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Background: According to the hypothesis, COVID-19 is less prevalent in regions with warm climates. Contradictory results have led us to investigate the correlation between temperature and the cumulative COVID-19 incidence rate. Methods: We obtained COVID-19 data from CRONALAB, COVID-DASHBOARD, and MCMC databases of Fars Province, Iran, linked the data and finalized daily COVID-19 cases. The daily data on the temperature was gotten from meteorological stations’ reports from March 21, 2020, to March 21, 2021, for each county of Fars Province, Southern Iran. The daily weighted cumulative incidence rate of COVID-19 cases was calculated for all counties, separately. Initially, for uniform data visualization, the average air temperature data were transformed into ranked percentiles. Then, to visually assess the study hypothesis, the distribution of COVID-19 cumulative incidence was visualized on percentiles of temperature. Given the non-linear distribution of the data, we performed exploratory analyses using the generalized additive models and locally weighted (polynomial) regressions to choose the best response function. Then, the generalized linear models were used to parametrically build the model. Results: The generalized additive models showed a small decreasing, near horizontal, linear pattern for COVID-19 incidence rate as the function of temperature (pseudo R² : 0.001, deviance explained: 0.13%, coefficient: -0.02). The GLMs showed head-to-head results (deviance explained: 0.13%, coefficient: -0.02], supported by similar Akaike information criteria (AICs) (34945). However, according to the locally weighted regressions model’s curve, lower COVID-19 incidence rates were recorded on days when the temperatures ranged from 60 to 80 percentiles, equal to 20°C to 25°C in a cold climate and 25°C to 35°C in a warm climate. This is while the rates increased at lower and upper temperatures. Conclusion: Daily COVID-19 incidence rate cannot be explained as a function of daily temperature in Southern parts of Iran. Higher rates of disease transmission out of the range of 20°C to 25°C for cold temperatures and 25°C to 35°C for warm climates might be linked to people’s indoor gatherings, coupled with insufficient ventilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to compare pregnant and non-pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) in terms of in-hospital mortality. This historical cohort study was conducted on hospitalized women of reproductive ages (15–49 years) infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Fars province, Iran during 15 March 2019–10 May 2021. Out of the 5,322 patients, 330 were pregnant. The fatality rate of SARS-CoV-2 was 1.2% amongst pregnant women and 3.5% amongst non-pregnant ones. Pregnant and non-pregnant women reported the same history of smoking, opium use, previous COVID-19 infection, vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, and COVID-19 symptoms (p>0.05 for all). However, the pregnant women were younger and had fewer underlying diseases (p<0.001 for both). The results revealed no significant difference between the two groups regarding in-hospital clinical manifestations including the number of days after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, mechanical ventilation, and long involvement (cRR; 95% CI=0.99 (0.96–1.02), 1.18 (0.72–2.02), and 0.95 (0.88–1.02), respectively). Nonetheless, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission was significantly higher in pregnant women (cRR; 95% CI=2.37(1.85–3.02)). After adjusting for age, history of underlying diseases, and ICU admission, pregnant women showed lower in-hospital mortality due to COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant women (aRR; 95% CI=0.32 (0.12–0.87)). Based on the current study findings, pregnant women showed lower in-hospital mortality due to COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant ones. Nevertheless, they should follow the same recommendations as non-pregnant women, avoiding exposure to the virus and receiving medical treatment and vaccination. Further studies are recommended to address the follow-up of recovered pregnant women, their babies, and puerperium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to fill the gap between gamification features and their impacts on practical marketing activities in The Covid-19 era by providing a comprehensive analysis between gamification features: immersion (storytelling), achievement (reward), and social (competition) on customer experience (CX) and engagement (CE). In this study, a Quasiexperimental design method was used to examine the relationship of the gamification features on CX and engagement. To investigate, an online survey was distributed to 200 students and they were exposed to three different scenarios randomly. Structural equation modeling, Analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test, regression, path analysis and Sobel test were used to evaluate the impacts of gamification on CX and engagement. The results reveal that gamification has positive effect on CE and CX while, achievement has a more substantial impact than immersion and social on CX, competition has a stronger positive effect than storytelling but weaker positive effect than reward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel amine functionalized IL is proposed for the equilibrium uptake of CO 2 at low pressures. • Increasing the IL purity has negative effects on density, viscosity, and surface tension of the [MEA][Gly]. • Low concentration of the anion GLY-based IL improves the CO 2 solubility. • For aqueous IL of 25 wt%, the CO 2 absorption capacity is almost 2.64 times higher than that of the conventional MEA. In practical applications, water vapor always coexists with natural gas. As such, the concentration of the ionic liquids (ILs), as promising absorbents for carbon dioxide (CO 2) removal, is a crucial parameter sensitively affecting CO 2 solubility. In this work, a novel amino acid anion (Glycinate) based IL was synthesized, characterized, and applied for CO 2 uptake. Preliminary physicochemical measurements at temperatures of 303–323 K showed that increasing the IL purity has adverse effects on density, viscosity, and surface tension of the [MEA][GLY]. The impact of the presence of water in the IL samples was also investigated on the CO 2 loadings over the temperature ranges of 303–323 K and up to a pressure of 600 kPa. Among the four aqueous solutions of the IL, the highest CO 2 loading of 1.02 (mol CO 2 /mol IL) was achieved for aqueous IL of 25 wt% at an equilibrium pressure of 1.35 bar and a temperature of 303.15 K. It is found that with increasing equilibrium pressure to about 6.2 bar, the loading rate has reached 1.32 (mol CO 2 /mol IL), which is almost 2.64 times higher than that of the conventional primary amine (0.5 mol CO 2 /mol IL). It is found that although the proposed IL is a promising absorbent for the capture of CO 2 , highly concentrated of the [MEA][GLY] is not the feasible concentration for CO 2 uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the before liver transplantation (LT) stage has not been studied as much as that after the LT stage. We aimed to assess HRQOL and its determinants before the LT stage. Methods: As a cross-sectional study, HRQOL of all adult patients (n=632) referred to the LT center of Shiraz, Iran in 2018- 2019 were assessed. Demographic, socioeconomic, medical, and paraclinical data were requested. Physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) aspects of HRQOL were assessed using the SF36 questionnaire. Univariable, multivariable (linear regression), and confirmatory factor analysis were performed utilizing SPSS 20 and Mplus 6.1 software. P<0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: The mean age of the patients was 47.6±12.3 years, while 414 (65.6%) were men, and the mean, score of the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) was 18.36±5.58. The mean score of QOL, PCS, and MCS was 50.01±21.73, 46.23±23.23, and 53.78±23.91 (out of 100), respectively. Vitality had the most association with HRQOL, while role limitations had the lowest. The multivariable analysis revealed that unemployment (P<0.001), anemia (P=0.005), weight loss (P=0.005), diabetes mellitus (DM) (P=0.009), low MELD score (P=0.027), and drug use (P=0.03) were the significant determinants of HRQOL, respectively. Conclusion: The present study showed that HRQOL in the LT candidates was at the intermediate level, while their PCS and MCS are at the low and moderate levels, respectively. Furthermore, physical performance, job status, anemia, weight loss, MELD score, DM, and drug use should be considered as the significant determinants of HRQOL in the LT candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the widespread use of opioids to manage severe pain, its systemic administration results in side effects. Among the subcutaneous and transdermal drug delivery systems developed to deal with adverse effects, microneedles have drawn attention due to their rapid action, high drug bioavailability, and improved permeability. SUF is an effective injectable opioid for treating severe pain. In this study, we investigated the analgesic effects of SUF using dissolvable microneedles., Methods: SUF polymeric dissolvable microneedles were constructed through the mold casting method and characterized by SEM and FTIR analysis. Its mechanical strength was also investigated using a texture analyzer. Fluorescence microscopy was applied in vitro to measure the penetration depth of microneedle arrays. Irritation and microchannel closure time, drug release profile, and hemocompatibility test were conducted for the validation of microneedle efficiency. Hot plate test was also used to investigate the analgesic effect of microneedle in an animal model., Results: Local administration of SUF via dissolving microneedles had an effective analgesic impact. One hour after administration, there was no significant difference between the subcutaneous and the microneedle groups, and the mechanical properties were within acceptable limits., Conclusion: Microneedling is an effective strategy in immediate pain relief compared to the traditional methods.