Search

During and after the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the use of personal care products and disinfectants increased in universities worldwide. Among these, quaternary ammonium-based products stand out; these compounds and their intermediates caused substantial changes in the chemical composition of the wastewater produced by these institutions. For this reason, improvements and environmentally sustainable biological alternatives were introduced in the existing treatment systems so that these institutions could continue their research and teaching activities. For this reason, the objective of this study was to develop an improved culture medium to cultivate ammonium oxidising bacteria (AOB) to increase the biomass and use them in the treatment of wastewater produced in a faculty of sciences in Bogotá, D.C., Colombia. A Plackett Burman Experimental Design (PBED) and growth curves served for oligotrophic culture medium, and production conditions improved for the AOB. Finally, these bacteria were used with total heterotrophic bacteria (THB) for wastewater treatment in a pilot plant. Modification of base ammonium broth and culture conditions (6607 mg L−1 of (NH4)2SO4, 84 mg L−1 CaCO3, 40 mg L−1 MgSO4·7H2O, 40 mg L−1 CaCl2·2H2O and 200 mg L−1 KH2PO4, 10% (w/v) inoculum, no copper addition, pH 7.0 ± 0.2, 200 r.p.m., 30 days) favoured the growth of Nitrosomonas europea, Nitrosococcus oceani, and Nitrosospira multiformis with values of 8.23 ± 1.9, 7.56 ± 0.7 and 4.2 ± 0.4 Log10 CFU mL−1, respectively. NO2− production was 0.396 ± 0.0264, 0.247 ± 0.013 and 0.185 ± 0.003 mg L−1 for Nitrosomonas europea, Nitrosococcus oceani and Nitrosospira multiformis. After the 5-day wastewater treatment (WW) by co-inoculating the three studied bacteria in the wastewater (with their self-microorganisms), the concentrations of AOB and THB were 5.92 and 9.3 Log10 CFU mL−1, respectively. These values were related to the oxidative decrease of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), (39.5 mg L−1), Ammonium ion (NH4+), (6.5 mg L−1) Nitrite (NO2−), (2.0 mg L−1) and Nitrate (NO3−), (1.5 mg L−1), respectively in the five days of treatment. It was concluded, with the improvement of a culture medium and production conditions for three AOB through biotechnological strategies at the laboratory scale, being a promising alternative to bio-augment of the biomass of the studied bacteria under controlled conditions that allow the aerobic removal of COD and nitrogen cycle intermediates present in the studied wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adjustments to COVID-19 prevention and control strategies were closely linked to individuals and elicited psychological and behavioral responses within the public. To investigate public emotions in Shijiazhuang from November 13 to November 23, 2022, we utilized web crawler technology, Ekman's six basic emotion model, and the fine-tuned BERT deep learning model for sentiment analysis on Weibo, China's largest social media platform. The results indicated that: (i) spatially, the adjustment of the epidemic prevention strategy, despite its significance as a major public event, did not produce a significant emotional ripple effect; (ii) temporally, public emotions displayed substantial fluctuations as the event unfolded, marked by swift reaction times, demonstrating a typical temporal pattern; (iii) when comparing trends in the six emotion indices, a consistent pattern of public emotional expression on social media emerged. The deep learning BERT technology utilized in this study achieved an emotion recognition accuracy rate of 88.50% when applied to a large dataset of social media text. This study provides theoretical foundations and novel insights for conducting sentiment analysis of significant public events through the analysis of social media data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions to minimize transmission of the virus affected the population worldwide. As a result of prolonged home confinement in Greece, changes in work schedules, disruptions of the educational process, the challenge of online learning, the constant need for self-protection, and the restrictions on social interaction, the family life was dramatically altered. In this study, sleep patterns of preschool children were recorded, and effects of screen time and diet were investigated in relation to quarantine due to COVID-19. Parents of 146 children provided data on their children's night-time sleep habits, dietary habits, and screen time exposure. Children's sleep problems were measured with the Children's Sleep Questionnaire. Descriptive and qualitative analyses showed that most parents (54.1%) reported that children's sleep habits changed during the imposed home confinement. Children with more sleep problems were more likely to have increased screen exposure. The present study provides evidence on the negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the sleep behavior of Greek preschoolers. Focused action is needed to safeguard and promote preschoolers' physical and mental health during the lockdown and the recovery period. Highlights: Preschoolers' sleep behavior has been highly influenced by the imposed lockdowns Prolonged screen exposure is associated with increased sleep difficulties Reasons for screen exposure were mainly related to education, entertainment, communication, familiarity with technology, and gaming [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic, which entered the world agenda in 2019 and affected the whole world, on the corporate sustainability of businesses. The mediating effect of sustainable supply on this effect and the regulatory effect of environmental performance were investigated. The research was conducted among 235 businesses operating in Turkey. The data obtained using the survey method were analyzed in SPSS and AMOS analysis programs. As a result of the analyses obtained, it was determined that the COVID-19 epidemic significantly affected the corporate sustainability of the enterprises and that the environmental performance of the enterprises was a regulatory effect, together with the mediation of sustainable supply. It is understood day by day that COVID-19 negatively affects the economies of the countries. However, despite these negative effects; It is expected that the results of this research will contribute to the literature with a significant effect on the institutional sustainability of the COVID-19 epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has been the first country to be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic resulted in significant disruption of Health Care Services worldwide, and this effect on treatments for urinary stones is currently unclear. This is the first retrospective study involving three tertiary referral centers for urolithiasis across China. We evaluated surgical volumes and peri-operative outcomes of procedures delivered for upper urinary tract stones. We compared trimester prior to restrictions for COVID-19 (October 1st, 2019 to December 31st, 2019, period A), during restrictions (February 1st, 2020 to March 31st, 2020, period B), and afterword (April 1st, 2020 to June 31st, 2020, period C). A total of 2,543 procedures have been carried out. We observed a loss of 743 cases during period B (−29.2%) and 201 during period C (−7.9%). Percutaneous surgery showed the worst reduction, with 507 mini-PCNLs delivered in period A, 168 in period B (−60.8%), and 389 (−18.3%) in period C (p = 0.001). A worst trend was shown for standard PCNLs with 84 procedures carried out in period A, 5 in period B (−95.2%), and 9 (−89.2%) in period C (p = 0.001). Retrograde surgery also decreased, from 420 cases in period A to 190 cases in period B (−54.8%). An increment was however seen in period C when 468 cases have been carried out (+ 11.4%, p = 0.008). In term of SFRs, a difference was noticed for RIRSs, being 69.2%, 80.5%, and 69.3% during three periods (p = 0.045) and semirigid ureteroscopies (90.3%, 97.1%, and 84.8%, p = 0.013). Charlson's Comorbidity Score could not show any difference between groups as well as no differences in term of post-operative complications have been noticed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2019, the world has been experiencing an outbreak of a novel beta-coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2. The worldwide spread of this virus has been a severe challenge for public health, and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. As of June 8, 2023, the virus' rapid spread had caused over 767 million infections and more than 6.94 million deaths worldwide. Unlike previous SARS-CoV-1 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreaks, the COVID-19 outbreak has led to a high death rate in infected patients; this has been caused by multiorgan failure, which might be due to the widespread presence of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors—functional receptors of SARS-CoV-2—in multiple organs. Patients with cancer may be particularly susceptible to COVID-19 because cancer treatments (e.g., chemotherapy, immunotherapy) suppress the immune system. Thus, patients with cancer and COVID-19 may have a poor prognosis. Knowing how to manage the treatment of patients with cancer who may be infected with SARS-CoV-2 is essential. Treatment decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis, and patient stratification is necessary during COVID-19 outbreaks. Here, we review the management of COVID-19 in patients with cancer and focus on the measures that should be adopted for these patients on the basis of the organs or tissues affected by cancer and by the tumor stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the time-varying efficiency of the Turkish stock market's major stock index and eight sectoral indices, including the industrial, financial, service, information technology, basic metals, tourism, real estate investment, and chemical petrol plastic, during the COVID-19 outbreak and the global financial crisis (GFC) within the framework of the adaptive market hypothesis. This study employs multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis to illustrate these sectors' multifractality and short- and long-term dependence. The results show that all sectoral returns have greater persistence during the COVID-19 outbreak than during the GFC. Second, the real estate and information technology industries had the lowest levels of efficiency during the GFC and the COVID-19 outbreak. Lastly, the fat-tailed distribution has a greater effect on multifractality in these industries. Our results validate the conclusions of the adaptive market hypothesis, according to which arbitrage opportunities vary over time, and contribute to policy formulation for future outbreak-induced economic crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The pandemic resulted in a lifestyle crisis which may negatively affect patients with diabetes. Despite current knowledge, there is a lack of longitudinal studies evaluating this effect. To assess patients' perceptions about changes in lifestyle, and eating and sleeping patterns after 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify if aspects related to the pandemic (social distancing, COVID-19 infection, behavioral changes, and financial difficulties) are predictors of worsening in eating and sleeping parameters. Methods: This was a longitudinal study that followed patients with diabetes from April 2020 to July 2021 in Southern Brazil. Individuals with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, aged ≥ 18 years, were included. The outcome of this study was the assessment of daily habits during a 18-month period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific questionnaires were applied once participants were included in this study (3 months after the onset of the pandemic) and at the 18-month follow-up, which included the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), the Mini-Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ), and a specific questionnaire on diet, physical activity, and sleep pattern. Data were compared within and between groups (type 1 and type 2 diabetes), and multivariable models were used to identify subgroups of worse outcomes. Results: A total of 118 (78.6%) participants remained in the study at follow-up (mean age 54.6 ± 13.9 years, 41.3% male). In total, 33.9% of participants perceived weight gain during the pandemic, especially those with type 1 diabetes (43.1% vs 25.0% in type 2 diabetes, P = 0.04). About one in four participants reported emotional eating and changes in their eating habits for financial reasons. Regarding sleep patterns, more than half the participants reported taking naps during the day, out of which 30.5% of them perceived worse sleep quality, with no difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes groups. There were no within-group differences in MSQ and EAT-26 scores. Among participants with type 2 diabetes, age ≥ 60 years (OR 27.6, 95%CI 2.2–345.7), diabetes duration ≥ 15 years (OR 28.9, 95%CI 1.4–597.9), and perceived emotional eating (OR 10.9, 95%CI 1.1–107.5) were associated with worsened food quality. Worse sleep quality during the pandemic was associated with age ≥ 60 years for both type 2 diabetes (OR 5.6, 95%CI 1.1–31.5) and type 1 diabetes (OR 5.5, 95%CI 1.0–29.9). Conclusions: Follow-up data from a cohort of patients with diabetes indicate that at the end of 18 months of social distancing, some lifestyle aspects worsened and some improved, showing that these patients responded differently to the adversities of this period. The evidence of clinical features associated with worsening in food and sleep quality provides new insights to prioritizing actions in crisis situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently in Japan, summaries of the number of bankruptcies due to the spread of COVID-19 can only be obtained from surveys conducted by a few research firms targeting particular companies. In this study, we used Japanese telephone directory data containing detailed information on the location and industrial category of stores/facilities nationwide in an effort to infer the influence of COVID-19 on businesses in Japan. We analyzed the temporal change in the number of stores before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Among other findings, the analysis revealed that the number of travel agencies and facilities offering karaoke and other forms of entertainment declined significantly after the outbreak in some prefectures, with the largest declines in Ibaraki, Osaka, and Hyogo prefectures, and a relatively small decline in Tochigi prefecture. Among the stores and facilities categorized as restaurants and travel-related services, the decline was particularly significant in urban areas such as Tokyo and Osaka prefectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) through the world. The spread of this virus is continuing to generate a universal health crisis that led to severe impacts on all people across the world. This disease has resulted in an enormous number of infected cases that must be hospitalized. The exponential increase in the number of tested positive patients systematically leads to an exponential generation of healthcare wastes. Indeed, healthcare waste management is a challenge task for the municipal authorities and healthcare providers since inadequate management policies can lead to serious problems for both human health and environment. In this context, in order to face the third wave pandemic pick, we propose in this paper a multi-objective mixed integer mathematical program to expend the capacity of medical waste facilities by locating temporary treatment centers as well as temporary landfills. In addition, the proposed model allows optimizing COVID-19 medical waste routing from hospitals to disposal centers. The location-routing suggested model aims at minimizing the risk of virus transmission as well as total costs and is applied on a real case study based on the COVID-19 outbreak in Tunisia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the last few years, several studies confirmed the effectiveness of music therapy (MT) for the rehabilitative management of patients with neurological disorders.Aim: Here we discuss the feasibility and disadvantages of tele-neurological MT (tele-NMT) compared to the traditional MT programmes.Methods: We selected all the articles registered in the Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect from March 2020 to November 2021 concerning tele-NMT during the COVID-19 outbreak, collecting same examples and experiences.Results: With the advent of the COVID-19, several music-based interventions (MBIs) have been adapted from "in person" to a "remote and virtual" mode (through the telemedicine).Discussion: Tele-NMT could represent a promising option to provide constant care and support to people with neurological diseases during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature has shown that sleep patterns are shaped during the first years of life, playing a relevant role in children's functioning. We focused on comparing sleep patterns in infants and toddlers in Spain before and during COVID-19 home confinement to assess the immediate impact on sleep patterns. We compared data from two cross-sectional surveys from parents of 1658 children three to 36 months of age from Spain. One conducted before COVID-19 (2017–2018, n = 1380) and another during COVID-19 pandemic (March–May of 2020, n = 254). We used an internet self-administrated questionnaire using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) criteria in both surveys. During confinement, infants and toddlers went to sleep later (median bedtime 21:30 before confinement vs. 21:36 during confinement (p = 0.004)). More infants and toddlers showed longer sleep latencies (> 30 min) during confinement median 33.9% versus 12.3% (p < 0.001). Based on the recommended BISQ criteria, we observed an increase in poor sleepers meeting at least one criterion of inadequate patterns during confinement (p < 0.001). Parental perception of a child's sleep as problematics were 39.4% and 44.1% (adjusted p = 0.363) before and under lockdown, respectively. Conclusion: Home confinement generally affected infant's and toddler's sleep patterns negatively; however, parents did not report worse perception of sleep quality of their children. Follow-up studies can help understand the potential long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep patterns. What is Known: • Adequate sleep patterns in infants and toddlers are relevant as they are linked to proper and long-term social-emotional development as well as adequate daytime functioning. • Regarding sleep patterns in paediatrics during the COVID pandemic, recent literature has described an increase in total daily sleep time as well as more exposure to screens in children and adolescents, providing evidence of immediate collateral consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak. What is New: • Comparing sleep patterns in two samples of infants and toddlers in Spain before and during COVID-confinement, we found later bedtimes as well as a significant increase in infants' and toddlers' sleep latency by >30 min during confinement. • Parental self-reported questionnaire during COVID-19 home confinement reported an overall worsening of their children's sleep based on the BISQ criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this research was to disclose the correlative contribution of urban-associated factors affecting the COVID-19 outbreak in the macro-scale of MECA countries and the downscaled micro-scale of the provincial divisions in Iran. For this purpose, the correlation coefficients between the variables and clustering analysis were used to expose the possible effects. Results revealed the comparatively strong relationships between some independent variables (e.g., total greenhouse gas emissions, CO2 emissions, nitrous oxide emissions, and urban population) and confirmed cases (R from 0.619 to 0.695), demonstrating the possible effective role of urbanization and its induced GHG emissions on the COVID-19 outbreak in the country level of the MECA region. Therefore, the results significantly confirmed the strong relationships between some independent variables (e.g., total population, urban population, fuel consumption, NO2–CO2 emissions, energy use, and total intra-changed travels) and confirmed cases (R from 0.724 to 0.945), explaining an explicit relationship between urbanization processes and the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran. Besides, the HCA results revealed the substantial role of the urban population and urban-induced energy use and gas emission in clustering locations regarding the COVID-19 outbreak in both the MECA region and Iran. The main implication of this research is to give a practical correlation between Coronavirus infection and urban constitution, aiming to increase the health of urban societies by creating effective planning in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on caregivers of youth with type 1 diabetes. Methods: We performed a qualitative research based on an open-ended questionnaire that was conducted through an online platform for primary caregivers of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Participants were asked to describe the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on their caring for youth with diabetes, as well as the emotional burden that it has brought to their personal lives. Interview responses were coded and stratified by youth age: ≤ 12 years (youth aged ≤ 12 years) and between 13 and 18 years (youth aged > 12 years). The connections between the responses were identified based on either positive or negative content of the reported experience. Data were analyzed in accordance with an inductive reasoning methodology. Results: A total of 318 participants (mean age of 40.3 ± 8.1 years old) were included, representing caregivers of youth aged 11.7 ± 4.3-year-old with diabetes duration of 5.1 ± 3.8 years. The preponderance of negative feelings was noteworthy. Regarding diabetes care, more than 80% of participants reported concern and anxiety about the changes in habits that accompanied the pandemic. Also, more than half of caregivers regretted the isolation of their youth, factors that were associated with greater difficulty in achieving good glycemic control. Regarding the personal burden experienced, the negative impact of uncertainties and concerns about the COVID-19 were present in almost all participants. Conclusion: The period of pandemic may lead to exhaustion in caregivers of youths with type 1 diabetes, which reflects the need for mental health support strategies to help those families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a few Japanese data regarding the incidence and outcomes of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. We retrospectively reviewed the data of AMI patients admitted to the Nihon University Itabashi Hospital after a COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 (COVID-19 period) and the same period from 2017 to 2019 (control period). The patients' characteristics, time course of admission, diagnosis, and treatment of AMI, and 30-day mortality were compared between the two period-groups for both ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI), respectively. The AMI inpatients decreased by 5.7% after the COVID-19 outbreak. There were no differences among most patient backgrounds between the two-period groups. For NSTEMI, the time from the symptom onset to admission was significantly longer, and that from the AMI diagnosis to the catheter examination tended to be longer during the COVID-19 period than the control period, but not for STEMI. The 30-day mortality was significantly higher during the COVID-19 period for NSTEMI (23.1% vs. 1.9%, P = 0.004), but not for STEMI (9.4% vs. 8.3%, P = 0.77). In conclusion, hospitalizations for AMI decreased after the COVID-19 outbreak. Acute cardiac care for STEMI and the associated outcome did not change, but NSTEMI outcome worsened after the COVID-19 outbreak, which may have been associated with delayed medical treatment due to the indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy has been the first nation outside of Asia to face the COVID-19 outbreak. To limit viral transmission of infection, by March 10th, 2020, the Italian Government has ordered a national lockdown, which established home confinement, home (smart) working, and temporary closure of non-essential businesses and schools. The present study investigated how these restrictive measures impacted mothers and their pre-school children's behavioral habits (i.e., sleep timing and quality, subjective time experience) and psychological well-being (i.e., emotion regulation, self-regulation capacity). An online survey was administered to 245 mothers with pre-school children (from 2 to 5 years). Mothers were asked to fill the survey thinking both on their habits, behaviors, and emotions and on those of their children during the quarantine, and retrospectively, before the national lockdown (i.e., in late February). A general worsening of sleep quality and distortion of time experience in both mothers and children, as well as increasing emotional symptoms and self-regulation difficulties in children, was observed. Moreover, even when the interplay between the behavioral and psychological factors was investigated, the factor that seems to mostly impact both mothers' and children's psychological well-being was their sleep quality. Overall, central institutions urgently need to implementing special programs for families, including not only psychological support to sustain families with working parents and ameliorating children's management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronaphobia refers to intensified and persistent fears of contracting COVID-19 virus infection. This study aimed to evaluate the newly termed phenomenon, coronaphobia, and address its associated correlates among Egyptian physicians during the outbreak. A cross-sectional study, including a total of 426 Egyptian physicians working during COVID-19 outbreak, was conducted between March 1st and May 1st, 2020. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were utilized for assessment of coronaphobia, and comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms among physicians, respectively during the outbreak. Results: Moderate-to-severe symptoms of anxiety and depression were reported by 28% and 30% of physicians, respectively. Physicians experiencing higher levels of coronaphobia were more likely to be females, nonsmokers, having death wishes and/or self-harming thoughts, receiving insufficient training, dissatisfied with their personal protective equipment (PPE), and had colleagues infected with COVID-19 virus infection. Coronaphobia was positively correlated with anxiety (r = 0.59, P < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (r = 0.47, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Egyptian physicians experienced higher levels of coronaphobia, anxiety, and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak. Yet, frontline physicians did not differ from their second-line counterparts regarding the aforementioned symptoms. Routine mental and physical assessment measures of medical staff should be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship provides an unprecedented opportunity to estimate its original transmissibility with basic reproductive number (R0) and the effectiveness of containment measures. We developed an ordinary differential equation-based Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovery (SEIR) model with Bayesian underpinning to estimate the main parameter of R0 determined by transmission coefficients, incubation period, and the recovery rate. Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation method was used to tackle the parameters of uncertainty resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19 given a small cohort of the cruise ship. The extended stratified SEIR model was also proposed to elucidate the heterogeneity of transmission route by the level of deck with passengers and crews. With the application of the overall model, R0 was estimated as high as 5.70 (95% credible interval: 4.23–7.79). The entire epidemic period without containment measurements was approximately 47 days and reached the peak one month later after the index case. The partial containment measure reduced 63% (95% credible interval: 60–66%) infected passengers. With the deck-specific SEIR model, the heterogeneity of R0 estimates by each deck was noted. The estimated R0 figures were 5.18 for passengers (5–14 deck), mainly from the within-deck transmission, and 2.46 for crews (2–4 deck), mainly from the between-deck transmission. Modelling the dynamic of COVID-19 on the cruise ship not only provides an insight into timely evacuation and early isolation and quarantine but also elucidates the relative contributions of different transmission modes on the cruise ship though the deck-stratified SEIR model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate and analyze the impact of lockdown strategy due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on emergency general surgery (EGS) in the Milan area at the beginning of pandemic outbreak. Methods: A survey was distributed to 14 different hospitals of the Milan area to analyze the variation of EGS procedures. Each hospital reported the number of EGS procedures in the same time frame comparing 2019 and 2020. The survey revealed that the number of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020 was reduced by 19% when compared with 2019. The decrease was statistically significant only for abdominal wall surgery. Interestingly, in 2020, there was an increase of three procedures: surgical intervention for acute mesenteric ischemia (p = 0.002), drainage of perianal abscesses (p = 0.000285), and cholecystostomy for acute cholecystitis (p = 0.08). Conclusions: During the first COVID-19 pandemic wave in the metropolitan area of Milan, the number of patients operated for emergency diseases decreased by around 19%. We believe that this decrease is related either to the fear of the population to ask for emergency department (ED) consultation and to a shift towards a more non-operative management in the surgeons 'decision making' process. The increase of acute mesenteric ischaemia and perianal abscess might be related to the modification of dietary habits and reduction of physical activity related to the lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 outbreak, managing energy consumption and CO2 emission remained a serious problem. The previous literature rarely solved this real-time issue, and there is a lack of public research proposing an effective way forward on it. However, the study examines the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on energy consumption and CO2 emission. The design of the study is quantitative, and the data is acquired from different online databases. The model of the study is inferred by using panel unit root test and ARDL test. The robustness of study findings was checked through panel quantile regression. The findings highlighted that the COVID-19 outbreak is negatively significant with energy consumption and CO2 emission. The study suggested revising the energy consumption patterns by developing and implementing the national action plan for energy consumption and environmental protection. The study also contributed in knowledge by suggesting the novel insight into CO2 emission and energy consumption patterns during COVID-19 pandemic and recommended to consider renewable energy transition methods as an opportunity for the society. For a more effective management of energy consumption and environmental pollution, country-specific measures are suggested to be taken, and the national government should support the concerned public departments, ministries and private organizations on it. To the best of our study, this is one of the pioneer studies studying this novel link and suggesting the way forward on recent topicality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many articles have been written in the medical field related to the Covid-19 outbreak that has surrounded the World and killed many people. However, its environmental and energy impacts have not been sufficiently studied. Some sources argue that Covid-19 outbreak reduces pollution environmentally, while others say that environmentally significant damages await us. On the other hand, it is wondered how the global flexible renewable energy sector will react to Covid-19 outbreak. In this study, the effects of Covid-19 outbreak in terms of the environment and renewable energy sector in the literature were examined in detail and the findings obtained were discussed. The main aim of this study is to shed light on the future studies of environmental and renewable energy researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the extreme return spillovers among the US stock market sectors in the light of the COVID-19 outbreak. To this end, we extend the now-traditional Diebold-Yilmaz spillover index to the quantiles domain by building networks of generalized forecast error variance decomposition of a quantile vector autoregressive model specifically for extreme returns. Notably, we control for common movements by using the overall stock market index as a common factor for all sectors and uncover the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the dynamics of the network. The results show that the network structure and spillovers differ considerably with respect to the market state. During stable times, the network shows a nice sectoral clustering structure which, however, changes dramatically for both adverse and beneficial market conditions constituting a highly connected network structure. The pandemic period itself shows an interesting restructuring of the network as the dominant clusters become more tightly connected while the rest of the network remains well separated. The sectoral topology thus has not collapsed into a unified market during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer patients have been regarded as having a high risk of severe events if they are infected with SARS-CoV-2, particularly those under medical or surgical treatment. The aim of this study was to assess the posttreatment risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2 in a population of patients operated on for colorectal cancer 3 months before the COVID-19 outbreak and who after hospitalization returned to an environment where the virus was circulating. Materials and methods: This French, multicenter cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective surgery for colorectal cancer between January 1 and March 31, 2020, at 19 GRECCAR hospitals. The outcome was the rate of COVID-19 infection in this group of patients who were followed until June 15, 2020. Results: This study included 448 patients, 262 male (58.5%) and 186 female (41.5%), who underwent surgery for colon cancer (n = 290, 64.7%), rectal cancer (n = 155, 34.6%), or anal cancer (n = 3, 0.7%). The median age was 68 years (19–95). Comorbidities were present in nearly half of the patients, 52% were at least overweight, and the median BMI was 25 (12–42). At the end of the study, 448 were alive. Six patients (1.3%) developed COVID-19 infection; among them, 3 were hospitalized in the conventional ward, and none of them died. Conclusion: The results are reassuring, with only a 1.3% infection rate and no deaths related to COVID-19. We believe that we can operate on colorectal cancer patients without additional mortality from COVID-19, applying all measures aimed at reducing the risk of infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to uncover and optimize the structure and performance of the collaborative network that emerged in response to COVID-19 in Hubei Province, China. This study reconstructed the Hubei Public Health Emergency Response Network as the actual collaborative network and built COVID-19 Collaborative Emergency Network as a planned task-oriented collaborative network. Based on the data sets of the inter-organizational collaboration collected from the content analysis, this study explored the core tasks of the participating actors and their relationships during the COVID-19 emergency response, and built six sub-networks to accomplish six core tasks. Network analysis was used with the Pajek software to compare the structural characteristics and performance of the planned network with the actual one and six sub-networks, and identified the central actors, key bridges, and brokers in networks and sub-networks separately. Findings suggested that COVID-19 Collaborative Emergency Network had a more tightly, central, and connective structure than Hubei Public Health Emergency Response Network, because it had more participating actors (i.e., databases and AI systems), more powerful and strong collaborative relationships with research institutions and non-profit organizations. With practical-based recommendations for inter-organizational collaboration, this study concluded that COVID-19 Collaborative Emergency Network could significantly enhance the local capacity of Hubei Province for emergency collaboration, which provided insights for building and optimizing COVID-19 collaborative networks in other provinces of China, even other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply chains have been facing many disruptions due to natural and man-made disasters. Recently, the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 outbreak, has severely hit trade and investment worldwide. Companies around the world faced significant disruption in their supply chains. This study aims to explore the impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on supply chain risks (SCRs). Based on a comprehensive literature review on supply chain risk management, 70 risks are identified and listed in 7 categories including demand, supply, logistics, political, manufacturing, financial and information. Then, a modified failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is proposed to assess the identified SCRs, which integrates FMEA and best–worst method to provide a double effectiveness. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method, and according to the main findings, “insufficient information about demand quantities”, “shortages on supply markets”, “bullwhip effect”, “loss of key suppliers”, “transportation breakdowns”, “suppliers”, “on-time delivery”, “government restrictions”, “suppliers’ temporary closure”, “market demand change” and “single supply sourcing” are the top 10 SCRs during the COVID-19 outbreak, respectively. Finally, the practical implications are discussed and useful managerial insights are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges to post-secondary education, including that campuses have been closed, removing face-to-face instruction options. Meanwhile, this crisis has also presented unique opportunities to create a "tipping point" or conditions that foster innovative teaching practices. In light of such a "danger-opportunity," the feasibility of introducing microlearning (ML), a technology-mediated teaching and learning (T&L) strategy, has recently been revisited by some institutions. ML offers learning opportunities through small bursts of training materials that learners can comprehend in a short time, according to their preferred schedule and location. Initially considered as "add-on" complementary online learning resources to provide learners with an active and more engaging learning experience through flexible learning modes, the possibility of an institution-wide implementation of ML has been further explored during the COVID-19 lockdown. This paper presents an exploratory case study examining two post-secondary education institutions' ML introductions. Using the SAMR model as the lens, their approaches to adopting ML are examined through analysis of quantitative questionnaires and qualitative teacher reflections. Overall, ML appears to be a promising direction that may not only be able to help institutions survive, but possibly offer an enhanced teaching and learning experience, post-pandemic. However, its current implementations face many challenges, both practical and pedagogical, and their impacts have yet to achieve transformation. With the insights gained, some possible strategies for moving the adoption of ML to the next level are offered., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2021.)