• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.18-38
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• 2023

This paper examines the Chinese government's response to four epidemic crises, including COVID-19, and analyzes the similarities and differences in these responses. It argues that while the Chinese government learned from previous epidemics and improved its handling of subsequent outbreaks, a significant variation occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a detrimental impact globally. Existing scholarly research on China's epidemic responses has often been limited in scope, focusing on individual crises and neglecting the central-local government relationship in crisis decision-making. By adopting a comprehensive approach, this paper delves into the nuanced dynamics of China's responses to these epidemics. It highlights the variations in responses, attributing them to the Chinese government's fear of undermined legitimacy and its consideration of its international image. The government's recognition of the importance of public perception and trust, both domestically and globally, has shaped its crisis management strategies. Through a detailed analysis of these factors, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the variations observed in China's epidemic responses. It emphasizes the significance of the central-local government relationship and the government's international image in determining its actions during epidemics. Recognizing these factors can provide policymakers and researchers with insights to shape future epidemic response strategies and foster effective global health governance.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.2.1-2.18
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• 2022

Background: Co-infections of the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and the Haemophilus parasuis (HPS) are severe in Chinese pigs, but the immune response genes against co-infected with 2 pathogens in the lungs have not been reported. Objectives: To understand the effect of PRRSV and/or HPS infection on the genes expression associated with lung immune function. Methods: The expression of the immune-related genes was analyzed using RNA-sequencing and bioinformatics. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected and identified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blotting assays. Results: All experimental pigs showed clinical symptoms and lung lesions. RNA-seq analysis showed that 922 DEGs in co-challenged pigs were more than in the HPS group (709 DEGs) and the PRRSV group (676 DEGs). Eleven DEGs validated by qRT-PCR were consistent with the RNA sequencing results. Eleven common Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways related to infection and immune were found in single-infected and co-challenged pigs, including autophagy, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and antigen processing and presentation, involving different DEGs. A model of immune response to infection with PRRSV and HPS was predicted among the DEGs in the co-challenged pigs. Dual oxidase 1 (DUOX1) and interleukin-21 (IL21) were detected by IHC and western blot and showed significant differences between the co-challenged pigs and the controls. Conclusions: These findings elucidated the transcriptome changes in the lungs after PRRSV and/or HPS infections, providing ideas for further study to inhibit ROS production and promote pulmonary fibrosis caused by co-challenging with PRRSV and HPS.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.39-58
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• 2023

This study examined China's public and government agenda setting in response to the Shanghai lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It employed content analysis, correlation, and Granger's causality tests to analyze 1,717 Weibo posts published by the public and the Shanghai Municipal Government from March 12 to June 1, 2022. The results showed that (1) pandemic statistics were the central attribute in the government agenda, while civil life, community management, and government and policies were the central attributes in the public agenda; (2) the government's agenda unidirectionally influenced the public agenda in terms of government policy attributes; and (3) the government and public agendas reciprocally influenced each other in terms of economic attributes. This study contributed to the existing literature by examining agenda-setting dynamics in a city closure event during the COVID-19 epidemic. It also extended existing methods by modeling implicit relationships between attributes in the public and government agendas.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.307-310
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• 2020

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has placed unprecedented pressure on healthcare systems, even in advanced economies. While the number of cases of SARS-CoV-2 in Africa compared to other continents has so far been low, there are concerns about under-reporting, inadequate diagnostic tools, and insufficient treatment facilities. Moreover, proactiveness on the part of African governments has been under scrutiny. For instance, issues have emerged regarding the responsiveness of African countries in closing international borders to limit trans-continental transmission of the virus. Overdependence on imported products and outsourced services could have contributed to African governments' hesitation to shut down international air and seaports. In this era of emerging and re-emerging pathogens, we recommend that African nations should consider self-sufficiency in the health sector as an urgent priority, as this will not be the last outbreak to occur. In addition to the Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement fund (US$600 million) provided by the World Bank for strengthening health systems and disease surveillance, each country should further establish an epidemic emergency fund for epidemic preparedness and response. We also recommend that epidemic surveillance units should create a secure database of previous and ongoing pandemics in terms of aetiology, spread, and treatment, as well as financial management records. Strategic collection and analysis of data should also be a central focus of these units to facilitate studies of disease trends and to estimate the scale of requirements in preparation and response to any future pandemic or epidemic.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.161-168
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• 2015

The epidemic is seemed to be extremely difficult for accurate predictions. The new models have been suggested that show quite different results. The basic reproductive number of epidemic for consequent time intervals are estimated based on stochastic processes. In this paper, we proposed a transmission distribution estimation for Ebola virus disease epidemic model. This estimation can be easier to obtain in real time which is useful for informing an appropriate public health response to the outbreak. Finally, we implement our proposed method with data from Guinea Ebola disease outbreak.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.12
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• pp.477-482
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• 2020

The childhood obesity pandemic has emerged as an important public health problem in many countries. Obese children are likely to become obese adults, and adult obesity is associated with an increased risk of morbidity. Therefore, controlling the childhood obesity epidemic has become a top public health priority worldwide. The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may significantly impede this important mission and constitute an unprecedented tragedy in the global battle against childhood obesity. This manuscript presents evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic will aggravate the childhood obesity epidemic and lead to significant weight gain in school children by creating an unprecedented obesogenic environment. Within the last few months, many countries took uncompromising measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including school closures and quarantine. While these steps are often necessary to ensure infection control, they may have a significant negative effect on children's mental and physical health. Physical, nutritional, and psychosocial factors that promote obesity in children during this special situation complementarily contribute to an unprecedented obesogenic environment. Large-scale quarantine and home confinement will impose new and unfamiliar stressors on children, thereby worsening the childhood obesity epidemic. Most importantly, adverse childhood events resulting from a predicted increase in domestic violence within the next few months will significantly contribute to this concern. The scenario presented in this review is of paramount public health importance and must be considered during future pandemic planning. Involved stakeholders, including governments, schools, and families, must make all possible efforts to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on childhood obesity.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.277-279
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• 2015

Contact monitoring is an essential component of the public health response to a Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak, and is required for an effective quarantine to contain the epidemic. The timeliness of a quarantine is associated with its effectiveness. This paper provides a conceptual framework to describe the process of contact monitoring, and proposes a new measure called the "timely quarantined proportion" as a tool to assess the adequacy of a public health response.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.203-220
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• 2020

With the COVID-19 pandemic being prolonged, the society is being converted into an untact society, thereby affecting the service methodology of domestic and foreign library systems. This study thus surveyed the librarians' awareness of COVID-19 response measures of public libraries, and proposed public libraries' response measures in situations where the novel infectious disease is spreading and prolonging. Specifically, the proposed measures include, first, preparing national-centered library countermeasures to jointly respond to the epidemic disease, second, strengthening various untact and online services of various public libraries through government-level budget support, third, a thorough prevention of epidemics and preemptive response from the viewpoint of employees and users, and fourth, the expansion of library services aimed at resolving the digital cultural divide among classes of people, including information unfairness.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Disaster Information Conference
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.298-299
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• 2015

본 논문은 2013년 5월 국제바이러스 분류 위원회에서 중동호흡기증후군을 일으키는 신종 코로나바이러스를 메르스코로나바이러스(MERS-CoV)라 명명한 후, 2015년 5월 국내에 감염자가 들어와 이후 확산되고, 중동 호흡기 증후군 환자 발생 후 국내 첫 사망자가 발생한 일개 병원 지역응급의료센터 내원 후 확산을 막기 위하여 시행하였던 경험들을 공유하고자 한 내용이다.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.57 no.10
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• pp.33.1-33.7
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of a combined use of extracts of medicinal herbs Taraxaumi mongolicum, Viola yedoensis Makino, Rhizoma coptidis, and Radix isatidis (MYCI) on porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). Twenty-two 3-day-old piglets received an oral challenge with $3{\times}10^{3.5}$ $TCID_{50}$ of the virulent PED virus (PEDV) in PBS or PBS only and daily oral administration of 60 mg of the MYCI mixture suspended in milk replacer or the vehicle for 7 days in a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement of treatments. Average daily gain (ADG) increased (p < 0.05) in response to the MYCI treatment in the PEDV-challenged piglets (-18 vs. 7 g for the vehicle- vs. MYCI-administered group), but not in unchallenged animals (27 vs. 28 g). Diarrhea score and fecal PEDV shedding, however, were not influenced by the MYCI treatment. The PEDV challenge caused severe intestinal villus atrophy and crypt hyperplasia, both of which were alleviated by administration of the MYCI mixture as indicated by an increase in the villus height and a decrease in the crypt depth due to the treatment. Overall, medicinal herb extracts used in this study ameliorated impaired growth performance and intestinal lesion of newborn piglets challenged with the virulent PEDV. Therefore, our results suggest that the MYCI mixture could be used as a prophylactic or therapeutic agent against PED.