Socioeconomic factors analysis for COVID-19 US reopening sentiment with Twitter and census data.

Investigating and classifying sentiments of social media users (e.g., positive, negative) towards an item, situation, and system are very popular among researchers. However, they rarely discuss the underlying socioeconomic factor associations for such sentiments. This study attempts to explore the factors associated with positive and negative sentiments of the people about reopening the economy, in the United States (US) amidst the COVID-19 global crisis. It takes into consideration the situational uncertainties (i.e., changes in work and travel patterns due to lockdown policies), economic downturn and associated trauma, and emotional factors such as depression. To understand the sentiment of the people about the reopening economy, Twitter data was collected, representing the 50 States of the US and Washington D.C, the capital city of the US. State-wide socioeconomic characteristics of the people (e.g., education, income, family size, and employment status), built environment data (e.g., population density), and the number of COVID-19 related cases were collected and integrated with Twitter data to perform the analysis. A binary logit model was used to identify the factors that influence people toward a positive or negative sentiment. The results from the logit model demonstrate that family households, people with low education levels, people in the labor force, low-income people, and people with higher house rent are more interested in reopening the economy. In contrast, households with a high number of family members and high income are less interested in reopening the economy. The accuracy of the model is reasonable (i.e., the model can correctly classify 56.18% of the sentiments). The Pearson chi-squared test indicates that this model has high goodness-of-fit. This study provides clear insights for public and corporate policymakers on potential areas to allocate resources, and directional guidance on potential policy options they can undertake to improve socioeconomic conditions, to mitigate the impact of pandemic in the current situation, and in the future as well.

Assessment of the optimal cutoff value of fasting plasma glucose to establish diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus in Chinese women.

Our aim is to assess the optimal cutoff value of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) in Chinese women at 24-28 weeks' gestation by performing oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to improve diagnostic rate of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Data were derived from the Medical Birth Registry of Xiamen. A FPG cutoff value of 5.1 mmol/L confirmed the diagnosis of GDM in 4,794 (6.10%) pregnant women. However, a FPG cutoff value of 4.5 mmol/L should rule out the diagnosis of GDM in 35,932 (45.73%) pregnant women. If we use this cutoff value, the diagnosis of GDM to about 27.3% of pregnant women will be missed. Additionally, a 75-g OGTT was performed in pregnant women with FPG values between 4.5 and 5.1 mmol/L, avoiding the performance of formal 75-g OGTT in about 50.37% pregnant women. Meanwhile, according to maternal age and pre-pregnancy BMI categories, with FPG values between 4.5 mmol/L and 5.1 mmol/L, which had high sensitivity, to improve the diagnostic rate of GDM in all groups. Further researches are needed to present stronger evidences for the screening value of FPG in establishing the diagnosis of GDM in pregnant women.

Correlation of early postoperative blood glucose levels with postoperative complications, hospital costs, and length of hospital stay in patients with gastrointestinal malignancies.

Early postoperative hyperglycemia in non-diabetic patients is an important risk factor affecting postoperative complications and mortality. This study aimed at investigating the effects of early postoperative hyperglycemia on postoperative complications, hospital costs, and length of hospital stay in non-diabetic patients with gastrointestinal malignancies; data of 1,015 non-diabetic patients with gastrointestinal malignancies, who underwent surgical intervention between January 2010 and January 2012, were retrospectively evaluated. Records on fasting plasma glucose (FPG), liver function, and kidney function were collected before and one day after surgery. Correlation of early postoperative FPG levels with postoperative complications, hospital costs, and length of hospital stay was further assessed in non-diabetic patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. One day after surgery, FPG results were significantly increased compared to preoperative values. FPG levels greater than or equal to 9.13 mmol/L (or 164.34 mg/dL) were associated with significant increases in the incidence of postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, and hospital costs. An association is shown between FPG and postoperative hyperglycemia in non-diabetic patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal malignancies. Significant increases in postoperative complications among these patients suggest that measurement of early postoperative FPG levels is critical to identify patients with postoperative hyperglycemia.