Covid-19 Sentry

Contents

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

From Preprints

• ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS: RECYCLING GLOVES DURING COVID-19 -
  The COVID-19 crisis has set we all before another novel dispute for reusing/recycling. The demand to comprise the contamination and, consequently, to stay away from however much as potential be expected to contact with possibly tainted surfaces has importantly extended the disseminate of single-use gloves, utilized most importantly in the clinical and expert field. In this study, analyzed the recycle of hand gloves for the purpose of reuse in daily life as well as collecting the gloves producing resale. The methods applied in our study achievable to disinfect the virus such as COVID-19.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS: RECYCLING GLOVES DURING COVID-19
• Exploring Trauma Responsive Educational Practices in a Museum -
  Trauma infiltrates all of society – including museums. For guests, the trauma may lie in the context of the visit or what they bring with them from their everyday lives. Staff can develop trauma through daily interaction with stressful content or secondary trauma through interaction with traumatized guests. During the COVID19 pandemic, trauma also developed from workplace issues regarding personal health safety and job security. This is a case study about how one museum educated itself about the presence and impact of trauma through exploration of a framework developed by the Trauma Responsive Educational Practices (TREP) Project. We present results of a staff-wide evaluation around initial implementation of the framework. Results show staff found the framework to be relevant and useful, but they need more support adapting it to the unique environment of museums. It also triggered memories of personal trauma in some staff, requiring a rethinking about how to implement it.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Exploring Trauma Responsive Educational Practices in a Museum
• Omicron Spread in Vaccinated Jurisdictions: a Statistical Study -

  A correlation hypothesis between the level of vaccination and the rate of spread of the new Covid-19 variant is investigated based on the case and vaccination data from European and North American jurisdictions available in the public domain at the time point of past the crest of the Omicron wave in most jurisdictions. Statistical variables describing the rate of the spread based on observed new case statistics defined and discussed. An unexpected moderate positive correlation between the rate of the variant spread measured by two related parameters and vaccination level based on the dataset in the study is reported. While negative correlation was not statistically excluded, the analysis of the data in the study statistically excluded a moderate to strong negative correlation. The results of this work, if confirmed by further independent studies can have implications for development of policies aimed at controlling future course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Omicron Spread in Vaccinated Jurisdictions: a Statistical Study
• Good recovery of immunization stress-related responses presenting as cluster of stroke-like events following CoronaVac and ChAdOx1 vaccinations -

  Background: Immunization stress-related responses presenting as stroke-like symptoms may develop following COVID-19 vaccination. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of immunization stress-related responses causing stroke-like events following COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of the secondary data of reported adverse events following COVID-19 immunization that presented with neurologic manifestations. Between March 1 and July 31, 2021, we collected and analyzed the medical records of 221 patients diagnosed with stroke-like symptoms following immunization. Demographic and medical data included sex, age, vaccine type, sequence dose, time to event, laboratory data, and recovery status as defined by the modified Rankin score (i.e., defining the degree of severity/dependence, with higher scores indicating greater disability). The affected side was evaluated for associations with the injection site. Results: In total, 221 patients were diagnosed with immunization stress-related responses (stroke-like symptoms) following CoronaVac (Sinovac) or ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca) vaccinations. Most patients (83.7%) were women. The median (interquartile range) age of onset was 34 (28–42) years in patients receiving CoronaVac and 46 (33.5–60) years in those receiving ChAdOx1. The median interval between vaccination and symptom onset for each vaccine type was 60 (16–960) min and 30 (8.8–750) min, respectively. Sensory symptoms were the most common symptomology. Most patients (53.8%) developed symptoms on the left side of the body; 99.5% of the patients receiving CoronaVac and 90% of those receiving ChAdOx1 recovered well (modified Rankin scores <=2, indicating slight or no disability). Conclusions: Immunization stress-related responses presenting as stroke-like symptoms can develop following COVID-19 vaccination. Symptoms that are more likely to occur on the injection side are transient (i.e., without permanent pathological deficits). Public education and preparedness are important for administering successful COVID-19 vaccination programs.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Good recovery of immunization stress-related responses presenting as cluster of stroke-like events following CoronaVac and ChAdOx1 vaccinations
• Hospital length of stay in a mixed Omicron and Delta epidemic in New South Wales, Australia -

  Aim: To estimate the length of stay distributions of hospitalised COVID-19 cases during a mixed Omicron-Delta epidemic in New South Wales, Australia (16 Dec 2021 – 7 Feb 2022), and compare these to estimates produced over a Delta-only epidemic in the same population (1 Jul 2021 – 15 Dec 2022). Background: The distribution of the duration that clinical cases of COVID-19 occupy hospital beds (the `length of stay9) is a key factor in determining how incident caseloads translate into health system burden as measured through ward and ICU occupancy. Results: Using data on the hospital stays of 19,574 individuals, we performed a competing-risk survival analysis of COVID-19 clinical progression. During the mixed Omicron-Delta epidemic, we found that the mean length of stay for individuals who were discharged directly from ward without an ICU stay was, for age groups 0-39, 40-69 and 70+ respectively, 2.16 (95% CI: 2.12–2.21), 3.93 (95% CI: 3.78–4.07) and 7.61 days (95% CI: 7.31–8.01), compared to 3.60 (95% CI: 3.48–3.81), 5.78 (95% CI: 5.59–5.99) and 12.31 days (95% CI: 11.75–12.95) across the preceding Delta epidemic (15 Jul 2021 – 15 Dec 2021). We also considered data on the stays of individuals within the Hunter New England Local Health District, where it was reported that Omicron was the only circulating variant, and found mean ward-to-discharge length of stays of 2.05 (95% CI: 1.80–2.30), 2.92 (95% CI: 2.50–3.67) and 6.02 days (95% CI: 4.91–7.01) for the same age groups.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Hospital length of stay in a mixed Omicron and Delta epidemic in New South Wales, Australia
• Breakthrough Covid-19 cases despite tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld™) prophylaxis in kidney transplant recipients -

  While the combination of casirivimab –imdevimab (Ronapreve™ Roche Regeneron) has been shown to confer satisfactory protection against the delta variant kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with COVID –19, it has limited neutralizing activity against the current variants of concern (Omicron BA.1 , BA.1.1 and BA.2). In contrast, cilgavimab –tixagevimab combination (Evusheld™, Astra Zeneca) retains a partial neutralizing activity against omicron in vitro. We examined whether preexposure prophylaxis with Evusheld™ can effectively protect kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) against the Omicron variant. Of the 416 KTRs who received intramuscular prophylactic injections of Evusheld™ (150 mg tixagevimab and 150 mg cilgavimab), 39 (9.4%) developed COVID-19. With the exception of one patient, all KTRs were symptomatic. Hospitalization and admission to an intensive care unit were required for 14 (35.9%) and three patients, respectively. Two KTRs died of COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome. SARS-CoV-2 sequencing was carried out in 15 cases (BA.1, n = 5; BA.1.1, n = 9; BA.2, n=1). Viral neutralizing activity of the serum against BA.1 variant was negative in the 12 tested patients, suggesting that this prophylaxis strategy provides insufficient protection against this variant of concern . Preexposure prophylaxis with Evusheld™ does not adequately protect KTRs against Omicron. Further clarification of the optimal dosing can assist in our understanding of how best to harness its protective potential.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Breakthrough Covid-19 cases despite tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld™) prophylaxis in kidney transplant recipients
• Pre-exposure to mRNA-LNPs reprograms adaptive and innate immune responses in an inheritable fashion -
  Billions of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-LNP vaccine doses have already been administered to humans. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the immune effects of this platform. Here we bring experimental evidence that pre- exposure to mRNA-LNPs or its LNP component has effects on both innate and adaptive immune responses. Pre-exposure to mRNA-LNPs led to long-term, platform-specific inhibition of the adaptive immune responses. As such, mice responded with lower antibody responses when exposed the second time to the mRNA-LNP platform, but with undisturbed adaptive immune responses to protein-based Alum or AddaVax-adjuvanted vaccines. On the other hand, we report that after pre-exposure to mRNA-LNPs, resistance of mice to heterologous infections with influenza virus and Candida albicans is likely enhanced. Interestingly, mice pre-exposed to mRNA-LNPs can pass down the acquired immune traits to their offspring, providing better protection. In summary, the mRNA-LNP vaccine platform induces long-term immunological changes that can affect both humoral responses and heterologous protection against infections. More studies are needed to understand in-depth the mechanisms responsible for these effects.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Pre-exposure to mRNA-LNPs reprograms adaptive and innate immune responses in an inheritable fashion
• COVID-19 patients have increased levels of membrane-associated and soluble CD48 -
  COVID-19 is a respiratory-centered systemic disorder caused by SARS-CoV-2. The disease can progress into a severe form causing acute lung injury. CD48 is a co-signaling receptor, existing as both membrane-bound and soluble forms reported to be dysregulated in several inflammatory conditions. Therefore, we reasoned that CD48 could be deregulated in COVID-19 as well. Here we analyzed CD48 expression in autoptic sections and peripheral blood leukocytes and sera of COVID-19 patients by gene expression profiling (HTG autoimmune panel), immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and ELISA. Lung tissue of COVID-19 patients showed increased CD48 mRNA expression and infiltration of CD48+ lymphocytes. In the peripheral blood, mCD48 was considerably increased on all evaluated cells, and additionally, sCD48 levels were significantly higher in COVID-19 patients independently of disease severity. Considering the alterations of mCD48 and sCD48, a specific role for CD48 in COVID-19 can be assumed, suggesting it as a potential target for therapy.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: COVID-19 patients have increased levels of membrane-associated and soluble CD48
• Utilizing mixed-methods in single-subject design: An example from a study on adopting social-emotional learning and embodying mindfulness as an instructor that combined dynamic p-technique and authoethnography -
  This article contributes to the mixed-methods research (MMR) field a description of utilizing MMR in a single- subject design. The example utilizes a convergent intensive longitudinal data collection strategy and an explanatory bidirectional framework for data merging analytics to examine one faculty member’s practices of incorporating social- emotional learning (SEL) and mindfulness during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to reduce burnout. By examining results from the dynamic p-technique (a special case of structural equation modeling) and reflexive journaling resulting in autoethnography, a clearer picture of one faculty member’s lived experience emerged. The study is a concrete demonstration of how structural equation modeling and autoethnography methods can be combined within a convergent explanatory bidirectional analytic framework following a single subject through time. Readers interested in replicating the dynamic p-technique analyses can access our tutorial and supplemental materials at https://bit.ly/osfburnout.

• TinyM2Net: A Flexible System Algorithm Co-designed Multimodal Learning Framework for Tiny Devices -
  With the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), new attention has been given to implement AI algorithms on resource constrained tiny devices to expand the application domain of IoT. Multimodal Learning has recently become very popular with the classification task due to its impressive performance for both image and audio event classification. This paper presents - a flexible system algorithm co-designed multimodal learning framework for resource constrained tiny devices. The framework was designed to be evaluated on two different case-studies: COVID-19 detection from multimodal audio recordings and battle field object detection from multimodal images and audios. In order to compress the model to implement on tiny devices, substantial network architecture optimization and mixed precision quantization were performed (mixed 8-bit and 4-bit). shows that even a tiny multimodal learning model can improve the classification performance than that of any unimodal frameworks. The most compressed achieves 88.4% COVID-19 detection accuracy (14.5% improvement from unimodal base model) and 96.8% battle field object detection accuracy (3.9% improvement from unimodal base model). Finally, we test our models on a Raspberry Pi 4 to see how they perform when deployed to a resource constrained tiny device.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: TinyM2Net: A Flexible System Algorithm Co-designed Multimodal Learning Framework for Tiny Devices
• Protection of prior natural infection compared to mRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in Qatar -

  BACKGROUND: Protection conferred by natural SARS-CoV-2 infection versus COVID-19 vaccination has not been investigated in rigorously controlled studies. We compared head-to-head protection conferred by natural infection to that from the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccines in Qatar, between February 28, 2020 and March 6, 2022. METHODS: Two national matched retrospective target-trial cohort studies were conducted to compare incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 hospitalization and death among those with a documented primary infection to incidence among those with a two-dose primary-series vaccination. Associations were estimated using Cox proportional-hazards regression models. RESULTS: The overall adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) for infection was 0.46 (95% CI: 0.45-0.48) comparing those with a prior infection to those vaccinated with BNT162b2, and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.48-0.53) comparing those with a prior infection to those vaccinated with mRNA-1273. For BNT162b2, the AHR decreased gradually from 0.55 (95% CI: 0.46-0.65) in the fourth month after primary infection/vaccination to 0.31 (95% CI: 0.27-0.37) in the eighth month, while for mRNA-1273, it decreased from 0.80 (95% CI: 0.59-1.07) to 0.35 (95% CI: 0.29-0.41) over the same time period. During the Omicron wave, the AHR was ~0.50 for BNT162b2 and ~0.60 for mRNA-1273. The overall AHR for any severe, critical, or fatal COVID-19 (against all variants) was 0.32 (95% CI: 0.10-1.00) for BNT162b2, and 0.58 (95% CI: 0.14-2.43) for mRNA-1273. CONCLUSIONS: Natural infection was associated with stronger and more durable protection against infection, regardless of the variant, than mRNA primary-series vaccination. Nonetheless, vaccination remains the safest and optimal tool of protection against infection and COVID-19 hospitalization and death.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Protection of prior natural infection compared to mRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in Qatar
• A log-odds system for waning and boosting of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness -

  Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 following vaccination wanes over time in a non-linear fashion, making modelling of likely population impacts of COVID-19 policy options challenging. We observed that it was possible to mathematize non-linear waning of vaccine effectiveness (VE) on the percentage scale as linear waning on the log-odds scale, and developed a random effects logistic regression equation based on UK Health Security Agency data to model VE against Omicron following two and three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. VE on the odds scale reduced by 47% per month for symptomatic infection after two vaccine doses, lessening to 35% per month for hospitalisation. Waning on the odds scale after triple dose vaccines was 35% per month for symptomatic disease and 19% for hospitalisation. This log-odds system for estimating waning and boosting of COVID-19 VE provides a simple solution that may be used to parametrize SARS-CoV-2 immunity over time parsimoniously in epidemiological models.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: A log-odds system for waning and boosting of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness
• Monoclonal antibody and antiviral therapy for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in pediatric patients -

  The recent surge of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) coincided with new treatment options for mild-to- moderate Covid-19 in high-risk adolescents and adults. In this report we describe patient characteristics, treatment- related process measures and outcomes associated with early Covid-19 therapy in high-risk pediatric patients.

• Founder effect contributes to the unique pattern of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.519 emergence in Alaska -

  Alaska is the largest geographic state in the United States with the lowest population density and a mix of urban centers and isolated rural communities. The differences in population dynamics in Alaska from the contiguous United States may have contributed to a unique pattern of emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants observed in early

2021. Here we examined 2,323 virus genomes from Alaska and 278,635 virus genomes from the contiguous United States collected between the first week of December 2020 through the last week of June 2021. We focused on this timeframe because of the notable emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.519 observed in Alaska. We found that this variant was consistently detected in Alaska from the end of January through June of 2021 with a peak prevalence in April of 77.9% unlike the rest of the United States with a peak prevalence of 4.6%. In Alaska, the earlier emergence of B.1.1.519 coincided with a later peak of Alpha (B.1.1.7) when compared to the rest of the United States. We also observed differences in the composition of lineages and variants over time between the two most populated regions of Alaska. Although there was a modest increase in COVID-19 cases during the peak incidence of B.1.1.519, it is difficult to disentangle how social dynamics conflated changes in COVID-19 during this time. We suggest that the viral characteristics, such as amino acid substitutions in the spike protein, and a founder effect likely contributed to the unique spread of B.1.1.519 in Alaska.
      🖺 Full Text HTML: Founder effect contributes to the unique pattern of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.519 emergence in Alaska

• An immune dysfunction score for stratification of patients with acute infection based on whole blood gene expression -

  Dysregulated host responses to infection can lead to organ dysfunction and sepsis, causing millions of deaths globally each year. To alleviate this burden, improved prognostication and biomarkers of response are urgently needed. We investigated the use of whole blood transcriptomics for stratification of patients with severe infection by integrating data from 3,149 samples of sepsis patients and healthy individuals into a gene expression reference map. We used this map to derive a quantitative sepsis response signature (SRSq) score reflective of immune dysfunction and predictive of clinical outcomes, which can be estimated using a 19-gene signature. Finally, we built a machine learning framework, SepstratifieR, to deploy SRSq in sepsis, H1N1 influenza, and COVID-19, demonstrating clinically relevant stratification across diseases and revealing the physiological alterations linking immune dysregulation to mortality. Our method enables early identification of individuals with dysfunctional immune profiles, thus bringing us closer to precision medicine in infection.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: An immune dysfunction score for stratification of patients with acute infection based on whole blood gene expression

From Clinical Trials

• Effect of Bronchipret on Antiviral Immune Response in Patients With Mild COVID-19 - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Drug: Bronchipret
  Sponsors:   Dr. Frank Behrens;   Bionorica SE
  Recruiting

• Evaluating Public Health Interventions to Improve COVID-19 Testing Among Underserved Populations - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Behavioral: Public Health Intervention Package
  Sponsors:   Kathleen Fairfield;   MaineHealth
  Not yet recruiting

• COVID-19 Serologic Strategies for Skilled Nursing Facilities - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Other: Cohorting
  Sponsors:   NYU Langone Health;   Brown University;   National Institute on Aging (NIA)
  Recruiting

• Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine Betuvax-CoV-2 - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Biological: Betuvax-CoV-2;   Drug: Placebo
  Sponsors:   Human Stem Cell Institute, Russia;   Betuvax LLC;   CEG BIO LLC
  Active, not recruiting

• A Community-based Study of Spikogen®, a Protein-subunit Covid-19 Vaccine - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Biological: Advax-CpG55.2 adjuvanted recombinant spike protein
  Sponsors:   Professor Nikolai Petrovsky;   Australian Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Institute;   Tasmanian Eye Institute
  Not yet recruiting

• COVID-19 Volumetric Quantification on Computer Tomography Using Computer Aided Diagnostics - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Diagnostic Test: CAD analysis
  Sponsors:  
  Bogdan Bercean;   Pius Brinzeu Timisoara County Emergency Hospital
  Not yet recruiting

• Pulmonary and Extrapulmonary Impacts of COVID-19 on Young Adults - Condition:   Post COVID-19
  Intervention:   Other: Evaluation of Pulmonary and Extrapulmonary Impacts of COVID-19 on Young Adults
  Sponsor:   Istanbul Arel University
  Not yet recruiting

• Early High-Titre Convalescent Plasma in Clinically Vulnerable Individuals With Mild COVID-19 - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Biological: COVID-19 convalescent and vaccinated plasma;   Other: Current standard of care
  Sponsors:   Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besancon;   Deutsches Rotes Kreuz DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Wurttemberg-Hessen;   NHS Blood and Transplant
  Not yet recruiting

• Efficacy of TCM Capsules Lian Hua Qing Wen Jiao Nang in Mild COVID-19 Patients - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Other: TCM intervention;   Other: Placebo intervention
  Sponsor:   Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution
  Not yet recruiting

• Trial to Study the Efficacy and Safety of BEJO Red Ginger in COVID-19 Patients With Mild Symptoms - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Dietary Supplement: BEJO Red Ginger Extract;   Other: Placebo
  Sponsors:   Research Center for Chemistry, National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia;   National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia;   RSDC Wisma Atlet;   PT. Bintang Toedjoe
  Recruiting

• Safety and Pharmacokinetics of FBR-002 for the Treatment of Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 in Need of Supplemental Oxygen and at Risk of Severe Outcome - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: FBR-002;   Drug: Placebo
  Sponsor:  
  Fab’entech
  Not yet recruiting

• **Safety and Immune Response of Adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Beta Variant RBD Recombinant Protein (DoCo-Pro-RBD-1

• MF59®) and mRNA (MIPSCo-mRNA-RBD-1) Vaccines in Healthy Adults** - Condition:   SARS-CoV-2
  Interventions:   Biological: Adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 beta variant RBD recombinant protein vaccine (DoCo-Pro-RBD-1 + MF59);   Biological: SARS-CoV-2 beta variant RBD mRNA vaccine;   Other: Normal Saline
  Sponsors:   University of Melbourne;   Southern Star Research
  Not yet recruiting

• PROSPECTIVE OPEN LABEL CLINICAL TRIAL TO ADMINISTER A BOOSTER DOSE OF PFIZER/BIONTECH OR MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINE IN HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUALS - Conditions:   SARS CoV 2 Infection;   COVID-19
  Interventions:  
  Biological: Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2);   Biological: Moderna
  Sponsor:  
  DHR Health Institute for Research and Development
  Recruiting

• Self-Management Interventions for Long-COVID - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Behavioral: Education and Strategies Intervention;   Behavioral: Mindfulness Skills Intervention
  Sponsors:   Toronto Rehabilitation Institute;   Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR);   University Health Network, Toronto
  Recruiting

• COVID-19 Hyper Coagulability Care by LLLT - Condition:   COVID-19 Pneumonia
  Interventions:   Radiation: Low level laser Therapy;   Other: Circulatory exercises
  Sponsor:   Cairo University
  Recruiting

From PubMed

• Selenium in the Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Viruses - The rapid spread of new pathogens (SARS-CoV-2 virus) that negatively affect the human body has huge consequences for the global public health system and the development of the global economy. Appropriate implementation of new safety regulations will improve the functioning of the current model supervising the inhibition of the spread of COVID-19 disease. Compliance with all these standards will have a key impact on the health behavior of individual social groups. There have been demonstrably…

• Photodynamic disinfection of SARS-CoV-2 clinical samples using a methylene blue formulation - The amplitude of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic motivated global efforts to find therapeutics that avert severe forms of this illness. The urgency of the medical needs privileged repositioning of approved medicines. Methylene blue (MB) has been in clinical use for a century and proved especially useful as a photosensitizer for photodynamic disinfection (PDI). We describe the use of MB to photo-inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in samples collected from COVID-19 patients. One minute of…

• Sulforaphane exhibits antiviral activity against pandemic SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal HCoV-OC43 coronaviruses in vitro and in mice - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has incited a global health crisis. Currently, there are limited therapeutic options for the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections. We evaluated the antiviral activity of sulforaphane (SFN), the principal biologically active phytochemical derived from glucoraphanin, the naturally occurring precursor present in high concentrations in cruciferous vegetables. SFN inhibited in…

• Application of the SARS-CoV-2-S1 ACE-2 receptor interaction as the basis of the fully automated assay to detect neutralizing SARS-CoV-2-S1 antibodies in blood samples - A quantitative, high throughput, fully automated diagnostic method for the detection of neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was developed on the Phadia system based on the interaction of SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein and the human ACE-2 receptor. This method was compared to the current state of the art plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) and a high correlation between the two methods was observed. Using a large cohort of blood samples from convalescent patients and controls the method…

• The role of neutralizing antibodies by sVNT after two doses of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in a cohort of Italian healthcare workers - CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that the decrease of anti-S1 IgG levels do not correspond in parallel to a decrease of NAbs over time, which highlights the necessity of using both assays to assess vaccination effectiveness.

• Soluble uric acid inhibits beta2 integrin-mediated neutrophil recruitment in innate immunity - Neutrophils are key players during host defense and sterile inflammation. Neutrophil dysfunction is a characteristic feature of the acquired immunodeficiency during kidney disease. We speculated that the impaired renal clearance of the intrinsic purine metabolite soluble uric acid (sUA) may account for neutrophil dysfunction. Indeed, hyperuricemia (HU, serum UA of 9-12 mg/dL) related or unrelated to kidney dysfunction significantly diminished neutrophil adhesion and extravasation in mice with…

• Type I interferon transcriptional network regulates expression of coinhibitory receptors in human T cells - Although inhibition of T cell coinhibitory receptors has revolutionized cancer therapy, the mechanisms governing their expression on human T cells have not been elucidated. In the present study, we show that type 1 interferon (IFN-I) regulates coinhibitory receptor expression on human T cells, inducing PD-1/TIM-3/LAG-3 while inhibiting TIGIT expression. High-temporal-resolution mRNA profiling of IFN-I responses established the dynamic regulatory networks uncovering three temporal transcriptional…

• RNA G-quadruplex in TMPRSS2 reduces SARS-CoV-2 infection - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection continues to have devastating consequences worldwide. Recently, great efforts have been made to identify SARS-CoV-2 host factors, but the regulatory mechanisms of these host molecules, as well as the virus per se, remain elusive. Here we report a role of RNA G-quadruplex (RG4) in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Combining bioinformatics, biochemical and biophysical assays, we demonstrate the presence of RG4s in both SARS-CoV-2 genome…

• Ferulic acid and berberine, via Sirt1 and AMPK, may act as cell cleansing promoters of healthy longevity - Ferulic acid, a bacterial metabolite of anthocyanins, seems likely to be a primary mediator of the health benefits associated with anthocyanin-rich diets, and has long been employed in Chinese cardiovascular medicine. In rodent studies, it has exerted wide-ranging antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, the molecular basis of which remains rather obscure. However, recent studies indicate that physiologically relevant concentrations of ferulic acid can boost expression of Sirt1 at mRNA and…

• Impact of COVID-19 on college student diet quality and physical activity - Background: The COVID-19 pandemic can cause in increase in stress experienced by college students and consequently, potentially adversely affect their health behaviours. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate how COVID-19 impacted college-attending young adults diet quality and physical activity. Methods: Students attending an Appalachian university in spring 2020 participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants were surveyed on their eating habits, diet quality, and physical…

• Overview of clinical outcome and therapeutic effectiveness of Favipiravir in patients with COVID-19 admitted to intensive care unit, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - CONCLUSION: According to the study’s results revealing FVP is not superior to other antivirals, patients who received Favipiravir presented with more severe symptoms, more comorbidities, more complications, and is not effective in controlling the cytokine storm which negatively impact the efficacy of Favipiravir. FVP therapy had no influence on ICU and hospital length of stay in comparison with the control group as well as in the overall mortality rate among the FVP group was not statistically…

• Jumping From Fragment To Drug Via Smart Scaffolds - A focused drug repurposing approach is described where an FDA-approved drug is rationally selected for biological testing based on structural similarities to a fragment compound found to bind a target protein by an NMR screen. The approach is demonstrated by first screening a curated fragment library using 19F NMR to discover a quality binder to ACE2, the human receptor required for entry and infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Based on this binder, a highly related scaffold was derived and used…

• Intersected discrimination through the lens of COVID-19: The case example of Christian minority in Iraq - Compelling evidence proved that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disproportionately affects minorities. The goal of the present study was to explore the effects of intersected discrimination and discrimination types on COVID-19, mental health, and cognition. A sample of 542 Iraqis, 55.7% females, age ranged from 18 to 73, with (M = 31.16, SD = 9.77). 48.7% were Muslims, and 51.3% were Christians (N = 278). We used measures for COVID-19 stressors, executive functions, intersected discrimination…

• The Human Liver-Expressed Lectin CD302 Restricts Hepatitis C Virus Infection - C-type lectin domain-containing proteins (CTLDcps) shape host responses to pathogens and infectious disease outcomes. Previously, we identified the murine CTLDcp Cd302 as restriction factor, limiting hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection of murine hepatocytes. In this study, we investigated in detail the human orthologue’s ability to restrict HCV infection in human liver cells. CD302 overexpression in Huh-7.5 cells potently inhibited infection of diverse HCV chimeras representing seven genotypes….

• Flipped inflammatory time and the role of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2: optimising tocilizumab against COVID-19 - No abstract

From Patent Search

• MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUE TO ANALYZE THE WORK PRESSURE OF PARAMEDICAL STAFF DURING COVID 19 - Machine learning technique to analyse the work pressure of paramedical staff during covid 19 is the proposed invention that focuses on identifying the stress levels of paramedical staff. The invention focuses on analysing the level of stress that is induced on the paramedical staff especially during pandemic. - link

• CBD Covid 19 Protection - - link

• METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING IMPROVED GENERALIZED FUZZY PEER GROUP WITH MODIFIED TRILATERAL FILTER TO REMOVE MIXED IMPULSE AND ADAPTIVE WHITE GAUSSIAN NOISE FROM COLOR IMAGES - ABSTRACTMETHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING IMPROVED GENERALIZED FUZZY PEER GROUP WITH MODIFIED TRILATERAL FILTER TO REMOVE MIXED IMPULSE AND ADAPTIVE WHITE GAUSSIAN NOISE FROM COLOR IMAGESThe present invention provides a new approach is proposed that includes fuzzy-based approach and similarity function for filtering the mixed noise. In a peer group, the similarity function was adaptive to edge information and local noise level, which was utilized for detecting the similarity among pixels. In addition, a new filtering method Modified Trilateral Filter (MTF) with Improved Generalized Fuzzy Peer Group (IGFPG) is proposed to remove mixed impulse and Adaptive White Gaussian Noise from Color Images. The modified trilateral filter includes Kikuchi algorithm and loopy belief propagation to solve the inference issues on the basis of passing local message. In this research work, the images were collected from KODAK dataset and a few real time multimedia images like Lena were also used for testing the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. - link

• A STUDY ON MENTAL HEALTH, STRESS AND ANXIETY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS DURING COVID-19 - SARS-Cov-2 virus causes an infectious disease coronavirus(COVID-19).The Students life is made harder by COVID-19.The human reaction that happens normally to everyone through physical or emotional tension is stress. Feeling of angry, nervous and frustration caused through any thought or events leads to stress. As college closures and cancelled events, students are missing out on some of the biggest moments of their young lives as well as everyday moments like chatting with friend, participating in class and cultural programme. For students facing life changes due to the outbreak are feeling anxious, isolated and disappointed which lead them to feel all alone. We like to take the help of expert adolescent psychologist to find out the techniques to practice self-care and look after their mental health. We would like to find out whether techniques used reduce the anxiety and stress among Engineering Students. - link

• A METHOD FOR THE TREATMENT OF COVID-19 INFECTIONS WITH PALMITOYLETHANOLAMIDE - - link

• CONNECTING A TUTOR WITH A STUDENT - A system and a method for connecting a tutor with a student in real time. Initially, the system receives a student profile. Further, the system receives a question from the student. Furthermore, the system synthesizes the question based on a set of predefined machine learning model. Subsequently, the system determines a cohort of the students from the set of the cohort of the students. The cohort of the students is determined based on the one or more parameters related to the question. Further, the system identifies a tutor assigned to the cohort of the students. Subsequently, the system notifies the tutor in real time. Further, the system receives an acknowledgement from the tutor within a predefined time. Finally, the system connects the tutor with the student in real time when the acknowledgement is the positive acknowledgement. - link

• A CENTRAL TRANSACTION AUTHENTIC SYSTEM FOR OTP VERIFICATION - The present invention relates to a central transaction authentic system (100) for OTP verification. The system (100) comprises one or more user display units (102), one or more financial units (104), an account deposit unit (106), an OTP authentication unit (108) and a service server unit (110). The central transaction authentic system (100) for OTP verification work as Anti-money laundering measure. The system (100) also helpful for minimizing rate of cybercrime. The central transaction authentic system (100) for OTP verification that can neutralize digital financial fraud. The present invention provides a central transaction authentic system (100) for OTP verification that can monitor and analyze every transaction and customer interaction across its customer base for suspicious and potentially criminal activity. - link

• FORMULATIONS AND METHOD FOR PREPARATION OF HERBAL MEDICATED TRANSPARENT SOAP - ABSTRACTFORMULATIONS AND METHOD FOR PREPARATION OF HERBAL MEDICATED TRANSPARENT SOAPThe present invention provides formulations for herbal medicated transparent soaps and method of preparation of the same. Transparent soaps are prepared by saponification of mixture of non-edible oils to get the desired consistency and cleaning action. Nonvolatile alcohols and other transparency promoters are used to get good transparency and binding properties. Herbal extracts of different herbs are added to get medicated properties. - link

• POOL CAMPUS PLACEMENT INTERACTIVE APP FOR INDUSTRY ACADEMIA - In recent days students complete the studies through online and find difficult in getting placement. Since the COVID has stopped the Industries/Companies to conduct campus interview and direct recruitment throughout India. This leads to huge unemployment and companies lack in finding the correct person for their job. To overcome this issue it is proposed to develop an application where recruiters can easily conduct their recruitment process. This app integrates the student’s database and the Industry/company database. This model helps the recruiter to choose the eligible student from the huge database instead of a group of students from a particular University/college. There are many benefits like faster recruitment process, many students finding their dream job, HR process the interview from the remote location, entire process is in online, no need to travel and accommodate a place for rent. The entire process is recorded and saved as a report, this ensures 100 % genuine and no space for malpractice. - link

• SOCIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR MOBILE ROBOTS IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT TECHNOLOGY - The emergency department (ED) is a safety-critical environment in which healthcare workers (HCWs) are overburdened, overworked, and have limited resources, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. One way to address this problem is to explore the use of robots that can support clinical teams, e.g., to deliver materials or restock supplies. However, due to EDs being overcrowded, and the cognitive overload HCWs experience, robots need to understand various levels of patient acuity so they avoid disrupting care delivery. In this invention, we introduce the Safety-Critical Deep Q-Network (SafeDQN) system, a new acuity-aware navigation system for mobile robots. SafeDQN is based on two insights about care in EDs: high-acuity patients tend to have more HCWs in attendance and those HCWs tend to move more quickly. We compared SafeDQN to three classic navigation methods, and show that it generates the safest, quickest path for mobile robots when navigating in a simulated ED environment. We hope this work encourages future exploration of social robots that work in safety-critical, human-centered environments, and ultimately help to improve patient outcomes and save lives. Figure 1. - link