Covid-19 Sentry

Contents

• From Preprints
• From Clinical Trials
• From PubMed
• From Patent Search

From Preprints

• Palestinian Attitudes Towards Settlers in the West Bank -
  We present survey data from 1,573 West Bank Palestinians with which we estimate that the average Palestinian lives 14 km (UI 11 to 18 km) from the closest Israeli settlement. We also show with this data that while Palestinians in general hold negative attitudes towards settlers in the West Bank, Palestinians living in closer proximity to a settlement report more neutral attitudes towards settlers. Multivariate analysis shows that this effect appears to be driven by social and professional contact: Palestinians who have interacted with a settler or worked in a settlement present more positive attitudes towards settlers while distance loses its ability to predict attitudes. Since the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the majority of respondents stated that they have lost either a job or a business from COVID-related restrictions, suggesting that this positive contact effect could dissipate as Palestinians have less reason to interact with Israelis.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Palestinian Attitudes Towards Settlers in the West Bank
• Modeling COVID-19 Nonpharmaceutical Interventions: Exploring periodic NPI strategies -

  We developed a COVID-19 transmission model used as part of RAND9s web-based COVID-19 decision support tool that compares the effects of nonpharmaceutical public health interventions (NPIs) on health and economic outcomes. An interdisciplinary approach informed the selection and use of multiple NPIs, combining quantitative modeling of the health/economic impacts of interventions with qualitative assessments of other important considerations (e.g., cost, ease of implementation, equity). This paper provides further details of our model, describes extensions, presents sensitivity analyses, and analyzes strategies that periodically switch between a base NPI level and a higher NPI level. We find that a periodic strategy, if implemented with perfect compliance, could have produced similar health outcomes as static strategies but might have produced better outcomes when considering other measures of social welfare. Our findings suggest that there are opportunities to shape the tradeoffs between economic and health outcomes by carefully evaluating a more comprehensive range of reopening policies.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Modeling COVID-19 Nonpharmaceutical Interventions: Exploring periodic NPI strategies
• DeepCOVID: An Operational Deep Learning-driven Framework for Explainable Real-time COVID-19 Forecasting -

  How do we forecast an emerging pandemic in real time in a purely data-driven manner? How to leverage rich heterogeneous data based on various signals such as mobility, testing, and/or disease exposure for forecasting? How to handle noisy data and generate uncertainties in the forecast? In this paper, we present DeepCOVID, an operational deep learning framework designed for real-time COVID-19 forecasting. DeepCOVID works well with sparse data and can handle noisy heterogeneous data signals by propagating the uncertainty from the data in a principled manner resulting in meaningful uncertainties in the forecast. The deployed framework also consists of modules for both real-time and retrospective exploratory analysis to enable interpretation of the forecasts. Results from real-time predictions (featured on the CDC website and FiveThirtyEight.com) since April 2020 indicates that our approach is competitive among the methods in the COVID-19 Forecast Hub, especially for short-term predictions.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: DeepCOVID: An Operational Deep Learning-driven Framework for Explainable Real-time COVID-19 Forecasting
• Changes in symptomatology, re-infection and transmissibility associated with SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7: an ecological study -

  The new SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 was identified in December 2020 in the South-East of England, and rapidly increased in frequency and geographic spread. While there is some evidence for increased transmissibility of this variant, it is not known if the new variant presents with variation in symptoms or disease course, or if previously infected individuals may become reinfected with the new variant. Using longitudinal symptom and test reports of 36,920 users of the Covid Symptom Study app testing positive for COVID-19 between 28 September and 27 December 2020, we examined the association between the regional proportion of B.1.1.7 and reported symptoms, disease course, rates of reinfection, and transmissibility. We found no evidence for changes in reported symptoms, disease severity and disease duration associated with B.1.1.7. We found a likely reinfection rate of around 0.7% (95% CI 0.6-0.8), but no evidence that this was higher compared to older strains. We found an increase in R(t) by a factor of 1.35 (95% CI 1.02-1.69). Despite this, we found that regional and national lockdowns have reduced R(t) below 1 in regions with very high proportions of B.1.1.7.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Changes in symptomatology, re-infection and transmissibility associated with SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7: an ecological study
• Learning it the hard way – how enjoying life and positive appraisal buffer the negative effects of stressors on mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic -
  Background. Higher levels of stress and negative emotions such as anxiety and depression have been reported since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remains less clear how positive emotions, such as hedonic capacity, may be affected. Further, during lockdowns, the ability to learn new pleasurable activities (hedonic learning) may be particularly relevant. Here, we investigated if state hedonia and/or hedonic learning mediated the relationship between COVID-19 stress and mental health. Moreover, we explored whether positive appraisal style (PAS), a major resilience factor, influenced these relationships. Methods. Using a cross-sectional design, 5000 German-speaking participants filled out online questionnaires targeting stressors, mental health, state hedonia, hedonic learning, and PAS between April 9 and May 15, 2020. After confirming the factor structure of our constructs, we applied latent structural equation modeling to test mediation as well as moderated mediation models. Results. Stress showed a positive association with mental health symptoms, which was buffered by both state hedonia and hedonic learning. While higher stress was related to lower state hedonia, participants reported more hedonic learning with greater stressor load. The latter effect was greater for individuals with high PAS. Limitations. The present results should be replicated in longitudinal designs with representative samples to confirm the directionality and generalizability of effects. Conclusions. Both state hedonia and hedonic learning buffered the effect of stress on mental health in an early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning new rewarding activities in combination with a PAS may be especially relevant for maintaining mental health during lockdowns.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Learning it the hard way – how enjoying life and positive appraisal buffer the negative effects of stressors on mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic
• The Benefits of Living with Close Others: A Longitudinal Examination of Mental Health Before and During a Global Stressor -
  For better or worse, the people we live with may exert a powerful influence on our mental health, perhaps especially during times of stress. The COVID-19 pandemic—a large-scale stressor that prompted health recommendations to stay home to reduce disease spread—provided a unique context for examining how the people we share our homes with may shape our mental health. A seven-wave longitudinal study assessed mental health month-to-month before and during the pandemic (February through September, 2020) in two diverse samples of U.S. adults (N = 656; N = 544). Pre-registered analyses demonstrated that people living with close others (children and/or romantic partners) experienced better well-being before and during the pandemic’s first six months. These groups also experienced unique increases in ill-being during the pandemic’s onset, but parents’ ill-being also recovered more quickly. These findings highlight the crucial protective function of close relationships for mental health both generally and amidst a pandemic.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: The Benefits of Living with Close Others: A Longitudinal Examination of Mental Health Before and During a Global Stressor
• Monitoring the propagation of SARS CoV2 variants by tracking identified mutation in wastewater using specific RT-qPCR -

  Since the end of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has experienced a major turning point with the appearance and rapid spread of new variants, causing a significant increase in the number of new cases requiring hospitalization. These so-called UK, South African or Brazilian variants are characterized by combinations of mutations which allow them to be distinguished from the variants which have circulated since the start of the epidemic. The impact of these variants on the functioning of healthcare systems requires monitoring the spread of these variants, which are more contagious, more lethal and may reinfect people who are already immune to a natural infection or to a vaccination. Monitoring the viral genome in wastewater has shown great value in early detection of the dynamics of virus spreading in populations. The sequencing of viral genomes is used in humans, but its application and interpretation on wastewater matrices are much more complex due to the diversity of circulating strains. Also this study demonstrates the possibility of following certain mutations found in these new variants by targeted RT-qPCR. This study is the first carried out in France demonstrating the spreading dynamics of the 69-70 deletion in the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Monitoring the propagation of SARS CoV2 variants by tracking identified mutation in wastewater using specific RT-qPCR
• Homophily in risk and behavior complicate understanding the COVID-19 epidemic curve -

  New COVID-19 diagnoses have dropped faster than expected in the United States. Interpretations of the decrease have focused on changing factors (e.g. mask-wearing, vaccines, etc.), but predictive models largely ignore heterogeneity in behaviorally-driven exposure risks among distinct groups. We present a simplified compartmental model with differential mixing in two behaviorally distinct groups. We show how homophily in behavior, risk, and exposure can lead to early peaks and rapid declines that critically do not signal the end of the outbreak. Instead, higher exposure risk groups may more rapidly exhaust available susceptibles while the lower risk group are still in a (slower) growth phase of their outbreak curve. This simplified model demonstrates that complex incidence curves, such as those currently seen in the US, can be generated without changes to fundamental drivers of disease dynamics. Correct interpretation of incidence curves will be critical for policy decisions to effectively manage the pandemic.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Homophily in risk and behavior complicate understanding the COVID-19 epidemic curve
• Mental health of patients with mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: A questionnaire-based survey weighted for attrition -

  Importance Individuals with pre-existing mental illness may be particularly vulnerable to the negative impact that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic seems to have on mental health. Most prior studies on this topic are limited by non-random sampling, lacking information on non-respondents, and self-reporting of mental illness. In the present study, we aimed to overcome these limitations via random sampling, acquisition of clinical and sociodemographic data on both respondents and non-respondents, and weighting of results informed by attrition. Objective To assess whether patients with mental illness experienced deterioration in mental health during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown of Denmark in the Spring of 2020. Design A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey coupled with sociodemographic and clinical data from the medical records of all invitees. The latter enabled analysis of attrition and weighting of results. Setting The psychiatric services of the Central Denmark Region. Participants A total of 992 randomly drawn patients diagnosed with mental illness in the psychiatric services of the Central Denmark Region prior to the lockdown responded to the online survey (response rate of 21.6%). Exposure The four-week nationwide lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic (from March 11 to April 15, 2020). Main Outcomes and Measures The online questionnaire included the 18-item Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18), the five-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and 14 questions evaluating worsening or improvement in symptoms during the lockdown using the pre-pandemic period as reference. Perceived reasons for deterioration of mental health were also reported. Results The weighted mean WHO-5 and BSI-18 scores were 38 and 28, respectively. A total of 52% of the respondents reported that their mental health had deteriorated during the lockdown, while 33% reported no change, and 16% reported improvement. The most commonly reported reasons for deterioration were loneliness, disruption of routines, concerns about coronavirus, less frequent contact with family/friends, boredom, and reduced access to psychiatric care. Conclusion and Relevance More than half of the patients with mental illness reported worsening of their mental health during the pandemic lockdown. There should be increased emphasis on ensuring both social and clinical support for individuals with mental illness during pandemics.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Mental health of patients with mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: A questionnaire-based survey weighted for attrition
• SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern are associated with lower RT-PCR amplification cycles between January and March 2021 in France -

  SARS-CoV-2 variants raise concern regarding the mortality caused by COVID-19 epidemics. We analyse 88,375 cycle amplification (Ct) values from variant-specific RT-PCR tests performed between January 26 and March 13, 2021. We estimate that on March 12, nearly 85% of the infections were caused by the V1 variant and that its transmission advantage over wild type strains was between 38 and 44%. We also find that tests positive for V1 and V2/V3 variants exhibit significantly lower cycle threshold (Ct) values.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern are associated with lower RT-PCR amplification cycles between January and March 2021 in France
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical procedures in Brazil: a descriptive study -

  Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected medical practice, and changes in healthcare activities were needed to minimize the overload and avoid healthcare systems collapse. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on surgical procedures in Brazil. Materials and Methods: We conducted a descriptive study of the number of hospitalizations for surgical procedures in Brazil from 2016 to 2020. Data were collected from the Brazilian Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System (DATASUS). Analyzes were performed according to the type of procedure, geographical region, subgroups of surgical procedures, and the number of surgeries from 2020 were compared with the average from 2016 to 2019. Results: There were 4,009,116 hospitalizations for surgical procedures in the Brazilian Public Health System in 2020. When comparing it to the average of hospitalizations from 2016-2019, there was a decrease of 14.88% [95%IC (14.82-14.93)]. Decrease rates were 34.82% [95%IC (34.73-34.90)] for elective procedures and 1.11% [95%IC (1.07-1.13)] for urgent procedures. Decrease rates were similar in all the five regions of the country (average 14.17%). Surgical procedure subgroups with the highest decrease rates were endocrine gland surgery (48.03%), breast surgery (40.68%), oral and maxillofacial surgery (37.03%), surgery of the upper airways, face, head and neck (36.06%), and minor surgeries and surgeries of skin, subcutaneous tissue and mucosa (33.16%). Conclusion: The overload of healthcare facilities has demanded a reduction of non-urgent activities to prevent a collapse of healthcare systems, resulting in a decrease in elective surgeries. Recommendations about the performance of surgical procedures were made, and continuous refinements of these recommendations are encouraged.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical procedures in Brazil: a descriptive study
• Associations among anxiety, risk perception, preventive behaviors, and personality in Japanese older adults aged 78 to 99 years during the COVID-19 pandemic -
  Background and Objectives: To deepen the understanding of processes underlying older adults’ behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated associations among affective (anxiety about the coronavirus), cognitive (perceived risk of infection and fatality), and behavioral (engagement in preventive behaviors) variables. We also examined how these variables were predicted by personality traits measured before the pandemic. Research Design and Methods: Older adults (N = 1,727; 78–99 years old) were recruited from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study started in 2010. They responded to a questionnaire sent in August 2020, which included four items measuring COVID-19 anxiety, infection risk perception, fatality risk perception, and engagement in preventive behaviors. Big Five personality traits were measured years ago when the participants had first participated in the study. Results: Most participants felt anxious, engaged in preventive behaviors, and overestimated infection and fatality risks. Older age was associated with low anxiety, a low perception of infection risk, a high perception of fatality risk, and a little engagement in preventive behaviors. Women were more susceptible to the pandemic than men were, demonstrated by higher scores on all four items. Partial correlation analysis controlling for age and sex demonstrated positive associations among all four items except for infection risk perception and preventive behaviors. Anxiety and perceived infection risk were positively predicted by neuroticism and conscientiousness, respectively. Engagement in preventive behaviors was positively predicted by extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness. Discussion and Implications: We highlighted the critical distinction between infection and fatality risk perceptions and demonstrated the need to consider each individual’s attributes.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Associations among anxiety, risk perception, preventive behaviors, and personality in Japanese older adults aged 78 to 99 years during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Through thick and thin: changes in creativity during the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic. -
  COVID-19 took us by surprise. We all had to face a new situation never encountered before and find new solutions to the problems it generated, either related to the disease or the lockdown’s consequences. The lockdown and pandemic crisis caused new issues and placed us in an entirely new context, changing our way of life, work time and conditions, and habits. Coping with such an unprecedented situation may have stimulated creativity. However, the situation also restricted our liberties and wellbeing and triggered health or psychological difficulties. Worrying, concerns, challenging conditions of confinement may have hampered creativity or its expression. Hence, wellbeing factors related to affective experience, living conditions, social interactions, as well as workload or available free time, may have impacted creativity during the lockdown. We carried out an online survey based on a self-administered questionnaire to examine whether the first lockdown period related to the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020) was associated with creativity changes and explore the role of several factors in these changes. We measured self-reported creativity changes using two approaches: changes in creative self-efficacy and creative activities and achievements. We related them to several variables estimating time availability, conditions of confinement, social interactions, and affective experience of the situation. Despite a global negative subjective experience of the situation, individuals who participated in our survey (n=380) reported that they were on average more creative during the lockdown than before and engaged in more creative activities. The converging results from self-perceived and activity-based measures showed that this positive change could be linked with more time availability, feeling more motivated or inspired, or the need to solve a problem. However, when negative changes in creativity were experienced, they were instead related to negative affective experiences, including stress and anxiety, a low mood, a feeling of pressure, or a lack of resources or opportunities. This study helps to document what happened during the first lockdown period in France regarding aspects of creativity, showing some positive outcomes of the situation despite its negative consequences, and providing cues about the key factors that stimulated or, on the contrary, blocked creativity.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Through thick and thin: changes in creativity during the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Understanding, trusting, and applying scientific insights to improve your health: A latent profile analysis approach -
  Various leading causes of death can be prevented or delayed through informed decision-making and lifestyle changes. Previous work has, to some extent, linked such health-promoting behavior (HPB) with variables capturing individuals’ understanding of science, trust in science, and capacity to obtain, process, and apply evidence-based information in the health context. However, empirical research on the relationship between scientific knowledge, trust in science, health literacy, and HPB is scarce. Additionally, no study has investigated whether these characteristics interact to form homogeneous, high-risk subgroups of the population. The present online study (N = 705) revealed that trust in science and health literacy were positively related to a wide array of HPB (e.g., healthy nutrition, physical activity, stress management), while scientific knowledge was only positively associated with COVID-19 vaccination intention. Furthermore, the results of latent profile analyses yielded four subgroups (i.e., low, moderate, and high levels of all three variables and a varied profile exhibiting very low trust in science, low health literacy, and moderate scientific knowledge). The identified subgroups differ significantly in their HPB and other variables of interest. Hence, the present study offers some guidance on which groups may be targeted with public health campaigns and how they should be designed.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Understanding, trusting, and applying scientific insights to improve your health: A latent profile analysis approach
• Unmasking the conversation on masks: Natural language processing for topical sentiment analysis of COVID-19 Twitter discourse -

  In this exploratory study, we scrutinize a database of over one million tweets collected from March to July 2020 to illustrate public attitudes towards mask usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. We employ natural language processing, clustering and sentiment analysis techniques to organize tweets relating to mask-wearing into high-level themes, then relay narratives for each theme using automatic text summarization. In recent months, a body of literature has highlighted the robustness of trends in online activity as proxies for the sociological impact of COVID-19. We find that topic clustering based on mask-related Twitter data offers revealing insights into societal perceptions of COVID-19 and techniques for its prevention. We observe that the volume and polarity of mask-related tweets has greatly increased. Importantly, the analysis pipeline presented may be leveraged by the health community for qualitative assessment of public response to health intervention techniques in real time.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Unmasking the conversation on masks: Natural language processing for topical sentiment analysis of COVID-19 Twitter discourse

From Clinical Trials

• Safety and Tolerability of Emricasan in Symptomatic Outpatients Diagnosed With Mild-COVID-19 - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Drug: Emricasan;   Other: Placebo
  Sponsor:   Histogen
  Recruiting

• Efficacy of Reinforcing Standard Therapy in COVID-19 Patients With Repeated Transfusion of Convalescent Plasma - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Other: Convalescent Plasma with antibody against SARS-CoV-2.;   Other: Standard treatment for COVID-19
  Sponsors:   Hospital Son Llatzer;   Fundació d’investigació Sanitària de les Illes Balears
  Recruiting

• Diagnostic Performance of the ID Now™ COVID-19 Screening Test Versus Simplexa™ COVID-19 Direct Assay - Condition:   Covid19
  Intervention:   Diagnostic Test: ID Now™ COVID-19 Screening Test
  Sponsor:   Groupe Hospitalier Paris Saint Joseph
  Active, not recruiting

• Off-the-shelf NK Cells (KDS-1000) as Immunotherapy for COVID-19 - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Biological: KDS-1000;   Other: Placebo
  Sponsor:   Kiadis Pharma
  Not yet recruiting

• Corticosteroids for COVID-19 - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Drug: Prednisone;   Device: Point of Care testing device for C-reactive protein
  Sponsor:   University of Alberta
  Not yet recruiting

• Effects of Telerehabilitation After Discharge in COVID-19 Survivors - Condition:   Covid19
  Intervention:   Other: Telerehabilitation
  Sponsor:   Hacettepe University
  Recruiting

• A Study to Assess if a Medicine Called Bamlanivimab is Safe and Effective in Reducing Hospitalization Due to COVID-19 - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Biological: Bamlanivimab;   Other: Standard of Care
  Sponsors:   Fraser Health;   Fraser Health Authrority Department of Evaluation and Research Services;   Surrey Memorial Hospital Clinical Research Unit;   Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences;   Surrey Hospitals Foundation;   BC Support Unit;   University of British Columbia;   Ministry of Health, British Columbia
  Not yet recruiting

• Efficacy of Adaptogens in Patients With Long COVID-19 - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Dietary Supplement: ADAPT-232 oral solution;   Other: Placebo oral solution
  Sponsors:   Swedish Herbal Institute AB;   National Family Medicine Training Centre, Georgia;   Tbilisi State Medical University;   Phytomed AB
  Not yet recruiting

• COVID-19 Self-Testing Through Rapid Network Distribution - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Behavioral: COVID-19 self-test;   Behavioral: COVID-19 test referral
  Sponsors:   University of Pennsylvania;   Public Health Management Corporation
  Not yet recruiting

• Effectiveness of the Adsorbed Vaccine COVID-19 (Coronavac) Among Education and Public Safety Workers With Risk Factors for Severity - Condition:   Covid19
  Intervention:   Biological: Adsorbed SARS-CoV-2 (inactivated) vaccine
  Sponsors:   Fundação de Medicina Tropical Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado;   Butantan Institute
  Not yet recruiting

• Text-based Reminders to Promote COVID-19 Vaccinations - Condition:   Covid19, Vaccines
  Interventions:   Behavioral: Self-benefit;   Behavioral: Prosocial-benefit;   Behavioral: Early access;   Behavioral: Fresh start
  Sponsors:   University of California, Los Angeles;   Carnegie Mellon University
  Recruiting

• Text-based Interventions to Promote COVID-19 Vaccinations - Condition:   Covid19, Vaccines
  Interventions:   Behavioral: Patient MyChart Scheduling Link;   Behavioral: Patient Educational Video;   Behavioral: Enhanced Follow through Message
  Sponsors:   University of California, Los Angeles;   Carnegie Mellon University
  Recruiting

• Vitamin D3 Levels in COVID-19 Outpatients From Western Mexico - Condition:   Covid19
  Intervention:   Dietary Supplement: Vitamin D3
  Sponsor:   University of Guadalajara
  Completed

• HElping Alleviate the Longer-term Consequences of COVID-19 (HEAL-COVID) - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Drug: Apixaban;   Drug: Atorvastatin
  Sponsors:   Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;   University of Liverpool;   Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (joint Sponsor);   The University of Cambridge (joint Sponsor)
  Not yet recruiting

• Ultrasound Neural and Immunomodulation Treatment Evaluation Study for COVID-19 - Condition:   Covid19
  Intervention:   Device: Splenic Ultrasound
  Sponsors:   Imanuel Lerman;   SecondWave Systems Inc.;   United States Department of Defense;   University of Minnesota
  Recruiting

From PubMed

• Zinc supplementation as an adjunct therapy for COVID-19: challenges and opportunities - An outbreak of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19 or 2019-CoV) infection has posed significant threats to international health and the economy. Patients with COVID-19 are at risk of cytokine storm, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), reduced blood oxygenation, mechanical ventilation, and a high death rate. Although recent studies have shown remdesivir & dexamethasone as treatment options, there is an urgent need to find a treatment to inhibit virus replication and to control the progression…

• Alpha-1 antitrypsin inhibits TMPRSS2 protease activity and SARS-CoV-2 infection - SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory pathogen and primarily infects the airway epithelium. As our knowledge about innate immune factors of the respiratory tract against SARS-CoV-2 is limited, we generated and screened a peptide/protein library derived from bronchoalveolar lavage for inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 spike-driven entry. Analysis of antiviral fractions revealed the presence of α(1)-antitrypsin (α(1)AT), a highly abundant circulating serine protease inhibitor. Here, we report that α(1)AT inhibits…

• Messenger RNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 - The first two vaccines proven to be effective for inhibiting COVID-19 illness were both mRNA, achieving 95% efficacy (and safety) among 74,000 participants (half receiving placebo) after intramuscular delivery of two shots, 3-4 weeks apart. To view this Bench to Bedside, open or download the PDF.

• What Do Influenza and COVID-19 Represent for Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease? - CONCLUSIONS: Once the cytokine storm observed in influenza and COVID-19 is similar to the cytokine pattern observed in IBD patients during the disease flares, the advice is that avoiding the infections is still an optimal option for IBD subjects.

• Withanone from Withania somnifera Attenuates SARS-CoV-2 RBD and Host ACE2 Interactions to Rescue Spike Protein Induced Pathologies in Humanized Zebrafish Model - CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study provided experimental validation for computational insight into the potential of withanone as a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus entry into the host cells.

• Artificial Intelligence for COVID-19 Drug Discovery and Vaccine Development - SARS-COV-2 has roused the scientific community with a call to action to combat the growing pandemic. At the time of this writing, there are as yet no novel antiviral agents or approved vaccines available for deployment as a frontline defense. Understanding the pathobiology of COVID-19 could aid scientists in their discovery of potent antivirals by elucidating unexplored viral pathways. One method for accomplishing this is the leveraging of computational methods to discover new candidate drugs…

• Evaluation of Annona muricata Acetogenins as Potential Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Agents Through Computational Approaches - Annona muricata, a tropical plant which has been extensively used in ethnomedicine to treat a wide range of diseases, from malaria to cancer. Interestingly, this plant has been reported to demonstrate significant antiviral properties against the human immunodeficiency virus, herpes simplex virus, human papilloma virus, hepatitis C virus and dengue virus. Additionally, the bioactive compounds responsible for antiviral efficacy have also shown to be selectively cytotoxic while inhibiting…

• Antibodies to neutralising epitopes synergistically block the interaction of the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 to ACE 2 - CONCLUSION: COVID-19 convalescent patients have SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies and MBCs, the specificities of which can be defined with short peptides. Epitope-specific antibodies synergistically block RBD-ACE2 interaction.

• Imaging features of COVID-19: What we can learn from SARS and MERS (Review) - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious type of pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has rapidly become a global pandemic. COVID-19, SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) are all caused by members of the Coronaviridae family. As expected, emerging genetic and clinical evidence from patients with COVID-19 has indicated that the pathway of infection is similar to that of SARS and MERS. Additionally, much like SARS and…

• Macrolides May Prevent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Entry into Cells: A Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship Study and Experimental Validation - The global pandemic caused by the emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is threatening the health and economic systems worldwide. Despite the enormous efforts of scientists and clinicians around the world, there is still no drug or vaccine available worldwide for the treatment and prevention of the infection. A rapid strategy for the identification of new treatments is based on repurposing existing clinically approved drugs that show antiviral activity against…

• Membrane Nanoparticles Derived from ACE2-Rich Cells Block SARS-CoV-2 Infection - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic worldwide necessitates the development of therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. ACE2 is the main receptor of SARS-CoV-2 S1 and mediates viral entry into host cells. Herein, membrane nanoparticles (NPs) prepared from ACE2-rich cells were discovered to have potent capacity to block SARS-CoV-2 infection. The membranes of human embryonic kidney-239T cells highly expressing ACE2 were applied to prepare NPs using an extrusion method. The nanomaterials, termed ACE2-NPs,…

• Antiretroviral drug activity and potential for pre-exposure prophylaxis against COVID-19 and HIV infection - COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 which has led to 2,643,000 deaths worldwide, a number which is rapidly increasing. Urgent studies to identify new antiviral drugs, repurpose existing drugs, or identify drugs that can target the overactive immune response are ongoing. Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) have been tested in past human coronavirus infections, and also against SARS-CoV-2, but a trial of lopinavir and ritonavir failed to show any clinical benefit in COVID-19. However, there is…

• Discovery of Clioquinol and analogues as novel inhibitors of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 infection, ACE2 and ACE2 - Spike protein interaction in vitro - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has resulted in an ongoing pandemic. Presently, there are no clinically approved drugs for COVID-19. Hence, there is an urgent need to accelerate the development of effective antivirals. Herein, we discovered Clioquinol (5-chloro-7-iodo-8-quinolinol (CLQ)), a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug, and two of its analogues (7-bromo-5-chloro-8-hydroxyquinoline…

• Nano-formulation of herbo-mineral alternative medicine from linga chenduram and evaluation of antiviral efficacy - Traditional medicine is becoming a primary source of health care in many countries in recent years. The current study proposes a new dimension of understanding a traditional origin treatment, using herbo-mineral preparations in nanoform. The herbo-mineral preparation, Linga chenduram [HMLC], was prepared according to the ancient palm script protocol dates back to 1000 years. In search of alternative therapy for the coronavirus, an attempt was made to determine this ethnic medicine formulation’s…

• Structural basis for bivalent binding and inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 infection by human potent neutralizing antibodies - Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (nAbs) to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) represent promising candidates for clinical intervention against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We isolated a large number of nAbs from SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals capable of disrupting proper interaction between the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the viral spike (S) protein and the receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). However, the structural basis for their potent…

From Patent Search

• Peptides and their use in diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection - - link

• A PROCESS FOR SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF COVID 19 POSITIVE PATIENTS - - link

• Sars-CoV-2 vaccine antigens - - link

• SARS-COV-2 BINDING PROTEINS - - link

• Bildschirmgerät mit verbesserter Wirkung bei der Befestigung von UV-Entkeimungslampen -

  Ein Bildschirmgerät mit verbesserter Wirkung bei der Befestigung von UV-Entkeimungslampen, umfassend: ein Bildschirmgerät, das einen Umfang hat; eine UV-Entkeimungslampe, die sich am Umfang des Bildschirmgeräts befindet; eine Stromquelle, die elektrisch mit der UV-Entkeimungslampe verbunden ist; eine Steuerschaltung, die elektrisch mit der UV-Entkeimungslampe verbunden ist; und eine Befestigungsvorrichtung, durch die die UV-Entkeimungslampe am Umfang des Bildschirmgeräts befestigbar ist, wobei die Befestigungsvorrichtung einen Sitzkörper, eine erste Klemmplatte und eine zweite Klemmplatte aufweist, wobei der Sitzkörper mit der UV-Entkeimungslampe versehen ist, wobei die erste Klemmplatte und die zweite Klemmplatte beabstandet am Sitzkörper gleitbar angeordnet sind, wodurch ein Klemmabstand zwischen der ersten Klemmplatte und der zweiten Klemmplatte besteht, wobei ein elastisches Element zwischen der zweiten Klemmplatte und dem Sitzkörper angeordnet ist, um die zweite Klemmplatte dazu zu zwingen, sich der ersten Klemmplatte zu nähern.

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• Schublade mit antiepidemischer Wirkung -

  Schublade mit antiepidemischer Wirkung, mit einem Schrank (1); mindestens einer Schublade (2), die in dem Schrank (1) angeordnet ist, wobei jede Schublade (2) einen Schubladenraum (25) aufweist; einer UV-Sterilisationsvorrichtung (3), die an der Schublade (2) angeordnet ist; einer Stromquelle (4), die elektrisch mit der UV-Sterilisationsvorrichtung (3) verbunden ist; einer Steuerschaltung (5), die elektrisch mit der Stromquelle (4) und der UV-Sterilisationsvorrichtung (3) verbunden ist; und einem Sensor (6), der elektrisch mit der Steuerschaltung (5) verbunden ist.

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• Gerät zur Unterstützung und Verstärkung natürlicher Lüftung -

  Lüftungssystem für einen mit öffnbaren Fenstern (16) ausgestatteten Gebäuderaum, gekennzeichnet dadurch, dass es ein Gehäuse (18) und einen Ventilator (20) aufweist, wobei durch das Gehäuse eine vom Ventilator erzeugte Luftströmung strömen kann, wobei das Gehäuse dafür eine Einströmöffnung (24) für Luft und eine Ausströmöffnung (22) für Luft enthält, wobei eine der beiden Öffnungen der Form eines Öffnungsspalts (26) zwischen einem Fensterflügel (12) und einem Blendrahmen (14) des Fensters (16) angepasst ist.

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• X射线图像识别方法、装置、计算机设备及存储介质 - 本申请涉及一种X射线图像识别方法、装置、计算机设备和存储介质。通过获取X射线图像，将X射线图像作为训练样本；构建多注意力交互网络，多注意力交互网络包括卷积批处理标准化网络、特征提取网络和输出网络；其中特征提取网络包括多注意力交互特征提取模块和批标准化模块，特征提取网络通过学习通道之间的相关性，多通道之间的信息交互来达到增强模型的识别能力。利用训练样本对多注意力交互网络进行训练，得到X射线图像识别模型；获取待测X射线图像；将待测X射线图像输入到X射线图像识别模型中，得到X射线图像的类别。本方法减少了网络的参数量和计算量，提高了模型的泛化能力。 - link

• 利用HEK293细胞制备新型冠状病毒核衣壳蛋白的方法 - 本发明提供一种利用HEK293细胞制备新型冠状病毒核衣壳蛋白的方法，包括：1）构建新冠病毒核衣壳蛋白（N蛋白）重组表达载体；2）用重组表达载体转染HEK293细胞；3）体外培养细胞，从培养上清中分离纯化N蛋白。利用HEK293表达系统可在短时间内获得大量新冠病毒N蛋白，通过一步亲和层析法可获得纯度高达98%以上的N蛋白。与大肠杆菌相比，采用HEK293表达系统制备的N蛋白在与抗体的结合活性及新冠抗体胶体金检测方面均表现出极大优势，且HEK293表达系统制备的N蛋白其蛋白空间构象接近于病毒N基因在宿主体内的蛋白表达构象，具有更高的免疫诊断和抗体制备的准确性，将其用于制作诊断试剂和疫苗前景广阔。 - link

• Compositions and methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein - - link