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INTRODUCTION: Severe pneumonia is a common indication for admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The lack of epidemiology and outcome data from Asia is a barrier to improving outcomes of severe pneumonia in the region. METHOD(S): This is a prospective multicenter cohort study carried out from April 2019 to April 2022. Fifteen PICUs participated in this study under the Pediatric Acute & Critical Care Medicine Asian Network. Epidemiological, microbiological and outcome data were collected up to hospital discharge. Univariate logistic regression analysis were conducted to explore the association between potential risk factors and severe outcomes [acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and PICU mortality]. Multivariable analysis was performed withforward stepwise logistic regression adjusted for sites and COVID-19 pandemic including variables with p< 0.05 in univariate model. RESULT(S): There were 786 children with severe pneumonia in PICU with mean (standard deviation) age 2.8 (3.9) years. 384/786 (48.9%) had comorbidities;126/786 (16.0%) had a history of prematurity (gestational age < 37 weeks). Admission Pediatric Index of Mortality 3 (PIM3) and Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction 2 (PELOD2) score were 16.2 (22.9) and 4.1(4.6). A sole viral or bacterial pathogen was identified in 179/786 (22.4%) and 165/786 (21.0%). Co-infections occurred in 114/786 (14.5%) patients. ARDS and mortality occurred in 156/786 (20.1%) and 70/786(8.9%) patients. In the multivariable model, risk factors for ARDS included PIM3 [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] of 1.02 (1.01, 1.03)], PELOD2 [aOR 1.08 (95%CI 1.02, 1.13)] and involvement of 4 quadrants on chest-x-ray, [aOR 2.69 (95%CI 1.39, 5.18)]. Risk factors for mortality included PIM 3 [aOR 1.03 (95%CI 1.01, 1.04)], involvement of 4 quadrants on chest-x-ray [aOR 2.72 (95%CI 1.10, 6.73)], bacterial [aOR 2.61 (95%CI 1.00, 6.82)], fungus or mycobacterium [aOR 12.30 (95%CI 1.45, 104.57)] and co-infections [aOR 2.72 (95%CI 1.10, 10.35)]. CONCLUSION(S): The rate of ARDS and mortality in severe pneumonia admitted to PICU in Asia was high. Risk factors for poor outcomes were admission severity scores, generalized X-ray involvement and identification of bacteria, fungus/mycobacteria or co-infections.
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This paper has approached the investment method by alpha value as the excess return to compensate for risks other than the market risk with the data sample of filtered stocks from three major exchanges of the Vietnam stock market HOSE, HNX, and UPCOM from January 2016 to December 2020. Then, we compare the performance of the portfolio through 2021, the year Vietnam fell into the 4th wave of Covid and was the hardest hit. The results of the paper have shown that the portfolio selected by the alpha method has eliminated the beta market risk of the portfolio and has the actual portfolio return higher than the general rate of return of the stock market index, thereby reinforcing and proving the effectiveness of the alpha investment model. © 2022 The authors and IOS Press.
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The initial outbreak and ongoing surges of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have required the construction industry to adopt rigorous and innovative safety protocols and adapt to project productivity impacts and potential shutdowns. Initially, many projects were placed on hold, and only essential projects could continue after the institution of proper safety measures and often with a reduced workforce. This paper reviews the safety protocols and practices of construction projects during the early days of the pandemic and discusses the impact on the workforce and productivity. The authors gathered documentation and interviews from construction safety supervisors in the State of Washington. Analyzed data showed some effective safety protocols and creative coping plans for the pandemic. The findings and conclusions set out recommendations for a healthy and efficient work environment for construction projects during a pandemic that could be of interest to government officials and construction managers. © 2023, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
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The objectives of this research are trifold. The first is to unveil antecedents of food-handling behaviors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second is to investigate the consistency of impacts of proposed determinants across different handling behaviors. The third is to confirm whether or not the premise of intention as the sole direct determinant of behavior in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) holds. As such, TPB served as the guiding theory, and Factor Analysis and Seemingly Unrelated Regression were used for data analysis. The results discuss the discrepancy of impacts between heterogeneous food-handling behaviors. The contribution of habit and information-seeking behavior across behaviors were confirmed, while the influence of income, minor, objective norm, perception of food risks, trust, perceived behavioral control, and intention was statistically significant but inconsistently differed between behaviors. The independent contributions of gender, age, education, subjective norm, and attitude were negligible. This paper's findings offer evidence to highlight the role of volitional predictors to anticipate safe food-handling behaviors to suggest suitable policy interventions to reinforce the last line of heath defense in the household, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, huge amounts of disposable face masks have been manufactured and used, and these discarded face masks have to be treated. In this study, we propose a simple approach for reusing the nonwoven polyester fabric (NWPF) from disposable face masks. In this approach, NWPF is utilized as a supporter for coating of a layer of graphene oxide/Fe3O4/chitosan (GFC) to form a GFC/NWPF adsorbent at room temperature via a simple spray coating method that does not require any solvent. The specific properties of GFC, NWPF, and the GFC/NWPF adsorbent were analysed via X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that the presence of NWPF enhanced the adsorption capacity of GFC towards organic dyes. At high concentrations of the organic dyes, the adsorption efficiency of the GFC/NWPF adsorbent to the dyes reached 100% within 24 h. The adsorption capacity (qmax) of the GFC/NWPF adsorbent to methylene blue, methyl orange, Congo red, and moderacid red was 54.795, 87.489, 88.573, and 29.010 mg g-1, respectively, which were considerably higher than that of bulk GFC (39.308, 82.304, 52.910, and 21.249 mg g-1, respectively). © 2022 Hoang V. Tran et al.
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The paper investigates the relationship among social and demographic factors and a new case of spreading coronavirus in 24 countries over 88-day period from Jan 31, 2020 to April 27, 2020. This study collected second data from World Health Organisation (WHO)’s and World Bank’s database, applied Co-integration test and Causality test for a panel data set. The research provides crucial finding: there is causality between new cases of spreading coronavirus and time to close school too late. Moreover, Asian region, where the studied countries are being increases, new case of spreading coronavirus decrease. Furthermore, classification of income of the research countries is statistically insignificant to new case equivalent to absent association between the changes in the new case of spreading coronavirus and classification of income of the research countries. The spreading COVID – 19 can happen everywhere from high income, middle income to low-income countries. Another finding is that late closing school will enhance spreading COVID – 19 goes more than one thousand cases.