Recently, Content Delivery Networks (CDN) have become more and more popular. The technology itself is ahead of academic research in this area. Several dimensions of the technology have not been ...adequately investigated by academia. These dimensions include outline management, security, and standardization. Discovering and highlighting aspects of this technology that may have or have not been covered by academic research is the first step toward helping academia bridge the gap with industry or even go one step further to lead industry in the right direction. This suggests a comprehensive survey on research works in this regard. The literature in this area has already come up with some surveys and taxonomies, but some of them are outdated or do not cover every aspect of CDN while others fail to detect existing trends or to develop a holistic roadmap for research on the technology. Furthermore, none of the existing surveys aim at enlightening the dark aspects of the technology that have not been subject to academic research. In this survey, we first extract the lifecycle of a CDN as suggested by the existing research. Then, we investigate previous relevant works on each phase of the lifecycle to clarify where the research is currently located and headed. We show how CDN technology tends to converge with emerging paradigms such as cloud computing, edge computing, and machine learning, which are more mature in terms of academic research. This helps us determine the right direction for further research by revealing the deficiencies in existing works.
Long COVID syndrome‐associated brain fog Asadi‐Pooya, Ali A.; Akbari, Ali; Emami, Amir ...
Journal of medical virology,
March 2022, Letnik:
94, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We investigated the frequency of brain fog in a large cohort of patients with documented coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) who have survived the illness. We also scrutinized the potential risk ...factors associated with the development of brain fog. Adult patients (18–55 years of age), who were referred to the healthcare facilities anywhere in Fars province from February 19, 2020 to November 20, 2020 were included. All patients had a confirmed COVID‐19 diagnosis. In a phone call, at least 3 months after their discharge from the hospital, we obtained their current information. A questionnaire was specifically designed for data collection. In total, 2696 patients had the inclusion criteria; 1680 (62.3%) people reported long COVID syndrome (LCS). LCS‐associated brain fog was reported by 194 (7.2%) patients. Female sex (odds ratio OR: 1.4), respiratory problems at the onset (OR: 1.9), and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (OR: 1.7) were significantly associated with reporting chronic post‐COVID “brain fog” by the patients. In this large population‐based study, we report that chronic post‐COVID “brain fog” has significant associations with sex (female), respiratory symptoms at the onset, and the severity of the illness (ICU admission).
This qualitative study integrated understudied factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, and major that affect the content and emotional tone of college students' writing about global issues. Textual ...analysis was performed on 1511 written essay responses to an open-ended assessment prompt that was conducted for regional accreditation purposes. There were significant differences in topic choice and concomitant emotion intensities related to student demographics. Findings suggest critical strategies for instructors focusing on global engagement, including acknowledging the role of student agency and potential emotional engagement in selected global issues.
The current study aimed to identify the association between COVID-19 vaccination and prolonged post-COVID symptoms (long-COVID) in adults who reported suffering from this condition.
This was a ...retrospective follow-up study of adults with long-COVID syndrome. The data were collected during a phone call to the participants in January-February 2022. We inquired about their current health status and also their vaccination status if they agreed to participate.
In total, 1236 people were studied; 543 individuals reported suffering from long long- COVID (43.9%). Chi square test showed that 15 out of 51 people (29.4%) with no vaccination and 528 out of 1185 participants (44.6%) who received at least one dose of any vaccine had long long- COVID symptoms (p = 0.032).
In people who have already contracted COVID-19 and now suffer from long-COVID, receiving a COVID vaccination has a significant association with prolonged symptoms of long-COVID for more than one year after the initial infection. However, vaccines reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 (including reinfections) and its catastrophic consequences (e.g., death). Therefore, it is strongly recommended that all people, even those with a history of COVID-19, receive vaccines to protect themselves against this fatal viral infection.
Long COVID in children and adolescents Asadi-Pooya, Ali A.; Nemati, Hamid; Shahisavandi, Mina ...
World Journal of Pediatrics,
10/2021, Letnik:
17, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Background
To identify the prevalence and also the full spectrum of symptoms/complaints of children and adolescents who are suffering from long COVID. Furthermore, we investigated the risk factors of ...long COVID in children and adolescents.
Methods
All consecutive children and adolescents who were referred to the hospitals anywhere in Fars province, Iran, from 19 February 2020 until 20 November 2020 were included. All patients had a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. In a phone call to patients/parents, at least 3 months after their discharge from the hospital, we obtained their current status and information if their parents agreed to participate.
Results
In total, 58 children and adolescents fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Twenty-six (44·8%) children/adolescents reported symptoms/complaints of long COVID. These symptoms included fatigue in 12 (21%), shortness of breath in 7 (12%), exercise intolerance in 7 (12%), weakness in 6 (10%), and walking intolerance in 5 (9%) individuals. Older age, muscle pain on admission, and intensive care unit admission were significantly associated with long COVID.
Conclusions
Long COVID is a frequent condition in children and adolescents. The scientific community should investigate and explore the pathophysiology of long COVID to ensure that these patients receive appropriate treatments for their condition.
Pharmaceutical drug Research and Development (R&D) outsourcing to contract research organizations (CROs) has experienced a significant growth in recent decades and the trend is expected to continue. ...A key question for CROs and firms in similar environments is which projects should be included in the firm׳s portfolio of projects. As a distinctive contribution to the literature this paper develops and evaluates a business support tool to help a CRO decide on clinical R&D project opportunities and revise its portfolio of R&D projects given the existing constraints, and financial and resource capabilities. A new mathematical programming model in the form of a capital budgeting problem is developed to help revising and rescheduling of the project portfolio. The uncertainty of pharmaceutical R&D cost estimates in drug development stages is captured to mimic a more realistic representation of pharmaceutical R&D projects, and a robust optimization approach is used to tackle the uncertain formulation. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the proposed approach.
•Pharmaceutical contract research organization (CRO) is considered.•A new R&D project selection and scheduling model for portfolio decision is developed.•Uncertainties in drug development phases are captured.•A tractable robust counterpart of the model is formulated to tackle uncertainties.•Monte Carlo simulation shows superiority of robust solution over deterministic one.
Transformative changes are happening in Higher Education Institutions worldwide in entrepreneurship education. These changes are conceptual as well as technological due to the upheaval in the global, ...social, political, and technological environment. We argue that the process theory of Alfred North Whitehead best explains why entrepreneurship education does not always have the same results on our students in the classroom and after they graduate. In the education of entrepreneurs, we hold that it is change that is the cornerstone of reality-our entrepreneurship students are in the process of becoming something they previously were not. Implications and comparisons of the process theory applied to entrepreneurship education are discussed.
Recently, people have recognized the post-acute phase symptoms of the COVID-19. We investigated the long-term symptoms associated with COVID-19, (Long COVID Syndrome), and the risk factors associated ...with it.
This was a retrospective observational study. All the consecutive adult patients referred to the healthcare facilities anywhere in Fars province from 19 February 2020 until 20 November 2020 were included. All the patients had a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. In a phone call to the patients, at least three months after their discharge from the hospital, we obtained their current information. The IBM SPSS Statistics (version 25.0) was used. Pearson Chi square, Fisher's exact test,
test, and binary logistic regression analysis model were employed. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered to be significant.
In total, 4,681 patients were studied, 2915 of whom (62.3%) reported symptoms. The most common symptoms of long COVID syndrome were fatigue, exercise intolerance, walking intolerance, muscle pain, and shortness of breath. Women were more likely to experience long-term COVID syndrome than men (Odds Ratio: 1,268; 95% Confidence Interval: 1,122-1,432; P=0.0001), which was significant. Presentation with respiratory problems at the onset of illness was also significantly associated with long COVID syndrome (Odds Ratio: 1.425; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.177-1.724; P=0.0001). A shorter length of hospital stay was inversely associated with long COVID syndrome (Odds Ratio: 0.953; 95% Confidence Interval: 0.941-0.965; P=0.0001).
Long COVID syndrome is a frequent and disabling condition and has significant associations with sex (female), respiratory symptoms at the onset, and the severity of the illness.
Social media has become a powerful conduit for misinformation during major public events. As a result, an extant body of research has emerged on misinformation and its diffusion. However, the ...research is fragmented and has mainly focused on understanding the content of misinformation messages. Little attention is paid to the production and consumption of misinformation. This study presents the results of a detailed comparative analysis of the production, consumption, and diffusion of misinformation with authentic information. Our findings, based on extensive use of computational linguistic analyses of COVID-19 pandemic-related messages on the Twitter platform, revealed that misinformation and authentic information exhibit very different characteristics in terms of their contents, production, diffusion, and their ultimate consumption. To support our study, we carefully selected a sample of 500 widely propagated messages confirmed by fact-checking websites as misinformation or authentic information about pandemic-related topics from the Twitter platform. Detailed computational linguistic analyses were performed on these messages and their replies (N = 198,750). Additionally, we analyzed approximately 1.2 million Twitter user accounts responsible for producing, forwarding, or replying to these messages. Our extensive and detailed findings were used to develop and propose a theoretical framework for understanding the diffusion of misinformation on social media. Our study offers insights for social media platforms, researchers, policymakers, and online information consumers about how misinformation spreads over social media platforms.
Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA) is a genetically heterogeneous group of disorders associated with progressive impairment of movement, vision, and cognition. The disease is ...initially diagnosed on the basis of changes in brain magnetic resonance imaging which indicate an abnormal brain iron accumulation in the basal ganglia. However, the diagnosis of specific types should be based on both clinical findings and molecular genetic testing for genes associated with different types of NBIA, including PANK2, PLA2G6, C19orf12, FA2H, ATP13A2, WDR45, COASY, FTL, CP, and DCAF17. The purpose of this study was to investigate disease-causing mutations in two patients with distinct NBIA disorders.
Whole Exome sequencing using Next Generation Illumina Sequencing was used to enrich all exons of protein-coding genes as well as some other important genomic regions in these two affected patients. A deleterious homozygous four-nucleotide deletion causing frameshift deletion in PANK2 gene (c.1426_1429delATGA, p.M476 fs) was identified in an 8 years old girl with dystonia, bone fracture, muscle rigidity, abnormal movement, lack of coordination and chorea. In addition, our study revealed a novel missense mutation in PLA2G6 gene (c.3G > T:p.M1I) in one and half-year-old boy with muscle weakness and neurodevelopmental regression (speech, motor and cognition). The novel mutations were also confirmed by Sanger sequencing in the proband and their parents.
Current study uncovered two rare novel mutations in PANK2 and PLA2G6 genes in patients with NBIA disorder and such studies may help to conduct genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis more accurately for individuals at the high risk of these types of disorders.
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