Covid-19 Sentry

Contents

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

From Preprints

• DEFEN-CE: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. Report on Finland and Sweden -
  This is a comparative country report on Finland and Sweden for the DEFEN-CE project: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. DEFEN-CE is a research project funded by the Directorate-General for Employment, the European Commission (Grant number: VS/2021/0196). The project investigates the experiences of various stakeholders in the design and implementation of Covid-19-related policies relevant to work and employment in EU member states (Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechia, Slovakia, Italy and Spain) and two candidate countries, Serbia and Turkey. The aim of the project is to identify the role of social dialogue in facilitating policy implementation that addresses the labour market situation of vulnerable groups in the post-Covid-19 labour markets. Based on this aim, the report seeks to answer three main research questions from a comparative perspective, emphasising similarities and differences in Finland’s and Sweden’s pandemic response, industrial relations (with a focus on social dialogue structures and interactions), policy design, and protection of vulnerable groups. 1. What public policy and social dialogue measures targeting the selected vulnerable groups were implemented for employment and social protection during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020–2022? 2. To what extent and how did social dialogue play a role in the implementation of the social and employment rights of selected vulnerable groups in the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022? 3. What lessons and opportunities does the Covid-19 pandemic yield for strengthening social dialogue in the studied countries? The report combines analysis and findings based on the construction of country-specific Defence Databases (one for Finland and one for Sweden) and qualitative interviews with national stakeholders. The respective database gathers information on more than 30 country- specific Covid-19 policies that have been gathered from international databases (e.g., Eurofound, Eurostat, and OECD/AIAS ICTWSS), national and international policy documents and legislation, reports from trade unions and employers’ organisations, and academic literature. The policies are systematised with information on who adopted the policy (e.g., executive branch, parliament, central bank), policy form (e.g., legislation and statutory regulations, recommendations, social partner agreements), policy area (e.g., labour market, health and safety, and social security), time period, targeted vulnerable groups (based on employment status, social risks, and health safety), and social partners’ involvement.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: DEFEN-CE: Social Dialogue in Defence of Vulnerable Groups in Post-COVID-19 Labour Markets. Report on Finland and Sweden
• Emergence and spread of feline infection peritonitis due to a highly pathogenic canine/feline recombinant coronavirus -
  Cross-species transmission of coronaviruses (CoVs) poses a serious threat to both animal and human health. Whilst the large RNA genome of CoVs shows relatively low mutation rates, recombination within genera is frequently observed and demonstrated. Companion animals are often overlooked in the transmission cycle of viral diseases; however, the close relationship of feline (FCoV) and canine CoV (CCoV) to human hCoV-229E, as well as their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 highlight their importance in potential transmission cycles. Whilst recombination between CCoV and FCoV of a large fragment spanning orf1b to M has been previously described, here we report the emergence of a novel, highly pathogenic FCoV-CCoV recombinant responsible for a rapidly spreading outbreak of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), originating in Cyprus. The recombination, spanning spike, shows 97% sequence identity to the pantropic canine coronavirus CB/05. Infection is spreading fast and infecting cats of all ages. Development of FIP appears rapid and likely non-reliant on biotype switch. High sequence identity of isolates from cats in different districts of the island is strongly supportive of direct transmission. A deletion and several amino acid changes in spike, particularly the receptor binding domain, compared to other FCoV-2s, indicate changes to receptor binding and likely cell tropism.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Emergence and spread of feline infection peritonitis due to a highly pathogenic canine/feline recombinant coronavirus
• Robust detection of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in population using T-cell repertoire profiling -
  The COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrates the need to monitor the spread of infectious diseases and population immunity. Probing adaptive immunity by sequencing the repertoire of antigen receptors (Rep-Seq) encoding specificity and immunological memory has become a method of choice for immunology studies. Rep-Seq can detect the imprint of past and ongoing infections and study individual responses to SARS-CoV-2 as shown in a number of recent studies. Here we apply a machine learning approach to two large datasets with more than 1200 high-quality repertoires from healthy and COVID-19-convalescent donor repertoires to infer T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire features that were induced by SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Proper standardization of Rep-Seq batches, access to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing and both - and {beta}-chain sequences of TCRs allowed us to generate a high-quality biomarker database and build a robust and highly accurate classifier for COVID-19 exposure applicable to individual TCR repertoires obtained using different protocols, paving a way to Rep-Seq-based immune status assessment in large cohorts of donors.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Robust detection of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in population using T-cell repertoire profiling
• Navigating Digital Inequality: Examining Factors Affecting Rural Customers’ Internet Banking Adoption in Post-COVID Bangladesh -
  As the world continues to navigate the new normal brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, one issue that has come to the forefront is digital inequality. In Bangladesh, where a significant portion of the population resides in rural areas, the adoption of internet banking has been hindered by various factors. However, understanding these factors is crucial, especially now that digital transactions have become more important. This study aims to understand the factors influencing the adoption of internet banking services among rural customers in Bangladesh. To acquire data, a questionnaire was administered to 443 rural bank customers in the district of Barisal. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) revealed three primary factors: trust compatibility, service benefit, and access to consumer education. In addition, the research sought to determine if the identified factors, particularly access to consumer education, varied according to the occupation and income level of rural consumers. Using exhaustive Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) analysis, the findings revealed that access to consumer education differs significantly by occupation level, with business and service holders being more likely than farmers to have access to consumer education. This research contributes to the literature by providing insights into the adoption of internet banking by rural customers and informing policymakers about the special needs of this demographic.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Navigating Digital Inequality: Examining Factors Affecting Rural Customers’ Internet Banking Adoption in Post-COVID Bangladesh
• A General Guide for Harmonizing Data -
  Data harmonization is an important method for generating the requisite datasets to support big data analyses. To date however, articles about data harmonization are field-specific and highly technical, mak- ing it difficult for researchers to derive general principles for how to engage in and contextualize data harmonization efforts. This commentary provides general guidance and criteria for researchers who are considering undertaking such efforts or seek to evaluate the quality of existing ones. We derive these guidelines from the extant literature and our own experience in harmonizing data for the emergent and important new field of COVID-19 public health and safety measures (PHSM).
  🖺 Full Text HTML: A General Guide for Harmonizing Data
• East-West mortality disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic widen the historical longevity divide in Europe. -

  For over half a century, life expectancy in Eastern European (former communist) countries has been appreciably lower than in Western Europe, although this difference has been narrowing since 2000. We investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these differences. The pandemic reversed the recent convergence and widened the gap to levels observed more than two decades ago (7.9 years for males and 4.9 for females in 2021). Moreover, the trajectory of excess mortality in the pandemic differed between East and West, with the first major peaks in Eastern Europe occurring on average six months after the first peaks seen in Western countries. Despite this, the East suffered greater losses in life expectancy, especially in 2021. This was due to larger relative mortality increases in the East rather than greater frailty of the Eastern European populations as indexed by higher pre-pandemic mortality levels. East-West differences in life expectancy losses in 2021 were substantially explained by COVID-19 vaccination, which together with trust in government accounted for half the gap. We conclude that the East-West differences in life expectancy losses are associated with structural and psychosocial traits that have their roots in the communist era. This includes differences in the connectivity of populations (which drives the differences in timing), as well as profound contrasts in levels of trust in science, authorities, and their capacity to enforce lockdowns and other regulatory measures (driving the huge differences in excess mortality from autumn 2020 onwards).

  🖺 Full Text HTML: East-West mortality disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic widen the historical longevity divide in Europe.
• Ceding Power in Intra-Household Bargaining in Times of Economic Anxiety: An Experimental Study in Nepal -
  How do perceptions of one’s relative economic status affect beliefs regarding gender roles? We conducted a 2019 survey experiment with approximately 2,000 adults in Nepal. Employing an established survey treatment called a priming experiment to subtly alter half of respondents’ perceptions of their relative economic well-being, we ?find that increased feelings of relative deprivation make married women significantly less likely to support gender egalitarian perspectives. Women decrease their support for women making decisions over household expenditures, having equal control over household income, sharing household chores, and women working outside the home. A message randomly read to some women and designed to spur increased support for women’s empowerment does little to alter beliefs regarding gender roles or to attenuate the effects of the relative deprivation prime. Despite the negative impacts on women’s gender attitudes, however, we do not find a similar pattern among married men. The results underscore the deleterious effects that feelings of relative deprivation can have on women’s own gender attitudes and provide a cautionary tale given trends toward greater economic inequality further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Ceding Power in Intra-Household Bargaining in Times of Economic Anxiety: An Experimental Study in Nepal
• Review on Identification of Major Infectious Site and Disease Progression Pathway for Early Detection of Novel Corona Virus Covid-19 -
  The Novel Coronavirus disease, COVID-19, is a new highly contagious infection, transmitted from human to human of pandemic proportion. The number affected is increasing dramatically, without specific therapy nor vaccination available. The major challenges for its epidemiological control include the prolonged incubation period without symptoms and its ability to transmit the disease by both symptomatic and asymptomatic. This review is to bring an awareness to the scientific and medical community a major route of infection during incubation period, suggesting a new diagnostic approach to be adopted. Exploration of this study may unfold a unique approach to the early detection and clinical management well before its progression to severe disease manifestation. We highlight the importance of evaluating pancreatic function, hepatocellular changes and gastrointestinal lining to enable early diagnosis of the disease.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Review on Identification of Major Infectious Site and Disease Progression Pathway for Early Detection of Novel Corona Virus Covid-19
• How Covid-19 changed the way we visit rivers? Applications of big data for sentiment analysis -
  Rivers lay the societal foundations to connect people with various activities around them. While the literature has overlooked the river, emotional values, and wellbeing linkage, how the rivers are perceived by visitors and how the use of rivers has changed during the pandemic can assist in evaluation and decision support in land use policies and plans. On the other hand, social media, assisting in articulating visitation patterns and moods proximate to the river, provides unprecedented insight to better macro- manage these areas. In this study, we employed Machine Learning to conduct a content analysis for rivers of Poland to expose User-Generated Content (UGC) through the visitors’ lens. We aim at understanding an essential cultural hegemony, the patterns of visits, and the moods of visitors. We further compared the results with the Covid-19 daily infections. The findings suggest an increased pressure on rivers during the pandemic, specifically at the time of the lowest sentiments. Our results may help in articulating patterns and moods proximate to the river that provide unprecedented practical insight and illuminate the path for further research proposals.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: How Covid-19 changed the way we visit rivers? Applications of big data for sentiment analysis
• Nanoscale cellular organization of viral RNA and proteins in SARS-CoV-2 replication organelles -
  The SARS-CoV-2 viral infection transforms host cells and produces special organelles in many ways, and we focus on the replication organelle where the replication of viral genomic RNA (vgRNA) occurs. To date, the precise cellular localization of key RNA molecules and replication intermediates has been elusive in electron microscopy studies. We use super-resolution fluorescence microscopy and specific labeling to reveal the nanoscopic organization of replication organelles that contain vgRNA clusters along with viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) clusters and the replication enzyme, encapsulated by membranes derived from the host endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We show that the replication organelles are organized differently at early and late stages of infection. Surprisingly, vgRNA accumulates into distinct globular clusters in the cytoplasmic perinuclear region, which grow and accommodate more vgRNA molecules as infection time increases. The localization of ER labels and nsp3 (a component of the double-membrane vesicle, DMV) at the periphery of the vgRNA clusters suggests that replication organelles are enclosed by DMVs at early infection stages which then merge into vesicle packets as infection progresses. Precise co-imaging of the nanoscale cellular organization of vgRNA, dsRNA, and viral proteins in replication organelles of SARS-CoV-2 may inform therapeutic approaches that target viral replication and associated processes.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Nanoscale cellular organization of viral RNA and proteins in SARS-CoV-2 replication organelles
• Standardization and Comparison of Emergency Use Authorized COVID-19 Assays and Testing Laboratories -

  SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of the global COVID-19 pandemic, made its appearance at the end of 2019 and is still circulating in the population. The pandemic led to an urgent need for fast, reliable, and widely available testing. After December 2020, the emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 led to additional challenges since new and existing tests had to detect variants to the same extent as the original Wuhan strain. When an antigen-based test is submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) consideration it is benchmarked against PCR comparator assays, which yield cycle threshold (CT) data as an indirect indicator of viral load—the lower the CT, the higher the viral load of the sample and the higher the CT, the lower the viral load. The FDA mandates that 10-20% of clinical samples used to evaluate the antigen test have to be low positive. Low positive, as defined by the FDA, are clinical samples in which the CT of the SARS-CoV-2 target gene is within 3 CT of the mean CT value of the approved comparator test9s Limit of Detection (LOD). While all comparator tests are PCR-based, the results from different PCR assays used are not uniform. Results vary depending on assay platform, target gene, LOD and laboratory methodology. The emergence and dominance of the Omicron variant further challenged this approach as the fraction of low positive clinical samples dramatically increased as compared to earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants. This led to 20-40% of clinical samples having high CT values and therefore assays vying for an EUA were failing to achieve the 80% Percent Positive Agreement (PPA) threshold required. Here we describe the methods and statistical analyses used to establish a predefined cutoff, based on genome copies per ml (GE/ml) to classify samples as low positive (less than the cutoff GE/ml) or high positive (greater than the cutoff GE/mL). CT 30 for the E gene target using Cobas® SARS-CoV-2-FluA/B platform performed at TriCore Reference Laboratories, and this low positive cutoff value was used for two EUA authorizations. Using droplet digital PCR and methods described here, a value 49,447.72 was determined as the GE/ml equivalent for the low positive cutoff. The CT cutoff corresponding to 49447.72 GE/ml was determined across other platforms and laboratories. The methodology and statistical analysis described here can now be used for standardization of all comparators used for FDA submissions with a goal towards establishing uniform criteria for EUA authorization.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Standardization and Comparison of Emergency Use Authorized COVID-19 Assays and Testing Laboratories
• Small Fiber Neuropathy after COVID-19: A Key to Long COVID -

  Objectives: Report a case series of new onset small fiber neuropathy (SFN) after COVID-19 treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). SFN is a critical objective finding in long COVID and amenable to treatment. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on patients seen in the NeuroCOVID Clinic at Yale who developed new-onset SFN after a documented COVID-19 illness. We documented demographics, symptoms, treatments, diagnostics, and clinical response to treatment. Results: Sixteen patients were diagnosed with length dependent or independent SFN on skin biopsy (median age 47, 75% female, 75% Caucasian). Among the nine patients tested for autoantibodies, six were positive for either trisulfated heparin disaccharide (TS-HDS) or fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3). Eight patients underwent treatment with IVIG and experience significant clinical improvement in their neuropathic symptoms. 92% of patients reported post-exertional malaise characteristic of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and six patients underwent invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing (iCPET), which demonstrated neurovascular dysregulation and dysautonomia consistent with ME/CFS. Discussion: Here we present preliminary evidence that SFN is responsive to treatment with IVIG and linked with neurovascular dysregulation and dysautonomia. A larger clinical trial is indicated to further demonstrate the clinical utility of IVIG in treating post-infectious small fiber neuropathy.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Small Fiber Neuropathy after COVID-19: A Key to Long COVID
• The impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on the likelihood of children identified as sources of infection in the NIH workforce: a cohort study -

  Abstract Background: Children (<18 years old) were not initially considered significant sources of infection (SOIs) for SARS-CoV-2. Risk mitigation strategies were thus prioritized for adults, and vaccination was inaccessible for children until mid-2021. Emergence of novel variants led to significant increases in COVID-19 cases in both children and adults. Whether these emergence events and increased vulnerability of unvaccinated children had a synergistic effect resulting in increased caseloads in adults requires further exploration. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted among 3,545 workers diagnosed with COVID-19. Case details were compiled during contact investigations. Variants of concern were identified following sequencing of biological samples collected through employer-based testing programs. Logistic regression was performed to compare the odds of having a child SOI based on the dominant variant in the workforce. Results: One-fourth (24.5%) of the cohort reported having a child in-residence; 11.2% identified a child as their SOI. In Alpha-dominant months, the odds of having a child SOI were 0.3, and the child SOI was likely older (5-17 years old). The odds of having a child SOI increased to 1.3 and 2.2 in Delta- and Omicron-dominant months, respectively. The odds of having younger child SOIs (<5 years old) were significantly higher in Omicron-dominant months. Conclusions: Children were highly likely to acquire the virus and posed a significant risk of transmission to their adult caretakers during Delta- and Omicron-dominant months. Without proper mitigation strategies in both the home and the workplace, child-associated transmission can threaten operations in the forms of staff shortages.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: The impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on the likelihood of children identified as sources of infection in the NIH workforce: a cohort study
• Combining genomic data and infection estimates to characterize the complex dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants in the United States -

  SARS-CoV-2 Omicron surged as a variant of concern (VOC) in late 2021. Subsequently, several distinct Omicron variants have appeared and overtaken each other. We combined variant frequencies from GISAID and infection estimates from a nowcasting model for each US state to estimate variant-specific infections, attack rates, and effective reproduction numbers (Rt). BA.1 rapidly emerged, and we estimate that it infected 47.7% of the US population between late 2021 and early 2022 before it was replaced by BA.2. We estimate that BA.5, despite a slower takeoff than BA.1, also infected 35.7% of the US population, persisting in circulation for nearly 6 months. Other Omicron variants - BA.2, BA.4, or XBB - infected 30.7% of the US population. We found a positive correlation between the state-level BA.1 attack rate and social vulnerability. Our findings reveal the complex interplay between viral evolution, population susceptibility, and social factors since Omicron emerged in the US.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Combining genomic data and infection estimates to characterize the complex dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants in the United States
• Overview of the 8th Social Media Mining for Health Applications (#SMM4H) Shared Tasks at the AMIA 2023 Annual Symposium -

  The aim of the Social Media Mining for Health Applications (#SMM4H) shared tasks is to take a community-driven approach to address the natural language processing and machine learning challenges inherent to utilizing social media data for health informatics. The eighth iteration of the #SMM4H shared tasks was hosted at the AMIA 2023 Annual Symposium and consisted of five tasks that represented various social media platforms (Twitter and Reddit), languages (English and Spanish), methods (binary classification, multi-class classification, extraction, and normalization), and topics (COVID-19, therapies, social anxiety disorder, and adverse drug events). In total, 29 teams registered, representing 18 countries. In this paper, we present the annotated corpora, a technical summary of the systems, and the performance results. In general, the top-performing systems used deep neural network architectures based on pre-trained transformer models. In particular, the top-performing systems for the classification tasks were based on single models that were pre-trained on social media corpora. To facilitate future work, the datasets, totaling 61,353 posts, will remain available by request, and the CodaLab sites will remain active for a post-evaluation phase.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Overview of the 8th Social Media Mining for Health Applications (#SMM4H) Shared Tasks at the AMIA 2023 Annual Symposium

From Clinical Trials

• Clinical Evaluation of the Panbio™ COVID-19/Flu A&B Panel to Support Home Use - Conditions: COVID-19; Influenza A; Influenza Type B
  Interventions: Diagnostic Test: Panbio™ COVID-19/Flu A&B Panel
  Sponsors: Abbott Rapid Dx
  Recruiting

• Building Engagement Using Financial Incentives Trial - Colorectal Cancer Screening - Conditions: Health Behavior; Colorectal Cancer; Influenza; COVID-19; Vaccine Hesitancy; Vaccine-Preventable Diseases; Healthcare Patient Acceptance
  Interventions: Behavioral: Financial incentive for colorectal cancer screening; Behavioral: Financial incentive for flu shot; Behavioral: Financial incentive for COVID-19 shot
  Sponsors: Tulane University; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
  Not yet recruiting

• Effects of Rehabilitation Combined With a Maintenance Program Compared to Rehabilitation Alone in Post-COVID-19 - Conditions: Post-COVID-19 Syndrome
  Interventions: Procedure: Rehabilitation + maintenance program; Procedure: Rehabilitation only
  Sponsors: Schön Klinik Berchtesgadener Land; Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care (Funding); Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund (German pension insurance) (Design); Betriebskrankenkassen Landesverband Bayern (Bavarian health insurance) (Design)
  Not yet recruiting

• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Literacy for Primary Schools Teachers. A Multicomponent Intervention - Conditions: Child Mental Health
  Interventions: Behavioral: Child Mental Health Literacy Program
  Sponsors: Universidad de Valparaiso
  Recruiting

• Brief Digital Intervention to Increase COVID-19 Vaccination Among Individuals With Anxiety or Depression - Conditions: Misinformation; Vaccine Hesitancy; Anxiety; Depression; COVID-19
  Interventions: Behavioral: Attitudinal inoculation; Behavioral: Cognitive-behavioral therapy-informed intervention; Behavioral: Conventional public health messaging
  Sponsors: City University of New York, School of Public Health; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  Not yet recruiting

• A PhaseⅡ Study to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of COVID-19 Vaccine - Conditions: SARS-CoV-2 Infection
  Interventions: Biological: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (ZSVG-02-O); Biological: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (ZSVG-02-O); Biological: COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell) ,Inactivated
  Sponsors: CNBG-Virogin Biotech (Shanghai) Ltd.
  Recruiting

• Pilot Randomized Study of RD-X19 Tx Device in Subjects With PCC (Long Covid) in the Outpatient Setting - Conditions: Post COVID-19 Condition (PCC)
  Interventions: Device: RDX-19
  Sponsors: KNOWBio Inc.; NAMSA
  Recruiting

• CPAP Therapy Through a Helmet or a Full Face Mask in Patients With Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure: Cross-over Study - Conditions: Pneumonia, Bacterial; Respiratory Failure; COVID-19 Pneumonia
  Interventions: Diagnostic Test: Arterial blood gases; Diagnostic Test: Respiratory rate (RR); Diagnostic Test: Pulseoximeter; Diagnostic Test: Assessment of accessory respiratory muscles work; Diagnostic Test: Esophageal pressure measurement; Diagnostic Test: Discomfort Visual Analog Scale (VAS); Diagnostic Test: Noninvasive blood pressure; Diagnostic Test: Heart rate
  Sponsors: I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University
  Recruiting

• Investigation of Efficacy and Safety of Electrical Signal Therapy Provided by Dr Biolyse® Device in COVID-19 Disease - Conditions: COVID-19 Pneumonia; Virus Diseases; COVID-19
  Interventions: Device: Signal Therapy provided by Dr.Biolyse device; Other: Liquid Support Treatment
  Sponsors: AVB Biotechnology
  Recruiting

• A Phase 1 Study to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of COVID-19 Vaccine - Conditions: SARS-CoV-2 Infection
  Interventions: Biological: Placebo; Biological: COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell) ,Inactivated; Biological: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (ZSVG-02-O) 10 μg; Biological: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (ZSVG-02-O) 30 μg; Biological: COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (ZSVG-02-O) 60 μg
  Sponsors: CNBG-Virogin Biotech (Shanghai) Ltd.; Shulan (Hangzhou) Hospital
  Recruiting

• SAFE Workplace Intervention for People With IDD - Conditions: Communicable Diseases; Prevention; Workplace Intervention
  Interventions: Behavioral: SAFE Employment Training
  Sponsors: Temple University; National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research
  Recruiting

• Effects of an EMDR Intervention on Traumatic and Obsessive Symptoms - Conditions: Adult ALL; Post-traumatic Stress Disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Disgust; Guilt; Shame
  Interventions: Behavioral: EMDR
  Sponsors: University of Pisa
  Completed

• Lithium Long COVID Dose-finding Study - Conditions: Long COVID
  Interventions: Dietary Supplement: Lithium
  Sponsors: State University of New York at Buffalo
  Not yet recruiting

• Pharmacokinetics and Safety of GST-HG171 Tablets in Subjects With Impaired and Normal Renal Function - Conditions: COVID-19 Pneumonia
  Interventions: Drug: GST-HG171 Tablets
  Sponsors: Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
  Recruiting

• Preoperative Educational Videos on Maternal Stress Whose Children Received Congenital Heart Disease Surgery: During COVID-19 Panic - Conditions: COVID-19; Educational Videos; Maternal; Uncertainty; Anxiety; Depression; Congenital Heart Disease; Children
  Interventions: Other: Preoperative educational videos plus routine education; Other: Preoperative routine education
  Sponsors: Chung Shan Medical University
  Completed

From PubMed

• An efficient eco-friendly, simple, and green synthesis of some new spiro-N-(4-sulfamoyl-phenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-carboxamide derivatives as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 proteases: drug-likeness, pharmacophore, molecular docking, and DFT exploration - INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a global health crisis. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly contagious virus that can cause severe respiratory illness. There is no specific treatment for COVID-19, and the development of new drugs is urgently needed.

• Lipid and cholesterols modulate the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 viral ion channel ORF3a and its pathogenic variants - SARS-CoV-2 accessory protein, ORF3a is a putative ion channel which immensely contributes to viral pathogenicity by modulating host immune responses and virus-host interactions. Relatively high expression of ORF3a in diseased individuals and implication with inflammasome activation, apoptosis and autophagy inhibition, ratifies as an effective target for developing vaccines and therapeutics. Herein, we present the elusive dynamics of ORF3a-dimeric state using all-atoms molecular dynamics (MD)…

• The anti-SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine suppresses mithramycin-induced erythroid differentiation and expression of embryo-fetal globin genes in human erythroleukemia K562 cells - The COVID-19 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein (S-protein) plays an important role in the early phase of SARS-CoV2 infection through efficient interaction with ACE2. The S-protein is produced by RNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, that were fundamental for the reduction of the viral spread within the population and the clinical severity of COVID-19. However, the S-protein has been…

• Optimizing indoor air quality: CFD simulation and novel air cleaning methods for effective aerosol particle inhibition in public spaces - In contemporary building ventilation, displacement and mixing ventilation demand high air volumes for rapid virus elimination, resulting in elevated energy consumption. To minimize the spread of viruses and decrease energy consumption for ventilation, this study employed CFD to explore the efficacy of a downward uniform flow field in impeding the transmission of aerosol particles in a high-traffic public facility, like a supermarket. The findings indicate that the downward uniform flow field…

• Modulation of the replication of positive-sense RNA viruses by the natural plant metabolite xanthohumol and its derivatives - The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of identifying new potent antiviral agents. Nutrients as well as plant-derived substances are promising candidates because they are usually well tolerated by the human body and readily available in nature, and consequently mostly cheap to produce. A variety of antiviral effects have recently been described for the hop chalcone xanthohumol (XN), and to a lesser extent for its derivatives, making these hop compounds particularly attractive for…

• Unmasking an Allosteric Binding Site of the Papain-like Protease in SARS-CoV-2: Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Corticosteroids - To date, mechanistic insights into many clinical drugs against COVID-19 remain unexplored. Dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, is one of them. While treating the entire corticosteroid database, including vitamins D2 and D3, with cutting-edge computational techniques, several intriguing results are unfolded. From the top-notch candidates, dexamethasone is likely to inhibit the viral main protease (Mpro), with vitamin D3 exhibiting multitarget [Mpro, papain-like protease (PLpro), and nucleocapsid…

• Enhancing Employee Job Satisfaction Responding to COVID-19: The Role of Organizational Adaptive Practices and Psychological Resilience - CONCLUSION: The study provides a new perspective on increasing JS during the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby expanding the scope of the antecedents of employee JS in crisis situations. It also reveals the mediating role of EE and deepens the research on the mechanism by which OAP and PR affect individuals, providing practical guidance for organizations to improve employee satisfaction in sudden public crisis situations.

• Dexamethasone impairs the expression of antimicrobial mediators in lipopolysaccharide-activated primary macrophages by inhibiting both expression and function of interferon β - Glucocorticoids potently inhibit expression of many inflammatory mediators, and have been widely used to treat both acute and chronic inflammatory diseases for more than seventy years. However, they can have several unwanted effects, amongst which immunosuppression is one of the most common. Here we used microarrays and proteomic approaches to characterise the effect of dexamethasone (a synthetic glucocorticoid) on the responses of primary mouse macrophages to a potent pro-inflammatory agonist,…

• Designing Cell Delivery Peptides and SARS-CoV-2-Targeting Small Interfering RNAs: A Comprehensive Bioinformatics Study with Generative Adversarial Network-Based Peptide Design and In Vitro Assays - Nucleic acid technologies with designed intracellular delivery systems are some of the most promising therapies of the future. Small interfering (si)RNAs inhibit gene expression and protein synthesis and may complement current vaccines with faster design and production. Although successful delivery remains an issue, delivery peptides may help to fill this gap. Here, we address this issue by applying bioinformatic approaches to design new putative cell delivery peptides and siRNAs for COVID-19…

• The SLC6A15-SLC6A20 neutral amino acid transporter subfamily: functions, diseases, and their therapeutic relevance - The neutral amino acid transporter subfamily that consists of six members; consecutively SLC6A15-SLC620, also called orphan transporters, represents membrane, sodium-dependent symporter proteins that belong to the family of solute carrier 6 (SLC6). Primarily, they mediate the transport of neutral amino acids from the extracellular milieu toward cell or storage vesicles utilizing an electric membrane potential as the driving force. Orphan transporters are widely distributed throughout the body,…

• Drug repurposing for the treatment of COVID-19: Targeting nafamostat to the lungs by a liposomal delivery system - Despite tremendous global efforts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, still only a limited number of prophylactic and therapeutic options are available. Although vaccination is the most effective measure in preventing morbidity and mortality, there is a need for safe and effective post-infection treatment medication. In this study, we explored a pipeline of 21 potential candidates, examined in the Calu-3 cell line for their antiviral efficacy, for drug repurposing. Ralimetinib and…

• Inhibitory effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and BNT162b2 vaccine on erythropoietin-induced globin gene expression in erythroid precursor cells (ErPCs) from β-thalassemia patients - During the recent COVID-19 pandemic several β-thalassemia patients have been infected by SARS-CoV-2 and most patients were vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. Recent studies demonstrate an impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the hematopoietic system. The main objective of this study was to verify the effects of exposure of erythroid precursor cells (ErPCs) from β-thalassemia patients to SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein (S-protein) and the BNT162b2 vaccine. Erythropoietin (EPO)-cultured ErPCs have been either…

• Physiological responses and molecular mechanism of Chlorella sorokiniana to surgical mask exudates in wastewater - Microalgae-based bioremediation is likely to be challenged by the microplastics (MPs) in wastewater induced by the widely use of surgical masks (SMs) during COVID-19. However, such toxic impact was generally evaluated under high exposure concentrations of MPs, which was not in agreement with the actual wastewater environments. Therefore, this study investigated the microalgal cellular responses to the surgical mask exudates (SMEs) in wastewater and explored the underlying inhibitory mechanism…

• Molecular dynamic simulation reveals spider antimicrobial peptide Latarcin-1 and human eosinophil cationic protein as peptide inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 variants - COVID-19 has rapidly proliferated around 180 countries, and new cases are reported frequently. No peptide medication has been developed that can reliably block SARS-CoV-2 infection. The investigation focuses on the crucial host receptors angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) , which can bind receptor-binding domain (RBD) on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S). To investigate the inhibitory effects of human Eosinophil Cationic Protein (hECP) and Latarcin-1 (L1)on SARS-CoV-2 infection, we have…

• Role of Enhancing Aerobic Capacity in Countering COVID-19-induced Liver Injury in Elderlies - COVID-19 is still a world disaster; however, its vaccination is globally available. Liver and gastrointestinal disturbances occur in patients infected with COVID-19 at varying incidences. Aging decreases the functions of the liver. Thus, the elderly have a weaker response to the COVID-19 virus. The COVID-19 virus affects the liver directly through direct and indirect mechanisms. It directly affects the renin-angiotensin system or indirectly causes sepsis, uncontrolled immune reactions,…

From Patent Search