This qualitative exploratory study employs purposeful and maximum variation sampling to explore Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo's spiritual journey and the devotion of RVM Sisters. Gathering thirty participants offers a diverse range of perspectives, providing insights into the local community. Thematic analysis highlights their impact during the pandemic in Iligan City. Ignacian spirituality spreads through education, retreat, other ministries and digital adaptation by the RVM Sisters. Through in-depth literature reviews, interviews, and observations, the researcher uncovers Mother Ignacia's journey, resonating with modern spirituality. RVM Sisters adapt during the pandemic, inspiring hope in words and in action. Their humility despite their accomplishments is particularly inspiring. This transformative journey holds significance, illuminating resilience in a post-COVID-19 context. The study contributes to literature and suggests amplifying RVM Sisters' influence. Overall, in a pandemic-stricken world, it emphasizes spirituality's role as a beacon of strength and compassion, inspiring revitalization. The essence of Mother Ignacia and the RVM Sisters' spiritual expedition serves as a celestial inspiration, guiding local residents toward compassion, fortitude, and collective renewal.

Ever since the tremendous success of the rapid vaccine development against COVID‑19, its availa-bility, distribution, and deployment have been a significant concern; however, evidence suggests that vaccine hesitancy has become a greater problem. Therefore, trust in vaccines is crucial and critically dependent on regimes' ability to communicate the benefits of immunization. This study investigated ideas on ways to reduce barriers to COVID-19 vaccination uptake. It explores methods to overcome COVID-19 vaccine barriers through qualitative research: interviews and group discussions involving healthcare providers, administration personnel, teachers, and individuals with chronic conditions across urban (Mombasa) and rural (Kilifi) Kenya. Audio-recorded discussions were transcribed and thematically analyzed across locations. Five themes emerged in our results regarding how to reduce barriers to the COVID vaccine in the context of Kenya, including awareness campaigns, engaging diverse stakeholders, using various communication techniques, capacity building to increase vac-cination centers and trained staff, and lastly, revising relevant government health policies and guidelines. These results indicate the importance of adopting multiple approaches, as no single strategy could boost vaccine acceptance. Moreover, this study provides recommendations for con-ceiving actionable interventions to potentially boost vaccine demand and maintain routine immun-ization in Kenya.

We explored the impacts of the remote and return to in-person work periods on sleep and well-being as reported by faculty (n = 22) and non-teaching staff (n=21) with and without disabilities. Our results show that contrary to expectations, the Covid-19 remote teaching/working period resulted in better sleep, as well as greater well-being, than the return to in-person. With respect to sleep, faculty members had slightly more negative outcomes than staff, most evident in heightened anxiety and work aspects. Faculty with disabilities had somewhat worse sleep and well-being during the remote period than faculty without disabilities. During the return to in-person work, both faculty and non-teaching staff reported more negative than positive sleep and well-being outcomes. In particular, during the in-person period faculty members experienced slightly more negative sleep outcomes related to anxiety and work, while staff members experienced slightly more negative sleep outcomes related to the need to commute and lifestyle. Our findings show that there were benefits and disadvantages to both remote and in-person work periods, suggesting a hybrid work schedule should be considered in more detail, particularly as an optional reasonable accommodation for faculty and staff with disabilities. Our study highlights that training to keep faculty abreast of the latest technological innovations, ways to promote work-life balance and steps to remedy classroom size and building ventilation to prevent the spread of disease all need urgent attention.

COVID-19-associated coagulopathy (CAC) and ICU admissions were recognized as critical health issues that contributed to the morbidity and mortality in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. Here, we analyzed publicly available data from the Yale IMPACT cohort to address immunological misfiring and sex differences in early COVID-19 ICU patients by taking various biological variables into account that were not considered. In 2020, SARS-CoV-2 was considered far more pathogenic and lethal than other circulating respiratory viruses, and it is thus surprising that published studies failed to confirm whether all patients were indeed SARS-CoV-2+ at least by one method, thereby confounding many findings/conclusions. Several key findings were further missed or misinterpreted due to lack of consideration of several important biological variables such as days from symptoms onset (DFSO), risk factors, including obesity, and treatments that influence the immunological measures evaluated. The immune profile in the early phase of infection will differ vastly from mid-to-late phases of infection, which likely coincides with recovery or is the tipping point for progression to severe illness, and thus grouping patients from different phases/DFSO into one single group is not the right approach. Taken together, our analysis shows that interferon responses were dampened and none of the early treatments were effective in reducing levels of IL6, and that obese patients exhibited highest mortality and worst clinical scores. The opportunity to understand the contribution of biological sex, risk factors, and early treatments with respect to COVID-19-related ICU admission and progression to morbidity and mortality was missed.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a high contagious respiratory infectious disease that has afiected millions of people worldwide. Initially, basic public health measures were implemented to control specially the spread of such virus. However, vaccination has emerged as a highly efiective strategy in combating COVID-19 and reducing its transmission. Several efiective and safe vaccines have been approved to prevent the inadvertent spread of the disease. In this study, a modeling approach is used to analyze the impact of these vaccines on the dynamics of COVID-19. By applying a higher-order numerical method, the model is solved based on reported cases in Pakistan. A spectral method is employed for the numerical solution, and the model is simulated to assess the efiects of vaccination. The Next-generation method is used to calculate the threshold quantity, known as R0, which indicates the potential for disease transmission. The study also includes a detailed stability analysis, examining the invariance properties of the model solution and discussing equilibrium points and their stability in disease-free and endemic states. Furthermore, the study presents graphical representations of the influence of special parameters on the dynamics of the pandemic.

A mathematical model is proposed to analyze the spreading dynamics of COVID-19. By using the parameters of the model, namely the basic reproduction number (R0) and the attenuation constant (k), the daily number of infections (DNI) and the cumulative number of infections (CNI) are deduced and shown to be in good agreement with experimental data. This model effectively addresses three key issues: explaining the waveform pattern of DNI, predicting the occurrence of the second wave of infection, and understanding the competitive spread of two viruses in a region. The findings demonstrate that these significant challenges can be comprehensively tackled using a simple mathematical framework. The theoretical insights derived from this model hold potential in guiding the estimation of the severity of an infection wave and formulating effective strategies for the control and mitigation of epidemic outbreaks.

Background: According to metacognitive theory, Cognitive–Attentional Syndrome (CAS) is a transdiagnostic factor and main mechanism of psychopathology maintenance. The main goal of this study was to examine whether CAS predicted symptoms of stress and trauma-related symptomatology in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic and three months later. Methods: Initially 1,792 participants were recruited online via social media; data was collected at two time points. Measures included the Cognitive–Attentional Syndrome Questionnaire, Adjustment Disorder – New Module 20, the International Trauma Questionnaire, and additional measures. Results: Structural equation modeling was conducted in order to determine relations between reported stressors, CAS, and symptomatology. At both time points, CAS was a significant mediator between stressors and symptoms of adjustment disorder. Despite the decrease in the intensity of adjustment disorder symptoms between waves, it was a significant predictor of other psychopathology at both time points, except for traumatic stress. Conclusions: The findings confirm the assumption that CAS is a transdiagnostic factor of psychopathology, and has a mediating role in the relationship between stressors and adjustment disorder and co-occurring symptomatology. The effect was particularly significant in the initial phase of the pandemic, which was highly stressful for many people.

Background: Early rehabilitation is an important strategy for the treatment of severe diseases. The study aimed to assess the efficacy of early rehabilitation of patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Methods: The retrospective single-center study with propensity score matching. Results: 180 patients (54 (44 - 62.3) yo) divided into three equal groups: 1 - physical exercises; 2 - physical exercises and chest massage in an electrostatic field; 3 - no rehabilitation. The length of stay (LOS) in the hospital in group 1 was 14 (11-15) days, group 2 - 13 (11-15) days, group 3 - 15 (13-18) days, p=0.0026. Physical exercises for patients with CT-1 improved the quality of life, assessed by the EQ-5D questionnaire, by reducing the level of anxiety and depression. The Hazard Ratio (HR) for desaturation (<93%) was 2.34 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.18-4.63) for group 2, p=0.001. The HR for C-reactive protein level above 50 mg/l in patients with CT-2 was 2.33 (95% CI 1.56-3.47), p=0.0001. Conclusions: Rehabilitation programs are safe for СOVID-19-patients; reduce hospital LOS; improve the quality of life. Continuous monitoring of a patient's condition during rehabilitation is essential. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT0580836

Infectious disease like COVID-19 will have a great impact on human society. An effective prevention and control measure is to quickly isolate the source and reduce the population’s exposure to the infection. Therefore, it is very important to quickly trace and identify the virus carrier and its close contacts in order to effectively suppressing transmission. This article provides a method, system and storage medium for locating the source of infection based on big data. We adopt the method of combining Bluetooth and GPS positioning to track the action trajectory of each individual. The method stores the close contact and location information locally and update on the cloud platform for an appropriate period of time. The method and system can provide personal risk levels and regional risk levels through related algorithms. When entering a high-risk area or if the personal risk level within the Bluetooth interconnection range is greater than the set threshold, an alarm function is provided. We can also generate reports on the spread of the epidemic over a period of time. As a result, the system can quickly locate the source of infection and close contacts, providing a reference for quick and highly efficient epidemic prevention and control.

The COVID-19 pandemic has struck educational experience systems around the globe. This paper investigates and evaluates the student participants’ perceptions who joined the international exchange seminar on global citizenship and peace held at a University in Hiroshima, Japan. Approximately seventy students and faculty members from nine to ten different universities from around the globe joined this summer program in August 2021 (online) and 2022 (face-to-face). This study is a mixed-method study. The first part consists of a quantitative analysis of BEVI data obtained from the students in the seminar before COVID-19 and after. The research concludes that there are no changes in the way students learn. The second part consists of qualitative data. This data shows the perceptions of students of online teaching versus hybrid teaching. It compares the differences in participants’ perceptions reported in students’ feedback on the programs during and post-COVID-19. Our results confirm prominent differences exist in the students’ perceptions of their learning experience during the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods. The findings of this study suggest that universities need to strive and define a meaning and purpose of international seminars, which enables students to experience a high level of intercultural social interaction face-to-face.

: Background: Vaccine-related death is one of the leading causes of death among African Children. Vaccine coverage is a very important measure to decrease infant mortality. Covid-19 Pandemic has affected the healthcare system and may have disrupted vaccine coverage. Methods: DTP third doses (DTP3) Vaccine Coverage was extracted from UNICEF databases from 2012 to 2021( the last available date). Joinpoint regression was performed to detect the point where the trend changed. The annual percentage change (APC) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) was calculated for Africa and the regions. We compared DTP3 vaccination coverage in 2019 with 2021 in each country to verify compliance with WHO targets. Result: During the whole period, the vaccine coverage in Africa has increased with an Annual Percent change of 1.2% (IC 95% 0.9-1.5): We detected one Joint point in 2019. In 2019-2021, there was a decrease in DTP3 coverage with an APC of -3.5(95% -6.0;-0,9). (P< 0.001). Vaccination rates have decreased in many regions and countries during the last two years. Conclusions. COVID-19 has disrupted vaccine coverage, decreasing it all over Africa.

The research proposes a self-directed paradigm with self-design using the existing technology with LMS modules, discussions, and self-tests. The research establishes its criteria for assurance of teaching and learning known as 7x2C for the compliance of content, and appearance along with other criteria for the analysis. The above technology of web and LMS is tested for a business course that is technology-oriented in creating an experiential learning system for Covid-19 awareness. Similarly, among other ideas, an environment for educating learners about diabetes and obesity has been designed. The project is known as Sunchoke with its theme of Grow, Eat, and Heal. The educators can use their technology and apply self-directed pedagogy to transform this approach to their customized ways by using their content and rubrics.

Imaging of the ocular vasculature can provide new insights into the pathophysiology of ocular diseases. This study proposes a novel high-frequency super-resolution ultrasound localization microscopy (SRULM) technique and evaluates its ability to measure in vivo perfusion changes in the rat eye at elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). A 38.4 MHz center frequency linear array transducer on a VisualSonics Vevo F2 imaging platform was used to collect high frame rate (1 kHz) radiofrequency data of the posterior rat eye following systemic microbubble contrast injection. Following clutter and spatiotemporal non-local means filtering, individual microbubbles were localized and tracked. The microbubble tracks were accumulated over 10,000 frames to generate vascular images quantifying perfusion velocity and direction. Experiments were performed using physiologic relevant controlled flow states for algorithm validation and subsequently performed in vivo on the rat eye at 10 mm Hg IOP increments from 10 to 60 mm Hg. The posterior vasculature of the rat eye, including the ophthalmic artery, long posterior ciliary arteries and their branches, central retinal artery and retinal arterioles and venules were successfully visualized, and velocities quantified at each IOP level. Significant reductions in arterial flow were measured as IOP was elevated. High-frequency SRULM can be used to visualize and quantify perfusion velocity of the rat eye in both the retrobulbar and intraocular vasculature simultaneously. The ability to detect ocular perfusion changes throughout the depth of the eye may help elucidate the role ischemia has in the pathophysiology of ocular diseases such as glaucoma.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed the world and human society in various ways. Infection-related figures are key indicators of the direct impact of the pandemic. In addition to the virus, many vulnerable populations (e.g. patients with complex health conditions) have suffered direct or indirect health impacts, such as delayed treatment or diagnosis of cancer and severe mental illness due to stay-at-home restrictions, or financial issues. Studying these kinds of impacts can provide the community with insights and understanding of how the pandemic has affected patients with health conditions and help inform decision-makers design policies that support various vulnerable populations. This paper surveys analytical work conducted on how COVID-19 has impacted patients with complex health conditions. We categorise vulnerable populations into three specific cohorts: patients with chronic disease, patients with cancer and patients with end-of-life care. We then investigate how each of these cohorts has been impacted by the pandemic. We also identify each cohort from an analytics perspective by leveraging various data collection strategies and analytical methods. The goals of this paper are to provide evidence on how to improve the quality of life for vulnerable populations and to inform a national response strategy for future pandemics, which seems inevitable in a highly globalised economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic measures have negatively impacted education worldwide via travel restrictions, student visas, and physical attendanc,e among many other fac-tors. As one of the first places to impose strict pandemic measures and one of the last places to lift the measures, Mainland China provided a unique venue to investigate the effect of public health pandemic control policies on tertiary education. Considering the large portion of international students in medical schools and the higher susceptibility to the pandemic measures due to the natural synergy with teaching hospitals, medical schools can be an early forefront indicator of the impact of the pandemic on tertiary education. We surveyed 513 participants international medical students from Wen-zhou Medical University’s school of international studies in 2019 and 2022 about their satisfaction and demographic and cultural adaptation parameters. We found that the pandemic restrictions did not generally impact student satisfaction. Further analyzing the associated parameters, we found teaching satisfaction to be independent of age (P=.159), years in China (P=.896) and Chinese Level (P=.577) in the medical university. Teaching satisfaction is associated with the region of origin (P <0.001), acceptance of local social norms (P <0.001), satisfaction with the core values of Chinese culture (P <0.001), acclimatization to life in China (P <0.001), can easily make Chinese friends (P <0.001) among other factors. The findings of this study provide an understanding of the effects of pandemic measures on tertiary education satisfaction and other factors that can aid in international student satisfaction.

We primarily study a possible link between 2021 COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Europe and monthly 2022 excess all-cause mortality, i.e., mortality higher than before the pandemic. Analyses of 31 countries weighted by population size show that all-cause mortality during the first nine months of 2022 increased more the higher the 2021 vaccination uptake; a one percentage point increase in 2021 vaccination uptake was associated with a monthly mortality increase in 2022 by 0.105 percent (95% CI, 0.075-0.134). When controlling for alternative explanations, the association remained robust, and we discuss the result emphasizing causality as well as potential ecological fallacy. Also, the study shows that 2021 all-cause mortality was lower the higher the vaccination uptake, but this association became non-significant when controlling for alternative explanations.

Despite the fact that COVID-19 is no longer a global pandemic due to development and integration of different technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Technological advancement in the field of molecular biology, electronics, computer science, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, nanotechnology etc. has led to the development of molecular approaches and computer aided diagnosis for the detection of COVID-19. This study provides a holistic approach on COVID-19 detection based on (1) molecular diagnosis which include RT-PCR, antigen-antibody and CRISPR-based biosensors and (2) computer aided detection based on AI-driven models which include Deep Learning and Transfer learning approach. The review also provide comparison between these 2 emerging technologies and open research issues for the development of smart-IoMT-enable platform for the detection of COVID-19.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has forced the development of direct-acting antiviral drugs due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The main protease of SARS-CoV-2 is a crucial enzyme that breaks down polyproteins synthesized from the viral RNA, making it a validated target for the development of SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics. New chemical phenotypes are frequently discovered in natural goods. In the current study, we used a fluorogenic assay to test a variety of natural products for their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Several compounds were discovered to inhibit the Mpro at low micromolar concentrations. It was possible to crystallize robinetin together with SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, and the X-ray structure revealed covalent interaction with the protease's catalytic Cys145 site. Selected potent molecules also exhibited antiviral properties without cytotoxicity. Some of these powerful inhibitors might be utilized as lead compounds for COVID-19 research.

Coronavirus disease since December 2019 has significantly affected millions of people. Given the effect this disease has on the pulmonary systems of humans, there is a need for chest radiographic imaging (CXR) for monitoring the disease and preventing further deaths. Several studies have been shown that Deep Learning models can achieve promising results for COVID-19 diagnosis towards the CXR perspective. However, this research field is at an initial stage since there is a limited number of large CXR repositories regarding COVID-19. In this study, five deep learning models were analyzed and evaluated with the aim of identifying COVID-19 from chest X-Ray images. More specifically, we utilized the ResNet50, ResNet101, DenseNet121, DenseNet169 and InceptionV3 using Transfer Learning. All models were trained and validated on the largest publicly available repository for COVID-19 CXR images. Furthermore, they were evaluated on unknown data as well, that was not used for training or validation, authenticating their performance, and clarifying their usage in a medical scenario. All models achieved satisfactory performance where ResNet101 was the superior model achieving 96% in Precision, Recall, and Accuracy. Our outcomes show the potential of deep learning models on COVID-19 medical offering a promising way for the deeper understanding of COVID-19.

The WHO European Region defined the role of a new central professional for primary care, the Family and Community Nurse (FCN). The introduction of FCN in the framework of health policies highlight a key role of nurses in addressing the families’ and communities’ needs. A scoping review was conducted in order to identify and describe the available tools which has been adopted for the assessment of the community health needs by FNC. A comprehensive literature review on Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and PsycInfo databases was conducted including all studies up to May 2021. A total of 1563 studies were identified and 36 of them were included. The literature review had made possible to identify studies employing twelve different community assessment's tools or modalities. Referring the WHO framework proposed in 2001 some common themes have been identified with an uneven distribution, as profiling the population, deciding on priorities for action and public healthcare programmes, implementing the planned activities, evaluation of health outcomes, multidisciplinary activity, flexibility and involving the community. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to provide an overview of community assessment tools, keeping the guidance provided by the WHO as a reference.

This study analyzes the academic performance of students from an official school in Bogotá (Colombia) who had asymmetric access to Information and Communication Technologies during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Classical Linear Regression Model is employed using data from a survey of a representative group of students in the year 2020. Results show technological gaps between students that are associated with asymmetric academic performance against students with limited or null access to the Internet and electronic devices. Results also show that, among students with permanent access to the Internet, women have better scores compared to men’s scores, which implies that women can achieve better academic results than men in virtual education. It is also noted that the sole access to an electronic device does not guarantee good academic achievements if there is no full access to the Internet, and if ICT-use skills have not been developed.

Migrant population have always been vulnerable for high burden of social exclusion, mental disorders, physical illness and economic crisis. The current COVID-19 pandemic has further created the frantic plight among them, particularly for the undocumented migrant workers in global south. We have conducted a mixed method study among the undocumented Myanmar migrant workers (UMMWs) in Thailand to explore how the COVID-19 disruption has impacted on their mental health and what are the coping strategies adopted by them. Following the onset of COVID-19 and the recent coup d'etat in Myanmar, our current study is the first attempt to understand the mental health status and predicament of this neglected migrant group. A total of 398 UMMWs were included in the online survey among whom 23 participated in qualitative interviews. The major mental health issues reported by the study participants were depression, generalised anxiety disorder, frustration, stress and panic disorder while loss of employment, worries about the pandemic, social stigma, refused access to healthcare, lockdown and fear of detention were the predominant contributing factors. In response, we identified two key coping mechanisms- coping at personal layer (listening to music, playing online game, praying, self-motivation) and social layer (chatting with family and friends, visiting religious institutions). These findings point to the importance of policy and intervention programs aimed to uphold mental health at such humanitarian conditions. Sustainable institutional mental health care support and social integration for the migrant workers irrespective of their legal status should be ensured.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of current vaccine technologies characterized by a slow onset of action and antigen-specific immune response. Although parental vaccines offer long-term protection against homologous strains, they rely exclusively on adaptive immune memory to produce neutralizing antibodies that are ineffective against new vaccine variants. Moreover, growing evidence highlights the multifaceted functions of trained immunity to elicit a rapid and enhanced innate response against unrelated stimuli or pathogens to subsequent triggers. This review discusses the protective role of trained immunity against respiratory pathogens and the experimental models essential for evaluating novel inducers of trained immunity. We further elaborate on the potential of trained immunity to leverage protection against emerging pathogens via recognition of diverse antigens by pathogen recognition receptors (PPRs) on innate immune cells. We also propose integrating trained- with adaptive- immunity to shape next-generation vaccines by coupling each one's unique characteristics.

COVID-19 vaccination certificates (CVCs) have played a key role in safe reopening of borders for international travel and trade, so understanding key stakeholder perceptions of enablers and barriers for their effective use is critical. The COVID-19 Vaccination Policy Research and Deci-sion-Support Initiative in Asia (CORESIA) was established to address policy questions related to CVCs. We conducted two online surveys, i.e., one for the public and one for health and non-health sector experts, from June to October 2021 in nine Asian countries. Descriptive analysis identified participants, enablers, and barriers. Most participants (78% public, 89% experts) accepted the use of CVCs, primarily to resume international travel (76%). Most respondents in both surveys wanted the minimum vaccination coverage to be 60% before CVCs were implemented nation-wide. Most of the public (82%) agreed to maintain existing non-pharmaceutical interventions, while most experts wanted risk-based testing and quarantine policy for incoming travellers (51%) and both digital and paper format CVCs (64%). Support for CVCs for international travel remains high in Asia. Recognising key enablers and barriers for effective use of CVCs from COVID-19 pandemic may help policymakers draft effective border policies for future epidemics.

Background: COVID-19 has placed tremendous pressure on the global public health system and has changed daily life. Aim: To examine the relationships between the perceived threat, perceived stress, coping responses and infection control practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic among university students in China. Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey, 4,392 students were recruited from six universities in two regions of China. Methods: Data were collected via an online platform using self-reported questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to predict the variables on COVID-19 infection control practices. Results: Pearson correlation coefficients showed a significant negative relationship between perceived stress and COVID-19 infection control practices. A significant positive relationship was observed between wishful thinking and empathetic responding, and infection control practices. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that gender, geographical location, perceived stress and emotion-focused and relationship-focused coping responses were predictors of COVID-19 infection control practices. Conclusions: The findings suggest that university students displayed moderate levels of stress, using wishful thinking and empathetic responses as coping strategies. Counselling services should therefore emphasise reassurance and empathy. Male university students tended to be less compliant with social distancing. Both counselling and public health measures should recognise the importance of gender differences. Nurses should integrate these findings into future health program planning and interventions.

NF-κB is a central mediator of inflammation, response to DNA damage and oxidative stress. As a result of its central role in so many important cellular processes, NF-κB dysregulation has been implicated in the pathology of important human diseases. NF-κB activation causes inappropriate inflammatory responses in diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Thus, modulation of NF-κB signaling is being widely investigated as an approach to treat chronic inflammatory diseases, autoimmunity and cancer. The emergence of COVID-19 in late 2019, the subsequent pandemic and the huge clinical burden of patients with life-threatening SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia led to a massive scramble to repurpose existing medicines to treat lung inflammation in a wide range of healthcare systems. These efforts continue and these efforts continue to be con-troversial. Drug repurposing strategies are a promising alternative to de-novo drug development, as they minimize drug development timelines and reduce the risk of failure due to unexpected side effects. Different experimental approaches have been applied to identify existing medicines which inhibit NF-κB that could be repurposed as anti-inflammatory drugs.

Background: Although, negative repercussions of inadequate health service use on the health outcomes has been presumably exacerbated by COVID-19, the impact of the pandemic measures has been not evaluated properly yet. Objective: Our study aimed to quantify the COVID-19 pandemic measures’ effect on the general practitioner (GP) visit, specialist care, hospitalization and cost-related prescription nonredemption (CRPNR) among adults in Hungary, and to identify the social strata susceptible to the pandemic effect. Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study based on nationally representative data of 6,611 (Nprepandemic=5,603 and Npandemic=1,008) subjects aged 18 years and above. Data were obtained from the European Health Interview Survey 2019 (EHIS) and International Social Survey Program 2021 (ISSP) for prepandemic and pandemic, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression models were applied to determine the sociodemographic and clinical factors influencing the health care use by odds ratios (OR) along with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). To identify the social strata susceptible to pandemic effect, the interaction of the time of data collection with level of education, marital status, and ethnicity, was also tested. Results: While, the CRPNR did not changed, the frequency of GP visit, specialist care and hospitalization rate were remarkably reduced by 22.2%, 26.4%, and 6.7%, respectively, during the pandemic in Hungary. Roma proved to be not specifically affected by the pandemic in any studied respect. The pandemic restructuring of health care impacted the social subgroups evenly with respect to hospital care. However, the pandemic effect was weaker among primary educated adults (ORhigh-school vs primary-education =0.434; 95% CI 0.243-0.776, ORhigh-school vs primary-education =0.598; 95% CI 0.364-0.985), and among widows (ORwidowed vs married =2.284; 95% CI 1.043-4.998, ORwidowed vs married=1.915; 95% CI 1.157-3.168) on the frequency of GP visit and specialist visit; and the prepandemic CRPNR inequality by level of education was increased (ORhigh-school vs primary-education =0.236; 95% CI 0.075-0.743). Conclusion: Primary educated and widowed did not follow the general trend, and their prepandemic limited health care use was not reduced further during pandemic, resulting in an inequality reduction. The vulnerability of primary educated to CRPNR was the only gap widened in the pandemic period. This shows that although the management of pandemic health care use restrictions was implemented by increasing the social inequality in Hungary, the prevention of inequity in drug availability for primary educated individuals could require more support.

This study aims to investigate the changes in the structural relationship between alienation in physical education (PE) class, school happiness, and future healthy life expectancy in Korean adolescents after the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected from adolescents in the Republic of Korea using scales for these factors. The collected data were analyzed with frequency analysis, reliability analysis, validity analysis, independent t-test, and path analysis. The key results were as follows. First, there were partial changes in each of the parameters since the outbreak of COVID-19. Second, before the pandemic, alienation in PE class negatively affected school happiness, and school happiness positively affected future healthy life expectancy; however, alienation in PE class did not affect future healthy life expectancy showing a complete mediating effect. Third, during the pandemic, alienation in PE class negatively affected school happiness, and school happiness positively affected future healthy life expectancy; alienation in PE class negatively affected future healthy life expectancy, showing a partial mediating effect. These findings emphasize the importance and potential of school education, especially PE, in promoting happiness and healthy life in adolescents. We expect these findings to have practical implications for future research by presenting theoretical and empirical data.

In this study, we designed a structural model to determine the relationships among push–pull factors, institutional situations, and satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 17 selected indicators fell under five domains, namely push factors, pull factors, institutional leadership, international strategies, and satisfaction. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to verify the assumptions of the model. Based on 1005 degree-seeking international students' views, this study found that push and pull factors may coincidentally exist, and their functions can be modified by institutional situations. The findings suggest pull factors will, through institutional leadership, impact students' satisfaction, while push factors will not. Moreover, the detection of institutional mediation can provide useful information for specific institutes to develop their future recruiting or retaining strategies. These findings enriched our knowledge of the field during the pandemic. For future studies, this design may be useful to interpret the phenomena of global student mobility in higher education settings.

Civic engagement refers to the ways in which citizens participate in the life of a community to help shape its future or improve conditions for others. While it might have been shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic recovery, this study explored how college students perceive civic engagement on selected campuses that were partially locked down. We sampled 1036 student volunteers from six universities in Taiwan by using a self-designed module of civic engagement and transferable capabilities. The Student’s t-test, ANOVA, regression, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to interpret the differences and relationships among these variables. This study provides a more detailed example of the current status of civic engagement and its relative to transferable capabilities in a higher education setting. The related programs and institutes should take responsibility for enhancing students’ civic engagement and transferable capabilities during the pandemic. How to ameliorate the situation? The findings suggest that it should consider a student’s academic major, learning experiences in the department, and time spent on related activities during the pandemic recovery. The findings might prove useful to various campuses for enhancing ongoing practices.

This paper describes a research project carried out in an Italian public school to assess whether parents were willing to take part in food procurement decisions, as well as their ability to accurately predict what foods children would pick at school lunch and their propensity to support sustainable food choices made by the school. The methodology included a questionnaire to 500 parents and an in-depth study of 138 child/parent pairs. The study comprised: (i) presentation of an innovative recipe in the weekly menu of the school canteen; (ii) meal observations of children’s intake at school lunch during the week of the menu modification; (iii) collection of both parents’ and children’s reports on their choices of recipes from the modified weekly menu. The results are commented in light of two important changes that have recently affected Italian public school food procurement: the opening of school canteens to lunches brought from home and the measures adopted since 2020 to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Both events go in the direction of delegating to parents the multifaceted role of the school in the food arena. The article concludes that the results of the study should discourage this approach.

Cameroon's national vaccination campaign was launched on April 12, 2021, amid a nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 with two types of vaccines. This study provides preliminary evidence of the level of coverage of the population and gives an early overview of the challenges, the achievements and the lessons learned. COVID-19 vaccine administration data were obtained from data of the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted. Thirty days after the introduction of COVID 19 vaccines, five percent of the target population was vaccinated. Women represented one third of the people vaccinated regardless of age and health conditions. Although AEFI reported were minor and scanty with both vaccines, the majority of the vaccinated did not come back for their second dose. There is a need to build confidence among eligible beneficiaries in order to expand the benefits of vaccination to control the current pandemic. The country is still far below the target which could be worrisome given that the uptake is slow and, the 391 200 doses of the AstraZeneca are going to expire in August 2021. This study offers insights into those early efforts as a contribution to significant discussions about upcoming approach to improve service delivery and uptake.

Background: Health Care Workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of acquiring and transmitting COVID-19 infection. Also, they present role models for communities with regards to attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination. Hence, hesitancy of HCWs towards vaccination can crucially affect the efforts aiming to contain the pandemic. Previously published studies paid little attention to HCWs in Arab countries, which has a population of over 440 million. Objectives: to assess the rates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Arabic-speaking HCWs residing in and outside the Arab countries, and their perceived barriers towards vaccination. Methods: a cross-sectional study based on an online survey was conducted from 14-Jan 2021 to 29-Jan 2021, targeting Arabic-speaking HCWs from all around the world. Results: the survey recruited 5,708 eligible participants (55.6% males, 44.4% females, age 30.6±10 years) from 21 Arab countries (87.5%) and 54 other countries (12.5%). Our analysis shows a significant rate of vaccine hesitancy among Arabic-speaking HCWs residing in and outside Arab countries (25.8% and 32.8%, respectively). The highest rates of hesitancy were among participants from the west region of the Arab world (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria). The most cited reasons for hesitancy were concerns about side effects and distrust in vaccine expedited production and healthcare policies. Factors associated with higher hesitancy included age of 30-59, previous or current suspected or confirmed COVID-19, female gender, not knowing the vaccine type authorized in the participant’s country, and not regularly receiving the influenza vaccine. Conclusion: this is the first large-scale, multinational, post-vaccine-availability study on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among HCWs. It reveals high rates of hesitancy among Arab-speaking HCWs. Unless addressed properly, this hesitancy can impede the efforts for achieving widespread vaccination and collective immunity.

The burden of COVID-19 pandemic on health systems and the physical and mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) has been substantial. This cross-sectional study aims to assess the effects of Covid-19 on the psychological wellbeing of mental health workers who provide care to a vulnerable patient population that have been particularly affected during this crisis. A total of 387 HCWs from across a large urban mental health service completed a self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic, lifestyle and work-based information and validated psychometric scales. Depression and anxiety were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) respectively, sleep problems with the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), burnout with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and resilience with the Resilience Scale-14 (RS-14). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine potential mediating factors. Prevalence of burnout was notable, with 52% recording moderate/severe in Emotional Exhaustion, 19.5% moderate/severe in Depersonalisation and 55.5% low/moderate Personal Accomplishment. Over half of all respondents (52%) experienced sleep problems; the presence of depressive symptoms was a significant predictor of insomnia. An increase in potentially harmful lifestyle changes, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and over-eating was also observed. However, high Resilience was reported by 70% of the sample and the importance of this is highlighted. Female gender was associated with increased levels of depression and emotional exhaustion while those with a history of mental health conditions were most at risk of affective symptoms, insomnia and burnout. Overall, our study revealed considerable levels of psychological distress and maladaptive coping strategies but also resilience and satisfaction with organizational support provided. Findings can inform tailored interventions in order to mitigate vulnerability and prevent long-term psychological sequelae.

Pneumonia remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially during COVID-19 pandemic. With the significant global health burden that pneumonia poses, it is es-sential to improve therapeutic and management strategies. The increasing emergence of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains limits options for effective antibiotic use. New antibiotics for treatment of pneumonia may address deficits in current antimicrobial drugs, with an ability to cover both typical, atypical, and resistance pathogen. Several of these newer drugs also have structural characteristics that allow for a decreased propensity in development of bacterial resistance. Po-tential use of stem cell therapies in place of corticosteroid treatments may also offer an im-provement in patient outcomes. Human mesenchymal stem cell treatments have shown efficacy and safety in treating COVID-19 induced pneumonia. Combined treatment with both stem cells and antibiotics in pneumonia in a rabbit model has also shown significantly increased efficacy in comparison to antibiotic treatment alone, presenting yet another possible route for a novel strategy in treating pneumonia, though additional future studies are necessary before clinical implementation. While pneumonia remains a major disease of concern, having newer approved antibiotics as well as novel therapies such as stem cell treatments in the pipeline offers clinicians more options in effectively treating pneumonia.

Background: Cancer patients may fail to distinguish COVID-19 symptoms such as anosmia, dysgeusia/ageusia, anorexia, headache, and fatigue, which are frequent after cancer treatments. We aimed to identify symptoms associated with COVID-19 and to assess the strength of their association in cancer and cancer-free populations. Methods: The prospective multicenter cohort study PAPESCO-19 included 878 cancer patients and 940 healthcare workers (HCWs) systematically tested for SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. Participants reported the results of routine screening RT-PCR and thirteen COVID-19 symptoms. Backward logistic regression identified the symptom combinations significantly associated with COVID-19. Results: COVID+ proportions were similar in patients (8%) and HCWs (9.5%, p=0.26), whereas symptomatic proportions were lower in patients (32%) than HCWs (52%, p&lt;0.001). Anosmia, anorexia, fever, headache, and rhinorrhea together accurately discriminated (c-statistic=0.7027) COVID-19 cases in patients. Anosmia, dysgeusia/ageusia, muscle pain, intense fatigue, headache, and chest pain better discriminated (c-statistic=0.8830) COVID-19 cases in HCWs. Anosmia had the strongest association in patients (OR=7.48, 95% CI: 2.96–18.89) and HCWs (OR=5.71, 95% CI: 2.21–14.75). Conclusions: COVID-19 symptoms and their diagnostic performance differ in cancer patients and HCWs. Anosmia is associated with COVID-19 for patients, while dysgeusia/ageusia are not. Cancer patients deserve tailored preventive measures due to their particular COVID-19 symptom pattern.

Amid to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital health literacy (DHL) has become a significant public health concern. This research aims to assess information seeking behavior, as well as the ability to find relevant information and deal with DHL among university students in Pakistan. An online-based cross-sectional survey, using a web-based interviewing technique, was conducted to collect data on DHL. Simple bivariate and multivariate linear regression was performed to assess the association of key characteristics with DHL. The results show a high DHL related to COVID-19 in 54.3% of students. Most of the Pakistani students demonstrated ~50% DHL in all dimensions, except of reliability. Multivariate findings showed that gender, sense of coherence and importance of information were found to be significantly associated with DHL. However, a negative association was observed with students’ satisfaction with information. This led to the conclusion that critical operational and navigations skills are essential to achieve COVID-19 DHL and cope with stress, particularly to promote both personal and community health. Focused interventions and strategies should be designed to enhance DHL amongst university students to combat the pandemic.

Telecommuting is a flexible form of work that has progressively spread over the last 40 years and which has been strongly encouraged by the measures to limit the Covid19 pandemic. There is still limited evi-dence on the effects it has on workers' health. In this survey we invited 905 workers of companies that made a limited use of telework to fill out a questionnaire to evaluate: Intrusive leadership of managers (IL), the request for work outside traditional hours (OFF-TAJD), workaholism (BWAS), effort / reward imbalance (ERI), happiness and common mental issues (CMIs), anxiety and depression, assessed by the Goldberg scale (GADS). The interaction between these variables has been studied by structural equation modeling (SEM). Intrusive leadership and working after hours were significantly associated with occu-pational stress. Workaholism is a relevant moderator of this interaction: intrusive leadership significantly increased the stress of workaholic workers. Intrusive leadership and overtime work were associated with reduced happiness, anxiety and depression. These results indicate the need to guarantee the right to disconnect, to limit the effect of the OFF-TAJD. In addition to this, companies should implement policies to prevent intrusive leadership and workaholism.

Supported wellbeing centres were set up in UK hospital trusts as an early intervention aimed at mitigating the psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers. These provided high quality rest spaces with peer-to-peer psychological support provided by National Health Service (NHS) staff volunteers called ‘wellbeing buddies’, trained in psychological first aid. The aim of the study was to explore the views of centre visitors and operational staff towards this COVID-19 workforce wellbeing provision. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were undertaken with twenty-four (20F, 4M) employees from an acute hospital trust in the UK. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed, data were handled and analysed using thematic analysis. Interviews generated 3 over-arching themes, and 13 sub-themes covering ‘exposure and job roles’, ‘emotional impacts of COVID-19 and ‘the wellbeing centres’. Supported wellbeing centres were viewed as critical for the wellbeing of hospital employees during the first surge of COVID-19 in the UK. Wellbeing initiatives require managerial advocacy and must be inclusive. Job-related barriers to work breaks and accessing staff wellbeing provisions should be addressed. High quality rest spaces and access to peer-to-peer support are seen to benefit individuals, teams, organisations and care quality. Training NHS staff in psychological first aid is a useful approach to supporting the wellbeing of the NHS workforce during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has created both negative and positive changes, including implementing the circular economy across the globe. This Systematic Review follows the PRISMA statement and employs the Text Mining (Voyant Tools) technique to visualize and analyze the impacts of the Covid-19 on three aspects of the circular economy: economic, social, and environmental. The research employs Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to identify five major topics: (1) Shortage of medical equipment but high medical waste during Covid-19 due to the high demand in healthcare; (2) The long term negative impacts of lockdown on economic and social activities because of Covid-19 pandemic; (3) The reports on impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on the manufacturing globally, and their coping strategies and new opportunities; (4) The impacts of international restriction on the tourism, trade, shipping, and aviation industry, causing billion-dollar losses; (5) The reduction of pollution with health environment improvements with example cases from China and EU. The research identifies current literature gaps in the circular economy and Covid- 19 topics and encourages the application of text mining tools into researching to stimulate the research process and assist in communicating with the public.

The increase in pandemics caused by RNA viruses of zoonotic origin highlights the urgent need for broad-spectrum antivirals against novel and re-emerging RNA viruses. Broad-spectrum antivirals could be deployed as first-line interventions during an outbreak while virus-specific drugs and vaccines are developed and rolled out. Viruses depend on the host’s protein synthesis machinery for replication. Several natural compounds that target the cellular DEAD-box RNA helicase eIF4A, a key component of the eukaryotic translation initiation complex eIF4F, have emerged as potential broad-spectrum antivirals. Rocaglates, a group of flavaglines of plant origin that clamp mRNAs with highly structured 5’UTRs onto the surface of eIF4A through specific stacking interactions, exhibit the largest selectivity and potential therapeutic indices among all known eIF4A inhibitors. Their unique mechanism of action limits the inhibitory effect of rocaglates to the translation of eIF4A-dependent viral mRNAs and a minor fraction of host mRNAs exhibiting stable RNA secondary structures and/or polypurine sequence stretches in their 5´UTRs, resulting in minimal potential toxic side effects. Maintaining a favorable safety profile while inducing efficient inhibition of a broad-spectrum of RNA viruses makes rocaglates into primary candidates for further development as pan-antiviral therapeutics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes to human lifestyles across the world. The virus and associated social restriction measures have been linked to an increase in mental health conditions. A considerable body of evidence shows that spending time in and engaging with nature can improve human health and wellbeing. Our study explores nature’s role in supporting health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We created web-based questionnaires with validated health instruments and conducted spatial analyses in a geographic information system (GIS). We collected data on people’s patterns of nature exposure, associated health and wellbeing responses, and potential socioecological drivers such as relative deprivation, access to greenspaces, and land-cover greenness. We applied a range of statistical analyses including bootstrap resampled correlations and binomial regression models, adjusting for several potential confounding factors. We found that respondents significantly changed their patterns of visiting nature as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People spent more time in nature and visited nature more often during the pandemic. People generally visited nature for a health and wellbeing benefit and felt that nature helped them cope during the pandemic. Greater land-cover greenness within a 250 m radius around a respondent’s postcode was important in predicting higher levels of mental wellbeing. There were significantly more food-growing allotments within 100 m and 250 m of respondents with high mental wellbeing scores. The need for a mutually-advantageous relationship between humans and the wider biotic community has never been more important. We must conserve, restore and design nature-centric environments to maintain resilient societies and planetary health.

Since identified as the pathogen responsible for an outbreak of severe respiratory distress in Wuhan, China, the 2019-nCoV coronavirus has caused over 30M cases and 1M deaths globally. Sporadic cases were identified in several states in the US from early January, and large-scale community transmission is believed to have started in late February, leading to a first spike in COVID-19 deaths and overall mortality in late April, and a second spike later in the summer. I show here that the dynamics of the pandemic were different in different regions of the US, showing a north-south pattern, with a first pandemic wave mainly in northern regions, followed by a second wave mainly in southern regions. Analysis of overall mortality data shows that the increase in mortality correlates well with COVID-19 incidence in most regions, and that from April through August COVID-19 deaths accounted for a substantial proportion of all deaths in all parts of the US.

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan and is later declared as a pandemic by World Health Organization. Different-aged people have varying gender-wise immunity control properties that necessitates understanding COVID-19 impact on age and gender which does not exist, currently. In this paper, COVID-19 surveillance variables are extensively studied along with hospitalization, tests-performed, and recovery data. Dataset is curated from three sources; however, age and gender data belong to Belgium, particularly. Visualizations, frequencies, Pearson’s and polyserial correlation, student’s t-test, and Cramer’s V are used for enhanced analysis. Results show higher mortality rate in males and need of more ventilators to combat severe symptoms.

In the context of the economic and political uncertainty associated with the 2019-nCoV pandemic, it is necessary to determine the socio-psychological factors involved in the transformation of the behavior of insurance consumers under the influence of a biogenic threat. This study measures financial anxiety and its impact on the insurance behavior of Russian citizens. The correlation, comparative, and regression analyses of the financial anxiety of Russian citizens cover three stages of observation: before the start of the 2019 nCoV pandemic (“FA up to 19 nCoV; N = 766), during the period of quarantine measures announced in Russia in March 2020 (“FA 19-nCoV-1”; N = 856), and after the relaxation of quarantine measures at the end of April 2020 (“FA 19-nCoV-2”; N = 963).Psychological analysis data were obtained from the online survey “Financial anxiety (in the context of insurance)”. The questionnaire is psychometrically reliable and easy to use. It includes five measurement scales: MR1—Physical manifestations of financial incentive anxiety, MR2—With money shortages and financial uncertainty, MR3—The value of insurance coverage, MP4—Financial Confidence, and MR5—Perception of insurance and investment risks. It was found that Russian citizens consider it important to have insurance coverage for a “rainy day”, and they showed confidence in the insurance market during the biogenic crisis. However, unfortunately, during the 19-nCoV-1 and 19-nCoV-2 periods, Russian citizens did not feel financially secure, unlike in the period before 19-nCoV. Women showed high scores for physical manifestations of financial anxiety and low financial confidence in the future, in contrast to men, regardless of the observation period.

The novel COVID-19 disease is a contagious acute respiratory infectious disease whose causative agent has been demonstrated to be a new virus of the coronavirus family, SARS- CoV-2. Multiple studies have already reported that risk factors for severe disease include older age and the presence of at least one of several underlying health conditions. However, a recent physiopathological report and the French COVID-19 scientific council have postulated a protective effect of tobacco smoking. Thanks to a meta-analysis, we have been able to demonstrate the statistical significance in this regard of twelve series from China, France and in the US, reporting three different smoking status (current smoker,former smoker, with a smoking history) as well as disease severity (with respectively odds-ratio of 1.78 [1.08-3.10], 4.60 [3.13-7.17], 2.74 [0.63-5.89]). Subsequently and using a Bayesian approach we have established that past, and present smoking is associated with more severe COVID-19 outcomes. Finally, we refute claims linking general population smoking status (N=O(10^8) or O(10^9)) to much smaller disease course series (N=O(10^4)). The latter point in particular is presented to stimulate academic discussion, and must be further investigated by well-designed studies.

In the context of economic and political uncertainty associated with the 2019-nCoV pandemic, it is necessary to determine the socio-psychological factors in the transformation of the behavior of insurance consumers under the influence of the biogenic threat. This study is devoted to measuring financial anxiety and its impact on the insurance behavior of Russian citizens. Correlation, comparative and regression analyzes of financial anxiety of Russian citizens cover three stages of observation: before the start of the 2019 nCoV pandemic (“FA up to 19 nCoV; N = 766), during the period of quarantine measures announced in Russia in March 2020 (“ FA 19- nCoV-1 "; N = 856) and after the relaxation of quarantine measures at the end of April 2020 (" FA 19-nCoV-2 "; N = 963). Psychological analysis data were obtained from the online survey "Financial anxiety (in the context of insurance)". The questionnaire is psychometrically reliable and easy to use, including 5 measurement scales: MR1. Physical manifestations of financial incentive anxiety, MR2. With money shortages and financial uncertainty, MR3. The value of insurance coverage, MP4. Financial Confidence, MR5. Perception of insurance and investment risks. Russian citizens considered it important to have insurance coverage on a “rainy day” and showed confidence in the insurance market during the biogenic crisis. But, unfortunately, Russian citizens during the 19-nCoV-1 and 19-nCoV-2 periods did not feel financially secure in the future, unlike the period before 19-nCoV. ”Women showed high scores for physical manifestations of financial anxiety and low financial confidence in the future, in contrast to men, regardless of the observation period.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-induced infection is strongly associated with various coagulopathies that may result in either bleeding and thrombocytopenia or hypercoagulation and thrombosis. Thrombotic and bleeding or thrombotic pathologies are significant accompaniments to acute respiratory syndrome and lung complications in COVID-19. Thrombotic events and bleeding, often occurs in subjects with weak multiple risk factors and co-morbidities. Of particular interest are the various circulating inflammatory coagulation biomarkers involved directly in clotting, with specific focus on fibrin(ogen), D-dimer, P-selectin and von Willebrand Factor (vWF). Central to activity of these biomarkers are their receptors and signaling pathways on endothelial cells, platelets and erythrocytes. In this review, we discuss vascular implications of COVID-19, and relate this to circulating biomarker, endothelial, erythrocyte and platelet dysfunction. During the progression of the disease, these markers may either be within healthy levels, upregulated or eventually depleted. Most significant is that patients need to be treated early in the disease progression, when high levels of vWF, P-selectin and fibrinogen are present with still low levels of D-dimer. Progression to vWF and fibrinogen depletion with high D-dimer levels and even higher P-selectin levels, followed by the cytokine storm, will be indicative of a poor prognosis. We conclude by looking at point-of-care devises and methodologies in COVID-19 management and suggest that a personalized medicine approach should be considered in the treatment of patients.

The objective of this study is to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of Pakistani Stock Market. This study uses the data of COVID-19 related positive cases, fatalities, recovers and the closing prices of PSX 100 index of the first half of 2020. The findings of the study suggest that only COVID-19 recoveries are influencing the performance of the index and the daily positive cases and fatalities are insignificantly related to the performance. Further studies can be performed by incorporating other variables such as economic growth, interest rate and inflation rate along with the COVID-19 related variables at a cross-country level.

In this paper, we draw on recent experiences from the Young Lives study to discuss some of the ethical and practical challenges facing longitudinal cohort studies in low- and middle-income countries in the time of coronavirus. We argue that COVID-19 has instigated an ‘ethics of disruption’ for social researchers across the world, and for longitudinal cohort studies like Young Lives, this requires navigating three core considerations: first, managing research relationships and reciprocity within an observational study design; second, maintaining methodological continuity and consistency across time; and third, balancing an immediate short-term response to COVID-19 against the longer-term perspective. We refer to the study’s plan to implement a new COVID-19 phone survey to illustrate how the team are navigating this altered ethical terrain.

In this brief communication, we propose the concept that capillary regression may represent a primary pathogenic process underlying COVID-19 infection, particularly in the serious and life-threatening manifestations of the disease. We suggest that the marked elevations of pro-inflammatory mediators that are observed in these seriously ill patients may directly induce capillary regression and endothelial cell (EC) loss. Recent autopsy studies are demonstrating EC loss leading to widespread microthrombi and associated tissue damage. Recent work has indicated that interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), and thrombin, individually and in combination, can potently cause capillary tube regression in experimental models in vitro and in vivo. Other pro-inflammatory mediators including interferon gamma (IFNγ), interleukin-4 (IL-4), and interleukin-13 (IL-13) were also shown to be pro-regressive and could be relevant mediators in COVID-19 patients. Interestingly, combinations of pharmacologic agents were identified that reduced capillary regression and protected capillary tube networks against these pro-inflammatory mediators. Such an approach might be an important therapeutic option going forward to treat key disease states where capillary regression plays a major underlying pathogenic role. Finally, if capillary regression is occurring in response to these pro-inflammatory mediators during COVID-19 infection, we suggest that combinations of blocking agents directed to these key pro-regressive mediators might be necessary to appropriately treat patients.

We have analysed the death and recovery rate of Covid-19 disease progression. From the analysis, we have argued that the pandemic is over in certain countries (labelled as group-A) and for other countries (labelled as group-B) the disease appears to remain as endemic. Taking into account the serological survey (sero-survey) test results obtained by certain groups and comparing it with herd immunity threshold value one can infer that the low number of infection for group-B is either due to acquired immunity by some previous infection by other coronavirus or due to innate immunity towards this infection. This effect is stronger for group-B to slow the progress of the disease to such an extent resulting in flattening of the disease progression curve compared to group-A.

Social network analysis is an essential means to uncover and examine infectious contact relations between individuals. This paper aims to investigate the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from international to the national level and find a few super spreaders which played a central role in the transmission of disease in India. Our network metrics calculated from 30 January to 6 April 2020 revealed that the maximum numbers of connections were established from Dubai (degree-144) and UK (degree-64). These two countries played a crucial role in diffusing the disease in Indian states. The eigenvector centrality of Dubai is found to be the highest, and this marked it the most influential node. However, based on the modularity class, we found that the different clusters were formed across Indian states which demonstrated the forming of a multi-layered social network structure.A significant increase in the confirmed cases was reported during the first lockdown 1.0 (22 March 2020) primarily attributed to a gathering in Delhi Religious Conference (DRC) known as Tabliqui Jamaat. As of 6 April 2020, the overall structure of the network has encompassed local transmission, and it was significantly seen in the states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Karnataka. An important conclusion drawn from the presented social network reveals that the COVID-19 spread till 6 April was mainly due to the local transmission across Indian states. The timely quarantine of infected cases in DRC has not led it to spread at the level of community transmission.

Effects of the convection flow, atmospheric diffusivity and humidity on evolution and travel distances of exhaled aerosol clouds by an infected person are considered. The aim of this work is to evaluate the importance of aerosol transmission routes and the effectiveness of the 2-metre separation distance policy. A potential impact of use of face masks on the infection transmission rate, and an opportunity to reduce infection in hospitals, care homes and other public spaces by appropriate monitoring and filtering of air are also considered. The results obtained demonstrate that aerosol particles generated by coughing and sneezing can travel over 30 m. Modelling of the evolution of aerosol clouds generated by coughing and sneezing enables us to evaluate the deposition dose of aerosol particles in healthy individuals. For example, a person in a public place (e.g. supermarket or car park) can accumulate in the respiratory system up to 200 virus copies in 2 min time by breathing in virus laden aerosols. Wearing face mask considerably reduces the deposited load down to 2 virus copies per 2 min. The modelling also suggests that it should be possible to measure virus causing COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) within aerosol particles in hospitals and public places, e.g. care homes and supermarkets.

Recent reports suggest that the clinical course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in previously healthy children is usually milder as compared to adults. However, children with comorbid conditions such as diabetes are at increased risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as well as morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. Experience in adults with diabetes shows that they are prone to faster metabolic decompensation, develop diabetes-related complications, and have a poor prognosis when hospitalized with COVID-19. Data on children are limited. The aim of this mini-review is to discuss the possible risks to children and adolescents with diabetes during the current pandemic and the special considerations in management in those affected with COVID-19. The challenges for children who develop new-onset type 1 diabetes during the COVID-19 lockdown, especially in accessing healthcare, are also discussed.

WHO was informed on 31 December 2019 of cases of unknown cause pneumonia in Wuhan City, China. On 7 January 2020 Chinese authorities reported a novel coronavirus as the cause and was temporarily labeled "2019-nCoV." Coronaviruses (CoV) are a wide family of viruses which cause diseases ranging from common cold to more serious illnesses. A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain not previously found in humans. Countries around the globe have stepped up their surveillance to quickly detect any new 2019-nCoV cases. Blockchain is developing into a safe and efficient network for secure data sharing in applications such as the financial industry, operations management, food industry, energy market, the Internet of Things and healthcare. In this paper, we are using blockchain technology as a mean to share authentic data, tracking of relevant information and help speed up the treatment process. At the same time it will preserve person’s identity. Timely deployment and suitable implementation of the proposed model have the opportunity to curb COVID-19 transmissions and associated mortality, especially in environments with inadequate access to testing facilities. This work will also facilitate in the treatment of other infectious diseases. Smart contract have been designed and implemented using the ethereum blockchain platform which has been presented in this paper. This work would facilitate multiple stakeholders who are involved within the medical system to curb the transmission of this disease.

COVID-19 has affected 210 countries around the world, killed more than 240,000 and infected more than 3.4 million. Bangladesh, a South Asian low-middle-income economy, has experienced a demographic and epidemiological transition with rapid urbanization and a gradual increase in life expectancy. It is the seventh most populous country in the world and population of the country is expected to be nearly double by 2050. The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases in Bangladesh can be attributable to rapid urbanization and nearly 50% of all slum dwellers of the country live in Dhaka division. In 2017, National Rapid Response Team of IEDCR investigated 26 incidents of disease outbreak. The joint survey of the Power and Participation Research Centre and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development reveals that per capita daily income of urban slum and rural poor drops by 80% due to present countrywide shutdown enforced by the government to halt the spread of Covid-19. 40%-50% of these population took loans to meet the daily expenses.

The Covid-19 has hit Italy in February 2020 after its outbreak in China at the beginning of January. But why Italy first among Western countries? What are the conditions that made Italy more vulnerable and the first target of such disease? What characteristics and what diffusion patterns could be highlighted and hypothesized, from the outbreak to the end of March 2020, after containment measures - including a national lock down – were introduced? In this paper we try to provide some answers to these questions, analyzing the issue from the medical, geographical and planning points of view. In particular, we started from a hypothesis of very similar economic, geographical, climatic and environmental conditions of the areas of Wuhan – in Hubei Province in China, the outbreak of the epidemics – and the Po Valley area – in Italy – where most cases and deaths were registered. Adopting an ecological approach, we compared the spatial distribution and pattern of Covid-19-related mortality in Italy with several geographical, environmental and socio-economic variables at Provincial level, analyzing them by means of spatial analytical techniques as LISA – Local Indicators of Spatial Association. Possible evidence relating Covid-19 cases and Nitrogen-related pollutants and land take arise, particularly in the Po Valley area.

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has been declared as a global pandemic. Due to its infection rate and severity, it has emerged as one of the major global threats of the current generation. To support the current combat against the disease, this research aims to propose a Machine Learning based pipeline to detect the COVID-19 infection using the lung Computed Tomography scan images (CTI). This implemented pipeline consists of a number of sub-procedures ranging from segmenting the COVID-19 infection to classifying the segmented regions. The initial part of the pipeline implements the segmentation of the COVID-19 affected CTI using Social-Group-Optimization and Kapur’s Entropy thresholding, followed by k-means clustering and morphology-based segmentation. The next part of the pipeline implements feature extraction, selection and fusion to classify the infection. PCA based serial fusion technique is used in fusing the features and the fused feature vector is then employed to train, test and validate four different classifiers namely Random Forest, k-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Support Vector Machine with Radial Basis Function, and Decision Tree. Experimental results using benchmark datasets show a high accuracy (> 91%) for the morphology-based segmentation task and for the classification task the KNN offers the highest accuracy among the compared classifiers (> 87%). However, this should be noted that this method still awaits clinical validation, and therefore should not be used to clinically diagnose the ongoing COVID-19 infection.

Background & Objectives: The global pandemic caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has claimed several lives worldwide. With the virus gathering rapid spread, the world has witnessed increasing number of confirmed cases and mortality rate, India is not far behind with approximately 37,000 affected individuals as on May 2, 2020. The ongoing pandemic has raised several questions which need to be answered by analysis of transmission of the infection. The data has been collected on daily basis from WHO and other sites. We have represented the data collated graphically using statistical packages, R and other online softwares. The present study provides a holistic overview of the spread of COVID-19 infection in India. Methods: Real-time data query was done based on daily observations using publicly available data from reference websites for COVID-19 and other government official reports for the period (15^th February, 2020 to April 28^th, 2020). Statistical analysis was performed to draw important inferences regarding COVID-19 trend in India. Results: A decrease in growth rate of cases due to COVID-19 in India post lockdown and improvement in recovery rate during the month of April was identified. The case fatality rate was estimated to be 3.22% of the total reported cases. State-wise analysis revealed a deteriorating situation in states of Maharashtra and Gujarat among others as cases continued to increase rapidly there. A positive linear correlation between the number of deaths and total cases and exponential relation between population density and number of cases reported per square km was established. Interpretation & Conclusions: Despite early preventive measures taken up by the Government of India, the increasing number of cases in India is a concern. This study compiles state-wise and district-wise data to report the daily confirmed cases, case fatalities and strategies adopted in the form of case studies. Understanding the transmission spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a diverse and populated country like India will be crucial in assessing the effectiveness of control policies towards the spread of COVID-19 infection.

There is much discussion among clinicians, epidemiologists, and public health experts about why case fatality rate from COVID-19 in Italy (at 13.3% as of April 20, 2020, versus a global case fatality rate of 6.9%) is considerably higher than estimates from other countries (especially China, South Korea, and Germany). In this article, we propose several potential explanations for these differences. We suggest that Italy’s overall and relative case fatality rate, as reported by public health authorities, is likely to be inflated by such factors as heterogeneous reporting of coronavirus-related fatalities across countries and the iceberg effect of under-testing, yielding a distorted view of the global severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also acknowledge that deaths from COVID-19 in Italy are still likely to be higher than in other equally affected nations due to its unique demographic and socio-economic profile. Lastly, we discuss the important role of the stress imparted by the epidemic on the Italian healthcare system, which weakened its capacity to adequately respond to the sudden influx of COVID-19 patients in the most affected areas of the country, especially in the Lombardy region.

We previously proposed a public intervention framework concept that would allow people to resume personal and economic activities. We showed that intervention measures are used in a quantitative scale to reduce transmission probabilities and disease severity. In this article, we systematically examine the origin, assumptions, performance and limitations of epidemiological models from different views used in past review. We found that nearly all model assumptions fail to hold or are remote from reality; R0 does not exit or has no utility in guiding treatment options; personalized intervention measures are vitally important to COVID-19 due to its transmission characteristic; and current epidemiological models are unable to accurately assess the true benefits of personalized intervention measures. We suggest that poor performance of the models are attributed to flawed assumption that health/disease properties can be treated as transferable properties. The flaw creates a fiction that disease properties such as infection probabilities and death risks can be transferred from any vulnerable persons to anyone in the population and thus severely limit societal ability to fight the pandemic. We finally show that the benefits of personalized mitigation measures could be determined directly by using variable Ri values for infected persons (or nodes) together assessment of death rate and disability rate; the attempt of avoiding the disease by defeating all potential transmission probabilities is unrealistic; but mitigating disease severity for specific persons is more feasible and reliable. A most reliable strategy for reviving economy is using personalized protective measures and improving person health before effective vaccine is available.

COVID-19 severity is heterogeneously distributed over age strata, but current mitigation strategies are homogeneously applied to all population. Social-distancing and stay-home are effective conservative approaches but lack economic sustainability on long term. Conversely, herd-immunity is a nonrestrictive strategy which can cost remarkable number of human lives and can melt the healthcare system down. Here I propose an Age Adaptive Social Distancing (AASD) engineering strategy to mitigate COVID-19 outbreak. AASD is based on the scientific evidence that the fatality rate grows nonlinearly with age, hence also the containing strategy should adapt nonlinearly. Essentially, AASD suggests that ‘silent spreaders’ (age 0-39) should avoid/minimize direct and indirect contacts with individuals in ‘dangerous zone’ (age 40+). The rationale is: 0-19 should follow parents strategy, healthy 20-39 (low fatality rate) might conduct screened life under active surveillance, to sustain economy and acquire rational immunity; 40-59 should respect social distancing (waiting a therapy); 60+ should stay at home (waiting a vaccine). This might save human lives, reduce healthcare demand and improve economic sustainability. The final take-home message is that future studies should design precision and personalized strategies for specific contagious diseases that integrate different social constrains, active surveillance and contact tracing.

In the war against the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is experiencing severe resource constraints. Although transmission routes are well understood, we suspect that they cause different disease consequences. We evaluate them in different forms to understand how they affect infection rates and disease severity. In determining how they affect disease outcome, we evaluated target tissue vulnerability, functional role, defense mechanisms, viral concentration, infection vicinity to target vital tissue, and host factors. We found that direct lung infection is the most lethal transmission route followed by bronchi infection. Transmissions by physical contacts, foods, and blood by low viral concentration (as expected in normal human activities) pose lower or much lower risks unless the infection is followed by subsequent lung exposures. After adding transmission route, treatment timings, and improper treatments into the list of known risk factors, we found that death rate and disability rate for young or healthy persons are nearly zero. We show that population based medical model improperly shifts nominal death rate from few vulnerable people to the population resulting in unnecessary population panic, and such panic is responsible for shutting down human activities and the world economy. Finally, we examined limitations in population-based mitigating measures and proposed for governmental and private adoption community guidelines, which are mainly to enable vulnerable people avoid exposures, prevent non-vulnerable people from serving as viral transmitters, get rid of high-risk exposure modes in working environment, improve safety for people in buses, ships and planes, and reduce death and disability rates for infected people.

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted older people in residential aged care facilities (RACFs), especially those with dementia. This retrospective cohort study investigates the impact of the pandemic on agitation incidents within this population in 40 Australian RACFs. We compared pre-pandemic data (January-October 2019) with during-pandemic data (same months in 2020 and 2021) from electronic health records (EHRs) using Python to extract information from nursing notes. Various statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics to summarize the data, and a chi-square test to examine any significant association between the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevalence of dementia and agitation in dementia. Dementia prevalence dropped by 1.98% in 2021 compared to 2019, and by 4.09% compared to 2020 (p < 0.05). Overall agitation symptoms decreased by 20.1% from 2019 to 2021 (p < 0.05), but six specific symptoms increased: resisting (28.98%), wandering (11.78%), restlessness (3.19%), complaining (10.1%), arguing (2.36%), and outbursts (1.74%) (p < 0.05). Conversely, pacing decreased by 15.88% and speaking loudly de-creased by 10.9% (p < 0.05). Over half of the care recipients experienced agitation symptoms 2-5 times each year, increasing from 50.56% in 2019 to 58.28% in 2021 (p < 0.05). It is important to exercise caution regarding the accuracy of these findings due to the reduced opportunity for busy care staff to record behavioral changes caused by the isolation of individuals in their rooms during the pandemic.

This qualitative study explores the complexities of managing suppliers for quality among Italian restaurant owners, investigating their perspectives, challenges, and strategic approaches in supplier management. Through semi-structured interviews with 15 restaurant owners across diverse regions of Italy, key themes emerged regarding supplier selection criteria, challenges in supplier management, strategies for ensuring quality, and the impact of external factors on supply chain dynamics. Findings reveal that authenticity, reliability, and sustainability are paramount in supplier selection, aligning with consumer expectations for genuine Italian ingredients and culinary excellence. Economic pressures, operational disruptions, and external influences, exacerbated by events like the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitate adaptive strategies such as cost-effective sourcing, rigorous quality control measures, and technological integration to maintain supply chain continuity and uphold quality standards. Strategic initiatives, including rigorous quality assurance protocols, digital procurement platforms, and collaborative partnerships with suppliers, enhance transparency, efficiency, and responsiveness in supply chain operations. Entrepreneurial initiatives and emotional intelligence play crucial roles in fostering innovative sourcing strategies and building trust-based relationships with suppliers, enhancing supply chain resilience and responsiveness to market demands. External factors, such as market dynamics and sustainability trends, underscore the need for continuous adaptation and strategic foresight in supplier management practices. The study contributes to understanding the intricate dynamics of supplier management in Italian cuisine, offering insights for enhancing operational efficiency, maintaining quality standards, and fostering sustainable supplier relationships in the food service industry.

The COVID 19 pandemic saw the emergence of various Variants of Concern (VOCs) that took the world by storm, often replacing the ones that preceded them. The characteristic mutant constellations of these VOCs increased viral transmissibility and infectivity. Their origin and evolution remain puzzling. With the help of data mining efforts and the GISAID database, a chronology of 22 haplotypes described viral evolution up until July 23, 2023. Since the 3-dimensional atomic structures of proteins corresponding to the identified haplotypes are not available, ab initio methods were here utilized. Regions of intrinsic disorder proved to be important for viral evolution, as evidenced by the targeted change to the nucleocapsid (N) protein at the sequence, structure, and biochemical levels. The linker region of the N-protein, which binds to the RNA genome and self-oligomerizes for efficient genome packaging, was greatly impacted by mutations throughout the pandemic, followed by changes in structure and intrinsic disorder. Remarkably, VOC constellations acted cooperatively to balance the more extreme effects of individual haplotypes. Our strategy of mapping the dynamic evolutionary landscape of genetically linked mutations to the N-protein structure demonstrates the utility of ab initio modeling and deep learning tools for therapeutic intervention.

Background: Our study investigates the prevalence and causes of injuries among undergraduate dental students during clinical sessions. Methods: The study was conducted at the Department of Dentistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, focusing on injuries reported from 2021 to 2024. Data were collected through self-reported questionnaires and clinical records. The primary variables assessed included the type of injury, the instrument involved, the clinical procedure being performed, and the immediate actions taken post-injury. Serological testing was conducted on both students and patients to assess the risk of bloodborne pathogen transmission. Results: The findings revealed a high prevalence of injuries, with needles being the most common cause, followed by burs and dental probes. The most frequent injury type was piercing, primarily affecting the fingers. Periodontal treatments, restorative procedures, and endodontic treatments were the main activities leading to injuries. Despite normal medical records for most patients treated by injured students, serological testing showed significant positivity rates for HCV and HBV. It is noteworthy that most injured students demonstrated their commitment to safety by adhering to recommended post-exposure protocols, including wound cleaning, disinfecting, and serological testing. Our study highlights the critical need for enhanced biosafety awareness and training among dental students to reduce injury risks. Conclusions: These findings underline the necessity for integrated safety protocols and continuous education to improve clinical practices and ensure student safety.

Background: Since the onset of widespread COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, there have been concerns about serious cardiovascular adverse events, including myocarditis, myocardial infarction, and venous thromboembolisms, all of which can lead to cardiopulmonary arrest. This study aimed to estimate excess cardiopulmonary arrest mortality in King County, WA, and investigate any association with COVID-19 vaccination rates. Methods: Data was obtained from the annual King County, WA, EMS reports, the U.S. Census Bureau, and The Tennessean COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker. An exploratory data analysis was performed. Excess deaths were calculated using the 2015-2020 cardiopulmonary arrest mortality trend line. The relationship between excess cardiopulmonary arrest mortality and vaccination rates was analyzed using polynomial regression analysis. A quadratic regression model was used to generate expected population growth trends. The excess mortality model for King County was used to calculate yearly estimates for excess cardiopulmonary arrest fatalities in the USA. Results: Approximately 98% of the King County population received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by 2023. Our analysis revealed a 25.7% increase in total cardiopulmonary arrests and a 25.4% increase in cardiopulmonary arrest mortality from 2020 to 2023 in King County, WA. Excess cardiopulmonary arrest deaths were estimated to have increased by 1,236% from 2020 to 2023, rising from 11 excess deaths (95% CI: -12, 34) in 2020 to 147 excess deaths (95% CI: 123, 170) in 2023. A quadratic increase in excess cardiopulmonary arrest mortality was observed with higher COVID-19 vaccination rates. The general population of King County sharply declined by 0.94% (21,300) in 2021, deviating from the expected population size. Applying our model from these data to the entire United States yielded 49,240 excess fatal cardiopulmonary arrests from 2021-2023. Conclusions: We identified a very strong ecological and temporal association between excess cardiopulmonary arrest mortality and the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which resulted in high vaccination rates. The biological plausibility of death from acute cardiac and pulmonary causes after COVID-19 vaccination has been previously demonstrated and is concerning given these real-world observations. Urgent further research is needed to determine if similar trends are observed in other regions with attention to risk mitigation for incident events and improved survival with resuscitation.

Long-haul truck drivers are responsible for transporting goods valued at millions of dollars of the world economy and may have their health affected by living and working conditions. This study analyzed and synthesized the scientific findings about risk factors for the development of chronic non-communicable diseases in long-haul truck drivers. An integrative literature review was conducted. We identified 23 studies that met the inclusion criteria and evaluated the health of 7,363 drivers. The biological risks identified were age, gender, race/ethnicity, genetics, comorbidities, and were considered non-modifiable for chronic diseases. The behavioral risks, considered modifiable, were sedentary lifestyle, smoking, alcohol consumption, overweight, diet, stress, anxiety, unfavorable socioeconomic conditions. Environmental risks involved working conditions such as the number of working hours per day, week and month; time away from home, risk of musculoskeletal injury, and opportunities for rest, hours of sleep and access to health services. The results were presented in two categories: 1) biological, behavioral and environmental risks, and 2) general recommendations to promote physical, cognitive and emotional health. Macro-structural changes are needed to reorganize work and rest, improve access to health services to control risk factors, and to support behavioral and environmental changes to reduce chronic non-communicable diseases and deaths.

Burnout represents a concern for all healthcare providers, particularly those specializing in emergency medical care for whom burnout outcomes have been well-documented. What remains unknown is the effect of burnout on redeployed medical specialists during the COVID-19 pandemic from an appointment-centered practice to emergency care directed by public health considerations. This research aims to identify and assess the burnout responses of fourteen medical specialties noted in searched returns of the four most cited articles published since 2020 about non-emergency physicians regarding their burnout brought on by the unanticipated need for them to provide emergency care during the recent pandemic. The hypothesis is that medical specialists accustomed to planning for emergency possibilities in their appointment-centered practice would demonstrate the least burnout regarding COVID-19-related emergencies. Considering coping as a process based on Lazarus's research, comparing and ranking the COVID-19 emergency responses across the various normally appointment-centered medical specialties in their employed coping strategies determines the outcome. With the hypothesis supported, suggested interventions for future pandemics—when these specialists are, again, redeployed to emergency care directed by public health considerations—are those coping strategies identified as most effective in reducing burnout while maintaining the viability of the medical specialty and excellent patient care.

Vaccination against the SARS-CoV2 virus has shown great promise in managing the spread and severity of Covid-19. While these vaccines were able to provide a favourable response in controlling the SARS-CoV2 infection, its use came with accompanying side effects. This systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of the different Covid-19 vaccine subtypes and discover the side effects associated with each vaccine elsewhere but specially in Trinidad and Tobago. For this systematic review, the keywords “Pfizer-BioNTech OR Moderna OR Oxford-AstraZeneca OR Janssen OR Sinopharm OR Novavax AND Covid-19 vaccine efficacy” and “Covid-19 vaccines AND Trinidad and Tobago” were researched under PubMed, MEDLINE and other internet sources through which other notable journals, and documents were discovered and searched similarly as outlined previously. In doing so, 65 relevant articles were included as part of this review. Of the studies examined, overall the vaccine with the greatest VE was found to be Pfizer-BioNTech (95%), followed by Moderna (94.1%), Novavax (89.7%), AstraZeneca (70.4%), Sinopharm (67%) and finally Janssen (66.9%). The use of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna was most efficacious in response to the different Covid-19 variants. Some side effects were common for all vaccine types however adverse effects were more commonly seen with vaccination by mRNA vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-Astrazeneca. Researchers targeted individuals aged 18 and above residing in various geographical areas of TT, specifically focusing on those who had not received the COVID-19 vaccine and expressed hesitancy towards it. Convenience sampling was used to select the study participants, and formal in-depth virtual interviews were conducted on a one-to-one basis, employing a semi-structured questionnaire to guide the discussions. The interviews were meticulously recorded and transcribed, following the principles of reflexive thematic analysis, to distill key insights from the participants' responses. The study's findings, derived from the perspectives of 25 participants, illuminated a complex tapestry of reasons underlying vaccine hesitancy in Trinidad and Tobago. Notably, prominent themes emerged, including fear, doubts regarding vaccine efficacy, a perceived inadequacy of information, a sense of susceptibility to the virus, deep-seated mistrust, alternative herbal remedies, and religious reservations. Interestingly, the motivations expressed by these vaccine-hesitant individuals for potentially receiving the vaccine in the future were rooted in notions of necessity, an increased sense of susceptibility to the virus, a desire to reach a certain health benchmark, and a need for assurance regarding the vaccine's safety and effectiveness. This comprehensive exploration of vaccine hesitancy in TT provides valuable insights for public health officials and policymakers in crafting targeted strategies to address this critical issue within the local context. Conclusion: The findings of this study determined that vaccination against the SARS-CoV2 virus provided beneficial outcomes against infection, Covid-19 related hospitalizations, ICU admissions and mortality. While vaccination was deemed highly appropriate in managing the spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus and enhancing the outcomes in infected persons, the effectiveness of the different vaccine platforms indicated that certain vaccine platforms are preferential to others in different populations. In terms of vaccine efficacy, nucleic acid vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna showed the greatest effectiveness while inactivated whole virus vaccines such as Sinopharm and viral vectors like Janssen had the least effectiveness. The side effects, joint/muscle soreness, pain at the injection site, shoulder pain, headaches, fever, chills, weakness, epistaxis, renal and certain cardiovascular events were common for all vaccine types. Adverse effects were more frequent and severe with the mRNA vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-Astrazeneca than inactivated whole virus vaccines. The data collected in this research can be very useful to help individuals make a decision on which vaccine would be appropriate for them. More long-term studies are needed to better gauge the scope of side effects for each vaccine type.

Although numerous organizational researchers have acknowledged that COVID-19 shocks reduced the tourism industry’s financial performance, relevant literature remains scarce. Do tourism firms reduce corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments to decrease costs? The answer is unclear. This study fills the gap between stakeholder and cost stickiness theories. Based on a quasi-natural experiment of listed Chinese tourism companies from 2017 to 2021, the study finds that the COVID-19 shock caused tourism firms to increase strategic and decrease responsive CSR. In addition, tourism firms that adopted cost leadership strategies trimmed responsive CSR more than strategic CSR. Tourism firms with differentiated leadership strategies increased strategic and decreased responsive CSR. Tourism firms with higher levels of political connections increased responsive CSR, while tourism firms with higher organizational resilience increased strategic CSR. At the theoretical level, this study reveals the theoretical mechanism of the COVID-19 epidemic’s shock on tourism firms' adjustment of CSR from the perspective of cost stickiness. On a practical level, it helps inform tourism firms’ decision-making regarding CSR adjustments for sustainable development when they face widespread crisis scenarios.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), including social distancing, wearing personal protective equipment, and lockdown measures, have been at the forefront of outbreak control in nursing homes. We used a mixed methodology to assess which NPIs nursing homes in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland, followed for their staff and residents during the first wave of the pandemic, between March 1, 2020 and June 1, 2020. For the qualitative component, we interviewed the attending physicians and/or director of each nursing home. Based on in-vivo codes, NPIs for nursing home workers and residents in each nursing home were thematically classified as: maximally restrictive, moderately restrictive, and minimally restrictive. In the quantitative component, we calculated incident rate ratios (IRR) for infection between the three levels of COVID-19-related measures taken in these nursing homes. We found an equal distribution of maximally (n=4), moderately (n=4), and minimally (n=4) restrictive NPIs. The extent of restriction did not show to be significantly associated with the cumulative incidence of COVID-19 cases among residents (maximally restrictive IRR = 3.90, 95%CI 0.82-45.54, p = 0.184; moderately restrictive IRR = 3.55, 95%CI 0.75-41.42, p = 0.212 ; minimally restrictive IRR = reference). Variabilities in NPIs adopted by nursing homes, and the number of COVID-19 cases appear to be randomly affected.

In 2020, following the World Health Organization's declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, dental practices faced unprecedented disruptions globally. This retrospective cross-sectional study, conducted at a leading university dental hospital in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, investigated the impact of these disruptions on dental caries. The study, spanning June 2019 to June 2021, included a full-mouth X-ray examination, along with sociodemographic, behavioral, and medical data. Our sample comprised 3,380 participants (2,007 females and 1,373 males), aged 18 to 99 years, divided into pre-lockdown and post-lockdown groups. We employed the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index to measure dental caries. Our findings revealed that nearly 90% of participants in both groups experienced dental caries, indicating a statistically significant difference between the pre-lockdown and post-lockdown periods. However, the impact of COVID-19 confinement varied among different demographic sectors, with age, educational background, and professional status emerging as the key determinants. This study highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of the impact of the pandemic on oral health, emphasizing the role of sociodemographic factors in shaping dental health outcomes during such global health crises.

The susceptible-infected-recovered/removed-vaccinated (SIRV) epidemics model is an important generalization of the SIR epidemics model as it accounts quantitatively for the effects of vaccination campaigns on the temporal evolution of epidemics outbreaks. Additional to the time-dependent infection ($a(t)$) and recovery ($\mu (t)$) rates, regulating the transitions between the compartments $S\to I$ and $I\to R$, respectively, the time-dependent vaccination rate $v(t)$ accounts for the transition between the compartments $S\to V$ of susceptible to vaccinated fractions. An accurate analytical approximation is derived for arbitrary and different temporal dependencies of the rates which is valid for all times after the start of the epidemics for which the cumulative fraction of new infections $J(t)\ll 1$. As vaccination campaigns automatically reduce the rate of new infections by transferring susceptible to vaccinated persons, the limit $J(t)\ll 1$ is even better fulfilled than in the SIR-epidemics model. The comparison of the analytical approximation for the temporal dependence of the rate of new infections $\jt(t)=a(t)S(t)I(t)$, the corresponding cumulative fraction $J(t)$, and $V(t)$, respectively, with the exact numerical solution of the SIRV-equations for different illustrative examples proves the accuracy of our approach. The considered illustrative examples include the cases of stationary ratios with a delayed start of vaccinations, and an oscillating ratio of recovery to infection rate with a delayed vaccination at constant rate. The proposed analytical approximation is self-regulating as the final analytical expression for the cumulative fraction $\jinf $ after infinite time allows us to check the validity of the original assumption $J(t)\le \jinf \ll 1$.

Because the including of human anatomy forms the foundation for clinical medicine, it has contributed a pivotal role in medical education for many centuries. Thus with advancements in the science of modern, current day medicine, its continued place in the medical school curriculum deserves careful attention. In an attempt to provide guidance to decision-makers involved in clinical anatomy curriculum development at the medical school level, the Educational Affairs Committee of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists (AACA) developed this document, which defines the contours of a gross anatomy curriculum leading to the M.D. or D.O. degree. The main body of the document sets forth the anatomical concepts as well as the subject matter a student should master prior to graduation from medical school. Gross anatomy dissection is still a crucial topic in graduate and medical school. The nature and content of gross anatomy, which was historically regarded as a core course in the first year of medical education in MBBS, MD, DO, and some PhD and Graduate curricula as well as in other disciplines of selective graduate education and non-allopathic medical programs, have been significantly impacted by emerging challenges in the pedagogy of delivering medical education in the past ten years. A seemingly ever-increasing emphasis on additional modules in molecular biology, emerging pharmacotherapeutics and pathophysiology content have resulted in a condensation and apparent erosion of previously allotted classroom and laboratory hours in the gross anatomy curriculum. In addition, an imposition of financial constraints and a decreasing availability of sufficient cadaver donations to support gross anatomy dissection labs has also occurred in some locations. An innovative clinically focused cadaveric anatomy program is described which has improved the delivery and content retention of medical and graduate students and has become one of the most sought-after modules in the revised clinically oriented curriculum and has been deemed highly relevant to current medical education and graduate studies.

Radiological imaging is essential for acute patient management in Intensive Care Units (ICUs); however, it introduces the risk of exposure to ionizing radiation. This review synthesizes research on radiation exposure in intensive care unit (ICU) settings, highlighting its rise during the COVID-19 pandemic and repetitive imaging. Our analysis extends to radiation safety thresholds, revealing that some ICU patients exceed annual occupational limits, emphasizing the need to balance diagnostic utility against potential long-term risks, such as cancer. Prospective studies have demonstrated an increase in the median Cumulative Effective Dose (CED) in patients with trauma over time, prompting calls for improved awareness and monitoring. Moreover, innovative dose-reduction strategies and optimized protocols, especially in neuro-ICU units, promise to mitigate these risks. This review highlights the essential but risky role of radiological imaging in critical care. It advocates rigorous radiation management protocols to safeguard patient health, while ensuring the continuity of high-quality medical care.

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused one of the worst global pandemics in recent decades. It has disrupted education systems worldwide, leading to a forced shift from traditional face-to-face to blended or fully distanced learning, requiring a higher level of student readiness for self-directed learning (SDL) and a more internal locus of control (LOC). Objective: This study explored the relationship between locus of control and level of readiness for SDL among Saudi nursing students and whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted this relation-ship. Methods: a cross-sectional correlational descriptive study was conducted to survey 277 Saudi nursing students enrolled in the bachelor program at one of the reputable universities in Saudi Arabia. An E-questionnaire containing two scales, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale for Nursing Education, and the Locus of Control Scale, was used to collect data in addition to the selected participants’ characteristics. Results: Nursing students had a moderate-to-low level of readiness for SDL (mean = 144.0), and the majority had an external LOC. There was a significant association between the locus of control and level of readiness for self-directed learning (r = 0.19*, p = 0.001), and the internal locus of control was more significantly associated with self-directed learning (r = 0.22*, p = 0.0001) than with external locus of control. Conclusion: The study findings indicate a propensity of respondents towards an external locus of control, whereas most of the respondents’ reported levels of readiness ranged between low and moderate across all dimensions of self-directed learning. This study was not registered.

The devastating effects of COVID-19 permeates virtually all aspects of life across geographic boundaries. As the lockdown is eased, and reinstated, across many parts of the world, attention is now shifting towards how to navigate the ‘now normal’ rather than the ‘next normal,’ of doing business with a view to achieving sustainable development. This study highlights some of the challenges and opportunities for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in times of crisis such as COVID-19. Conceptual by orientation, the study provides a broad overview of trends in crises times, drawing upon a range of qualitative accounts. The overarching message is the current direction of travel for MSMEs in sustaining their bottom-line, not after the crisis, but at this particular moment in time. The study highlights some implications for ‘pivoting,’ in order to cushion the impact of the pandemic on efforts to capacitate MSMEs in leveraging value co-creation with the consumers. The implications of the here and now are discussed.

Little is known about the long-term durability of the induced immune response in subjects af-fected by obesity, particularly in those with an abdominal distribution of adipose tissue. We evaluated SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody response after BNT162b2 vaccine booster dose, com-paring individuals with abdominal obesity (AO) with those without, discerning between indi-viduals previously infected or not. IgG-TrimericS were measured in 511 subjects at baseline, 21 days after vaccine dose-1 and at one, three, six and nine months after dose-2 and at one and three months after booster dose. Nucleocapsid antibodies were assessed at baseline and at the end of the study to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection. To evaluate the three-months difference in absolute variation of IgG-TrmicericS levels from booster dose we used multivariable linear regression that showed interaction between AO and SARS-CoV-2 infection status (p=0.016). AO is associated with higher absolute IgG-TrimericS variation in prior infected individuals, regardless of possi-ble confounders and IgG-TrimericS levels at booster dose (p=0.0125). No interaction was evinced using BMI in the same regression model (p=0.418). The robust response in the development of antibodies after booster dose, observed in people with OA and previous infection, may support the recommendations to undergo the booster dose also in this population group.

Air pollution is one of the biggest problems of this age, not only it contributes to climate change but also it has a negative effect on public and individual health due to rising morbidity and mortality. There are various contaminants that play a significant role in human disease. Numerous toxins are released into the environment as a result of anthropogenic activities including burning fossil fuels for transportation and electricity generation. In order to assist decision-makers in finding a long-term solution for improving environmental quality and population health status, NO2 pollution monitoring and regulation is an essential task. Based on data acquired from Sentinel-5P, the study presented a comparison of NO2 measurements in Sentinel-5P and ground-based stations over the urban area of Fujairah during 2021 and comparison analysis of the tropospheric NO2 column spatial configuration over urban area of Fujairah during comparable periods of pre, mid and post Covid-19 pandemic era as 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. These findings demonstrate remarkable tropospheric NO2 column number density decreases even of 85% in the busier areas of emirate of Fujairah during the pandemic era. Sentinel-5P measurements draw attention to the significant reduction in NO2 pollution over Fujairah during the COVID-19 lockdown where we had less traffic, which is supported by ground stations-based calculations.

There are strong indications that the built environment intertwines consistently with the advent of Covid-19 and the need for post-disaster recovery. The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic has exerted adverse effects on both human and global developments; while the efforts to combat this menace call for an integrated human social capital index. This research seeks to adequately enhance the comprehension of how the built environment can be enhanced through resilience in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. The study's goal is to investigate the impact of a resilient built environment on increasing resilience in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Overall, the quantitative study test the impact of four built environments resilience indices (Built Environment capitals; Disaster management indices, Awareness of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and Built Environment adaptive strategies) on Human social capital and Covid-19 pandemic Indices. This study reveals the role of human social capital in achieving a resilient built environment in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic in Nigeria. Also, built environment capitals, disaster management indices, and awareness on the Covid-19 have indirect effects on Covid-19 pandemic indices through the human social capital. The implication of the study is useful for Post-Covid 19 recovery; which is important for future planning of the built environment in Nigeria.

In an ever-evolving landscape of higher education institution, the College of Arts and Sciences at St. Michael's College, Iligan City, Philippines, embarked on a strategic journey to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the post-pandemic era. This study, conducted in August 2022, delves into the multifaceted dimensions of their strategic planning processes. Through qualitative methods that use intensive in-depth reviews of literature, informal interviews, observation, and thematic analysis, this research unveils a narrative of adaptation, innovation, and internationalization. It explores how the institution resiliently adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, leveraged technological advancements to enhance educational delivery, fostered interdisciplinary collaboration at the nexus of arts and sciences, and embraced internationalization through partnerships and cultural exchange. Anchored in a robust theoretical framework, this study resonates with broader trends in higher education, echoing the global call for agile, student-centric, and forward-thinking institutions. As this institution's journey unfolds, its experiences and lessons resonate with academic leaders, administrators, faculty, students, and stakeholders, inviting reflection and dialogue on the future of higher education.

Long Covid is a heterogeneous clinical condition in which Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and brain fog stand out among the different clinical symptoms and syndromes. The cerebral metabolic alterations and neuroendocrine disorders seem to constitute an important part of Long Covid. Given the substantial lack of drugs and effective therapeutic strategies, hypothalamic phospholipid liposomes which have been on the market for several years as adjuvant therapy of cerebral metabolic alterations resulting from neuroendocrine disorders, can be taken into consideration in an overall therapeutic strategy that aims to control the Long Covid associated symptoms and syndromes. Their pharmacological mechanisms and clinical effects strongly support their usefulness in Long Covid. Our initial clinical experience corroborates this rationale. Further research is imperative in order to obtain robust clinical evidence.

Introduction: The objectives of this study were to (1) investigate the association between human blood type and COVID-19 infection in both inpatient and longitudinal populations at our institution in South Florida and (2) identify the association between blood type and severity of COVID-19 infection via presence of cellular biomarkers of severe infection in hospitalized individuals. Methods: This study consists of (1) a single-center retrospective analysis of 669 of 2,741 COVID-19 positive screened patients seen from January 1, 2020 until March 31, 2021 at the University of Miami Emergency Department (ED) who tested positive for COVID-19 infection and had a documented ABO blood type and (2) a longitudinal SARS-CoV-2 immunity study (“CITY”) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine consisting of 185 survey participants. COVID-19 outcome rates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each ABO blood type and Rh group using Chi-squared tests for categorical and ANOVA for continuous variables in the inpatient cohort and Chi-squared tests for the longitudinal cohort, all executed in R studio. Results: Our inpatient cohort had a mean age of 53.6 (± 17.9) years with 48% males and 52% females. When compared to patients with other blood types, those with O- demonstrated less risk of developing COVID-19 pneumonia (26.7% for O- vs. 69.2% for type A-, 56.5% for A+, 71.4% for AB+, 53.7% for B+, 51.5% for O+, p-value= 0.003 via Chi-squared test) and decreased mortality due to COVID-19 infection (17.0% mortality for O vs. 26.3% for A, 29.2% for B, p-value= 0.012 via Chi-squared test). Blood type O- demonstrated less elevated levels of LDH than did other blood types (p-value= 0.001, ANOVA) and a higher frequency of clinically accepted baseline levels of troponin (0.04 ng/mL) (p-value= 0.026, ANOVA) (Figure 1). Most of the longitudinal cohort was ABO blood grouping type O (47% (87/185)), with 33.5% type A, 14.1% B, and 5.4% AB. Most individuals were Rh positive (85.9%). There was no significant association found between COVID status (infection vs. non-infection) and ABO (Chi-squared test (3, N = 185) = 1.8, p = 0.6) or Rh (Chi-squared test (1, N = 185) = 0.16, p = 0.7) blood typing. Nearly all participants had been vaccinated (95.1% (176/185)), with a majority reporting primary vaccination with Pfizer (57.8% (107/185)), followed by Moderna (33% (61/185)), and Johnson & Johnson (4.3% (8/185)). 8 participants (4.3%) were unvaccinated. Conclusions: In an inpatient setting, blood type O sustained less risk of COVID-19 mortality and O- demonstrated less risk of developing COVID-19 pneumonia. In a longitudinal setting, there was no association found between blood type and COVID-19 severity. As the novelty of COVID-19 infection declines with time, further studies on risk-stratification by blood type are encouraged.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent implementation of lockdown measures have significantly impacted global electricity consumption, necessitating accurate energy consumption forecasts for optimal energy generation and distribution during a pandemic. In this study, we propose a new forecasting model called the Multivariate Multilayered LSTM with Covid-19 case injection ($\proposedModel$) for improved energy forecast during the next occurrence of a similar pandemic. We utilize data from commercial buildings in Melbourne, Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic to predict energy consumption and evaluate the model's performance against commonly used methods such as LSTM, Bi-LSTM, Linear Regression, Support Vector Machine and the previously published work of Multilayered LSTM (M-LSTM). The proposed forecasting model was analyzed using the following metrics of mean percent absolute error (MPAE), normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), and $R^2$ score values. The model $\proposedModel$ demonstrates superior performance, achieving the lowest MPAE values of 0.061, 0.093, and 0.158 for data sets from 3 different buildings, respectively. Our results highlight the improved precision and accuracy of the model, providing valuable information for energy management and decision-making during the challenges posed by the occurrence of a pandemic like Covid-19 in the future.

The paper proposed a modification of the GeoSER(D) model previously developed by us by detailing the age structure of the population, personal schedule on weekdays and working days, and individual health characteristics of the agents, this made it possible to build a more realistic model of the functioning of the city and its residents. The developed model made it possible to simulate the spread of 3 types of the strain of the COVID-19 virus, and to analyze the adequacy of this model in the case of unhindered spread of the virus among city residents. The paper showed that SARS COV 2 spreads mainly from contacts in workplaces and transport, and schoolchildren and preschool children are the consequence, not the initiator of the epidemic. Fluctuations in the dynamics of various indicators of the spread of SARS COV 2 associated with the difference in the daily schedule on weekdays and weekends. It has been shown that people's daily schedules strongly influence the spread of SARS COV 2. For the more contagious "rapid" strains of SARS COV 2 (omicron), immunocompetent people become a significant source of infection. For the less contagious "slow strains" (alpha) of SARS COV 2, the most active source of infection is immunocompromised individuals (pregnant women). The more contagious – "fast" strain of the SARS COV 2 virus (omicron) spreads faster in public transport. For less contagious – "slow" strains of the virus (alpha), the greatest infection occurs due to work and educational contacts.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had devastating impacts on the global economy and public health. This study aimed to assess the level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, hesitancy, and associated factors among staff and students of the Federal University of Health Sciences Otukpo, Benue State, Nigeria. A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between November 2021 and April 2022, and data were collected and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Of the 150 completed and analyzed questionnaires, the majority of respondents (80.0%) were between 16 and 45 years old. The study found that 58.4% of participants indicated vaccine hesitancy, with skepticism about the vaccine's fast production/rollout and fear of vaccine side effects being the most common reasons for hesitation. Respondents' age, religion, and category were significant factors influencing vaccine acceptance and hesitancy (P < 0.05). The university community has a high level of awareness of COVID-19 but low vaccine acceptance, resulting in high levels of vaccine hesitancy. The study recommends that policymakers and public health officials should prioritize testing and vaccination for job categories with higher risk of exposure to COVID-19. They should provide accurate information about COVID-19 testing and vaccination and implement workplace-based testing and vaccination programs. These interventions can help to increase COVID-19 testing and vaccination uptake among the university community and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Background: Our study aimed to examine how modulating variables such as social support, health anxiety, coping, gender, being separated from home, and lockdown can modify or amplify the effect of perceived stress as a starting variable in the point of view of the output variable, dissociation. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in online form at two points in time: the beginning and the later stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: We received a total of 1711 responses. Perceived stress moderately correlated with dissociation in both International and Hungarian samples. Health anxiety showed a strong direct and indirect correlation with dissociation. Regarding social support, the support of family significantly decreased the dissociative experiences in the Hungarian sample through mediating the stress and directly as well. In the international sample, the goal-oriented coping strategy had a strong decreasing effect on all dissociation scales in the first measurement, through mediation of perceived stress. As to the Hungarian sample, positive thinking was found to decrease dissociation through decreasing perceived stress. Conclusion: The cause and effect relationship between stress and dissociation may be tinctured by health anxiety, coping and social support, influencing dissociacion directly and indirectly. Social support, mainly support of the family and problem-focused coping strategies seem to alleviate dissociation-provoking effect of stress.

Excessive neutrophil influx and activation in lungs during infections, such as manifest during the ongoing SARS CoV-2 pandemic, have brought neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and the con-comitant release of granule contents that damage surrounding tissues into sharp focus. Neutro-phil proteases, which are known to participate in NET release, also enable the binding of the viral spike protein to cellular receptors and assist in the spread of infection. Blood and tissue fluids normally also contain liver-derived protease inhibitors that balance the activity of proteases. In-terestingly, neutrophils themselves also express the protease inhibitor alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), the product of the SERPINA-1 gene, and store it in neutrophil cytoplasmic granules. The absence of AAT or mutations in the SERPINA-1 gene promote lung remodeling and fibrosis in diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and increase the risk of allergic responses. Recent observations point to the fact that re-duced activity of AAT presents a major susceptibility factor for severe COVID-19. Here, we focus attention on the mechanism of neutrophil elastase (NE) in NET release and its inhibition by AAT as an additional factor that may determine the severity of COVID-19

Body Expression (BE) has been defined in the past decades as a discipline within Physical Education (PE) with very particular characteristics and a strong emotional component. In this study, a programme of this discipline was applied to university Physical Activity and Sports Sciences (PASS) students from six consecutive academic years: three prior to and three during the pandemic. A pre-post design was used to determine how the BE programme affected the university students' self-concept (SC). To do so, a questionnaire with a multidimensional approach to this construct was administered, whose dimensions were closely related to the BE programme's characteristics. The results revealed significant improvements in the final SC, compared to the initial SC. Men reported lower SC values than women before the programme implementation, but higher at the end. Therefore, the change was larger in men, so the programme may have had an equalising effect between groups. It was also verified that the pandemic had particularly affected women.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused detrimental impacts on different population groups throughout the world. This study aimed to explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic’s mandatory lockdown protocols on activities and mental health conditions of community-dwelling older people in Jakarta, Indonesia. A qualitative design using one-on-one in-depth interviews was employed to collect data from the participants (n=24) who were recruited using the snowball sampling technique. Data analysis was guided by a qualitative data analysis framework. The findings showed that before the COVID-19 outbreak participants engaged in different kinds of regular individual and social activities. However, the COVID-19 outbreak and its mandatory lockdown protocols significantly influenced both their activities and social life, which led to social disconnection and financial difficulties for them. COVID-19 outbreak, mandatory lockdown protocols, and disruption of individual and social activities of the participants also caused mental health challenges to them, including feelings of loneliness, loss, sadness, stress, and anger. The findings suggest that there is a need for intervention programs addressing the socio-economic and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on older populations to help them cope with these challenges. Future studies involving large-scale older populations to comprehensively understand COVID-19 impacts on them are recommended.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in government restrictions that altered the lifestyle of people worldwide. Studying the impact of these restrictions on exercise behaviors will improve our understanding of environmental factors that influence individuals’ PA. We conducted a retrospective analysis using an index of government pandemic stringency developed by Oxford and a wearable device for runners to compare strictness of lockdowns and exercise habits, using digitally-logged PA data from more than 7,000 runners on a global scale. Additionally, time-of-day of PA globally and levels of PA in 14 countries are compared between the pre-pandemic year of 2019 and the first pandemic year of 2020. We found that during the pandemic the time-of-day that people exercised experienced a major shift, with significantly more activities logged during standard working hours on workdays (p<0.001) and fewer during the same time frame on weekends (p<0.001). Of the countries examined, Italy and Spain had among the most strict lockdowns and suffered the largest decreases in activity counts, whereas France experienced a minimal decrease in activity counts despite enacting a similarly strict lockdown. This study suggests that there are several factors affecting PA, including government policy, workplace policy, and cultural norms.

Despite concerns about the negative effects of social distancing and prolonged school closures on children’s lifestyle and physical activity (PA) during the COVID-19 pandemic, robust evidence is lacking on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s wellbeing and daily life. This study aimed to examine changes in the PA levels, sleep patterns and screen time of school-aged children during the different phases of COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong using a repeated cross-sectional design. School students (Grades 1 to 12) were asked to report their daily electronic device usage and to fill in a sleep dairy recording their daily sleep and wake-up time. They were equipped with a PA monitor, Actigraph wGT3X-BT, to obtain objective data on their PA levels and sleep patterns. Students were recruited before the pandemic (Sep 2019 – Jan 2020; n=577), during school closures (Mar 2020 – Apr 2020; n=146), and after schools partially reopened (Oct 2020 – Jul 2021; n=227). Our results indicated lower PA levels, longer sleep duration, and longer screen time among participants recruited during school closures than those recruited before the COVID-19 outbreak. Primary school students were found to sleep on average for an extra hour during school closures. Our findings illustrate the impact of social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic on the sleep pattern, screen time, and PA level in school-aged children in Hong Kong. Professionals should reinforce the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle, good sleep hygiene, and healthy use of electronic devices to parents and school-aged children during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: To investigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on the vasculopathic population. Methods: The Divisions of Vascular Surgery of the southern Italian peninsula joined this multicenter retrospective study conducted through cross-sectional survey. Each received a 13-point questionnaire, investigating the hospitalization rate of vascular patients in the first 11 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the preceding 11 months. Results: 27 out of 29 Centers were enrolled. April-December 2020 (7092 patients) vs 2019 (9161 patients): post-EVAR surveillance, treatment for Rutherford category 3 peripheral arterial disease, and asymptomatic carotid stenosis revascularization significantly decreased [1484 (16.2%) vs 1014 (14.3%), p=0.0009; 1401 (15.29%) vs 959 (13.52%), p=0.0006; and 1558 (17.01%) vs 934 (13.17%), p<0.0001, respectively]; while revascularization or major amputations for chronic limb-threatening ischemia, and urgent revascularization for symptomatic carotid stenosis significantly increased [1204 (16.98%) vs 1245 (13.59%), p<0.0001; 355 (5.01%) vs 358 (3.91%), p=0.0007; and 153 (2.16%) vs 140 (1.53%), p=0.0009, respectively]. Conclusions: The suspension of elective activities during the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant reduction in asymptomatic carotid stenosis revascularization, treatment for Rutherford 3 peripheral arterial disease, post-EVAR surveillance. Contestually, we observed a significant increase in urgent revascularization for symptomatic carotid stenosis, and revascularization or major amputations for chronic limb-threatening ischemia.

Pandemic scenario has significantly changed several factors of life, including teaching, and learning at university. The development of suitable teaching materials to support university studies is mandatory to overcome distance learning difficulties and improve traditional teaching methodologies. This work explains a novel method for the preparation of teaching materials for medical sciences, but also plausible for other learning fields. An encephalon was extracted and prepared by using this methodology for teaching purposes. More than 200 students evaluated several factors of the material prepared this way, indicating a better understanding (up to 80%) of theoretical contents related to this human section, together with a high usability and good physical appearance

(1) Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, eating and physical activity behaviours, in a University population. A healthy diet such as the Mediterranean Diet (MD) pattern, rich in fruit and vegetables can prevent degenerative diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc. (2) Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study, data were collected by an anonymous online questionnaire. Participants completed a survey consisting of 3 sections: sociodemographic data; dietary and physical activity behaviour; questionnaire of the Mediterranean Diet (MEDAS-14) and the emotional eater questionnaire Garaulet (EEQ). (3) Results: A total of 168 participants completed the questionnaire 66.7% women, from Spain 79.2%, 76.8% students, living in family home 76.2% and in normal weight 66.1% . Our population did the grocery 1 or less per week (76.8%); decreased or stay the same the consumption of fruits (57.1%), vegetables (58.9%), dairy products (74.4%), pulses (73.2%), fish/seafood (76.8%), white meat (83.3%), red and processed meat (91.1%), snacks (78.6%), rice/pasta/potatoes (78.6%), nuts (83.9%), low alcohol drinks (89.3%), spirits (98.8%) and sugary drinks (91.7%) . Increased cooking time (73.2%) and decreased or stay the same their physical activity (63.7%). University Employees increased more weight (1.01±0.02) than students (0.99±0.03) (p<0.05). 79.8% of the participant obtained a Medium/High Adherence to the MD. Emotional and very emotional eaters were higher in women group (p<0.01). (4) Conclusions: In the event of further confinement, strategies should be implemented to promote a balanced and healthy diet together with the practice of physical activity, taking special care of the group of women and University Employees.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) for the detection of sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis compared to standard pathological ultrastaging in patients with early-stage endometrial cancer (EC). A total of 526 SLNs from 191 patients with EC were included in the study. 379 SLNs (147 patients) were evaluated by both methods, OSNA and standard pathological ultrastaging. The central 1-mm portion of each lymph node was subjected to semi-serial sectioning at 200-μm intervals and examined by hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemistry with CK19; the remaining tissue was analysed by OSNA for CK19 mRNA. The OSNA assay detected metastases in 19.7% of patients (14.9% micrometastasis and 4.8% macrometastasis), whereas pathological ultrastaging detected metastasis in 8.8% of patients (3.4% micrometastasis and 5.4% macrometastasis). Using the established cut-off value for detecting SLN metastasis by OSNA in EC (250 copies/μl), the sensitivity of the OSNA assay was 92%; specificity was 82%; diagnostic accuracy was 83%, and the negative predictive value was 99%. Discordant results between both methods were recorded in 20 patients (13.6%). OSNA resulted in an upstaging in 12 patients (8.2%). OSNA could aid in the identification of patients requiring adjuvant treatment at the time of diagnosis.

The effect of COVID-19 confinement regulations on air quality in the northwestern Alps is here assessed based on measurements at five valley sites in different environmental contexts. Surface concentrations of nitrogen oxides, ozone, particle matter, together with size, chemical, and optical (light absorption) aerosol properties, complemented by observations along the vertical column are considered. The 2020 concentration anomalies relative to previous years’ average are compared with the output of a machine learning algorithm accounting for weather effects and a chemical transport model, their difference being within 10–20 %. Even in the relatively pristine environment of the Alps, the «lockdown effect» is well discernible, both in the early confinement phase and in late 2020, especially in NOx concentrations (NO decreasing by >80 % and NO2 by >50 %). While ozone shows little variation, secondary aerosols increase due to enhanced transport from the neighbouring Po basin and coarse particles decrease due to missing resuspension by traffic and, in the city, to the shutdown of a steel mill. The NO2 vertical column density decreases by >20 %, whereas the aerosol profile is mainly influenced by large-scale dynamics, except a shallow layer about 500 m thick possibly sensitive to curtailed surface emissions.