Stress management system development as a condition for human evolution in response to emerging threats

The focus of this article is on how contemporary youth groups are experiencing the stress associated with the transition to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine measures, and the demands of social isolation. Considering the world historical experience of building the theory and system of stress management, some organizational measures of improvement of higher education institutions' activity as the main resource of overcoming stress condition of students and study groups are offered.

High-Performance Flexible Humidity Sensor Based on MoOX Nanoparticle Films for Monitoring Human Respiration and Non-Contact Sensing

Flexible humidity sensors with high sensitivity, fast response time, and outstanding reliability have the potential to revolutionize electronic skin, healthcare, and non-contact sensing. In this study, we employed a straightforward nanocluster deposition technique to fabricate a resistive humidity sensor on a flexible substrate, using molybdenum oxide nanoparticles (MoOx NPs). We systematically evaluated the humidity-sensing behaviors of the MoOx NP film-based sensor and found that it exhibited exceptional sensing capabilities. Specifically, the sensor demonstrated high sensitivity (18.2 near zero humidity), a fast response/recovery time (1.7/2.2 s), and a wide relative humidity (RH) detection range (0-95%). The MoOx NP film, with its closely spaced granular nanostructure and high NP packing density, exhibited insensitivity to mechanical deformation, small hysteresis, good repeatability, and excellent stability. We also observed that the device exhibited distinct sensing kinetics in the range of high and low RH. Specifically, for RH > 43%, the response time showed a linear prolongation with increased RH. This behavior was attributed to two factors: the higher physical adsorption energy of H2O molecules and a multilayer physical adsorption process. In terms of applications, our sensor can be easily attached to a mask and has the potential to monitor human respiration owing to its high sensing performance. Additionally, the sensor was capable of dynamically tracking RH changes surrounding human skin, enabling a non-contact sensing capability. More significantly, we tested an integrated sensor array for its ability to detect moisture distribution in the external environment, demonstrating the potential of our sensor for contactless human-machine interaction. We believe that this innovation is particularly valuable during the COVID-19 epidemic, where cross-infection may be averted by the extensive use of contactless sensing. Overall, our findings demonstrate the tremendous potential of MoOx NP-based humidity sensors for a variety of applications, including healthcare, electronic skin, and non-contact sensing.

Role of pyroptosis in severe COVID-19

Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease endangering the respirator)' traet and multiple organs of the whole body caused by severe aeute respirator)' syndrome coronavirus 2 ( SARS-CoV-2).More than 200 million people in the world have been infected with the disease, which is an unprecedented global plague.Most patients with C0VID-19 only show mild symptoms with a good prognosis, but about 20% of them may develop into severe cases and eause serious compli-cations, including acute respirator)' distress syndrome ( ARDS) , systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) , cytokine release syndrome (CRS) , etc.Pyroptosis is a kind of programmed cell death characterized by significant inflammatory response.It is often mediated by inflammatory caspase and the gasdermin family of membrane perforating proteins is the final effector molecules, resulting in cell membrane swelling and rupture to death, accompanied by the release of a large number of pro-inflammatory cytokines (such as IL-lp and IL-18, etc).Pyropto- sis affects the occurrence, progression and treatment of many diseases due to its inflammatory and morphological characteristics, and also plays an important role in severe COVID-19.Therefore, drugs that target key molecules in the pyroapoptotic pathway could he a promising breakthrough for treating severe COVID-19.This article reviews the role of pyroptosis in severe COVID-19 complications ARDS and CHS. Copyright © 2022 Publication Centre of Anhui Medical University. All rights reserved.

[Management and short-term outcomes of neonates born to mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant].

Objective: To summarize the management and short-term outcomes of neonates delivered by mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 158 neonates born to mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant admitted to the isolation ward of Children's Hospital of Fudan University from March 15th, 2022 to May 30th, 2022. The postnatal infection control measures for these neonates, and their clinical characteristics and short-term outcomes were analyzed. They were divided into maternal symptomatic group and maternal asymptomatic group according to whether their mothers had SARS-CoV-2 symptoms. The clinical outcomes were compared between the 2 groups using Rank sum test and Chi-square test. Results: All neonates were under strict infection control measures at birth and after birth. Of the 158 neonates, 75 (47.5%) were male. The gestational age was (38+3±1+3) weeks and the birth weight was (3 201±463)g. Of the neonates included, ten were preterm (6.3%) and the minimum gestational age was 30+1 weeks. Six neonates (3.8%) had respiratory difficulty and 4 of them were premature and required mechanical ventilation. All 158 neonates were tested negative for SARS-COV-2 nucleic acid by daily nasal swabs for the first 7 days. A total of 156 mothers (2 cases of twin pregnancy) infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, the time from confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection to delivery was 7 (3, 12) days. Among them, 88 cases (56.4%) showed clinical symptoms, but none needed intensive care treatment. The peripheral white blood cell count of the neonates in maternal symptomatic group was significantly higher than that in maternal symptomatic group (23.0 (18.7, 28.0) × 109 vs. 19.6 (15.4, 36.6) × 109/L, Z=2.44, P<0.05). Conclusions: Neonates of mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant during third trimester have benign short-term outcomes, without intrauterine infection through vertical transmission. Strict infection control measures at birth and after birth can effectively protect these neonates from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Revealing the Adverse Effects of Trace Amount Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial: a Direct and Sensitive Visualization Method Based on Carbon Nanoprobe

The widespread use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials has accelerated their entry into aquatic environment, which in turn can adversely affect aquatic organisms and humans, especially in the COVID-19 outbreak and the post-pandemic era. For early detection and intervention of adverse effects, this study develops a new carbon nanoprobe (CNP) that can reveal the adverse effects of trace amount triclosan (TCS), a commonly used broad-spectrum antimicrobial (BSA), through a direct visualization method. CNP has excellent fluorescent properties and strong positive charges, which can be applied as fluorescent indicator and trapped in mitochondria by electrostatic attraction. The highly sensitive responsiveness of CNP to mitochondrial membrane potential ensures the visualization method can be used for monitoring the adverse effects of TCS. The trace amount TCS monitoring is achieved according to the decrease of fluorescence signal in mitochondria and the change of mitochondrial morphological structure from lines to dots. Moreover, monitoring TCS level in aquatic organisms of zebrafish is further realized. Compared with the morphological toxicity test, this visualizing strategy reveals the adverse effects in organisms under low-dose TCS exposure more sensitively. This developed highly sensitive nanoprobe is cruical for direct BSA monitoring and thus prevents the harm of BSA to aquatic organisms and humans.

Will Oil Price Volatility Cause Market Panic?

It is generally known that violent oil price volatility will cause market panic;however, the extent to which is worthy of empirical test. Firstly, this paper employs the TVP-VAR model to analyze the time-varying impacts of oil price volatility on the panic index using monthly data from January 1990 to November 2021. Then, after using the SVAR model to decompose the oil price volatility, this paper uses the PDL model to analyze the heterogeneous impacts of oil price volatility from different sources. Finally, based on the results of oil decomposition, this paper uses the TARCH model to analyze the asymmetric impacts of oil price volatility in different directions. The results show that: (1) oil price volatility can indeed cause market panic, and these impacts exhibit time-varying characteristics;(2) oil price volatility from different sources has different impacts on the panic index, and the order from high to low is oil-specific demand shocks, supply shocks, and aggregate demand shocks;and (3) oil price volatility has asymmetric impacts on the panic index, and positive shocks have greater impacts than negative.

Detecting residual chemical disinfectant using an atomic Co-N-x-C anchored neuronal-like carbon catalyst modified amperometric sensor

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution and its aerosols are common disinfectants, especially for urgent reuse of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Highly sensitive and selective evaluation of the H2O2 concentration is key to customizing the sufficient disinfection process and avoiding disinfection overuse. Amperometric electrochemical detection is an effective means but poses challenges originated from the precarious state of H2O2. Here, an atomic Co-N-x-C site anchored neuronal-like carbon modified amperometric sensor (denoted as the CoSA-N/C@rGO sensor) is designed, which exhibits a broad detection range (from 250 nM to 50 mM), superior sensitivity (743.3 mu A mM(-1) cm(-2), the best among carbon-based amperometric sensors), strong selectivity (no response to interferents), powerful reliability (only 2.86% decay for one week) and fast response (just 5 s) for residual H2O2 detection. We validated the accuracy and practicability of the CoSA-N/C@rGO sensor in the actual H2O2 disinfection process of personal protective equipment. Further characterization verifies that the electrocatalytic activity and selective reduction of H2O2 is determined by the atomically dispersed Co-N-x-C sites and the high oxygen content of CoSA-N/C@rGO, where the response time and reliability of H2O2 detection is determined by the neuronal-like structure with high nitrogen content. Our findings pave the way for developing a sensor with superior sensitivity, selectivity and stability, rendering promising applications such as medical care and environmental treatment.

The First Vision For Vitals (V4V) Challenge for Non-Contact Video-Based Physiological Estimation

Telehealth has the potential to offset the high demand for help during public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote Photoplethysmography (rPPG) - the problem of non-invasively estimating blood volume variations in the microvascular tissue from video - would be well suited for these situations. Over the past few years a number of research groups have made rapid advances in remote PPG methods for estimating heart rate from digital video and obtained impressive results. How these various methods compare in naturalistic conditions, where spontaneous behavior, facial expressions, and illumination changes are present, is relatively unknown. To enable comparisons among alternative methods, the 1st Vision for Vitals Challenge (V4V) presented a novel dataset containing high-resolution videos time-locked with varied physiological signals from a diverse population. In this paper, we outline the evaluation protocol, the data used, and the results. V4V is to be held in conjunction with the 2021 International Conference on Computer Vision(1).

The History of Mental Epidemiology

The article analyzes the development of mental epidemiology, the practice of psychological support for the population during pandemics at different historical stages. The time frame of the study ranges from 430-426, when the outbreak of the Athenian plague occurred, until now - the 2019-2020 COVID-19 pandemic. It turns out that the emergence of all kinds of methods of psychological work with the population during such social crises was preceded by an epidemic of viral infections, various diseases and other adverse events that, in one way or another, disrupt the mental balance and well--being of the world community. The key problems that existed in the practice of providing psychological assistance and support to the population during different types and scales of epidemics and pandemics were identified. Based on the results of the analysis, some directions for improving the policy in the field of maintaining the mental health of the population during periods of epidemics, pandemics and social crises are proposed.

Stimulating Consumption at Low Budget: Evidence from a Large-Scale Policy Experiment Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

We use a novel panel with detailed transaction records of more than one million de-identified individuals to study the effect of a large-scale Chinese government-issued digital coupon program on consumer spending. Exploiting a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the digital coupon is highly effective in stimulating consumption. An effective government subsidy of RMB 1 can drive excess spending of RMB 3.4 to RMB 5.8, and the effect persists across multiple coupon issuance waves. In explaining the results, we find that a behavioral model with mental accounting and loss aversion can match the empirical evidence from the field. Our analysis, by illustrating the importance of embedding behavioral factors into the design and implementation of public policy, informs the current debate about cost-effective policy tools to recover the economy.

[Sensitivity and specificity of nucleic acid testing in close contacts of COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou].

Objective: To analyze the sensitivity and specificity of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing in 20 348 close contacts of COVID-19 cases in different prevention and control stages in Guangzhou and to provide scientific evidence for optimizing epidemic response strategies. Methods: A total of 20 348 close contacts of COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou were traced between February 21 and September 22,2020. All the close contacts were tested for the nucleic acid of SARS-CoV-2. The sensitivity and specificity of nucleic acid testing and diagnosis in the different prevention and control stages were compared. Results: In 20 348 close contacts, 12 462 were males (61.24%), the median (P25,P75) of age of them was 31.0 years (23.0,43.0), the median number (P25,P75) of nucleic acid testing for them was 2.0 (1.0,3.0), and the median (P25,P75) of their quarantine days was 12.0 (8.0,13.0) days, respectively. A total of 256 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the close contacts after seven nucleic acid tests. In the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th nucleic acid testing, the sensitivity and specificity were 69.14% and 99.99% (177 cases confirmed), 89.84% and 99.99% (230 cases confirmed), 97.27% and 99.99% (249 cases confirmed), and 100.00% and 99.98%, respectively. In the three stages of COVID-19 prevention and control in China: domestic case stage, imported case stage, and imported case associated local epidemic stage, the sensitivity of the 1st nucleic acid testing was 70.68%, 68.00% and 67.35%, and the specificity was 99.98%, 100.00% and 100.00%, respectively. Conclusions: The sensitivity of nucleic acid testing in the close contacts at the different stages were consistent with slight decrease, which might be related to the increased proportion of asymptomatic infections in the late stage of epidemic prevention and control with COVID-19 in Guangzhou. It is suggested to give three nucleic acid tests to improve the sensitivity and reduce false negative risk.

Emotional Analysis on the Public Sentiment of Students Returning to University under COVID-19

As an enormous epidemic for the global, COVID-19, has become a major threat to the mankind thus influence economy, living activities, especial eduction. The public sentiment has been produced in the internet. In this paper, public emotional sentiment about returning to the university is crawled from the weibo and studied. By analyzing the reviews, the students' emotional analysis is studied by snowNLP-based method and TF-IDF-based method. Numerical experiments and visualization results indicate that the students have positive emotion for returning to the university.

Exploring the role of organizational slack in the COVID-19 pandemic: an empirical study of the manufacturing industry

Purpose Drawing on the behavioral theory of the firm (BTF), this study aims to understand the role of organizational slack in the manufacturing industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Using panel data of publicly traded manufacturing firms in the USA over a 12-quarter time period, this study uses generalized least squares modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings Results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on manufacturing firms' performance and organizational slack weakens the negative relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and firm performance. In addition, when a positive performance aspirational gap (PAG) exists, the negative relationship between COVID-19 pandemic and firm performance in firms with high levels of organizational slack is further weakened. Originality/value This study contributes to organizational studies by investigating the contingent impact of organizational slack in the setting of COVID-19 pandemic. This study also contributes to the BTF by investigating how firm PAG, combined with the abundance of organizational slack, moderates the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on firm performance.

A cross-sectional survey of attention and knowledge level among dental students in Jiangxi province during the epidemic period of COVID-19

PURPOSE: To investigate the level of attention and knowledge level of dental students in Jiangxi province during the epidemic period of COVID-19, and provide data support for optimizing the training program of dental professionals in the future. METHODS: Two thousand and sixty-five valid questionnaires were collected from stomatological colleges in Jiangxi province through internet. SPSS 20.0 software was used for statistical analysis, Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used for single factor and multi factor analysis. RESULTS: According to the survey, 74.72% of dental students expressed their concern about the epidemic situation, and 75.93% expressed that they checked the number of confirmed cases in China once or more every day. Students with higher education background, licensed doctor certificate and better family status paid more attention to the epidemic period and frequently checked the information(P<0.05). The categories of information most concerned by all respondents was data such as the number of newly diagnosed patients and the number of cured cases, followed by the diagnosis and treatment of patients with COVID-19.The average score of knowledge about epidemic situation was 5.60±1.88. Analysis of influencing factors showed that the knowledge level of women was higher than that of men（OR=1.371，95%CI:1.143-1.644）.Medical students from Hubei province had a good level of knowledge, high education, party members, and students with medical qualifications had a high level of knowledge about epidemic situation of COVID-19(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The epidemic period of COVID-19 is a high concern among dental students in Jiangxi province , and the awareness rate of related knowledge is low. In order to improve the quality of dental personnel training, the medical colleges or school should strengthen the training of students' operations in the hospital, and add relevant courses of public health emergency in the training program.