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Relationship‐oriented human resource management (HRM) contributes to organizational functioning by promoting employee relationships, coordination, and cooperation. We propose unit‐level positive affective climate as a motivational mechanism through which relationship‐oriented HR systems can positively influence unit service quality and relationships with beneficiaries, and prevent individual emotional exhaustion. Moreover, we propose collective occupational calling serves as an alternative motivational source that can substitute for the positive effects of positive affective climate. In analyzing a sample composed of 742 nurses from 48 nursing units of two hospitals in China with data collection at three time points before and after the COVID‐19 outbreak, our results supported the substituting effects of unit‐level collective occupational calling on positive affective climate stemmed from relationship‐oriented HR systems. Our study connects strategic HRM and motivation research by shedding light on an affective mechanism from relationship‐oriented HR systems and the contingencies involving employees' various sources of motivation, such as occupational calling. We further discuss theoretical and practical implications of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational leaders are essential in implementing, interpreting, and even proactively initiating changes for human resource (HR) functions to enhance workplace productivity and well‐being. However, recent studies have cautioned that providing positive and supportive leadership usually drains these organizational leaders. Although the literature has shed light on how leaders can use self‐care strategies to recharge, researchers and HR professionals know relatively little about (1) what specific self‐care actions leaders can take and (2) how external crises such as COVID‐19 constrain leaders' self‐care actions. To identify specific leaders' self‐care behaviors, which we refer to as oxygen masks, we interviewed 41 healthcare managers in Australia during the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020. We presented a behavioral typology summarizing distinct oxygen masks that leaders used at different points in time. These oxygen masks include improving physical well‐being, improving emotional/spiritual/social well‐being, fulfilling managerial roles, and seeking collegial and organizational support. Moreover, we concluded that the COVID‐19 restrictions made some of these oxygen masks less accessible, negatively impacting leaders' well‐being. Our research conclusions have implications for theory and future studies on extending the literature associated with leadership development, leaders' resilience, and leaders' well‐being. The results also provide HR professionals with practical suggestions about assisting line managers in improving their self‐care and sustaining their leadership effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to a financial crisis, many organizations adjust their pay systems to reduce labor costs. In this research, we focus on the use of delayed pay (the postponement of employees' contractual compensation) and examine its effect on employee voluntary turnover outcomes. In a field study (Study 1) with data collected from the executive managers of 129 Chinese hotels experiencing a financial crisis caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), we find a positive relationship between delayed pay and the voluntary turnover rate at the organizational level. In addition, this relationship becomes weaker when delayed pay consists of a larger proportion of pay‐for‐performance (PFP). We then conduct an experiment (Study 2) to extend our theoretical framework to the individual level, establish causality, and examine the underlying mechanism. The results show that the perceived negative instrumentality of stay (i.e., expected economic losses associated with staying in an organization) explains why individuals intend to leave organizations adopting delayed base pay but not delayed PFP. We further replicate these findings in a critical incident technique study (Study 3). We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the gaps in strategic human resource management (SHRM) research exposed by the COVID‐19 pandemic in order to guide future SHRM research in the context of environmental crises. Using evidence from Danish companies and public organizations collected using a mixed‐methods sequential design, we discuss whether existing SHRM frameworks can adequately frame and deliver the academic knowledge needed to address the novel challenges posed by the pandemic. We formulate guidelines for future research that will shape discussions of the role of SHRM in building organizational resilience in the face of environmental crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of 2020, the entire world was shocked by a global health emergency. According to the literature, fear, high mortality and health restrictions had significant psychological consequences on the population. This study evaluates the French lockdown's impact on the grieving process and how people worked through their grief. Two semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 31 participants who had lost a loved one between March 2020, June, and September 2021 (T0) and 6 months later (T1). Subsequently, they were divided into two groups: those who lost someone during the first lockdown (Group 1) and those who lost someone outside the lockdown periods (Group 2). The interviews were analysed using the ALCESTE software, a statistical analysis tool for textual data based on word co‐occurrences. This research significantly advances the understanding of bereavement during crises, providing new perspectives and practical insights for policymakers, healthcare professionals and support organisations. Its methodological innovation and detailed analysis contribute to the ongoing discussion on grief and resilience in challenging circumstances. Ultimately, this study lays the foundation for improved support and intervention strategies tailored to the needs of bereaved individuals during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The COVID‐19 pandemic caused by the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus was arguably one of the worst public health disasters of the last 100 years. As many infectious disease experts were focused on influenza, MERS, ZIKA, or Ebola as potential pandemic‐causing agents, SARS‐CoV‐2 appeared to come from nowhere and spread rapidly. As with any zoonotic agent, the initial pathogen was able to transmit to a new host (humans), but it was poorly adapted to the immune environment of the new host and resulted in a maladapted immune response. As the host‐pathogen interaction evolved, subsequent variants of SARS‐CoV‐2 became less pathogenic and acquired immunity in the host provided protection, at least partial protection, to new variants. As the host‐pathogen interaction has changed since the beginning of the pandemic, it is possible the clinical results discussed here may not be applicable today as they were at the start of the pandemic. With this caveat in mind, we present an overview of the immune response of severe COVID‐19 from a clinical research perspective and examine clinical trials utilizing immunomodulating agents to further elucidate the importance of hyperinflammation as a factor contributing to severe COVID‐19 disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Background Methods Results Conclusions Outcomes after bebtelovimab treatment for COVID‐19 were favorable for most but not all solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs) during the era of Omicron BA.2 to BA.5, but effects of timing of bebtelovimab administration on these outcomes are unknown. We sought to compare outcomes of SOTR who received early bebtelovimab (“EBT”, given ≤ 2 days from diagnosis) versus late bebtelovimab (“LBT”, given between Days 3 and 7), versus no bebtelovimab (NBT).This was a retrospective cohort study of SOTRs with mild‐to‐moderate COVID‐19, with endpoint of 30‐day COVID‐19‐related hospitalization. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine variables associated with receiving EBT, and to assess impact of EBT on hospitalization. A propensity score (PS) was calculated for EBT versus NBT.Of 297 SOTRs, 162 (58.1%) received EBT, 46 (16.5%) LBT, and 71 (25.4%) NBT. Early bebtelovimab treatment was associated with a lower risk of 30‐day COVID‐19‐related hospitalization compared to NBT (OR, 0.112 [95% CI, 0.018–0.686]; p = 0.018). There was no significant difference in hospitalization risk between LBT and NBT, suggesting that delayed administration may not confer additional benefits over no treatment.Early bebtelovimab treatment in outpatient SOTRs was associated with a lower risk of hospitalization compared to no treatment, while late administration did not show a significant advantage over no treatment. Although bebtelovimab is no longer authorized, these findings suggest that the timing of COVID therapies for SOTRs may be important to optimize outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many aptamers have been generated by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) to recognize spike proteins of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2&ek), some of which have been engineered into dimeric and trimeric versions for enhanced affinity for diagnostic applications. However, no studies have been conducted to compare the utilities of monomeric, dimeric and trimeric aptamers in diagnostic assays with real clinical samples to answer the question of what levels of affinity an aptamer must have for accurate clinical diagnostics. Herein, we carried out a comparative study with two monomeric aptamers MSA1 and MSA5, one dimeric aptamer and two homotrimeric aptamers constructed with MSA1 and MSA5, with affinity varying by 1000‐fold. Using a colorimetric sandwich assay to analyze 48 human saliva samples, we found that the trimeric aptamer assay (Kd≈10 pM) can identify the SARS‐CoV‐2 infection much more accurately than the dimeric aptamer assay (Kd≈100 pM) and monomeric aptamer assay (Kd≈10,000 pM). Based on the experimental data, we theoretically predict the levels of affinity an aptamer needs to possess to achieve 80–100 % sensitivity and 100 % specificity. The findings from this study highlight the need for deriving very high affinity aptamers to enable highly accurate detection of viral infection for future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The COVID‐19 pandemic continues to cause nurses stress and trauma, with alcohol potentially being used to manage this stress. Prior studies of nurses' alcohol consumption during the COVID‐19 pandemic have shown increases in alcohol consumption to manage stress associated with the pandemic. The aim of this paper is to explore perceptions of alcohol consumption and stress among nurses, particularly since the declared end of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We used semi‐structured interviews with Australian nurses (n = 55), using a qualitative‐descriptive study design, conducted between October 2023 and January 2024. Data were analysed using structural coding and reported in accordance with CORE‐Q guidelines. Four key themes emerged from the data: (1) Alcohol consumption in response to ongoing role stress, (2) Alcohol consumption in response to incidents, (3) The lasting impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and (4) Do nurses feel comfortable seeking help for alcohol use? High‐risk alcohol consumption has persisted beyond the end of the COVID‐19 pandemic to manage the stress associated with clinical environments. Alcohol was also used in response to incidents, and the ongoing trauma and impact of the pandemic was described as a significant source of stress and anxiety. Not all nurses in our study felt comfortable seeking help for alcohol use, with participants describing concern for their nursing registration if they self‐reported their alcohol consumption. Participants reported stronger links between stressful working environments and increased alcohol consumption. Nurses in our study do not feel safe seeking help or self‐reporting alcohol consumption for fear of the regulatory body instituting sanctions that lead to loss or suspension of their registration. These factors require urgent attention to ensure workforce wellbeing and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed Study Design Methods Results Conclusion So What? The uptake of recommended preventative measures is a critical concern for protecting the public against COVID‐19 outbreaks and future pandemics. However, it is unclear to what extent COVID‐19 preventative measures were followed in Australia. This study aims to determine adherence level to COVID‐19 preventative measures in 2021, and whether these were associated with socioeconomic status (SES).This was a national cross‐sectional study using data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.This study included 15 457 community‐dwelling adults (18 years or older) who participated in the 2021 wave of HILDA survey. SES was assessed by the Socio‐Economic Index For Areas (SEIFA) score, split into quintiles. Outcomes included self‐reported adherence to COVID‐19 preventative measures (mask wearing, keeping distance, staying home; sum score range 3–15) and COVID‐19 status (yes/no). Linear and logistic regression were used accordingly to assess the association between SES and the sum score of adherence to COVID‐19 measures, and COVID‐19 vaccination status.Adherence to COVID‐19 preventative measures and uptake of COVID‐19 vaccine in Australia in 2021 were moderate (between 60% and 70%). Regression models showed higher SES was associated with a slightly higher score of adherence (β = .08, 95% CI = .04–.12) and a higher likelihood of self‐reporting receiving COVID‐19 vaccination (OR 1.27, 95% CI = 1.23–1.31).SES was positively associated with the level of adherence to COVID‐19 preventative measures and the probability of receiving COVID‐19 vaccine. The findings of this study highlight the potential benefits of considering SES, particularly its impact on equity and access, when designing an educational program or awareness campaign in times of crisis.The findings of this study highlight the importance of considering SES when designing an educational program or an awareness campaign in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The present research looks at the reputation of digital platforms in online pedagogical English education in Pakistan, and the use of digital technology in virtual classrooms during public health emergencies. It explores how faculty members use digital technology in their pedagogical English teaching approaches by analysing their technological skill level. To achieve the study's objectives, an online survey was undertaken to gather primary data. University teachers delivering online courses during COVID‐19 in several cities throughout Punjab Province answered an online questionnaire survey. Smart‐PLS 3.3.9 and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to investigate the recommended research framework. SEM analysis results showed that all proposed hypotheses were confirmed. This research presents an overview of faculty members' online pedagogical teaching abilities and digital technology during COVID‐19. The research findings are critical for determining how to incorporate technology during the pandemic period and to integrate technology into higher education during the new normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose Methods Results Conclusions Post‐COVID‐19 condition (PCC) is a prevalent and high‐burden sequela of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Because of the complexity of its manifestations, PCC case definition currently lacks standardisation and reproducibility. We aimed to devise a simple screening tool to boost reproducibility and comparability of PCC case definition across PCC studies, and to provide a framework in which to reliably identify suspected PCC cases. We also developed a comprehensive assessment protocol based on the most frequently reported PCC characteristics.Within a European multi‐centre study and based on the conclusions of a previous systematic review, we devised a checklist to assess the presence of PCC‐associated symptoms and their temporal relationship with COVID‐19.The checklist was developed to include three symptom cores (cognitive, psychiatric, and general). For each symptom, onset is assessed within 3 months after COVID‐19 resolution and persistence for at least 2 months. Any symptom fulfilling this criterion is sufficient to prompt suspicion of PCC. At least one symptom is required in the cognitive or psychiatric domains to suspect PCC with neuropsychiatric involvement. Our protocol features an extensive neuropsychological evaluation and self‐administered scales for mood, anxiety, stress‐related symptoms, sleep disorders, quality of life, disability, mental health, and personality traits; scales for quantitative assessment of fatigue and headache are also included.Consistent identification of PCC cases is crucial to correctly include patients in research and clinical studies. We propose a simple, reproducible, and flexible screening tool and a proposal for a comprehensive assessment that could be employed to enhance standardisation and comparability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aim Background Evaluation Key issues Conclusions Implications for clinical practice To identify factors protecting and hindering the well‐being of critical care nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic.The unique work challenges of critical care nurses can undermine their professional and mental well‐being; as evidenced by the prevailing literature on burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral distress. The COVID‐19 pandemic has seen these professionals on the front lines and has raised many questions about professional well‐being. Identifying the factors that protect and hinder the well‐being of critical care nurses would help to develop the strategies necessary to reduce worrying phenomena associated with professional malaise.A systematic review was conducted using electronic databases including PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane, PsycINFO, and Web on Science.After full text analysis, 25 papers were included in the current systematic review. Factors influencing the well‐being of critical care nurses have been grouped into “Protective” and “Hindering.”This review shows that critical care nurses’ well‐being is influenced by factors like personal resilience and supportive work environments, which enhance their experience. Challenges include sociodemographic issues and the COVID‐19 pandemic's impact. Addressing these factors is crucial for their well‐being and the effectiveness of healthcare systems.The well‐being of nurses is intricately linked to the quality and security of patient care, ultimately influencing clinical outcomes. This review delves deeply into the multifaceted factors that affect the professional well‐being of critical care nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Recognizing these elements is critical for directing health policy toward the development of initiatives that bolster healthcare workers’ welfare. Prioritizing the professional well‐being of nurses is imperative, as it is fundamental in mitigating the increasing inclination towards job turnover, a challenge that is profoundly impacting the healthcare sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Methods Results Conclusion Pregnant women are at increased risk for severe illness associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) compared to nonpregnant women. The aim of this multicenter prospective study was to assess the current COVID‐19 vaccination status of pregnant women in the southern Osaka district and to compare their antibody titers with those of nonpregnant women.Serum antibody titers of anti‐NCP antibodies (antibodies against the SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleocapsid) and anti‐RBD antibodies (the receptor binding domain of the S1 subunit of the spike protein) were evaluated in 753 pregnant women at 34–35 weeks of gestation from October 2021 to March 2022. Anti‐RBD antibody titre was also investigated in 1003 health care workers at Kindai University hospital 3 and 6 months after a second dose of the vaccine from March 2021 to April 2021. 519 (68.9%) pregnant women were vaccinated during pregnancy, of whom 497 (95.8%) received two doses.The COVID‐19 infection rate calculated from the number of pregnant women with a positive anti‐NCP antibody titre or with confirmed diagnosis was 5.1% (12/234) in the unvaccinated and 3.5% (18/519) in the vaccinated. The estimated half‐life calculated from anti‐RBD antibody titers and the number of days between vaccination and antibody testing was 39.9 days. The antibody titre and half‐life in pregnant women were significantly lower and shorter than in nonpregnant women aged 20–39 years (109.4 days).Our study showed that pregnant women may have lower vaccine‐acquired COVID‐19 immunity than nonpregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Methods Results Conclusion This study aims to investigate the potential causal relationship, shared genomic loci, as well as potential molecular pathways and tissue‐specific expression patterns between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and the risk of hospitalized/severe 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID‐19).We employed linkage disequilibrium score regression and bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore potential genetic associations between GERD (N = 602,604) and hospitalized COVID‐19 (N = 2095,324) as well as severe COVID‐19 (N = 1086,211). Additionally, shared genomic loci were extracted from common pivotal regions, further confirmed through corresponding colocalization analyses. GERD‐driven molecular pathway network was constructed using extensive literature data mining to understand the molecular‐level impacts of GERD on COVID‐19.Our results revealed a significant positive genetic correlation between GERD and both hospitalized (rg  =  0.418) and severe COVID‐19 (rg  =  0.314). Furthermore, the MR analysis demonstrated a unidirectional causal effect of genetic predisposition to GERD on COVID‐19 outcomes, including hospitalized COVID‐19 (odds ratio [OR]: 1.33, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.27–1.44, p = 9.17e − 12) and severe COVID‐19 (OR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.18–1.37, p = 1.20e − 05). Additionally, GERD and both COVID‐19 conditions shared one genomic locus with lead‐SNPs rs1011407 and rs1123573, corresponding to the transcription factor BCL11A. Colocalization analysis further demonstrated a significant positive correlation between genome‐wide association study and expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) abnormalities, including rs1011407 (eQTL_p = 2.35e − 07) and rs1123573 (eQTL_p = 2.74e − 05). Molecular pathway analysis indicated that GERD might promote the progression of COVID‐19 by inducting immune‐activated and inflammation‐related pathways.These findings confirm that genetically determined GERD may increase the susceptibility to hospitalized/severe COVID‐19. The shared genetic loci and the potential molecular pathways offer valuable insights into causal connections between GERD and COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two predominant methodologies in forecasting temporal processes include traditional time series models and machine learning methods. This paper investigates the impact of time series cross‐validation (TSCV) on both approaches in the context of a case study predicting the incidence of COVID‐19 based on wastewater data. The TSCV framework outlined in the paper begins by engineering interpretable features hypothesized as potential predictors of COVID‐19 incidence. Feature selection and hyperparameter tuning are then utilized with TSCV to identify the best features and hyperparameters for optimal model performance given a specific forecast horizon. While evidence supporting the utility of TSCV for auto‐regressive integrated moving average model with exogenous variables (TS‐ARIMAX) forecasts is lacking in this study, such an approach proves advantageous for gradient boosting machine forecasts (TS‐GBM). In Wyoming, for instance, TS‐GBM had a 34.9% improvement compared to naïve predictions, whereas GBM without TSCV only had a 15.6% improvement. However, TSCV also enhances interpretability for both TS‐ARIMAX and TS‐GBM models as this approach selects specific features, such as lagged values of COVID‐19 cases, based on forecast performance and forecast length. Future research should work to explore the influence of stationarity and model averaging on the performance of TSCV in forecasting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Background and Aims Methods Results Conclusions Alcohol use is prevalent among hepatology clinic patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). We explored factors associated with the importance and confidence dimensions of motivation to reduce drinking.Participants (N = 121) with unhealthy alcohol use (i.e., over NIH guidelines) receiving care in hepatology clinics from a safety‐net hospital (SN, N = 54) and two Veterans Affairs Healthcare Systems (VA, N = 67) were enrolled in an alcohol intervention trial from March 2022 through October 2023. Baseline assessments included Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD‐7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐8), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), COVID‐19 stress; and measures of importance and confidence to decrease alcohol use (readiness rulers, scales of 1–10). Liver disease aetiology and severity were extracted from electronic health records. We performed multivariable linear regression models with forward selection to assess pre‐specified variables' associations with importance and confidence.The sample was 84% male, 40% Latino, 31% White, 18% Black and 11% other races; median age was 61 years. Median (Q1–Q3) AUDIT score was 16 (12–24), importance was 9 (6–10) and confidence was 8 (5–9). On multivariable analysis, VA site (vs. SN) participants had a 0.97‐point lower importance score (p = 0.02); higher symptoms of depression (PHQ‐8 score ≥ 10 vs. < 10) and AUDIT scores (for each point increase) were associated with higher importance score (estimates 1.2 and 0.08, p < 0.05, respectively). Liver disease aetiology and severity were not significantly associated with outcomes.Depression, alcohol problem severity and treatment site may influence motivation to reduce alcohol use and could inform future hepatology‐based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Discussion COVID‐19 survivors are at greater risk for new medical conditions. Among older adults, where multimorbidity and functional impairment are common, frailty measurement provides a tool for understanding how infection impacts future health beyond a one‐disease‐at‐a‐time approach. We investigated whether COVID‐19 was associated with change in frailty among older Veterans.Data were from the Veterans Affairs (VA) COVID‐19 Observational Research Collaboratory, which extracted VA medical record data. We included Veterans who had COVID‐19 from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021 and matched uninfected controls. We excluded those <50 years at index or did not survive 12 months after. Frailty was assessed at the index date and 12 months using the VA Frailty Index (VA‐FI).We assessed the number of new VA‐FI deficits over 12 months. Analysis was done by negative binomial regression adjusted for age, gender, race, ethnicity, and BMI. Coefficients are given as the ratio of the mean number of new deficits in COVID‐19 cases versus controls during follow‐up.We identified 91,338 COVID‐19‐infected Veterans and an equal number of matched controls. Median (IQR) age was 68.9 years (60.3–74.2), 5% were female, 71% were White, and baseline VA‐FI was 0.16 (0.10, 0.26). Median (IQR) number of new deficits at 1 year was 1 (0–2) for infected and 0 (0–1) for uninfected controls. After adjustment, those with COVID‐19 accrued 1.54 (95% CI 1.52–1.56) times more deficits than those who did not. The five most common new deficits were fatigue (9.7%), anemia (6.8%), muscle atrophy (6.5%), gait abnormality (6.2%), and arthritis (5.8%).We found a greater increase in frailty among older Veterans with COVID‐19 compared with matched uninfected controls, suggesting that COVID‐19 infection has long‐term implications for vulnerability and disability among older adults. Functional impairments such as fatigue, impaired mobility, and joint pain may warrant specific attention in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, there was interest in using machine learning methods to predict COVID‐19 infection status based on vocal audio signals, for example, cough recordings. However, early studies had limitations in terms of data collection and of how the performances of the proposed predictive models were assessed. This article describes how these limitations have been overcome in a study carried out by the Turing‐RSS Health Data Laboratory and the UK Health Security Agency. As part of the study, the UK Health Security Agency collected a dataset of acoustic recordings, SARS‐CoV‐2 infection status and extensive study participant meta‐data. This allowed us to rigorously assess state‐of‐the‐art machine learning techniques to predict SARS‐CoV‐2 infection status based on vocal audio signals. The lessons learned from this project should inform future studies on statistical evaluation methods to assess the performance of machine learning techniques for public health tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus stands for a large family of viruses characterized by protruding spikes surrounding a lipidic membrane adorned with proteins. The present study explores the adhesion of transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus (TGEV) particles on a variety of reference solid surfaces that emulate typical virus‐surface interactions. Atomic force microscopy informs about trapping effectivity and the shape of the virus envelope on each surface, revealing that the deformation of TGEV particles spans from 20% to 50% in diameter. Given this large deformation range, experimental Langmuir isotherms convey an unexpectedly moderate variation in the adsorption‐free energy, indicating a viral adhesion adaptability which goes beyond the membrane. The combination of an extended Helfrich theory and coarse‐grained simulations reveals that, in fact, the envelope and the spikes present complementary adsorption affinities. While strong membrane‐surface interaction lead to highly deformed TGEV particles, surfaces with strong spike attraction yield smaller deformations with similar or even larger adsorption‐free energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibodies and avidity maturation contribute to long‐lasting immunity, and previous COVID‐19 seems to enhance the immune response after vaccination. The aim of this study was to compare the immune response after vaccination between COVID‐19 convalescents and naïve patients. Blood samples from COVID‐19 convalescents and naïve patients, taken 1, 3 and 6 months after the second dose of vaccine (mRNA‐vaccine BNT162b2), were analysed for anti‐spike IgG and avidity. Questionnaires concerning side effects were used. Thirty‐one patients in the COVID‐19 cohort and 30 patients in the naïve cohort were included. High levels of anti‐spike IgG and avidity index were seen. Anti‐spike IgG were significantly higher in the COVID‐19 cohort and declining (median 1250, 566, 282 RU/ml vs 565, 187, 65 RU/ml). Avidity did not change over time (median at 6 months 78% vs 65%). The most common side effects were pain at the injection site, malaise and headache. In conclusion, high levels of anti‐spike IgG after vaccination were seen and most patients developed high‐avidity antibodies, although antibody levels and avidity were higher in the COVID‐19 cohort. Over time, the levels of anti‐spike IgG declined, yet avidity remained high. Side effects did not differ between groups and were of short duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food insecurity in South Africa was critical prior to the COVID‐19 outbreak, but the problem deepened quickly during the pandemic when government controls caused job losses, a food supply collapse, and escalating hunger. The food and fuel price hikes and political instability that followed led to the July 2021 ‘unrest’, which left more than 350 people dead. Behind this lay a crisis within the governing African National Congress. In this paper, we draw on in‐depth interviews and ethnography with individuals working in food‐based livelihoods to investigate how people continued to secure food, and how rural food systems were affected. Against a backdrop of hunger, social unrest, and xenophobic hostility, we consider how people perceive the state in a rural area of KwaZulu‐Natal. We argue that weak governing institutions and South Africa's exposure to globally‐triggered spikes in food and fuel prices are leading to food insecurity. Hunger, in turn, is contributing to a crisis of legitimation for the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Methods Results Conclusions To assess the impact of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine roll‐out on an ED. Primary outcomes are ED length of stay (LOS), investigation ordering and costs. Secondary measures are compliance with the Thrombosis and Haemostasis Society of Australia and New Zealand (THANZ) Vaccine‐Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopaenia Syndrome (VITT) guidelines.This retrospective observational study examined a level 5 ED in Sydney, Australia. Triages mentioning the AZ vaccine between 7 July 2021 and 8 November 2021 were reviewed. Cases were limited to a single day of the week. Researchers reviewed clinical notes to identify patients that presented due to AZ vaccine concern and abstracted relevant data. Costings were calculated using an ED activity‐based funding algorithm.One thousand three hundred and fifty cases were identified, with 167 analysed (12%) and 97 presented (7%). Median LOS was 195 min (IQR: 152–232 min, 95% CI [184, 217]). Median age was 43 years (IQR: 35–65 years, 95% CI [44, 51]). Median Australian Triage Category was 4. Ninety‐eight percent were discharged directly home. Ninety‐four percent underwent pathology and 41% radiology. Compliance with the THANZ guidelines was 16%. No findings were related to VITT. AZ vaccine concern contributed 12% of August ED caseload. Over the 16‐week study period a cost of AUD$486 747.99 was extrapolated.A high number of young, low acuity patients presented to the ED with AZ vaccine concerns and were associated with financial and workload implications. The quantity of ED presentations appears to be associated with vaccine administration rates. There was poor compliance with the THANZ guidelines, and they appear to have contributed to the high volume of investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Methods Results Conclusion Influenza outbreaks of varying size occur every year, but during the COVID‐19 pandemic, many countries experienced influenza at lower levels. However, following the relaxation of COVID‐19 prevention measures in 2022, the incidence of influenza began to increase gradually. Thus, this study compared the occurrence of influenza from week 36 of 2017, before the COVID‐19 outbreak, until 2023.The analysis was conducted using influenza‐like illness occurrence data available from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency infectious disease website. Additionally, to examine the changes in COVID‐19 and influenza occurrence during the pandemic, COVID‐19 incidence data from 20 January 2020 to 31 August 2023 were obtained from the KDCA Coronavirus Disease 19 homepage.During the COVID‐19 pandemic, which corresponds to the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 influenza seasons, there was no seasonal influenza epidemic, and the incidence rates were below the usual outbreak levels. However, in the 2022/2023 season, when the spread of COVID‐19 had eased, a seasonal pattern similar to that observed before the COVID‐19 pandemic was noted. Furthermore, correlation analysis between the rates of influenza‐like illness and COVID‐19 incidence showed no significant correlation during the entire period. However, a significant correlation emerged in 2023 (r = 0.393, p <0.05). These results suggest that influenza was suppressed during the COVID‐19 pandemic but returned to typical seasonal patterns after the COVID‐19 prevention policies were eased.The positive correlation observed between the incidences of COVID‐19 and influenza in 2023 indicates that COVID‐19, no longer a novel pandemic‐causing infectious disease, may have transitioned to an endemic pattern similar to seasonal influenza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objective Method Results Discussion Eating disorders (EDs) represent a significant public health concern, with a high prevalence among adolescent girls. The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a marked increase in EDs, underlining the need for a brief screening tool in clinical settings. The present study compared ICD‐10‐based ED‐diagnoses with SCOFF‐identified at‐risk female patients in a clinical setting and assessed the tool's reliability.Routine data (n = 955 participants) from a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital were evaluated regarding the incidence of ED‐diagnoses before (n = 312) and during the pandemic (n = 643) and compared with SCOFF results. The SCOFF's sensitivity and specificity were examined.ED‐diagnoses significantly increased, almost doubling from before to during the pandemic. The number of at‐risk patients identified by the SCOFF likewise differed between the two time points. The SCOFF showed high sensitivity at cut‐offs of 2 (pre‐pandemic) and 3 (peri‐pandemic) but low specificity. Internal consistency was poor.The findings align with previous research indicating an elevated rate of admission to clinical care for ED‐diagnoses during the pandemic, a trend also reflected in the SCOFF results. However, the SCOFF's low specificity and poor internal consistency raise concerns about its applicability among adolescent psychiatric inpatients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nanoplasmonic biosensor for the precise detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) by leveraging advances in nanostructured sensing materials and highly selective monoclonal antibodies is presented. The sensor integrates plasmonic Au nanostructures optimized for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), enhancing sensitivity through unique light interactions at the nanoscale. Coupled with exclusive antibodies that specifically target SARS‐CoV‐2 and its evolving variants, this sensor demonstrates remarkable selectivity and versatility. Validated with 270 clinical samples, it demonstrates a sensitivity of 98.9% and specificity of 100%. More importantly, the virus in nasopharyngeal swab samples collected over 3 years, marking the long‐term, large‐scale clinical validation of the nanoplasmonic biosensor for SARS‐CoV‐2 is been successfully detected. Furthermore, the integration of this sensor with face masks enables the detection of airborne SARS‐CoV‐2, highlighting its potential for routine management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Methods Results Conclusion In this article, we consider how the COVID‐19 pandemic and evaluations of Donald Trump combined to influence Americans' attitudes toward U.S. trade practices with China. We suggest that psychological factors—such as confirmation bias and transfer of grievances—influence how individuals evaluate the costs and benefits of trade. Specifically, we argue that the severity of the pandemic (reflected by both cumulative deaths and news coverage of the pandemic) and the rhetoric of (then) President Trump came together to influence Americans’ attitudes toward trade with China.To assess the COVID effect, the Trump effect, and their interaction effect on trade opinion, we merge data from 39 waves of the weekly Nationscape surveys, conducted from October 2019 to July 2020 (N = 62,171), with data on weekly COVID coverage for nine national news sources and cumulative state‐level weekly data on COVID‐related deaths. We estimate our models using hierarchical ordered logit.Our findings suggest that COVID‐related news coverage, cumulative COVID deaths, and Americans’ favorability toward Donald Trump have strong positive effects on Americans' support for trade tariffs on Chinese imports. Further, we find that the effects of COVID deaths on attitudes toward China tariffs are moderated by Trump favorability, with the effect of COVID deaths significantly stronger among Trump favorables.The COVID pandemic and evaluations of Donald Trump worked both independently and together to shape Americans’ attitudes toward China tariffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Method Results Conclusion We aimed to predict the trend of populist orientations and votes in Italy before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Using the Consequences of COVID‐19 (COCO) data set (quota sample of the Italian adult population), we conducted a 3.5‐year, seven‐wave longitudinal study, with one wave before the pandemic (June 2019) and six waves during the pandemic (April and October 2020, April and October 2021, and April and October 2022).Two latent growth analyses have shown that in the period we considered the degree of populism of the party chosen for the vote decreased linearly; this change was positively associated with the anxiety of the participants. Conversely, populist orientations remained stable.The COVID‐19 pandemic plausibly contributed to a superficial and temporary halt to the long populist wave that hit Italy in the last decades, as demonstrated by the decrease in populist vote choices concomitant with a persistent substrate of populist orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steady and significant improvements in life expectancy have been a bright spot for human progress for the last century or more. Recently, this success has shown signs of faltering in some high‐income countries, where mortality improvements have slowed or even reversed since the early 2010s. Combined with the large mortality shock of the COVID‐19 pandemic, guaranteed forward progress feels less certain. We review mortality trends in high‐income countries since 2000 through the COVID‐19 pandemic. While deteriorating mortality in the United States has received the most attention, countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Greece, and Germany are also seeing slowdowns. Before COVID‐19, these slowdowns largely reflected stalling improvements in cardiovascular disease mortality and increases in deaths from external causes in young and midlife for the worst‐performing countries. We discuss prospects for the future of mortality in high‐income countries, including lingering impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic, challenges and opportunities related to the obesity epidemic, and emerging reasons for both optimism and pessimism. While biological limits to increased life expectancy may eventually dominate long‐term trends, human‐made social factors are currently holding many countries back from already achievable best‐practice life expectancy and will be key to near‐term improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on state anxiety has long been dominated by the traditional psychometric approach that assumes anxiety symptoms have a common cause. Yet state anxiety can be conceptualized as a network system. In this study, we utilized data from the COVID‐Dynamic dataset from waves 7 to 13, collected at three‐week intervals from June 6, 2020, to October 13, 2020, and included 1,042 valid participants to characterize the internal dynamics of state anxiety. Using the Gaussian graphical model along with strength centrality, we estimated three network models of state anxiety. The between‐subjects and contemporaneous network showed numerous positive relations between items and some unexpected negative relations. Three communities were identified in the between‐subjects network, and two communities were identified in the contemporaneous network. The temporal network showed the coexistence of positive and negative predictions between items after three weeks. Several items exhibited significant positive autocorrelations after three weeks. These findings have implications for anxiety theory and clinical interventions at between‐subjects and within‐subjects levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brief, low‐cost growth mindset interventions improving academic‐related outcomes can be valuable. However, less is known regarding their effectiveness on learning motivation, behaviors, and academic performance in non‐Western cultures like China. This study aimed to examine the effects of a single‐session growth mindset intervention on Chinese junior secondary students during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We recruited 618 Chinese junior secondary school students from two schools and cluster‐randomly assigned them to be the intervention school (n = 311) or the control school (n = 307). Data was collected during the fall semester of 2019 and the spring semester of 2020. Compared with the control school, students in the intervention school reported stronger growth mindset (partial η2 = 0.02, p <.001), academic self‐efficacy (partial η2 = 0.02, p <.001), study engagement (partial η2 = 0.01, p =.041), and improved Chinese performance (partial η2 = 0.07, p <.001), with lower helpless attributions (partial η2 = 0.03, p <.001) over time. The intervention had direct and indirect effects (i.e., via the growth mindset) on helpless attributions and academic self‐efficacy, with an indirect effect on study engagement.The results support the effectiveness of the brief growth mindset intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What were relevant predictors of individuals' proclivity to adhere to recommended health‐protective behaviors during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Denmark? Applying machine learning (namely, lasso regression) to a repeated cross‐sectional survey spanning 10 months comprising 25 variables (Study 1; N = 15,062), we found empathy toward those most vulnerable to COVID‐19, knowledge about how to protect oneself from getting infected, and perceived moral costs of nonadherence to be strong predictors of individuals' self‐reported adherence to recommended health‐protective behaviors. We further explored the relations between these three factors and individuals' self‐reported proclivity for adherence to recommended health‐protective behaviors as they unfold between and within individuals over time in a second study, a Danish panel study comprising eight measurement occasions spanning eight months (N = 441). Results of this study suggest that the relations largely occurred at the trait‐like interindividual level, as opposed to at the state‐like intraindividual level. Together, the findings provide insights into what were relevant predictors for individuals' overall level of adherence to recommended health‐protective behaviors (in Denmark) as well as how these predictors might (not) be leveraged to promote public adherence in future epidemics or pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behavioral restrictions disrupting daily life during the COVID‐19 pandemic have profoundly impacted well‐being, and health behaviors have been advocated to prevent decline. To understand how processes related to fluctuation in well‐being unfold within individuals, analyses on the within‐person level are required. In this preregistered intensive longitudinal study, 1,709 individuals from the Norwegian adult population provided data daily over 40 consecutive days during the pandemic. The responses were modeled in a multilevel vector autoregressive model to estimate within‐person networks, across and within‐day, and a between‐person network. All three networks revealed productivity, relatedness, and optimism as positively associated. Social distancing was contemporaneously negatively associated with productivity and relatedness. Among behavioral factors, being physically active predicted lower relatedness across days but displayed positive associations with relatedness, productivity, and optimism contemporaneously. Alcohol consumption predicted lower productivity across and within‐day, although revealing a positive association with optimism within‐day. Being social online and feeling related to others displayed a temporal negative bidirectional relationship. In contrast, being social online was positively associated with optimism, productivity, and relatedness contemporaneously. Our study emphasizes the dynamic nature of well‐being and its complex associations with behavioral factors during the pandemic. The study shed light on opposing associations of behavioral factors at the within‐ and between‐person level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective was to assess the link between emotional competence (EC) and adjustment outcomes such as supportive care needs (SCN) and anxious–depressive symptoms in cancer patients starting chemotherapy. The second objective was to assess the interaction effect between EC and the COVID‐19 pandemic (i.e. patients included before or during the pandemic) on these outcomes. At the beginning of care, 255 patients with digestive or hematological cancer, recruited before the pandemic began (n = 156, 61.2%) or during the pandemic (n = 99, 38.8%), completed the Short Profile of Emotional Competence, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Supportive Care Needs Survey Short Form. Partial correlations and multiple regressions were used. Intrapersonal EC showed negative significant correlations with psychological unmet SCN (r = −.32, p <.001), anxiety (r = −.37, p <.001), and depression (r = −.46, p <.001). Interpersonal EC showed only significant interaction effects (p <.05): it was only associated with fewer unmet physical and daily SCN (p <.002) and fewer depressive symptoms (p <.004) during pandemic. Results show significant associations between intrapersonal EC and better adjustment of cancer patients from the early stage of care. Interpersonal EC seems to be a significant resource to deal with illness only in difficult contexts such as the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly affected the psychological well‐being of individuals worldwide. Previous research has indicated that values and beliefs, particularly social axioms, are associated with psychological responses during crises. However, most of the studies have focused on specific regions; the impact of social axioms on a global scale remains unclear. We conducted a multinational study comprising stratified samples of 18,171 participants from 35 cultures. Using multilevel modeling, we examined the associations between social axioms, personal worry, normative concerns, trust, and individuals' psychological responses to the pandemic. The results showed that greater personal worry and normative concerns predicted more negative psychological responses. Furthermore, the study also identified significant buffering effects at the societal level, as cultures with higher overall levels of fate control, religiosity, or reward for application exhibited weaker associations between personal worry and negative responses. Our findings reveal the influence of social axioms on psychological responses during the pandemic, with varying effects across cultures. The buffering effects of fate control, religiosity, and reward for application underscore the importance of considering cultural differences and individual variability when examining the impact of social axioms on psychological outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic, university students were exposed to increased stress, which significantly affected their well‐being. This study examines the coping mechanisms employed by Chinese university students during this crisis, with a particular focus on the potential protective role of coping flexibility in maintaining their well‐being. Using the transactional stress model and the dual‐process theory of coping flexibility, this longitudinal study analyzed the responses of 206 Chinese university students at three measurement points in late 2022. The findings suggest that disruptions in daily life during the pandemic likely led students to engage in problematic internet use as a coping strategy, which subsequently led to reduced well‐being. However, the study also shows that coping flexibility plays a crucial protective role in maintaining students' well‐being. These findings highlight the urgent need for targeted interventions aimed at enhancing coping flexibility among university students, especially in the evolving post‐pandemic landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has been suggested to increase the risk of memory decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD), the main cause of dementia in the elderly. However, direct evidence about whether COVID‐19 induces AD‐like neuropathological changes in the brain, especially post recovery from acute infection, is still lacking. Here, using postmortem human brain samples, we found abnormal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein in the hippocampus and medial entorhinal cortex within 4–13 months post clinically recovery from acute COVID‐19, together with prolonged activation of glia cells and increases in inflammatory factors, even though no SARS‐COV‐2 invasion was detected in these regions. By contrast, COVID‐19 did not change beta‐amyloid deposition and hippocampal neuron number, and had limited effects on AD‐related pathological phenotypes in olfactory circuits including olfactory bulb, anterior olfactory nucleus, olfactory tubercle, piriform cortex and lateral entorhinal cortex. These results provide neuropathological evidences linking COVID‐19 with prognostic increase of risk for AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: In 2021, infection control guidelines, including those specific to feeding environments, were introduced by the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees to reduce virus transmission at the Tokyo 2020 Summer and Beijing 2022 Winter games. This observational cross‐sectional study aimed to investigate caterers' compliance to these guidelines which included measures for personal hygiene, sanitisation, and physical distancing at these events. Methods: Expert sport dietitians attending Tokyo (n = 15) and Beijing (n = 7) games were surveyed to rate 11 COVID‐19 countermeasures as fully (100%), partially or non‐compliant at nine dining locations across both events. Descriptive analysis of each countermeasure based on observed compliance and location was conducted and reported as a proportion of the total responses. To better understand participant perspectives of the factors influencing compliance, open responses were systematically coded into themes and sub‐themes by researchers through content analysis. Themes generated from participant comments were categorised based on their relevance to specific countermeasures and locations to identify commonalities and disparities in participant experiences, perceptions, and observations. Results: All main dining halls at both events were observed as 100% compliant to countermeasures on more occasions compared with Tokyo's venues and satellite villages. However, Beijing's three main dining halls, showed a greater compliance compared with Tokyo's main dining hall, likely due to overcrowding in Tokyo. Comments suggested that smaller dining spaces, with overcrowding, may have contributed to reduced compliance to physical distancing measures. Food safety concerns were raised about gastrointestinal distress in Beijing due to food cross‐contamination. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the food service environment may influence caterers' abilities to comply with foodservice safety and infection control guidelines. In the post‐pandemic era, enhanced quality control and standardised risk mitigation strategies are needed to improve athletes' health at international sporting events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Localization is increasingly invoked in debates about how to reform international aid: to improve aid effectiveness and address ethical concerns by turning hierarchical aid relations on their head. This has proved to be easier said than done. The COVID‐19 pandemic produced logistical impediments to aid practitioners, which translated into a renewed, if temporary, interest in localization. Purpose: The initial scope of the research engaged with the notion of partnership during COVID‐19, but almost all informants drew attention to the concept of localization. The article maps and analyses the challenges and advantages of localization, as seen from the practitioners' perspective. Approach and methods: The article draws on 24 interviews conducted in Oslo with representatives of various Norwegian development and humanitarian non‐governmental organizations and government agencies, in addition to policy and grey literature review. Findings: The article shows that the re‐emergence of the localization debate during COVID‐19 occurred not because of any ambition to reform aid, but as a pragmatic and temporary response to the logistical impediments caused by the pandemic. Reflections from the interviewees on the pros and cons offer more substantial insights into why localization fails to change practice, while at the same time localization enables a form of indirect governance related to accountability regimes. This is analysed as developmentality, reflecting the logic that localization takes place when recipients do as donors want, but they do so voluntarily, which suggests that localization counterintuitively may reinforce existing power structures. Policy implications: Localization is poorly conceptualized. While a definition could be helpful in practice, one that is too rigid could undermine the diversity of actors and knowledge that localization aims to advance. At the operational level, localization requires greater flexibility and slack throughout the aid chain, especially in the audit and accountability regimes of donor and funding authorities, which permeate and uphold lopsided aid relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic, which originated in China at the end of 2019, escalated into a global crisis by March 2020. To mitigate its spread, governments worldwide implemented strict lockdown measures. While these lockdowns had adverse social, economic, and health impacts, they also led to significant environmental improvements in many regions. India's urban environment also significantly improved during lockdown. This study investigates the changes in Land Surface Temperature (LST) across eight major Indian cities, each representing diverse climatic and physiographic zones: Delhi, Dehradun, Lucknow, Kolkata, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. It aims to enhance the understanding of how sudden reductions in anthropogenic activities influence urban temperatures. The LST was computed for the lockdown period of April to May 2020 and was compared with the pre‐lockdown years of 2018 and 2019 and the post‐lockdown year of 2021, utilizing Landsat thermal data processed through the mono‐window algorithm. The results exhibit significant reductions in LST during the lockdown period. Cities like Delhi, Dehradun, and Lucknow experienced a reduction of 6°C, 5°C, and 4°C, respectively, in LST from pre‐lockdown to lockdown periods. In contrast, cities like Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, and Hyderabad experienced a reduction of around 2°C–3°C. However, the city of Kolkata showed an increase of 3°C from 2019 to 2020. These results highlight the substantial influence of human activities on urban thermal environments and underline the potential benefits of reducing anthropogenic impacts to improve urban thermal well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid‐19 is a highly infectious respiratory disease that spreads quickly between individuals and has been recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Chest x‐ray images, lung computed tomography images, and polymerase chain reaction tests are generally used to diagnose this disease by the doctors. Nevertheless, manual diagnosis of Covid‐19 disease is laborious and requires highly experienced professionals. Therefore, automated systems are always needed to assist doctors in their diagnostic decisions. In the field of medicine and healthcare, artificial intelligence and deep learning currently offer incredibly effective and rapid automatic decision‐support systems. Since sensitive data is used to diagnose Covid‐19, privacy has become a major concern in research that uses artificial intelligence and deep learning. In order to eliminate these issues, this paper proposes a novel deep learning model that privately detects Covid‐19 disease. The proposed model utilizes differential privacy technique to provide data privacy and convolutional neural network to diagnose Covid‐19 disease. The performance of the proposed model was evaluated through experiments conducted on five different datasets, resulting a maximum accuracy rate of 97%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the social support provided by domestic animals to humans during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The study comprises interviews with 39 British and American pet owners during March 2021, the point at which the UK had recently emerged from the third national lockdown and US states were under various restrictions. A thematic network approach to data analysis revealed four global themes, illustrating how pets provided buffers to the stress of the pandemic, facilitated ontological security by maintaining a sense of routine and purpose, offered myriad types of emotional support and enhanced and enabled wider social support. Taken together, these results reinforce and extend knowledge pertaining to the importance of companion animals for social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long covid (persistent COVID‐19) is a new disease with contested aetiology and variable prognosis. We report a 2‐year ethnography of UK long covid clinics. Using a preformative lens, we show that multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) built working knowledge based on shared practices, mutual trust, distributed cognition (e.g. emails, record entries), relational knowledge of what was at stake for the patient, and harnessing uncertainty to open new discursive spaces. Most long covid MDTs performed the working knowledge of 'rehabilitation', a linked set of practices oriented to ensuring that the patient understood and strove to 'correct' maladaptive physiological responses (e.g. through breathing exercises) and pursued recovery goals, supported by physiotherapists, psychologists and generalist clinicians. Some MDTs with a higher proportion of doctors (e.g. cardiologists, neurologists, immunologists) enacted the working knowledge of 'microscopic damage', seeking to elucidate and rectify long covid's underlying molecular and cellular pathology. They justified non‐standard investigations and medication in selected patients by co‐constructing an evidentiary narrative based on biological mechanisms. Working knowledge was ontologically concordant within MDTs but sometimes discordant between MDTs. Overt ontological conflict occurred mostly when patients attending 'rehabilitation' clinics invoked the working knowledge of microscopic damage that had been generated and circulated in online support communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic had a disproportionate impact on ethnically minoritised and other marginalised communities, yet little is known about the impacts of long COVID‐19 (LC) on this group. Living with LC takes its toll both physically, emotionally and financially and even more so when a diagnosis is hard to come by. By using qualitative interviews centring the view of undiagnosed and marginalised communities already classed as 'underserved' in the medical literature, we show the range of barriers and impacts faced by these groups in the UK, and the strategies of resilience they use. Whether trapped on a 'diagnostic odyssey' at the level of primary care, struggling to maintain employment and businesses, or managing family commitments, we argue many minoritised communities are caught in a liminal space of misrecognition, invalidation and ambiguity. We show how these impacts are generated by tensions and challenges in the process and categorisation of diagnosis, and how this effects the daily lives of many individuals already on the receiving end of health inequity. We also offer some examples and suggestions for best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The British HIV Association (BHIVA) guidelines were amended during the coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, allowing for less frequent monitoring of routine bloods. We assessed the impact of this on patient outcomes. Methods: Between April 2020 and March 2021, routine blood appointments at our HIV clinic were replaced by virtual consultations in 'stable' people living with HIV (PLWH), defined using standard operating procedure (SOP) criteria. All had an undetectable HIV viral load (VL) (<50 copies/mL). Demographic, HIV clinical information, and antiretroviral treatment (ART) data were collated using the electronic patient record (EPR). Blood results from before (baseline) and after (follow‐up) the omitted appointment were analysed for each parameter. Results: In all, 791/2395 PLWH were scheduled to have blood tests omitted; 381 were excluded for reasons including not fitting the SOP criteria or presenting to clinic early, and 410 were included in analysis. The demographics of the group were consistent with our whole HIV cohort. HIV VL became detectable in 8/410 individuals (1.95%, range 51–730 copies/mL). VL resuppressed in 6/8 after a median of 29 days. VL remained detectable in two individuals, both of whom remain in care. Routine blood monitoring revealed baseline and follow‐up blood parameters that were largely within normal range. Four out of 12 parameters had statistically significant changes but were not considered clinically significant; 59/410 (14.4%) changed ART, most commonly for simplification. Conclusion: For the majority of stable PLWH included in our evaluation, the omission of routine blood monitoring during the pandemic did not have a negative impact on HIV suppression or blood monitoring outcomes. ART switch was uncommon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although many healthcare settings have since returned to pre‐pandemic levels of operation, long‐term care (LTC) facilities have experienced extended and significant changes to operations, including unprecedented levels of short staffing and facility closures, that may have a detrimental effect on resident outcomes. This study assessed the pandemic's extended effect on outcomes for LTC residents, comparing outcomes 1 and 2 years after the start of the pandemic to pre‐pandemic times, with special focus on residents with frailty and dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. Methods: Using Medicare claims data from January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2022, we ran over‐dispersed Poisson models to compare the monthly adjusted rates of emergency department use, hospitalization, and mortality among LTC residents, comparing residents with and without frailty and dually enrolled and non‐dually enrolled residents. Results: Two years after the start of the pandemic, adjusted emergency department (ED) and hospitalization rates were lower and adjusted mortality rates were higher compared with pre‐pandemic years for all examined subgroups. For example, compared with 2018–2019, 2022 ED visit rates for dually enrolled residents were 0.89 times lower, hospitalization rates were 0.87 times lower, and mortality rates were 1.17 higher; 2022 ED visit rates for frail residents were 0.85 times lower, hospitalization rates were 0.83 times lower, and mortality rates were 1.21 higher. Conclusions: In 2022, emergency department and hospital utilization rates among long‐term residents were lower than pre‐pandemic levels and mortality rates were higher than pre‐pandemic levels. These findings suggest that the pandemic has had an extended impact on outcomes for LTC residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: University students experienced significant changes in their routines with the implementation of remote learning during Covid‐19 pandemic, including increase in sedentary behavior (SB) time and ultra‐processed foods (UPF's) consumption, which may have influenced changes in body mass index (BMI). Objective: To evaluate the association between the variation in SB time and UPF's consumption with the variation in BMI, before and during the pandemic, in university students. Methods: This is a cross‐sectional study, conducted between November 2020 and February 2021, with students from a public university of Southeast of Brazil, who answered an online questionnaire with questions regarding to the period before and during the pandemic. SB was assessed through questions about time spent on TV and electronic devices. A score of the frequency of UPF's consumption was estimated based on the Brazilian Food Guide. Self‐reported information on height and body mass was used to calculate BMI. Results: The sample comprised 3390 university students, with an average age of 28.7 (± 10.0) years. Among them, 65.4% were undergraduates, and 66.9% were women. SB time, UPF score, and BMI increased significantly during the pandemic, compared to the previous period. In this population, there was a significant association between increased SB time (β = 0.06; SE = 0.01; p < 0.001) and UPF score (β = 0.08; SE = 0.01; p < 0.001) with an increase in BMI. Conclusion: Changes in SB time and UPF score were associated with an increase in BMI before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic in students from a Brazilian University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The sex ratio at birth (SRB), calculated as male divided by total live births, is an important indicator of population health. Typically, male live births slightly outnumber female live births. Population events, including pandemics, can alter the SRB, with effects sometimes evident 9 months post‐event, potentially due to changes in sexual behavior and/or stress levels. This study investigates the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the SRB in the Republic of Ireland. Methods: Publicly available monthly live birth data for Ireland were obtained from the Central Statistics Office for the period 2015 to 2021. Time series analysis predicted the SRB for 2020 using data from 2015 to 2019, with comparisons made between observed and predicted values. Results: In December 2020, 9 months after the March 2020 COVID‐19 declaration, the observed SRB sharply fell to 49.44% (97.80 males for every 100 females), below the 95% prediction interval of 50.31% to 52.15%, significantly deviating from the expected male predominance. December 2020 also recorded the lowest average daily number of births (n = 145) in the study period. Conclusion: The sharp decline in the SRB in December 2020, alongside the lowest birth count, suggests reduced sexual intercourse at the population level, particularly in March 2020, aligning with recommendations from Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE). The HSE advocated precautionary measures such as limiting partnered sex in March 2020 to mitigate the spread of COVID‐19. These findings highlight the pandemic's potential impact on population dynamics and stress the importance of SRB monitoring as a low‐cost and readily available health indicator, especially during national crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Severe acute syndrome coronavirus 2 can invade a variety of tissues, including the testis. Even though this virus is scarcely found in human semen polymerase chain reaction tests, autopsy studies confirm the viral presence in all testicular cell types, including spermatozoa and spermatids. Objective: To investigate whether the severe acute syndrome coronavirus 2 is present inside the spermatozoa of negative polymerase chain reaction‐infected men up to 3 months after hospital discharge. Materials and methods: This cross‐sectional study included 13 confirmed moderate‐to‐severe COVID‐19 patients enrolled 30–90 days after the diagnosis. Semen samples were obtained and examined with real‐time polymerase chain reaction for RNA detection and by transmission electron microscopy. Results: In moderate‐to‐severe clinical scenarios, we identified the severe acute syndrome coronavirus 2 inside spermatozoa in nine of 13 patients up to 90 days after discharge from the hospital. Moreover, some DNA‐based extracellular traps were reported in all studied specimens. Discussion and conclusion: Although severe acute syndrome coronavirus 2 was not present in the infected men's semen, it was intracellularly present in the spermatozoa till 3 months after hospital discharge. The Electron microscopy (EM) findings also suggest that spermatozoa produce nuclear DNA‐based extracellular traps, probably in a cell‐free DNA‐dependent manner, similar to those previously described in the systemic inflammatory response to COVID‐19. In moderate‐to‐severe cases, the blood–testes barrier grants little defence against different pathogenic viruses, including the severe acute syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus could also use the epididymis as a post‐testicular route to bind and fuse to the mature spermatozoon and possibly accomplish the reverse transcription of the single‐stranded viral RNA into proviral DNA. These mechanisms can elicit extracellular cell‐free DNA formation. The potential implications of our findings for assisted conception must be addressed, and the evolutionary history of DNA‐based extracellular traps as preserved ammunition in animals' innate defence might improve our understanding of the severe acute syndrome coronavirus 2 pathophysiology in the testis and spermatozoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]