of the elderly and persons with disabilities. We study and compare two frameworks. We apply both Sample average approximation (SAA) and Rolling Horizon (RH) to optimize a car sharing system for the total cost, including initiation cost and operation cost after fleet size is determined. The model is implemented with given geographic conditions and other local information to be tailored for specific applications for local communities. Given that no historical data is available, random sample data is generated to simulate expected demands. We consider three types of probability distributions for daily demand data, and the results generated using three different distributions are being examined and compared. The research shows that the demand data following a normal distribution results in the minimum total cost. Additionally, we study the impact of several factors on total cost, including demand fulfillment rates and operation hours. Our results suggest that the impact of fulfillment rate on fleet size is exponential after a threshold under all three types of daily demand data, and extended operation hours can significantly reduce the total cost. Finally, the paper provides applicable frameworks for city planners, NPOs, and policymakers to better allocate limited resources to implement the carsharing system when little to no historical travel information is available for low-density population areas. It is anticipated that the outcome from this research would benefit disadvantaged and disabled travelers during COVID-19 or similar difficult situations in the future.

Who spread COVID-19 (mis)information online? Differential informedness, psychological mechanisms, and intervention strategies.

Based on a regional survey conducted in five cities of China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Wuhan) in January 2020 and a national survey experiment conducted in 31 provinces of China in December 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated the intentions for the misinformed, uninformed, and informed individuals to spread COVID-19 related (mis)information online and the psychological factors affecting their distinct sharing behaviors. We found that (1) both misinformed and uninformed individuals were more likely to spread misinformation and less likely to share fact as compared with the informed ones; (2) the reasons for the misinformed individuals to spread misinformation resembled those for the informed ones to share truth, but the uninformed ones shared misinformation based on different motivations; and (3) information that arouses positive emotions were more likely to go viral than that arouses negative feelings in the context of COVID-19, regardless of facticity. The implications of these findings were discussed in terms of how people react to misinformation when coping with risk, and intervention strategies were proposed to combat COVID-19 or other types of misinformation in risk scenarios.

Networks in lockdown: The consequences of COVID-19 for social relationships and feelings of loneliness.

This paper studies social network changes during the COVID-19 crisis in the Netherlands and their relation to perceived loneliness for the younger and the older cohorts. Arguments from opportunity theory and social capital theory are used to formulate hypotheses on network changes during the pandemic. Core discussion networks and networks with practical helpers from two representative cohorts (18-35 years of age and 65+ years of age, n = 1342 participants in both waves) during the lockdown in May 2020 are compared with networks of the same respondents in May 2019. We find that networks became smaller and more focused on stronger ties, while weaker ties more often decayed. Feelings of loneliness incsreased on average for all respondents and in particular for those who live alone or have a disadvantaged socioeconomic position. Importantly, the decrease in the number of the practical helper network, that is, decline in relatively weaker ties, affects experiences of loneliness in both groups.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the child care sector: Evidence from North Carolina.

This study provides a comprehensive, census-level evaluation of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the county child care market in a large and diverse state, North Carolina, and the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on different types of providers and communities. We use county-level panel data from 2016 to 2020 and a difference-in-differences design to isolate the effects of the pandemic from unobservable seasonal trends in enrollments and closures. We found that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced county-level child care enrollment by 40% and the number of providers by 2% as of December 2020. Heterogeneity analyses revealed that the family child care sector experienced not only less severe reductions in enrollment and closure than center providers, but also a small growth in the number of family providers. Declines in enrollment were most substantial for preschool-aged children. There was a significant drop in the number of 5-star providers and an increase in the number of lower-quality providers. Provider closures were more concentrated in communities with a higher percentage of Hispanic residents. Higher-SES communities experienced larger drops in enrollment as well as provider closures. Implications for child development and future research and policies are discussed.

Social media-based COVID-19 sentiment classification model using Bi-LSTM.

Internet public social media and forums provide a convenient channel for people concerned about public health issues, such as COVID-19, to share and discuss information/misinformation with each other. In this paper, we propose a natural language processing (NLP) method based on Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) technique to perform sentiment classification and uncover various issues related to COVID-19 public opinions. Bi-LSTM is an improved version of conventional LSTMs for generating the output from both left and right contexts at each time step. We experimented with real datasets extracted from Twitter and Reddit social media platforms, and our experimental results showed improved metrics compared with the conventional LSTM model as well as recent studies available in the literature. The proposed model can be used by official institutions to mitigate the effects of negative messages and to understand peoples' concerns during the pandemic. Furthermore, our findings shed light on the importance of using NLP techniques to analyze public opinion and to combat the spreading of misinformation and to guide health decision-making.

Adoption of measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19: In search of a Hofstedian explanation for patterns among individual countries and country clusters.

We consider multiple safety measures in relation to the COVID-19 virus and look at their adoption levels for a variety of 15 individual countries, based on data from Yougov.co.uk. Subsequently, we establish correlation coefficients between measure-specific uptake levels and Hofstede dimension scores for all countries considered. We notably find that Power Distance Index (PDI) and Individualism (IDV) have a considerable explanatory power. In addition, we carried out a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and a cluster analysis to see whether the behavioural patterns across countries can be grouped, and which Hofstede dimensions correlate strongest with the two main components that follow from the PCA. The PCA provides further confirmation of PDI and IDV being the most important explanatory factors for the uptake of measures across countries. The cluster analysis, in turn, reveals four broad groups, which only partly coincide with the way that the mental image clustering scheme by Wursten (2019) allots countries into its respective clusters. Hence, this provides a basis to suggest that data-driven exercises like the ones from our paper can serve to adjust Wursten's intuitive scheme.

Vaccination control measures of an epidemic model with long-term memristive effect.

COVID-19 is a drastic air-way tract infection that set off a global pandemic recently. Most infected people with mild and moderate symptoms have recovered with naturally acquired immunity. In the interim, the defensive mechanism of vaccines helps to suppress the viral complications of the pathogenic spread. Besides effective vaccination, vaccine breakthrough infections occurred rapidly due to noxious exposure to contagions. This paper proposes a new epidemiological control model in terms of Atangana Baleanu Caputo (ABC) type fractional order differ integrals for the reported cases of COVID-19 outburst. The qualitative theoretical and numerical analysis of the aforesaid mathematical model in terms of three compartments namely susceptible, vaccinated, and infected population are exhibited through non-linear functional analysis. The hysteresis kernel involved in AB integral inherits the long-term memory of the dynamical trajectory of the epidemics. Hyer-Ulam's stability of the system is studied by the dichotomy operator. The most effective approximate solution is derived by numerical interpolation to our proposed model. An extensive analysis of the vigorous vaccination and the proportion of vaccinated individuals are explored through graphical simulations. The efficacious enforcement of this vaccination control mechanism will mitigate the contagious spread and severity.

Global stability and analysing the sensitivity of parameters of a multiple-susceptible population model of SARS-CoV-2 emphasising vaccination drive.

The study explores the dynamics of a COVID-19 epidemic in multiple susceptible populations, including the various stages of vaccination administration. In the model, there are eight human compartments: completely susceptible; susceptible with dose-1 vaccination; susceptible with dose-2 vaccination; susceptible with booster dose vaccination; exposed; infected with and without symptoms, and recovered compartments. The biological feasibility of the model is analysed. The threshold value, R 0 , is derived using the next-generation matrix. The stability analysis of the equilibrium points was performed locally and globally using the threshold parameter of the model. The conditions determining disease persistence is obtained. The model is subjected to sensitivity analysis, and the most sensitive parameters are identified. Also, MATLAB is used to verify the mathematical outcomes of the system's dynamic behaviour and suggests that necessary steps should be taken to keep the spread of the omicron variant infectious disease under control. The findings of this study could aid health officials in their efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Rewriting the script: How COVID-19 affected the relation between intrinsic aspirations and depressive symptoms.

Self-determination theory proposes that intrinsic aspirations protect against negative mental health outcomes by satisfying people's basic psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. The present study investigated this relationship using two four-wave prospective longitudinal studies which followed undergraduate students across the Canadian academic calendar (September to May). The first was conducted across 2018-19 and the second across 2019-20. By comparing these two samples, we examined whether baseline levels of intrinsic aspirations moderated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of depressive symptoms. Three main findings emerged, the first being that students reported higher levels of depressive symptoms in Spring 2020 than in Spring 2019. Second, students with more intrinsic aspirations in the pre-pandemic sample (2018-19) experienced fewer depressive symptoms from December to May while students with more intrinsic aspirations in the pandemic sample (2019-20) experienced more depressive symptoms during this period. Lastly, the latter relationship was mediated by need frustration, whereby students with higher levels of intrinsic aspirations experienced greater need frustration during the pandemic year. Together, these findings suggest that although intrinsic aspirations typically protect against negative psychological outcomes, the unique need frustrating context of the pandemic made them a risk factor for depression.

ChestX-Ray6: Prediction of multiple diseases including COVID-19 from chest X-ray images using convolutional neural network.

In the last few decades, several epidemic diseases have been introduced. In some cases, doctors and medical physicians are facing difficulties in identifying these diseases correctly. A machine can perform some of these identification tasks more accurately than a human if it is trained correctly. With time, the number of medical data is increasing. A machine can analyze this medical data and extract knowledge from this data, which can help doctors and medical physicians. This study proposed a lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN) named ChestX-ray6 that automatically detects pneumonia, COVID19, cardiomegaly, lung opacity, and pleural from digital chest x-ray images. Here multiple databases have been combined, containing 9,514 chest x-ray images of normal and other five diseases. The lightweight ChestX-ray6 model achieved an accuracy of 80% for the detection of six diseases. The ChestX-ray6 model has been saved and used for binary classification of normal and pneumonia patients to reveal the model's generalization power. The pre-trained ChestX-ray6 model has achieved an accuracy and recall of 97.94% and 98% for binary classification, which outweighs the state-of-the-art (SOTA) models.

A resilient, robust transformation of healthcare systems to cope with COVID-19 through alternative resources.

The COVID-19 pandemic - as a massive disruption - has significantly increased the need for medical services putting an unprecedented strain on health systems. This study presents a robust location-allocation model under uncertainty to increase the resiliency of health systems by applying alternative resources, such as backup and field hospitals and student nurses. A multi-objective optimization model is developed to minimize the system's costs and maximize the satisfaction rate among medical staff and COVID-19 patients. A robust approach is provided to face the data uncertainty, and a new mathematical model is extended to linearize a nonlinear constraint. The ICU beds, ward beds, ventilators, and nurses are considered the four main capacity limitations of hospitals for admitting different types of COVID-19 patients. The sensitivity analysis is performed on a real-world case study to investigate the applicability of the proposed model. The results demonstrate the contribution of student nurses and backup and field hospitals in treating COVID-19 patients and provide more flexible decisions with lower risks in the system by managing the fluctuations in both the number of patients and available nurses. The results showed that a reduction in the number of available nurses incurs higher costs for the system and lower satisfaction among patients and nurses. Moreover, the backup and field hospitals and the medical staff elevated the system's resiliency. By allocating backup hospitals to COVID-19 patients, only 37% of severe patients were lost, and this rate fell to less than 5% after establishing field hospitals. Moreover, medical students and field hospitals curbed the costs and increased the satisfaction rate of nurses by 75%. Finally, the system was protected from failure by increasing the conservatism level. With a 2% growth in the price of robustness, the system saved 13%.

Moral expressions, sources, and frames: Examining COVID-19 vaccination posts by facebook public pages.

Taking advantage of 3 million English-language posts by Facebook public pages, this study answers the following questions: How did the amount of COVID-19 vaccine-related messages evolve? How did the moral expressions in the messages differ among sources? How did both the sources and the five moral foundations in posts influence the number of likes to posts, after controlling for the public page's features (e.g., age, followers)? Our research findings suggest that moral expression is prevalent in the COVID-19 vaccination posts, surpassing nonmoral content. Media sources, despite the high volume of posts, on average elicited fewer likes than all other sources. Although care and fairness were the two most used moral foundations, they were negatively related to likes. In contrast, the least used two moral values of authority and sanctity were positively related to likes. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical contributions and a recommendation of possible interventions.

Privacy-preserving COVID-19 contact tracing solution based on blockchain.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected daily life and caused a great loss to the global economy. Due to the very urgent need for identifying close contacts of confirmed patients in the current situation, the development of automated contact tracing app for smart devices has attracted more attention all over the world. Compared with expensive manual tracing approach, automated contact tracing apps can offer fast and precise tracing service, however, over-pursing high efficiency would lead to the privacy-leaking issue for app users. By combing with the benign properties (e.g., anonymity, decentralization, and traceability) of blockchain, we propose an efficient privacy-preserving solution in automated tracing scenario. Our main technique is a combination of non-interactive zero-knowledge proof and multi-signature with public key aggregation. By means of aggregating multiple signatures from different contacts at the mutual commitment phase, we only need fewer zero-knowledge proofs to complete the task of identifying contacts. It inherently leads to the benefits of saving storage and consuming less time for running verification algorithm on blockchain. Furthermore, we perform an experimental comparison by timing the execution of signature verification with and without aggregate signature, respectively. It shows that our solution can actually preserve the full-fledged privacy protection property with a lower computational cost.

Covid-19 impacts on group sports activities and social psychology / Impactos da covid-19 nas atividades esportivas de grupo e na psicologia social / Impactos del covid-19 en las actividades deportivas de grupo y en la psicología social

ABSTRACT Introduction: Sports play an important role in maintaining community health, positively impacting the immune system. Behind the scenes of COVID-19 prevention, the value of exercise has been recognized in both individual and collective health needs. Yet, a current scenario of its use and psychosocial impact has to be documented. Objective: Study the impact of COVID-19 disease on group sports activities and explore residents' social and psychological aspects. Methods: This paper adopts the online survey method by distributing relevant questionnaires to urban residents analyzing the current frequency of group sports activities, individual hobbies, and group sports activities, their distribution areas, organization, and the impacts generated by the pandemic. Results: The surveyed subjects in the study area have good physical activity habits. Male residents prefer ball games, and female residents prefer activities that explore relaxation and communication. Group sports activities have more followers. Conclusion: Despite the good habits verified in the majority of the population, it is necessary to improve outdoor facilities and indoor sports training places and establish a good system for disseminating information about the social-psychological service. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: Os esportes desempenham um papel importante na manutenção da saúde comunitária, com impactos positivos no sistema imunológico. Nos bastidores da prevenção da COVID-19, o valor do exercício foi reconhecido tanto nas necessidades individuais quanto coletivas de saúde, porém um cenário atual de sua utilização e seu impacto psicossocial ainda não foram documentados. Objetivo: Estudar o impacto da doença COVID-19 nas atividades esportivas em grupo e explorar os aspectos sociais e psicológicos dos moradores. Métodos: Este artigo adota o método de survey online, distribuindo questionários relevantes aos moradores urbanos analisando a frequência atual das atividades esportivas em grupo, os hobbies individuais e as atividades esportivas em grupo, bem como suas áreas de distribuição, organização e os impactos gerados pela pandemia. Resultados: Os sujeitos pesquisados na área de estudo possuem bons hábitos de atividade física. Os residentes do sexo masculino tendem a preferir jogos de bola enquanto as mulheres preferem atividades que exploram o relaxamento e a comunicação. As atividades esportivas em grupo possuem mais adeptos. Conclusão: Apesar dos bons hábitos verificados na maioria da população, faz-se necessária a necessidade de aprimorar as instalações ao ar livre e nos locais de treino esportivo interno, além de estabelecer um bom sistema de divulgação nas informações sobre o serviço psicológico social. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: El deporte desempeña un papel importante en el mantenimiento de la salud de la comunidad, con impactos positivos en el sistema inmunológico. Entre los antecedentes de la prevención del COVID-19, se ha reconocido el valor del ejercicio en las necesidades de salud tanto individuales como colectivas, sin embargo aún no se ha documentado un escenario actual de su uso y su impacto psicosocial. Objetivo: Estudiar el impacto de la enfermedad COVID-19 en las actividades deportivas de grupo y explorar los aspectos sociales y psicológicos de los residentes. Métodos: Este trabajo adopta el método de encuesta en línea mediante la distribución de cuestionarios pertinentes a los residentes urbanos que analizan la frecuencia actual de las actividades deportivas en grupo, las aficiones individuales y las actividades deportivas en grupo, así como sus áreas de distribución, la organización y los impactos generados por la pandemia. Resultados: Los sujetos encuestados en el área de estudio tienen buenos hábitos de actividad física. Los residentes masculinos tienden a preferir los juegos de pelota, mientras que las mujeres prefieren actividades que exploren la relajación y la comunicación. Las actividades deportivas en grupo tienen más seguidores. Conclusión: A pesar de los buenos hábitos constatados en la mayoría de la población, es necesario mejorar las instalaciones exteriores y los lugares de entrenamiento deportivo interior, además de establecer un buen sistema de difusión en la información sobre el servicio psicológico social. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Investigation of sport-related habits in college students after covid-19 epidemic / Investigação sobre hábitos relacionados ao esporte em estudantes universitários após epidemia de covid-19 / Investigación de los hábitos relacionados con el deporte en estudiantes universitarios tras la epidemia de covid-19

ABSTRACT Introduction: China's covid-19 epidemic is under control. Universities and schools across the country have resumed physical education classes, but the mental health knowledge of college students in the aftermath of the covid-19 outbreak has not been investigated. Objective: To study college students' mental health and sports-related habits after the covid-19 outbreak. Methods: This study comprehensively used literature materials, expert interviews, mathematical statistics, and other methods to study the sports-related attitudes and health awareness of college students before and after the outbreak of the new epidemic, examining the health knowledge domain of college students. Results: In the survey dimensions related to students' sports knowledge, the highest mean score was for "emotional control" at 3.48, followed by "participation motivation" at 3.41 and "participation attitude" at 3.35. The scores of sports participation attitude, motivation, and sports emotion for males were equal and higher than in females, where the measures of emotional factors and motivation to participate reached significant levels. After the epidemic, the mean scores for students' participation attitude, sports emotion, and motivation to participate in sports exceeded the theoretical mean. Conclusion: After the health awareness and prevention work in the community and school network, university students' sports attitudes and awareness improved significantly compared to before the Covid-19 outbreak. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: A epidemia de covid-19 em China encontra-se sob controle. Faculdades, escolas primárias e secundárias em todo o país retomaram as aulas de educação física, porém o conhecimento sobre a saúde mental dos estudantes universitários no estágio posterior do surto da Covid-19 não foi investigado. Objetivo: Estudar a saúde mental e os hábitos relacionados ao esporte nos universitários depois da epidemia da Covid-19. Métodos: Este estudo utilizou de forma abrangente materiais de literatura, entrevistas de especialistas, estatísticas matemáticas e outros métodos para estudar especificamente as atitudes relacionadas ao esporte e a conscientização na saúde dos estudantes universitários antes e depois do surto da nova epidemia, examinando o domínio do conhecimento em saúde dos estudantes universitários. Resultados: Nas dimensões da pesquisa relacionadas ao conhecimento esportivo dos alunos, a maior pontuação média foi de "controle emocional" como 3,48, seguida por "motivação de participação" como 3,41 e "atitude participativa" como 3,35. As pontuações de atitude de participação esportiva, motivação e emoção esportiva para os homens foram iguais e maior do que nas mulheres, onde as medidas de fator emocional e motivação para participar atingiram níveis significativos. Após a epidemia, as médias de atitude de participação dos alunos, emoção esportiva e motivação para participar do esporte superaram a média teórica. Conclusão: Após o trabalho de conscientização em saúde e prevenção, na rede comunitária e escolar, a atitude esportiva e a conscientização dos universitários foram significativamente aprimoradas em relação aos antecedentes ao surto de Covid-19. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: La epidemia de covid-19 en China está bajo control. Los colegios y las escuelas primarias y secundarias de todo el país han reanudado las clases de educación física, pero no se ha investigado el conocimiento sobre la salud mental de los estudiantes universitarios en la última etapa del brote de covid-19. Objetivo: Estudiar la salud mental y los hábitos relacionados con el deporte en los estudiantes universitarios tras el brote de covid-19. Métodos: Este estudio utilizó de forma exhaustiva materiales bibliográficos, entrevistas a expertos, estadísticas matemáticas y otros métodos para estudiar específicamente las actitudes relacionadas con el deporte y el conocimiento de la salud de los estudiantes universitarios antes y después del estallido de la nueva epidemia, examinando el dominio del conocimiento de la salud de los estudiantes universitarios. Resultados: En las dimensiones de la encuesta relacionadas con los conocimientos deportivos de los estudiantes, la puntuación media más alta correspondió al "control emocional" con un 3,48, seguido de la "motivación para la participación" con un 3,41 y la "actitud para la participación" con un 3,35. Las puntuaciones de la actitud de participación deportiva, la motivación y la emoción deportiva de los varones fueron iguales y superiores a las de las mujeres, donde las medidas del factor emocional y la motivación para participar alcanzaron niveles significativos. Después de la epidemia, las puntuaciones medias de la actitud de participación, la emoción deportiva y la motivación para participar en el deporte de los alumnos superaron la media teórica. Conclusión: Tras el trabajo de concienciación y prevención sanitaria en la comunidad y la red escolar, la actitud y la conciencia deportiva de los estudiantes universitarios mejoraron significativamente en comparación con las anteriores al brote de Covid-19. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Acute necrotic disorder of the small intestine post-coronavirus disease-2019 vaccination.

The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is extensively used worldwide, and its safety has been proven. Herein, we report a case of an acute necrotic disorder in the small intestine post-COVID-19 vaccination. The patient developed severe abdominal pain the day after the first vaccination. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed extensive ileum wall thickening and ascites. Colonoscopy revealed a ring-shaped ulcer and stricture in the terminal ileum. Ileocecal resection was performed, and the patient did not have further episodes of a necrotic disorder in the small intestine. Although it is unknown if this event is associated with vaccination, and this occurrence also does not outweigh the efficacy and safety of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, gastroenterologists need to be aware of this rare case, given its noteworthy timing.

Stability and inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 on food contact surfaces.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 269 million people and killed more than 5.3 million people worldwide. Although fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been continuously reported, few studies have been conducted on food contact surfaces. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the viability of coronaviruses on food contact surfaces and to remove SARS-CoV-2 contaminated on food contact surfaces with disinfectants. At 20 °C, SARS-CoV-2 was inactivated within 48 h on all food contact surfaces. At 4 °C, it was inactivated at 48 h on kraft paper and 96 h on parchment paper, but it was viable up to 5 days in low-density polyethylene (LDPE). At -20 °C, SARS-CoV-2 did not decrease by even 1 log on all food contact surfaces until 5 days. Treatment with 70% ethanol or 1000 ppm sodium hypochlorite for 5 min was sufficient to completely remove SARS-CoV-2 from 6 food contact surfaces. Similarly, UV-C irradiation at 60 mJ/cm2 eliminated SARS-CoV-2 contaminated on food contact surfaces. Also, the wiping test showed that even wiping an area contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 with a cloth moistened with 70% ethanol or 1000 ppm sodium hypochlorite, it took 5 min to inactivate the virus. Our findings suggested that SARS-CoV-2 contaminated on food contact surfaces in local retail may be viable enough to be transported home. However, if the type and method of use of the disinfectant suggested in this study are followed, it is possible to sufficiently control the fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through food contact surfaces at home.

Sparse spatially clustered coefficient model via adaptive regularization.

Large spatial datasets with many spatial covariates have become ubiquitous in many fields in recent years. A question of interest is to identify which covariates are likely to influence a spatial response, and whether and how the effects of these covariates vary across space, including potential abrupt changes from region to region. To solve this question, a new efficient regularized spatially clustered coefficient (RSCC) regression approach is proposed, which could achieve variable selection and identify latent spatially heterogeneous covariate effects with clustered patterns simultaneously. By carefully designing the regularization term of RSCC as a chain graph guided fusion penalty plus a group lasso penalty, the RSCC model is computationally efficient for large spatial datasets while still achieving the theoretical guarantees for estimation. RSCC also adopts the idea of adaptive learning to allow for adaptive weights and adaptive graphs in its regularization terms and further improves the estimation performance. RSCC is applied to study the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines using county-level data in the United States and discover the determinants of vaccination acceptance with varying effects across counties, revealing important within-state and across-state spatially clustered patterns of covariates effects.

High-Speed railways and the spread of Covid-19.

High-speed railways (HSRs) greatly decrease transportation costs and facilitate the movement of goods, services, and passengers across cities. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, HSRs may contribute to the cross-regional spread of the new coronavirus. This paper evaluates the role of HSRs in spreading Covid-19 from Wuhan to other Chinese cities. We use train frequencies in 1971 and 1990 as instrumental variables. Empirical results from gravity models demonstrate that one more HSR train originating from Wuhan each day before the Wuhan lockdown increases the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in a city by about 10 percent. The empirical analysis suggests that other transportation modes, including normal-speed trains and airline flights, also contribute to the spread of Covid-19, but their effects are smaller than the effect of HSRs. This paper's findings indicate that transportation infrastructures, especially HSR trains originating from a city where a pandemic broke out, can be important factors promoting the spread of an infectious disease.

Modeling COVID-19 hospital admissions and occupancy in the Netherlands.

We describe the models we built for predicting hospital admissions and bed occupancy of COVID-19 patients in the Netherlands. These models were used to make short-term decisions about transfers of patients between regions and for long-term policy making. For forecasting admissions we developed a new technique using linear programming. To predict occupancy we fitted residual lengths of stay and used results from queueing theory. Our models increased the accuracy of and trust in the predictions and helped manage the pandemic, minimizing the impact in terms of beds and maximizing remaining capacity for other types of care.

A privacy-preserving blockchain-based tracing model for virus-infected people in cloud.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has exposed the privacy of positive patients to the public, which will lead to violations of users' rights and even threaten their lives. A privacy-preserving scheme involving virus-infected positive patients is proposed by us. The traditional ciphertext policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) has the features of enhanced plaintext security and fine-grained access control. However, the encryption process requires the high computational performance of the device, which puts a high strain on resource-limited devices. After semi-honest users successfully decrypt the data, they will get the real private data, which will cause serious privacy leakage problems. Traditional cloud-based data management architectures are extremely vulnerable in the face of various cyberattacks. To address the above challenges, a verifiable ABE scheme based on blockchain and local differential privacy is proposed, using LDP to perturb the original data locally to a certain extent to resist collusion attacks, outsourcing encryption and decryption to corresponding service providers to reduce the pressure on mobile terminals, and deploying smart contracts in combination with blockchain for fair execution by all parties to solve the problem of returning wrong search results in a semi-honest cloud server. Detailed security proofs are performed through the defined security goals, which shows that the proposed scheme is indeed privacy-protective. The experimental results show that the scheme is optimized in terms of data accuracy, computational overhead, storage performance, and fairness. In terms of efficiency, it greatly reduces the local load, enhances personal privacy protection, and has high practicality as well as reliability. As far as we know, it is the first case of applying the combination of LDP technology and blockchain to a tracing system, which not only mitigates poisoning attacks on user data, but also improves the accuracy of the data, thus making it easier to identify infected contacts and making a useful contribution to health prevention and control efforts.

Reinforcement sensitivity theory may predict COVID-19 infection outcome and vulnerability.

Research suggests that specific behavior patterns may be related with the outcome and vulnerability of a COVID-19 infection; nevertheless, much of this information has been obtained by means of psychological paradigms that are not based on research conducted using experimental designs. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to identify behavior patterns associated with COVID-19 outcome and vulnerability from the point of view of the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. A total of 464 college students from Mexico-City participated in the study. Participants answered the Behavior Inhibition, Behavior Activation scales (Carver & White, 1994), the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory Personality Questionnaire (Corr & Cooper, 2016) and a COVID-19 symptom checklist. Data showed that those individuals who respond in an enthusiastic way to rewards develop less symptoms of COVID-19. Additionally, individuals who are keen in the exploration and identification of new rewarding opportunities are less likely to develop a COVID-19 infection. Both findings suggest that a potent Behavior Activation System could protect individuals during the present pandemic. These results are in general agreement with others produced within the same framework.

Hydrogen-rich gas production from disposable COVID-19 mask by steam gasification.

Globally, the demand for masks has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in 490,201 tons of waste masks disposed of per month. Since masks are used in places with a high risk of virus infection, waste masks retain the risk of virus contamination. In this study, a 1 kg/h lab-scale (diameter: 0.114 m, height: 1 m) bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was used for steam gasification (temperature: 800 °C, steam/carbon (S/C) ratio: 1.5) of waste masks. The use of a downstream reactor with activated carbon (AC) for tar cracking and the enhancement of hydrogen production was examined. Steam gasification with AC produces syngas with H2, CO, CH4, and CO2 content of 38.89, 6.40, 21.69, and 7.34 vol%, respectively. The lower heating value of the product gas was 29.66 MJ/Nm3 and the cold gas efficiency was 74.55 %. This study showed that steam gasification can be used for the utilization of waste masks and the production of hydrogen-rich gas for further applications.

Global dynamics of two-strain epidemic model with single-strain vaccination in complex networks.

Contagious pathogens, such as influenza and COVID-19, are known to be represented by multiple genetic strains. Different genetic strains may have different characteristics, such as spreading more easily, causing more severe diseases, or even evading the immune response of the host. These facts complicate our ability to combat these diseases. There are many ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and vaccination is the most effective. Thus, studying the impact of vaccines on the dynamics of a multi-strain model is crucial. Moreover, the notion of complex networks is commonly used to describe the social contacts that should be of particular concern in epidemic dynamics. In this paper, we investigate a two-strain epidemic model using a single-strain vaccine in complex networks. We first derive two threshold quantities, R 1 and R 2 , for each strain. Then, by using the basic tools for stability analysis in dynamical systems (i.e., Lyapunov function method and LaSalle's invariance principle), we prove that if R 1 < 1 and R 2 < 1 , then the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable in the two-strain model. This means that the disease will die out. Furthermore, the global stability of each strain dominance equilibrium is established by introducing further critical values. Under these stability conditions, we can determine which strain will survive. Particularly, we find that the two strains can coexist under certain condition; thus, a coexistence equilibrium exists. Moreover, as long as the equilibrium exists, it is globally stable. Numerical simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical results.

Network analysis of internet addiction and depression among Chinese college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study.

Background: There has been growing evidence of comorbidity between internet addiction and depression in youth during the COVID-19 period. According to the network theory, this may arise from the interplay of symptoms shared by these two mental disorders. Therefore, we examined this underlying process by measuring the changes in the central and bridge symptoms of the co-occurrence networks across time. Methods: A total of 852 Chinese college students were recruited during two waves (T1: August 2020; T2: November 2020), and reported their internet addiction symptoms and depressive symptoms. Network analysis was utilized for the statistical analysis. Results: The internet addiction symptoms "escape" and "irritable," and depression symptoms "energy" and "guilty" were the central symptoms for both waves. At the same time, "guilty" and "escape" were identified as bridge symptoms. Notably, the correlation between "anhedonia" and "withdrawal" significantly increased, and that between "guilty" and "escape" significantly decreased over time. Conclusions: This study provides novel insights into the central features of internet addiction and depression during the two stages. Interestingly, "guilty" and "escape," two functions of the defense mechanism, are identified as bridge symptoms. These two symptoms are suggested to activate the negative feedback loop and further contribute to the comorbidity between internet addiction and depression. Thus, targeting interventions on these internalized symptoms may contribute to alleviating the level of comorbidity among college students.

What message features influence the intention to share misinformation about COVID-19 on social media? The role of efficacy and novelty.

Given the amount of misinformation being circulated on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential threat to public health, it is imperative to investigate ways to hinder its transmission. To this end, this study aimed to identify message features that may contribute to misinformation sharing on social media. Based on the theory of social sharing of emotion and the extant research on message credibility, this study examined if emotions and message credibility serve as mechanisms through which novelty and efficacy of misinformation influence sharing intention. An online experiment concerning COVID-19 misinformation was conducted by employing a 2 (novelty conditions: high vs. low) × 2 (efficacy conditions: high vs. low) between-subjects design using a national quota sample in South Korea (N = 1,012). The findings suggested that, contrary to the expectation, the overall effects of novelty on sharing intention were negative. The specific mechanisms played significant and unique roles in different directions: novelty increased sharing intention by evoking surprise, while also exerting a negative influence on sharing intention through an increase in negative emotions and a decrease in positive emotions and message credibility. Consistent with the expectation, efficacy exhibited positive total effects on sharing intention, which was explained by higher levels of (self- and response-) efficacy of protective action increasing positive emotions and message credibility but decreasing negative emotions. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Weakly supervised segmentation of COVID-19 infection with local lesion coherence on CT images.

At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, was ravaging the world, wreaking havoc on public health and the global economy. Today, although Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) is the gold standard for COVID-19 clinical diagnosis, it is a time-consuming and labor-intensive procedure. Simultaneously, an increasing number of individuals are seeking for better alternatives to RT-PCR. As a result, automated identification of COVID-19 lung infection in computed tomography (CT) images may help traditional diagnostic approaches in determining the severity of the disease. Unfortunately, a shortage of labeled training sets makes using AI deep learning algorithms to accurately segregate diseased regions in CT scan challenging. We design a simple and effective weakly supervised learning strategy for COVID-19 CT image segmentation to overcome the segmentation issue in the absence of adequate labeled data, namely LLC-Net. Unlike others weakly supervised work that uses a complex training procedure, our LLC-Net is relatively easy and repeatable. We propose a Local Self-Coherence Mechanism to accomplish label propagation based on lesion area labeling characteristics for weak labels that cannot offer comprehensive lesion areas, hence forecasting a more complete lesion area. Secondly, when the COVID-19 training samples are insufficient, the Scale Transform for Self-Correlation is designed to optimize the robustness of the model to ensure that the CT images are consistent in the prediction results from different angles. Finally, in order to constrain the segmentation accuracy of the lesion area, the Lesion Infection Edge Attention Module is used to improve the information expression ability of edge modeling. Experiments on public datasets demonstrate that our method is more effective than other weakly supervised methods and achieves a new state-of-the-art performance.

Advanced deep learning approaches to predict supply chain risks under COVID-19 restrictions.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented predicament for global supply chains (SCs). Shipments of essential and life-saving products, ranging from pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and healthcare, to manufacturing, have been significantly impacted or delayed, making the global SCs vulnerable. A better understanding of the shipment risks can substantially reduce that nervousness. Thenceforth, this paper proposes a few Deep Learning (DL) approaches to mitigate shipment risks by predicting "if a shipment can be exported from one source to another", despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed DL methodologies have four main stages: data capturing, de-noising or pre-processing, feature extraction, and classification. The feature extraction stage depends on two main variants of DL models. The first variant involves three recurrent neural networks (RNN) structures (i.e., long short-term memory (LSTM), Bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM), and gated recurrent unit (GRU)), and the second variant is the temporal convolutional network (TCN). In terms of the classification stage, six different classifiers are applied to test the entire methodology. These classifiers are SoftMax, random trees (RT), random forest (RF), k-nearest neighbor (KNN), artificial neural network (ANN), and support vector machine (SVM). The performance of the proposed DL models is evaluated based on an online dataset (taken as a case study). The numerical results show that one of the proposed models (i.e., TCN) is about 100% accurate in predicting the risk of shipment to a particular destination under COVID-19 restrictions. Unarguably, the aftermath of this work will help the decision-makers to predict supply chain risks proactively to increase the resiliency of the SCs.

Seroconversion dynamic and SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in unvaccinated population during the first and second outbreaks in Mexico.

Serosurveillance helps establish reopening guidelines and determine the immunity levels in different populations to reach herd immunity. Then, there is an urgent need to estimate seroprevalence population wide. In Mexico, information about COVID-19 cases and related deaths is scarce. Also, there is no official serosurveillance, limiting our knowledge of the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Here, we report the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 522,690 unvaccinated people from July 5th to December 31st, 2020. The overall seroprevalence was 32.8% and highest in adults aged 30-39 years (38.5%) than people under 20 years (33.0%) or older (28.9%). Moreover, in a cohort of 1655 individuals confirmed COVID-19 by PCR, we found that symptomatic people (HR = 2.56) increased seroconversion than presymptomatic. Also, we identified that the most discriminative symptoms for COVID-19 that could predict seroconversion were anosmia and ageusia (HR = 1.70), fever, myalgia/arthralgia, and cough (HR = 1.75). Finally, we found that obese people had lower seroconversion (HR = 0.53) than healthy people, but the opposite happens in diabetic people (HR = 1.39). These findings reveal that around one-third of Mexican outpatients had anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies before vaccination. Also, some symptoms improve empirically COVID-19 diagnosis and seroconversion. This information could help fine-tune vaccination schemes and the reopening and back-to-work algorithms.

Beyond the smart city: a typology of platform urbanism.

Platform urbanism has emerged in recent years as an area of research into the ways in which digital platforms are increasingly central to the governance, economy, experience, and understanding of the city. In the paper, we argue that platform urbanism is an evolution of the smart city, constituted by novel, digitally-enabled socio-technical assemblages that enable new forms of social, economic and political intermediation. We offer a typological framework for a better conceptualization of platform urbanism and its complex socio-economic relationships. We further outline several directions for future research on platform urbanism, specifically: a.) the need to critically investigate new power geometries of corporate, legal and regulatory alignments; b.) how platform urbanism may be expressed in, and affect, cities in the Global South; c.) how it may need to be critically engaged with in regard to its development in response to emergent events such as the Covid-19 pandemic; and d.) how it may shape visions of the current and future city.

Demographic and Clinical Factors Related to Severe COVID-19 Infection and Mortality in Patients With Schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: We aimed to explore the prevalence and determinants of severe COVID-19 disease and mortality in patients with schizophrenia in this study. We conducted a retrospective observational study of 1620 patients with schizophrenia. Of the 1620 patients, 52 (3.2%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-19. Among SARS-CoV-2-positive patients, 40 patients were hospitalized, and 17 patients required intensive care unit admission due to COVID-19 (76.9% and 32.7%, respectively). Severe COVID-19 disease was noted in 17 patients (32.7%) requiring intubation. In the logistic regression analysis, antipsychotic dose, and comorbidity score were independently associated with a greater risk of severe COVID-19 disease in patients with schizophrenia. Our study suggests that factors such as age, sex, comorbidities, and a daily antipsychotic dose may have effects on the poor outcome of SARS-CoV-2 disease in schizophrenia patients. In addition, the current findings propose that mortality may be associated with an older age, comorbidity score, and a longer duration of psychiatric disease among the SARS-CoV-2-positive patients with schizophrenia. However, the findings of our study should be verified in prospective and larger sample studies.

How Determinants of Employee Innovation Behavior Matter During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Investigating Cross-Regional Role via Multi-Group Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling Analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic cropping up at the end of 2019 started to pose a threat to millions of people's health and life after a few weeks. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to social and economic problems that have changed the progress steps of individuals and the whole nation. In this study, the work conditions for employees from Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Chinese mainland are explored and compared, and the relationship between support mechanisms and innovation behaviors (IB) is evaluated with a view of the social cognitive career theory. This study adopts the cross-sectional survey and purposive sampling to collect questionnaires. A total of 623 copies of a questionnaire from Taiwanese, 440 copies from Malaysians, and 513 copies from mainlanders were collected in this study to compare the three groups in developing employees' IBs. Smart-partial least squares for partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied in the structural model to conduct a verification of the hypotheses and comparative analysis in this study. According to the findings, compared with employees from the Chinese mainland, the Taiwanese and Malaysian samples show more significant paths regarding employee employability, IB, prior knowledge, perceived organizational support, self-efficacy, and job performance. Our results will offer more insights and advice concerning theories of human resource.

Changes in Cannabis Consumption Among Emerging Adults in Relation to Policy and Public Health Developments.

Background: Rates of cannabis use appear to be highest among emerging adults (EA). Evidence suggests that cannabis smoking, as well as alternate methods of cannabis use (e.g., vaping, edibles) have become a prevalent mode of consumption among this population. Substance use or misuse peaks during emerging adulthood and may be influenced by extreme economic, social and community developments, such as policy changes, public health concerns, and significant global events such as pandemics. For instance, it is highly likely that cannabis consumption trends among at-risk populations were influenced by the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, the declaration of the "e-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury" or "EVALI" outbreak, and the "COVID-19" pandemic. ObjectivesWe aimed to examine self-reported changes in frequency of cannabis use among EA in Canada (N = 312): pre-legalization, post-legalization; pre-EVALI, post-EVALI; pre-COVID-19, since-COVID-19. ResultsThere was a gradual increase in average frequency of smoking and vaping cannabis across the six different time intervals from the pre-legalization period (2018) to the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020). Males reported higher frequencies of cannabis smoking and vaping compared to females. ConclusionsDespite health concerns and expectations that EVALI and COVID-19 events would lead to decreased consumption, our results suggest an average increase in smoking and vaping cannabis, although the most notable increase was after legalization. There are important sex differences in behavioral factors of cannabis use in EA, though it appears that the "gender-gap" in cannabis consumption is closing. These findings may facilitate the development of intervention programs for policy measures to address cannabis-attributable outcomes in the face of contextual factors that promote use, such as public emergencies or changes in policy landscapes.

Colorectal resections during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey of practice during first lockdown.

INTRODUCTION: The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented time for the management of colorectal cancer, with uncertainty as to cancer-specific risks and the circumventing of gold standard oncological strategies. Our study aimed to acquire a snapshot of the practice of multidisciplinary team (MDT) management and variability in response to rapidly emerging guidelines. METHODS: The survey was disseminated to 150 colorectal cancer MDTs across England and Wales taken from the National Bowel Cancer Audit data set between 15 April and 30 June 2020 for completion by colorectal surgeons. RESULTS: Sixty-seven MDTs responded to the survey. Fifty-seven centres reported that they continued to perform colorectal cancer resections during the initial lockdown period. Fifty centres (74.6%) introduced routine preoperative COVID-19 testing and 50 (74.6%) employed full personal protective equipment for elective cases. Laparoscopic resections were continued by 25 centres (42.1%), whereas 28 (48.3%) changed to an open approach. Forty-nine (79.0%) centres reported experiencing patient-led surgical cancellations in 0-25% of their listings. If surgery was delayed significantly then 24 centres (38.7%) employed alternative neoadjuvant therapy, with short-course radiotherapy being their preferred adjunct of choice for rectal cancer. Just over 50% of the MDTs stated that they were uncomfortable or very uncomfortable with their management strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates variability in the MDT management of colorectal cancer during the initial COVID-19 lockdown, incorporating adaptive patient behaviour and initially limited data on oncological safety profiles leading to challenging decision-making.

A glimpse into the future of systemic lupus erythematosus.

This viewpoint article on a forecast of clinically meaningful changes in the management of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the next 10 years is based on a review of the current state of the art. The groundwork has been laid by a robust series of classification criteria and treatment recommendations that have all been published since 2019. Building on this strong foundation, SLE management predictably will take significant steps forward. Assessment for lupus arthritis will presumably include musculoskeletal sonography. Large-scale polyomics studies are likely to unravel more of the central immune mechanisms of the disease. Biomarkers predictive of therapeutic success may enter the field; the type I interferon signature, as a companion for use of anifrolumab, an antibody against the common type I interferon receptor, is one serious candidate. Besides anifrolumab for nonrenal SLE and the new calcineurin inhibitor voclosporin in lupus nephritis, both of which are already approved in the United States and likely to become available in the European Union in 2022, several other approaches are in advanced clinical trials. These include advanced B cell depletion, inhibition of costimulation via CD40 and CD40 ligand (CD40L), and Janus kinase 1 (Jak1) and Tyrosine kinase 2 (Tyk2) inhibition. At the same time, essentially all of our conventional therapeutic armamentarium will continue to be used. The ability of patients to have successful SLE pregnancies, which has become much better in the last decades, should further improve, with approaches including tumor necrosis factor blockade and self-monitoring of fetal heart rates. While we hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be controlled, it has highlighted the risk of severe viral infections in SLE, with increased risk tied to certain therapies. Although there are some data that a cure might be achievable, this likely will remain a challenge beyond 10 years from now.

Meta-Regression on the Heterogenous Factors Contributing to the Prevalence of Mental Health Symptoms During the COVID-19 Crisis Among Healthcare Workers.

Objective: This paper used meta-regression to analyze the heterogenous factors contributing to the prevalence rate of mental health symptoms of the general and frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) in China under the COVID-19 crisis. Method: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Medrxiv and pooled data using random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the prevalence rates, and ran meta-regression to tease out the key sources of the heterogeneity. Results: The meta-regression results uncovered several predictors of the heterogeneity in prevalence rates among published studies, including severity (e.g., above severe vs. above moderate, p < 0.01; above moderate vs. above mild, p < 0.01), type of mental symptoms (PTSD vs. anxiety, p = 0.04), population (frontline vs. general HCWs, p < 0.01), sampling location (Wuhan vs. Non-Wuhan, p = 0.04), and study quality (p = 0.04). Conclusion: The meta-regression findings provide evidence on the factors contributing to the prevalence rate of mental health symptoms of the general and frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) to guide future research and evidence-based medicine in several specific directions. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=220592, identifier: CRD42020220592.

Covid-19: Vacina boa é a aplicada de forma adequada / Covid-19: Vacina boa é a aplicada de forma adequada

Na atualidade, fotografar ou gravar o instante da imunização contra a Covid-19 se tornou rotina compartilhada nas redes sociais. Essa exposição instigou a observação de uma questão relevante: a técnica de aplicação está correta? Com a veiculação de imagens, é possível visualizar as vacinas sendo administradas em diferentes áreas do músculo deltoide, o que pode acarretar efeitos adversos. A otimização da qualificação técnica e pedagógica dos profissionais que elaboram e ministram as capacitações, bem como o envolvimento efetivo dos vacinadores nos treinamentos para injeção intramuscular é uma necessidade constante para evitar mais danos à saúde da população

Currently, photographing or recording the instant of immunization against Covid-19 has become a shared routine on social networks. This exposition prompted the observation of a relevant question: is the application technique correct? With the transmission of images, it is possible to visualize the vaccines being administered in different areas of the deltoid muscle, which can cause adverse effects. The optimization of the technical and pedagogical qualification of the professionals who design and deliver the training, as well as the effective involvement of vaccinators in training for intramuscular injection, is a constant need to avoid further damage to the health of the population

Análise do modelo logístico aplicado à primeira onda da Covid-19 nos países com os 20 maiores PIB'S / Analysis of the logistic model applied to the first wave of Covid-19 in countries with the 20 largest GDP'S

Objetivo: aplicar a modelagem logística da primeira onda da COVID-19, com índice nos países com 20 maiores Produto Interno Bruto (PIB). Métodos: foi utilizada a modelagem matemática de crescimento logístico, considerando os seguintes parâmetros: número cumulativo de casos (C), tamanho final da epidemia na onda única de um surto (K), taxa intrínseca de crescimento (y) e tempo de inflexão (τ). Resultados: o Brasil apresentou maior número de casos e mortalidade, e os Estados Unidos da América (EUA) maior número de casos absolutos. A Coreia do Sul evidenciou o menor ponto de inflexão de 15,3 dias, enquanto o maior foi da Indonésia, com 213,9 dias. Na análise entre o ponto de inflexão e casos acumulados (/100 mil habitantes), observou-se correlação positiva moderada significativa (r=0,629 e p=0,003); (r=0,532 e p=0,016). Conclusão: o reconhecimento do comportamento de uma epidemia por meio da modelagem matemática torna possível determinar a propagação de uma epidemia, visto que, com a possibilidade de captar a dinâmica de uma epidemia, torna-se possível prever a necessidade de medidas públicas antecipadas e, consequentemente, diminuição da mortalidade global.

Objective: to apply logistic modeling of the first wave of COVID-19 in countries with the 20 highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Methods: logistic growth mathematical modeling was used, considering the following parameters: cumulative number of cases (C), the final size of the epidemic in the single wave of an outbreak (K), intrinsic growth rate (y), and inflection time (τ). Results: Brazil showed the highest number of cases and mortality, and the United States of America (USA) had the highest number of absolute cases. South Korea showed the lowest inflection point of 15.3 days, while the highest infection point was Indonesia, with 213.9 days. In the analysis between the inflection point and cumulative cases (/100,000 population), a moderate significant positive correlation was observed (r=0.629 and p=0.003); (r=0.532 and p=0.016). Conclusion: the recognition of the behavior of an epidemic through mathematical modeling makes it possible to determine the spread of an epidemic, since, with the possibility of capturing the dynamics of an epidemic, it becomes possible to predict the need for anticipated public measures and, consequently, decrease in overall mortality.

Impact of Covid-19 on diabetic adults: systematic review / Impacto da Covid-19 em adultos diabéticos: revisão sistemática

Aim: to identify which complications and prognosis of diabetic patients, hospitalized, who acquired COVID-19, through a systematic review. Methods: a systematic review based on the PRISMA flowchart, including cohort studies, available in Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin, published from 2019 to 2020, using the PICOS strategy, in the databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scielo, Lilacs, Scopus and Science Direct, which in addition to the inclusion criteria after questionnaires to assess methodological quality and risk of bias. Results: of the 811 articles researched, 6 were included in this research. These studies showed that patients with COVID-19 and higher DM with worse prognosis, spent more time in the ICU, constantly needed indifference, greater complications when related to other comorbidities, high mortality rate, and glycemic control associated with advanced age directly affected patients. Outcomes even of non-diabetic subjects. Conclusion: this review identified the severity of the pathophysiological association is related to older age and biochemical and inflammatory factors linked to the two pathogens and that these subjects are more prone to specialized hospital care, which, however, result in high rates of hospital mortality.

Objetivo: identificar quais complicações e prognósticos dos pacientes diabéticos, internados, que adquiriram COVID-19, por meio de uma revisão sistemática. Métodos: foi realizada uma revisão sistemática baseada no fluxograma PRISMA, incluindo estudos de coorte, disponíveis em português, inglês, espanhol, francês e mandarim, publicados de 2019 a 2020, utilizando a estratégia PICOS, nas bases de dados: PubMed, Web of Science, Scielo, Lilacs, Scopus e Sciece Direct. Além dos critérios de inclusão passam por questionários para avaliar a qualidade metodológica e risco de viés. Resultados: dos 811 artigos pesquisados, 6 foram incluídos nesta pesquisa. Esses estudos mostraram que pacientes com COVID-19 e DM apresentam pior prognóstico, maior permanência em UTI, necessidade constante de ventilação invasiva, maiores complicações quando relacionadas a outras comorbidades, elevado índice de mortalidade, e o controle glicêmico associado à idade avançada afetavam diretamente os desfechos inclusive de pacientes não diabéticos. Conclusão: esta revisão identificou que a gravidade da associação fisiopatológica está relacionada à idade mais avançada e aos fatores bioquímicos e inflamatórios ligados aos dois patógenos e que esses sujeitos são mais propensos ao atendimento hospitalar especializado, o que, no entanto, resulta em altas taxas de mortalidade hospitalar.

Fatores associados à procura por pronto atendimento entre gestantes e puérperas com COVID-19 / Factors associated with demand for emergency health services among pregnant and puerperal women with COVID-19 / Factores asociados a la búsqueda de servicios médicos de urgencia por embarazadas y puérperas con COVID-19

Objetivo: identificar fatores associados à procura por pronto atendimento entre gestantes e puérperas com infecção pela COVID-19. Métodos: estudo transversal, com coleta de dados realizada entre agosto de 2021 e janeiro de 2022, baseado nas respostas de 258 mulheres que estiveram gestantes ou pariram durante a pandemia, após aprovação do Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da instituição. Resultados: entre as entrevistadas, 27,1% tiveram COVID-19, sendo mais comumente relatados os sintomas perda de olfato e fadiga. A prevalência de procura por pronto atendimento foi de 30,4%, explicada por casos de maior gravidade, em que houve necessidade de internação (p < 0,001); portadoras de asma (p <0,001) e de hipertensão crônica (p <0,001). Conclusão: o Pronto atendimento foi o local de maior procura na presença dos sintomas, principalmente nos casos de maior gravidade e comorbidades, embora os resultados sejam divergentes das orientações constantes nos protocolos nacionais e internacionais voltados para assistência à população obstétrica.

Objective: to identify factors associated with demand for emergency health services from pregnant/puerperal women with COVID-19. Method: in this cross-sectional study, data were collected between August 2021 and January 2022 from the responses of 258 women who were pregnant or gave birth during the pandemic, after research ethics committee approval. Results: 27.1% of respondents had COVID-19, with loss of smell and fatigue being the most commonly reported symptoms. The highest prevalence of seeking emergency hospital care (30.4%) was accounted for by the more serious cases, who sought emergency care needing hospitalization (p < 0.001), patients with asthma (p < 0.001) and chronic hypertension (p < 0.001). Conclusion: the emergency facility was the service most accessed in the presence of symptoms, especially in cases of greater severity and comorbidities, although the results are at variance with the guidelines contained in national and international protocols on care for the obstetric population.

Objetivo: identificar los factores asociados a la búsqueda de servicios médicos de urgencia por embarazadas y puérperas con infección por COVID-19. Método: estudio transversal, cuya recolección de datos tuvo lugar entre agosto de 2021 y enero de 2022, a partir de las respuestas de 258 mujeres que estuvieron embarazadas o dieron a luz durante la pandemia, previa aprobación del Comité de Ética en Investigación de la Institución. Resultados: entre las encuestadas, el 27,1% tuvo COVID-19, siendo más comunes los síntomas como pérdida del olfato y cansancio. La prevalencia de búsqueda de atención en urgencias fue del 30,4%, explicada por casos de mayor gravedad, en los que hubo necesidad de hospitalización (p < 0,001); asma (p <0,001) e hipertensión crónica (p <0,001). Conclusión: el Servicio de Urgencias fue el lugar más buscado ante la presencia de síntomas, especialmente en los casos de mayor gravedad y comorbilidades, aunque los resultados sean divergentes de las directrices contenidas em los protocolos nacionales e internacionales dirigidos a la atención de la población obstétrica.

Repercusión de la pandemia por SARS-COV-2 sobre las consultas en los Servicios de Emergencia Pediátrica en Uruguay / Consequences of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic on Pediatric Emergency Services in Uruguay / Repercussão da pandemia de SARS-COV-2 nas consultas nos Serviços de Emergência Pediátrica do Uruguai

En marzo de 2020 se confirma el primer caso de enfermedad por coronavirus en Uruguay, recomendándose un confinamiento social. La atención sanitaria se redujo a servicios de urgencia y emergencia (SE). Objetivo: analizar las características de las consultas pediátricas en los SE del subsector público y privado en Uruguay, durante los primeros 4 meses de la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2. Metodología: estudio descriptivo, retrospectivo, multicéntrico. Resultados: participaron 23 SE de todas las regiones del país. Período 1 prepandemia: 14/03/19-29.07.19, período 2: 14/03/20-29/07/20 Consultas: período 1 n=121.116, período 2 n=33.099 (desciende 73%). Hospitalizaciones desde el SE: período 1 n= .6649 (tasa 5,5%). Período 2: n=2.948 (tasa 9,5%). Diagnósticos período 1: infección respiratoria aguda (IRA) alta 39.892 (33%), IRA baja 86.56 (7%), trauma menor 8.651 (7%), gastroenteritis 8.044 (6,6%), crisis asmática/CBO 7.974 (6,5%), lesiones 4.389 (3,6%), dolor abdominal 3.528 (3%), problemas de salud mental 859 (0,7%), convulsiones 758 (0,7%), patología social 678 (0,5%). Diagnósticos 2020: IRA alta 5.168 (16%), trauma menor 2.759 (8%), lesiones 2.652 (8%), dolor abdominal 1.494 (4,5%), gastroenteritis 1.296 (4%), asma/CBO 1.095 (3,3%), IRA baja 700 (2,1%), patología social 522 (1,6%), problemas de salud mental 471 (1,4%), convulsiones 408 (1,2%). Conclusiones: en los primeros meses de la pandemia hubo una reducción sostenida y significativo de consultas pediátricas en los SE. No hubo aumento en frecuencia absoluta de ninguno de los diagnósticos. Se registró un descenso histórico de las IRA bajas y las hospitalizaciones por esta causa en todo el país. Mantener una vigilancia de las consultas en los SE permitiría identificar e intervenir oportunamente si se produjeran cambios o situaciones de riesgo hasta el momento no detectadas.

In March 2020 the first case of coronavirus disease was confirmed in Uruguay, and lockdown was recommended. Health care services were reduced to Urgency and Emergency Services (ES). Objectives: to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of pediatric visits to the ES of the public and private subsector in Uruguay, during the first 4 months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Methods: descriptive, retrospective. Results: 23 institutions participated. 2 periods were considered: 1) pre-pandemic, 03/14/19 to 07/29/19, 2) 03/14/20 to 07/29/20. Visits: period 1: n=121,116 (< 15 years), period 2: n=33.099 (73% decrease). Hospital admissions: period 1: n=6,649 (rate 5.5). Period 2: n=2.948 (rate 9,5). Diagnoses period 1: High acute respiratory infection 39,892 (33%), low acute respiratory infection 8,656 (7%), minor trauma 8,651 (7%), gastroenteritis 8,044 (6,6%), asthmatic crisis/CBO 7.974 (6,5%), injuries 4,389 (3,6%), abdominal pain (3,528) 3%, mental health problems 859 (0.7%), seizures 758 (0.7%), social pathology 678 (0.5% ). 2020 diagnoses: high acute respiratory infection 5.168 (16%), minor trauma 2,759 (8%), injuries 2,652 (8%), abdominal pain 1,494 (4.5%), gastroenteritis 1,296 (4%), asthma/CBO 1,095 (3,3%), low acute respiratory infection 700 (2,1%), social pathology 522 (1,6%), mental health problems 471 (1,4%), seizures 408 (1,2%). Conclusions: in the first months of the pandemic there was a sustained and significant reduction in pediatric consultations in ES. There was no increase in absolute frequency of any of the diagnoses. There was a historical decrease in low respiratory infections and hospitalizations due to this cause in the whole country. Maintaining a surveillance of the visits in the ES would enable practitioners to identify and take action in case of changes or previously undetected risk situations.

Em março de 2020, foi confirmado o primeiro caso de doença por coronavírus no Uruguai, recomendando o confinamento. A assistência à saúde foi reduzida a serviços de urgência e emergência (SE). Objetivo: analisar as características das consultas pediátricas no SE do subsetor público e privado no Uruguai, durante os primeiros 4 meses da pandemia de SARS-CoV-2. Metodologia: estudo descritivo, retrospectivo, multicêntrico. Resultados: participaram 23 SEs de todas as regiões do país. Período pré-pandemia 1: 14/03/19-29/07/19, período 2: 14/03/20-29/07/20 Consultas: período 1 n=121.116, período 2 n=33.099 (redução de 73%) . Internações da SE: período 1 n= 0,6649 (taxa 5,5%). Período 2: n=2.948 (taxa de 9,5%). Diagnósticos do período 1: infecção respiratória aguda alta (IRA) 39.892 (33%), LRA baixa 86,56 (7%), trauma menor 8.651 (7%), gastroenterite 8.044 (6,6%), crise asmática/CBO 7.974 (6, 5% ), lesões 4.389 (3,6%), dor abdominal 3.528 (3%), problemas de saúde mental 859 (0,7%), convulsões 758 (0,7%), patologia social 678 (0,5%). Diagnósticos 2020: IRA alta 5.168 (16%), trauma leve 2.759 (8%), lesões 2.652 (8%), dor abdominal 1.494 (4,5%), gastroenterite 1.296 (4%), asma/CBO 1.095 (3, 3%), IRA baixa 700 (2,1%), patologia social 522 (1,6%), problemas de saúde mental 471 (1,4%), convulsões 408 (1,2%). Conclusões: nos primeiros meses da pandemia houve uma redução sustentada e significativa das consultas pediátricas no SE. Não houve aumento na frequência absoluta de nenhum dos diagnósticos. Foi registrado um decréscimo histórico de IRAs baixas e internações por essa causa em todo o país. A manutenção de uma vigilância das consultas no SE permitiria identificar e intervir atempadamente nos casos de alterações ou situações de risco que até agora não tinham sido detectadas.

Situación de carga física y mental en enfermería de Uruguay durante la pandemia Covid 19 / Physical and mental burden situation in nursing in Uruguay during the Covid 19 pandemic / Situação de sobrecarga física e mental na enfermagem em Uruguai durante a pandemia de Covid 19

El contexto epidemiológico que se vive a nivel mundial desde el comienzo de la pandemia por COVID-19, puso de manifiesto factores de sobrecarga laboral en el personal de la salud, relacionados con la exposición diaria a situaciones que ponen en riesgo su integridad física y mental. Tomando en cuenta el valor social, la validez científica y el beneficio que se genera con la investigación en el campo de la salud, nos propusimos explorar y analizar en qué medida y en qué aspectos la situación de pandemia ha afectado las cargas en enfermería partiendo de la hipótesis de un aumento en la percepción de cargas desde el inicio de la pandemia por COVID-19. En función de los resultados obtenidos, elaboramos recomendaciones y una propuesta que contribuya al desarrollo de un entorno de trabajo saludable para el personal de enfermería, estableciendo medidas de prevención e intervención destinadas a minimizar los riesgos e incrementar la satisfacción laboral. Para el relevamiento de los datos se aplicó una encuesta online, anónima, auto administrada dirigida al personal de enfermería de Uruguay que trabaja en los tres niveles de atención, la cual nos permitió un acercamiento a los principales indicadores de carga física y mental. En términos absolutos se encuestaron 304 licenciados en enfermería y 677 auxiliares. Si se comparan los encuestados con el Registro de Habilitación del MSP (2017), la participación alcanzó el 3,29 % de la población total en enfermería. Se logró la cobertura de los 19 departamentos de Uruguay. Los resultados obtenidos, evidenciaron un incremento en la carga física y mental, a partir del contexto generado por COVID-19, relacionado principalmente con aspectos institucionales, alteraciones fisiológicas, psicoafectivas y sociofamiliares.

The epidemiological context that has been experienced worldwide since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed factors of work overload in health personnel, related to daily exposure to situations that put their physical and mental integrity at risk. Considering the social value, the scientific validity and the benefit generated by research in the field of health, we set out to explore and analyze to what extent and in what aspects the pandemic situation has affected nursing work load based on the hypothesis of an increase in the perception of burdens since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the results obtained, we developed recommendations and a proposal that contributes to the development of a healthy work environment for nursing staff, establishing prevention and intervention measures aimed at minimizing risks and increasing job satisfaction. To collect the data, an online, anonymous, self-administered survey was applied to nursing staff in Uruguay who work at the three levels of care, which allowed us to approach the main indicators of physical and mental load. In absolute terms, 304 nursing graduates and 677 auxiliaries were surveyed. When we compare the respondents with the MSP Qualification Registry (2017), participation reached 3.29% of the total nursing population. Coverage of the 19 departments of Uruguay was achieved. The results showed an increase in the physical and mental load, based on the context generated by COVID-19, mainly related to institutional aspects, physiological, psycho-affective and socio-family alterations.

O contexto epidemiológico que se vive mundialmente desde o início da pandemia do COVID-19 tem revelado fatores de sobrecarga de trabalho nos profi ssionais de saúde, relacionados à exposição diária a situações que colocam em risco sua integridade física e mental. Levando em conta o valor social, a validade científica e o benefício gerado pela pesquisa na área da saúde, propusemo-nos a explorar e analisar em que medida e em que aspectos a situação pandêmica afetou as cargas de trabalho de enfermagem com base na hipótese de aumento na percepção de ônus desde o início da pandemia de COVID-19. Com base nos resultados obtidos, desenvolvemos recomendações e uma proposta que contribui para o desenvolvimento de um ambiente de trabalho saudável para a equipe de enfermagem, estabelecendo medidas de prevenção e intervenção paravive minimizar riscos e aumentar a satisfação no trabalho. Para coletar os dados, foi aplicada uma pesquisa online, anônima e autoadministrada aos profissionais de enfermagem do Uruguai que atuam nos três níveis de atenção, o que permitiu abordar os principais indicadores de carga física e mental. Em termos absolutos, foram pesquisados 304 egressos de enfermagem e 677 auxiliares. Se compararmos os respondentes com o Registro de Qualificação MSP (2017), a participação atingiu 3,29% do total da população de enfermagem. A cobertura dos 19 departamentos do Uruguai foi alcançada. Os resultados obtidos mostraram um aumento da carga física e mental, com base no contexto gerado pela COVID-19, principalmente relacionado a aspectos institucionais, alterações fisiológicas, psicoafetivas e sociofamiliares.

COVID-19 associated rhinomaxillary mucormycosis: a case series and review of literature

During COVID-19 pandemic, fulminant deep fungal infection started emerging in India, known as Mucormycosis. This type of mucormycosis was termed as COVID-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM). These patients had previous history of COVID-19 infection. Such cases were mainly reported in immunocompromised patients such as patients with poorly controlled diabetes and chronic renal diseases etc. Rhinomaxillary mucormycosis is an aggressive, fulminant, fatal deep fungal infection of head and neck region. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment can reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with the disease; hence we present case series of rhinomaxillary mucormycosis to create awareness amongst dental surgeons

The psychological impact of social distancing related to the covid-19 pandemic on undergraduate and graduate students in Brazil

Aim: To evaluate the psychological impact of COVID-19 on undergraduate and graduate students of the Dental School of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo. Methods: Three questionnaires were used: sociodemographic, WHO Abbreviated Quality of Life Inventory, and General Anxiety Disorder-7. Data were analyzed using Graph Pad Prism 7a (α = 5%). Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn post-tests were used for statistical comparisons. The Spearman test was used as the correlation test. Results: 257 students responded to the online form that assessed their quality of life and anxiety level. On a scale from 1 to 100, with 100 being the best quality of life, the average obtained was 64.71 (± 13.36). In addition, 87.6% of the students rated their quality of life as good or very good. 74.7% reported good or very good health. The anxiety analysis resulted in an average of 10.04 (± 4.5), indicating moderate anxiety levels. There was an inversely proportional correlation between age and degree of anxiety (p = 0.008, r = -0.1628) and self-perceived learning and student commitment (r = 0.69). Conclusion: Despite the good quality of life and the students' good self-perception of health, they showed a moderate degree of anxiety during the social distancing caused by COVID-19, also demonstrating a decrease in interest and commitment during distance education

Avaliação das internações dos recém-nascidos em uma UTI Neonatal durante uma pandemia / Evaluación de las hospitalizaciones de recién nacidos en una UCI Neonatal durante una pandemia / Assessment of hospitalizations of newborns in a Neonatal ICU during a pandemic

Objetivo: Avaliar as características das internações de recém-nascidos em uma unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal do extremo sul do Brasil durante um curto período de tempo. Método: Estudo observacional, com 85 neonatos, por dados secundários de pacientes internados na Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal, nos meses de maio de 2020 a outubro de 2020. Resultados: A prevalência das internações foi do sexo masculino, com diagnóstico de prematuridade, que pesavam entre 1500g e 2499g, não receberam leite materno na primeira hora de vida, receberam visitas dos pais, colo e leite materno durante a internação. As mães tinham mais de 6 consultas de pré-natal e os bebês nasceram de cesárea. Conclusão: O atendimento prestado de forma holística, baseado na ciência e maneira humanizada aos recém-nascidos e aos pais, pode reduzir a mortalidade infantil, trazer maior segurança aos pais e confi ança na equipe assistencial, além de evitar complicações futuras no desenvolvimento infantil.

Objetivo: Evaluar las características de las hospitalizaciones de recién nacidos en una unidad de cuidados intensivos neonatales en el extremo sur de Brasil durante un corto período de tiempo. Método: Estudio observacional, con 85 neonatos, con base en datos secundarios de pacientes hospitalizados en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatales, de mayo de 2020 a octubre de 2020. Resultados: La prevalencia de hospitalizaciones fue del sexo masculino, con diagnóstico de prematuridad, que pesaron entre 1500g y 2499g, no recibió leche materna en la primera hora de vida, recibió visitas de los padres, regazo y leche materna durante la hospitalización. Las madres tuvieron más de 6 consultas prenatales y los bebés nacieron por cesárea. Conclusión: La atención brindada de forma holística, basada en la ciencia y de forma humanizada a los recién nacidos y a los padres, puede reducir la mortalidad infantil, brindar mayor seguridad a los padres y confi anza en el equipo de atención, además de prevenir futuras complicaciones en el desarrollo del niño.

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics of hospitalizations of newborns in a neonatal intensive care unit in the extreme south of Brazil during a short period of time. Method: Observational study, with 85 neonates, based on secondary data from patients hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, from May 2020 to October 2020. Results: The prevalence of hospitalizations was male, with a diagnosis of prematurity, who weighed between 1500g and 2499g, did not receive breast milk in the fi rst hour of life, received visits from parents, lap and breast milk during hospitalization. The mothers had more than 6 prenatal consultations and the babies were born by cesarean section. Conclusion: The care provided in a holistic way, based on science and in a humanized way to newborns and parents, can reduce infant mortality, bring greater security to parents and confidence in the care team, in addition to preventing future complications in child development.

Midias sociais para atração de pacientes em clínicas odontológicas privadas durante pandemia de Covid 19 / Social media for attracting patients in private dental clinics during the Covid 19 pandemic

Verificar a rotina dos cirurgiões-dentistas (CD) e a utilização das mídias sociais, como meio de divulgação profissional e de atração de pacientes em clínicas odontológicas privadas, durante a pandemia de Covid-19. Este estudo transversal qualitativo inclui questionários respondidos por CD atuantes em clínicas privadas na região sudeste do Brasil. Um questionário virtual, elaborado através da plataforma Google Forms, abordou informações sobre o perfil dos profissionais e os aspectos dos métodos publicitários e mídias sociais utilizados para o alcance de pacientes durante o período de pandemia de Covid-19. Os dados obtidos foram tabulados e submetidos à análise estatística descritiva (%). No total, 102 CD participaram do estudo, sendo que 96 questionários seguiram os critérios de inclusão para a análise dos dados. A divulgação social como meio de exposição profissional foi uma ação realizada por 75 (78,13%) CD da amostra. Considerando esses profissionais, 74 (98,67%) utilizam redes sociais e domínios virtuais para tal finalidade, sendo que 71 (95,95%) CD usufruem do Instagram. Grande parte dos participantes (71,62%) relatou não possuir assessoria de marketing especializada para fazer publicações de conteúdo profissional nas redes sociais, embora a maioria publique este tipo de conteúdo mais de uma vez por semana (58,11%). Uma grande parcela dos participantes do estudo (67,71%) notou que a pandemia de Covid-19 procovou diminuição na quantidade de pacientes nas clínicas odontológicas. A inclusão de outros equipamentos de proteção individual foi a conduta mais seguida pelos CD (56,25%) para evitar a transmissão da doença neste período. Conclui-se que os CD participantes acreditam que a pandemia de Covid-19 promoveu um impacto negativo na atração de pacientes em clínicas odontológicas privadas na região sudeste brasileira, ainda que a maioria destes profissionais tenham incluído outros equipamentos de proteção individual como medida de segurança e utilizem frequentemente redes sociais para divulgação de conteúdo profissional, tendo o Instagram como a principal mídia social. No entanto, a assessoria de marketing especializada em publicações de conteúdo profissional nas redes sociais ainda é um recurso pouco utilizado no meio odontológico(AU)

To verify the routine of Dental Surgeons (DS) and the use of social media as a means of professional dissemination and patient attraction in private dental clinics during the Covid-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional qualitative study included questionnaires answered by Dental Surgeons working in private clinics in the southeastern region of Brazil. A virtual questionnaire, which was developed through the Google Forms platform, addressed information about the profile of professionals and aspects of advertising methods and social media used to reach patients during the Covid-19 pandemic period. The data were tabulated and submitted to descriptive statistical analysis (%). A total of 102 Dental Surgeons participated in the study, with 96 questionnaires meeting the inclusion criteria for data analysis. Social disclosure as a means of professional exposure was an action performed by 75 (78.13%) Dental Surgeons of the survey. Considering these professionals, 74 (98.67%) use social networks and virtual domains for this purpose and 71 (95.95%) Dental Surgeons use Instagram. A large portion of the participants (71.62%) reported not having a specialized marketing consultancy to make professional contente publications on social media, although most publish this type of content more than once a week (58.11%). A large portion of study participants (67.71%) noted that the Covid-19 pandemic caused a decrease in the amount of patients in the dental clinics. The inclusion of other personal protective equipment was the conduct most followed by the Dental Surgeons (56.25%) to avoid the transmission of the disease in this period. It can be concluded that the participating Dental Surgeons believe that the Covid-19 pandemic promoted a negative impact on attracting patients in private dental clinics in the southeastern region of Brazil, in spite of most of these professionals have included other personal protective equipment as safety measure and frequently use social networks for dissemination of professional content, with Instagram as main social media. However, a marketing consultancy specialized in publishing professional content on social networks is still a resource which is little used in the dental environment(AU)

Uso de EPIs e seu impacto na saúde do cirurgião-dentista em tempos de Covid-19 / Use of PEES and its impact on the health of the dental surgeon in Covid-19 times

O objetivo do presente estudo foi identificar quais EPIs foram utilizados pelos cirurgiões-dentistas e a relação destes EPIs com a presença de dores osteomusculares em virtude do novo estilo de vida profissional ocasionado pelo SARS-CoV-2. Foram aplicados dois questionários com a temática por intermédio da plataforma Google Forms®. Os participantes da pesquisa (n= 110) tiveram acesso aos questionários via e-mail e através das redes sociais. A análise de dados foi realizada por meio de teste qui-quadrado com nível de confiança de 95%. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram predomínio de indivíduos do sexo masculino, com idade entre 21 a 29 anos, solteiros, entre 1 a 10 anos de formado, possuindo renda mensal de 1 a 5 salários-mínimos, especialistas, atuando em consultório particular, com atualizações para atendimento durante o período de pandemia. Observou-se relação estatisticamente significativa (p<0,05) na utilização de gorro durante os atendimentos odontológicos para os profissionais que realizaram atualizações para atendimento durante o período de pandemia da COVID-19. Em relação aos demais EPIs não houve relação estatisticamente significativa (p>0,05). No que diz respeito às dores osteomusculares, observou-se relação estatisticamente significativa (p<0,05) apenas entre a utilização de avental descartável e o relato de dores na região do pescoço, ombro e costas. Ademais, não foi possível observar relação estatisticamente significativa (p>0,05) entre EPIs e dores osteomusculares. Pôde-se concluir que uma grande parcela dos cirurgiões-dentistas adotou medidas de proteção contra o novo Coronavírus (SARS-CoV-2), utilizando os EPIs recomendados para executar atendimento durante o período pandêmico. Com relação às dores osteomusculares, os participantes relataram dor com ou sem a utilização de EPIs, porém ao utilizarem avental descartável, houve predominância de sintomatologia na região do pescoço, ombros e coluna(AU)

The aim of this study was to identify which PPE was used by Dental Surgeons and the relationship of this PPE with the presence of musculoskeletal pain due to the new professional lifestyle caused by SARS-CoV-2. Two questionnaires with the theme were applied through the Google Forms® platform. Research participants (n = 110) had access to the questionnaires via e-mail and through social networks. Data analysis was performed using a chi-square test with a 95% confidence level. The results showed a predominance of male individuals, aged between 21 and 29 years old, single, between 1 and 10 years since graduation, having a monthly income of 1 to 5 minimum wages, specialists, working in private practice, with updates for care during the pandemic period. There was a statistically significant relationship (p<0.05) in the use of a cap during dental care for professionals who updated for care during the COVID-19 pandemic period. About the other PPE there was no statistically significant relationship (p>0.05). Regarding musculoskeletal pain, there was a statistically significant relationship (p<0.05) only between the use of a disposable apron and the report of pain in the neck, shoulder, and back. Furthermore, it was not possible to observe a statistically significant relationship (p>0.05) between PPE and musculoskeletal pain. It was concluded that a large portion of dentists adopted protective measures against the new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), using the recommended PPE to perform care during the pandemic period. Regarding musculoskeletal pain, participants reported pain with or without the use of PPE, however, when using a disposable apron, there was a predominance of symptoms in the neck, shoulders, and back(AU)

Saúde mental em estudantes do ensino superior politécnico na pandemia COVID-19 / The mental health of polytechnic higher education students in the COVID-19 pandemic / Salud mental de los estudiantes de educación superior politécnica en la pandemia COVID-19

Resumo Enquadramento: A pandemia mudou significativamente as rotinas sociais e académicas dos estudantes do ensino superior. Objetivo: Identificar os níveis de saúde mental de estudantes do ensino superior e fatores associados. Metodologia: Estudo transversal com amostra de conveniência de 567 estudantes (idade média 23,92, ± 8,36; 63,8% feminino), que responderam a um questionário online no início do segundo confinamento, que incluiu o General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), aspetos sociodemográficos, académicos e as principais mudanças ocorridas durante a pandemia. Resultados: A pontuação média do GHQ foi 29,18 (± 12,99) e as menores e as maiores pontuações médias foram obtidas nas subescalas depressão grave (3,55 ± 4,46) e disfunção social (11,44 ± 3,81), respetivamente. 60,5% registou risco para problemas mentais. Os participantes que identificam alterações laborais têm melhor saúde mental. Quem identifica alterações nas rotinas familiares tem maior sintomatologia depressiva e quem identifica alterações nas relações familiares maior sintomatologia ansiógena e insónia. Conclusão: Urge considerar a saúde mental dos estudantes, promovendo estratégias para minimizar o impacto da pandemia, nomeadamente na disfunção social.

Abstract Background: The pandemic significantly changed social and academic routines of higher education students. Objective: Identify the mental health levels of higher education students and the associated factors. Methods: Cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 567 students (mean age 23.92, ± 8.36; 63.8% female), that answered an online survey at the beginning of the second lockdown, which included the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), sociodemographic and academic aspects, and main changes that occurred during the pandemic. Results: The mean score of the GHQ was 29.18 (±12.99) and the lowest and highest scores were obtained in severe depression (3.55±4.46) and social dysfunction (11.44±3.81). 60.5% indicated risk for mental problems. Participants identifying changes at labor level had better mental health. The ones identifying changes at familiar routines had higher depressive symptomatology and changes in familiar relationships had higher anxiety symptomatology and insomnia. Conclusion: It is urgent to consider the mental health of students, promoting strategies to minimize the impact of the pandemic, namely in social dysfunction.

Resumen Marco contextual: La pandemia ha cambiado significativamente las rutinas sociales y académicas de los estudiantes de educación superior. Objetivo: Identificar los niveles de salud mental de los estudiantes de educación superior y los factores asociados. Metodología: Estudio transversal con una muestra de conveniencia de 567 estudiantes (edad media de 23,92, ± 8,36; 63,8% mujeres), que completaron un cuestionario en línea al inicio del segundo confinamiento, que incluía el Cuestionario de Salud General (GHQ-28), aspectos sociodemográficos y académicos, y los principales cambios ocurridos durante la pandemia. Resultados: La puntuación media del GHQ fue de 29,18 (± 12,99) y las puntuaciones medias más bajas y más altas se obtuvieron en las subescalas depresión grave (3,55 ± 4,46) y disfunción social (11,44 ± 3,81), respectivamente. El 60,5% registró riesgo de problemas mentales. Los participantes que identifican cambios en el trabajo tienen una mejor salud mental. Los que identifican cambios en las rutinas familiares tienen más síntomas depresivos y los que identifican cambios en las relaciones familiares tienen más síntomas de ansiedad e insomnio. Conclusión: Se debe considerar urgentemente la salud mental de los estudiantes, así como promover estrategias para minimizar el impacto de la pandemia, especialmente en la disfunción social.