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In early 2020, the spread of COVID-19 resulted in the wide use of online classes in China. Drawing on Foucault’s disciplinary power and De Certeau’s strategy-tactic dialectic, this paper explores the online learning practice of students in a rural junior middle school at Yu Town in Central China during the pandemic, through interviewing the students, teachers, and parents. The findings show that the teachers and the students engaged in a power game in online education and employed a series of strategies and tactics to realize the control and resistance through the creative use of media technologies. The study reveals the paradox that the rural students’ agency and resistance, enabled by the media technologies, may result in negative consequences for their learning and further broaden the gap between rural and urban students, thus reproducing the system that they are dissatisfied with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 calls for a new understanding of urban landscape and associated living. As an emerging topic, lockdown urbanism involves an unpredictable future where lockdown or quarantine may be a come and go new normal for everyday practice, but the topic itself seems to have escaped historical inquiry. This paper attempts to answer why the strict lockdown is suitable for China by revealing a long and complex history of urbanization and its social and administrative organization. The urban fabric is characterized by a system of urban patterns: enclosed communities, the spatial layout and service distribution of the neighborhood, and the formation of the center. It was also animated by daily ritualistic practices, such as the control of time, quotidian lockdown practice (yejin), and individual ties within the enclosed neighborhood. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the deep history of urban form and the order and logic behind lockdown urbanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the precarity of tourism in viral pandemic times through an analysis of animal-human relations in China's panda and valley tourism at Dajiuzhai. Drawing on a tour to Dajiuzhai to see giant pandas and the valleys of Jiuzhai, which was disrupted midway by increased viral infections, we trace ethnographically how disruptions in tourism emerge in the micro-setting of a single viral-hit tour and highlight the roles of natural agents, pandas, valleys and virus play, alongside humans in tourism's fluid assemblages. Desire/wish to encounter pandas motivated the formation of a fluid constellation of tourism objects, species and humans, which was aligned towards the goal of a stable tourism experience but persistently disturbed. Animal-human relation-based tourism assemblage at Dajiuzhai was found to be a fluid spatiality that coped with Covid-19 disruptions through responses at attractions involving health checks and declarations but remained precarious despite its transformational potentialities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During Covid-19 pandemic world economy experienced negative growth rate, therefore energy consumption and consequently emission pollution decreased. According to Environmental Kuznets Curve, it is expected that energy consumption and emission pollution increase in response to Covid-19 economic recovery, even higher than its pre-pandemic level. The goal of this paper is to study the environmental risk of Covid-19 economic recovery. We use an Environmentally-Augmented Global Vector Autoregressive Model (E-GVAR) to trace dynamic effects of Covid-19 economic recovery on pollution emission. Using generalized impulse response functions (GIRFs), we investigated the effect of positive economic shocks in real per capita income in China and USA economies on total C O 2 equivalent emission pollution. The results show that positive economic recovery affects emission pollution significantly. China and emerging economies may experience high risk while Europe region is moderately affected by this positive shock. A positive Economic Shock in China decrease pollution emission in USA over time. It can be attributed to substitution effect of Chinese product in global market. Generally, our results demonstrate spillover effect of transition shocks from large economies to the rest of world and highlights the importance of linkages in the world economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven decades after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and China, the COVID-19 pandemic presents new prospects and challenges for bilateral cooperation. We seek to analyse various traits in China–Indonesia relations since 2020 by examining how Indonesia attempts balancing between such cooperation and maintaining peaceful ethnic relations domestically. By tracking the domestic discourse surrounding COVID-19 and China through Indonesia's domestic news media, the paper analyses the development of the pandemic in Indonesia, its procurement of vaccines, and, most significantly, domestic sentiments concerning Indonesia's ethnic Chinese Tionghoa citizens, as well as Indonesia's bilateral relations with China in general. The article argues that while the COVID-19 pandemic has created new avenues of cooperation between Indonesia and China, it has also adversely affected the domestic relations between ethnic Chinese citizens and the rest of the population. However, this has not translated into a widespread backlash toward China that might hinder bilateral cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government censorship—internet shutdowns, blockages, firewalls—impose significant barriers to the transnational flow of information despite the connective power of digital technologies. In this paper, we examine whether and how information flows across borders despite government censorship. We develop a semi-automated system that combines deep learning and human annotation to find co-occurring content across different social media platforms and languages. We use this system to detect co-occurring content between Twitter and Sina Weibo as Covid-19 spread globally, and we conduct in-depth investigations of co-occurring content to identify those that constitute an inflow of information from the global information ecosystem into China. We find that approximately one-fourth of content with relevance for China that gains widespread public attention on Twitter makes its way to Weibo. Unsurprisingly, Chinese state-controlled media and commercialized domestic media play a dominant role in facilitating these inflows of information. However, we find that Weibo users without traditional media or government affiliations are also an important mechanism for transmitting information into China. These results imply that while censorship combined with media control provide substantial leeway for the government to set the agenda, social media provides opportunities for non-institutional actors to influence the information environment. Methodologically, the system we develop offers a new approach for the quantitative analysis of cross-platform and cross-lingual communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies a three-step framework to quantify COVID-19's impacts on China's domestic and international air travel demand and to evaluate how the impacts evolve from January 2020 to January 2022. Time series techniques and combination forecasting are tested to identify the best-performing model to generate baseline forecasts, with which actual demands are compared to assess the impact of COVID-19. The results demonstrate that during the period under study, China's domestic aviation sector experienced two V-shape recoveries, while its international counterpart was devastated and showed no sign of revival. It suggests that to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, containing virus spread and removing mobility controls are essential; and when travel restrictions are lifted or loosened, governments play important roles in accelerating the rate of demand recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a form of education, distance learning currently shows great promise and the role of online libraries in delivering off-campus information services increases. This paper presents a comparative analysis of measures undertaken by traditional academic libraries in China and Italy in response to pandemic restrictions on educational operations during the lockdown period. The study utilized a specially developed questionnaire, carried out through an online survey, as a means of collecting data from library users (students and teachers). The study population includes 102 random library patrons, including 64 students and 38 teachers who were using services of academic libraries in China at the time. Through comparison with other studies, the quarantine responses of Chinese libraries were identified. The results of the study show that COVID-19 responses of libraries in China went in a direction similar to those in Italy, but the final decisions varied because of different levels of technological development. This knowledge may be used by libraries to identify areas for improvement. The results show that Chinese libraries were more effective in overcoming quarantine restrictions than those in Italy. The overwhelming majority of respondents reported that they had positive experience learning remotely and would not mind if distance learning programs continue to function after the pandemic is over. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system that is almost indispensable service system of modern buildings is recognized as the most important engineering control measure against pandemics. However, the effectiveness of HVAC systems has been questioned on their ability to control airborne transmission. After the outbreak of COVID-19, China has controlled the spread within a relatively short period. Considering the large population, high population density, busy transportation and the overall underdeveloped economy, China's control measures may have some implications to other countries, especially those with limited resources. This paper intends to provide a systematic summary of Chinese ventilation guidelines issued to cope with COVID-19 transmission. The following three aspects are the main focus of these guidelines: (1) general operation and management schemes of various types of HVAC systems, (2) operation and management schemes of HVAC system in typical types of buildings, and (3) design schemes of HVAC system of makeshift hospitals. In addition, some important differences in HVAC guidelines between China and other countries/institutions are identified and compared, and the possible reasons are discussed. Further discussions are made on the following topics, including the required fresh air supply, the extended operation time, the use of auxiliary equipment, the limited capacity of existing systems, and the use of personalized systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the consequences of the emergence of COVID-19 has been the glaring racial and ethnic disparities that have defined the course of the spread of the virus. As a recent migrant-minority community in China, the Black community's experience has been defined by vulgar racism, exploitation, and stigmatization. In the context of COVID-19, the Black community in China was again a target of multiple racial projects which sought to label their bodies as diseased and physical presence as a threat to the viability and safety of the Han majority. The global response was to mobilize online to expose how the Chinese government is systematically facilitating discriminatory policies against Black migrants in China. In the present paper, we explore how Twitter was utilized to mobilize awareness about anti-Black racism in China. We first present a brief history of African migration to China and then discuss the Han racial ideologies that are inspiring the anti-Black racism. We then use latent Dirichlet allocation as a topic modeling algorithm to extract underlying themes to discuss how anti-Black racism in the COVID-19 context was framed and subsequently challenged by the global community. Finally, we conclude with a brief discussion on COVID-19 and the future of the Black community in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have implied that physical activity profoundly influences interpersonal adaptation. However, this effect and its mechanisms have not been directly verified, especially for adolescents. This study examines the association between physical activity and interpersonal adaptation in adolescents through self-esteem and psychological resilience after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Participants included 542 Chinese adolescents (aged 13–18 years; 242 boys and 300 girls). Adolescents in China anonymously completed a series of questionnaires, including the PARS-3 Scale of PE Activity Grade (PARS-3), the Self-esteem Scale (SES), the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (RSCA), and the Interpersonal Adaptation Scale. The results showed that physical activity positively correlated with self-esteem, psychological resilience, and interpersonal adaptation. Additionally, self-esteem and psychological resilience serially mediated the impact of physical activity on interpersonal adaptation. The findings highlight the positive impact of physical activity on adolescent interpersonal adaptation by strengthening positive psychological resources in the post-pandemic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wuhan was the first large city where the initial breakout of COVID-19 took numerous lives. A group of social workers and mental health specialists coordinated the "Be Together Program" (BTP), a psychosocial grief intervention program to help a group of Wuhan COVID-19 bereaved people. Under the Dual-process model framework, BTP used the internet and social media as the main tools, combined with group and individual intervention. Additionally, it employed a "Supermarket Mode" with abundant intervention themes and approaches for BTP participants to choose according to their special needs. Additionally, Chinese cultural elements are integrated into the program. At the end of the program, the grief scores of participants in the qualified sample reduced significantly, and the prevalence of the potential Prolonged Grief Disorder diagnosis reduced from 75% to 12%. The study also found that the BTP was especially effective for those who had high levels of grief reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The literature indicates that pandemics significantly impact the mental health of frontline health workers. While the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of frontline nurses have been studied, their lived experiences remain insufficiently explored. Objective: This study aims to investigate the lived experience of nurses who were deployed to support Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study adopted a qualitative study design. A purposive sample of fifteen nurses were recruited from a group of nurses who supported Wuhan during COVID-19 pandemic. The data was collected during May and June 2020. Data collection occurred in May and June 2020, employing semistructured interviews conducted via telephone. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was utilized to analyze the collected data by two independent researchers. This report follows the COREQ checklist. Results: Frontline nurses supporting Wuhan likened their experience to being on a battlefield. Four superordinate themes emerged: (1) mobilization for combating COVID-19; (2) rapid adaption to a dynamic high-stress environment; (3) navigating psychological distress; and (4) the journey home. Conclusion: This study offers comprehensive insights into the lived experience of nurses deployed from other provinces to assist COVID patients in Wuhan. The findings indicate that despite facing a variety of challenges, these frontline nurses were capable of rapid adaptation and successfully fulfilled their roles. Recommendations for future preparedness in public health emergencies are provided. Additionally, follow-up research is warranted to explore the long-term effects of frontline experience on the mental health of the nurses and their family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the risk spillover effects between the global crude oil market and the biofuel ethanol and corn markets in China, employing a DCC-GARCH-Copula-CoVaR model and basing the weekly price data from 2012 to 2021. The empirical results revealed that there were dynamic conditional correlations among international crude oil, China's biofuel ethanol, and corn markets. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the CoVaR and ΔCoVaR changed, which caused a sharp increase in the mean values and volatility. Additionally, China's biofuel ethanol market is more vulnerable to the risk spillovers from the international crude oil market than China's corn market. However, China's markets do not appear to have obvious risk spillover effects on the global market. The implications of the results are discussed in financial market supervision, including the risk management and portfolio adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using network analysis, the current study investigated the pathways that underlie selected components of sleep health and their changes over time. Undergraduates (N = 1423; 80.60% female) completed a two-wave survey, sleep health (i.e. chronotypologies (CTs), sleep procrastination (SP), sleep quality (SQ)), psychological distress (PD), emotion regulation (ER), self-control (SC), problematic smartphone use (PSU) were measured. CTs, SP, and SQ formed a spatially contiguous pattern that remained unchanged in both waves. ER and PD node increased its strength, betweenness, and closeness in the network, while the link between the two was strengthened at T2. PSU was connected to SP, but not to CTs and SQ during both waves. In the context of the network approach, SP had the highest strength, and its associations with other dimensions of individual sleep may represent key factors in understanding the influence of exposure to the COVID-19 outbreak on sleep health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments often disclose pandemic-related information to reduce public mobility behavior during the initial outbreak stage of a pandemic like COVID-19. Previous studies have examined the effects of whether to disclose relevant information on public behavior but neglected the effects of information content. Based on the disclosed personal information of COVID-19 confirmed cases from 316 cities in China, we find that disclosing demographic information of confirmed cases does not affect public mobility, whereas disclosing their infection traceability information increases public mobility and trajectory range information decreases public mobility. We also find a U-shaped effect of information diversity on public mobility behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As global crises such as COVID-19 become more frequent, many projects, which can be called blitz projects, will need to be completed extremely quickly in response. However, there remains a lack of theoretical support for their implementation as well as systematic strategies for managing their schedules. This article examines the responses to COVID-19 by three specialty field hospitals in China. Through reviews and cross-analysis of the influential factors and practices, and their effects on extreme schedule management, this article proposes a systematic strategic framework including the elements of mission, solution and innovation, organization and culture, communication, resources, dynamics, and adaptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several recent destination crises have brought difficult challenges to the world's travel, hospitality, and tourism activities. We explore how the brand image of a tourist destination is influenced by health crises, specifically within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted interviews and online data collection in China. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to develop, purify, and verify scale items that measure perceived destination brand image, destination brand self-congruence, destination brand engagement, destination brand love, and perceived risk of destination health crisis. We identified key associations among the constructs of the study. This study offers a tested and validated destination brand image and tourist behavior (DBITB) scale to understand tourist behavior toward destination brands during and after health crises. Important theoretical and practical implications are discussed to inform future research on destination branding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered consumer behavior. The significant influence of COVID-19 pandemic on consumption has been documented in an increasing amount of literature; however, limited focus has been placed on how consumer spending decisions differ depending on whether they employ contactless or contact payment methods under COVID-19 and normal conditions. The results of this study, which used a laboratory experiment carried out in the northern part of China, demonstrate that: (1) consumers' intentions to spend more money when using contactless payments than when they use contact payments; (2) disgust and negative contamination act as mediating factors on the relationship between the degree of contact and consumer spending intention; and (3) COVID-19 moderates this mediating effect. This study concludes by discussing its theoretical contributions and managerial implications, alongside limitations and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, China provided medical assistance on an unprecedented scale. While some observers have underscored the strategic purposes of China's COVID-19 aid, referred to as "mask diplomacy," they have yet to assess this argument against empirical evidence. We seek to examine whether China's medical aid was used as a strategic tool, or it remained reactionary and fragmented, by combining a new dataset on the global distribution of Chinese in-kind medical aid with a qualitative analysis of government and news reports during the first wave of the pandemic. Our findings show that although COVID-19 aid did have the potential to strengthen China's influence over recipients and promote Chinese knowledge of health governance, Chinese policymakers were underprepared to use aid strategically during the pandemic. The reactionary and fragmented nature of China's COVID-19 aid was reflected in its allocation, its policy-making processes, and its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, China has been the leading exporter and donor of COVID-19 vaccines in the world. Based on a survey of 460 Chinese participants conducted in mainland China in March 2021, the results showed that the participants' value-expressive attitudes (i.e. their responsibility to help) and esteem attitudes (i.e. China's image and status) were strong predictors of their support for vaccine exports and donations, whereas attitudes related to prevention and a possible vaccine shortage in China were weak predictors. Fairness and ingroup loyalty were the major moral foundations of their support for such international efforts; the influence of fairness and ingroup loyalty was both direct and mediated by value-expressive and esteem attitudes. Collectively, the present results show that support for international efforts can be analysed from a moral, altruistic perspective and thus extend the previous theorising that focused on the transactional nature of international outreach efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide school closures and remote learning have been implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures' impact on young populations' academic achievements is unclear. This study (N = 1,736, ages 14–20 years, 53% female, and Chinese) analyzed academic examination scores for students at a high school in Eastern China between January and July 2020. Results showed that overall, students' academic achievements appeared to be negatively affected amid a school closure. More importantly, students' self-control was introduced as a moderating factor that partially accounted for this difference in the context of remote learning at home. These findings extended our understanding of school closures' unequal impact on young populations. Education and social policies should respond to these challenges during times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the Health Code (Chinese: 健康码), a digital contact tracing application used in Mainland China during the COVID-19 pandemic, and examines the process and impact of its entry into users' lives and gradual infrastructuralisation within the field of internet infrastructure research. Results show that techno-nationalism was the basis for the inception, implementation, and development of the Health Code. Furthermore, the Health Code has gradually transformed from an early digital health credential into a type of 'access infrastructure' by linking physical, information, and communication infrastructure. As access infrastructure, the relationship between the Health Code and users was a tense one, with users actively engaging in 'micro-help' on social media platforms and performing 'soft-resistance' on psychological and operational levels. Concurrently, the Health Code was embedded into users' usage habits and social culture, becoming a shared memory and potential digital infrastructure for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify whether thymosin-α-1 (Tα1) is effective in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to determine a suitable population for Tα1 treatment. Methods: We included studies with ≥10 cases and adults (aged ≥18 years) with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, data on mortality or length of hospitalization, disease severity, and study location, while excluded pregnant and breastfeeding women and minors. Publications were searched from November 1, 2019, to July 5, 2023, in six databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, and Wanfang Database. We separately utilized Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and Cochrane handbook methodology to evaluate risk of bias and used Review Manager (version 5.4, Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark) to present and synthesize results. Relative risks (RR) and Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were analyzed for dichotomous variables and continuous variables, respectively. Results: Nine studies (participants = 5417) were included. No significant differences were found in mortality (nine studies; n = 5417; RR = 0.95; 95% CI: 0.56, −1.60; p =.84; I2 = 90%) or length of hospitalization (four studies; n = 3688; SMD = 0.16; 95% CI: −0.38, −0.69; p =.57; I2 = 96%) between patients with COVID-19 who did and did not receive Tα1. Participants were divided by the severity of the disease (serious and non-serious) and study location. Among the serious group, the incidence of death among patients who received Tα1 treatment was 0.67 times that of patients who did not receive Tα1 treatment (four studies; n = 1230; RR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.58, −0.77; p <.00,001; I2 = 0%). There was no significant difference in length of hospitalization between the groups (two studies; n = 410; SMD = 0.66; 95% CI: −0.06, −1.38; p =.07; I2 = 87%). Among the non-serious group, compared to not having Tα1 treatment, receiving Tα1 treatment reduced hospitalization length (two studies; n = 3670; SMD = −0.28; 95% CI: −0.41, −0.14; p <.0001; I2 = 51%), while no significant difference in mortality (three studies; n = 3775; RR = 1.06; 95% CI: 0.22, −5.03; p =.94; I2 = 89%). Moreover, there was no significant difference between subgroups when divided by study locations (Studies within China: seven studies; n = 5263; RR = 1.14; 95% CI: 0.64, −2.04; p =.65; I2=92%; Studies outside of China: two studies; n = 154; RR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.14, −1.24; p =.11; I2 = 51%). Discussion: For patients with serious types of COVID-19, Tα1 significantly decreased mortality, which supports the utilization of Tα1 in patients with severe and critical types of COVID-19. Moreover, regarding hospitalization length, patients with non-serious COVID-19 who used Tα1 reduced their hospitalization length compared to those that did not use Tα1. However, these results have high heterogeneity and limited generalizability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examined the relationship between ideology and conspiratorial thinking and the related mediating effect of ingroup favoritism in a non-Western society. We investigated patriotism and nationalism as two favorable orientations toward national ingroups. We also examined their relationship with the general conspiracy mentality and the specific conspiracy beliefs that have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed that conservative ideology was associated with conspiratorial beliefs in China regardless of the specific conspiracy theories related to ingroups or outgroups, which indicates such tendencies may exist universally across cultures. Patriotism was not associated with conspiracy theories about the origin of COVID-19, whereas nationalism was negatively associated with the conspiracy theories about China (an ingroup) and positively associated with conspiracy theories about the US (an outgroup). Moreover, nationalism mediated the relationship between ideology and specific conspiracy beliefs during the pandemic. The general conspiracy mentality did not predict conspiracy theories about the origin of COVID-19. The results indicate that believing conspiracy theories is not only the result of a stable conspiracy mentality but is also influenced by ideology and intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to gain insights into the prevailing public sentiment during the policy relaxation period by examining whether the post-COVID-19 landscape reflects signs of withering or booming conditions. Employing methods from natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML), the analysis reveals a predominance of positive sentiment from December 7, 2022 to May 17, 2023, indicative of an optimistic perspective and a potentially flourishing environment. A predictive model based on logistic regression emerges as a notably effective tool for sentiment prediction, suggesting potential utility in predicting future public health crises. A comparison of sentiments in translations by the government aligns with previous research, revealing a less favorable depiction of translated texts compared to the source texts. Furthermore, the commonality index, a measure of group consensus value, surpasses the typical range, while the certainty index, a measure of confidence, slightly falls below the norm. These findings offer valuable insights for policy considerations while highlighting areas for international communication and understanding improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic changed behaviors, at least temporarily, and possibly more permanently, with implications for both work and leisure activities. Some of those behavioral changes, such as dining in restaurants, have significant ripple effects on businesses and employment. We investigate the response to health risks in China with a study of decisions about eating out during the pandemic. We find that compared to a traditional measure of financial risk attitude, dining out behavior better captures individuals' attitude toward the health risk posed by the pandemic and is more significant in predicting their expected total consumption during the recovery phase of the pandemic. In addition, we find that the effect of domestic in-migration is positive with respect to dining out, a signifier of confidence in the government response to the safety of internal flows. In contrast, international migration and port city of entry status are strongly negative with respect to dining out. The risk from the virus is perceived to be much stronger in such contexts. From a policy perspective establishing border controls was critical in re-creating a robust economy. Additional city and household level characteristics that affect dining-out behavior are also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, international relations (IR) literature on the pandemic's implication on global politics has generally increased, while studies on small businesses and human developmental consequences in the developing world have lagged. In this context, through a micro-level analysis, this article investigates the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic affects the economically bottom-class citizens and their businesses, focusing on small-scale vendors in Ghana. It utilises content analysis to examine 384 small-scale vendors in four cities/towns (Accra, Tema, Sunyani, Ho) in Ghana between August and October 2021. We show that the pandemic has negatively affected economic life and ordinary living conditions by increasing poverty among economically bottom-class citizens, likely to have dire long-term consequences nationally. Further, we contend that the small-scale vendors and entrepreneurs recognise leveraging the increasing Chinese global economic influence. Thus, China provides an exit point through which the people can navigate themselves out of the COVID-19 predicaments. Our study is novel for its first-level—individual—analysis of the impact of COVID-19 in the Ghanaian market space from an IR perspective. It also provides policy relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify whether thymosin-α-1 (Tα1) is effective in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to determine a suitable population for Tα1 treatment. Methods: We included studies with ≥10 cases and adults (aged ≥18 years) with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, data on mortality or length of hospitalization, disease severity, and study location, while excluded pregnant and breastfeeding women and minors. Publications were searched from November 1, 2019, to July 5, 2023, in six databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, and Wanfang Database. We separately utilized Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and Cochrane handbook methodology to evaluate risk of bias and used Review Manager (version 5.4, Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark) to present and synthesize results. Relative risks (RR) and Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were analyzed for dichotomous variables and continuous variables, respectively. Results: Nine studies (participants = 5417) were included. No significant differences were found in mortality (nine studies; n = 5417; RR = 0.95; 95% CI: 0.56, -1.60; p = .84; I² = 90%) or length of hospitalization (four studies; n = 3688; SMD = 0.16; 95% CI: -0.38, -0.69; p = .57; I² = 96%) between patients with COVID-19 who did and did not receive Tα1. Participants were divided by the severity of the disease (serious and non-serious) and study location. Among the serious group, the incidence of death among patients who received Tα1 treatment was 0.67 times that of patients who did not receive Tα1 treatment (four studies; n = 1230; RR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.58, -0.77; p < .00,001; I² = 0%). There was no significant difference in length of hospitalization between the groups (two studies; n = 410; SMD = 0.66; 95% CI: -0.06, -1.38; p = .07; I2 = 87%). Among the non-serious group, compared to not having Tα1 treatment, receiving Tα1 treatment reduced hospitalization length (two studies; n = 3670; SMD = -0.28; 95% CI: -0.41, -0.14; p < .0001; I² = 51%), while no significant difference in mortality (three studies; n = 3775; RR = 1.06; 95% CI: 0.22, -5.03; p = .94; I² = 89%). Moreover, there was no significant difference between subgroups when divided by study locations (Studies within China: seven studies; n = 5263; RR = 1.14; 95% CI: 0.64, -2.04; p = .65; I²=92%; Studies outside of China: two studies; n = 154; RR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.14, -1.24; p = .11; I² = 51%). Discussion: For patients with serious types of COVID-19, Tα1 significantly decreased mortality, which supports the utilization of Tα1 in patients with severe and critical types of COVID-19. Moreover, regarding hospitalization length, patients with non-serious COVID-19 who used Tα1 reduced their hospitalization length compared to those that did not use Tα1. However, these results have high heterogeneity and limited generalizability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's growing involvement in Central Asia economically, culturally, politically and even militarily has been a contentious topic for people from the region. While some view China's involvement as offering Central Asian countries an opportunity for advancement, others view it in more negative ways, with China having tremendous influence in the affairs of their country. In this article, we present our findings from a survey that we conducted at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Our questions elicited responses that focus on perceptions of trade with China and China's actions regarding COVID-19, which are both polarizing issues in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study scrutinized the behavioral adoption of informational e-government services among Chinese citizens in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. A structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was applied for the data analysis using Smart PLS 3.0 statistical software. The results show that information quality, information credibility, and ease of COVID-19 informational e-government services are significant in determining citizens' perception of the usefulness of COVID-19 information shared on e-government platforms. Also, the study revealed that the perceived usefulness of COVID-19 informational e-government services was significant in predicting citizens' intention to adopt and recommend COVID-19 informational e-government services. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are interrogated further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blaming the emergence and spread of COVID-19 on various social groups has been a central theme in narrating the pandemic. In such narratives, China has often emerged as a convenient scapegoat. However, systematic research into transcultural and culture-specific strategies of stigmatisation in the context of the corona pandemic is still scarce. With the help of a cultural studies perspective and multimodal analysis, we contribute to this effort by tracing the blame allocation strategies of the online platforms of three Western European newspapers – Daily Mail (the United Kingdom), Bild (Germany) and Neue Kronen Zeitung (Austria). We argue that, in their early accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic, all three newspapers perpetuated narratives of the pandemic outbreak that were then skilfully choreographed to support narratives of invasion that register anxieties over China's potential rise to world dominance. While the strategies the venues apply show striking similarities, occasional differences account for the respective countries' differing relations with and attitudes to China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conspiracy Theories (CTs) are a global phenomenon, but some societies are better equipped than others to resist them. This article discusses the characteristics of the China-related COVID-19 CTs in the Brazilian Facebook, based on 28,312 posts published from January 2020 to June 2021. We argue that, in Brazil, the spread of CTs was facilitated by a widespread political and knowledge institutions' legitimacy crisis. The rise of the extremist politician Jair Bolsonaro to the Presidency provides evidence in this regard. In consequence, the boundaries between fringe and mainstream politics become porous. This article discusses which agents disseminate China-related COVID-19 CTs, and which topics receive more attention. We found a significant presence of actors belonging to mainstream politics and the media among the CTs' main disseminators. Additionally, the CTs circulating in the Brazilian social media environment reproduce concerns about China's growing presence in the global arena, which originate elsewhere. Still, they add a specific emphasis on the Communist threat. We sustain that this emphasis relates as much to Brazil's internal politics as to China itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has witnessed the flourish of various conspiracy theories globally, where governmental authorities have often played an essential role in spreading and promoting such misleading information. This study examines the authority-led conspiracy theories in China by analysing 44,068 conspiracy theory relevant Weibo posts. The sample was collected by 46 sets of keywords representing popular conspiracy theories circulating online in the pandemic. Through structural topic modelling and textual analysis, we revealed the thematic features and rhetorical strategies of authority-led conspiracy posts. Authorities were found to employ conspiratorial narrative as a regular tactic in the political discourse, and often phrased them in a connotative manner with specific rhetorical strategies. And non-authority users would often elaborate relevant topics endorsed by authorities to apparent conspiracy theories. This study enriches our understanding of authority's role in spreading conspiracy theories during uncertain times in authoritarian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese citizens are relatively happy with the state's management of national disasters and emergencies. However, they are increasingly concluding that the state alone cannot manage them. Leveraging the 2018 and 2020 Civic Participation in China Surveys, we find that more educated citizens conclude that the government has a leading role in crisis management, but there is ample room for civil society organisations (CSOs) to act in a complementary fashion. On a slightly diverging path, volunteers who have meaningfully interacted with CSOs are more skeptical than non-volunteers about CSOs' organisational ability to fulfill this crisis management function. These findings imply that the political legitimacy of the Communist Party of China is not challenged by allowing CSOs a greater role in crisis management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As states increasingly use algorithms to improve the legibility of society, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is common for concerns about the expanding power of the algorithm or the state to be raised in a deterministic manner. However, how are the algorithms for states' legibility projects enacted, contested, and reconfigured? Drawing on interviews and media data, this study fills this gap by examining Health Code (jiankangma), the Chinese contact tracing and risk assessment algorithmic system that serves as the COVID-19 health passport. I first explore the intensive and invisible work and infrastructures that enact and stabilize Health Code's sociotechnical assemblage. I then show how this assemblage is frequently challenged and destabilized by errors, breakdowns, and exclusions. Facing unintended engagements from heterogeneous social actors, local interests, and power hierarchies, Health Code reassembles into multiple and contradictory assemblages at different periods and social localities. Finally, I examine how people game and bypass the algorithm's surveillance with their agencies. Recognizing this messiness and heterogeneity contributes to a more nuanced and realistic understanding of states' use of algorithms, including the risks. Doing so also urges us to rethink the politics of citizenship and inequality in the digital age beyond inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, like other disasters or crises, can immensely influence visitors' demand to visit affected destinations. The current study helps us better understand how this health crisis could affect the demand change from a micro-level perspective of small-scale tourist destinations. Based on the web search data from the Baidu Index, the present study adopts the Emeishan National Park in China as the study area and employs multiple methods to assess the spatial-temporal disparities in the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 on domestic tourism demand. The main findings reveal that the demand changes during the observation period resemble a U-shaped curve along with the outbreak, spread, and control of the crisis, and such impacts exhibit different characteristics in the pre-event, prodromal, emergency, intermediate, and long-term recovery stages. During and after the pandemic, the short-distance market is the most vulnerable, but it presents the strongest resilience, while the medium- and long-distance markets are relatively less affected. Significant stratified heterogeneity in the tourism demand of domestic source markets also emerges before and after the crisis. Finally, some implications of promoting domestic tourism recovery in the post-pandemic era are discussed, and recommendations are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purposes: Dementia-friendly initiatives (DFI) are community-based movements aimed to address stigma, exclusion, and discrimination associated with dementia. This study examined the challenges faced and strategies used by DFI prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of stakeholders in the USA and China. Methods: Qualitative interviews with 17 stakeholders involved in DFI from the United States and mainland China were conducted via the Zoom platform. Semi-structured interview questions focused on DFI challenges and strategies prior to and during the pandemic. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Three major challenges prior to the COVID-19 pandemic included low participation of persons with dementia, difficulties in building community collaborations, and limited funding and resources needed to sustain DFI. During the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges included exacerbated difficulties of involving persons with dementia and reduced policy support for DFI. Strategies implemented prior to COVID-19 included partnerships with community organizations to outreach and engage persons with dementia, and coordination of resources and diversification of funding sources to sustain DFI. Strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic centered on the implementation of person-centered technology to support persons with dementia and family caregivers, and the development of new programs that integrated efforts to address the impact of COVID-19. Implications: DFI in the USA and mainland China shared similar challenges for DFI prior to and during COVID-19. During the COVID-19 pandemic, DFI in both countries showed resourcefulness through reliance on technology, community collaboration, and COVID-19–related resources to provide support and services. While it remains critical to advocate to the central government to fund DFI, DFI in both societies need to be open to other funding sources, hire persons with dementia as key staff members of DFI, and demonstrate its effectiveness through rigorous evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cynomolgus macaques, the most commonly utilized nonhuman primate in nonclinical toxicology studies, are acquired from purpose-bred colonies across various geographic locations, including China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Importation challenges and limited availability have restricted animals suitable for inclusion in nonclinical studies. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak further stressed supply chains, reducing the ability to source animals from a singular location to complete a drug development program. These challenges raised concerns of increased variability in study endpoints due to heterogeneity of animals and that this could subsequently impact historical control data and toxicology study interpretation. To investigate the impact of Chinese, Vietnamese, or Cambodian geographic origin on standard nonclinical toxicology study endpoints, historical control data from studies conducted at a single facility from 2005 to 2020 were compiled and evaluated for the following: clinical observations, body weight, ophthalmoscopic examinations, and clinical and anatomic pathology data. Study populations consisted of 2- to 5-year-old cynomolgus macaques sourced from China (n = 750 males/741 females), Cambodia (n = 282 males/271 females), and Vietnam (n = 122 males/120 females). Interpretation of the various data demonstrated no notable differences in standard toxicology study endpoints or background findings among cynomolgus macaques originating from China, Cambodia, or Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the temporal variations in calls for service before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in China using a sample of 37,124 police service calls made from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020 to a 110 command center in a county-level city in Hubei Province. There was a significant temporal effect, and the calls for service peaked between 08:00 and 19:59 throughout the entire period. The busiest hours of the day for calls for police service were between 12:00 and 19:59, and the calls peaked between 12:00 and 15:59 during the lockdown. The distribution of calls by weekday showed no significant pattern, with the exception of traffic-related calls. The results are discussed from the perspective of routine activity theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global pandemic of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) necessitated the rapid construction of field hospitals as the main strategies to control the detrimental effects of the outbreak. Little is known about the extent of the environmental contamination of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in an urgently field hospital. A total of 66 surface samples were randomly collected from a general isolation ward and an ICU (intensive care unit) at a rapidly built field hospital (Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital) in Wuhan, China, from 12 March to 17 March 2020. The samples were used for SARS-CoV-2 detection and ATP (adenosine triphosphate) monitoring. Among these samples, 3.03% tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The nurses' hands and nurse station in the ICU were weakly positive (CT value = 38.79; CT value = 37.56) and the ATP value of these two sites was higher than the mean value of all samples (ATP = 817; ATP = 577). The environmental cleaning and disinfection normalization bundle measures in Leishenshan hospital included air disinfection, object surface cleaning and disinfection, instrument equipment surface disinfection and hand hygiene, etc. These have been tested and were shown to be reliable and useful. Our experience can provide a useful reference in the fight against the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linking local COVID-19 and population statistics to a U.S.-based survey we recently conducted, we examine the spatial variation in the impact of COVID-19 on Americans' attitudes toward China. The research strategy capitalizes on differential local COVID-19 incidence rates as varying dosages of COVID-19 impact across local contexts in the United States. Our results reveal negative yet heterogeneous effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on Americans' attitudes toward China. We find that greater local exposure to COVID-19 is associated with a lower level of trust in Chinese and a less favorable attitude toward China. These findings lend consistent support to behavioral immune system theory by bridging the literature on contextual variations in public attitudes, with broader implications for U.S.-China relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has profound negative effects on the mental health of clinically stable older patients with psychiatric disorders. This study examined the influential nodes of psychiatric problems and their associations in this population using network analysis.Methods: Clinically stable older patients with psychiatric disorders were consecutively recruited from four major psychiatric hospitals in China from May 22 to July 15, 2020. Depressive and anxiety syndromes (depression and anxiety hereafter), insomnia, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), pain, and fatigue were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire, General Anxiety Disorder, Insomnia Severity Index, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist - Civilian Version, and Numeric Rating Scales for pain and fatigue, respectively.Results: A total of 1063 participants were included. The network analysis revealed that depression was the most influential node followed by anxiety as indicated by the centrality index of strength. In contrast, the edge connecting depression and anxiety was the strongest edge, followed by the edge connecting depression and insomnia, and the edge connecting depression and fatigue as indicated by edge-weights. The network structure was invariant by gender based on the network structure invariance test (M = .14, P = .20) and global strength invariance tests (S = .08, P = .30).Conclusions: Attention should be paid to depression and its associations with anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue in the screening and treatment of mental health problems in clinically stable older psychiatric patients affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Estimating the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among older adults with different health conditions can inform mental health services for this population during the corona virus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Method: A search of 12 scientific databases identified 17 studies with 11,237 Chinese older adults who were infected by COVID-19, were generally healthy, or had chronic illnesses. Meta-analysis was used to estimate the overall prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in these three groups. Assessment criteria, region, and time phase of the pandemic were tested as sources of heterogeneity. Results: With an average risk of bias score of 6.71 (range = 6–8), the majority of included studies employed appropriate statistical methods, used validated measurement tools, and had adequate response rates; however, they might have deficiencies in sample frame, sampling method, and sample size. Within the COVID-19, general, and chronic illness groups, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 27%, 26%, and 61%, respectively, and the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 14%, 23%, and 85%, respectively. Among generally healthy older adults, anxiety was more prevalent during the Phase 2 (March–April 2020) of the pandemic compared with other time phases. Conclusions: The results have implications for addressing the mental health problems of Chinese older adults, especially those with chronic illnesses, during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid the eruption of the COVID-19 outbreak in February 2020, the Chinese Communist Party Youth League promoted VTubers on Weibo to diffuse positive energy. However, the female VTuber Jiangshanjiao was appropriated immediately as political satire by netizens to air public grievances. While political satire is widely considered as political resistance in authoritarian states, little research has addressed its combination with feminist narratives and online activism. This article builds on previous literature on the propagandistic nature of positive energy and the Chinese feminist movement to consider how positive energy lying under Jiangshanjiao was deconstructed and how femininity was invoked to serve for broader political purposes in a repressive online environment. Drawing on the framework of online connective action and political satire as a networked practice, this research sheds light on the hashtag #JiangshanjiaoDoYouGetYourPeriod#. This research explores how the satirical hashtag was collectively produced in an Internet trolling culture and contributed to building a collective identity through personalized narratives. Through the feminist hashtag, netizens expressed their multilayered grievances against misogyny, state propaganda, and censorship. However, this article also offers evidence that the satirical hashtag and ambiguity associated with it limited the influence in catalyzing online and offline changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a significant impact on researchers as the normal and expected difficulties of research are exacerbated as education and our way of life has drastically changed. This research note is a reflective narrative of the author's experience transitioning from face-to-face to online interviews in light of social distancing and global travel restrictions. Through a descriptive analysis, this article details the numerous ethical, logistical, practical, and cultural issues the author confronted in preparation for qualitative cross-cultural online interview research through personal reflections, current events, and existing literature. The aim of this article is to highlight personal experience to better inform future research and encourage flexibility and reflexivity in research. It is hoped that this article can be of use to further develop cross-cultural qualitative methodology and expand upon the emerging field of literature surrounding videoconferencing qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we analyze the rise of data visualization in social and political contexts. Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, we consider a case in Shenzhen, China, and demonstrate the impact of visualization as intermediation for data on policies and society. We propose an epistemology of visualization as infrastructure. In China, visualization has been developed as a technological system to support information dissemination and collective action in public crises. Three characteristics are proposed to describe China's data visualization politics during the pandemic, in particular, to summarize the power relationships between visual brokers, policymakers, and public users in data visualization. Further, based on the conceptualization of the links between visualization, infrastructure, and data politics, visualization serves as an important component of information infrastructure, and is an easily overlooked technical process. The creation and use of data may seem like normalized actions, but data visualization in fact supports the perception, participation, proposal, and critique of data politics issues. Via a focus group discussion with members of the Shenzhen public health sector and in-depth interviews with Shenzhen residents, we developed a qualitative effectiveness measurement framework highlighting the potential for the involvement of visualization in politics and activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious diseases, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, pose a significant threat to public health globally. Fatality rate serves as a key indicator for the effectiveness of potential treatments or interventions. With limited time and understanding of novel emerging epidemics, comparisons of the fatality rates in real-time among different groups, say, divided by treatment, age, or area, have an important role to play in informing public health strategies. We propose a statistical test for the null hypothesis of equal real-time fatality rates across multiple groups during an ongoing epidemic. An elegant property of the proposed test statistic is that it converges to a Brownian motion under the null hypothesis, which allows one to develop a sequential testing approach for rejecting the null hypothesis at the earliest possible time when statistical evidence accumulates. This property is particularly important as scientists and clinicians are competing with time to identify possible treatments or effective interventions to combat the emerging epidemic. The method is widely applicable as it only requires the cumulative number of confirmed cases, deaths, and recoveries. A large-scale simulation study shows that the finite-sample performance of the proposed test is highly satisfactory. The proposed test is applied to compare the difference in disease severity among Wuhan, Hubei province (exclude Wuhan) and mainland China (exclude Hubei) from February to March 2020. The result suggests that the disease severity is potentially associated with the health care resource availability during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has exerted a tremendous impact on the psyche of people around the world, especially adolescents. In order to provide a valuable theoretical basis for effective measures to prevent psychological problems in adolescents during public health emergencies in the future, this study examined the mediating effect of coping style (CS, including positive coping style (PCS) and negative coping style (NCS)) and the moderating effect of emotional management ability (EMA) on the relationship between the psychological stress response (PSR) and aggression (AGG) in adolescents during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. The Buss–Warren Aggression Questionnaire, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, and Emotion Management Questionnaire were employed to investigate the mental health of Chinese adolescents from April 10–20 (Time point 1, T1) and May 20–30 (Time point 2, T2), 2020. A total of 1,931 adolescents (aged 10–25 years, M  = 19.18 years, 51.4% male) were examined at T1 and 334 adolescents (aged 11–25 years, M  = 19.97 years, 48.7% male) were reinvestigated at T2. Overall, 17.6% of the participants at T1 and 16.8% at T2 reported obvious PSR activation. NCS partly mediated the relationship between the PSR and AGG, and the indirect effect was moderated by EMA reported at T2. There were regional differences in the moderated mediation model in low-risk areas at T1. The moderated effects of EMA at T1 and T2 were opposite. Specifically, high EMA resulted in a stronger relationship between NCS and AGG at T1, whereas high EMA resulted in a weaker relationship between NCS and AGG at T2. Psychological reactions resulting from sudden public health events may trigger AGG in younger individuals. However, EMA may have a buffering effect on the onset of AGG. This research expands our understanding of the development of AGG in adolescents during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public–private collaborations have the potential to effectively respond to extreme events. However, traditional public–private collaborations that are usually led by governmental actors often encounter significant difficulties in a crisis. Based on a case study of a public–private collaboration dealing with COVID-19 in China, we explore how a private actor emerges as a leader to initiate and manage a public–private collaboration in the crisis, and how stakeholders in this collaboration work together to effectively handle the crisis. The findings indicate critical characteristics and contingencies when a private actor leads the cross-sector collaboration to effectively cope with uncertainties and deliver public services in crisis time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]