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Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is not only a critical component in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), but also suggested as an important mediator for immune response and activity, such as immune cell mobilization, metabolism, biogenesis of immunoregulatory molecules, etc. The chronic duration of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has been increasingly considered to be triggered by uncontrolled pathologic immune reactions from myeloid cells and lymphocytes. Considering the potential anti-inflammatory effect of the traditional antihypertensive ACE inhibitor (ACEi), we attempt to elucidate whether ACE and its catalytically relevant substances as well as signaling pathways play a role in the immunity-related pathogenesis of common CVD, such as arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis and arrythmias. ACEi was also reported to benefit the prognoses of COVID-19-positive patients with CVD, and COVID-19 disease with preexisting CVD or subsequent cardiovascular damage is featured by a significant influx of immune cells and proinflammatory molecules, suggesting that ACE may also participate in COVID-19 induced cardiovascular injury, because COVID-19 disease basically triggers an overactive pathologic immune response. Hopefully, the ACE inhibition and manipulation of those associated bioactive signals could supplement the current medicinal management of various CVD and bring greater benefit to patients' cardiovascular health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Emotional distress, including depressive and anxiety symptoms, is a common concern among pregnant individuals and has negative impacts on maternal and offspring's health. Previous studies indicated the heterogeneity of perinatal emotional distress. Moreover, during the pandemic of COVID-19, expectant mothers are faced with more tough challenges, which could exacerbate their emotional distress., Objective: The aim of present study is to examine potential subgroups with distinct profiles on emotional distress and relationship resources during the pandemic., Methods: A total of 187 pregnant people in China were recruited from April 22 to May 16 in 2020. Latent profile analysis was applied based on prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms, COVID-19-related negative emotions, prenatal attachment, marital satisfaction and family sense of coherence., Results: Four subgroups were identified. Group 1 and Group 2 shared with low levels of emotional distress and COVID-19-related negative emotions, among which Group 1 had plenty of relationship resources, while Group 2 had insufficient support. Group 3 had moderate levels of emotional distress but above-average prenatal attachment. Group 4 was a highly distressed subtype with severe emotional distress and poor states across all domains., Conclusion: Our findings support that emotion distress among expecting mothers is heterogeneous, highlighting the need for tailed interventions to address the specific needs of subgroups during pregnancy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasting COVID-19 trends to support planning and response was a priority for scientists and decision makers alike. In the United States, COVID-19 forecasting was coordinated by a large group of universities, companies, and government entities led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub (https://covid19forecasthub.org). We evaluated approximately 9.7 million forecasts of weekly state-level COVID-19 cases for predictions 1-4 weeks into the future submitted by 24 teams from August 2020 to December 2021. We assessed coverage of central prediction intervals and weighted interval scores (WIS), adjusting for missing forecasts relative to a baseline forecast, and used a Gaussian generalized estimating equation (GEE) model to evaluate differences in skill across epidemic phases that were defined by the effective reproduction number. Overall, we found high variation in skill across individual models, with ensemble-based forecasts outperforming other approaches. Forecast skill relative to the baseline was generally higher for larger jurisdictions (e.g., states compared to counties). Over time, forecasts generally performed worst in periods of rapid changes in reported cases (either in increasing or decreasing epidemic phases) with 95% prediction interval coverage dropping below 50% during the growth phases of the winter 2020, Delta, and Omicron waves. Ideally, case forecasts could serve as a leading indicator of changes in transmission dynamics. However, while most COVID-19 case forecasts outperformed a naïve baseline model, even the most accurate case forecasts were unreliable in key phases. Further research could improve forecasts of leading indicators, like COVID-19 cases, by leveraging additional real-time data, addressing performance across phases, improving the characterization of forecast confidence, and ensuring that forecasts were coherent across spatial scales. In the meantime, it is critical for forecast users to appreciate current limitations and use a broad set of indicators to inform pandemic-related decision making., Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: APP report grants from Metabiota Inc outside the submitted work. J.S. and Columbia University declare partial ownership of SK Analytics. No other authors have competing interests to declare., (Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.)

The uptake of COVID-19 booster vaccination among older adults in China is suboptimal. Here, we report the results of a parallel-group cluster-randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of promoting COVID-19 booster vaccination among grandparents (≥60 years) through a health education intervention delivered to their grandchildren (aged ≥16 years) in a Chinese cohort (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2200063240 ). The primary outcome was the uptake rate of COVID-19 booster dose among grandparents. Secondary outcomes include grandparents' attitude and intention to get a COVID-19 booster dose. A total of 202 college students were randomized 1:1 to either the intervention arm of web-based health education and 14 daily reminders (n = 188 grandparents) or control arm (n = 187 grandparents) and reported their grandparents' COVID-19 booster vaccination status at baseline and 21 days. Grandparents in the intervention arm were more likely to receive COVID-19 booster vaccination compared to control cohort (intervention, 30.6%; control, 16.9%; risk ratio = 2.00 (95% CI, 1.09 to 3.66)). Grandparents in the intervention arm also had greater attitude change (β = 0.28 (95% CI, 0.04 to 0.52)) and intention change (β = 0.32 (95% CI, 0.12 to 0.52)) to receive a COVID-19 booster dose. Our results show that an educational intervention targeting college students increased COVID-19 booster vaccination uptake among grandparents in China., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Key Points: Nasal tight junction module score correlates negatively to allergy module score in COVID-19. Omicron variant may slow-down tight junction restoration in patients with AR., (© 2023 ARS‐AAOA, LLC.)

From December 2022 to January 2023, SARS-CoV-2 infections caused by BA.5 and BF.7 subvariants of B.1.1.529 (Omicron) spread in China. It is urgently needed to evaluate the protective immune responses in the infected individuals against the current circulating variants to predict the future potential infection waves, such as the BQ.1.1, XBB.1.5, and CH1.1 variants. In this study, we constructed a panel of pseudotyped viruses for SARS-CoV-2 for the past and current circulating variants, including D614G, Delta, BA.1, BA.5, BF.7, BQ.1.1, XBB.1.5 and CH.1.1. We investigated the neutralization sensitivity of these pseudotyped viruses to sera from individuals who had BA.5 or BF.7 breakthrough infections in the infection wave of last December in China. The mean neutralization ID50 against infected variants BA.5 and BF.7 are 533 and 444, respectively. The highest neutralizing antibody level was observed when tested against the D614G strain, with the ID50 of 742, which is about 1.52-folds higher than that against the BA.5/BF.7 variant. The ID50 for BA.1, Delta, and BQ.1.1 pseudotyped viruses were about 2-3 folds lower when compared to BA.5/BF.7. The neutralization activities of these serum samples against XBB.1.5 and CH.1.1 decreased 7.39-folds and 15.25-folds when compared to that against BA.5/BF.7. The immune escape capacity of these two variants might predict new infection waves in future when the neutralizing antibody levels decrease furtherly.

Background and Aims: The end of the zero-COVID-19 policy placed a large number of older adults in China at increased risk of COVID-19 infection. SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing (RAT) is a promising tool for scaling up testing and ensuring that patient management and public health measures can be implemented without delay. We aimed to understand the knowledge and willingness of RAT, and its correlates among older adults in China., Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional survey on knowledge and willingness about RAT among older adults in China was conducted between January 14 and 28, 2023, shortly after the end of the zero-COVID-19 policy. An online questionnaire was used to collect information on sociodemographic characteristics, health characteristics, sources to access RAT information, and attitudes toward COVID-19 and its RAT. Logistic regression was used to assess correlates of knowledge of RAT and willingness to take RAT among older adults., Results: A total of 1030 older adults (494 women and 536 men, mean age 68.7 ± 7.0 years) were recruited. 49.4% of the participants had a high level of RAT knowledge. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, chronic diseases (0.70, 0.49-0.99), learning RAT from new media (5.46, 3.48-8.68) and traditional media (3.35, 2.13-5.34), and perceiving RAT as convenient (4.03, 2.80-5.85) were associated with levels of RAT knowledge. 53.3% of the participants were willing to take RAT. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, learning RAT from new media (8.46, 5.26-14.0) and traditional media (1.63, 1.04-2.55), perceiving RAT as convenient (2.97, 2.10-4.22), and worrying about (re)infection with COVID-19 (2.12, 1.55-2.92) were associated with willingness to take RAT., Conclusion: The levels of RAT knowledge and willingness to take RAT among older adults in China may hinder the scale-up of RAT. Health education about RAT should be strengthened among older adults. Special efforts should be made to integrate traditional and new media to promote RAT among older adults, specifically, for virus susceptibility and the convenience of RAT. Given the reopening of society, our study could inform our response to future novel infectious diseases and aid in the timely scale-up of RAT., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Background: College students generally have good knowledge about COVID-19 and may facilitate COVID-19 vaccination in family. The purpose of this study is to understand college students' willingness to persuade their grandparents to initiate COVID-19 vaccination and the effect of their persuasion., Methods: A combined cross-sectional and experimental study will be conducted online. In the cross-sectional study (Phase I), eligible participants are college students who are aged ≥ 16 years and have at least one living grandparent aged ≥ 60 years who has/have not completed the COVID-19 vaccination. Participants self-complete Questionnaire A to collect information on the socio-demographics of themselves and their grandparents, their knowledge about older adults' COVID-19 vaccination, as well as Health Belief Model (HBM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) predictor variables. The primary outcome at Phase I is college students' willingness to persuade grandparents to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Those who are willing to persuade grandparents and participate in a follow-up survey will be invited to participate in a randomized controlled trial (Phase II). At Phase II, eligible participants are those who have at least one living grandparent aged ≥ 60 years who completed the COVID-19 initial vaccination series but has/have not received a booster dose. At the baseline, participants self-complete Questionnaire B to collect information on individual grandparents' COVID-19 vaccination status, attitude towards and intention to COVID-19 booster dose. Participants will then be randomly allocated 1:1 to either intervention arm (one-week smartphone-based health education on older adults' COVID-19 vaccination plus two weeks' waiting period) or control arm (three weeks' waiting period). At the end of week three, participants in both arms self-complete Questionnaire C to collect information on their grandparents' COVID-19 vaccination status. The primary outcome at Phase II is the uptake rate of COVID-19 booster dose among grandparents. Secondary outcomes include grandparents' attitude and intention to get a COVID-19 booster dose., Discussion: No previous study had measured the effect of college students' persuasion on COVID-19 vaccination uptake in older adults. Findings from this study will provide evidence for innovative and potentially feasible interventions that further promote COVID-19 vaccination in older adults., Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2200063240. Registered 2 September 2022., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Competing Interests: None

Over the past thirty years, the importance of chemokines and their seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) has been increasingly recognized. Chemokine interactions with receptors trigger signaling pathway activity to form a network fundamental to diverse immune processes, including host homeostasis and responses to disease. Genetic and nongenetic regulation of both the expression and structure of chemokines and receptors conveys chemokine functional heterogeneity. Imbalances and defects in the system contribute to the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases, including cancer, immune and inflammatory diseases, and metabolic and neurological disorders, which render the system a focus of studies aiming to discover therapies and important biomarkers. The integrated view of chemokine biology underpinning divergence and plasticity has provided insights into immune dysfunction in disease states, including, among others, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this review, by reporting the latest advances in chemokine biology and results from analyses of a plethora of sequencing-based datasets, we outline recent advances in the understanding of the genetic variations and nongenetic heterogeneity of chemokines and receptors and provide an updated view of their contribution to the pathophysiological network, focusing on chemokine-mediated inflammation and cancer. Clarification of the molecular basis of dynamic chemokine-receptor interactions will help advance the understanding of chemokine biology to achieve precision medicine application in the clinic., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Since the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, the frequency of smartphone use has surged, which has caused an increase in smartphone addiction among individuals. Smartphone addiction can impair various cognitive abilities. However, to date, the impact of smartphone addiction on creative cognition remains unclear. The current functional near-infrared spectroscopy study compared neural differences between smartphone addiction tendency (SAT) and healthy control (HC) individuals during creative idea generation. In particular, by manipulating a key component of creative cognition, that is, overcoming semantic constraints, we explored whether SAT individuals could overcome semantic constraints. Both the SAT and HC groups completed the alternate uses task (AUT) in semantic constraint and unconstraint conditions. The results indicated that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and temporal regions were less active during AUT in the SAT group than in the HC group. In the SAT group, the PFC was less active under constraint than unconstraint conditions. Moreover, both task-related and resting-state functional connectivity analyses indicated weaker coupling between the PFC and temporal regions in the SAT than in the HC group. Furthermore, the left dorsolateral PFC mediated the effect of smartphone addiction on creative performance. These findings provide unprecedented neuroimaging evidence on the negative impact of smartphone addiction on creative cognition., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press.)

Our study aims to assess the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination and its associated factors among Chinese college students. A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 18 May to 17 June 2022. A total of 3916 participants were included. The coverage of the first dose, complete vaccination and booster vaccination among college students was 99.49%, 81.96% and 79.25%, respectively. College students with an older age (AOR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.57-0.90), non-medical major (0.47, 0.37-0.61) and studying in north-east China (0.35, 0.22-0.58) were less likely to complete vaccination. Individuals who were female (1.62, 1.35-1.94) and received a recombinant subunit vaccine (8.05, 5.21-12.45) were more likely to complete vaccination. Non-medical students (0.56, 0.43-0.73) and students studying in north-east China (0.28, 0.16-0.49) were less likely to receive a booster dose, while female students (1.51, 1.23-1.85) had a higher likelihood. The main reason for being unvaccinated was "contraindication" (75.00%), and the main reason for not receiving a booster dose was "being too busy to attend to it" (61.37%). This study demonstrated a high adherence to the COVID-19 vaccination policy among Chinese college students. Targeted strategies should be applied to remove barriers to COVID-19 vaccination among college students.

Although many studies have suggested that nature-based activities have a healing effect on human beings, there is little research on the underlying mechanism. This study investigated the role of nature connectedness in the relationship between the perception of nature and individuals' physical and psychological health. We recruited essential workers who participated in disease prevention and control during the COVID-19 pandemic and their family members as the subjects for this study. The stress levels experienced by this group made them an ideal sample. The results of a survey-based study showed that nature-based activities had a positive effect on alleviating state anxiety levels. The results also showed that nature-based activities affected perceived restoration via the feeling of nature connectedness. This study examined the healing effect of nature-based activities that stimulate the five senses and nature connectedness and explored the potential of nature-based treatments for people experiencing high levels of stress.

Short-term probabilistic forecasts of the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States have served as a visible and important communication channel between the scientific modeling community and both the general public and decision-makers. Forecasting models provide specific, quantitative, and evaluable predictions that inform short-term decisions such as healthcare staffing needs, school closures, and allocation of medical supplies. Starting in April 2020, the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub (https://covid19forecasthub.org/) collected, disseminated, and synthesized tens of millions of specific predictions from more than 90 different academic, industry, and independent research groups. A multimodel ensemble forecast that combined predictions from dozens of groups every week provided the most consistently accurate probabilistic forecasts of incident deaths due to COVID-19 at the state and national level from April 2020 through October 2021. The performance of 27 individual models that submitted complete forecasts of COVID-19 deaths consistently throughout this year showed high variability in forecast skill across time, geospatial units, and forecast horizons. Two-thirds of the models evaluated showed better accuracy than a naïve baseline model. Forecast accuracy degraded as models made predictions further into the future, with probabilistic error at a 20-wk horizon three to five times larger than when predicting at a 1-wk horizon. This project underscores the role that collaboration and active coordination between governmental public-health agencies, academic modeling teams, and industry partners can play in developing modern modeling capabilities to support local, state, and federal response to outbreaks.

Purpose: This study aimed to detect the epidemiological relevance between adenoid hypertrophy (AH) and rhinosinusitis, and AH and allergic rhinitis (AR) through an Internet search., Methods: Internet search query data from January 2011 to December 2019 in China were retrieved from the Baidu Index (BI). Spearman's correlation coefficients were used to detect the correlation among the search volumes of AH, rhinosinusitis, and AR. We also collected search data from the first 5 months of 2020, when quarantine was implemented in China due to the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic. Then, we compared the search data to those obtained during the same period in 2019 to assess the effects of isolation on AH and AR., Results: Statistically significant relevance was found between the search variations of AH and rhinosinusitis during 2011-2019 (R = 0.643, P < 0.05). However, the relationship between AH and AR was weak (R =  - 0.239, P < 0.05) and that between rhinosinusitis and AR (R =  - 0.022, P > 0.05) was not relevant. The average monthly search volume of AH and rhinosinusitis had a strong correlation (R = 0.846, P < 0.01), but AH and AR and rhinosinusitis and AR were not correlated (R = - 0.350, P > 0.05; R = - 0.042, P > 0.05, respectively). AH and rhinosinusitis search volumes decreased consistently during the first 5 months of 2020 (isolation), whereas that for AR increased during January-February., Conclusion: AH had an epidemiological relationship with rhinosinusitis, which was not consistent with AR. The decrease in public gathering effectively reduced the morbidities of AH and rhinosinusitis but not those of AR., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, online courses have been extensively used from K-12 to higher education. Online learning engagement, an important factor in online learning success, is currently at a low level in high school. Meanwhile, the research on the factors that influence high school students' online learning engagement is still limited. Objectives: Based on the theories of regulatory focus and value control, this study developed a multi-mediation model to investigate whether self-efficacy and academic emotions can mediate the relationship between regulatory focus and online learning engagement. Methods: A total of 926 high school student (52.16% female, mean age = 16.47 years) were recruited to participate in this study and completed self-report measures of regulatory focus, online learning engagement, online learning self-efficacy and academic emotions. And we used SPSS macro PROCESS developed by Hayes to examine the mediating role of online learning self-efficacy and academic emotions. Results and Conclusions: The results indicated that promotion focus had a stable positive effect on online learning engagement of high school students, whereas prevention focus had a significant negative effect on the same. Self-efficacy and positive emotions had a significant positive mediating effect between promotion focus and online learning engagement. Moreover, positive emotions had a significant positive mediating effect between the prevention focus and online learning engagement, while negative emotions had a significant negative mediating effect between them.

Over the past few months, the outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been expanding over the world. A reliable and accurate dataset of the cases is vital for scientists to conduct related research and policy-makers to make better decisions. We collect the United States COVID-19 daily reported data from four open sources: the New York Times, the COVID-19 Data Repository by Johns Hopkins University, the COVID Tracking Project at the Atlantic, and the USAFacts, then compare the similarities and differences among them. To obtain reliable data for further analysis, we first examine the cyclical pattern and the following anomalies, which frequently occur in the reported cases: (1) the order dependencies violation, (2) the point or period anomalies, and (3) the issue of reporting delay. To address these detected issues, we propose the corresponding repairing methods and procedures if corrections are necessary. In addition, we integrate the COVID-19 reported cases with the county-level auxiliary information of the local features from official sources, such as health infrastructure, demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental information, which are also essential for understanding the spread of the virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemic modelling is an essential tool to understand the spread of the novel coronavirus and ultimately assist in disease prevention, policymaking, and resource allocation. In this article, we establish a state-of-the-art interface between classic mathematical and statistical models and propose a novel space-time epidemic modelling framework to study the spatial-temporal pattern in the spread of infectious diseases. We propose a quasi-likelihood approach via the penalised spline approximation and alternatively reweighted least-squares technique to estimate the model. The proposed estimators are consistent, and the asymptotic normality is established for the constant coefficients. Utilizing spatiotemporal analysis, our proposed model enhances the dynamics of the epidemiological mechanism and dissects the spatiotemporal structure of the spreading disease. We evaluate the numerical performance of the proposed method through a simulation example. Finally, we apply the proposed method in the study of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores how the COVID-19 pandemic gives an impact on Chinese stock and bond markets. We conduct a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model and use the Granger causality test to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the securities market and the transfer of risk between the stock market and the bond market. The empirical results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has a significant negative impact on the stock market and a significant positive impact on the bond market. The volatility of the stock market affects the bond market, but the volatility of the bond market does not affect the stock market. Our findings suggest that investors and regulators should raise risk awareness and properly transfer assets between the stock market and the bond market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]