• Title/Summary/Keyword: COVID-19 era

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Encryption-based Image Steganography Technique for Secure Medical Image Transmission During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Alkhliwi, Sultan
    • International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.83-93
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    • 2021
  • COVID-19 poses a major risk to global health, highlighting the importance of faster and proper diagnosis. To handle the rise in the number of patients and eliminate redundant tests, healthcare information exchange and medical data are transmitted between healthcare centres. Medical data sharing helps speed up patient treatment; consequently, exchanging healthcare data is the requirement of the present era. Since healthcare professionals share data through the internet, security remains a critical challenge, which needs to be addressed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, computed tomography (CT) and X-ray images play a vital part in the diagnosis process, constituting information that needs to be shared among hospitals. Encryption and image steganography techniques can be employed to achieve secure data transmission of COVID-19 images. This study presents a new encryption with the image steganography model for secure data transmission (EIS-SDT) for COVID-19 diagnosis. The EIS-SDT model uses a multilevel discrete wavelet transform for image decomposition and Manta Ray Foraging Optimization algorithm for optimal pixel selection. The EIS-SDT method uses a double logistic chaotic map (DLCM) is employed for secret image encryption. The application of the DLCM-based encryption procedure provides an additional level of security to the image steganography technique. An extensive simulation results analysis ensures the effective performance of the EIS-SDT model and the results are investigated under several evaluation parameters. The outcome indicates that the EIS-SDT model has outperformed the existing methods considerably.

Research on the Discourse of Libraries During COVID-19 in YouTube Videos Using Topic Modeling and Social Network Analysis

  • Euikyung Oh;Ok Nam Park
    • Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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    • v.11 no.3
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    • pp.29-42
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    • 2023
  • This study explored issues related to the library in the COVID-19 era in YouTube videos in Korea. This study performed social network analysis and topic modeling analysis by collecting 479 YouTube videos, 20,545 words, and 8,379 channels related to COVID-19 and the library from 2019 to 2020. The study results confirmed that YouTube, a social media platform, was used as an important medium to connect users and physical libraries and provide/promote online library services. In the study, major topics and keywords such as quarantine, vlog, and library identity during the COVID-19 pandemic, library services and functions, and introductions and user guides of libraries were derived. Additionally, it was identified that videos about COVID-19 and the library are being produced by various actors (news and media channels, libraries, government agencies, librarians, and individual users). However, the study also identified that the actor network is fragmented through the channel network, showing a low density or weak linkage, and that the centrality of the library in the actor network is weak.

Modeling Incorporating the Severity-Reducing Long-term Immunity: Higher Viral Transmission Paradoxically Reduces Severe COVID-19 During Endemic Transition

  • Hyukpyo Hong;Ji Yun Noh;Hyojung Lee;Sunhwa Choi;Boseung Choi;Jae Kyoung Kim;Eui-Cheol Shin
    • IMMUNE NETWORK
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.23.1-23.12
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    • 2022
  • Natural infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 or vaccination induces virus-specific immunity protecting hosts from infection and severe disease. While the infection-preventing immunity gradually declines, the severity-reducing immunity is relatively well preserved. Here, based on the different longevity of these distinct immunities, we develop a mathematical model to estimate courses of endemic transition of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Our analysis demonstrates that high viral transmission unexpectedly reduces the rates of progression to severe COVID-19 during the course of endemic transition despite increased numbers of infection cases. Our study also shows that high viral transmission amongst populations with high vaccination coverages paradoxically accelerates the endemic transition of COVID-19 with reduced numbers of severe cases. These results provide critical insights for driving public health policies in the era of 'living with COVID-19.'

A Study on COVID-19 and Changes in Life (COVID-19와 삶의 변화에 관한 연구)

  • Bae, Na-Rae
    • Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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    • v.12 no.12
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    • pp.281-286
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    • 2021
  • This study is a basic study on COVID-19 and human quality of life. The purpose of the study is to reveal what changes are made in people's lives after a disaster and to provide basic data for crisis intervention research to effectively improve life satisfaction after a disaster to all subjects living in this era. As a result of the study, changes in life before and after COVID-19 differed depending on the subject. COVID-19 is certainly a major disaster for our society. In order to wisely cope with such a disaster situation, it can be said that a crisis intervention program is urgently needed. It can be said that a program is required to immediately focus on the crisis situation according to the target and evaluate the current difficulties to understand the client's response to the situation and relieve their feelings such as anger and anxiety.

Steroid injections in pain management: influence on coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines

  • Hong, Sung Man;Park, Yeon Wook;Choi, Eun Joo
    • The Korean Journal of Pain
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.14-21
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    • 2022
  • The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has been rampant since the end of 2019, has evidently affected pain management in clinical practice. Fortunately, a COVID-19 vaccination program is currently in progress worldwide. There is an ongoing discussion that pain management using steroid injections can decrease COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, although currently there is no direct evidence to support this statement. As such, the feeling of pain in patients is doubled in addition to the co-existing ill-effects of social isolation associated with the pandemic. Thus, in the COVID-19 era, it has become necessary that physicians be able to provide high quality pain management without negatively impacting COVID-19 vaccine efficacy. Steroids can alter the entire process involved in the generation of adaptive immunity after vaccination. The period of hypophysis-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression is known to be 1 to 4 weeks after steroid injection, and although the exact timing for peak efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines is slightly different for each vaccine, the average is approximately 2 weeks. It is suggested to avoid steroid injections for a total of 4 weeks (1 week before and after the two vaccine doses) for the double-shot vaccines, and for 2 weeks in total (1 week before and after vaccination) for a single-shot vaccine. This review focuses on the basic concepts of the various COVID-19 vaccines, the effect of steroid injections on vaccine efficacy, and suggestions regarding an appropriate interval between the administration of steroid injections and the COVID-19 vaccine.