In stage 3, a minimization approach was used to add 20 more sites to the trial. A standardized metric based on the half-normal distribution of the absolute value of mean differences was used to assess site imbalance. After stage 3, the remaining imbalance for the 49 enrolled sites was reduced by 75% from what would have been expected from a simple randomization. Optimized randomization procedures with similar imbalance metrics should be used more routinely in pragmatic CRTs.In March 2020, when COVID-19 epidemics involved several countries, the WHO defined the infection as a pandemic. Government adopted measures to prevent the diffusion of infection; i.e. quarantine and isolation. One of the consequences of quarantine-induced stress is a change in lifestyle and eating habits leading to obesity. The present commentary briefly analyzes the effects of quarantine on obesity.Timely estimation of the distribution of socioeconomic attributes and their movement is crucial for academic as well as administrative and marketing purposes. In this study, assuming personal attributes affect human behavior and movement, we predict these attributes from location information. Simnotrelvir ic50 First, we predict the socioeconomic characteristics of individuals by supervised learning methods, i.e., logistic Lasso regression, Gaussian Naive Bayes, random forest, XGBoost, LightGBM, and support vector machine, using survey data we collected of personal attributes and frequency of visits to specific facilities, to test our conjecture. We find that gender, a crucial attribute, is as highly predictable from locations as from other sources such as social networking services, as done by existing studies. Second, we apply the model trained with the survey data to actual GPS log data to check the performance of our approach in a real-world setting. Though our approach does not perform as well as for the survey data, the results suggest that we can infer gender from a GPS log. Previous studies have demonstrated that forced air warming (FAW) can be used safely in operating rooms with laminar airflow (LAF) ventilation systems. However, the effects of FAW on the airflow at surgical sites under non-LAF (nLAF) ventilation systems remain unclear, as nLAF systems generate outlet-to-inlet multidirectional airflows of the air conditioning system. Here, we evaluate the effects of FAW on the airflow and sanitation quality in surgical fields with nLAF ventilation systems. The airflow speed and direction were measured using a three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer. Sanitation quality was evaluated by measuring the amount of dust particles after the activation of air conditioning. FAW caused no meaningful airflow (> 10 cm/sec) and did not diminish the sanitation quality in the surgical field separated by the anesthesia screen. Above the head area, the upward FAW airflow was not counteracted by nLAF, which caused an upward airflow at the edges of the operating table, originating from outside of the operating table and the floor. Sanitation quality was kept under FAW working even in an nLAF-equipped OR. According to the inlet/outlet layouts of nLAF, the upward FAW-induced airflow in the head area was not counteracted, and the upward airflow from the floor induced by the air conditioner outlet could be detected. Sanitation quality was kept under FAW working even in an nLAF-equipped OR. According to the inlet/outlet layouts of nLAF, the upward FAW-induced airflow in the head area was not counteracted, and the upward airflow from the floor induced by the air conditioner outlet could be detected.COVID-19, the acute respiratory tract infection (RTI) caused by the Coronavirus, Sars-CoV-2, has swept around the world. No country has been spared from its onslaught. Treatments that can reduce the risk of infection and mortality from the disease are desperately needed. Though high quality randomized controlled trials are lacking, some observational and interventional studies that explore the link between vitamin D and RTIs exist. Vitamin D modulates both innate as well as adaptive immunity and may potentially prevent or mitigate the complications associated with RTIs. Evidence linking vitamin D to COVID-19 include that the outbreak occurred in winter in the northern hemisphere at a time when vitamin D levels are lowest in resident populations, that blacks and minority ethnic individuals who are known to have lower levels of vitamin D appear to be disproportionately affected and have more severe complications from the disease, that vitamin D deficiency has been shown to contribute to acute respiratory distress syndrome and that case fatality rates increase with age and in populations with comorbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, all of which are associated with lower vitamin D levels. This narrative review summarizes the current knowledge about the epidemiology and pathophysiology of COVID-19, the evidence linking vitamin D and RTIs, especially COVID-19, the mechanistic reasons behind the possible protective effect of vitamin D in COVID-19, and the evidence with regard to vitamin D supplementation in RTIs. It concludes with some recommendations regarding supplementation of vitamin D in patients with COVID-19. Hepatic steatosis (HS) is associated with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, comorbidities recently related to COVID-19 severity. Here, we assessed if tomographic HS is also a risk factor for severe COVID-19 pneumonia. We included 213 patients with a positive real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and chest computed tomography (CT) from an out-hospital facility and a hospital. We obtained information on demographics; weight; height; smoking history; diabetes; hypertension; and cardiovascular, lung, and renal disease. Two radiologists scored the CO-RADs system (COVID-19 Reporting and Data System) (1 = normal, 2 = inconsistent, 3-4 = indeterminate, and 5 = typical findings) and the chest CT severity index (≥20 of 40 was considered severe disease). They evaluated the liver-to-spleen ratio (CT ) and defined tomographic steatosis as a CT index ≤0.9. We used descriptive statistics, χ and student tests, logistic regression, and reported odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Of the patients, 61% were men, with a mean age of 51.