Does Avian Coronavirus Co-Circulate with Avian Paramyxovirus and Avian Influenza Virus in Wild Ducks in Siberia?

Avian coronaviruses (ACoV) have been shown to be highly prevalent in wild bird populations. More work on avian coronavirus detection and diversity estimation is needed for the breeding territories of migrating birds, where the high diversity and high prevalence of Orthomyxoviridae and Paramyxoviridae have already been shown in wild birds. In order to detect ACoV RNA, we conducted PCR diagnostics of cloacal swab samples from birds, which we monitored during avian influenza A virus surveillance activities. Samples from two distant Asian regions of Russia (Sakhalin region and Novosibirsk region) were tested. Amplified fragments of the RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp) of positive samples were partially sequenced to determine the species of Coronaviridae represented. The study revealed a high presence of ACoV among wild birds in Russia. Moreover, there was a high presence of birds co-infected with avian coronavirus, avian influenza virus, and avian paramyxovirus. We found one case of triple co-infection in a Northern Pintail (Anas acuta). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the circulation of a Gammacoronavirus species. A Deltacoronavirus species was not detected, which supports the data regarding the low prevalence of deltacoronaviruses among surveyed bird species.

One health surveillance strategy for coronaviruses in Italian wildlife.

The recent reinforcement of CoV surveillance in animals fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic provided increasing evidence that mammals other than bats might hide further diversity and play critical roles in human infectious diseases. This work describes the results of a two-year survey carried out in Italy with the double objective of uncovering CoV diversity associated with wildlife and of excluding the establishment of a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 in particularly susceptible or exposed species. The survey targeted hosts from five different orders and was harmonised across the country in terms of sample size, target tissues, and molecular test. Results showed the circulation of 8 CoV species in 13 hosts out of the 42 screened. Coronaviruses were either typical of the host species/genus or normally associated with their domestic counterpart. Two novel viruses likely belonging to a novel CoV genus were found in mustelids. All samples were negative for SARS-CoV-2, with minimum detectable prevalence ranging between 0.49% and 4.78% in the 13 species reaching our threshold sample size of 59 individuals. Considering that within-species transmission in white-tailed deer resulted in raising the prevalence from 5% to 81% within a few months, this result would exclude a sustained cycle after spillback in the tested species.

In Silico and In Vitro Evaluation of Some Amidine Derivatives as Hit Compounds towards Development of Inhibitors against Coronavirus Diseases.

Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and influenza A virus, require the host proteases to mediate viral entry into cells. Rather than targeting the continuously mutating viral proteins, targeting the conserved host-based entry mechanism could offer advantages. Nafamostat and camostat were discovered as covalent inhibitors of TMPRSS2 protease involved in viral entry. To circumvent their limitations, a reversible inhibitor might be required. Considering nafamostat structure and using pentamidine as a starting point, a small set of structurally diverse rigid analogues were designed and evaluated in silico to guide selection of compounds to be prepared for biological evaluation. Based on the results of in silico study, six compounds were prepared and evaluated in vitro. At the enzyme level, compounds 10-12 triggered potential TMPRSS2 inhibition with low micromolar IC50 concentrations, but they were less effective in cellular assays. Meanwhile, compound 14 did not trigger potential TMPRSS2 inhibition at the enzyme level, but it showed potential cellular activity regarding inhibition of membrane fusion with a low micromolar IC50 value of 10.87 µM, suggesting its action could be mediated by another molecular target. Furthermore, in vitro evaluation showed that compound 14 inhibited pseudovirus entry as well as thrombin and factor Xa. Together, this study presents compound 14 as a hit compound that might serve as a starting point for developing potential viral entry inhibitors with possible application against coronaviruses.

[Genetic diversity of Siberian bovine coronavirus isolates (Coronaviridae: Coronavirinae: Betacoronavirus-1: Bovine-Like coronaviruses)].

INTRODUCTION: Bovine coronaviruses (BCoVs) are causative agents of diarrhea, respiratory diseases in calves and winter cow dysentery. The study of genetic diversity of these viruses is topical issue. The purpose of the research is studying the genetic diversity of BCoV isolates circulating among dairy cattle in Siberia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Specimens used in this study were collected from animals that died or was forcedly slaughtered before the start of the study. The target for amplification were nucleotide sequences of S and N gene regions. RESULTS: Based on the results of RT-PCR testing, virus genome was present in 16.3% of samples from calves with diarrheal syndrome and in 9.9% with respiratory syndrome. The nucleotide sequences of S gene region were determined for 18 isolates, and N gene sequences - for 12 isolates. Based on S gene, isolates were divided into two clades each containing two subclades. First subclade of first clade (European line) included 11 isolates. Second one included classic strains Quebec and Mebus, strains from Europe, USA and Korea, but none of sequences from this study belonged to this subclade. 6 isolates belonged to first subclade of second clade (American-Asian line). Second subclade (mixed line) included one isolate. N gene sequences formed two clades, one of them included two subclades. First subclade included 3 isolates (American-Asian line), and second subclade (mixed) included one isolate. Second clade (mixed) included 8 sequences. No differences in phylogenetic grouping between intestinal and respiratory isolates, as well as according to their geographic origin were identified. CONCLUSION: The studied population of BCoV isolates is heterogeneous. Nucleotide sequence analysis is a useful tool for studying molecular epidemiology of BCoV. It can be beneficial for choice of vaccines to be used in a particular geographic region.

Unravelling Antigenic Cross-Reactions toward the World of Coronaviruses: Extent of the Stability of Shared Epitopes and SARS-CoV-2 Anti-Spike Cross-Neutralizing Antibodies.

The human immune repertoire retains the molecular memory of a very great diversity of target antigens (epitopes) and can recall this upon a second encounter with epitopes against which it has previously been primed. Although genetically diverse, proteins of coronaviruses exhibit sufficient conservation to lead to antigenic cross-reactions. In this review, our goal is to question whether pre-existing immunity against seasonal human coronaviruses (HCoVs) or exposure to animal CoVs has influenced the susceptibility of human populations to SARS-CoV-2 and/or had an impact upon the physiopathological outcome of COVID-19. With the hindsight that we now have regarding COVID-19, we conclude that although antigenic cross-reactions between different coronaviruses exist, cross-reactive antibody levels (titers) do not necessarily reflect on memory B cell frequencies and are not always directed against epitopes which confer cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, the immunological memory of these infections is short-term and occurs in only a small percentage of the population. Thus, in contrast to what might be observed in terms of cross-protection at the level of a single individual recently exposed to circulating coronaviruses, a pre-existing immunity against HCoVs or other CoVs can only have a very minor impact on SARS-CoV-2 circulation at the level of human populations.

Recurrent Loss of Macrodomain Activity in Host Immunity and Viral Proteins.

Protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) are an important battleground in the evolutionary arms races that are waged between the host innate immune system and viruses. One such PTM, ADP-ribosylation, has recently emerged as an important mediator of host antiviral immunity. Important for the host-virus conflict over this PTM is the addition of ADP-ribose by PARP proteins and removal of ADP-ribose by macrodomain-containing proteins. Interestingly, several host proteins, known as macroPARPs, contain macrodomains as well as a PARP domain, and these proteins are both important for the host antiviral immune response and evolving under very strong positive (diversifying) evolutionary selection. In addition, several viruses, including alphaviruses and coronaviruses, encode one or more macrodomains. Despite the presence of the conserved macrodomain fold, the enzymatic activity of many of these proteins has not been characterized. Here, we perform evolutionary and functional analyses to characterize the activity of macroPARP and viral macrodomains. We trace the evolutionary history of macroPARPs in metazoans and show that PARP9 and PARP14 contain a single active macrodomain, whereas PARP15 contains none. Interestingly, we also reveal several independent losses of macrodomain enzymatic activity within mammalian PARP14, including in the bat, ungulate, and carnivore lineages. Similar to macroPARPs, coronaviruses contain up to three macrodomains, with only the first displaying catalytic activity. Intriguingly, we also reveal the recurrent loss of macrodomain activity within the alphavirus group of viruses, including enzymatic loss in insect-specific alphaviruses as well as independent enzymatic losses in two human-infecting viruses. Together, our evolutionary and functional data reveal an unexpected turnover in macrodomain activity in both host antiviral proteins and viral proteins.

Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) Support the Binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike and Are Likely Susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), believed to have originated from a bat species, can infect a wide range of non-human hosts. Bats are known to harbor hundreds of coronaviruses capable of spillover into human populations. Recent studies have shown a significant variation in the susceptibility among bat species to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We show that little brown bats (LBB) express angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor and the transmembrane serine protease 2, which are accessible to and support SARS-CoV-2 binding. All-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed that LBB ACE2 formed strong electrostatic interactions with the RBD similar to human and cat ACE2 proteins. In summary, LBBs, a widely distributed North American bat species, could be at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and potentially serve as a natural reservoir. Finally, our framework, combining in vitro and in silico methods, is a useful tool to assess the SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility of bats and other animal species.

Development of a universal real-time RT-PCR assay for detection of pan-SARS-coronaviruses with an RNA-based internal control.

The current pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exemplifies the critical need for rapid diagnostic assays to prompt intensified virological monitoring both in human and wild animal populations. To date, there are no clinical validated assays for pan-SARS-coronavirus (pan-SARS-CoV) detection. Here, we suggest an innovative primer design strategy for the diagnosis of pan-SARS-CoVs targeting the envelope (E) gene using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Furthermore, we developed a new primer-probe set targeting human ß2-microglobulin (B2M) as an RNA-based internal control for process efficacy. The universal RT-qPCR assay demonstrated no false-positive amplifications with other human coronaviruses or 20 common respiratory viruses, and its limit of detection (LOD) was 159.16 copies/ml at 95% detection probability. In clinical validation, the assay delivered 100% sensitive results in the detection of SARS-CoV-2-positive oropharyngeal samples (n = 120), including three variants of concern (Wuhan, Delta, and Omicron). Taken together, this universal RT-qPCR assay provides a highly sensitive, robust, and rapid detection of SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and animal-derived SARS-related CoVs.

Continuous evolution and emerging lineage of seasonal human coronaviruses: A multicenter surveillance study.

The seasonal human coronaviruses (HCoVs) have zoonotic origins, repeated infections, and global transmission. The objectives of this study are to elaborate the epidemiological and evolutionary characteristics of HCoVs from patients with acute respiratory illness. We conducted a multicenter surveillance at 36 sentinel hospitals of Beijing Metropolis, China, during 2016-2019. Patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) were included, and submitted respiratory samples for screening HCoVs by multiplex real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assays. All the positive samples were used for metatranscriptomic sequencing to get whole genomes of HCoVs for genetical and evolutionary analyses. Totally, 321 of 15 677 patients with ILI or SARI were found to be positive for HCoVs, with an infection rate of 2.0% (95% confidence interval, 1.8%-2.3%). HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63, HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-HKU1 infections accounted for 18.7%, 38.3%, 40.5%, and 2.5%, respectively. In comparison to ILI cases, SARI cases were significantly older, more likely caused by HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43, and more often co-infected with other respiratory pathogens. A total of 179 full genome sequences of HCoVs were obtained from 321 positive patients. The phylogenetical analyses revealed that HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-OC43 continuously yielded novel lineages, respectively. The nonsynonymous to synonymous ratio of all key genes in each HCoV was less than one, indicating that all four HCoVs were under negative selection pressure. Multiple substitution modes were observed in spike glycoprotein among the four HCoVs. Our findings highlight the importance of enhancing surveillance on HCoVs, and imply that more variants might occur in the future.

Flexible work arrangements and gender differences in research during the COVID-19 period in Zimbabwean higher learning institutions

This study sought to investigate the impact of COVID-19-induced flexible work arrangements (FWAs) on gender differences in research outputs during COVID-19. A mixed research methodology was used, focusing on higher learning institutions in Zimbabwe. Purposive sampling was applied to select 250 researchers from the 21 registered universities in Zimbabwe. The study's findings revealed that institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe did not provide the necessary affordances to enable both male and female academics to work from home effectively. The study also established that FWAs were preferred and appreciated by both male and female academics. However, whilst both male and female academics performed their teaching responsibilities without incident, unlike males, females struggled to find time for research, thus affecting professional growth and development negatively for female academics. Cultural traditions were found to subordinate females to domestic and caregiving responsibilities unrelated to their professions. The findings raise questions on the feasibility of the much-recommended FWAs for future work on female academics' research careers. Thus, without the necessary systems and processes to support female researchers, FWAs can only widen the gender gap in research outputs. This study contributes to the Zimbabwean higher learning institutions' perspective on how FWAs' policies and practices could be re-configured to assist female researchers in enhancing their research outputs as well as their career growth.

AUTOANTIBODIES RELATED TO RHEUMATIC DISEASES AFTER COVID-19 INFECTION

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2(Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has been circulating worldwide for three years. It mainly causes upper respiratory tract infection, which can manifest as pulmonary infection and even respiratory distress syndrome in severe cases. Different autoantibodies can be detected in patients infected with COVID-19.ObjectivesTo explore autoantibodies related to rheumatic diseases after COVID-19 infection.MethodsNinety-eight inpatients were tested for antinuclear antibodies (ANA), antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens(ENA), anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies（ANCA), anticardiolipin antibodies,a-β2GPI (IgG/IgM). They were from a tertiary hospital in Guangzhou during the COVID-19 epidemic. Data were described statistically.ResultsNinety-eight hospitalized patients were tested for relevant antibodies. The average age was 50.64±19.54;67 (68.4%) were male, 64 (65.3%) were COVID-19 positive, 90 (90.9%) had rheumatic diseases, and 56 of them were COVID-19 positive patients with rheumatic diseases.There were 76 patients tested for antinuclear antibodies;29 （38.16%）were negative, 18 （23.68%）had a 1/80 titre, and 29（28.16%） had a titre greater than 1:80. The 31 covid patients were positive for ANA. In the high-titer group, 19 patients with rheumatic diseases were positive for COVID-19, and 12 patients had an exacerbation of the rheumatic diseases (6 of whom had previously had pulmonary fibrosis). Of 31 covid patients, only two were non-rheumatic patients, and both were elderly, aged 85 and 100, respectively.Fifty-six patients had ENA results, and 29 for positive antibodies, 8 for ds-DNA antibodies, 2 for anti-Sm antibodies, 6 for anti-nucleosome antibodies, 12 for anti-U1RNP antibodies, 2 for anti-Scl-70 antibodies, 12 for anti-SS-A antibodies, 3 for anti-mitochondrial M2 antibodies, 2 for anti-centromere antibodies, 1 for anti-Po antibodies, and one for anti-Jo-1 antibody. All 56 patients had rheumatic diseases, and no new patients were found.There were 62 patients with ANCA data. P-ANCA was positive in 12 cases(19.35%), and MPO-ANCA was positive in 2 cases. An 85-year-old non-rheumatic COVID-19 patient was P-ANCA positive. She had a history of hypertension, colon cancer, CKD3, coronary heart disease, and atrial flutter.In the anticardiolipin antibodies group, there were 62 patients;only 6 were positive, and 2 were rheumatic patients infected with COVID-19. Antiphospholipid antibodies were detected in 33 patients, and a-β2GPI was tested in one patient, an 82-year-old COVID-19 patient with gout, diabetes, and cerebral infarction in the past. We did not find a statistical difference in the above results.ConclusionWe have not found a correlation between SARS-CoV-2 and serum autoantibodies of rheumatic immune diseases. It needs large samples and an extended follow-up to research.AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by Scientific and Technological Planning Project of Guangzhou City [202102020150], Guangdong Provincial Basic and Applied Basic Research Fund Project [2021A1515111172], National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Fund [82201998] and Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University Cultivating Special Fund Project for National Natural Science Foundation of China [2022GZRPYQN01].Disclosure of Interestsone declared.

A Mask Detection Algorithm Based on Improved Yolov5s

Aiming at the severe form of new coronavirus epidemic prevention and control, a target detection algorithm is proposed to detect whether masks are worn in public places. The Ghostnet and SElayer modules with fewer design parameters replace the BottleneckCSP part in the original Yolov5s network, which reduces the computational complexity of the model and improves the detection accuracy. The bounding box regression loss function DIOU is optimized, the DGIOU loss function is used for bounding box regression, and the center coordinate distance between the two bounding boxes is considered to achieve a better convergence effect. In the feature pyramid, the depthwise separable convolution DW is used to replace the ordinary convolution, which further reduces the amount of parameters and reduces the loss of feature information caused by multiple convolutions. The experimental results show that compared with the yolov5s algorithm, the proposed method improves the mAP by 4.6% and the detection rate by 10.7 frame/s in the mask wearing detection. Compared with other mainstream algorithms, the improved yolov5s algorithm has better generalization ability and practicability. © 2022 ACM.

Spatial Interactions and the Spread of COVID-19: A Network Perspective

We use unique data on the travel history of confirmed patients at a daily frequency across 31 provinces in China to study how spatial interactions influence the geographic spread of pandemic COVID-19. We develop and simultaneously estimate a structural model of dynamic disease transmission network formation and spatial interaction. This allows us to understand what externalities the disease risk associated with a single place may create for the entire country. We find a positive and significant spatial interaction effect that strongly influences the duration and severity of pandemic COVID-19. And there exists heterogeneity in this interaction effect: the spatial spillover effect from the source province is significantly higher than from other provinces. Further counterfactual policy analysis shows that targeting the key province can improve the effectiveness of policy interventions for containing the geographic spread of pandemic COVID-19, and the effect of such targeted policy decreases with an increase in the time of delay.

METHODOLOGY for ASSESSING the FINANCIAL SECURITY of ENTERPRISES in the POST-PANDEMIC PERIOD of DIGITAL ECONOMY

The article considers the approaches to assessing the financial security of enterprises presented in the literature, determines the rsistance of the textile industry of Uzbekistan to the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the basis of statistical data, and reveals a significant differentiation of textile industry enterprises in terms of financial stability. Based on data on small enterprises in the textile industry of Uzbekistan, a method for assessing the financial security of an enterprise in the post-pandemic period is proposed and tested, taking into account the complex influence of non-financial parameters of economic security and assessing the deviations of the economic situation at a given enterprise from the patterns emerging in the relevant segment of the economy. In this research an econometric model was developed to determine the factors affecting the chemical industry and express their interrelationship, based on the conducted econometric analysis, the directions of development in our country were determined. According to the authors, it is necessary to continue these directions in order to ensure the economic security of industry enterprises in the country. © 2022 ACM.

Coping Orientation of Academic Community in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Multi-Country Survey Study

In this paper, we have mapped the coping methods used to address the coronavirus pandemic by members of the academic community. We conducted an anonymous survey of a convenient sample of 674 faculty/staff members and students from September to December 2020. A modified version of the RCOPE scale was used for data collection. The results indicate that both religious and existential coping methods were used by respondents. The study also indicates that even though 71% of informants believed in God or another religious figure, 61% reported that they had tried to gain control of the situation directly without the help of God or another religious figure. The ranking of the coping strategies used indicates that the first five methods used by informants were all non-religious coping methods (i.e., secular existential coping methods): regarding life as a part of a greater whole, regarding nature as an important resource, listening to the sound of surrounding nature, being alone and contemplating, and walking/engaging in any activities outdoors giving a spiritual feeling. Our results contribute to the new area of research on academic community's coping with pandemic-related stress and challenges.

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS FLARE FOLLOWING COVID-19 VACCINATION IN MALAYSIAN POPULATION AND ITS ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS

BackgroundFlare of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) following COVID-19 vaccination has been reported with a low occurrence observed in those patients with disease remission. However, no local data is available in our multi-ethnic Malaysian population.ObjectivesTo evaluate the prevalence of RA flare in Malaysian patients following COVID-19 vaccination and its associated risk factors.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study assessing RA flare based on patient-reported disease flare through self-administered questionnaires and physician-reported flare. Patient self-reported disease flare was defined as ‘a sudden worsening of rheumatology condition or arthritis within 1 month post-vaccination' while physician-reported flare was defined as ‘an increment of disease activity score 28-joint documented within 3 months post-vaccination‘ from either a scheduled or unscheduled clinic visit. A total of 186 RA patients attended the rheumatology clinic in Hospital Putrajaya from May to July 2022 who completed the primary COVID-19 vaccination under the Malaysian National Vaccination Programme were recruited. Demographic data, disease parameters including serology for rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA), cessation of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) around vaccination, type of vaccines and adverse events were examined using descriptive and univariate analyses.ResultsMajority (93%) of RA patients enrolled were female with a mean age of 58 years old (standard deviation, SD 12.2) and mean disease duration was 12 years (SD 7.7). More than half were seropositive (66% RF, 63% ACPA) with 47.4% had double seropositivity (RF and ACPA positive). All patients received DMARDs with the majority (71%) were on methotrexate (MTX), 21.5% were on leflunomide, 17.7% on other DMARDs, with a small proportion (14%) of patients were receiving prednisolone. Only 4.8% of patients were on biologics or targeted synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Half of the patients were in remission prior to vaccination. 62% of patients received Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the primary vaccine, followed by Sinovac-CoronaVac (24.6%) and Oxford-AstraZeneca (13.4%) vaccines. A booster dose had been administered to 80% of patients, of which 88.7% was Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. MTX therapy were discontinued in 39.4% of patients (n=52) post-vaccination for a week duration. The prevalence of RA flare was only 12.9% (n=24) in which 14 were self-reported and 10 were physician-reported flares (4 severe flare, 6 mild-moderate flare). Flare rates were higher during the first and second dose of vaccination with 29.2% respectively, and only 12.5% were reported after booster vaccination. Common vaccine adverse effects were fever (16.8%), myalgia (8.6%) and arthralgia (6.4%). There were no significant differences in the occurrence of flare post-vaccination between age, gender, disease activity prior to vaccination, types of vaccine, usage of MTX and prednisolone, and discontinuation of MTX post-vaccination. Although seropositivity did not exhibit statistically significant flare rate post vaccination, sub-analysis revealed four times higher rate of flare in those who has double positivity compared to seronegative RA patients (12% vs 4%).ConclusionPrevelance of RA flare post-COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysian RA population is low. No significant associated risk factors were identified although double seropositivity appeared to have higher number of flares.References[1]Bixio, R., Bertelle, D., Masia, M., Pistillo, F., Carletto, A. and Rossini, M. (2021), Incidence of Disease Flare After BNT162b2 Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis in Remission. ACR Open Rheumatology, 3: 832-833.[2]Li X, Tong X, Yeung WWY, Kuan P, Yum SHH, Chui CSL, Lai FTT, Wan EYF, Wong CKH, Chan EWY, Lau CS, Wong ICK. Two-dose COVID-19 vaccination and possible arthritis flare among patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Hong Kong. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022 Apr;81(4):564-568.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of InterestsNone Declared.

A Comprehensive Review of Sound-Based Modalities for Automatic COVID-19 Detection using Deep Learning-Based Techniques

The World Health Organization has labeled the novel coronavirus illness (COVID-19) a pandemic since March 2020. It's a new viral infection with a respiratory tropism that could lead to atypical pneumonia. Thus, according to experts, early detection of the positive cases with people infected by the COVID-19 virus is highly needed. In this manner, patients will be segregated from other individuals, and the infection will not spread. As a result, developing early detection and diagnosis procedures to enable a speedy treatment process and stop the transmission of the virus has become a focus of research. Alternative early-screening approaches have become necessary due to the time-consuming nature of the current testing methodology such as Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. The methods for detecting COVID-19 using deep learning (DL) algorithms using sound modality, which have become an active research area in recent years, have been thoroughly reviewed in this work. Although the majority of the newly proposed methods are based on medical images (i.e. X-ray and CT scans), we show in this comprehensive survey that the sound modality can be a good alternative to these methods, providing faster and easiest way to create a database with a high performance. We also present the most popular sound databases proposed for COVID-19 detection. © 2022 IEEE.

Detection of Multiple Structural Breaks in Large Covariance Matrices

This article studies multiple structural breaks in large contemporaneous covariance matrices of high-dimensional time series satisfying an approximate factor model. The breaks in the second-order moment structure of the common components are due to sudden changes in either factor loadings or covariance of latent factors, requiring appropriate transformation of the factor models to facilitate estimation of the (transformed) common factors and factor loadings via the classical principal component analysis. With the estimated factors and idiosyncratic errors, an easy-to-implement CUSUM-based detection technique is introduced to consistently estimate the location and number of breaks and correctly identify whether they originate in the common or idiosyncratic error components. The algorithms of Wild Binary Segmentation for Covariance (WBS-Cov) and Wild Sparsified Binary Segmentation for Covariance (WSBS-Cov) are used to estimate breaks in the common and idiosyncratic error components, respectively. Under some technical conditions, the asymptotic properties of the proposed methodology are derived with near-optimal rates (up to a logarithmic factor) achieved for the estimated breaks. Monte Carlo simulation studies are conducted to examine the finite-sample performance of the developed method and its comparison with other existing approaches. We finally apply our method to study the contemporaneous covariance structure of daily returns of S&P 500 constituents and identify a few breaks including those occurring during the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. An package "” is provided to implement the proposed algorithms.

TÜKETÍMDE TOPLUMSAL CÍNSÍYET: KÜRESEL BÍR SALGIN (COVID-19) SONRASI YAŞANAN DEĞÍŞÍMLER

Genellikle insanlar doğumdan itibaren toplumsal cinsiyet rollerine maruz kalarak ilerleyen yaşantılarında bu roller doğrultusunda tüketim tercihlerini ve kararlarını belirlemeye çalışmaktadır. Toplumdan topluma değişen skonusu bu roller, kişilerin vereceği tüketim kararlarında etkili bir pozisyonda yer almasını sağlayabilir. Ancak daha önce yapılmış çalışmalar, küresel bir şokun tüketimler üzerinde bireylerin benzer tüketim tercihlerinde bulunulduğunu göstermiştir. Bu bağlamda çalışmanın amacı Covid-19 salgını ile birlikte toplumun cinsiyetlere yüklediği rollere ait tüketim kalıplarının genç yetişkinler üzerindeki değişiminin ne şekilde yaşandığını ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Araştırma yöntemi olarak nitel araştırma tekniklerinden derinlemesine mülakat tekniği kullanılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi Íktisadi ve Ídari Bilimler Fakültesi bünyesinde yer alan bölümlerdeki (işletme, iktisat, kamu yönetimi, siyaset bilimleri ve uluslararası ilişkiler) 40 öğrenci ile bu görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Sonuç olarak küresel salgınla birlikte toplumsal cinsiyet algısına aykırı satın alımlar gerçekleştiren katılımcıların son derece az oluşu hatta genç yetişkinlerin büyük çoğunluğunun toplumsal cinsiyete bağlı tüketim yapmadıkları ve buna karşı oldukları ortaya çıkmıştır.Alternate :People are often exposed to gender roles from birth to determine consumption preferences and decisions in line with these roles in their future lives. These roles, which have changed from society to society, can enable people to take an effective position in the decisions of consumption. However, previous studies have shown that individuals have similar consumption preferences on the consumption of a global shock.In this context, the aim of the study is to demonstrate the way that the consumption patterns of the roles that society has put into the gender, along with the Covid-19 epidemic, have changed on young adults. In-depth interview technique from qualitative research techniques was used as a method of research. These meetings were held with 40 students in the departments of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences (business, economics, public administration, political sciences and international relations) of Muğla Sitki Kocman University within the scope of the study. As a result, participants who have made procurement against the perception of gender with the global outbreak have been extremely low, and even the majority of young adults have shown that they do not consume and oppose gender-dependent consumption.

Supplements purchase intention: young consumer's perspective

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the factors that influence young consumers' purchase intention towards dietary supplements (DS) in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThe supplement industry in Malaysia has been growing rapidly recently due to a paradigm shift in healthcare management, from curative to prevention. Thus, it has sparked interest to conduct a study on the factors that influence young consumers' purchase intentions towards DS. With a response rate of 74.5%, a survey questionnaire was used to elicit data from 149 Gen-Y respondents who consume supplements on a regular basis.FindingsThe results revealed that the influencing factors towards purchase decisions among these Gen-Y respondents aged between 17 and 25 are based on product knowledge and product quality. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are outlined at the end of this paper.Originality/valueThis study offers empirical insights from the perspective of an emerging digital economy on the factors that influence young consumers' purchase intentions towards DS in Malaysia.