Background The COVID-19 pandemic increased attention to digital tools to support governmental public health policies in East and South-East Asia. Mobile apps related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to emerge and evolve with a wide variety of characteristics and functions. However, there is a paucity of studies evaluating such apps in this region, with most of the available studies conducted in the early days of the pandemic. Objective This study aimed to examine free apps developed or supported by governments in the East and South-East Asian region and highlight their key characteristics and functions. We also sought to interpret how the release dates of these apps were related to the commencement dates of other COVID-19 public health policies. Methods We systematically searched for apps in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and analyzed the contents of eligible apps. Mobile apps released or updated with COVID-19–related functions between March 1 and May 7, 2021, in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China (mainland), Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines were included. The CoronaNet Research Project database was also examined to determine the timeline of public health policy commencement dates in relation to the release dates of the included apps. We assessed each app’s official website, media reports, and literature through content analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize relevant information gathered from the mobile apps using RStudio. Results Of the 1943 mobile apps initially identified, 46 were eligible, with almost 70% of the apps being intended for the general public. Most apps were from Vietnam (n=9, 20%), followed by Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand (n=6 each, 13%). Of note, most apps for quarantine monitoring (n=6, 13%) were mandatory for the target users or a population subset. The most common function was health monitoring (32/46, 70%), followed by raising public health awareness (19/46, 41%) through education and information dissemination. Other functions included monitoring quarantine (12/46, 26%), providing health resources (12/46, 26%). COVID-19 vaccination management functions began to appear in parallel with vaccine rollout (7/46, 15%). Regarding the timing of the introduction of mobile solutions, the majority of mobile apps emerged close to the commencement dates of other public health policies in the early stages of the pandemic between March and April 2020. Conclusions In East and South-East Asia, most governments used mobile health apps as adjuncts to public health measures for tracking COVID-19 cases and delivering credible information. In addition, these apps have evolved by expanding their functions for COVID-19 vaccination.
The aims of our review were: (i) to evaluate the effect of post-operative upper extremity exercise on maturation of AVFs, stratified by their locations. (ii) To evaluate the effect of pre-operative arm exercise on patients’ superficial vein caliber of patients. Literature search was performed on PubMed, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) to identify eligible articles. The quality of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool 2.0. In the Meta-analysis, Risk ratios (RRs) of clinical maturation and ultrasonographic maturation were pooled from studies focused on post-operative exercise program; Mean difference (MD) of venous caliver was pooled from those studied pre-operative exercise. Nine studies (six for post-operative exercise; three for pre-operative exercise) were included in the review. Among the AVFs created in distal region (158 patients in exercise group and 144 patients in control group), there was a significantly superior clinical maturation (RR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.10–1.48, p = 0.001; I2 = 0), and ultrasonographic maturation (RR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.07–1.59, p = 0.009; I2 = 0) in the exercise group in comparison to the control group. For the AVFs created in proximal region (93 and 96 patients in exercise group and control group respectively), there is no significant difference in clinical maturation (RR:1.25, 95% CI: 0.88–1.78, p = 0.27, I2 = 74%) and ultrasonographic maturation (RR: 1.17, 95% CI: 0.97–1.40, p = 0.11, I2 = 43%) between the exercise group and controls. For pre-operative exercise, the mean difference of 0.34 mm (95% CI: 0.23–0.46, p < 0.001, I2 = 87% ) was found for vein size. In conclusion, existing upper extremity exercise programs appear to be useful in facilitating maturation of AVFs created in distal region, while its effect on fistulas created in proximal region is less certain. However, more robust trials are warranted to establish these findings.
Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder, is characterized by behavioural deficits in social behaviour, social communication, and interfered repetitive behavior. In recent years, due to the increased morbidity of autism, research focusing on the therapies of autistic people raises public concern and gains the attention of researchers in related fields. Music therapy has the strengths of high convenience and low costs and therefore becomes prevalent in recent years. However, considering the different study design, and diverse backgrounds of participants in existing studies, there is no conclusive results on the effects of music therapy on autism. This article mainly reviewed existing randomized controlled trials which investigated the association between music therapy and autism and found that there is supportive evidence of the protective effects of music therapy on autism. However, due to diverse participants’ backgrounds, limited sample size, and various study designs in existing studies, more research is needed. Therefore, future research is recommended conduct to explore different forms of music therapy and its effects on autistic people with various demographic characteristics.
Salmonella spp. is a high-risk bacterial pathogen that is monitored in imported animal-derived feedstuffs. Serratiafonticola is the bacterial species most frequently confused with Salmonella spp. in traditional identification methods based on biochemical characteristics, which are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and thus unsuitable for daily inspection and quarantine work. In this study, we established a duplex real-time qPCR method with invA- and gyrB-specific primers and probes corresponding to Salmonella spp. and S. fonticola. The method could simultaneously detect both pathogens in imported feedstuffs, with a minimum limit of detection for Salmonella spp. and S. fonticola of 197 copies/SL and 145 copies/SL, respectively (correlation coefficient R2 = 0.999 in both cases). The amplification efficiency for Salmonella spp. and S. fonticola was 98.346% and 96.49%, respectively. Detection of clinical samples was consistent with method GB/T 13091-2018, and all seven artificially contaminated imported feed samples were positively identified. Thus, the developed duplex real-time qPCR assay displays high specificity and sensitivity, and can be used for the rapid and accurate detection of genomic DNA from Salmonella spp. and S. fonticola within hours. This represents a significant improvement in the efficiency of detection of both pathogens in imported feedstuffs.
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased attention to digital tools to support governmental public health policies in East and South-East Asia. Mobile applications (or apps) related to COVID-19 continue to emerge and evolve with a wide variety of characteristics and functions. However, there is a paucity of studies evaluating such apps, with most of the available studies conducted in the early days of the pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine free apps developed or supported by governments in East and South-East Asian region and highlight their key characteristics and functions. Also, we aimed to interpret how other COVID-19 policies were associated with the introduction of these apps. METHODS We systematically searched for mobile apps in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and analysed the contents of eligible apps. The mobile apps released or updated between 1 March 2020 and 7 May 2021 in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines were included. The CoronaNet Research Project database was also examined to examine the timeline of public health policy commencement dates to the release dates of the included apps. RESULTS Of the 1,943 mobile apps initially identified, 46 were eligible, with almost 70% of the mobile apps being intended for the general public. The most common function was health monitoring, followed by raising public health awareness through education and information dissemination. Significantly, most apps for quarantine monitoring were mandatory for the target users or a population subset. Most mobile apps emerged close to the public health policy commencement dates in the early stages of the pandemic. Mobile apps with functions related to COVID-19 vaccines began to appear parallel to vaccination rollout. CONCLUSIONS In East and South-East Asia, most governments employed mobile health apps as adjuncts to public health measures in this pandemic for tracking COVID-19 cases and delivering credible information.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.