Background To date, the psychological impact of COVID-19 epidemic among family members of health care workers (HCWs) in China has been neglected. This cross-sectional study investigates the mental health status and related factors in families of HCWs employed in designated hospitals in Ningbo, China. Methods Family members of HCWs in five designated hospitals in Ningbo, China, were recruited in February, 2020 for this study. Demographic variables, COVID-19-related events in the lives of the participants, knowledge of COVID-19, and the working status of family members (that is, HCWs) were collected using online self-administered questionnaires. Mental health status was assessed using the Chinese versions of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the main factors associated with the mental health conditions. Results In total, 845 participants completed the questionnaires correctly (95.80% response rate). The prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms were respectively 33.73% (95% CI: 30.53–36.92%) and 29.35% (95% CI: 26.27–32.43%) when a cut-off score of 5 was used for GAD-7 and PHQ-9. Risk factors for anxiety symptoms included more time (hours) spent thinking about the COVID-19, and whether or not family members (that is, HCWs) had direct contact with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients while high participants’ self-reported safety scores for HCW’s protective equipment was a protective factor. More time (hours) spent thinking about COVID-19, longer average working time per week worked by family members (that is, HCWs), and being parents and other next of kin of HCWs were risk factors for depressive symptoms. Compared to participants who were HCWs, participants who were private sector workers were more likely to develop depressive symptoms, while government or institutional employees were less likely to suffer from depressive symptoms. Conclusions Psychological responses to COVID-19 have been dramatic among family members of HCWs during the rising phase of the outbreak. Our findings provide strong evidence to examine and attend to the mental health of this population during the COVID-19 epidemic.
In vivo fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) has been considered as a promising technique for visualizing mammals. However, the definition of the NIR-II region and the mechanism accounting for the excellent performance still need to be perfected. Herein, we simulate the photon propagation in the NIR region (to 2340 nm), confirm the positive contribution of moderate light absorption by water in intravital imaging and perfect the NIR-II window as 900–1880 nm, where 1400–1500 and 1700–1880 nm are defined as NIR-IIx and NIR-IIc regions, respectively. Moreover, 2080–2340 nm is newly proposed as the third near-infrared (NIR-III) window, which is believed to provide the best imaging quality. The wide-field fluorescence microscopy in the brain is performed around the NIR-IIx region, with excellent optical sectioning strength and the largest imaging depth of intravital NIR-II fluorescence microscopy to date. We also propose 1400 nm long-pass detection in off-peak NIR-II imaging whose performance exceeds that of NIR-IIb imaging, using bright fluorophores with short emission wavelength.
BackgroundAs internet and social media use have skyrocketed, epidemiologists have begun to use online data such as Google query data and Twitter trends to track the activity levels of influenza and other infectious diseases. In China, Weibo is an extremely popular microblogging site that is equivalent to Twitter. Capitalizing on the wealth of public opinion data contained in posts on Weibo, this study used Weibo as a measure of the Chinese people’s reactions to two different outbreaks: the 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak, and the 2013 outbreak of human infection of avian influenza A(H7N9) in China.MethodsKeyword searches were performed in Weibo data collected by The University of Hong Kong’s Weiboscope project. Baseline values were determined for each keyword and reaction values per million posts in the days after outbreak information was released to the public.ResultsThe results show that the Chinese people reacted significantly to both outbreaks online, where their social media reaction was two orders of magnitude stronger to the H7N9 influenza outbreak that happened in China than the MERS-CoV outbreak that was far away from China.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that social media could be a useful measure of public awareness and reaction to disease outbreak information released by health authorities.
This study aimed to identify what information triggered social media users’ responses regarding infectious diseases. Chinese microblogs in 2012 regarding 42 infectious diseases were obtained through a keyword search in the Weiboscope database. Qualitative content analysis was performed for the posts pertinent to each keyword of the day of the year with the highest daily count. Similar posts were grouped and coded. We identified five categories of information that increased microblog traffic pertaining to infectious diseases: news of an outbreak or a case; health education / information; alternative health information / Traditional Chinese Medicine; commercial advertisement / entertainment; and social issues. News unrelated to the specified infectious diseases also led to elevated microblog traffic. Our study showcases the diverse contexts from which increased social media traffic occur. Our results will facilitate better health communication as causes underlying increased social media traffic are revealed.
Objective To determine the predictive value of euploid embryos in women with recurrent implantation failure undergoing repeated IVF-ET cycles with PGD (PGD). Design Cohort of IVF-PGD cycles in a tertiary care ART facility. Materials and method(s) Fifty-five consecutive patients with repeated implantation failure (more than three failed IVF-ET cycles) underwent two or more PGD cycles for aneuploidy testing. Mean maternal age was 37.6±5.3 years. Biopsies were performed on day 3. One blastomere was removed from each pre-embryo, fixed and analyzed by multicolor and multi-probe FISH for chromosomes X and Y, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, and 22. Result(s) Forty-three of 55 patients (78%) undergoing PGD had at least one euploid embryo for transfer. Of these 31 patients (72%) also had at least one euploid embryo available for transfer with the second cycle. Of the 12 (28%) patients with no euploid embryos available for transfer with the second IVF/PGD cycle, five had a third cycle of PGD and two of these had euploid embryos available for transfer. Seventeen of the 31 patients (55%) who had euploid embryos on the second PGD cycle conceived. The ongoing pregnancy and implantation rates in patients with at least one euploid embryo were 40% and 18%, respectively. Twelve of the 55 patients (22%) had no euploid embryos available for transfer on the first PGD cycle, but on the second PGD cycle, six (50%) of these had euploid embryos for transfer. Only two pregnancies were achieved among this group of women, yielding a pregnancy rate of 17%, but both conceptions resulted in miscarriage. Of the six patients with no euploid embryos available after the second PGD cycle, four patients had a third IVF/PGD cycle, but none had euploid embryos available for transfer. Also, among women with euploid embryos available only in either the first or second PGD cycle, but not both, no ongoing pregnancy was achieved. No woman who had a PGD cycle productive of no euploid embryos had an ongoing pregnancy. Significant differences were found in terms of ongoing pregnancy (40%, P<0.05) and implantation rates (18%, P<0.05) in women with euploid embryos available for transfer with the first and second IVF/PGD cycles, compared to women with no euploid embryos available for transfer with either the first or second cycle. The positive predictive value of the first euploid cycle predicting a second euploid cycle was 72%, 95% CI 0.66-0.78. The negative predictive value of an aneuploid cycle was 50%, 95% CI 0.27-0.72. The sensitivity and specificity of the first PGD cycle predicting the second was 84%, 95% CI 0.77-0.91 and 33%, 95% CI 0.18-0.48, respectively. Conclusion(s) Even with a history of recurrent implantation failure, the availability of euploid embryos, especially on two, consecutive PGD cycles is associated with high ongoing pregnancy and implantation rates. Conversely, the absence of euploid embryos for transfer predicts poor reproductive outcome, even if subsequent cycles do yield euploid embryos.
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the mental health of older adults living in nursing homes. Very few studies have examined the effects of Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (ICBT) on older adults living in nursing homes during the pandemic. We conducted a feasibility study using a single-group design, to explore the effectiveness of ICBT on psychological distress in 137 older adults (without cognitive impairment) from 8 nursing homes in 4 southeast cities in China, between January and March 2020. Methods Symptoms of depression, anxiety, general psychological distress, and functional disability were measured at baseline, post-treatment (5 weeks) and at a 1-month follow-up. Mixed-effects model was used to assess the effects of ICBT. Results Statistically significant changes with large effect sizes were observed from pre- to post-treatment on the PHQ-9 ( p < .001, Cohen's d = 1.74), GAD-7 ( p < .001, d = 1.71), GDS ( p < .001, d = 1.30), K-10 ( p < .001, d = 1.93), and SDS ( p < .001, d = 2.03). Furthermore, improvements in treatment outcomes were sustained at 1-month follow-up, and high levels of adherence and satisfaction were indicated. Conclusion ICBT was effective in reducing psychological distress in older adults without cognitive impairments living in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it could be applied in improving the mental health of this vulnerable group during the pandemic.
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