What drives art education massive open online courses continuance intention? Exploring determinants from value–software–hardware–design perspective

Massive open online courses (MOOC) have become important in the learning process and have been adopted in higher education, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies investigated MOOC continuance intention (CI) for arts disciplines. Thus, an integrated framework was proposed based on the expectation-confirmation model (ECM) and value-software-hardware-design system perception framework, focusing on the exploration of the potential factors of MOOC CI for art education taking music education as the context. A questionnaire-type survey was used, and responses from university students were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that perceived music familiarity (PMF), perceived emotional value (PEV), and perceived user interface design (PUID) positively influence music MOOC CI. In addition, expectation-confirmation factors (i.e. confirmation, perceived usefulness of individual learning, and satisfaction) not only considerably affect CI but also play partially mediating roles between music MOOC CI and perception factors (i.e. PMF, PEV, and PUID). Accordingly, the ECM is extended in the music MOOC context. Moreover, the results reveal that personality traits fail to moderate CI, which denotes no significant difference across groups. The findings present several implications for researchers and practitioners in the MOOC, music and arts education, and learning system design in the context of higher education.

Toxicity of the disinfectant benzalkonium chloride (C14) towards cyanobacterium Microcystis results from its impact on the photosynthetic apparatus and cell metabolism

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are commonly used in a variety of consumer and commercial products, typically as a component of disinfectants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, QACs became one of the primary agents utilized to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus on surfaces. However, the ecotoxicological effects of QACs upon aquatic organisms have not been fully assessed. In this study, we examined the effects of a widely used QAC (benzalkonium chloride-C14, BAC-14) on two toxigenic Microcystis strains and one non-toxigenic freshwater Microcystis strain and carried out an analysis focused on primary, adaptive and compensatory stress responses at apical (growth and photosynthesis) and metabolic levels. This analysis revealed that the two toxic Microcystis strains were more tolerant than the non-toxic strain, with 96 hr-EC50 values of 0.70, 0.76, and 0.38 mg/L BAC-14 for toxigenic M. aeruginosa FACHB-905, toxigenic M. aeruginosa FACHB-469, and non-toxigenic M. wesenbergii FACHB-908, respectively. The photosynthetic activities of the Microcystis, assessed via Fv/Fm values, were significantly suppressed under 0.4 mg/L BAC-14. Furthermore, this analysis revealed that BAC-14 altered 14, 12, and 8 metabolic pathways in M. aeruginosa FACHB-905, M. aeruginosa FACHB-469, and M. wesenbergii FACHB-908, respectively. It is noteworthy that BAC-14 enhanced the level of extracellular microcystin production in the toxigenic Microcystis strains, although cell growth was not significantly affected. Collectively, these data show that BAC-14 disrupted the physiological and metabolic status of Microcystis cells and stimulated the production and release of microcystin, which could result in damage to aquatic systems.

Analysis of COVID-19 Guideline Quality and Change of Recommendations: A Systematic Review

Background Hundreds of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and expert consensus statements have been developed and published since the outbreak of the epidemic. However, these CPGs are of widely variable quality. So, this review is aimed at systematically evaluating the methodological and reporting qualities of COVID-19 CPGs, exploring factors that may influence their quality, and analyzing the change of recommendations in CPGs with evidence published. Methods We searched five electronic databases and five websites from 1 January to 31 December 2020 to retrieve all COVID-19 CPGs. The assessment of the methodological and reporting qualities of CPGs was performed using the AGREE II instrument and RIGHT checklist. Recommendations and evidence used to make recommendations in the CPGs regarding some treatments for COVID-19 (remdesivir, glucocorticoids, hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, interferon, and lopinavir-ritonavir) were also systematically assessed. And the statistical inference was performed to identify factors associated with the quality of CPGs. Results We included a total of 92 COVID-19 CPGs developed by 19 countries. Overall, the RIGHT checklist reporting rate of COVID-19 CPGs was 33.0%, and the AGREE II domain score was 30.4%. The overall methodological and reporting qualities of COVID-19 CPGs gradually improved during the year 2020. Factors associated with high methodological and reporting qualities included the evidence-based development process, management of conflicts of interest, and use of established rating systems to assess the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. The recommendations of only seven (7.6%) CPGs were informed by a systematic review of evidence, and these seven CPGs have relatively high methodological and reporting qualities, in which six of them fully meet the Institute of Medicine (IOM) criteria of guidelines. Besides, a rapid advice CPG developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the seven CPGs got the highest overall scores in methodological (72.8%) and reporting qualities (83.8%). Many CPGs covered the same clinical questions (it refers to the clinical questions on the effectiveness of treatments of remdesivir, glucocorticoids, hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, interferon, and lopinavir-ritonavir in COVID-19 patients) and were published by different countries or organizations. Although randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews on the effectiveness of treatments of remdesivir, glucocorticoids, hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, interferon, and lopinavir-ritonavir for patients with COVID-19 have been published, the recommendations on those treatments still varied greatly across COVID-19 CPGs published in different countries or regions, which may suggest that the CPGs do not make sufficient use of the latest evidence. Conclusions Both the methodological and reporting qualities of COVID-19 CPGs increased over time, but there is still room for further improvement. The lack of effective use of available evidence and management of conflicts of interest were the main reasons for the low quality of the CPGs. The use of formal rating systems for the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations may help to improve the quality of CPGs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, we suggest developing a living guideline of which recommendations are supported by a systematic review for it can facilitate the timely translation of the latest research findings to clinical practice. We also suggest that CPG developers should register the guidelines in a registration platform at the beginning for it can reduce duplication development of guidelines on the same clinical question, increase the transparency of the development process, and promote cooperation among guideline developers all over the world. Since the International Practice Guideline Registry Platform has been created, developers could register guidelines prospectively and internationally on this platform.

Establishment and preliminary application of an indirect ELISA based on S1 protein of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus

The recombinant expression plasmid pIRES-S1 was constructed according to the gene sequence of PEDV S1 in NCBI (GenBank:JQ517274). The plasmid pIRES-S1 was transfected into ST cells by electrotransfer. After G418 pressurization screening, western-blot detection and suspension domestication, a stable transduction cell pool expressing S1 protein was obtained. The results of Western-blot showed that S1 protein have good reactivity. An indirect ELISA was established by using S1 protein as coating antigen, and the ELISA was used to detect PEDV clinical serum and PEDV negative serum of imported breeder pigs. Take the serum neutralization test as the standard, the results showed that the sensitivity of the ELISA was 96.3% and the specificity was 97.7%.It was significantly consistent with the serum neutralization test (kappa value=0.882, P < 0.05). The ELISA was used to detect the tracking serum of PEDV back-feeding pigs. The results showed that it could accurately evaluate the growth and decline of PEDV Ig G antibody level in infected pigs. Our results suggested that the ELISA based on S1 protein established in this study has high sensitivity and specificity. It could be used to detect PEDV antibody in clinical serum samples and provide an effective basis for immune evaluation of PEDV in pigs.

Internet-based cognitive therapy for women with antenatal depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: protocol for a multi-center randomized controlled trial across China.

BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are common among pregnant women. Internet-delivered psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) have been developed to increase accessibility and address common help-seeking barriers, especially during pandemic period. The objective of this trial is to evaluate the short-term and long-term effects of iCBT on reducing depressive symptoms among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic with the overall goal of preventing depression recurrence in the first 12 months postpartum. METHODS: A multi-site randomized controlled trial will be conducted where 300 pregnant women early in their third trimester will be screened for depression symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during a routine obstetrical visit. Eligible and consenting women with a score greater than 9 will be randomly allocated (1:1) to either intervention group or control group. ICBT involving the completion of 7 weekly online modules will be delivered via a well-designed perinatal mental healthcare app. The primary objective is to evaluate the effect of iCBT on reducing depression symptoms among pregnant Chinese women starting from their third trimester. The secondary objectives are to examine the effect of iCBT on anxiety, sleep quality, social support, parenting stress, co-parenting relationship, and infant development. DISCUSSION: This multi-center randomized controlled trial has been planned in accordance with best practices in behavioral trial design. The internet-based intervention addressed the needs of pregnant women during a major pandemic where face-to-face therapy is not preferable. The trial has a relatively large sample size with sufficient power to evaluate the efficacy of iCBT intervention for the primary and secondary outcomes. One year follow-up evaluation in the study is designed to determine the longer-term effect of the intervention on both maternal and infant outcomes. Although a limitation is the assessment of depression and anxiety using self-report measures, these easily incorporated and maternal-preferred assessments allow for real-life scalability if the intervention is proven to be effective. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics was approved by the institutional review board of International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital (GKLW2020-25). Dissemination of results will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals and presented at scientific conferences. TRIAL STATUS: The first patient was enrolled on 19 August 2020. To date, 203 participants have met eligibility requirements and been randomized to either the intervention group or control group. Data collection aims to be complete in September 2022. Date and version identifier: 2020715-version1.0. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR2000033433. Registered 31 May 2020, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=54482 .

The neutralization of B.1.617.1 and B.1.1.529 sera from convalescent patients and BBIBP-CorV vaccines.

The SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.617.1 (Kappa) contain multiple mutations in the spike protein. However, the effect of B.1.617.1 lineage-related mutants on viral infectivity and inactivated-virus vaccine efficacy remains to be defined. We therefore constructed 12 B.1.617.1-related pseudoviruses and systematically studied the effects of mutations on virus infectivity and neutralization resistance to convalescent and inactivated virus vaccine sera. Our results show that the B.1.617.1 variant exhibited both higher infectivity and neutralization resistance in sera at 1 or 3 months after vaccination of 28 individuals and at 14 and 200 days after discharge of 15 convalescents. Notably, 89% of vaccines and 100% of the convalescent serum samples showed more than 2.5-fold reduction in neutralization against one single mutation: E484Q. Besides, we found a significant decrease in neutralizing activity in convalescent patients and BBIBP-CorV vaccines for B.1.1.529. These findings demonstrate that inactivated-virus vaccination or convalescent sera showed reduced, but still significant, neutralization against the B.1.617.1 variant.

Efficiency and input congestion of major marine transport companies in the world

The marine transport companies have been experiencing intense competition with the supply increasing faster than the demand, making most of them face input congestion. This paper applies the input congestion data envelopment analysis (DEA) model proposed by Tone and Sahoo (2004) to compute efficiency scores and input congestions of 159 major marine transport companies in the world during 2010–2019. The inputs include employees, total assets, and capital whereas the output is net sales. The base year for monetary values is 2010. It is found that the annual ratios of input-congested marine companies are between 20.9% and 65.7%, indicating that input congestion is not an unusual phenomenon among these companies. This paper also applies a BCG-like analysis to consider inefficiency and input congestion at the same time. The Mann-Whitney U test shows that most of the marine transport companies in Asia, Europe, and the Americas face both inefficiency and input congestion problems during the data period. This analysis is able to provide the implications for shipping companies to conduct more precise and efficient resource allocation and coordination in the post Covid-19 era.

Effects of temperature, humidity, and air saturation state on the transmission risk prediction of COVID-19 in typical scenarios (preprint)

Environmental parameters have a significant impact on the spread of respiratory viral diseases. Temperature and relative humidity are correlated with viral inactivation in the air, whereas supersaturated air can promote viral deposition in the respiratory tract. This study introduces a new concept, the dynamic virus deposition ratio (α), that reflects the dynamic changes in particle size and viral deposition under varying ambient environments. Moreover, a non-steady-state modified Wells-Riley model is established to predict the infection risk of shared air space under varying environmental parameters, including temperature, relative humidity, and air saturation state. The quanta emission rate of an asymptomatic infector during different respiratory activities (breath, voice, and cough) are explored, and the differences in the infection risk under saturated and unsaturated air conditions are also compared. Finally, six typical exposure scenarios from daily life are also explored, highlighting scenarios of higher risk. The results show that the highest infection risk (R max =5.2%) and the longest risk duration (T terminal =6.8h) are both reached in cold and damp conditions. This study quantitatively reflects how environmental parameters are linked to viral inactivation and particle deposition, affecting transmission risk.

Facilitating technology-based character learning in emergency remote teaching

The study reports pedagogical adaptations that Chinese language instructors made to support students' character learning during emergency remote teaching in 2020. Data from an online questionnaire and follow-up interviews show that the handwriting requirement in the language curriculum was ified to way to technology-based instruction, making the conventionally isolated and solitary task of character learning more integrative and interactive. Beginning-level instructors' use of technology in character instruction was correlated with their self-confidence, perceived time sufficiency, technology access, and support received. Meanwhile, intermediate- and upper-level instructors' self-confidence and perceived values of online teaching were factors associated with their technology use. The crucial role of teacher communities in offering language-specific training and peer support is emphasized, and implications to the broader field of foreign language teaching are discussed.

Economic Resilience in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Across-Economy Comparison

This paper evaluates the economic resilience of 52 economies based on 16 indicators in three dimensions (including the government, enterprises, and the public) and calculates their disaggregate output scores using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to measure and compare their economic resilience in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The evaluation results show that 23 of these economies had no room for further improvement in the overall economic resilience performance at that time. Germany's economic resilience performance, ranking 24th, is second only to these 23 economies, whereas Australia and Belgium are just behind Germany. These are the better performers among the 52 economies. Meanwhile, this paper also validates the notion that the construction of an economic resilience index is more suitable than the IMD World Competitiveness Index and the WEF Global Competitiveness Index in assessing the economic resilience of those economies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is more suitable for the sample countries to refer to the efficiency of each indicator in this article to formulate policy directions and goals, in order to strengthen their economic resilience under the epidemic. However, under the limitations of the COVID-19 epidemic at the time of writing this paper, the economic resilience scores measured in this paper still belong to resistance measures rather than recovery measures.

Gender-Specific Related Factors for Suicidal Ideation During COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Among 5,175 Chinese Adolescents

Background Suicide was an urgent issue during the pandemic period in adolescents. However, few studies were focused on suicide during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown. Methods An online survey was conducted among 5,175 Chinese adolescents from June 9th to 29th in 2020 to investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation (SI) during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. A gender-specific stepwise logistic regression model was used. All analyses were performed with STATA 15.0. Results About 3% of the participants had reported having SI during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. The prevalence of female SI (3.64%, 95% CI: 2.97–4.45%) was higher than that of males (2.39%, 95% CI: 1.88–3.05%) (χ2 = 6.87, p = 0.009). Quarreling with parents [odds ratio (OR) = 9.73, 95% CI: 5.38–17.59], insomnia (OR = 5.28, 95% CI: 2.81–9.93), previous suicide attempt history (OR = 3.68, 95% CI: 1.69–8.03), previous SI history (OR = 2.81, 95% CI: 1.30–6.06), and feeling depressed during pandemic lockdown (OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.22–4.18) were positively associated with the males' SI. However, having emptiness inside (OR = 4.39, 95% CI: 2.19–8.79), quarreling with parents (OR = 3.72, 95% CI: 2.16–6.41), insomnia (OR = 3.28, 95% CI: 1.85–5.80), feeling anxious (OR = 2.62, 95% CI: 1.46–4.70), and longing for father's emotional warmth (OR = 0.38, 0.20–0.72) were associated mostly with females' SI. Conclusions Female adolescents, who felt emptiness from their families and their fathers' emotional warmth, were at much higher risk of having SI during COVID-19 lockdown. We must specify a suicide prevention policy and interventions for adolescents in the pandemic crisis based on gender gaps.

Adolescent Electronic Cigarette Use: A Bibliometric Analysis of Global Scientific Research (preprint)

Background: Adolescent electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use is an emerging global public health concern as nicotine addiction may be established among this vulnerable population. Its study has generated a burgeoning body of research charactering a wide spectrum. However, the development and current status of research on this alarming issue have been inadequately examined in an objective, systematic and visualized way. This bibliometric analysis aims to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive overview of scientific literature in relation to adolescent e-cigarette use. Methods A total of 943 eligible papers published from 2011 to 2021 were retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection. Performance analysis was used with various bibliometric indicators to examine the publication trend, most prolific countries, institutions, authors, journals, and highly cited articles. Science mapping based on VOSviewer was employed to visualize the collaboration networks between countries and authors, research hotspots, and their evolutions. Results Publications on adolescent e-cigarette use has increased significantly during the past decade. The USA dominated this field in all aspects and the University of Southern California was the most productive institution. There were clear collaborative author groupings, but their transnational collaborations were generally weak. Major research themes were identified in the extant literature, including epidemiology and KABs; risk factors; health implications; gateway effect; and prevention interventions. The keywords such as ‘vapor’, ‘flavor’, ‘advertising’, ‘dual use’ reflected research emphases in early studies while ‘bullying’, ‘COVID-19’, ‘social norms’ , and ‘heated tobacco products’ were the emerging research trends. Conclusion This study is presumed to provide an overall picture of research on adolescent e-cigarette use, which may help scholars and public health practitioners stay abreast of the research developments and serve as a reference and entry point for further investigation into this multifaceted phenomenon.

The Development and Issues of Energy-ICT: A Review of Literature with Economic and Managerial Viewpoints

This paper reviews the economic and managerial literature on the relationship between energy-ICT and the development of the green energy economy. It is summarized that there are four lines of existing literature on energy-ICT: cost and benefit analysis, fair competition issues, cybersecurity issues, and promotion policy issues. Even though ICT is energy-consuming, most of the existing empirical studies support the idea that energy-ICT has net positive effects on energy savings, energy efficiency improvement, emission reduction, and economic growth at both enterprise and economy-wide levels. Energy-ICT equips the platform operator with higher bargaining power, such that a governance mechanism to assure the fair access right of each entitled participant is required. A smarter energy-ICT network also becomes riskier, and hence the cybersecurity protection is more important than before. Future research and development opportunities remain on these issues of the fair competition, cybersecurity, and promotion policy of energy-ICT.

COVID-19 Lockdown Increased the Risk of Preterm Birth.

Purpose: To estimate whether the city-specific lockdown in Shanghai induced by the COVID-19 pandemic affected preterm birth rates among uninfected pregnant women in different trimesters. Methods: The population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted in the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital (IPMCH) in Shanghai, China. Pregnant women without COVID-19 received perinatal healthcare during lockdown (from January 24, 2020 to March 24, 2020) and non-lockdown (from January 24, 2019 to March 24, 2019) period and giving birth to a live infant at IPMCH were enrolled. 1:1 propensity score matching and Inverse probability of treatment weighting were used to evaluate preterm birth (<37 weeks), very preterm birth (<34 weeks), preterm birth with premature rupture of membranes (PROM-PTB), spontaneous preterm birth with intact membranes (S-PTB), and medically induced preterm birth (MI-PTB) between two groups. Results: 8,270 pregnant women were in the lockdown group, and 9,815 were in the non-lockdown group. Pregnant women in second trimester during lockdown had a higher risk of PTB than those during the non-lockdown period [OR: 1.43 (CI 1.01-2.02), ARD: 1.7% (CI 0.04-3.4%), p = 0.045]. Furthermore, pregnant women in third trimester during lockdown had a higher risk of PROM-PTB than those during the non-lockdown period [OR: 1.64 (CI 1.09-2.47), ARD: 0.9% (CI 0.2-1.6%), p = 0.02]; no group differences were found related to rates of VPTB, S-PTB or MI-PTB. Conclusion: In this cohort study in China, we found that there was an increased risk in preterm birth for non-infected women in COVID-19 lockdown who were in their second trimester.

Online college English education in Wuhan against the COVID-19 pandemic: Student and teacher readiness, challenges and implications.

Online education, including college English education, has been developing rapidly in the recent decade in China. Such aspects as e-readiness, benefits and challenges of online education were well-researched under normal situations, but fully online language teaching on a large-scale in emergencies may tell a different story. A survey of 2310 non-English-major college students and 149 English teachers from three types of twelve higher education institutions in Wuhan was conducted to evaluate their readiness for online English education during the COVID-19 pandemic, to figure out challenges encountered by them and to draw implications for future online college English education. Quantitative statistics gathered using two readiness scales adapted from previous studies showed that both cohorts were slightly below the ready level for the unexpected online transition of college English education. The overall level of readiness for students was 3.68 out of a score of 5, and that for teachers was 3.70. Individual differences were explored and reported. An analysis of qualitative results summarized six categories of challenges encountered by the students, i.e. technical challenges, challenges concerning learning process, learning environment, self-control, efficiency and effectiveness, and health concern. Though the students reported the highest level of readiness in technology access, they were most troubled by technical problems during online study. For teachers, among three types of challenges, they were most frustrated by pedagogical ones, especially students' disengagement in online class. The survey brought insights for online college English education development. Institutions should take the initiative and continue promoting the development of online college English education, because a majority of the respondents reported their willingness and intention to continue learning/teaching English in online or blended courses in the post-pandemic period. They are supposed to remove technical barriers for teachers and students, and assess the readiness levels of both cohorts before launching English courses online. Institutions should also arrange proper training for instructors involved, especially about pedagogical issues. Language teachers are suggested to pay special attention to students' engagement and communication in online courses.

Advances in Neutralization Assays for SARS-CoV-2

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered a global health emergency and brought disaster to humans. Tremendous efforts have been made to control the pandemic, among which neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) are of specific interest to researchers. Neutralizing antibodies are generated within weeks after infection or immunization, and can protect cells from virus intrusion and confer protective immunity to cells. Thus, production of NAbs is considered as a main goal for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines and NAbs may be used for patient treatment in the form of monoclonal antibodies. Neutralization assays are capable of quantitatively detecting NAbs against SARS-CoV-2, allowing to explore the relationship between the level of NAbs and the severity of the disease, and may predict the possibility of re-infection in COVID-19 patients. They can also be used to test the effects of monoclonal antibodies, convalescent plasma and vaccines. At present, wild-type virus neutralization assay remains the gold standard for measuring NAbs;while pseudovirus neutralization assays, Surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT), and high-throughput versions of neutralization assays are popular alternatives with their own advantages and disadvantages. In this review article, we summarize the characteristics and recent progress of SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assays. Special attention is given to the current limitations of various neutralization assays so as to promote new possible strategies with NAbs by which rapid SARS-CoV-2 serological diagnosis and antiviral screening in the future will be achieved.

Forecasting and Evaluating Multiple Interventions for COVID-19 Worldwide.

As the Covid-19 pandemic surges around the world, questions arise about the number of global cases at the pandemic's peak, the length of the pandemic before receding, and the timing of intervention strategies to significantly stop the spread of Covid-19. We have developed artificial intelligence (AI)-inspired methods for modeling the transmission dynamics of the epidemics and evaluating interventions to curb the spread and impact of COVID-19. The developed methods were applied to the surveillance data of cumulative and new COVID-19 cases and deaths reported by WHO as of March 16th, 2020. Both the timing and the degree of intervention were evaluated. The average error of five-step ahead forecasting was 2.5%. The total peak number of cumulative cases, new cases, and the maximum number of cumulative cases in the world with complete intervention implemented 4 weeks later than the beginning date (March 16th, 2020) reached 75,249,909, 10,086,085, and 255,392,154, respectively. However, the total peak number of cumulative cases, new cases, and the maximum number of cumulative cases in the world with complete intervention after 1 week were reduced to 951,799, 108,853 and 1,530,276, respectively. Duration time of the COVID-19 spread was reduced from 356 days to 232 days between later and earlier interventions. We observed that delaying intervention for 1 month caused the maximum number of cumulative cases reduce by -166.89 times that of earlier complete intervention, and the number of deaths increased from 53,560 to 8,938,725. Earlier and complete intervention is necessary to stem the tide of COVID-19 infection.

Pilot Study On The Value of Echocardiography Combined With Lung Ultrasound In The Diagnosis And Treatment of COVID-19 Pneumonia (preprint)

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between echocardiography results and lung ultrasound score (LUS) in coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia patients and to evaluate the impact of their combined application in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods: Hospitalized COVID-19 pneumonia patients who underwent lung ultrasound and echocardiography daily were included in this study. Patients with tricuspid regurgitation within 3 days of admission were enrolled, and the correlation and differences between their pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and LUS on days 3, 8, and 13 were compared. The inner diameter of the pulmonary artery root and the size of the atria and ventricles were also observed.Results: Pulmonary artery pressure within 3 days (on day 3, 8 and 13) of admission was positively correlated with LUS (r = 0.448, p = 0.003; r = 0.738, p = 0.000; r = 0.325, p = 0.036). On day 8 the values of both PAP and LUS were higher than their corresponding values on days 3 and 13 (p < 0.01). On day 8 the positive rate for increased PAP and LUS was 92.9% (39/42) and 90.5% (38/42), respectively, and the combined positive rate for these two was 97.6% (41/42). On day 8 the inner diameters of the right atrium, right ventricle, and pulmonary artery differed significantly from their corresponding values on days 3 and 13 (p < 0.05).Conclusions: PAP is positively correlated with LUS. The two should be combined for a more informative assessment of the status of recovery from COVID-19 pneumonia.